Keiser cat (1990-2007)

Tail of Devotion to Keiser

2007-02-05T12:30:00.000+11:00

FINAL POST

2007-02-04T01:45:00.000+11:00

This is Keiser's human.

Sadly, around 11.30pm Keiser suffered a seizure which was related to tumours rupturing causing internal bleeding. She went into shock. She could hardly move and started panting.

At around 12.50am, after the vet had made the diagnosis using ultrasound she decided that Keiser was not going to recover and helped her to go to sleep and cross over.

I am going to miss Keiser so very much. You were a brave and loving cat.

Rest in Peace my angel

(There will be no more entries to her blog)

random footy pic

2007-02-03T21:00:00.000+11:00

Possum (Tim Notting) takes a high mark, using Bowden as a step ladder

...not even the CIA is above the law

2007-02-03T20:00:00.000+11:00

From The Boston Globe of 1 February 2007
German prosecutors yesterday said arrest warrants have been issued for 13 CIA operatives accused of the abduction of Khaled al-Masri, a German citizen of Lebanese heritage who was kidnapped in the Balkans in early 2004, flown to a secret prison in Afghanistan, and grilled for months before his captors decided he had no terrorist ties and released him.

These CIA agents have broken the law in Germany and have to be extradited to face justice. There is no excuse for depriving another country's citizen of their liberty without reason.

If the US government does not cooperate in their extradition, then it is complicit in the illegal activities of its employees, and no better than a dictatorial regime that it criticises.

*Don't forget to check out Shamus for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

Today was a warm day, but I had my human for the whole day again. In fact, Margaret had left this morning to stay overnight elsewhere, so I have free run of my own house again (except for my other room of course).

And we have the opportunity to catch up on Smallville twice and Supernatural recorded from earlier in the week.

Clark Kent, faster than a speeding bullet, about to save another life

random thought #4

2007-02-02T21:15:00.000+11:00

Apparently all the different flavoured Pez candy all taste the same.

*Don't forget to check out Shamus for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

Not much to report today. I am so glad when my human comes home from work. He talks to me, feeds me, and picks me up to give me a cuddle.

why the Great Wall of China was built

2007-02-01T22:30:00.000+11:00

Many Australians may now believe that the Great Wall of China was built during the time of Emperor Nasi Goreng to keep the rabbits out.

(television commercial created by Sydney agency Belgiovane Williams Mackay, which is now part of the vernacular - duration: 31 seconds)

*Don't forget to check out Shamus for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

When my human spends all day with me, I like to lay on his lap and we usually have lots of cuddles including a nap together on the couch.

Well, not so with Margaret who ignored me again. My human thought I had run away when he came home from work as I was in my cane basket under the bed.

Thankfully my human announced his return and woke me up in time for my dinner. Mary was over and and they all had a pasta dish for dinner cooked by Margaret.

Is a bit of attention too much to ask for?

a philosophical dilemma

2007-01-31T21:45:00.000+11:00

If a person is hit (run over) by an ambulance, are they fortunate or unfortunate?

*Don't forget to check out Shamus for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

I spent most of the day out on my deck today, and then when I came inside, Margaret kindly left the fan on for me before she went out as it was hot inside . She still won't let me sit on her lap though.

Emily came over this evening and she cooked up a pasta with tomato and sausage for dinner. I just had my usual chicken.

Wednesdays are TV nights, and tonight they watched Food Safari which featured Thai cooking and then the pilot of Heroes. What a cool show.

I want a guinea pig...

2007-01-30T21:30:00.000+11:00

I can't believe that people abandon their guinea pigs. It's not as if they are high maintenance like human children.

Thankfully, abandoned guinea pigs are rescued by people like Karen Oehlerts from This Little Piggy and Me which is a guinea pig adoption/rehousing agency.

See - The Enquirer (Cincinnati)

Karen Oehlerts with Cadbury

I would love a guinea pig. I would name him Aloysius or her Andromeda and he or she could cuddle up to me in my basket.

My human used to have three guinea pigs when he was a teenager, Picky Picky who was brown, and Dilly Dilly who was white with brown patches. Then there was another white one with the swirlly fur, but he can't remember her name.

My human told me that guinea pigs even kind of purr.

Yeah, right!

*Don't forget to check out Shamus for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

Oh no, my human has left me alone during the day with the scarey woman who won't let me sit on her lap!

I was so glad when he came home from work. I'd rather be alone than ignored!

Mary came over tonight and they all had beer and wine again, along with Hokkien noodles with teriyaki pork and green.

interesting people, part 5 (Germaine Greer)

2007-01-29T23:00:00.000+11:00

Happy Birthday Germaine Greer. She turned 68 today.

Ms Greer is one of Australia's foremost intellectuals, even though she lives in the United Kingdom now.

She is provocative and is sometimes full of it, but she makes people think.

She is also a renown feminist, having written the seminal feminist text, The Female Eunuch.

She was also an influential member of The Push, an intellectual movement in Australia.

*Don't forget to check out Shamus for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

Oh what an interesting evening. I thought today was going to be regular. After work, my human came home as usual. Okay.

Tonight, Mary and Margaret came over. They had beer, then wine with haggis and mash (must be the leftover haggis from Thursday). And now Margaret is sleeping over in my other room. And she wouldn't let me sit on her lap at all!

Instead of just lounging on the couch, they were mostly outside on the deck.

I want one... a Micama

2007-01-28T19:30:00.000+11:00

I want a Micama (designed by Francesca Donati).

