The Plight of Linus

We are all familiar with Linus Van Pelt's unshakeable belief in the Great Pumpkin. Perhaps this year he will come, rising out of the most sincere pumpkin patch...

The World/Inferno Friendship Society, a Brooklyn based punk orchestra, celebrates the rising of the Great Pumpkin every year on Halloween.

puppoween

It's that time of year again! Time for a bit of anthropomorphism as we subject our pets to being dressed up in Halloween costumes.

Today we have Random Boston Terrier Found On Google dressed as Yoda, my dog Scarlett dressed as a rock star, and my sister's puppy Lewi dressed as a clown. Are there any other Land of Cute citizens out there who dress their pets up as well? Picture submissions are welcome.

Queen of Shiba

The Shiba Inu (柴犬, shiba inu or shiba ken) is the smallest of the six original and distinct breeds of dog from Japan. Inu is the Japanese word for dog, but the "Shiba" prefix's origin are less clear. The word shiba usually refers to a type of red shrub. This leads some to believe that the Shiba was named with this in mind, either because the dogs were used to hunt in wild shrubs, or because the most common color of the Shiba Inu is a red color similar to that of the shrubs. However, in old Japanese, the word shiba also had the meaning of "small", thus this might be a reference to the dog's small size. Therefore, the Shiba Inu is sometimes translated as "Little Brushwood Dog". (Wikipedia)

When they are puppies, shibas look like little teddy bears. They grow to be extremely beautiful and intelligent dogs. They also come in amigurumi form.

Zelda and Errol Flynn

These two kittehs are new to Land of Cute. The calico is Zelda, and the ghosty-face one is Errol Flynn. They are super cute and super sweet. Thanks to Laura, Archie and Lillian for bringing them into our world!

USB being useful goods

Description of fantastic computer accessory:
"The charge possible USB magic light/write which changes colorfully with LED of 3 colors. Rabbit.

It changes colorfully with LED of ●3 color.
- Because the hand has become the magnet, the clip and the like can be attached.
- It can utilize the USB port of the personal computer as power source for charge.
You can use easily with the ●ON/OFF switch attaching."

and if you don't like it...
"Tell the thought of the customer.We have presented our company product with every month pulling out selection."

Tasha Tudor

	Tasha Tudor, who turned 91 in the year 2006, is one of America’s best-known and beloved illustrators. Her first little story, Pumpkin Moonshine, was published in 1938.
Subsequently she has illustrated nearly one hundred books, the most recent being The Corgiville Christmas, released in 2003. She has received many awards and honors, including Caldecott Honors for Mother Goose and 1 is One. She illustrates and owns Corgis, which are cutey-cute.

When it's good to be blue

On this day in history, October 23, Peyo Introduces The Smurfs (1958)

The Smurfs, or Les Schtroumpfs in French, are a fictional race of small blue creatures that live in a forest somewhere in Europe. The Belgian cartoonist Peyo introduced Smurfs to the world, but English-speakers perhaps know them best from the animated television series from Hanna-Barbera Productions. The Smurf franchise has spawned movies, television shows, figurines, and countless other merchandise. How did Peyo come up with the name for his famous creatures?

Hello Halloween

Hello Kitty loves halloween, and when she dresses up, it's extra cute. The Japanese are marketing halloween, although I read in a blog that they don't necessarily trick or treat.

Dunk him in my Coffee

The mouse lemur is the smallest lemur, and I recently learned that it is very important in the pollination of the baobab tree. It eats the moths which are the base pollinator, but in eating them, gets covered with the pollen they have already collected, and spreads it to the next flower. The baobab itself is a wonder - its' flowers open in less than a minute in the night. I think I saw all of this on Planet Earth - anyone else see it?

Primate + Feline = Lemur

Mostly grey with white underparts, the Ring-tailed Lemur has a slender frame; their narrow face is white with black lozenge-shaped patches around the eyes, and a black vulpine muzzle. The lemur's trademark, the long, bushy tail, is ringed in black and white. Like all lemurs, the Ring-tailed Lemur has hind limbs longer than their forelimbs; the palms and soles are padded with soft, leathery skin. Their fingers are slender and dextrous with flat, sharp nails. The Ring-tailed Lemur has claws on the second toe of the hind limb specialized for grooming purposes.

