Miscellaneous Cool Stuff

Hey Jammers! Doing homework in the morning is such a struggle... I still have more to go, too. >.<

Today is the last day of February, which means I have to go back to school tomorrow... which means I'll get more homework... which means I'll be tired... which means I won't be able to post as often... -_-

But I've decided to post today to cap off my glorious week of every-other-day updates. Being a good student, I've saved all my break homework until the very last day, so this post will be a little shorter.

Still, I've got some stuff to tell ya.

Yesterday, me and my friend Gogreen16 toured the new land of Balloosh on an empty server, taking in the well-drawn scenery. My friend noticed the swampy realism (the water running over onto the bridge), as well as an interesting fact:

Despite how big Balloosh is, there is not a single clickable button, game, or pet shop in sight. 0_0

This may change soon, of course. There will probably be at least one game within a year. Still, I always think of Animal Jam lands as beautiful works of art, and the less clickable buttons, the easier that art can be appreciated.

Next up...

It's a little late, but you can find some cute printable valentines in the Conservation Museum. And, they come with a code–

If you tilt your head to the side and squint, you'll see that written on each Valentine is the code BEMYBUDDY. It seems that this is a code that gets renewed annually, a lot like EXPLORER.

If you want 1,000 gems, enter the code BEMYBUDDY in your account.

Moving o– wait, what does that Sir Gilbert card say?

*flips card around*

NO

Prepare to get sued by Kelloggs, Animal Jam...

In other news, did anyone realize that the once infinite stream of Howls is gone?

Jammer Central has changed so much. For reference, here's the Jammer Central from before:

This was from around 2013 when Cleverclaw's Dresser came out– it was the winner of an item design contest. 

Why did they remove Howls? Will the Howl Plaque become rare soon? 

What do you think?

Before I go, I just want to tell you guys about a cool blog I found. I don't normally give shout-outs to blogs, but it's not every day that you find an Animal Jam blog that has been updating almost daily since 2013:

Rainbow000Pegasus' Ultimate Animal Jam Blog is updated by a very dedicated person, bringing you daily items, clearances, glitches, and interesting changes to Animal Jam. How cool is that? :D

I haven't known any long-standing daily AJ blogs since Snowyclaw moved on from Animal Jam Spirit, so this is a rare and beautiful gem indeed.

Rainbow000Pegasus definitely deserves more page-views for such an awesome blog. Check it out! ^-^

That's all for now. See you in Jamaa!

~DoomyPanda

Rediscovering Jamaa: Epic Wonders

Hey Jammers! I still have not resolved the Trading Post problem, but in the meantime I've updated the Codes page with 49 working codes for 2018! I've also made the page a little easier to read~ ^_^

I've also updated the Blogroll, clearing out inactive blogs and adding a couple fresh ones. Sadly, there's not many still there... so I cleared out the comments section so it's easier for you guys to tell me about your own blogs. I need moooore!!!! >:O

I hope you appreciate those two lil updates. Go check 'em out. B)

Over in Jamaa, we have some new items that signify a coming change in seasons:

Both are rereleases, of course, the Clover Blanket being a little older.

Regardless, both of these items are a premonition that the snow of Jamaa will soon melt to reveal the green clovers of Spring. 

I predict this will happen... next update, March 1st! :D

As you can probably tell by the title of this post, the third installment in my little "Rediscovering Jamaa" post series will be about Epic Wonders, the 2nd most popular underrated room (according to my ongoing poll):

I don't blame you guys, Epic Wonders is amazing!!! Let's take some time to appreciate it, shall we? ^-^

Beneath the misty waterfall of Coral Canyons lies a mysterious cave...

A cave guarded by equally mysterious horses, carved out of the deep blue rock...

A cave where gold is just scattered haphazardly, as if it holds less value than you think...

A cave... called Epic Wonders. 

Welcome!

Out from the curtain of the waterfall, you will see the mysterious blue orb, spinning and glittering in a pool of mysterious water. 

The water is mysterious, so you better not go in. Who knows how deep it could go...

Luckily, you can still access its treasures from a safe distance. Above, you see the blue orb's only nonmember item and its member friends.

Funny story about these items: my old friend might have invented them.

I remember, sometime back in 2012 or 2013, my friend Jam-a-Grammed me to meet them in Epic Wonders. There, they ecstatically explained that a week or two after using the floating purple question mark to suggest AJHQ make gold, silver, and bronze bricks, they arrived in Epic Wonders!!

I don't think this friend plays Animal Jam anymore, but from that moment on they filled their den with bricks of bronze, silver, and gold.

Around the same time, birthstones and birth flowers started being released on a monthly basis, birth flowers in Treetop Gardens and birthstones here in Epic Wonders.

The birthstone for February is Amethyst, one of my favorite stones. I actually sleep with an amethyst under my pillow. XD 

Some people think amethyst will give you good dreams. There's no way to prove it, but there's no harm in trying :P

Epic Wonders is a small yet spacious room, unpopular but (in my opinion) essential to Jamaa. Its design is dark and mysterious, but in a cool, comforting way. C:

An idea I've had a long time for Epic Wonders is to gradually move all diamond items into it. That way, we'd have one concentrated place for "special" items. Diamond items could be integrated into the regular orbs. A couple already are, in fact:

Epic Wonders is a really cool, under-appreciated place. It's also out of the way, tucked into the side of a canyon, while the Diamond Shop is crowding up the Township. 