Donations towards the 2969,20 € price are welcome.

two circles around a 'cushion' and the outer

circles opened out

recliner

in leather

looks so comfy

*Don't forget to check out Shamus for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

Not much to report today. My human and I watched The Exorcism of Emily Rose which was really scarey.

random footy pic

2007-01-28T15:00:00.000+11:00

after winning the round 7 game, 2006
Jonathon Brown, Luke Power (number 6), Michael Voss (captain) and Simon Black - the core leadership group

cat's pajamas

2007-01-27T23:30:00.000+11:00

If something is called the "cat's pajamas", it means that something is truly outstanding.

Well, I don't wear pajamas as I have fur.

Actually "cat's" is really Katz, who was an English tailor who made the finest silk pajamas for royalty and the wealthy.

*Don't forget to check out Shamus for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

I had a few visitors today. Devi came over but she wouldn't let me sit on her lap. They had haggis on toast. Ew! She and my human then watched The Amityville Horror (2005) in the afternoon as my human was too scared to watch it at night without another person around. What a scaredy cat!

Then tonight, Merlin's humans Kim, Jordan and Liam came over for bangers and mash, and then they watched She's the Man.

our idiot prime minister

2007-01-26T21:00:00.000+11:00

Today was Australia Day. I've previously written about our national day.

Anyway, the Australian of the Year is usually announced the day before. At a reception at the prime minister's official residence (The Lodge) held yesterday for the state and territory finalists, our idiot prime minister asked one of them "When did you come to Australia?" and then "What part of the world were you born?".

The person he asked the stupid questions to, was Professor Terence Tao, who was awarded the Fields Medal (the "Nobel Prize of Mathematics") last year.

Our idiot prime minister obviously did not read his briefing which would have informed him that Professor Tao was born in Adelaide, in South Australia.

What a gaffe. How embarrassing.

Professor Terence Tao

As Professor Tao is Asian, the idiot prime minister presumed that he was born outside of Australia.

If Professor Tao was white, the idiot prime minister would not have asked such a stupid question.

It isn't the first time. Not that long ago, the idiot prime minister asked a woman, who had Middle eastern complexion, and who wore a head scarf the same question. She told him that she was born in Sydney.

Obviously, our idiot prime minister still hasn't learnt and this just demonstrates his mentality and attitude. It borders on being racist.

No caption needed

*Don't forget to check out Shamus for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

After all the excitement of last night, today was very quiet. My human stayed home with me all day instead of going out for some of those Australia Day activities which are too crowded, especially on a hot day.

Burns' Night and a Burns' supper

2007-01-25T23:30:00.000+11:00

Today was Burns' Night in honour Robert Burns' birthday (25 January 1759, died 21 July 1796).

Robert Burns is regarded as the national poet of Scotland.

A Burns' supper is traditionally held in Scotland and elsewhere in the world by Scots and those who appreciate Burns' poetry.

A Burns' supper comprises haggis, tatties (mashed potato) and neeps (mashed turnip), lubricated with plenty of single malt Scotch whiskey.

As the haggis is cut open, the following is said:
Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,
Great chieftain o' the pudding-race!
Aboon them a' ye tak your place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm:
Weel are ye wordy o' a grace
As lang's my arm.
(which is a poem by Robert Burns)

*Don't forget to check out Shamus for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

We had a Burns' supper at my place tonight. Emily and Neil came over, then Bobby, and then the back neighbours Sofie's humans Martin and Lil.

I think I had a turn lying or sitting on everybody's lap.

Thankfully, my human had the sense not to serve up any haggis to me. Ew!

random thought #3

2007-01-24T20:45:00.000+11:00

In all those silly zombie movies (which my human sometimes watches), the zombies are flesh eating and attack people in order to eat them. Those living people who are not devoured and only just bitten in turn become zombies themselves.

Now, if zombies are supposed to be dead and decaying, but re-animated, why do they need to eat?

And if they do need to eat, why don't they just have a salad instead?

*Don't forget to check out Shamus for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

Not much to report today.

happy birthday Milton Keynes

2007-01-23T21:30:00.000+11:00

Today is Milton Keynes' birthday.

Milton Keynes is not a person but a large town 75km (45 miles) north-west of London.

It was designated as a new town on 23 January 1967 and developed to ease population congestion in London.

Still, Milton Keynes was not named after a person, but from a village originally known as "Middleton", which later shortened to "Milton". After the Norman invasion, the Cahaines family held the manor from 1166 to the late 13th century as well as others in the country (Ashton Keynes, Somerford Keynes, and Horsted Keynes). During this time the village became known as Middleton de Keynes eventually shortening to Milton Keynes.

See
- Wikipedia entry on Milton Keynes
- Milton Keynes Council

The Concrete Cows of Milton Keynes are famous

There was even a song called 'Come to Milton Keynes' by The Style Council.

My human told me that he's visited Milton Keynes a number of times. Not as exciting as London though.

*Don't forget to check out Shamus for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

Today was still warm. Emily came over tonight and it isn't even Wednesday. Woohoo! She came over with beer and for a beef vindaloo dinner. Of course I didn't eat any. It would upset my delicate stomach. I laid on her lap, but it was too hot to stay there for too long.

how much is someone's social life worth?

2007-01-22T22:00:00.000+11:00

Around this time last year, I wrote about the "four fun blokes" in Sydney who were auctioning their friendship for a weekend including a couple of beers, snags (sausages), and a good time.

