Monday 25 January 2016

Bagel-Pigeon Is Giving Pizza Rat Serious Competition



Move over, Pizza Rat.

New York's now-famous ravenous rodent has some serious competition -- a pigeon sporting a bagel necklace. 

Thanks to redditor, connierubirosa, a photo of a Bagel Pigeon is blowing up the Internet. The user uploaded the photo under title: "most New York photo I've ever taken." 

With the combined history of Jewish European immigrants bringing bagels to New York City in the early 20th century and the significant population of pigeons in the city -- this is a natural.

There's only one ethnic snack that might sum up the Big Apple experience better than a pizza and it's a bagel. Of course, depending on what neighborhood you're making that claim, those are fighting words.

Of course, if that's a salt bagel, this fowl might rightfully be called a seagull. 

H/T: Gothamist

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.



Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/10/26/bagel-pigeon-is-giving-pizza-rat-serious-competition_n_8394 ... and provided by entertainment-movie-news.com

Dog Named 'Trigger' Shoots Owner


NORTH WEBSTER, Ind. (AP) — Authorities say a northern Indiana woman is recovering after being shot in the foot by her dog.

And the dog's name? Trigger.

Indiana Conservation Officer Jonathon Boyd says 25-year-old Allie Carter of Avilla laid her 12-gauge shotgun on the ground without the safety on during a waterfowl hunt Saturday at Tri-County Fish and Wildlife Area.

Boyd says Carter's chocolate Labrador retriever, Trigger, stepped on top of the shotgun and depressed the trigger.

He says Carter was shot in the left foot at point-blank range, suffering injuries to her foot and toes. She was treated at two hospitals and released.

Tri-County Fish and Wildlife Area is about 140 miles north of Indianapolis.

Also on HuffPost:

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.



Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/10/26/dog-trigger-shoots-owner_n_8394344.html?utm_hp_ref=weird-ne ... and provided by entertainment-movie-news.com

Some Cat Colors Linked To Aggression, But Don't Base Your Pet Choice On It


A new study suggests a possible link between feline aggression and certain coat colors and patterns, but the lead researcher warns that people looking to adopt a cat shouldn't be basing their decision on how the animal looks.

"It's not that your average white cat is an angel and your average calico is a devil," Dr. Liz Stelow of the University of California-Davis told The Huffington Post. "We're looking at a continuum here."

Stelow and her team looked at data from 1,274 anonymous cat caretakers who answered an online survey about their pets’ behavior for a study published on Oct. 14 in the Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science. The survey included questions about how often the cats engaged in various aggressive behaviors -- like hissing, biting or scratching -- as well as questions about the likelihood that the cats would display aggression while being handled or at the vet.

Owners of female cats with "sex-linked" color patterns -- meaning tortoiseshell, “torbie” and calico cats -- reported a higher frequency of aggression than owners of female cats of other colors.

"Sex-linked" means that these specific color patterns are linked to genes on the X chromosome. Only male cats with an extra X chromosome can exhibit such patterns, making them extremely rare.

The survey's findings seem to back up these cats' reputation for being more difficult than other felines. Some people even refer to the alleged feistiness of tortoiseshells as “tortitude.”

The data also suggested that cats with gray and white coats, as well as cats with black and white coats, may have increased aggression -- a result Stelow said the researchers did not expect to find.

But a caveat to the study is that it's based on aggression as reported by the cats' caretakers -- researchers did not independently observe any cats themselves.

While the results may indicate that stereotypes about tortoiseshell behavior are based in reality, the opposite also could be true, said Mikel Delgado, a certified cat behavior consultant and Ph.D. candidate in psychology at the University of California-Berkeley.

If people have the preconception that cats of certain colors possess certain traits, they may be more likely to notice and report those traits in their own cats.

“There could be biases if people hear words like ‘tortitude’ -- or if they show me a photo [of their tortoiseshell cat] and I say, ‘Oh, she must be feisty,” then you might think, ‘Oh, she is feisty!’” explained Delgado, who led a 2012 study exploring how cats' coloring influences how people see their behavior.

