#santa barbara zoo

[beardedmrbean]

Apparently the Santa Barbara Zoo has some sentient squeaky toys

[faunalregion]

[rabbitcruiser]

Join Hands Day

Help organize or join an event to benefit your community on Join Hands Day, a day dedicated to coming together with others to make things better.

Join Hands Day lights up the first Saturday of May each year, making it a day dedicated to volunteering and bridging the gap between different generations.

In 2024, this celebration falls on May 4th. It’s a special day, initiated in the year 2000 by the American Fraternal Alliance in partnership with the Points of Light Foundation.

This day isn’t just about offering your time for a good cause; it’s about bringing together the energy and wisdom of both younger and older generations to foster understanding and cooperation across age divides.

Why celebrate? It’s simple yet profound: volunteering strengthens communities by providing essential services and support and enriches the lives of volunteers.

Engaging in volunteer work can enhance mental health, boost social skills, and even improve job prospects, especially for young people. Moreover, Join Hands Day emphasizes the power of collective effort across generations, encouraging a blend of experiences and perspectives to achieve common goals.

The spirit of Join Hands Day is all about unity and collaboration. Whether you’re sharing knowledge through a skills exchange, participating in a local clean-up, or simply spreading awareness about the importance of volunteering, every action counts.

It’s a celebration of our shared humanity, highlighting how much stronger we are when we join hands and work together. Join Hands Day reminds us that every day is an opportunity to make a positive impact in the world, one good deed at a time​​​​​​​​.

History of Join Hands Day

Once upon a time, in the year 2000, a bunch of big-hearted people from the American Fraternal Alliance teamed up with the Points of Light Foundation.

Their mission? To spark a day on the first Saturday of May each year when folks of all ages could join forces and spread some kindness. And so, Join Hands Day was born.

This wasn’t just any volunteering day; it had a twist. The idea was to mix things up, get young guns and wise wizards to work together and break down those pesky age barriers.

The first year kicked off with a bang, and the excitement was just getting started. They wanted to make sure everyone got in on the action, so they threw in some cash and shiny awards for some lucky groups, celebrating their awesome projects at a fancy conference. Talk about a party with a purpose!

But wait, there’s more! Imagine fixing bikes for kiddos who needed them or sprucing up graveyards to honor the past. That’s the kind of magic Join Hands Day aimed for, turning simple acts into treasures of togetherness.

Even though it’s all about that first Saturday in May, there was this one time in 2001 when the celebration took a little detour to June. Guess they couldn’t wait to spread more joy!

Today, Join Hands Day keeps the spirit alive, making every first Saturday in May a day to remember. From book readings in nursing homes to planting new life in parks, it’s all about sharing skills, laughter, and a whole lot of love​​​​​​​​.

How to Celebrate Join Hands Day

Treasure Hunt for Good

Team up for Adventure: Gather friends from different generations for a community treasure hunt. Together, seek out hidden volunteer opportunities. It’s fun with a splash of kindness!

Skill Swap Extravaganza

Learning Across Ages: Host a day where everyone shares their skills. Young teach old, old teach young. It’s a learning party for all ages!

Community Garden Gathering

Green Thumbs Unite: Join hands to plant a community garden. It’s a celebration of growth, not just for plants but also for friendships.

The Great Cook-off

Culinary Time Travel: Challenge each other to a cook-off. Create dishes from various eras. Share food, stories, and a hearty laugh over the dinner table.

Time Capsule Creations

Preserve Today for Tomorrow: Craft a time capsule together. Fill it with memories, gadgets, and guesses about the future. Seal it with a promise to revisit it together.

Each paragraph brings to life a unique way to celebrate Join Hands Day, emphasizing fun, learning, and community engagement across generations.

Source

[hippopotatomus]

Capybara Spotters Report

Capybaras have been spotted! Seen, I meant they have been seen, in zoos all over the place.