This time of the year must be the silly season. A philosophy student (alas, another Australian) is now auctioning his social life on eBay including his name (but not legal identity), all his possessions, access to his friends and family, as well as training in his skills (surfing, climbing, fire stick twirling etc).

See
- eBay
- myspace
- Nicael's page

Some people want to be him and are willing to pay nearly $20,000.

Would I exhange my cat's life for that? No way. My meals are served on demand (twice a day), I sleep all day, lay on a lap as I wish, my fur is brushed nearly weekly, and people come and visit me.

Now, perhaps I could auction my lifestyle.

*Don't forget to check out Shamus for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

Not much to report today.

National Hugging Day

2007-01-21T21:30:00.000+11:00

Today was National Hugging Day which has been celebrated since 1986.

What a wonderful idea for a day. My human gives me hugs all the time, but they are actually more like cuddles.

As I am such a small kitty, I can't return the hug. Sometimes when I am lying on my person's lap and facing him, and I don't want him to get up, I do wrap my front paws around his belly. That's like a cat hug don't you think?

In Australia, we even have a Free Hugs Campaign by Juan Mann, and millions of people have seen him in action in Sydney on YouTube (below).

e-Hugs from me to you all

*Don't forget to check out Shamus for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

Today was a cooler day, particularly in the afternoon when the sky clouded over. My human gave me a really nice long brush of my fur, all over, even my belly fur using the gloves. Then he proceeded to clean the house which hadn't been done for a few weeks on account of the heat.

Tonight we're watching a BBC Shakespeare Retold version of The Taming of the Shrew. It's quite funny. My human told me that it is one of his favourites of the Shakespeare plays, though the original was rather misogynistic.

Kate and Petruchio (modernised)

random footy pic

2007-01-21T10:00:00.000+11:00

Mitch Clark - round 2, 2006

a cat about town

2007-01-20T20:30:00.000+11:00

Yoda is an 8-year old Siamese cat who lives in Bloomington, Illinois. He also behaves like a dog and enjoys going in car rides and accompanies his human, Judy Norton when she visits the bank and local shops.

Yoda sits up on the counter at the bank while Judy does business with the teller. At the shops, Yoda rides in a basket atop a trolley cart.

See - Pantagraph of 18 January 2007

Do I envy Yoda? Not really, I like being in my house.

*Don't forget to check out Shamus for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

Today was another hot day. I'm going to lie on the wooden floor again.

The Black Cat (Edgar Allan Poe)

2007-01-19T22:30:00.000+11:00

Today was the birthday of Edgar Allan Poe (born 1809, died 17 October 1849). Poe was a renown American writer known for his macabre tales.

One of his stories was The Black Cat (written in 1845) about a cat called Pluto whose human treats him poorly one night when drunk. Suffice to say, in typical Poe fashion, the human suffers the consequences.

You can read The Black Cat in full - here (WARNING: not suitable for young children, that is, if they have the patience reading the very formal language of that time period).

*Don't forget to check out Shamus for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

Again, not much to report today. Just another hot day.

the clock is ticking... 5 minutes to midnight

2007-01-18T21:00:00.000+11:00

The Doomsday Clock maintained by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (University of Chicago) uses the analogy of the human race being at a time that is "minutes to midnight" where midnight represents destruction by nuclear war.

Since yesterday, the clock advanced a further two minutes and is now at 5 minutes to midnight.

The world stands at the brink of a second nuclear age. The United States and Russia remain ready to stage a nuclear attack within minutes, North Korea conducts a nuclear test, and many in the international community worry that Iran plans to acquire the Bomb. Climate change also presents a dire challenge to humanity. Damage to ecosystems is already taking place; flooding, destructive storms, increased drought, and polar ice melt are causing loss of life and property.

During the arms race between the USA and USSR, the clock was at 2 minutes to midnight (1953). After the end of the Cold War, the clock was reset to 17 minutes to midnight and has been ticking forwards ever since.

*Don't forget to check out Shamus for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

Not much to report today. It is raining tonight and the doors and windows are open in an attempt to lower the internal temperature of the house.

eat more curry... it's good for you

2007-01-17T22:00:00.000+11:00

From Scientific American,
Turmeric, an orange-yellow powder from an Asian plant, Curcuma longa, ... No longer is it just an ingredient in vindaloos and tandooris that, since ancient times, has flavored food and prevented spoilage...

...the biologically active components of turmeric--curcumin and related compounds called curcuminoids--as having antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antibacterial and antifungal properties, with potential activity against cancer, diabetes, arthritis, Alzheimer's disease and other chronic maladies.

Known as HALDI in HINDI, jiang huang in Chinese, manjal in Tamil (and just plain "yuk" as the yellow stain on a white T-shirt from the splatting of ballpark mustard), turmeric has a medicinal history that dates back 5,000 years. At that time it was a key medicament for wound healing, blood cleansing and stomach ailments in India's Ayurvedic system of medicine.

See - article

I think my human will eat more Indian curry as tumeric is a major ingredient. Woohoo, vindaloo!

*Don't forget to check out Shamus for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

Last night was so hot. It was stuffy and there was no breeze so the house didn't cool down at all. This morning was still hot, so I didn't eat.

Tonight is a little better, but not much.

a cat stationmaster named Tama

2007-01-16T21:30:00.000+11:00

I've previously written about some cats who have an occupation, like the office cat, fashion cats etc.

