It's the first episode for the Meg and Duffy show! Our first episode is gonna be an exciting one, as we are interviewing Brian Lynch, the writer for the Secret Life of Pets 1 and 2! We hope you'll enjoy listening to this as much as we enjoyed making it!
Hello everyone, and welcome to the third full-length blog entry for the Adventure of Meg and Duffy! Today, I, Thomas, would like to discuss some of the inspirations behind our campaign.
Originally, I was going to discuss how I got Meg and Duffy. However, an entry like that would be redundant, seeing that I have already discussed the topic on other parts of the blog. That being said, I hope you'll appreciate this insight into how the Adventures of Meg and Duffy came to be.
Part One: LOLcats
The year was 2007. I was in elementary school, and my only exposure to the internet was several train websites that I'd visit. However, all of this would change when my mom introduced me to LOLcats. At first, I had no idea what to make of them. At their core, they were pictures of cats with misspelled captions. Besides, funny cat pictures have been a staple of human culture for generations. After a while, these pictures would sink into me and I began to appreciate them more. In fact, it was not uncommon to find me, my sister, and my mom huddled around the computer looking at LOLcats after school.
Simpler times, simpler humor
It was safe to say that with these daily viewings, the three of us were hooked. In fact, when the I Can Has Cheezburger book came out in 2008, my mom purchased a copy for our family to enjoy. As such, my love for LOLcats would continue to grow. By this point, I was already in intermediate school. I was more tech-savvy, and I was even given a school computer in the 6th grade. Plus, I also had friend who enjoyed LOLcats. As such, we all decided to make our own LOLcats in between classes. Eventually, we had exhausted all our capabilities with LOLcats and we stopped making them once we were in middle school.
Despite this, LOLcats had a profound impact on me as an internet user. For one thing, LOLcats helped introduce me to the world of memes and internet humor. These two things have become my most favorite types of internet content, and I have managed to broaden my horizons because of the people I have met through meme culture. Also, LOLcats helped show me the potential that pet-related content had on the internet. As such, I knew that when I was formulating my social media campaign, I wanted it to be based around pets.
Part Two: Mookie and Sam
As someone who has been browsing the internet since 2002, let me just say that we have all encountered things that seemed like they were previously unseen. Some of this content can be rather obscene, while other examples may be underrated. An example of the latter would be Mookie and Sam. For those who are unaware, Mookie and Sam was an online web series that was created by Kyle MacLachlan in 2006. If you were wondering why that name sounds familiar, Kyle MacLachlan is an actor who played Dan Cooper in Twin Peaks. Anyway, Mookie and sam chronicled the adventures of MacLachlan's dogs as they lived and worked together in New York City.
Here's the first episode for Mookie and Sam. Mookie's probably the calmest Jack Russell Terrier I've ever seen!
When I discovered Mookie and Sam back in 2007, I immediately became attached to them and their personalities. I think what made me enjoy it was the fact that Mookie and Sam thought that they were humans, despite the fact that they were dogs. As such, each episode of Mookie and Sam had a distinct LOLcats-esque feel, where it was simply two pets doing things that humans typically do. Unfortunately, the last episode of Mookie and Sam came out in 2008. As a result, I moved on to other online content.
Here's the final episode for Mookie and Sam. Quite a heartfelt way to end the series if you ask me.
In 2019, I was provided the opportunity to start a social media campaign. As stated before, I decided to go with a pet theme because of my love for dogs, cats, and pet-related content. Originally, I intended for the social media campaign to be like the Dogist, where I would feature dogs that I encountered while walking around the neighborhood. However, I quickly realized that my campaign would lack a sense of identity. As such, I thought back to the pet content I enjoyed. During this brainstorm, I vaguely remembered Mookie and Sam, and how well their personalities played off of each other.
After reacquainting myself with the series, I figured that my campaign could be a spiritual successor to Mookie and Sam. After all, Meg and Duffy has always been an interesting pair, and theu could easily play off of each other online like Mookie and Sam. Furthermore, the idea to base Meg and Duffy off of Mookie and Sam came from the idea to make a tribute to the show. As I said before, the last Mookie and Sam episode came out in 2008, which was over a decade ago. Also, the Mookie and Sam Facebook page has not been updated since 2015, and Kyle MacLachlan and his wife appear to be focusing on a new dog named Elvis. Given these facts, I am inclined to believe that Mookie and Sam are no longer with us. As such, by creating the Adventures of Meg and Duffy and explaining how it is based on Mookie and Sam, I hope to introduce more internet surfers to it and expose them to a little-known piece of internet pet content.
Mookie, Sam, no matter where you two are, thank you for the inspiration.