[try-set-me-on-fire]

Can I do a soft prompt not on the list ? I love your writing 😊 Buck and Eddie driving back from a zoo trip or something with Chris and Chris falling asleep in the back seat.

Going to count this under “road trip” for list checking purposes. Send me soft prompts! Find the finished ones on ao3!

Sometime in May when the end of school was weeks away but felt like eternity even to a kid who liked the place, Eddie had come home from running errands to find Buck and Chris laying out flat on the living room floor marking up a giant piece of paper. Eddie doesn’t know where they got it - it must be 18x24 at least - or why the floor was the best option for putting it to use - a mystery shortly solved by finding the remains of lunch still scattered over the kitchen table - but Eddie is careful not to step on it or any stray limb or crayon as he makes his way through to put groceries away. When anything perishable is safe someplace cold he comes back to sit between them, at the long edge of the sheet.

“What are you up to?”

“Read the paper, dad,” Chris says, exasperated. Eddie makes a face at him, and Buck tries not to laugh from his spot on the floor. The two of them share a look before Eddie puts his attention on Buck and Christopher’s work. Written at the top of the paper in chunky block letters is BIG SUMMER IDEAS, decorated by a smiling sun with cool guy shades and what Eddie assumes is a flamingo judging by the shades of pink. There’s more writing all over the page, half of it upside down because Chris is laying along the top edge. Eddie picks out BEACH DAY and GARDEN WITH PEPPA and NEW PIZZA (RESTAURANT? INVENT?) and, mirrored in both hand writings and circled twice, ZOO.

“You two aren’t sick of the zoo by now?” Eddie asks, and then raises his hands when they both look scandalized.

“Never!” Buck proclaims. “Besides, San Diego and Santa Barbara are both not that far away, we thought we’d maybe try and branch out.”

Chris nods seriously. “We need to expand our zoo repertoire,” he says, confident around the big new vocabulary word.

“Alright,” Eddie gives in, easily. “This is a big list, we gotta do all of these? I don’t know if we’ll have the time…”

Buck pushes himself up to sitting, and shrugs. “Just ideas. We were getting antsy waiting for Summer, huh?” Chris nods emphatically and Buck grins at him, before looking back at Eddie a little less sure. “Thought we’d write out some things to look forward to. We- you don’t have to do all, or any-“

“We’re definitely going to the zoo,” Chris frowns.

“Except for the zoo, of course.” He still has that look on his face, like he’s overstepped somehow, and Eddie wants to say please don’t apologize for finding a way to make Chris happy when he’s feeling down, and of course “we,” of course you’re coming with us, I haven’t the first idea how to invent new pizza.

“It’s a good list,” is what he says. “We’ll see what we can pack in there.”

That was May, and it’s the end of July now, and history books worth of things have happened in between, and Buck and Eddie’s Relationship (capital R, for Romance) is so new it’s stumbling around on doe legs. Eddie thinks they’ve spent years planting a pretty nice meadow for it to stumble around in, though, and taking his hand in public for the first time ever as they trail Chris around the Santa Barbara Zoo is easy as anything. It helps that they both start laughing - giggling, really, he’s a grown man giggling at the zoo - whenever they make eye contact. They hold hands in front of an island full of tiny little monkeys, and in a cave where you can watch penguins swim around, and by the statue of the giraffe with the crooked neck, and on the train that loops around the whole thing and gets so close to the lion enclosure that it’s almost a little frightening. They spend a fair amount of time not holding hands, too, as Buck and Chris pour over every informational plaque in the place. Eddie is perfectly content to watch them have at it and provide sunscreen reapplications and snacks, probably smiling just as sappily at his two favorite people in the world having a good time as he did at holding hands (holding hands!) with his boyfriend (boyfriend!).