A 7-year-old cat called Tama has been named a special stationmaster at the Kishi Station on the Kishigawa Line in Kinokawa in Japan.

Two other cats were employed as deputy stationmasters at the same station. Stationmaster Tama wearing a railway cap, along with the two deputies, welcome passengers at the station.

See - Mainichi Daily News (Japan), 14 January 2007

Unfortunately, the cats are not paid, but given food as reward for their work. I think they should take industrial action for better pay and conditions.

*Don't forget to check out Shamus for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

Another hot day today. My human was surprised I ate so much for breakfast this morning. Duh! That's because he wasn't giving me the right food.

Tonight I'm just going to lie on the floor by my human's feet. Just like a d-o-g.

My fortune cookie told me...

2007-01-16T19:00:00.000+11:00

My Fortune Cookie told me:
Beware Hector Doomglass, and all his penguins too.
Get a cookie from Miss Fortune

No Pants! Subway Ride

2007-01-15T21:30:00.000+11:00

People who behave in a non-conformist and silly manner in public are so cool.

Saturday, 13 January 2007, was a great day in New York when over 200 people participated in the sixth annual No Pants! Subway Ride on the 6 line.

The No Pants! Subway Ride was organised by Improv Everywhere which causes scenes of chaos and joy in public places. It has accomplished over 60 missions involving hundreds of undercover agents. The group is based in New York City.

See - New York Daily News of 14 January 2007

"We're all going to take our pants off and have a lot of fun," said organizer Charlie Todd, 28, of the Improv Everywhere group. "It's not against the law to wear your underwear!"

Participants gathered at the Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall station, boarded a 6 train, "de-pantsed" and exited at different stations. Then they reboarded other uptown trains to the shock and amusement of fellow subway riders.

"I'm standing here with no pants on," said Melissa Poles, 31, of Manhattan, who crocheted a blanket while confused onlookers tried to make sense of the stunt. "I'm awesome."

Events like this are great in challenging onlookers/people to question what they consider to be 'normal' behaviour

*Don't forget to check out Shamus for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

My human thinks that I yell-meow at him a lot. Well, he nearly slept in today, and it was a work day. And I was also very hungry this morning. Then while he was having his shower, I yelled at him to hurry up so that I could drink the water in the bathtub.

Today was another hot day. We still don't have air-conditioning, which in any case contributes a lot to green house gas emission (climate change) because of the amount of electrity it needs to run, so I am going to suggest to my human about buying one of those portable evaporative coolers.

Tonight we watched not only Smallville but also Supernatural which finally returned to TV. Monday nights are going to be a great TV night.

Boo! Sam and Dean Winchester are brothers who hunt demons

when truth is inconvenient... ban it.

2007-01-14T21:30:00.000+11:00

Two parents from the Washington state town of Federal Way (between Seattle and Tacoma), have imposed their small minded views on an entire school by blocking the showing of Al Gore's global warming documentary An Inconvenient Truth to the district's school children.

It is people like them who have taken the United States back to the dark ages.

Frosty Hardison:
Condoms don't belong in school, and neither does Al Gore. He's not a schoolteacher. The information that's being presented is a very cockeyed view of what the truth is. The Bible says that in the end times everything will burn up, but that perspective isn't in the DVD.

Gayla Hardison:
From what I've seen (of the movie) and what my husband has expressed to me, if (the movie) is going to take the approach of 'bad America, bad America,' I don't think it should be shown at all. If you're going to come in and just say America is creating the rotten ruin of the world, I don't think the video should be shown.

How is it that one misguided couple can dictate a school's science education program?

The school district's solution is also cowardly:
School Board members adopted a three-point policy that says teachers who want to show the movie must ensure that a 'credible, legitimate opposing view will be presented,' that they must get the OK of the principal and the superintendent, and that any teachers who have shown the film must now present an 'opposing view."

Inconvenient Truth co-producer Laurie David responded:
I am shocked that a school district would come to this decision. There is no opposing view to science, which is fact, and the facts are clear that global warming is here, now.

See - Seattle Post-Intelligencer of 11 January 2007

*Don't forget to check out Shamus for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

Today was another warm day. Not much to report. I finally had my weekend afternoon on the couch together with my human.

random footy pic

2007-01-14T10:00:00.000+11:00

round 17, 2006 - Josh Drummond

giant bunnies

2007-01-13T21:00:00.000+11:00

Rabbits have a similar bone structure to us cats. In certain butchers' markets in Europe, the fur on the tail is left intact to prove that it is indeed rabbit that is being sold and not cat.

Rabbits are also of a similar size to us cats. That is, except for the giant bunnies called German Gray Giant.

These giant bunnies are about double my size and weight. Now Kim Jong Il, that dictator from North Korea, wants them to help 'alleviate food shortages'.

See - Der Spiegel of 10 January 2007.

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

Today wasn't as hot as yesterday, but it was still warm. I also had visitors today. Woohoo! Tim and Toni, whom I had never met before, came to visit for about an hour in the afternoon. And I managed to sit on their laps.

Aside from that, not much else to report. Not even a nap on the couch together with my human today.

spend it like Beckham

2007-01-12T21:30:00.000+11:00

US$250 million to kick a ball is just obscene.

Posh and Becks will have enough money to adopt all the other Malawian orphans that Madonna rejected. Indeed, probably every African orphan...

You should check out the welcome message to them from Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan etc

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

It was really hot today. 40.5 degrees Celsius (105 degrees Fahrenheit).

