These animal head masks that move their mouths as you speak are described as “realistic” or “life-like” on a few websites. I wouldn’t say that they’re very realistic-looking at all, maybe veering more towards the WTF? side, in my opinion. I can’t quite place my finger as to why I find them exactly so unsettling. Maybe it’s because they look like freakin’ roadkill that’s come to life?! I’m imagining zombie roadkill robbing a bank or some bizzare-ass party where everyone is sporting one of these but otherwise naked. Very Island of Dr. Moreau, too (the one with Marlon Brando, natch).

The flexible strap inside the mask keeps it secure while the soft cushion rests against your chin, so the animal’s mouth moves when you talk. This lets you naturally create a very unnatural effect. The life-like faux fur provides the detail needed to complete the freaky facade.

You have a choice of three styles: pug dog, wolf, and fox. Each one sells for $59.99 over at Vat19. This is next level furrydom.

 
The video shows the masks in action and it’s kind of corny. I can easily think of far more sinister scenarios for these masks.

 
via Geekologie

 
Tomorrow evening large numbers of U.K. viewers are expected to tune into what is being hyped as a startling documentary on Channel 4 called Secret Life of Human Pups. The documentary is about a fascinating subculture of men who have a secret predilection for dressing up as dogs in their spare time, including the donning of special plastic dog outfits, sleeping in cages, eating dog biscuits—they especially adore going out for walks on a leash, or on a “lead” as the British term it.

This morning, on a talk show called This Morning on ITV, British viewers received a sneak preview of the documentary’s content when a fellow named Tom, who likes to dress up as a Dalmatian named Spot, appeared for an interview with a close friend and former fiancée named Rachael. To put it mildly, the program has provided many Britons with a juicy fodder for water cooler conversation.

Tom is a sound and lighting technician in everyday life, and he has spent more than four thousand pounds—that’s nearly $6,000—on his canine accoutrements. Tom has a custom-made rubber suit and a dog crate that he uses for his nighttime slumbers. He says, “It doesn’t look comfortable, but you can curl up in different ways, there is more space than you think.”

According to the documentary, as many as 10,000 “secret pups” live in the United Kingdom. Many of them insist that the practice is not sexual in nature but is rather a response to stress in daily life, a reversion to a simpler state of being. As Tom says, the practice is “an obsession and an escapism. It would be a very boring life if there was no puppy play.”

Baffled viewers took to Twitter to express their befuddlement—and also to register their skepticism that the practice has no sexual component. One woman named Kirsty tweeted: “I’m sorry but him saying it isn’t a sexual thing is lying! It’s extreme bondage gone weird.”

One man quoted only by his puppy name Dynamo, commented, “A lot of them work in high pressure jobs and control a lot of people, they are CEOs and it is a way for them to express themselves in a way they can’t as a human.” Another fellow who becomes a rottweiler named Chip says “When I am not running around on all fours I work in catering.”

After the documentary airs tomorrow night, you can expect a whole new round of office conversation to start up again.

More after the jump…

Cong kisses a guest
 
You ever look at raccoon headlines in the news? They’re often amusing or interesting. Right now on Google News you’ll find the headlines “Raccoon Takes Out Power to Thousands” (Wisconsin) and “Burglary Suspect Turns Out to Be Raccoon” (Florida) and “Raccoon Moved, Twice” (Connecticut).

If you find any of those stories worth clicking on, then you’ll surely be interested in an establishment called Blind Alley in Seoul, South Korea, which counts among its primary features two live raccoons—their names are Cong (male) and Milk (female)—and patrons have the option of staying in the “normal room” (where food can be consumed) or entering the “raccoon room,” in which they can interact with the furry creatures.

The cafe has been a mecca for raccoon lovers for about a year and a half, when Han Song-hee took over the establishment gave Cong and Milk the run of the place. Those who are dubious about the whole concept of a raccoon cafe might be mollified to hear that one of the pair of raccoons was rescued:
 

I adopted Cong from a breeder. Cong’s family has been domesticated from his grandmother’s generation. Since he was alone, I wanted to get him a friend. Milk was one of those raccoons imported to China and destined for pelt or fur coats. I was able to adopt her from one of [the] animal importers.

 
In my experience, there’s not much middle ground on raccoons—either you find them super-cute or you detest them—and that’s If you don’t happen to have a debilitating fear of them. It’s clear who Blind Alley’s target audience is, anyway.

The author of the book on raccoons—literally, he wrote Raccoons, A Natural History—Sam Zeveloff isn’t sure the raccoon cafe is such a good idea: “Raccoons, like other wild animals, typically are not good pets, given that their behaviors are incompatible with ours. ... We should interact carefully with them, from a distance.” Not surprisingly, Zeveloff understands the attraction, however: “Their striking masks, impish faces, lustrous fur, and ringed tails are all aesthetically appealing.”

 

Milk on a walkway
 
More after the jump…

 
You know about the idea of the “memento mori,” right? Memento mori is Latin for “reminder of death” (as well as the title of a peculiar novel by Muriel Spark). The practice of tangible reminders of one’s own impending death dates back to ancient Rome, but it has been common throughout Europe from medieval times up through the present day. In the 16th century, Mary Queen of Scots, for instance, owned a large watch carved in the form of a silver skull that was adorned with some poetry by Horace.