And with the addition of a massive Alpha HQ, I think a good decision would be to remove the Diamond Shop to free up space and encourage people to go all over Jamaa, not just lag up Jamaa Township. 

What do you think?

As this post is just about to wrap up, it's time for...

~ Creature Feature ~

Like the time I featured a toad after I featured a frog, I am going to talk about an animal similar to the previous one. I just learned of their existence today, and I am very excited to introduce you!

Here they are...

The Lumholtz tree kangaroo!

You may be more familiar with a reddish brown colored tree kangaroo. Both kinds live in the same place as their land-dwelling relatives: Australia. 

The main staples of the tree kangaroo diet are fresh fruit and leaves, both of which they collect from the trees in their habitat. In this way, if their forests are cut down, tree kangaroos are in danger of starvation.

Tree kangaroos don't have the strong jumping legs of land kangaroos, so I imagine the only reason why they are associated with kangaroos is the fact that they're both marsupials, meaning they have pouches:

They also have very long tails, which might be another reason.

Like the animal I talked about previously (the coati), tree kangaroos live in organized groups of one male and a multitude of females, but they are not as close together as coati clans. Groups of Lumholtz tree kangaroos are more like neighborhoods, as each individual has their own home within an area.

Here's a video of a wildlife rehabilitation center specializing in Lumholtz tree kangaroos:

I'm so happy I live on Earth, we live with so many other amazing animals that it's impossible to count them :')

See you in Jamaa~

~DoomyPanda

Jamaa's Best Rare Item Mondays

Hey Jammers! It's come to my attention that for some reason, the "Trading Post" tab is not clickable on certain browsers. I can't find any way around it, aside from re-doing my tabs and maybe relocating some to a sidebar. Blahhhhh -_-

As there isn't much news today, I thought it might be fun to look at the best Rare Item Mondays throughout the years. It's been around 6 years... how many Mondays is that??? :0

This list mayyy be a little bit biased, as I'll mostly show you guys Nonmember items. But honestly, the best items are Nonmember. :P

So here are the coolest, most influential R.I.M.'s of Jamaa:

Here we have the Rare Scary Cat Hat– didn't I tell you I'd be biased? XD

This item was originally released without the 'Rare' icon back in 2010, and due to its popularity, was brought back as a R.I.M.

Which brings us to our next item...

Ah... the Rare Fox Hat. Anyone who's played Animal Jam for a few years understands the terrifying hype that surrounded this item. People might as well have been selling their kidneys on the black market just to get a taste of the glory that was the Rare Fox Hat.

Like the Scary Cat Hat, this item was also rereleased due to popularity. They are still moderately popular today, but meet nowhere near the obsession with Spiked Collars. 

There comes a time when you realize that most all Rare Item Mondays are disappointing re-colors and you stop checking the shops every week. I've fallen into this pattern, and in doing so I've avoided disappointment but I've also missed a few really interesting items, like the one above.

This came out last July– and I haven't seen it at all in Jamaa since. So while this item is not as influential, I think it's important to give it a lil spotlight. :D

I remember when the Rare Heart Locket came out... it was a cold day in Mt. Shiveer, mostly because the Hot Cocoa Hut was so crowded with crazy people that you couldn't go in. Why? Because the Rare Heart Locket had made a surprise appearance in the Shiveer Shoppe.

This is an item that has gotten some surprising popularity in recent years– probably because its one of the few R.I.M.'s that don't give you a seizure when you look at them. 

Next up, the Rare Cupcake Hat! It's one of the few Rare Item Mondays that was rereleased. Well... technically, all Rare Item Mondays are rereleased, as they can all be won in the Daily Spin. Hmm... :I

This item looks adorable on smaller animals, like seals and koalas. ^.^

This item isn't my favorite, but it definitely has the main marking of a good R.I.M.: originality. Not to say the nerd stereotype is original, but this item's design is unique as opposed to re-colored.

Now, last but not least, I present to you...

The Rare Guitar Rug: the best R.I.M. you've never heard of, because it was released in the Jam Sessions shop. On a Tuesday.

I guess what appeals most to me about this item is that it reminds me of the Juice Hut, or an older Jam-a-Gram:

Brb, adding this to my list of "Items That I Want But Cant Trade For Because No One Knows They Exist"

I hope you enjoyed this incredibly biased list of Jamaa's best Rare Item Mondays. Now, without further ado, it's time for...

~ Creature Feature ~

Unlike the past three featured creatures, today's special friend is a mammal– just like you! 

Let us welcome with open arms...

The Coati!!! :D

The coati is a relative of the raccoon, and like the raccoon, the coati lives in North America! Specifically Arizona and New Mexico. 

Coatis live together in tight-knit clans of mothers and children, while male coatis have been observed to live on their own past the age of 2– sounds young, but a 2-year old coati is equivalent to a 20 year old human. So, many human cultures are a lot like coati culture!

