Happy Thought for 13 October 2023

First, a couple of quick updates.

1. Happy Friday the 13^th, in October, no less: spooooky
2. If you’re in Aotearoa New Zealand, make sure to vote!
3. Fat Bear Week has identified a clear winner, with Grazer gaining the most votes. Like her name implies, she is very good at eating, but in previous years she had to feed a cub or two. This year, she had no cub to look after so she was able to pack on those pounds all for herself. Here’s her before-and-afters:

Grazer looking quite svelte in early July

 

Grazer by the end of September:

 

4. Those beautiful manhole covers I mentioned last week? Turns out you can buy some of them. At least, you can if you live in Japan. I shudder to think of the overseas shipping cost if you order them from anywhere else…

 

Hokay, now Have a Happy Thought:

Auckland Council recently published a report of the most (and least) common names for dogs, as registered in the region over the past year. While we may not have photos, I think each of you can image the adorableness that comes with these names. Charlie was the most popular male dog name, with over 1,000 dogs sharing that name. Meanwhile, there are over 1,500 dogs named Bella in the region. Here’s a list of the top 10 most common names: 

Male dogs		Female dogs
Charlie	1048	Bella	1538
Max	977	Luna	974
Buddy	744	Molly	933
Rocky	633	Poppy	931
Milo	615	Coco	888
Toby	610	Ruby	828
Teddy	577	Daisy	715
Oscar	544	Rosie	671
Archie	536	Roxy	616
Bear	477	Nala	595

 

The report also called out a couple of uncommon, but very notable names:

         Thor, God of Barking and Destroyer of Toys

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore

 For those that prefer videos, and/or cats, I recommend the YouTube and/or tiktok channel of Walter the Catt where we see, through the owner’s eyes, the majesty that is the wizard-cat Walthazarbobalthazarfeefiefofalthazar III (also known as Walter, or sometimes Waltito, for short).