The Office Playground Blog

The Dog Days of Summer

It's the Dog Days of Summer, the time of the year when you give thanks for working in an air conditioned office. The term "Dog Days" comes from ancient times, based on the brightest star in the night sky, Sirius, also known as the Dog Star. The name Sirius is derived from the Greek word Seirius, meaning searing or scorching. Because of it's brightness and its dawn rising during the peak of summer, the ancient Greeks, Romans and Egyptians all blamed the hot sultry weather on the Dog Star.

Modern Dog Days of Summer rituals include sacrificing hot dogs on the barbeque, eating watermelon and spitting the seeds; licking ice cream cones; splashing in swimming pools; lounging on beaches; and panting like a dog in front of a fan. Summer is winding down and despite the weather many people hate to see it end.

There's no shortage of references to "Dog Days" in popular culture. If you're stuck inside hiding from the heat, check out some Dog Day entertainment:

• Dog Day Afternoon, a 1975 film
• Music by the band Dog Day
• Dog Days, a 1975 album and song by the Atlanta Rhythm Section
• "Dog Day Sunrise", a song by the band Head of David
• Dog Days of Summer, a 2008 film
• "Dog Days are Over", a 2008 song by Florence and the Machine

Image courtesy of Susan E. Adams.

I Weally Miss My Widdle Doggie at Work

So you're one of those incurable doggie lovers, but your workplace isn't one where a woof-woof would fit in. What's a canine lover to do? You could howl like a coyote, run in circles, wait at co-workers sides hoping someone will scratch behind your ears or, most intense of all, sit with your tongue hanging out and beg for their food while they eat lunch. Those are all really excellent ideas, however they don't rate very highly on the acceptable-workplace-behavior scale.

A more practical approach to address your longings for your woofy is to roll over to Office Playground's Dogs & Cats page and fetch some of our fun stuff with a canine theme. Maybe you'd like to impress co-workers (and yourself, and Cesar) with your dog training abilities -- in that case Mr. Mutt is your man... errr, dog. Or it could be that you'd like to see your loyal companion sleeping quietly by the side of your desk -- sounds like you need a Sleeping Dog. And when you need to bounce back from the dog-eat-dog environment that today's economy fosters, what could be better than the master of springiness, the Slinky Dog.

Stop being an ordinary paper pusher and use a Dog Stapler to conjure up thoughts of Fido, waiting faithfully at home, chewing up something new and expensive while you're gone. Don't sit and stay miserable! There's no better time than now to chase that doggie separation anxiety away; run over to the Playground and unleash your yearnings!

The Barnyard Comes to the Office

A favorite activity for some of us here at Office Playground is our daily barnyard animal sound session. We don't have to leave the safety of our cubicles to engage in this entertaining activity -- we just use the excellent vocal talents of our stock of slingshot flying animals, giving each a slap to make them call out. We sometimes have the same animal call in near unison, creating a delayed, echoing effect across the canyons of the office; other times we have different animals respond to one another in zany fashion. Our stockpile of animals includes the Slingshot Flying Chicken, the Slingshot Flying Cow, the Slingshot Flying Duck and, though they are not found in too many barnyards around the world, the Slingshot Flying Monkey.

Get yourself a set of these vociferous critters and start your own cacophonic tradition! Maybe the chicken leads off with its rooster-like calls in the morning, or maybe the duck helps get things going in that sleepy post-lunch phase by quacking everyone up. When you're up for something intense, go all out and have all four sound off at the same time. Hey, in an uncertain world we all need traditions, right?

Gotta Love the Monkey!

Monkeys are really popular at Office Playground, Inc. When assessing whether or not to add a new product to our portfolio, it gets bonus points if it happens to be monkey-related. Our customers love to buy our monkeys and here are the top five selling monkey office toys:

We often wonder why folks love monkeys so much. Are monkeys cute? Do people like them because they act like humans? But not all monkeys are worthy of our affections. Some monkeys are naughty and not so nice at all. Like the monkey in Tampa Bay throwing feces at people -- (read article).

It's possible that we may never know why our monkey products are so popular. (Maybe it is because our monkeys won't throw their feces at you.) We don't even know if monkeys or just monkey office toys are popular. Whatever the reason, people can't resist a monkey.

If there is a monkey who would like to fill us in on the mystery or if someone out there personally knows a monkey, perhaps you’d like to comment.