Friday, September 9, 2011

Some favorite Bunny-filled commercials!

Hello,
I've been thinking about some of my favorite commercials with bunnies in them and figured I'd try to get a small video collection started here.  Let me know what you think and share your own favorites with me here too in the comments too! Thanks!

The Energizer Bunny
 Would you believe that this commercial was actually an answer to the Duracell Bunny commercial?
Duracell only continued their commercials in Europe when the Energizer Bunny took hold in America.

How about the Cadbury Bunny

The Sony Bravia commercial which I discovered after we bought our Sony Bravia TV. I was googling the TV name and this commercial came up.  What a pleasant surprise indeed!

Then there's this extremely adorable one for the New York Lottery!
Who can resist?
I think some of the bunnies are real and some are either CGI or mechanized. I am amazed at how this commercial came out.
Then here is one of  my all time favorites, The Visa Bunny Check Card Commercial.
There are some commercials with rabbits that I don't like, for example, i.e., a Subaru commercial where a mother is driving her daughter to dump their bunnies in the woods. I will not show that one. I believe they withdrew it for it drew a lot of complaints.
I'm not super fond of Bugs Bunny as a rabbit for some reason or the Trix Rabbit. To me, they don't represent rabbits, although the Energizer Bunny isn't real. I think Bugs and the Trix one are just connivers and that's the root of my dislike.
Well, one more for the road. Not a favorite, but just one more I thought of that I like.
The Nestle Quik Bunny

He's pretty cute, wouldn't you say!?
Which is your favorite? Post links to your favorites in the comments!
I may do this again as I think of or discover more I haven't thought of.
Tell me what you think! I want to hear your thoughts and opinions. Thanks.
Have a great day!
Mary Ellen
Visit the Rabbit Hop Shoppe!

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Some of My Favorite Movies with Rabbits in them!


Hello there,

I thought that I would like to share about some of my favorite movies featuring rabbits. There are some I would like to see for future posts.

One of my favorites is “Miss. Potter”, which is about Beatrix Potter, who wrote the infamous Peter Cottontail books for children. Renee Zellwegger does a great job playing Miss Potter. The acting is done well. It starts from when Beatrix Potter was a little girl, who even had a pet rabbit in her house, in the movie. She would draw pictures of this rabbit and many other creatures. There are some great little pieces of animation which demonstrate young Beatrix Potter's vibrant imagination.

The movie goes on to explore Miss Potter's passion for writng and animals, as well as her struggles as a female writer trying to get published in the 19th century in England. There is also some romance and triumph in this tale told, which is loosely based on her life. She became a staunch conservationist and protector of animal rights in the day. I didn't see it in the theater because at the time it only had a limited release, due to some idiot's decision thinking it wasn't going to make some money. This movie is a nice charming escape and I own it on DVD just so I can watch it whenever and as many times as I want. Here are a couple of links:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0482546/  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_Potter     and the movie trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMDMD7q101I

Another one, which you might not expect is “Amazing Grace”. This movie focuses on the British struggle to legislate anti-slavery laws, which is run by the man, John Wilburforce, who wrote the hymn for which the movie is named. His character's struggles and personality are quite interesting and inspirational. One thing that he did have was a fondness for animals, and like Beatrix Potter, he was a supporter of animal rights. He had several animals at his home, including one or two rabbits that lived in the house with him. The movie, in itself, is based on the true story and real people! An excellent high-caliber movie to watch! I also own this on DVD. Here are some links: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0454776/ 

I'll share one more for today, and save more for another post. Having just realized that this one, as well as the other two, takes place in England also! It is Wallace & Gromit: Curse Of The Were-Rabbit. It is a Claymation animation done in England based on two popular characters named Wallace and Gromit. The claymation is amazing and painstakingly done. Even in the age of CGI (Computer Graphic Imaging), this was done all by hand. The movie came out in 2005 and the work on the claymation began before 9/11 hit in 2001! The humor is entertaining for children and adults, without anything being offensive. I don't want to give any spoilers, the story will speak for itself. It is not a frightening story and is also very animal friendly. Also, have this one on DVD. Here are some links: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0312004/   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallace_%26_Gromit:_The_Curse_of_the_Were-Rabbit

Some movies I will talk about in future posts are: Harvey (the Harry Andersen version), The Night of the Lepus, Watership Down, (not sure if I'm forgetting any at the moment-I think I am).

