Kuchi-paku Dancing Animal Speakers

Anyone who saw a recent episode of The Good Wife would recall this scene with Cary and his investigator Andrew Wiley at the latter's home about some missing interview pages when the latter calls the State's Attorney Glenn Childs and this happens:

I don't know about anyone else, but hearing the voice of Glenn Childs coming out of a dancing lion speaker gives me the giggles. So I give everyone in the scene props for keeping their faces straight.

Happily enough, the Kuchi-paku stuffed animal speakers also come in other animal forms like elephants, rabbits, pandas, penguins, frogs, polar bears, etc. depending on the vendor. Online, prices seem to range from USD70 - USD100 before shipping, so you might want to take the item price + shipping costs into consideration. Makes a great gift too, if it wasn't so hard to find in person.

Never mind that it uses 3 AA batteries to move like that, but you have to admit they're pretty cute and not Furby creepy. Imagine using these in a conference call - that would be HILARIOUS.

Now I kind of want one of these. Anyone know where to get a reasonably-priced one with shipping to Malaysia? Or even a local brick and mortar store?

Sucked into Angry Birds

Image by lbela76 via FlickrAfter months of hearing about that mobile game Angry Birds and feeling a little left out because I don't have the right device to play this with, the Windows PC (XP and 7 only) version is finally available for sale as a download - it was $4.99 for a while, but the full price is $9.99 if I'm not wrong.

The gist of Angry Birds is that they're basically suicidal birds that are trying to get their revenge on these pigs for stealing their eggs.

Being the resourceful cheapskate that I am, it wasn't long before I found a copy on the interwebs. I don't know if it's just the copy I got, but it's only got 4 levels, which is enough for me honestly because I don't think I can keep up with the holiday editions and the rest of it.

I've unlocked all the levels, but it's hard going getting three stars on some of those levels, even after you watch walkthrough videos on YouTube. I think the only level I've finished with three stars on each theme was #4 - The Big Setup. I've been playing it so much I've got RSI on the right side of my body from all that mouse clicking so I've been cutting down the play hours and frequency.

Much as I've enjoyed playing it, but I don't think I'll go so far as to get the plush toys or the board game.

Related articles

• "Angry Birds" Now Available for Windows XP & Windows 7 (mashable.com)

Cute and useful wedding favour

The 'rents came home at about 11 something from the wedding dinner at the PJ Hilton. According to them, the makan was not bad. (It'd better be, as it IS a Hilton hotel, after all). Times like this I wish I could've gone instead, but what the hey - it was nice not having them around once in a while.

For Chinese wedding dinners in KL, the favours for the guests such as sweets or (usually) chocolates for the most part come in mostly useless, disposable cardboard boxes that you don't even bother bringing home after you eat whatever it holds before or after dinner.

I'm not sure if it's a move to reduce cardboard use or because it is the Hilton, but the guest favour from them is probably one of the more useful ones I've seen over the years: the piece of chocolate (not bad for milk chocolate) came in this tiny tin...

Which tells you that it is:

a) a Hilton wedding favour, and
b) they do wedding dinners with some class (unlike certain members of the Hilton family... :P)

I'll find some use for it, no worries :D