They only stay at the zoo until about four, but they’d had to get up at the crack of dawn to make it up the coast in a reasonable amount of time, especially with the mess of construction Buck had to white knuckle through on the northbound 101 past Ventura. Chris is starting to wilt a little, and Eddie’s running on several cups of coffee, and even Buck has yawned once or twice by the time they’re eating an early dinner at a sandy little outdoor restaurant close to the beach outside of town. A train goes right past during the meal and all three of them stand up for a good look, Buck hefting Chris up on his back for a better vantage point. If Eddie gets distracted by watching the joy on their faces instead of the train, well, his sappiness was never going to be contained just within the walls of the zoo. He finds it a little hard to believe, sometimes, the amount of happiness he gets to experience. It jostles around inside of him like loose parts, or a bag of treasure. He’s been happy before, he’s been happy for years here in LA with the family of the 118 taking root around him, but it’s felt… more, these days, almost dizzying since he and Buck had either suddenly or finally closed the distance. It bubbles away inside of him, somewhere near Camarillo with Chris falling asleep in the back seat and pink California summer sunset light washing over them all. Buck’s got the windows rolled down just a little, to feel the air, and the radio is on low, and Eddie has been trying to leave less things unspoken, so.

“Thank you.”

Buck glances at him with a little smile, then looks back at the road. “For what?”

Eddie shrugs, because how is he supposed to encompass all of it with words? “For driving. For coming with us. For holding my hand.”

Buck’s laugh is just a soft exhale. “I should be thanking you for all that.”

“Even the driving?”

“Okay, well, the construction was bad, but yeah even the driving. You know I don’t mind it.” Buck’s smile is still small, and it feels important, suddenly, to try and get across the enormity of all this.

“Thank you for- everything, Buck. For inventing new pizza.”

Buck laughs loud, and then sheepishly checks Chris in the rear view mirror. Still sleeping. “I don’t think we’ve quite perfected it yet,” he says, quietly. “Give me a few more tries.”

Eddie shakes his head. “I don’t know how to- the time you give us, the- everything- Do you know? How happy you make us? Make me?”

Buck glances at him, twice, three times, keeps his eyes back on the road. “It feels like…” Buck is almost whispering, and gestures at his chest. “Like that little bag of rocks Chris got at the gift shop.”

Eddie laughs, folding a little closer to Buck, because a bag of treasure, they’re sharing metaphors. “Yeah. Like that.”

“I know,” Buck says, like he can’t believe it sometimes either. “You know? Me- me too?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I know." There's hardly been any complete sentences in this conversation but Eddie thinks they've never really needed words to communicate anyway. He knows. Buck knows. "We've still got 23 items on the list."

Buck laughs, and lets go of the steering wheel to grab Eddie's hand again. "Well, tomorrow's a new day. Summer's not over yet."

Eddie thinks, holding Buck's hand with Chris sleeping in the back, on the road headed home, that with each other summer is never going to end.

[papayajuan2019]

day at the santa barbara zoo with my sis

[faith-nerd]

Ultimate Silly Song Showdown: Bonus Results

I'm a statistics nerd, and I like having more than just the one who won the overall tournament, so here's some bonus results, including results from the Midweek Match-Ups and the other themed polls.

Overall Tournament Victor: The Hairbrush Song (1995)

Second place in Tournament: The Water Buffalo Song (1993)

Highest Percentage* (both in Main Tournament and including Midweek Match-Ups): The Dance of the Cucumber (1995) [60 votes (73.1%) of 82 potential votes across 3 polls in main tournament; 86 votes (74.1%) out of 116 potential votes across 4 polls including Midweek Match-Up]

Highest Overall Votes: The Water Buffalo Song (1993) [163 votes (53.1%) of 307 potential votes across 5 polls in main tournament; 183 votes (52%) of 352 potential across 5 polls including Midweek Match-Up]

*Percentages are all based on "Potential Votes" aka: how many total votes were cast in polls that each song competed in? A song isn't going to be penalized percentage-wise for only being in one or two songs.

