I Can Has Cheezburger & Garfield 2014 Cat Calendar Giveaway!

When it comes to calendars, you know I'm always picking a kitty one. The folks at Andrews McMeel Publishing know this too, so they sent me a I Can Has Cheezburger 2014 calendar and Garfield 2014 calendar to review!


Charlie can has cheezburger?

Before I got my paws on them though, Charlie decided to adopt them as his own. I'm not sure why a cat needs a calendar (as far as he's concerned, every day is Caturday), but I just didn't have the heart to tell him that.


Aww, they're not so bad!

Seriously though, the wall calendars are super cool and cute. The ICHC calendar is colorful and features collages of clever kitty captions, while the Garfield "I Hate Mondays" calendar is purrfect for the real life grumpy cat in your life!

Enter To Win!


Don't worry Charlie, we're not giving away your copies!

Andrews McMeel Publishing has generously offered two lucky Catsparella readers the chance to win! One winner will receive the I Can Has Cheezburger? 2014 Wall Calendar, and another will receive the Garfield 2014 Wall Calendar, so make sure to leave your preference in the comments!

To enter, leave a comment on this post with your name, calendar choice, and some way for me to contact you if you win (email, link back to your blog or profile, Twitter, etc.). The winner be will chosen in a random drawing next Wednesday, December 11 at 5:00PM CST. This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only. One entry per person, please.

Good luck, and be sure to check out these awesome kitty calendars online, and at a store near you!

(If you have trouble leaving a comment, please email me at catsparella@gmail.com)

Disclosure: The publisher provided me with copies of the calendars to review and giveaway, but all thoughts and cheeseburger loving cats contained in this post are my own.

I Can Has Cheezburger & Garfield 2014 Cat Calendar Giveaway!

I Can Has Cheezburger Reality Series "LOLwork" To Premiere On Bravo In October

The cast of LOLwork

Update: The show's premiere date has been moved to Wed, Nov 7 at 11/10c.

Back in April, I breathlessly reported that Bravo had just announced their upfront schedule for 2012, which included an intriguing offering with the working title of "Huh?" The show promised an inside look at ICanHasCheezburger.com, and was described as a "30-minute doc-com following Ben Huh and his eclectic staff as they create cat-centric video, photo and other types of grammatically incorrect content for the hugely popular site."

Months passed and I heard nary a word about the series, until this weekend when I was catching up on some RHONY and nearly hit the deck when I saw a lolcat inspired promo for the show. "LOLwork" as the series has been renamed, recently launched a website that includes a preview video and cast bios, and has been given an official premiere date of Tuesday, October 2 at 10/9c on Bravo.

Dead Cat Dilemma (Click here to watch if video doesn't load)

A clip titled "Dead Cat Dilemma" gives a sneak peek at the reality series, which almost appears to have been modeled after "The Office." In it, staff members discuss the appropriateness of posting a photo of a deceased cat on the entertainment site (NOPE), while we're introduced to cast members such as Editor-in-Chief Emily Huh and Content Supervisor/cat sympathizer Will Sharick.

"Cat blogging is serious business, you guys"

As a cat blogger, I'm fascinated to see the inner workings of ICHC (someplace I'd actually like to work), but I'm still not convinced that running an online network can translate into a captivating television viewing experience. Only time will tell if the series will rival other Bravo hits with its cat fights and hissy fits, but I for one can't wait to watch what happens.

Via Bravotv.com (LOLwork)

I Can Has Cheezburger Reality Series "LOLwork" To Premiere On Bravo In October

I Can Has Cheezburger Prize Bundle Giveaway!

Cheezburger Combo 1

If you've been around here long enough, you already know that I'm a huge fan of I Can Has Cheezburger, the grandaddy of modern cat sites, and the foundation of the internet's lolcat empire (and in case you didn't, check out the tribute post I wrote when the site turned five back in January).

LOL Cats Postcard Book

Recently, I was contacted by The Madison Park Group, who are responsible for creating stationary and gifts bearing the image of our beloved, albeit grammatically challenged, kitties. The pictures on the items are viewed and voted on by fans worldwide, and the most popular ultimately gain the distinction of making their way on to cards, air fresheners, sticky notes, and more. As an added bonus, a portion of the profits are donated to support a number of charitable animal rescue and shelter organizations, both locally and nationally.

Party Cat Assorted Beverage Coaster Set

The Cheezburger collection can be found through the Parkside Paper + Gift Shop, and as an exclusive to Catsparella readers, if you purchase any products over the next month, you can get FREE SHIPPING on any order of $20 or more using the promo code: CATSPARELLA ($20 total must be pre-taxes and you must use the code upon check-out).

But wait...there's more!

Enter To Win!

The Madison Park Group have generously offered one lucky Catsparella reader the chance to win an I Can Has Cheezburger gift bundle consisting of everything seen in this post, including Cheezburger Combo 1 (a travel mug, fridge magnet, spiral tablet and sticky note pad), along with their brand new postcard book and a beverage coaster set!

To enter, leave a comment on this post with your name and some way for me to contact you if you win (email, link back to your blog or profile, Twitter, etc.). The winner be will chosen in a random drawing next Wednesday, June 27th at 5:00PM EST. This giveaway is open to residents of the U.S. only, age 18 and over. One entry per person, please.

