A Very Dachshund Christmas

Ben & I got quite a few dachshund gifts this year and are so excited about them we wanted to share them with you!
First up is this life-size (literally life-sized) sculpture of a dachshund from a couple of our friends! It is from HodesH Gallery and was made out of old gas cans (gas cans... if I remember correctly).

 {I love his little tail!!}

It's just a liiiittle smaller than Beans, who got a little curious and knocked it over the first time he saw it.

Now Beans won't go near it ...  

Next up is another sculpture.. this time made out of spark plugs! It is a custom-made piece made just for us of a guy and girl (see the skirt??) walking 2 dachshunds. It came from the artist Spark Plug Guy.

{could you imagine if Frank & Beans were the same proportion in real life as they are in the sculpture?? AHH}

 

What is that dachshund-like-looking picture in the corner of the shot above? Oh, well, that's another gift! Ben got me this super cute print from Retro Pets of the Darling Dachshund Best Friend Blend!

It doesn't have a permanent spot in our house yet, as we have a kitchen-painting project coming up very soon, but once we're done we'll get it hung on the wall and share it again.
I'm also eye-balling the Wigglebutt Biscuits print as well as the Dapper Doxie Short 'N' Sout one on the Retro Pets site:) {my birthday is now officially less than 6 months away.. take note!}
There are a bunch of other dog breed prints on the Retro Pets website too - check it out!!

Up next.. Yes I said "up next" as in we got even MORE dachshund gifts for Christmas...
... is this ceramic dachshund-shaped "jug". We aren't sure what it held originally as it came from an antiques store, and he's a little extra round but that's makes him super cute!! It will soon have a little home in our kitchen on a shelf somewhere.

{it says "Man's Best Friend" on the side}

Anybody have any ideas of what originally went inside him? The loop on the tail is big enough to fit your hand in, as if to pour something out of his neck when you take the lid (his head) off. Unfortunately there are no other markings on the piece so we don't know of a company or artist this came from.

Also for the kitchen are these super cute measuring spoons... !

Not sure how accurate they are because the 1T looks pretty big, but ahh love it!!

....aaand finally one of my favorites.. a Frank and Beans t-shirt!!!

{shout out to the UD ornament that just happens to be poking out right under Beans.. Go Flyers!}

Yep - Ben got a t-shirt that has the names of his 2 best {dog-}friends on them...(there's also a little Heinz logo that you can't see right where Frank-the-dog is positioned...). Now, if only we could get t-shirts like this that would fit the dogs! Hmm.... 

Stay tuned next week to see all the goodies that Frank & Beans got for Christmas (spoiled dogs...). Have a great weekend everybody!

First Snow of the Season

One day last week we woke up to a surprise... SNOW! While it was only a couple of inches, Ben had to shovel a little path on our patio and into the grass so the little men could get out to the yard to do their business a little more easily...

{when your legs are only a few inches tall, you'll take any help you can get...}

Then then were on their own... Frank didn't seem to mind the snow too much.

Beans on the other hand had a few ... issues...

BUT they survived ... finished their business and went inside to get cleaned up and play with some of their new Christmas toys (stay tuned to see what they got for Christmas!).

Frankly Speaking

Happy 2013! We're back after almost 2 weeks off while we celebrated the holidays with family and friends. While we typically only have our famous "Frankly Speaking" column post on Tuesdays, Frank wanted to take the opportunity to share some New Years resolution with everyone today.  Here's Frank,..

OK, everyone welcome to 2013!  First of all I'd just like to to say that I'm thankful that the Mayan Apocalypse was a joke because otherwise this column would just be me talking to myself (well Bean's would listen because we are roommates).

Back to the New Years Resolution -  I plan to use my extreme intellect for good not evil in 2013.

In 2012 my effort to help out a friend (good) unleashed millions of people who thought they could dance (evil).  Let me explain

The typing classes I took paid off in a big way as I gained access to my moms iPAD while she was at work.  I spent alot of time online - especially watching YouTube videos.

I thought I would help out my K-Pop friend, PSY, from across the pond so I created a software program that would 'automatically' watch his music video "Gangnam Style" indefinately (maybe you've heard of it?).  As videos on YouTube gain more views it tends to get more attention (sometimes even go 'viril') so I hoped my efforts would help him gain some fans in the USA.  See below for video.

To my shock the program worked so well his video is now the most watched video ever and crested the 1,000,000,000 mark over the holidays.  As of my writing this there were 1,106,940,421 views!  I'm not trying to take credit for the video's success since he has some pretty slick dance moves but let's just say that kid wouldn't be a household name without FRANK!  PSY is bigger than Bieber and Star Wars!

Given the success of PSY's Gangnam Style you can imagine the entertaining consequence with many folks (including Ben) who tried their hand at the now famous dance.  Here are some of the best!

I love to hear from you on your thoughts for the next video I should make go viral in 2013!  Send me an email and let me know! Email Me!

Frank and Beans 12 Days of Christmas : Day 12

It's our last and final day of Frank & Beans 12 days of Christmas! Frank & Beans have had such a good time sharing with you how they are getting ready for the holidays (Rudy, too!).
Today they want to share with everyone the making of their Christmas card!

A few weeks ago we took over a hundred photos in the hopes of getting one good one. We had several locations for photos, a few different props, and even some outfit changes... I maxed out our memory card a few times in the process... and here are some of the "best of Frank & Beans Christmas card bloopers" :)

"Oh hey, someone's got a treat.. lemme get it"

Frank: "Hey, I think I remember chewing some of these sparkly things up last year.. they look a little familiar"

Beans : "They say the camera adds 10lbs... suck it in!!!"