Midweek Match-Up/Theme Winners:

Boyz in the Sink Song: The Bellybutton Song (2003) [66.7% of 27 votes]

Bonus Pirates Songs: The Credits Song (2002) [48% of 25 votes]

Christmas Songs: Oh, Santa! (1996) [79.2% of 24 votes]

Best Bob and Larry Duet: The Dance of the Cucumber (1995) [76.5% of 34 votes

Puppy Songs: Lost Puppies (2000) [38.9% of 18 votes]

Best Archibald Performance (TIE): Larry's High Silk Hat (2001) and The Biscuit of Zazzamarandabo (2008) [37.9% of 29 votes]

Best Archibald Freak-Out: The Water Buffalo Song (1993) [57.1% of 28 votes]

French Peas being Chaos Gremlins: Lance the Turtle (2006) [73.7% of 19 votes]

Mr. Lunt Performances: His Cheeseburger (1998) [89.5% of 19]

Zany Zoo: Endangered Love (Barbara Manatee) (2000) [41.2% of 17]

Lessons that Stuck with Us: I Love My Lips (1996): The Polish word for "Lips" is "Usta" [38.1% of 21 votes]

Top 5 of Rounds 1-2 Eliminated: Song of the Cebu (1997) [65% of 20 votes]

Bottom 5 of Rounds 1-2 Eliminated: The Blues with Larry (2005) [47.1% of 17 votes]

Best Parody (TIE): Larry's High Silk Hat (2001): Parody of Luigi Denza's "Funiculì, Funiculà" and Pants (2010): Parody of the Home Shopping Network [31.6% of 19 votes]

"Wait, is this actually related to the episode?": Lost Puppies (2000) from Esther: the Girl Who Became Queen [30.8% of 13 votes]

[beanbagbuddies4life]

Topper the Giraffe

Born May 28, 2007 AND January 3, 2012

I can reach high in the trees Up to the leafy canopies I’ll stretch out and I won’t stop Until I can touch the top !

Okay, so, this is one of those beanie babies I don't quite know how to post about. Topper was originally a Beanie Baby 2.0 (the ones with the online code.) After the website shut down, Topper was re-released-- at first with a nearly identical pattern, then with big eyes and a new birthday. All 3 versions share the same poem.

In 2016 a practically identical pattern was used for Santa Barbara Zoo exclusive Buttercup the giraffe. They're different Beanies though!

[rinovarka]

Assorted animal arts I've made this year so far! I love robots, but I think art career wise I think I kinda want to focus on animals too? Anyway:

1)Golden Crested Mango Bat

2)Giraffes I saw at Santa Barbara Zoo in 2022

3) Coco the Stumped Tail Macaque from the show, Monkey Life

4) Nevadadromeus, dinosaur found in Nevada

5) Icthyosaur, Nevada State Fossil

[im-not-a-virgo-im-a-lesbo]

So I am of the people who really don't like the way that Abby's story was presented in the game and think it could've been done way better, so here are my thoughts on how the show could improve upon these things.

Just to be clear, I do like Abby, I think she's a well written character with clear and motivated goals, and I think she's very distinct from other characters.

That being said, I really hated her up until the end.

It took seeing how she refused to fight Ellie for the sake of Lev for it to finally click in my brain that "Oh wait, she's actually a good guy."

I like the game, I'm on my second playthrough of it right now, I think it's fun, I like the story and the characters and I like the development, but the pacing and writing is just not good sometimes.

I mostly have an issue with this for the Seattle portion of the game. Santa Barbara and the beginning were fine for me, but I really don't like the way they fit Abby's story into it.

It was really weird to see some girl kill almost everyone's favorite character, play as the daughter figure of that character, watch her hurt herself and other people in the process because she's so heartbroken, and then as soon as this girl shows up again go "No wait, it's actually okay because her dad died."

The zoo flashback, the scene between Marlene and Jerry, and Abby's reaction to Jerry's death made me sympathetic towards her. And then it cut to Joel's death again, and I was mad at her. All of my sympathy was gone, and she was back to being the person who killed my favorite character.