Good luck, and be sure to visit Parkside Paper + Gift, and like the official I Can Has Cheezburger? Gifts 'n Stuff page on Facebook for updates on all of their latest designs!

(If you have trouble leaving a comment, please email me at catsparella@gmail.com.)

[Comments are now closed. Thanks for entering!]

Nominations can be made once a day through June 29th!

I Can Has Cheezburger Prize Bundle Giveaway!

Bravo Announces Upcoming I Can Has Cheezburger Based Reality Series

These days, if I'm not reading The Hunger Games trilogy (I'm halfway done with "Catching Fire"), you're more than likely to find me watching Bravo. I know some people groan at the mention of the network most famous for its dastardly "Real Housewives" franchises, but it's really about much more than that. 

While I'm mostly done with the "Housewives" (although the commercial for the upcoming NJ season threatens to reel me back in), I'm still drawn into their fashion, design, and real estate offerings, and am unashamed to admit I'm a nightly viewer of the kooky Andy Cohen-hosted "Watch What Happens Live." I've always said that the one thing Bravo needs is more cats, and now it appears that I may at long last get my wish, along with a new favorite show to obsess over.

Yesterday, the network unveiled it's upfront schedule for 2012, which included the usual suspects, along with a few surprises. While favorites like "Flipping Out" and "Tabatha Takes Over" are set to return, a slew of new shows will also be debuting within the next year - including the announcement of one reality show called "Huh?" that left me bristling with excitement, while also scratching my head at the same time: "Ever wonder who is behind those hilarious cat memes? Bravo goes inside the office of Ben Huh and his eclectic staff at icanhascheezburger.com, one of the largest humor publishers on the Internet known for their popular LOLs and FAILs."

While this is a dream show for someone like me, I honestly can't imagine what in the world is going down at Cheezburger HQ that's so exciting it warrants a series. For me, blogging includes sitting quietly in my apartment or at the library and typing. A lot. While it's tempting to imagine that they're running their own version of "Kittywood Studios" with talent running underfoot as they create the next great Maru video, that's (probably) not the case. Plus, head honcho Huh is actually allergic to kitties in real life, so the odds of seeing any cats starring on the show are practically slim to none.

While no additional information has yet been announced about the upcoming series, including an official release date, it's just another step in the evolution of the groundbreaking online network. After five years, maybe it IS finally time to lift the veil on the house that Happy Cat built, but when "Huh?" hits the airwaves, will you be watching?

Via NBCUniversal

Bravo Announces Upcoming I Can Has Cheezburger Based Reality Series

I Can Has Cheezburger Celebrates Five Years Of LOLs

Happy Cat

It's hard to believe, but I Can Haz Cheezburger, the website that launched a million lolcats, celebrated its fifth birthday earlier this week. The site was created on January 11, 2007 by Eric Nakagawa and his girlfriend Kari Unebasami, after Eric took the now infamous Happy Cat image he found in the online forum Something Awful, and posted it online.

One of the most interesting aspects of the ICHC story is that Nakagawa didn't create the original lolcat image, but figured out how to capitalize on the idea of sharing captioned cats online. The original Happy Cat picture on which the site is based, actually came from a Russian cat food company of the same name, who first posted the image of the smiling British Shorthair (sans caption) around 2003.

But back to the story...

Shortly after posting some of the funny cat images, which originated in the online forum 4chan but had not yet reached mainstream popularity, Nakagawa and his girlfriend decided to register the site, and quickly saw it begin to grow. In September 2007, I Can Has Cheezburger was purchased by investors for $2 million dollars, a move that left many scratching their heads. In 2008, Cheezburger CEO Ben Huh told CNET, "When you tell investors that the site we bought has pictures of cats and not only pictures of cats, but cats with misspelled words on it, they call their lawyers."

Five years later, The Cheezburger Network, which thrives on the idea of community and user submitted content, has transformed into an web empire consisting of over 50 sites, which garner over 375 million pages views a month. The network has also found success offline with merchandise such as t-shirts and calendars, and has produced seven books, two of which have appeared on the New York Times Best Sellers list.

(Click here to watch if video doesn't load)

In honor of the birthday celebration, Cheezburger employees put together a compilation of their favorite videos, which basically amounts to some of the most popular and beloved cat videos of all time. It's hard to believe that five years ago Maru and Keyboard Cat had not yet come into our lives, and really just begs the question, what the heck were we all doing online before 2007?

Silly as it may sound, I Can Has Cheezburger was definitely influential in my path to becoming a cat blogger. I don't recall how I first discovered the site, but remember sitting in my cubicle at work sometime in 2007 thinking it was the best thing since sliced bread. It was also around the same time another one of my favorite sites, Cute Overload (c. 2005) was really starting to take off, and I would spend copious amounts of time on both, sending my favorite pictures to friends and co-workers (yes, I was that girl), while relieving on the job stress and boredom with my cute animal and lolcat fix. The practice certainly influenced me a few years later, when I had the idea to create a blog where I could compile a collection of all of my favorite cat finds, so that like-minded people (who were also likely bored at work) could also enjoy it and pass it along.

I Can Has Cheezburger Celebrates Five Years Of LOLs