Part Three: Other Sources of Inspiration
As the title of this next part suggests, I'll be covering some other sources of inspiration for the Adventures of Meg and Duffy that have had a smaller impact when it came to creating the concept. One of these sources includes various pet personalities that I follow on social media. Some of these include Bilbo the Cat, Alex the Honking Bird, and Tofu-Chan the Shiba Inu. While LOLcats showed me how to do pet content back in 2007, the aforementioned pet accounts showed me how to do pet content back in 2019, where social media is more ingrained with the online experience. In fact, before I came up with the Meg and Duffy "brand," I was going to feature birds and reptiles alongside dogs and cats. I eventually dropped these topics when I discovered that the former pets aren't as mainstream as the latter pets. I should also stress that I have never owned a bird or a reptile, so me talking about them would not have come off as genuine.
At the end of the day, shouldn't we all strive to be as wholesome as Tofu-chan???
As generic as this sounds, I would also like to cite my mom as an inspiration behind the Adventures of Meg and Duffy. For as long as I can remember, my mom has always enjoyed giving our pets a "voice" that's based around their personality. I always enjoyed her pet voices, and it helped me show that pets can be expressive without talking themselves.
Conclusion
Going back and looking at these sources of inspiration was an absolute treat for me. It's crazy to look back on LOLcats and Mookie and Sam and see how much pet-related internet content has changed over the years. Would I say these artifacts are better than today's pet content? No, but I still believe that they have earned their place in internet history. Furthermore, I hope that with Meg and Duffy, I can help contribute to the evolution of pet-related internet content, so that Meg, Duffy, and I can serve as inspiration for future content developers. With that said, thank you all so much for reading this new blog post, and we hope to see you soon!
The Monmouth County SPCA's Dog Walk and Pet Fair and Why You Should Care About it
Disclaimer
The thoughts, ideas, comments, and opinions presented in this blog entry are solely our own. They have not been swayed by an outside party by any sort.
Hello everyone, and welcome to the second blog entry for the Adventures of Meg and Duffy! Today, we would like to talk about an event that is near and dear to our hearts.
If you go onto the "about this blog" page, you may have noticed that Duffy was rescued by a South Carolinian group named Project Safe Pet. However, many of you are probably wondering how Duffy made it to New Jersey in the first place. Basically, when Duffy and his litter were rescued by Project Safe Pet, the Monmouth County SPCA stepped in and brought them to their no-kill shelter in Eatontown, New Jersey. Duffy and his siblings would then find loving owners, including my family!
These people were the best when they took care of Duffy!
On the 27th of April, the Monmouth County SPCA will be hosting their 25th anniversary Dog Walk and Pet Fair. This event will be held from 10 AM to 3 PM at Brookdale Community College, and will feature live music, food trucks, vendors, contests, campus walks, and pets that the Monmouth County SPCA has for adoption. However, we would like to stress that the Monmouth County SPCA is still looking for walk participants. If you are interested, you can still register on their website and begin raising money.
Thomas's Thoughts
If you happen to live near Monmouth County and love pets, I believe that you owe it to yourself to go to this event. Before adopting Duffy, I mostly remained indifferent about sheltered dogs. This is mostly due to years of watching the dog show at Thanksgiving, and admiring the carefully-bred canines. However, Duffy was able to show me that an adopted dog can provide the same amount of companionship that a dog from a breeder provides. As such, I believe that it is important that people help animal shelters at any chance. By doing so, pet owners can enjoy a sense of fulfillment that they get from their pet while helping to control the stray pet epidemic.
Another thing I like about this event is that the walk isn't the only fundraising activity. As a result the Dog Walk and Pet Fair is an event that feels welcoming to all types of event goers. Whether you want to join the walk or buy something from the vendors, one can feel satisfied knowing that both activities help the Monmouth County SPCA. No matter what, we hope that you can make it to this event!
Here's a video of the event from a few years ago. Who wouldn't want to go to an event like this???
Duffy's Thoughts
The Monmouth County SPCA has a lot of sentiment to me. When I was brought up to New Jersey, they treated me with love and respect. They're so great that they can make a hound dog smile. (In my case, literally!) As such, it would mean the world if y'all could make it to the Dog Walk and Pet Fair.
Meg's Thoughts
Normally i dont care about what Duffy says but this time i agree with him. Ive heard that the SCPA takes catss and they deserve loveeee too. 😞😔😿 Going to this event would mean a loooooot to me too. ty ily 😘
What are your thoughts on the Monmouth County SPCA's Dog Walk and Pet Fair? Feel free to let us know in the comments!
Also, If you can't make it to the event, you can always donate to the Monmouth County SPCA on their website. If you are interested in sponsoring the event, you can sponsor it here. Regardless, we hope you can do your part to help the Monmouth County SPCA!