Lemuragurumi

Amigurumi (編み包み, Amigurumi^? lit. Knitting a stuffed toy) is the Japanese art of knitting or crocheting small stuffed animals and anthropomorphic creatures. Amigurumi are typically cute animals (such as bears, rabbits, cats, dogs, etc.), but can include inanimate objects endowed with anthropomorphic features. Amigurumi can be knitted, but the vast majority of amigurumi are crocheted.

Amigurumi are usually crocheted out of yarn. The simplest designs are worked in spirals. In contrast to typical Western crochet the rounds are not usually joined. They are also worked with a smaller size needle in proportion to the weight of the yarn in order to create a very tight-looking fabric without any gaps through which the stuffing might escape. Amigurumi are usually worked in sections and then joined (some amigurumi have no limbs whatsoever and the body and head is worked as one piece). The extremities are often stuffed with plastic pellets to give them a life-like weight, while the rest of the body is stuffed with fiber stuffing.

The pervading aesthetic of amigurumi is cuteness. To this end, typical amigurumi animals have an over-sized spherical head on a cylindrical body with undersized extremities.

Cubee or not Cubee

The Cubee came out over a year ago, straight from Takara, a Japanese toy company that excels in cute.

Hail all those who are cute!

Mouse Guard is comic book written and illustrated by David Petersen. The mice struggle to live safely and prosper among all of the world’s harsh conditions and predators. Thus the Mouse Guard was formed. Many skills are necessary for the guard to keep the borders safe. They must find new safeways and paths from village to village, lead shipments of goods from one town to another and, in case of attack, guard against all evil and harm to their territories.

‘Hail all those who are able, any mouse can, any mouse will, but the Guard prevail’

Information taken from the soon to be official Mouse Guard website...

Cheeky Rodent

We salute "I Can Has Cheeseburger" site for this fantastic image. The round body, the round cheeks, the kernel of corn. Top-notch cute.

Supah freekie Pontiki

http://www.pontiki.tv/

Pontiki pods are colorful geometric shapes that
connect to other shapes. Mini parts are stored
inside and can be used as eyes, hands, feet,
mouth, or whatever you decide. With unlimited
possibilities the combinations are endless!
(Basically that means you can distract yourself
from what you’re supposed to be doing for quite
a while.)

A Curious Use of Company Time

It's George...he's in a tree. With a balloon. Oh, and there are penguins AND a tiger. How many different animals can you find? Hmmm?

Ring of Bright Otter

Today is dedicated to a book called "Ring of Bright Water". It's a story of a man and an otter in Scotland, along the coast. The title is taken from the following poem, which I had not read until today, but had to post.

He has married me with a ring, a ring of bright water
Whose ripples travel from the heart of the sea,
He has married me with a ring of light, the glitter
Broadcast on the swift river.
He has married me with the sun's circle
Too dazzling to see, traced in summer sky.
He has crowned me with the wreath of white cloud
That gathers on the snowy summit of the mountain,
Ringed me round with the world-circling wind,
Bound me to the whirlwind's centre.
He has married me with the orbit of the moon
And with the boundless circle of stars,
With the orbits that measure years, months, days, and nights,
Set the tides flowing,
Command the winds to travel or be at rest.

At the ring's centre,
Spirit, or angel troubling the pool,
Causality not in nature,
Finger's touch that summons at a point, a moment
Stars and planets, life and light
Or gathers cloud about an apex of gold,
Transcedent touch of love summons my world into being.

grrrrr

Today on Japanese cute day we are moving west a bit to the scenic land of Italy, where artist Simone Legno (though not Asian, was clearly inspired by Asian art) and his art brand tokidoki are super busy creating these adorable figures dressed like cacti. I orginally purchased "Cactus Dog" as an intimidation tool to sit on my desk at work and keep undesirable people away from it, but that plan backfired as Cactus Dog is so cute that people actually flock to my desk to look at him. Ah, well. I'll just break out my fist shaped stapler and see how that works.