And while at least one headline has dramatically proclaimed that the study says cats with certain coat colors “make better pets,” Stelow said she absolutely does not think anyone should be using the study as a guide to pet adoption. 

"Many factors need to go into what pet is right for you," she said. "I wouldn’t want anyone to rely on this information exclusively."

Stelow noted that even though some groups of cats had higher aggression scores, the reported aggression for all groups was relatively low. 

A cat's overall score for aggression towards humans was based on caretakers answering four questions about how often their pet exhibited particular aggressive behaviors, like hissing or biting. Each of the four questions asked about a different behavior, researcher Philip H. Kass explained in an email. 

Caretakers used a 0-5 point scale to express how often their cat engaged in each aggressive behavior. A score of  "0" meant  “never”; 1 meant “less than once every 6 months”; 2 meant "more than once every 6 months”; 3 meant “more than once per month”; 4 meant “more than once per week”; and 5 meant “more than once per day.”

Since there were four sub-categories, each cat could end up with a maximum score of 20.

But the median score for the majority of color categories was 0 -- meaning the cat owner rated his or her pet as never expressing aggression at all. Even the tortoiseshell/calico/torbie group only had a median score of 1 (out of 20 possible points for aggression).

“[The statistically significant differences] may also be due to the relatively low levels of aggression in cats overall, as evidenced by the low median scores, so that any difference, however small, comes out as significant,” the researchers wrote. They also noted the differences are small enough that they could have been due to variations in how different cat owners interpreted the questions.

Stelow said the main purpose of the study was to serve as a preliminary measure to determine whether more research in the area is a good idea. 

"We’d like to have some of the geneticists take over and take a closer look at ...  inheritance of coat colors," she said. 

Both Delgado and Stelow said they hope that sensationalistic news stories about the study don't cause potential cat adopters to make the wrong decisions. Anyone seeking a pet should pay attention to the behavior of each individual cat they meet, rather than making broad judgements based solely on coat colors.

After all, Stelow has a beloved calico cat herself.

"She’s not the least bit aggressive, but she is a nut," she said.

Contact the author of this article at Hilary.Hanson@huffingtonpost.com

Also on HuffPost:

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.



Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/10/26/cat-color-aggression-calico-tortoiseshell_n_8394472.html?ut ... and provided by entertainment-movie-news.com

Shelter Pup Is Attached To His Security Bucket And It’s 'Stinkin Adorable'

One rescue pooch leans on an unusual friend while waiting to find a forever home. 

Slim, a dog who is currently staying at the Ashland County Dog Shelter in Ohio, was rescued last year after he was found in an abandoned house. The canine has been at the shelter for several months and while he isn't a big fan of different toys, there is one that he loves -- his bucket. 




A photo of the pooch with his beloved bucket was shared on organization Rescue Me Ohio's Facebook page last week in an attempt to find the right rescue organization to care for the dog before he's ready to be adopted. It went viral with more than 3,600 shares from people who were charmed by the pup's friendship with his not-so-furry buddy. 

"'Overwhelming' is the perfect word," Michelle Sviatko, president of shelter support group No Pawz Left Behind told The Huffington Post of the positivity she's received from Slim's photo. 

Sviatko told HuffPost that when Slim was found, he was extremely emaciated and very scared. She said that because Slim was likely neglected, he's developed some issues especially related to guarding his food. When it comes to toys, Sviatko explained, Slim has destroyed any toy that was given to him -- all except for his trusty bucket. 

"He started, for some reason, carrying his bucket around," Sviatko said. "He just picks that up ... he parades around with it. ... It's stinkin' adorable!" 

Slim's attachment to his bucket is adorable and while requests have come in to adopt the pup, Sviatko says, she's looking for a reputable rescue group to take him in so he can be reassessed for the perfect forever home. 

Also on HuffPost:  




-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.



Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/10/26/dog-loves-bucket-ashland-county_n_8394550.html?utm_hp_ref=w ... and provided by entertainment-movie-news.com

'Walking Dead' Fan Kills Friend, Thought He Was A Zombie: Cops


A New Mexico man binge-watching "The Walking Dead" faces murder charge after allegedly beating an acquaintance to death, claiming his friend began "to change into a zombie."

