No Robots from YungHan Chang on Vimeo.

Thanks to SF Signal for bringing this charming little short to my attention.  “No Robots” is a student film, from San Jose State University, directed by Kimberly Knoll and Yunghan Chang.  It’s a little bit about robots, a little bit about humanity, and really, really sweet in addition to being beautifully done.  The surprise kittens just about killed me.  Totally worth five minutes of your day, even if you’re not a huge sci-fi person.

THIS is what leopard print looks like, people.

We live in the age of animal print, dear readers.  If you follow fashion, you can hardly have missed the explosion of animal and “tribal” prints that have been all over the stores for the last few years.  Leopard print remains insanely popular, but has also gotten a bad rap in horrifying 80s garments like leotards and leggings (that’s right, I hate leggings), so much so that designers have started manufacturing variations on the theme and labeling them with the name of whichever wild cat strikes their fancy.  The fact is, there are a lot of cats out there with rosettes or spots, but if you think a snow leopard’s coat looks like a serval’s, you have not been looking.

As a fashion-lover and amateur naturalist, I have to take a stand.  Here’s the truth: even if you think that “cheetah print” sounds sexier/trendier/more luxurious than “leopard print,” if your fabric has rosettes, it ain’t cheetah.  Observe the leopard at top.  Purty, isn’t he?  His so-coveted coat involves small, mostly uniform rosettes with no spots inside.  We’ve all seen the pattern a million times.  Taking that same pattern and labeling it cheetah does not make it so.  To illustrate: read more »