Abby's portion of Seattle was shittily placed at best and the entire time I played through it for the first time, I kept asking when I'd be able to go back to playing as Ellie.

So this is where the improvements I would make come in.

Like I've seen several other people say before, I would make the majority of season two the build up of what happens to Joel. As in, we don't see him die until the end of the season or near the end.

I would make it a dual POV of both Ellie and Abby and what happened after the events of season one (the birthday, patrol, and hospital flashbacks. I would also keep Owen and Abby's aquarium flashback purely to demonstrate how detached she is because of what happened). I, however, would not make it clear that Jerry was the surgeon that Joel killed and would instead save that for Joel's death scene itself.

The thing that made a lot of people dislike the second game is that we didn't know enough about Abby to like her when she was introduced, so I would have the second season take place years before Joel. I would use the extra time to build Abby's relationships, her fears, her wants, her motivations, and her overall character while doing the same with Ellie.

Now, for Joel's actual death scene, I think instead of just focusing on Ellie the whole time, there should be focus on Abby as well.

I think there should be a moment right before Abby makes the killing blow where we see that Jerry was the surgeon. That's where we see why she's doing this instead of after Ellie's part of Seattle.

I do think that the focus should return to Ellie as Abby kills him, though.

As for the Seth and Porch flashbacks, I think they should stay the same as they are in the game.

The porch flashback was arguably the most heartbreaking moment in the game for me, and I don't think it could be placed anywhere else to make it more impactful than it already is, and putting the Seth flashback anywhere else would feel a bit strange.

As for the gameplay portion of Seattle, I don't really care how they do it as long as it's coherent. The could do one episode dedicated to each person just alternating, they can do exactly the same as they did in the game and have Ellie's story first and then Abby's, I really don't care, my main concern is getting people to actually like Abby before she kills Joel.

[milftigress]

guesstimating where coast city would be in California based on solely Hal’s vibes and Hal’s vibes alone (op is a cali native, LA/valley girl born n raised heheh) based on this ask by soup but specifically the tags bc it got me thinking and I’ve always felt like hal was more a socal girlie than like middle/norcal

saurrrr i have 3 places in mind: -san diego -santa barbara -santa cruz/bay area (in order of most to least likely)

san diego- out of these three areas I think san diego is most likely, like there’s beaches there’s military bases theres two major universities (UCSD and USD) theres like a whole strip of lgbt bars/restaurants! THERES SAN DIEGO ZOO (<-not relevant to the post just remembered it’s there :)) I can’t explain it but EYE see hal as a very socal dude and what’s more than “I grew up by the beach and my dad was a test pilot for the military” than san diego? *help is ferris air even considered like military or does it even supply to the military??? idk idk idk ahdhhedhxbd

santa cruz/bay area- sometimes I feel like hal could pass as a bay area boy like… I can’t explain it there’s just a VibeTM esp when I’ve read fics and I just feel like coast city could be in the bay or in/near santa cruz plus there’s the pier!! (<- also not that relevant but I’ve been and it’s a fun time! and totally could see it as a Jordan family summer vacation spot)

santa barbara- college town, beach within walking distance, restaurants and bars EVERYWHERE, super relaxed vibe ALSO HAS A ZOO (<-smaller than LA or SD zoo but I’ve been and it’s cute and fun!) but it’s last place bc I don’t think hal nor coast city gives off the bougie af energy than SB gives off in general/as a whole but it was the first option that came to mind before I really thought about the likelihood and the VibesTM

[quordleona03]

Hyperspecific poll alert

[nisiverum]

My face hasn’t been up in this thing for a hot while so, here she be. With some cool critters for good measure. ☺️🦋❤️‍🔥🐸🐆🦦🦩 • • #adventuregirl #vscogirl #vscocam #huji #hujicam #vscoedit #vscoedits #vscofilter #shotoniphone #selfie #selfiesaturday #readytogo #adventurebound #santabarbara #santabarbarazoo #zoophotos #reclaimingmyself #longhair #longhairdontcare #selfiesofinstagram #butterflywings #butterflygirl #monarch (at Santa Barbara Zoo) https://www.instagram.com/p/CpG-MJnL-P4/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[grits-galraisedinthesouth]

More political pundits are calling out the Santa Barbara Circus. "When you're the spare pr*ck at a wedding…" Court Jester should be their official title in the BRF. They turned a polo playing field into a COUNTY FAIR! Complete with a 🚜 trophy stage. Abigail & Markle walked away feeling embarrassed (as they should), while Harry entertains guests inside their cabana petting zoo.