Grants Police initially responded to a call Oct. 22 that a man holding a weapon was chasing a woman through an apartment about 80 miles from Albuquerque. 

Officer Lt. Jason Frank arrived to find two maintenance men restraining 23-year-old Damon Perry. Upon approaching the suspect, the officer saw the body of Christopher Paquin with obvious trauma.

The victim, also 23, was pronounced dead soon after.

Police said Perry noted the blockbuster zombie TV show as the impetus for this actions. He allegedly said he and Paquin had been drinking "large amounts of alcohol." He claims Paquin tried to bite him.

Perry allegedly beat Paquin with his hands and feet, in addition to using an electric guitar and a microwave oven. Perry then allegedly rushed out of the apartment and threatened others.

Perry is being held in custody at the Cibola County Detention Center.

Reuters contributed to this report.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.



Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/10/20/walking-dead-binge-watcher-kills-friend-thought-he-was-a-zo ... and provided by entertainment-movie-news.com

Florida Man Attacks Karaoke DJ Over Mic Sound, Police Say


The only record this karaoke singer will ever have is a criminal one.

A man in DeBary, Florida, was arrested Thursday morning after police said he assaulted a karaoke DJ at Blackie's Bar.

Joshua Fort, 26, was performing the Jay Z and Justin Timberlake jam "Holy Grail' with another man, when he sounded a discordant note at the job being done by DJ Omar Isaac, according to the Daytona Beach News-Journal.

Police said when Isaac didn't pump up the volume on Fort's microphone, the suspect responded in a way that speaks volumes.

First, Fort grabbed the DJ’s laptop computer and slammed it shut. Then witnesses said the suspect threw a glass at Isaac that hit the DJ on the side of his head. 

Fort is also accused of pulling the DJ to the dance floor and throwing him on the ground there, according to WNDB.com.

Fort fled the scene, but later turned himself into the Volusia County Jail, where he was charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. He was released on $5,000 bond.

The suspect told police he ran from the karaoke bar because because he “knew he was going to be in trouble” and that “everyone would point fingers at him,” according to a police report obtained by WNDB.com.

Before his arrest, he was treated at a local hospital for injury to his left hand.

Because the alleged crime centered around karaoke, the Florida Sun-Sentinel suggested the suspect be shipped off to Sing Sing.




-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.













Source: http://feeds.huffingtonpost.com/c/35496/f/677553/s/4afd2f08/sc/38/l/0L0Shuffingtonpost0N0C20A150C10A ... and provided by entertainment-movie-news.com

Bagel-Pigeon Is Giving Pizza Rat Serious Competition



Move over, Pizza Rat.

New York's now-famous ravenous rodent has some serious competition -- a pigeon sporting a bagel necklace. 

Thanks to redditor, connierubirosa, a photo of a Bagel Pigeon is blowing up the Internet. The user uploaded the photo under title: "most New York photo I've ever taken." 

With the combined history of Jewish European immigrants bringing bagels to New York City in the early 20th century and the significant population of pigeons in the city -- this is a natural.

There's only one ethnic snack that might sum up the Big Apple experience better than a pizza and it's a bagel. Of course, depending on what neighborhood you're making that claim, those are fighting words.

Of course, if that's a salt bagel, this fowl might rightfully be called a seagull. 

H/T: Gothamist

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.













Source: http://feeds.huffingtonpost.com/c/35496/f/677553/s/4afd6eb8/sc/28/l/0L0Shuffingtonpost0N0C20A150C10A ... and provided by entertainment-movie-news.com

Dog Named 'Trigger' Shoots Owner


NORTH WEBSTER, Ind. (AP) — Authorities say a northern Indiana woman is recovering after being shot in the foot by her dog.

And the dog's name? Trigger.

Indiana Conservation Officer Jonathon Boyd says 25-year-old Allie Carter of Avilla laid her 12-gauge shotgun on the ground without the safety on during a waterfowl hunt Saturday at Tri-County Fish and Wildlife Area.

