Just in at Hippo Mojo: grinning gray ceramic hippo with white and red painted details is a fun necklace for any hippo lover! It comes on a 2 mm black cord that is fully adjustable for any neckline.
Ceramic Hippopotamus Necklace
DAH DAH DAAAAHHHHHH. (Imagine scary, dramatic organ music here.)
Don’t get me wrong, I really dig BBC’s documentaries. I just think they tend to be a bit melodramatic sometimes. Like in this hippo video:
Bert Anderson Hippo Ornament
We are so pleased to announce that we will now be carrying the hippo ornament from Bert Anderson’s collection of amazing sculptures. This cute hippo friend has dangly legs and a sweet, happy face and is a must have for any tree. Buy yours here.
While we will only be carrying the hippo ornaments (duh! this IS a hippo store!), Bert has a complete line of wonderful creations that you can see here.
And here’s some info on Bert from his website:
Bert Anderson has been sculpting ideas in clay since his school days. He’s worked with a variety of subject matter from old west figurines to whimsical gnomes. Although the overall look has been different with each project, the one thing that always seemed to show up in his work is humor. There have been obvious puns and gags as well as something simple like a subtle look that makes you smile – or laugh. Bert graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, not really knowing what he wanted to do. He had been sculpting pieces all this time for family and friends, but never considered that making figurines was a possible career move. After he had created a line of Christmas items, he heard about the process of resin casting. Once he found a method to reproduce his work, everything changed. He was able to produce a line of items of exceptional quality that could be enjoyed by everyone.
Before there can be a figurine or ornament, there must first be an idea. Bert gets his ideas from ‘all over’. Memories from childhood or a face in the crowd can spark an idea. “I never start with a finished image in mind,” Bert explains. “I like to let the clay have a say in what the final piece will look like. Sometimes the best ideas seem to jump out of the clay as I’m working. I’m always adding things and taking them away, trying different looks until I’m satisfied with the results. It’s my hope that this method of sculpting gives a feeling of spontaneity to the piece.”
Bert makes his original piece out of a polymer clay. When it is finished and fired, skilled artisans prepare a latex mold of the original that exacts every detail. Into this mold is poured a special resin mixture. After a curing period, the casting is removed from the mold. After all the seam lines have been cleaned, the piece is hand painted and antiqued. This antiquing brings out all of the detail while giving the piece an old-world look. Careful attention is paid during all phases of the production process so that each piece is true to the original. The final result is an exact copy of the original work that is ready for someone to enjoy.
“There are two aspects of this venture that make all the work worthwhile,” explains Bert. “The first is the thrill of seeing a personality emerge from a lump of clay. The second is that people enjoy my work enough that they take one of my pieces into their homes and make it a part of their lives. As an artist, that is the greatest compliment any could give me.”
A Nigerian folktale explains something I’ve always wondered about: why the hippo lives in water. It goes like this:
Long ago, the hippo ruled the land, second only to the elephant. The hippo king, Isantim, had seven wives. On occasion, he would give a big feast for the creatures of the land. But the hippo was a private animal and he gave out his name to no one, except his wives, whom he could count on to be loyal.
One feast day, just as the animals were about to sit down to eat, the hippo said, “You have come to feed at my table, but none of you know my name. If you cannot tell my name, you shall all of you go away without your dinner.”
The animals looked at each other in dismay, as they all realized that no one knew their host’s name. After a time, when no one could guess it, they got up one by one and left the table and all the good food and wine. But the tortoise, slow moving though he may be, was clever and swift in his mind so he stood up and asked the hippopotamus what he would do if he told him his name at the next feast. The hippo didn’t think this could happen, but he replied that he would be shamed and that he and his whole family would leave the land and would reside in the water forevermore. The tortoise nodded and moved away with his plodding gait.
Of an evening it was customary for the hippo and his seven wives to walk down to the river morning and evening to cleanse their bodies and quench their thirst. Isantim led, followed by his wives and children. The tortoise, aware of this habit, made a small hole in the center of the path to the river, then hid himself in the shrubs nearby. When he saw the hippos returning from the river, he waited until most had passed by, then he came out of his hiding place and half buried himself in the small depression he had made earlier. The rounded top of his shell was exposed, making a bumpy spot in the path.
The last two of Isantim’s seven wives came along the road, chatting and not noticing where their feet were placed. One stumbled over the tortoise’s shell and cried out to her husband, “Oh! Isantim, my husband, I have hurt my foot.”
The tortoise smiled at hearing the hippo’s name and, after the hippo procession had completely passed, he returned to his home to await the next feast.
Some time later, when the time for the next feast rolled around, the hippo asked again, “Does anyone here know my name? If you cannot tell me my name, you must leave the feast and miss out on the wonderful and tasty meal my wives have prepared.” At first no one stood up, but then the tortoise lumbered up from his seat and asked, “You promise you will not kill me if I tell you your name?” The hippo promised, feeling confident that the tortoise had no idea of his name. The tortoise then shouted as loud as he was able, “Your name is Isantim,” at which a cheer went up from all the creatures, and then they sat down to their dinner.
The hippo sat in shame throughout the feast. But he also felt rage at the tortoise’s knowledge of his name. However, he did not harm the tortoise, and when the feast was over, he kept his promise and went, with his seven wives and all his children, to the river. There the hippos stayed, until this day, in accordance with Isantim’s promise. But the hippos are still unhappy at being forced to leave the land and so they tend to be angry and vengeful if another creature enters the water near them.
Pewter Hippo Necklaces
Shiny pewter hippo charm dangles from a 2 mm black cotton necklace that is fully adjustable for varying necklines. Brightly colored gear beads accent the hippo for a fun, casual necklace. Purchase here.
