This video of a bear cub in peril will have you on the edge of your seat, roaring encouragement!

Yes, this noisy otter is cute...

But, then again, it's a bit too close to this other little critter for comfort...

The annual Bedford Park Festival kicks off at St Michael's this evening - and there's a Sara Grønmark original to be won!

My two favourite bits of the Bedford Park Festival (Tube: Turnham Green) are the open air mass on Acton Green on the second day of the Green Days Fete and Crafts Fair (10.30 on Sunday, 10th June this year). The other is the Summer Exhibition of buyable art...

I've spent a week slaughtering daddy longlegs

I have an aversion to spiders, moths, wasps, cockroaches and stag-beetles. Like most people, I'm generally fine with bumblebees, ladybirds and "cute" beetles - e.g. green, armour-plated shield bugs. If it looks pretty or amusing, I can live with it. I'm not fond of flies, but I don't have any fear of them - they're just annoying. But when it comes to daddy longlegs, I'm a fullblown phobic - these ugly, gangly, amorphous, pointless bastards induce panic-attacks. Once I'm aware there's one in the room, I have to leave or kill it...

Happy 10th. Birthday, Nigel! (a day late - sorry)

And it gives me an excuse to post some cute dog pictures courtesy of Pinterest:

Good boy! What a hero...

If you enjoy watching...

I'm going to high-five the next racoon I meet... (h/t: Swaminathan P and D Attenborough)

No raccoon left behind.#Teamwork pic.twitter.com/OKbRUlQy09

— D Attenborough (@Attenboroughs_D) September 12, 2017

It's not only racoons who look out for their own:

Respect! (H/t: Mrs. G)

Snapshots from our mad, mad, mad, mad world this weekend...

Bit of Background: Jess Phillips is the Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley. Nadeem Ahmed is a Momentum Corbynite. First came this:

Which was followed two days later by this:

Heartwarming - and terrifying!

In Switzerland a woman raised a pair of lions. The authorities confiscated them for a zoo. 7 years later the woman came to visit the zoo.... pic.twitter.com/T8bSyfLbmi

— Arie Shapira (@arieshapira1) August 26, 2017

The Evian dancing baby ads and some Bassett Hound videos - because, after two HORRIBLE weeks, we all need cheering up (hat-tip:SVWG)

And another one...

The Behavioural Handbook for Bassett Hounds

You always respect your parents:

Let me repeat that: you always respect your parents:

Some days I'm a bit like The Fast Show's Unlucky Alf - but today I was definitely "Brilliant!"

I went for my daily stroll at 2pm, and was walking along, unseeing, locked in my own head, vaguely worrying about this and that, when a tiny cyclist wearing a massive blue helmet came whizzing along the pavement straight towards me, a look of fierce concentration on his face. As he couldn't have been more than four, I decided it was probably safest just to get out of little monomaniac's determined way. His father followed along a few seconds later and smiled his thanks. Then what was presumably the little shaver's sister appeared - five, at most - and, without hesitation, I retreated into the safety of a gateway. "Thank you!" she sang out, as did her smiley mum a few seconds later. That unexpected display of good manners - and all that purposeful happiness and glowing parental pride - woke me up with a start...

Yes, I know I'm too wet to live - but the tale of Kate and Pippin is balm for the soul

You can find out...

No wonder otters are such huge internet stars - prepare for cuteness overload

Looks like he's ready for his close-up - but then...

Videos of animals having baths - because that's what social media is all about. And, besides, it's Friday.

This rabbit (or is it a hare?) is, if possible, even more laid back (don't worry - it isn't dead):

When a dog's Gumby toy comes to life...

Mind you, I can't understand why we get so soppy about dogs. After all, what do they ever do for us?...

It's 86°F in West London: getting into your car be like...

via GIPHY

I agree with Will Ferrell:

Message to the Daily Telegraph: in the UK - as in the US - a person's height is measured in feet and inches

Today's Daily Telegraph coverage of an Imperial College London study of  average heights around the world was bizarre (online version available here). It informs us that British men are now the 31st tallest in the world, up from 36th a century ago.  It tells us that the increase is 4.3", but it omits to tell us that the average height for men is now  5ft 9.8in tall, which is the figure most male readers will have been searching for: female readers will have been similarly disappointed not to find their average height mentioned (5ft 4.7in). Throughout the article, every single measurement is given in metric first, with inches in brackets afterwards. Presumably this is is because the ICL study uses metric. Well, I don't care - the vast majority of people in the UK think of height in feet and inches, not metres, centimetres and millimetres. If I told you that my height is 1.96m and my wife's is 1.63m, you wouldn't have a clue (neither would I). The pro-EU BBC  covered the story using only feet and inches, while the anti-EU Telegraph favoured metric measurements - which makes no sense.

If your heart needs warming, watch the documentary, “Twin Sisters: A World Apart”, available on BBC iPlayer or Vimeo

Here’s the official trailer for a film that seems to feature nothing but good people:

We missed this award-winning Norwegian-made film when it was shown on BBC 4 last year, and we’d have missed the repeat as well…