Boyd says Carter's chocolate Labrador retriever, Trigger, stepped on top of the shotgun and depressed the trigger.

He says Carter was shot in the left foot at point-blank range, suffering injuries to her foot and toes. She was treated at two hospitals and released.

Tri-County Fish and Wildlife Area is about 140 miles north of Indianapolis.

Also on HuffPost:

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.













Source: http://feeds.huffingtonpost.com/c/35496/f/677553/s/4afd4038/sc/3/l/0L0Shuffingtonpost0N0C20A150C10A0 ... and provided by entertainment-movie-news.com

Bulldog Adorably Freaks Out At Birthday Cake




Desi the bulldog is given a "birthday pup cake" but the poor thing seems to be thrown off by the lit candle. Just make a wish, make sure your person extinguishes the flame, and party on, pooch!

H/T Viral Viral Videos

Also on HuffPost:

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.













Source: http://feeds.huffingtonpost.com/c/35496/f/677553/s/4afca988/sc/17/l/0L0Shuffingtonpost0N0C20A150C10A ... and provided by entertainment-movie-news.com

The Truth About Those Chilling 'AHS' Opening Credits Isn't Scary At All

However fans might feel about its various seasons, the "American Horror Story" opening credits never disappoint.

The award-winning work of Kyle Cooper and his Prologue Studio mixes stop-motion with CGI to create a dreamlike procession of the strange and undead. It's not hard to see how those flickering visuals give us the creeps, and paired with a hair-raising soundtrack, the "AHS" title sequence becomes a perfect nightmare. 

But, that song -- filmy, discordant -- was never supposed to end up in a horror show. It wasn't even supposed to be scary. 




The "AHS" theme song used in all five seasons' worth of openers was originally created by César Dávila-Irizarry in 1998, when he was a sophomore at the University of Puerto Rico enrolled in a course on music history. He'd been experimenting with digital and practical sounds when he pieced the track together using Cool Edit 96 on a bulky, Windows 98-equipped computer. 

"When I created the song back in '98, I was not aiming for horror," Dávila-Irizarry, now an audio designer, wrote to The Huffington Post.

He'd wanted to see what would happen when he recorded certain sounds, stretched them out, and mixed them with other digital noise. It was a process. His computer was so slow, Dávila-Irizarry recalled, that he could drive to Blockbuster, rent a movie, get home and watch it in the time it took the machine to do its job stretching just one file. Now, he tells us, such a task takes a computer mere seconds. 

What we're really hearing in the "AHS" theme are a bunch of typical noises recorded around Dávila-Irizarry mother's Puerto Rican home, he explained, slowed down and manipulated in strategic ways (the specifics of which he says he'll bring to his grave, so as not to totally ruin the magic for us).

That really jarring moment about seven seconds in, though? It's just some metal clothes hangers dropping on a tile floor. Later on, you can just barely make out rain drops falling on his windows. Digital white noise makes up other portions. 

Mundane as they may be, these noises speak to us on an unconscious level, David Holmes, senior lecturer in psychology at Manchester Metropolitan University, told HuffPost -- particularly surprising metal noises. 

"These actually rely on a principle we've got embedded in us, which is an evolutionary response to bits of grit being caught in your teeth and scraping down the side," Holmes said. "Because in the old days, we might be swallowing bones and rocks and all sorts of things."

Noises that somehow mimic frightened animals' screams or snapping twigs -- termed "nonlinear" sounds, he explained -- prompt uneasiness for similar reasons.

It's worth noting that what we hear on "AHS" is no longer the literal cacophony of Dávila-Irizarry's home, but a recreation. When he was done with the track, Dávila-Irizarry gave it to a friend, video editor Gabriel Diaz. Years later, Diaz dusted it off to use as a placeholder in the first season's opener -- not knowing everyone would like it so much that they would want to keep it in. For technical (and some legal) reasons, FX recruited Nine Inch Nails' Charlie Clouser to recreate the track. The original composer was busy with other projects at the time, although he said Clouser's handiwork sounds pretty identical to his original. 

