A disproportionate number of baby clothes designs and even toys contain elephants. None contain donkeys. I feel like my baby is being groomed to be a Republican. I kid, the likelihood that she will end up a Republican is considerably less than average. But it’s kind of odd. Elephants, monkeys, and giraffes. The baby-stuff triumvirate. I guess they can’t put cats and dogs because dog people and cat people would object. But monkeys are safe. And, partisanship aside, elephants.
32 thoughts on “A Republican Conspiracy”
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I saw this lamp and just had to have it.
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=12475992&CAWELAID=1260990301&pla=plab&cagpspn=pla
Those two could be up to anything! Where do you think they’re going?!?!
And, yes, those are the two phrases I repeatedly yell every time I see it, much to Zazzy’s chagrin.
Elephants are dope and fit a broader “jungle animal” motif, even though the animals typically associated with the motif are better described as animals of the grasslands. Donkeys? Boooooooooring.Report
The problem with elephants is that it’s hard to articulate the sound they make. So when I am holding the cube in front of Lain and saying “Monkey! Monkey! Ook Ook!” to introduce her to words and sounds… I had a lot of difficulty when it came to elephants.
I decided to go with “Elephant! Elephant! Stomp! Stomp!” because presumably they are loud stompers.Report
I do an activity with my students using the “Old McDonald” song to teach some basic decoding strategies. The elephant one is hard, but the kids usually over power my sounds anyway so I can get away with a slight whimper.Report
You need a tenor sax (expensive) or a plastic theater trumpet (cheap).
The only way to make an authentic elephant call if you’re human.Report
My exhusband is great at the elephant sound. Junior loves it but now he expects me to be good at it; not so much.Report
In Japanese we tend to say that elephant sounds are a bit like a “Pa-ohhhhh” but I don’t know if that gets the essence of the sound across correctly.Report
Japan loves sound effects. 😉Report
Thats one of the most adorable things I ever saw in my life.Report
I know, right?!?!?! I was so excited when we went to buy it that Zazzy had to shush me, leading to this response:
“Ya know, I’m finally excited about this pregnancy and it’s because of this lamp. You should be happy!”
I was being mildly hyperbolic.Report
just have to ask. did saying that result in a wifeslap to the back of your head?Report
Elephants are almost too sapient to stay in the animal category. The longer I live, the blurrier the line between animals and people becomes for me.
There were wild elephants in West Africa by the rivers when I was a kid. They would sometimes come raiding cornfields and orchards but the baboons were far more destructive and violent. Hippos scared me to death: hippos will kill people without provocation.
Elephants are wise and they vocalise in many ways. They have a way of thundering, hard to describe, it’s a subsonic rumble you can feel.Report
I agree. I have a feeling that one day we will really regret what we have done to elephants (and dolphins, and chimps, and whales, etc).
That subsonic seismic communication (they “receive” through their feet and trunks, standing/placing them in such a way so as to triangulate the signal’s origin direction) can go up to 10 miles.Report
At some point, we’ll have a communications breakthrough. Hoo boy… I wouldn’t want to be around when the elephants and dolphins start talking back: I don’t think they’ll give us much praise and thanks for how we’ve behaved.
But then, sapience hasn’t served as any deterrent for how we treat our fellow humans.
My personal totem animal is the snow leopard. I went to Como Zoo, didn’t realise they had one. I suppose they treat the animals as well as possible, it seems to be a well-run facility. Yet for all that, I saw this animal through the plexiglas and burst into tears, not from some maudlin wish for this leopard to be returned to his mountains. It was the realisation that animal was probably safer in his cage, miserable as he was, than back in those hills, where he’d probably end up in a snare and his pelt sold.
It’s embarrassing, being a human being, sometimes.Report
Obligatory: http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=20516&stc=1&d=1203463732Report
Yeah BP, but then you figure all the love we will get from our cats and dogs. or most of us will get the love I mean.Report
Dolphins might be sapient but if recent observations are right, lots of them seem to be what humans would call psychopaths. Scientists found evidence that dolphins engage in what we would call gang rape and murder for fun.
Elephants are giving us an example of evolution in actions. The number and percentage of elephants born without tusks are increasing because of poaching. Being a tusk-less elephant is now a desirable trait that gets selected for.Report
I chose not to find out the sex of my child and so I got lots of ducks and turtles. I suspect I got more turtles than the average person because everyone in my life knows that I love aquatic (or semi aquatic) turtles.Report
Elephants are generally considered cute and fanciful animals.
I don’t think anyone has ever considered a donkey to be a cute animal.Report
After Shrek, maybe?Report
With Eddie Murphy’s voice? I don’t think so.Report
People haven’t seen those little miniature ones. They’re adorable. Report
That breaks my cute-meter. When will you send out a replacement?Report
And dinosaurs. Kids love them.Report
I see cats and dogs. Monkeys, giraffes, elephants. Dinosaurs, yes. Sharks are big for toddler stuff, not so much on babywear. Kangaroos.
Eeyore is a donkey, so sometimes.Report
Who wants to play with a donkey?Report
I hear they have whole shows in Mexico….Report
Who, indeed? They’re always banning all the fun toys.Report
Well played.Report
Also, what does Donkey Kong have to do with donkeys?
Nothing?
You be the judge:
http://www.snopes.com/business/misxlate/donkeykong.aspReport
Monkeys aren’t donkeys, quit messing with my head.Report
So is Winnie the Pooh a tool of the democrats? Or is it Republicans trolling democrats about losing their tails?Report
Winnie-the-Pooh went over to rabbit’s house and ate him out of house and home and got so fat that he couldn’t leave.
He’s obviously Libertarian.Report