Even so, I had visitors this afternoon. Jack's human Malgosia came home with my human (Jack is a dog), then Jazz's human Laurine came over. Jazz is a three year old black cat. I enjoyed lying on both their laps while they had some wine and cheese.

Laurine also gave me a present of cat treats. Woohoo. She sure knows how to give feline massage.

Anyway, it is still hot tonight, so I am just going to lie on the wooden floor. I ate my dinner though.

Witch's Broom Nebula

2007-01-11T20:15:00.000+11:00

I haven't written about a celestial object for a while.

The Witch's Broom Nebula is part of the Veil Nebula which is also known as the Cygnus Loop.

It is 1400 light years away and the result of a supernova 20,000 years ago.

I think it looks amazing.

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

Today has been a really hot day, peaking at 38 degrees Celsius. And we still don't have air conditioning!

When my human returned home from work today, Neil also came over for a beer. I tried to jump up on Neil's lap but he wouldn't let me as he was wearing good work trousers. Not fair.

It's still warm tonight, so I'm just going to lie on the floor.

2006 Word of the Year

2007-01-10T22:00:00.000+11:00

The American Dialect Society recently voted “plutoed” as the word of the year 2006.

"To pluto" or "be plutoed" is to demote or devalue someone or something, as happened to the former planet Pluto when the General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union decided Pluto no longer met its definition of a planet.

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

I begged my human to stay home with me this morning. I just sat on the floor and looked at him trying to make him feel guilty for leaving me, but it didn't work.

Anyway, Emily came over tonight. She also cooked dinner of Hokkien noodles with duck, tofu and greens. Then I spent a lot of time on lying on her lap. She also took out my stitches. Wednesday nights are returning to normal.

another year, another calendar

2007-01-09T22:00:00.000+11:00

The unveiling of a new calendar is a big deal at my place.

My human also waits until they are heavily reduced in price (like by 75 per cent) before he buys any, so the selection becomes limited.

He has still been on the hunt for a Tintin calendar (like we had in 2005) but none were available. The calendar of my football team (like we had in 2006) was also not available, although my human did see some for sale in Melbourne last August but he declined to buy one then as we didn't know who would be in the team. As it was, it featured players who were retired or left the club in bad circumstances.

So this year, my human bought me a calendar of Frank Lloyd Wright (woo, FLW is one of my favourite architects).

He also showed me the other calendar. It is one of Newfoundland DOGS. I am absolutely appalled.

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

Not much to report today.

Passing of the noodle king

2007-01-08T22:00:00.000+11:00

The person who is the saviour of poverty stricken students and people worldwide, Mr Momofuku Ando, who invented (modern) instant noodles died on 5 January 2007, aged 96.

He introduced instant (Ramen) noodles to Japan and the world in 1958, and the cup noodle (just add boiling water) in 1971.

See
- Sydney Morning Herald
- BusinessWeek
- The Japan Times

My human told me that in his final undergraduate year at college/university (as with many students worldwide), he subsisted primarily on instant noodles.

Of course, he still occasionally has noodles in soup for dinner (if he is being lazy), but now he cooks the dried udon, ramen or somen noodles in home cooked chicken stock, with leaf vegetables and meat.

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

My human left me today, insisting that he had to go to work.

Anyway, when he came home, Sue B was with him and she stayed for an hour for a drink and some snacks. I wanted to sit on her lap, but changed my mind. Anyway, I didn't really feel like visitors today.

Tonight, we watched Smallville in which Clark Kent loses someone he loves (who dies). It was really sad.

circus water torture

2007-01-07T19:30:00.000+11:00

I hate water torture baths. Why would I need to have a water torture bath when I can give myself a tongue bath?

I won't write about the very few times that I was subjected to water torture. Unfortunately, it is not against the law.

Humans and canines on the other paw, are not so fortunate and are dirty creatures so they must resort to water torture to keep clean.

In fact, many humans find pleasure in being partially submerged in a bath full of water. They are seriously out of their minds.

Which brings me to the topic of this entry. The Sydney Festival is underway and in one of the shows (what humans call performing arts), a silly person in a circus tent goes into a bath and all the people watching applause.

It's called La Clique and comes from The Famous Spiegeltent. See review.

You call this fun? This guy needs his head read.

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

Not much to report today. My human stayed home with me all day, and we even had an afternoon nap together. Oh, there was also a brief rain shower which I looked at through the front security door.

random footy pic

2007-01-07T09:00:00.000+11:00

Round 20, 2006 - Luke Power disposing with a handball as he is tackled

the £7m tidy desk plan

2007-01-06T21:30:00.000+11:00

From UK Newcastle's The Journal:
The Government was last night accused of spending more than £7m of taxpayers' money on consultants to tell North-East civil servants how to tidy their desks.

Workers at Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs at the Longbenton complex, in North Tyneside, are having their desks marked with tape to indicate where their office equipment should be placed.

The exercise, which involves markers for items including computer keyboards, telephones and stationery, is designed to improve efficiency by making desks neater.

However, one worker last night described the system, being implemented by logistics company Unipart, as "demeaning".

More here

Uniformity is one thing and needed in maintaining records such as files and databases, and in best practice processes. A person's work area on the other paw would vary from one another depending on an individual's working style.

Such an idea is too Sir Humphrey Appleby (Yes Minister) to be serious.