She had to be on a stage even if it was hitched to a tractor 🚜

[alwaysbesparklefeathering]

Can’t wait to see them!

[coolanchorcolor]

"Mapping the Skies: Exploring Contour Airlines' Flight Destinations"

Convenient and cozy flights to numerous locations throughout the nation are provided by Contour Airlines, a regional airline with American roots. Since its founding in 1982, Contour Airlines has progressively grown the number of routes it serves, appealing to both business and leisure travelers with its wide range of destinations. Let's look at the fascinating destinations that Contour Airlines services on its route map if you're curious about where does contour airlines fly

Domestic Destinations:

In order to provide essential aviation connectivity that might not be easily accessible through larger carriers, Contour Airlines primarily focuses on linking smaller communities and regional airports. Contour Airlines flies to the following important locations: 

Santa Barbara, California (SBA): Located on California's breathtaking central coast, Santa Barbara is well-known for its gorgeous beaches, Spanish-style buildings, and active arts community. Flying to and from Santa Barbara Municipal Airport, Contour Airlines makes it easy to visit this beautiful beach. 

Palm Springs, California (PSP) is a well-liked vacation and outdoor activity destination, renowned for its opulent resorts, golf courses, and desert vistas. Flying to Palm Springs International Airport, Contour Airlines offers flights that let customers enjoy the sunlight and explore the Coachella Valley area.

Burbank, California (BUR): Situated in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, Burbank serves as a practical substitute for the busier and larger LAX airport. Hollywood Burbank Airport is served by Contour Airlines, which provides convenient connections for visitors to this center of entertainment.

Ontario, California (ONT) is a vibrant community that is conveniently located near popular destinations like the Auto Club Speedway and Ontario Mills shopping mall. Ontario is located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California. Travelers on business or pleasure can use Contour Airlines' flights to and from Ontario International Airport.

The Oakland Zoo, Jack London Square, and neighboring wine areas are all easily accessible from Oakland, California (OAK), a significant center for transit in the San Francisco Bay Area. Travelers may easily reach this energetic city by connecting with Oakland International Airport through Contour Airlines.

Denver (DEN) in Colorado Denver is a well-liked travel destination for those who enjoy the great outdoors and culture, thanks to its bustling arts scene and breathtaking Rocky Mountain background. As a means of accessing the Mile High City, Contour Airlines provides flights to and from Denver International Airport.

Tucson, Arizona (TUS): Nestled in the Sonoran Desert, Tucson boasts a rich cultural heritage, stunning natural landscapes, and a thriving culinary scene. Contour Airlines serves Tucson International Airport, providing travelers with convenient access to this vibrant city in the American Southwest.

Future Expansion:

While Contour Airlines currently focuses on serving a select number of destinations, the airline continues to explore opportunities for expansion. As demand for regional air travel grows and new routes become viable, Contour Airlines may expand its route network to include additional cities and airports across the United States.

Conclusion:

Contour Airlines plays a crucial role in connecting smaller cities and regional airports across the United States, offering travelers convenient and comfortable flights to a variety of destinations. Whether you're planning a beach getaway in Santa Barbara, exploring the desert landscapes of Palm Springs, or soaking up the culture in Denver, Contour Airlines provides reliable air service to help you reach your destination. With its commitment to customer satisfaction and dedication to expanding its route network, Contour Airlines continues to be a preferred choice for travelers seeking hassle-free regional air travel experiences.