I would like to see Hop!, Donnie Darko, Harvey (the Jimmy Stewart version) still and comment on them.

If you have any suggestions for movies for me to see or review, I would be very open to hearing from you in the comments section. Also, any comments you have about these movies or thoughts I would love to hear from you also!

Thanks for joining me today! Please follow this blog through e-mail, or follow through any other way which is available on this page. I don't mention the ways because if you are reading this page in the future of when this was written, then the information I provide might not be accurate.

See you soon!
Mary Ellen
 

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Rabbit Hurricane-Stress Recovery

Hello,
Thanks for joining me here again today! I'm happy you're here. The electricity has come back to most people in our area of Connecticut, other areas are starting to be repaired, trees and their debris are getting cleared away and my rabbits are in generally back-to-normal shape after their stress induced illnesses of last week. It is nice to be moving back to normal.

Losing sleep over them is not easy, nor comforting.  Struggling with a very resistant bunny, like Tribble, when trying to give him medicine is not fun either. At one point he looked he was near death's door.  I asked for prayers among Twitter and Facebook friends, and I tried some short-distance reiki healing energy work with him. Some people may roll their eyes, but I find that there is really something to it. I said prayers myself for the little guy as well. It was painful to see him fighting so hard when trying to medicate him. His resistance was exhausting him all the more.
We had picked up pain meds from the vet, already to use, and Critcal Care food for force feeding.  Although I've done it before, usually force-feeding rabbits is not an easy task. I did arm myself by watching some instructional videos on YouTube. They didn't have these the last time I had to go through with this. I did learn some stuff that did even help making the medication time a bit easier as well. This one is a bit funny but gives the basic idea. I think it is good to have a good sense of the fragility of rabbits and be used to handling them before trying this using common sense.  Another video done by a vet's office I found was very well done and extremely helpful.

I think the prayers, constant petting and attention, getting some little bit of exercise time (to keep/get things moving in the digestive area) were helpful. Miraculously after going to the extra effort of obtaining the pain med and force-feeding materials the night before, Tribble was nibbling on hay when I woke up and I saw some of his water was gone in his water bottle. As I started watching him and giving him more affectionate attention in the beginning of the day, he seemed to be doing much better with eating, alertness and defacating more normally. He didn't appear to be in pain that day and more active, so I waited on giving pain meds and force feeding.  He didn't seem to need anything. No tooth grinding (loud and constant is usually a sign rabbits are in pain) like the days before. So under a constant watch, I withheld using the Critical Care/ force-feeding  and the pain meds. I didn't want to push stressing him out, as long as he was eating, drinking, pooping and more active closer to normal. I think I really was blessed and lucky to see this change.

After monitoring him for days on this status, he has just shown constant improvement. He is finishing up his antibiotic meds with as much fight as before, but is more co-operative once the tiny little syringe is in his mouth. I think it helps that it is banana flavored!

My shy, reserved little gentleman bunny is nearly back to his old self and I am extremely happy to share it with you! My other bunny Grumbellina, mentioned in my previous post in dealing with the hurricane stress illness is totally back-to-normal. I have put her on a new diet of Timothy pellets and Timothy hay and she has adjusted to that without any problems. It's just that vulture-like side she has in her!

Thank you so much for joining me and my bunnies here. I hope that the two video links I posted about force-feeding rabbits are helpful.

Hoping you have a wonderful day!
Til next time,
Mary Ellen
The Rabbit Hop Shop