Minister Jim Hacker: "So how much did we save on efficiency from the tidy desk policy?"
Cabinet Secretary Bernard Woolley: "Minister, we estimate the savings to be £100 annually"
Minister Jim Hacker: "And how much did we spend on the policy?"
Cabinet Secretary Bernard Woolley: "Err, £7 million actually"

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

It was a really warm day today, but I ate my dinner.

cleaning up Congress

2007-01-05T23:00:00.000+11:00

From Bloomberg:
The U.S. House of Representatives, after installing its new Democratic leadership, voted to ban lawmakers from flying on corporate jets and accepting gifts and meals from lobbyists.

What? Before this new rule, legislators could be influenced by gifts and fancy meals? Now, what is that called? Oh yeah, CORRUPTION.

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

I haven't been feeling like eating much today.

Emily came over to visit tonight though which was great as I laid on her lap a lot. She and my human had T-bone steak for dinner and didn't share. After dinner we all watched the first two episodes of Prison Break (though it hasn't been on TV here yet).

I want a credit card

2007-01-04T20:00:00.000+11:00

A cat living in Melbourne called Messiah was issued with his own credit card by the Bank of Queensland.

When the card arrived, his human Katherine Campbell made a big fuss about it. Silly Messiah. He should have checked the letterbox himself first and hidden the letter from the bank.

See - Courier Mail of 3 January 2007

Now, he can't do his own shopping on the internet!

Next time, I think he should apply for the Hello Kitty credit card.

I want my own credit card. I wonder if pet stores do home delivery of pet mice?

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

Not much to report today, except that the weather is warming up again.

new pics

2007-01-04T19:30:00.000+11:00

New photos taken on 1 January 2007

voice actors

2007-01-03T22:30:00.000+11:00

Voice actors are heard and not seen!

They play an important role in countries where film and television programs are dubbed (purrsonally, I think subtitles are a better idea).

In Germany, most English language programs are dubbed into German by German voice actors.

So if they broadcast the Academy Awards, do they use voice actors to dub it into German and do these voice actors also receive an award?

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

No sign of the black cat today. Another boring day home alone, though I did get into the catnip.

This evening, Kettles' humans Klaudia and Sally came over for a lamb Rogan Josh curry dinner. I had a great time lying on their laps after dinner when they watched TV. Kettles went to the farm with Sally over the break. She went in a C-A-R! What a silly cat.

the black cat

2007-01-02T21:15:00.000+11:00

Black cats are cool cats.

Salem Saberhagen from Sabrina the Teenage Witch TV show is a black cat.

There are some superstitions involving black cats. In the US and some countries in Europe, a black cat crossing a person's path foretells bad luck. On the other paw, if that happened in Britain or Japan, it would be good luck.

In Scotland, a strange black cat on your porch brings prosperity.

I think black cats are lucky.

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

A black cat called Gus turned up at the front porch/doorstep this morning. He was very young. Actually my human decided to name him Gus as I wouldn't tell him Gus' real cat name.

I meowed and yowled at him and warned him that this is my home so he turned around and sat on the driveway for a few minutes where I kept an eye on him from the window. Keeping watch on a black cat is quite boring, so decided to have a nap instead.

My human went to work today and left me alone at home. About time too, as I haven't done any secret cat business like hopping up on furniture without being yelled at, for over a week!

hey Microsoft, where is mine?

2007-01-01T23:00:00.000+11:00

Microsoft has given away 'free' laptops to a number of bloggers. Where is mine?

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

Today was another good day, though my human spent too much time doing chores again, including too much time in the kitchen.

This evening, Jimmy and Lily's humans Brian and Jackie came over, along with special guests David and Sheila who are visiting all the way from England. Poor Jimmy and Lily have also had to share their house with young children, Gemma and Owen, who stayed behind with their parents. I don't think I would have been ready for them to visit me.

Anyway, I had fun sitting and lying on everyone's laps, even if they did have roast beef and Yorkshire pudding for dinner without sharing any with me.

Auld Lang Syne

2006-12-31T23:55:00.000+11:00

In case anybody doesn't actually know the words...

Auld Lang Syne by Robert Burns

Verse One
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne?

Chorus
For auld lang syne, my dear
For auld Lang syne,
We'll tak a cup o kindness yet,
For auld lang syne!

Verse Two
And there's a hand my trusty fiere,
And gie's a hand o thine
And we'll tak a right guid-willie waught,
For auld lang syne

Chorus
For auld lang syne, my dear
For auld Lang syne,
We'll tak a cup o kindness yet,
For auld lang syne!

And if you wish to keep singing, there is more

Happy New Year everybody!

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

I did a naughty thing this morning. I peed in the bath tub. At least I aimed over the plug hole. My human told me I was lazy, but I think I was rather sensible.

Even though my human spent most of the day with me, he seemed to be doing a lot of house cleaning. It even included a big long brush of my fur!

Anyway, tonight my human left me to go to Fiona's house (she is Devi's sister) for a paella dinner. If abandoning me wasn't enough, he had the audacity to play with that Maltese Terrier dog called Pixie. I can smell her all over him! Hmmppphhhh! Thankfully he returned tonight in time to see in the new year with me.

random footy pic

2006-12-31T11:00:00.000+11:00

round 16, 2006 - Bradshaw kicks, Black lies on the ground and Drummond looks on (the players from my team anyway)

Tiger is 31

2006-12-30T22:00:00.000+11:00

Tiger Woods turned 31 today. Happy Birthday Tiger.

His real name is Eldrick. Tiger is just a nickname which stuck, given to him by his father's friend Vuong Dang Phong.