In olden times, memento mori often took the form of human skulls intended to be displayed on one’s desk, as a constant reminder of the fact that “a certain convocation of politic worms” (Hamlet, Act 4, scene iii) will be munching at your very corpse one day or other.

For a contemporary instance of the memento mori, you can’t do much better than the recent work by artist Caitlin T. McCormack. For some years now, McCormack has been fashioning fascinating animal skeletons by crocheting cotton string that has been fortified with glue.

As she writes on her website,
 

The act of stiffening intricately crocheted cotton string with glue produces material that is structurally similar to delicate bone tissue. The string implemented in this process can be viewed as the basic cellular unit of fabrication, and by utilizing media and practices inherited from my deceased relatives, I aim to generate emblems of my diminishing bloodline, embodied by each organism’s skeletal remains.

 
The reference to her “deceased relatives” serves as kind a dog whistle to her death-obsessed devotees in the audience.

 

 

 

 

 
Lots more after the jump…....
 

 
Nature is weird. Case in point, this video of a snake coming out of a toad’s mouth to battle a cat. I’m going to assume that the snake was the toad’s dinner. Otherwise, I have no explanation for what’s going on here. That the snake still has some fight left in him while being actively consumed says a lot about this snake’s own will to survive.

Meanwhile, the cat has no idea what the fuck is going on.

Unfortunately, the video ends before we can see a clear winner. So. Many. Questions. But wow.
 

 
Remember how I blogged about the “sexy” wolf’s head crotch underwear for men a few weeks ago on Dangerous Minds? How could you forget, right? Anyway, who the heck thought that could be topped? Well, either the same company just released a new style or somehow I missed them but we now have “sexy” eagle’s head crotch underwear for men.

If you gotta have ‘em, it appears that you can get them from Amazon Japan or from Chinese online retailer Ali’s Express for around $18.99.

Don’t you wish you could see a photo of who is buying these things?

 
I had no idea LiarTown USA actually had products you can buy! Like these Social Justice Kittens postcards created by LiarTown USA’s Sean Tejaratchi. They come in a set of 12 and are on pre-order for $12 through the Reading Frenzy website. The postcards will be released on May 6th.

We’ve blogged about LiarTown USA before here on Dangerous Minds. If you’re not familiar with the site and Tejaratchi’s work, here’s the link.

 
via Boing Boing

 
According to an article by Brian Owens in New Scientist, a German scientist working in the Congo has discovered a fun new fact about gorillas, that they hum and even sing during mealtimes. Food-related calls had been documented in chimpanzees and bonobos, but never in gorillas.

But far from just vocalizing, gorillas appear to generate two different types of sound while eating. One of them was “a steady low-frequency tone” that sounds rather like a sigh of contentment, or a hum:
 

 
The other was “a series of short, differently pitched notes” which resembles “a random melody”:
 

 
And it’s not like they “sing the same song over and over,” commented Luef. “It seems like they are composing their little food songs.”

According to Ali Vella-Irving of the Toronto Zoo, “Each gorilla has its own voice: you can really tell who’s singing. And if it’s their favorite food, they sing louder.”

The behaviors, however, differ according to whether the primates are in captivity or not. In zoos every individual sings during meals, but Luef found that in the wild “it was generally only dominant silverback males that sang and hummed while eating.”

She speculated that vocalizing might be the silverback’s method of informing the group that the meal is not yet concluded and that the time to move on has not yet arrived. “He’s the one making the collective decisions for the group,” Luef says. “We think he uses this vocalization to inform the others ‘OK, now we’re eating.’”

Because there is so much variation in calls both between individuals and species, food calls provide a good way to study the origin of language, says Zanna Clay, a psychologist at the University of Birmingham: “It gives a good insight into the origin of meaning in animal signals, and also the social pressures that might drive the flexibility we see in language.”

 
Apparently it’s my job here at Dangerous Minds to inform our dear readers about the latest trends in men’s underwear. A few weeks ago I directed your eyes towards “sexy” knitted elephant and snake underwear for men and this week it’s wolf’s head underwear. I mean, I totally thought I couldn’t top my last underwear post. But here I am. Blogging about wolf’s head underwear.

You can get these “mens fashion wolf underwear 3D print boxers shorts” from China through Amazon. Here’s the description on Amazon:

• 3D wolf pattern print underwear make man looks sexy and wild
• the wide waist design make man comfortable no tight feeling
• U convex design, large space and breathable
• High quality material and great handwork, perfect gift to boyfriend or husband

If you’re dying to get a pair, they’re only $20.99 for a set of three.
 

 
via Geekologie

No, not Eric Burdon and the Animals, a totally different group

This is as stupid-funny as it gets: A slew of animals cover Pixies’ “Where Is My Mind?”

I was like “Yeah whatever. Impress me” when I first clicked play but as soon as the cat came in, I couldn’t help but be delightfully amused. It’s silliness, yes, but I’m in a slap happy mood today. Where is MY mind?

I think I left it in the car.