This season's opener builds on Dávila-Irizarry's and Clouser's track even more.




For the "Hotel" opening credits, sound designer Mac Quayle layered in a synthetic melody over the tune we'd gotten used to, adding a sort of gothic Roaring '20s sound. (Fans can probably expect more opening-sequence variation in future seasons.) 

As some have started calling the opening sequence the scariest part of the whole show, we can imagine how "AHS" might elicit fewer thrills set to a more chipper soundtrack.

So as those terrors -- ghostly children, a skeletal woman in moth-eaten lace -- flash before your screen, remember the college student recording a bunch of ho-hum closet organizers dropping to the floor, the former rockstar charged with recreating it note for note, and the sound guy shrouding it all in faux strings.

 

Also on HuffPost:

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.













Source: http://feeds.huffingtonpost.com/c/35496/f/677553/s/4afcc121/sc/3/l/0L0Shuffingtonpost0N0C20A150C10A0 ... and provided by entertainment-movie-news.com

Man Appears to Have Bought, Hoarded 10,000 Stolen Guns: Sheriff




Days after an unusual weekend raid in the small town of Pageland, South Carolina, officials are still trying to figure out just what a local man was doing with thousands upon thousands of guns. 

Chesterfield County Sheriff's deputies discovered the astonishing stash of firearms Friday night while raiding the Pageland home of Brent Nicholson. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division said Monday the estimate of weapons still varied, but could range between 7,000 to 10,000 weapons -- many of them never used. 

“There were so many guns we quit counting after a while,” Sheriff Jay Brooks told the Charlotte Observer over the weekend. 

Investigators told WSOCTV they believe Nicolson was buying the stolen guns and possibly hoarding, but not reselling, them.

Deputies also found more than 500 chainsaws, taxidermy deer heads, alligator heads, air compressors and four-wheelers, the paper reported. 





Nicholson, 51, was arrested during a traffic stop the morning after the raid and charged with possession of stolen property. 

Investigators are now working to see which of Nicholson's items may be connected to various stolen property cases in the area.

Chesterfield County deputies discovered the haul while serving Nicholson with a subpoena for drug trafficking charges earlier in the week, WBTV-5 reports. 

Deputies spotted several stolen goods in plain sight -- Nicholson's front yard -- and called a judge for a search warrant for the full property. 


County records show that Nicholson had a lengthy record of at least 20 charges that include things ranging from minor traffic violations to unlawful sale and possession of firearms. Records show all of the charges were either dismissed or disposed by a judge. 

The Chesterfield sheriff told WSOCTV that Nicholson had been on his department's radar for a while. "His name always popped up regarding stolen property, and we finally got enough info for a search warrant." 

 A South Carolina Law Enforcement Division spokesman said it was assisting Chesterfield County deputies and was joined in the effort by at least four other nearby counties, including some in neighboring North Carolina. 

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.













Source: http://feeds.huffingtonpost.com/c/35496/f/677553/s/4afca64b/sc/28/l/0L0Shuffingtonpost0N0C20A150C10A ... and provided by entertainment-movie-news.com

Baby Panda Kindergarten is the Cutest Thing You'll See All Day

Brace yourself for cuteness overload.

Fifteen baby pandas are the newest members of panda "kindergarten" at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in China. At the weekend, the center held an opening ceremony for the 2016 class of cubs, which includes six sets of twins.


The pandas were bred earlier this year via artificial insemination and are "graduating" from the breeding center now that they're bigger.

The Chengdu center breeds and rears giant pandas to increase population quantity and quality, and has successfully bred 172 newborn giant pandas over the last 20 years. 

Giant pandas are an endangered species, and less than 1,900 currently live in the wild, according to the World Wildlife Fund. 

Scroll down to check out more adorable baby panda pictures from the ceremony:


Also on HuffPost:



-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.













Source: http://feeds.huffingtonpost.com/c/35496/f/677553/s/4afcf90d/sc/14/l/0L0Shuffingtonpost0N0C20A150C10A ... and provided by entertainment-movie-news.com