Tiger Woods is not a "black" golfer. He is actually one-quarter Chinese, one-quarter Thai, one-quarter African, one-eighth Native American, and one-eighth Dutch.

When he fills in forms about his ethnicity, he writes "Asian". Tiger actually calls himself Cablinasion, a term he made up.

It doesn't matter to me what ethnicity Tiger is. If he came over, I would sit on his lap just as I would anybody.

Tiger with his later father, Earl Woods

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

Today was a good day. I didn't feel like chicken or turkey so I didn't eat in the morning. I refused the usual for dinner until my human opened up a tin of tuna for me. Honestly, you'd think he would learn by now.

My human went out in the afternoon today to the mall to pick up his dry cleaning. He patted a cat who lives down the road along the way, and played with Tessie the Border Collie dog on the way back. Hmmppphhhh!

saving polar bears

2006-12-29T21:00:00.000+11:00

Late last year, I wrote about ' global warming means no more polar bears'.

US Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne announced on 27 December 2006 that the US Fish and Wildlife Service proposed to list the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act and initiate a comprehensive scientific review to assess the current status and future of the species.

According to the official media release
The Service will use the next 12 months to gather more information, undertake additional analyses, and assess the reliability of relevant scientific models before making a final decision whether to list the species.

12 months is a long time to wait if polar bears are dying.

The announcement is just a proposal. All Americans who are concerned should read the proposal and comment by the due date.

Time is running out.

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

My human stayed home all day again. As much as I enjoy lying on his lap and napping together on the couch, I'm not like a dog which suffers from separation anxiety.

I need time alone in the house so I can hop up on the kitchen bench without being yelled at, and to do all the other secret feline activities that we do when no humans are around.

searching for New Earth

2006-12-28T22:30:00.000+11:00

An orbiting telescope called COROT has been launched to search for new habitable planets.

Many of the planets COROT will detect are expected to be 'hot Jupiters', gaseous worlds. An unknown percentage of those detected are expected to be rocky planets, maybe just a few times larger than the Earth (or smaller, even). If COROT finds such planets, they will constitute a new class of planet altogether.

Links
- Centre national d’études spatiales - CNES (France)
- European Space Agency - ESA

Hmmm... somebody better warn these planets that Earth humans are on their way...

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

I had another good day today, though my human went out in the afternoon. When he returned, he brought over a visitor called Court for me to sit on, while they drank beer! And then I got into the catnip.

After Court left, I had a nap on the couch with my human until I got too warm and hopped off.

My human bought me a new food bowl while he was out - a Wedgwood Jemima Puddleduck bowl. Woohoo! Unfortunately, he's taken to calling me Keiser Puddlecat now.

Bob the 'distraction' cat

2006-12-27T21:00:00.000+11:00

Everybody knows that in households where cats and dogs share living arrangements, the cats are always in charge. In fact, cats train dogs to know their place in the home.

So good are cats at training dogs, that they even train dogs to serve humans.

In fact, even canine companions such as guide dogs are trained by cats; cats such as Bob the 'distraction' cat.

Bob the cat training Rinda, a puppy at Canine Companions in Oceanside, California. Bob helps companion dogs to learn not to be distracted by cats.

See - North County Times (California) of 23 December 2006

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

I had another wonderful day today. The weekend is lasting a long time!

I've been watching Dinotopia the series with my human. We even had a great afternoon nap together today. I love it when I am cradled in my humans arm with my head on his shoulder.

This afternoon, Kettles' human Klaudia came over bearing lunch - including ham, proscuitto, prawns, asparagus, mangos, strawberries, and a sparkling wine. Not only did I get to lie on Klaudia's lap, but she also gave me some ham.

dumber than dumb

2006-12-26T21:30:00.000+11:00

A dumb blond who has no talent and is famous for the sake of being famous is going to be paid to attend another party. This time a New Year's Eve party in Sydney.

Even dumber are people who actually pay her.

See - Sydney Morning Herald

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

I had a wonderful day today, even if it started late. My human slept in until 10.30am. Can you believe it? I meowed and meowed at 6.20am to wake him, but he chose to ignore me. How rude.

Anyway, he spent all day with me. Woohoo! Not only have we been watching Dinotopia, but we also had naps together on the couch snuggled up together.

NORAD and Santa

2006-12-25T23:00:00.000+11:00

NORAD (the North American Aerospace Defense Command) monitors artificial objects in space, and detects, validates, and warns of attack against North America (USA and Canada) whether by aircraft, missiles, or space vehicles, utilizing mutual support arrangements with other commands.

At this time of the year, NORAD also tracks the movement of Santa from the North Pole.

Hello? Diversion of military resources. If NORAD has this extra capacity, then they can have their funding reduced with much needed funds going towards the search for Osama bin Laden and other terrorists.

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

My human was out for much of the day today. He went to Jimmy and Lily's house for a a big Christmas lunch which he told me was delicious. He also gave Jimmy and Lily a cuddle. Not so much Lily who is a bit of a scaredy cat, but she got lots of scratches and even a belly rub. Hmmppphhhh!

not the Queen's Christmas message

2006-12-24T23:00:00.000+11:00

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is not the only person to read out a Christmas message. Australian prime minister, John Howard also reads one out.

According to our ABC (that's A for Australian), he said:
while the economy may be prospering there are a number of people who are struggling.
and
And those less fortunate in our community through no fault of their own have fallen between the cracks and we must, all of us, do what we can to help them.

