Neatorama has received an update on the story of the amazing dog Skidboot.

We were not ready to start our blog just yet but this needed to be mentioned. Skidboot, an amazing dog, has left us. This was an outstanding example of the relationship between owner and dog that faced many an issue and overcame them through effort.
We have put together a brief tribute to Skidboot and David named “Skidboot Has Left Us” on YouTube along with a link to the Texas Country Reporter segment.

Skidboot was neither a Briard (a herding dog of French origin) nor a Gordon setter (a birddog) that we will be writing about in our blog. He and David are an excellent example of that wide and diverse world of partnerships between man and dog that we will also explore.

I first met Skidboot and David at the State Fair of Texas in the late 90’s. It was amazing even then to see the close partnership between them even then. I remember last fall when their story seemed to be everywhere on the internet as well as TV. One of the best segments was the Texas Country Reporter piece by Bob Phillips .They appeared with Leno, Letterman, Oprah and many others. Internet hits were over four million.

The segment points out how Skidboot was not an easy dog to handle in the beginning (a trait that can also be found in both Briards and Gordons). It took work on David’s part to bring out the best in Skidboot. The segment also pointed out that the dog was going blind and the future was uncertain. Monday (3/26/07) David was talking to one of the Dallas radio folks with his “bittersweet news” – Skidboot was dead but now he could see and frolic with the likes of Lassie and Rin Tin Tin.

David will not be alone in missing his partner, Skidboot - millions of others will also!

Tom
BriardsTexas

Push play or go to YouTube. Thanks, Tom.

The Harry Potter gang portrayed by the Potter Puppet Pals! This video by Neil Cicierega is cute, but watch to the end before you show the kids. Push play or go to YouTube. Link to puppet site. -via Meerschweinchenreport (Hamlet Hamster)

Male Birds of Paradise in Papua, New Guinea have a bizarre courtship dance you must see to believe. This fellow's "housecleaning" beforehand is pretty impressive, too! Push play or go to YouTube. -via I-Am-Bored

This baby duck is feeding fish that are twice his size! I don’t know if its duck feed or fish food, but they seem to enjoy it. Just too cute not to share. Push play or go to YouTube. -via Videosift

Dinner in the Sky is a Brussels based restaurant that serves dinner for up to 22 people... 150 feet in the air! The specially-designed table and chairs are lifted by a crane. Dinner anywhere in Belgium will set you back almost 8 million thousand euros, other locations are also available. Remember, you must wear your seat belt, and don’t drop your fork! Link -via Cynical-C

I am trying to teach my children not to take electric devices into their baths, and here comes a toy like this. Darth Duck Fadar is a rubber duckie shaped like Darth Vader with lights that flash different colors when in contact with water. http://www.gadgets.co.uk/item/DUCKVADER/Darth-Duck-Fadar.html

Uberview has a listing of what fashionable geeks will be wearing this season. You can dress head-to-toe in clothing that does something technical, or else speaks to the world of who you are. Like these Nintendo boxer shorts. Link -via Gorilla Mask

This pie chart makes it easy to see that, contrary to popular belief, the US is not indebted to foreign countries as much as to ourselves. That's still a lot of debt! The Skeptical Optimist has the statistics, and an enlargable pie chart. Link

A Chinese housecat named Agui can pronounce his own name. He only does it when he feels stressed, like when he gets a bath. Push play or go to YouTube. Link to article.

I once had a cat who could do that. His name was Mao.

Bonjour Viet Nam is a music slideshow featuring stunning pictures of Vietnam by photographers Hoang Nhiem, Doan Duc Minh, Phan Hong Hai and others. I had a hard time selecting just one as an illustration. The song Bonjour Vietnam was written by Marc Lavoine and performed by Pham Quynh Anh. Link -via Grow-A-Brain

Japanese billionaire Genshiro Kawamoto is a real estate developer in Hawaii. He has a history of renting homes below market value to low-income Hawaiians, but now he’s selecting native Hawaiians to rent luxury homes for only $150 a month. Four of eight families have been selected from 3,000 applicants. He said he is renting the homes "because the affluent people can help the least fortunate people." http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/03/20/billionaire.charity.ap/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

Richard Klavans and Kevin Boyack mapped different scientific disciplines to show their relationships with each other, and where the research is being done. You can find what disciplines are studied by geographical location, industries, institutions, or topics. They analyzed 1.6 million scientific articles to contruct the maps! For example: the map on the left represents all the disciplines; the map on the right shows that in Boston, research is primarily concentrated in the medical field (red). Link. More information here. -via Metafilter

Shorpy calls itself “the 100-year-old photo blog.” Not all the pictures are that old, but they are pretty old. And fascinating. This picture is the corner of 34th and Broadway in New York in 1914. Link -via Metafilter

Xavier, a ten-month old kitten in Rhode Island, is disabled and cannot walk or support his own weight. He is under the care of an educator from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. A fourth grade class in Oklahoma heard of Xavier’s plight and raised $500 to buy a custom kitty wheelchair. Now he can get around! Link (with video) -via Arbroath

Don't get too impressed. This was originally supposed to be the "Animated Gears of War Shirt" but by the time we strapped a 360 to the back of the shirt and added a flatscreen to the front it just wasn't feasible. The test subjects kept falling over, no one liked the car battery power supply duct taped to their leg and don't even get us started on the price.

This animated t-shirt from Think Geek runs on two AAA batteries, conceled in an inside pocket. The image screen is removable for laundry time. A video of the shirt in action is also available. Link -via Grow-A-Brain