Okay, so this is a little disturbing to me: a crocodile gets stuck in the middle of a pack of hippos and the hippos get pissed off and kill him. Not that I’m a crocodile hugger or anything but I just don’t like to see wild animals embracing the dark side of the wild. Yes, I know it’s just their nature, blah blah blah. Still, that doesn’t mean I have to SEE it. (I also like to get my meat shrink wrapped at the grocery store and looking not like a dead animal but like steaks. Yes, I am one of THOSE people.) Despite all that, I was fascinated to see this series of pictures of a crocodile running over the backs of basking hippos. See here for the photos.
We’ve blogged about chocolate hippos before but here’s an offer for all you hippo enthusiasts who live in the states. Baker Candies of Ohio has partnered with David Spotts to create chocolate hippos for Christmas. They are seven ounces of pure milk chocolate in the form of a hippo. And the best part is that a portion of the proceeds go to charity: the Cleveland Food Bank Harvest for Hunger Campaign and the Kilimanjaro Climb for a Cure, a pediatric brain cancer and tumor program.
David saw his mother on an episode of Dr. Phil where she confessed her dislike of the Christmas hustle and bustle. (Well, who doesn’t?) Her disclosure shocked him. (Really?) David wanted to help his mother get through the horrible Christmas season where everyone is supposed to be filled with cheer but in reality we are all just walking around freaking out about spending all this money that we don’t have on useless presents that we don’t need. (Oh, wait a minute, that’s me.) He thought that if his mother had a project to work on, it would distract her enough so that she wouldn’t even notice that radio stations and stores start playing Christmas music in mid-November and set up holiday displays even before Halloween. (Is this even possible?) So he decided to use her LEAST favorite Christmas song, “I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas” and pair it up with chocolate and hippos to create a fundraising item just for the holidays. Thus, chocolate hippos were born.
Now, let me just say a few things here. First, what a son! I really appreciate his dedication to and concern for his mother. However, did he ever think that – just perhaps – choosing her LEAST favorite song might not be the best choice? That would kind of be like me choosing an Ozzy Osbourne song for my mother, along with, say, an aardvark, or maybe a sloth. Maybe he was really thinking of MY mother, whose absolute favorite song in the whole entire world is “I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas” and who can put away chocolate faster than a hippo can swivel his tail. (By the way, if you haven’t heard this song, check it out here.)
Anyway, kudos to David and his mother for rising above their anti-Christmas image and providing the world with more hippos. We here at Hippo Mojo have long known that’s what’s needed to make the world a better place. And if the hippos in question just happen to be chocolate? Well, okey dokey, so much the better! Now, I’m off to go buy myself some chocolate hippos.
Order your chocolate hippos by clicking here. And click here to read another article on this topic.
Anamalz are here!!! We’ve waited a long time to get them but they are finally here! What’s an Anamalz, you say? See below, my hip hippo friend. See below.
Wooden Hippo Toy by Anamalz
Aren’t they just the cutest? And they move their little legs so you can pose them different ways. They are environmentally friendly, made of sustainable maple, and hand made and hand painted with natural water based paint. They’re awesome!
I even love the Anamalz website. It’s done in Flash so you’ll need a Flash player to see it but you probably have that installed already, don’t you? To see the hippo animation, go to the “anamalz saving animals” tab at the top and you’ll see a happy hippo surfing down a river. Absolutely super cute. And I really dig the music.
And here’s the link to buy one of your own.
I’m not really into tattoos. I don’t have one and I don’t plan on getting one. Why, I don’t know. Probably fear of pain. Also, I have lots of freckles and I feel like I don’t need any more body decor. My skin is already busy enough. But I am fascinated with people who get tattoos. How do they choose a design? Where should it go on the body? Do they ever get sick of it and want it removed? So it was with some interest that I read a recent blog post over at Martlet.ca, an independent weekly student newspaper at the University of Victoria in Canada. Student Will Johnson writes about his hippo tattoo in a post entitled, “Taking the tattoo plunge: an adventure.” Apparently Will is a huge hippo fan and even suspects that he may have been a hippo in a previous life. He identifies with the hippo so much that he had a giant one tattooed on his back. Read his article here.
To see more hippos tattoo designs, click on the links below:
Hippo Tattoo Picture Collection
TattooNow.com
If you know of others, please let me know. If you have a hippo tattoo you’d like to share, please send us a photo!
UPDATE:
Will has graciously agreed to let us use his picture to show you his tattoo. Thanks, Will!
Hippo Tattoo
From The New Vision website in Uganda:
“A herd of hippos from Lake Kakyera in Rakai district has invaded three villages in Kakyera Sub County Rakai district destroying local people’s gardens valued in millions of shillings. Lake Kakyera is situated in Lake Mburo National Park.
John Magara, the district councilor representing Kakyera Sub County identifies the affected areas as Kabumba cell in Lwanga parish, Mukogote and Buyozwa villages in Lyakishana parish.
Magara notes that the hippos attacked the sub county over the weekend.
This comes less than two months after the same sub county was hit by drought that left some local people’s gardens and farms scotched.
Now, Magara wants the Uganda Wildlife Authority to make sure they lay strategies that will prevent hippos from invading people’s gardens again.
However, Lillian Nsubuga, the spokesperson for Uganda Wild Life Authority wants the local people around Lake Mburo National Park to work with the UWA’s community conservation department to prevent wild animals from attacking them.
She says if the two work together, they could implement strategies like digging trenches to protect the animals from crossing into people’s gardens.”
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