 Frank : "Beans.. can you just look at the camera for a minute... then we can take these stupid outfits off, go outside and play" 

Beans : "Good thing I paid big bucks for a straight blade shave earlier today" 

Beans : "OK, I'm ready for my close-up!"

Frank : "Are we almost done yet?" 

Beans : "Dude.. I'm outta here..."

Beans : "Dog Kisses! Yeaaah!"

Frank : "Yeah.. lets pose like our humans did for their Christmas card last year..."

(2011 Christmas card)

... until we finally captured this photo. Here it is -- HAPPY HOLIDAYS from THE DAILY FRANK & BEANS!

Frank & Beans are going to take some time off for the holidays while we hang out with family. There may be an occasional posting or two, but if we don't talk to you before then - have a Merry Christmas & Happy New Year! :)

Frank & Beans 12 Days of Christmas : Day 11

What Christmas event isnt complete without a little holiday baking? That's right.. on today's Frank & Beans 12 Days of Christmas the boys are going to share some of their baking skills with YOU! They have not one but TWO special treats to show you.

Unfortunately this was probably the most difficult post EVER and why I thought getting pictures of dogs "baking" was a good idea... no clue... so this is the best we could do ... (and pardon the super blurry pictures on this.. once the dogs could see the food we had to move fast...)

Lets start with the cookies!!!
First Beans started out with a little green frosting...

And he must have decided he really liked that green because he just kept on using it! 

"Slow and steady.... calm paws..."

Then Frank took over..

"Wait, you guys actually trust me doing this? ... ha..."

Aaaand there goes a cookie... 

We're done!! Didn't they turn out pretty??? 

{OF COURSE they're dachshund shaped cookies.. and heck NO we didn't eat any of them after the dogs were finished with them...}

Next up was the gingerbread house (graham crackers literally Elmer's-glued together.. yeaaaaaaah)

Complete with a decorated dog treat... 

... and graham cracker dog... :)

Ben: "Hey, let's try getting both dogs in the picture with the gingerbread house" 

... Yeah right... 

First up - Frank.. check him out as he puts the little colored candies on the roof... 

Convincing eh? :)

 And here's Little Man as he puts his special touch on the house...

Look who decided to dress in the Christmas tie for this occasion!!

And magically the house is all finished! Amazing!!  So yeah, that's as good as these dogs baking skills gets. If you're interested in hiring Frank & Beans out for some holiday goodies, feel free to send them an eMail - their contact info is on the "Contact" page of this website :)

And here are a few outtakes that I've caught over the past few days of Frank doing some sneaky things... 

Here we are thinking we can be all sly and just walk away with this toy that is intended for our doggy-friend Twiggy... BUSTED

"Just act cool and confident... cool and confident..."

And now we're just trying to open our Christmas gifts early... 

"If i give her the puppy dog eyes I might win this..."

And here's where I have a little fun with Frank.. since he's SOOOOO interested in all of our other gifts, I decided to wrap him up! Not too interested in the gifts now, are we??

 

Frank and Beans 12 Days of Christmas : Day 10

While Frank and Beans work on some final preparations for their last 2 days of Frank & Beans 12 Days of Christmas, Rudy decided he wanted to have a "Day" all his own, so he decided to pick out his favorite parrot Christmas videos on YouTube.

Here, Rudy starts off with a holiday greeting from his buddy Einstein (aka: Santa Claus)...

And then he moves on to a cockatiel buddy of his singing a little Jingle Bells (we gotta work on that one for next year...)

AND THEN can we talk about the fancy graphics on this one?? Might need to take note of this for next year as well.. these birds have some talent.

(Rudy especially likes his name.. Scooby.. ha!)

Rudy loves watching Snowball the Cockatoo's videos (and especially his dancing). Here is a series of Christmas-themed songs with Snowball singing and dancing. 
He's kicks like a Rockette! Rudy admires him for those legs... although he's not sure about those head throws at around 2:45 in...  Bird of the 80's?

Rudy hopes you enjoy his selection of videos for the holidays. He figures he's now got about a year to work on his skills to show them off for you next year (get ready guys... get ready...). Frank & Beans will be back tomorrow and Friday to share their last 2 Days of Christmas. Stay tuned!!

Frank & Beans 12 Days of Christmas : Day 9 : Frankly Speaking

Eva the Min Pin from Cincinnati wrote in asking what Beans & I had asked for for Christmas.  Well Eva, I thought no one would ever ask!  We here at The Daily Frank and Beans are simple and don't need much as we have our owners wrapped around our fingers 365 and use our good looks to get what we want!

Well - as you may know - last year I went on a long journey full of trials and tribulations - like Picasso had his Blue Period and I had my Slimming Period - aka my weight loss journey, treats were only given when earned and my food was portioned!  It was a rough time in my life but like Picasso I moved on to bigger and better things (although my food is still portioned)!

One thing I do miss is all of the treats just for being cute so I could really use an Easy Bake oven.  I do hope that you will send one to me - so I can reward myself for existing and being exceptionally handsome!

Easy Bake Oven - Don't burn yourself!

Beans is really looking forward to learning how to fetch a ball so he asked that I share with you a cool gadget that a fellow Dachshund created (or their owner, rather).  It's an automatic tennis ball launcher!  Finally, we can play toss without our humans getting tired!  This video with fellow dachshund, Jerry, shows just how much fun robots can be!  Get us two - one for each of us!

 

Remind me of Asimo!

Lastly, if you are out of other ideas we are accepting cold hard cash on KickStarter in time to visit the Christmas Market in Munich!  This pic takes me right back there to the PBS special I saw the other day!

Makes you want a spiced wine!

Thanks in advance for all of the gifts and cash!  You are the best fans 2 dogs could ever hope for!