Also, recent studies have shown that time perception is proportional to an animal's size. 

Basically, the smaller you are, the slower time moves for you. In that way, a coati might experience 2 years like a human experiences 20 years! I wonder what that means for even smaller animals, like fruit flies... or bacteria...

White-nosed coatis are an endangered species, and they are protected as such in New Mexico. However, most coatis live in Arizona, where they are hunted recklessly by humans all year round– which is honestly messed up.

Keep the coati in your mind, and tell your friends about them. They need all the awareness they can get.

Thanks for reading, see you in Jamaa!

~DoomyPanda

Rediscovering Jamaa: The Hot Cocoa Hut

Hey Jammers! Isn't this odd? A post on Monday? Typically, I only post once or twice every weekend– rarely if ever on weekdays, no matter how much I want to. :O

For this coming week, I have no school! Yay!!! February break is wonderful. 

Because of that, I'm gonna try and post at least every other day until Sunday– you have my word!! ;D

If you haven't noticed already, I put a new graphic on the sidebar of the blog:

I made it out of a combination of free clip art and basic AJ graphics. Because the AJ Blogging community is not as big as the AJ side of YouTube, I thought it would be cool if we could all have a little symbol to link our blogs together in support of one another. :3

If you want, take this image and put it on the side of your blog– no credit necessary! ^-^

Now, onto the main topic of this post: underrated rooms on AJ! 

I have an ongoing poll to the right side of AJ Stream about you guys' favorite underpopulated areas in Jamaa. This is not only because I'm just generally curious, but also to help me know which rooms to focus on next. 

If you haven't seen my first Rediscovering Jamaa post, this is a series I'm doing where I tour the rooms on Animal Jam that are less popular but definitely deserving of popularity. In this way, we can bring awareness of their awesomeness and "rediscover" Jamaa together! :D

So, as of today, the most-voted favorite room is the Hot Cocoa Hut, which is exactly where we're going today!

-

You've trekked through deep snow, against icy currents of wind. The icy landscape of Mt. Shiveer has you slipping and sliding– laughing down the ice slides, and the less fun slipping-and-falling-on-your-face. 

Exhausted, you make your way toward a snow-covered tent and walk through... from cold into warmth!

The floor is cool, hardened mud, but feels significantly warmer on your paws than the ice of outside. Within the seemingly light and billowy walls of a tent, where could the source of warmth be?

Steam emanates from a chattering Hot Cocoa machine...

Alright Jammers, listen up. Go to the Hot Cocoa Machine and choose the teacup shape.

Turn it blue...

Remember to set the secret temperature dial to red...

Choose the dark chocolate hot cocoa...

Add some whipped cream... 

Choose the shredded chocolate topping, and...

Voila!!! You've just made the Spookypanda Supreme, the official drink of Animal Jam Stream. XD

The entire atmosphere of the Hot Cocoa Hut is warm and comforting, from the fluffy pillows on the ground to the orange glow of the fire. 

A fun little easter egg: the bags of cacao beans are labeled SBI. What does that stand for? Smart Bomb Interactive– the original name of WildWorks before they changed it. 

Throughout Jamaa, I'm sure you can find a few more "SBI" easter eggs like this one. If you can name just one in the comments, I'll give you a (digital, metaphorical) cookie. 

I think the Hot Cocoa Hut has some beautifully earthy design elements. There are so many lovely details, like the pot of healing(?) staffs, the shelves of teacups, and that lil vase of incense in the back. I wonder what it smells like... :3

Despite the small amount of people frequenting the Hut, its item shop is updated seasonally. For instance, right now there are a lot of Friendship Festival themed items on Clearance right now.

Maybe the lack of people at the Hot Cocoa Hut is not all that bad. A few Jammers coming and going makes it a good, non-laggy place to talk with buddies. It's so relaxing, too. Sooner or later, the sounds of the Hot Cocoa Machine will make you fall asleep... Zzz...

-

Which underrated room should we go appreciate next? Vote for your favorite on the poll on the right side of the blog! ^-^

It's coming to the end of my unusual Monday post. Do you know what that means?

It's time for...

~ Creature Feature! ~

Unlike the previous two posts, I promise today's featured critter will not be a frog or a toad. Today, we're switching it up with...

The astounding, magnificent, beautiful Dobsonfly!

The only reason I know of this insect's existence is that I had seen one last summer. I was outside with my friends when we saw one on a tree– obviously, it was very surprising! Dobsonflies are really big, especially males. We were lucky, the dobsonfly we discovered was male, with big horns and antennae like the image above.

Our dobsonfly seemed to have been resting. Thankfully, my friends shared my fascination with him, so he went unharmed. I always get scared and protective whenever I see a cool animal outside. Sometimes people hurt what they don't understand...

We have to go beyond our initial reactions to animals (and people) and look deeper, see them as individuals. 

Even if you're afraid of large insects, the truth is that the bigger the bug, the slower and more peaceful they are! 

In all my days, I have never met a bug as chill as the male dobsonfly. :)

That's all for now, Jammers. See you in Jamaa!

~DoomyPanda