Here is a cool story about Joe the Truck and Frank, his pet duck. Joe offers the very insightful tidbit, “As stupid as it sounds, maybe if everyone had a duck in their life, people wouldn’t be so mad at eachother.”
The Valentine’s Day movie is packed full of celebrities which cater to all demographics and tastes. From Patrick Dempsey and Jessica Alba, to Julia Roberts and Jamie Foxx. However, the real stars of the movie are the little ducklings which make perhaps the most picturesque shot in the movie.
While Valentine's Day was packed full of big Hollywood stars, the ducklings were the ones to steal the show.
As the movie draws to a close and the topsy turvy convolutions of characters and subplots are being resolved, we see the lovable floralist (played by Ashton Kutcher) tossing the unsold flower petals into a stream from a bridge. He is reflecting on the transpirations of the day, when he sees 4 little ducklings swim through the petals on the water. While the ducklings’ moment in the Hollywood spotlight is brief, they definitely steal the show with their cuteness.
Where did the producers of this film obtain the ducklings they sought after to convey the film’s emotions? They purchased their birds from eFowl.com – the web’s leader in ducks and chickens for sale. The breeds of the birds which swam by were 2 Pekins and 2 Rouens. These are both domesticated breeds, and what domestic ducklings would be doing in an LA creek on their own in the middle of the night is perhaps a detail left best unquestioned. From the size of the birds, they look to be about 3-4 weeks old when the filming took place.
eFowl.com frequently supplies animal training companies with animal actors for everything from major Hollywood movies to local commercials.
Ducks are thrilled that they are now allowed in Huntington, NY
A few weeks ago we explained a legal battle where Huntington, NY duck owners Nina Tam and her daughter Ava Post were battling local regulations to allow them to keep their small, domestic flock of birds. Like many duck owners across the country, they utilize their egg laying ducks to provide them with a safe and healthy alternative to chicken eggs. Nina Tam has a food allergy to chicken eggs, and duck eggs have offered the perfect nutritional solution.
We are happy to report that this brave duo succeeded in going through the appropriate legislative channels to have their local regulations changed such that up to 8 ducks can now be owned in the town of Huntington, NY. Through the use of social media such as a Facebook page and an online petition, Nina Tam and Ava Post were able to garner enough support to form a cohesive argument as to why their flock is not a nuisance, and should be allowed to remain.
This victory follows a rising trend of legalizing backyard poultry.
We at FowlBlog.com would like to congratulate Nina and Ava for opening the door for so many to enjoy this environmental and engaging hobby.
The Duck Amendment will be announced at a Town Hall Board meeting at 7pm on January 12th at 100 Main St. Huntington, NY.
We've all heard of rubber ducks before, but this one is a bit ridiculous.
I recently wrote a blog post on the ways that ducks come to symbolize various elements of American culture. Specifically, I explored how Scrooge McDuck embodies capitalism in the United States.
It is worth further exploring this notion in light of a recent pop culture display in Saturday Night Live’s recurring sketch Weekend Update, the ever relevant bastion of American satirical news.
You can view the quick sketch here -
During this interview with the Weekend Update anchors, we see Scrooge McDuck (played by Andy Samberg) gloating about his sound investment strategy of owning pure gold. By owning nothing but gold coins, he has limited his risk exposure rather than subjecting his financial well being to the ebbs and flows of the US stock market. I believe this hyperbolic boast has some legitimate economic commentary.
The primary investment vehicle of the average American is the 401k. However, did you know that you cannot directly own gold (or fine art) with your 401k? Granted, you can invest in securities which have an interest in gold, but you cannot actually own the precious metal as Scrooge McDuck does.
In order to receive the tax-deferred benefits of a 401k, you cannot invest in a collectible since it creates little to no economic capital for growth. Thus, the chief vehicle of American investing inherently discourages the conservatism that has yielded so much wealth for Scrooge McDuck in a cyclical economy.
There is a fundamental conflict of interest between the individual investor and Wall Street when the manner of investment is the 401k. While a 401k can be an excellent tool to grow personal wealth, it also can be a mechanism for a relatively small number of Wall Street bankers to enslave the discretionary capital of the masses via enticement with tax benefits and the illusion of a worry free retirement.
Of course, the intention of the SNL sketch was not to illustrate this point. However, when one examines the roots of Scrooge McDuck, and his evolving reflection of American capitalism, it becomes apparent that the financial practices which made him wealthy, and the fiscal policies which gave him and all other Americans the opportunity to become wealthy, are today being suppressed by the interests of Wall Street plutocrats.
A Plutocracy has nothing to do with this Pluto
It is also worth noting that in this SNL sketch we see Scrooge McDuck lament his freakish and isolated nature brought on by his fowlish form. He claims that he was once a human, but the side effects of swimming in gold coins have yielded diseases polymorphing him into a duck. He even goes so far as to say, “My life is like a deleted scene from The Island of Dr. Moreau.” This aboration of devolving from a human to a duck , although not a part of official Disney Scrooge McDuck cannon, is similar to my own commentary in which I wrote -
[Scrooge McDuck's] ambition and material greed have placed him up as a duck for sale, owned more by his riches and their ensuing responsibilities than his own character. Thus Scrooge McDuck may be able to swim through oceans of gold coins in his expansive mansion, but he will always be a goofy, waddling duck – holed up to live in solitude in his fortress of lonely extravagance.
However, in the end of this SNL bit, Scrooge McDuck decrees that “It’s worth it! Gold coins!”
Is it worth it?