A bit ironic really, given that his government policies created this situation, like tough labour laws that favour businesses and employers rather than workers.

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

Today was a another good day. Santa Claws came and left me some gifts. Woohoo! My human also stayed all day with me, except tonight when he went out to a barbeque.

Checking out my box from Santa Claws

Ooh, a stuffed sock

A springy mouse toy, a bouncey fluffy ball on springs... what more could a cat want?

That strange cat called Splat who resides at Belconnen Petbarn who apparently 'road tested' my toys. Hmmppphhhh! I smelt Splat on my humans hand on Wednesday when he came home from work.

random footy pic

2006-12-24T12:45:00.001+11:00

Round 9, 2006 - Black celebrating a goal
(we actually have that footy jumper that Blacky is wearing, my human just needs Blacky to sign the back of it, where the number is)

new pic

2006-12-24T12:30:00.000+11:00

sometimes, when I am asleep, my toys come out to play...

Deathly Hallows

2006-12-23T23:00:00.000+11:00

JK Rowling has revealed that the seventh and final Harry Potter book will be called Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

My human has read most of the Harry Potter books out loud to me, and I've also helped him watch the film adaptation. I can't wait for the last book to be published. Occasionally, when my human has forgotten to read me particular chapters, I've had to take the book out and read it myself when he is at work.

The storyline of the new book is a closely guarded secret, but I think I know what will happen.

Harry Potter will cross to the dark side and call himself Lord Vader. Then he will slay all the Hogwarts students under instruction from Voldemort, who in turn declares himself emperor.

Over time, a child called Luke will be discovered with magical powers who fights the emperor, and discovers that Lord Vader is his father. Then good will prevail over evil.

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

Today was a good day. My human spent most of the day with me. I also ate lots today.

My other human who used to live here came over to visit me and we had a big cuddle. Then later on, Neil came over to visit and cuddle me.

We watched Iron Chef America tonight. My human was terribly excited as the secret ingredient was duck (Iron Chef Flay against challenger Ming Tsai).

lower tax, no deductions

2006-12-22T22:30:00.000+11:00

The Sydney Morning Herald reported today that income tax could be reduced to flat rate of 20 per cent in exchange for no tax deductions.

That could also mean that the majority of taxpayers would no longer have to file an income tax return.

A lot of tax accountants would be out of work. Now they would argue against such a sensible approach.

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

I was hoping that my human would stay home with me today, but he went to work anyway. I did get a treat for breakfast, tinned salmon (they cost more than tinned tuna, so I only get it now and again) which I ate up.

My human returned home from work earlier today, but he could have been back even earlier, except he went into town first. He told me his office was allowed to finish at 2pm, but he didn't hear about it until 2.45pm. What a doofus!

a giant tent in Astana

2006-12-21T22:00:00.000+11:00

Another interesting building for tonight's entry.

Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan is shaping to be the new modern architecture centre of the world, soon to surpass Dubai.

The UK architect firm Foster + Partners has designed a giant tent to be built in Astana.

The Khan Shatyry entertainment centre in Astana will become a dramatic civic focal point for the capital of Kazakhstan, the soaring structure, at the northern end of the new city axis, rises from a 200m elliptical base to form the highest peak on the skyline of Astana. The 100,000sqm centre’s unique concept - to provide a sheltered environment embracing an urban-scale internal park, shopping and entertainment venue - was developed in response to the harsh climate of extreme weather in both winter and summer. The building will become a lively public space and an unprecedented amenity for the people of Astana which can be used throughout the year.

Held by a mast, the vast tent-like cable net structure is clad in ETFE, a material that allows light to wash the interior spaces while sheltering them from extreme weather conditions. A park steps up the height of the building in undulating terraces providing public space and green oases for the visitors. A tropical water park weaves its way through the landscape and its wave pools, river and waterfall are lit by roof lights that are seamlessly integrated into the design. The highest terrace is a viewing deck which will offer dramatic views over the park.

At the core of the building is a large flexible space that will form the cultural hub of the centre, accommodating a varied programme of events and exhibitions. Complemented by 40,000sqm of retail space with a wide range of cafes, restaurants and cinemas, as well as ample covered car park facilities, the Khan Shatyry will offer leisure facilities for all.

Artist's impression

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

I had an interesting day today. This morning after I ate a little of my packaged processed turkey slices for breakfast, I had a drink of water from my large water bowl on the deck which my human had just replaced with fresh water out of the tap. Then he encouraged me to get into the catnip. Is that what you call a pusher?

Tonight Emily came over and made dinner of Hokkien noodles with cooked Chinese BBQ duck, bok choy, snow peas and puff tofu. She also brought all the ingredients over. I had a nice cuddle with her.

I ate all my dinner tonight

Christmas and holiday gifts

2006-12-20T22:30:00.000+11:00

Here's a thought.

Instead of buying and then exchanging expensive and meaningless gifts, wouldn't it be great if some kind hearted people agreed with each other not to exchange gifts for that year and pooled their money towards buying food and treats for the local animal shelter?

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

I wasn't feeling too well today. I did eat breakfast, but not dinner. Merlin's humans Kim, Jordan and Liam came over for dinner of bangers and mash and broccoli.

They also watched Galaxy Quest. I just felt like having my human all to myself, so I retired to my basket under the bed, until my human brought me out.

the baiji is extinct

2006-12-19T21:00:00.000+11:00

The baiji was the Yangtze River (fresh water) dolphin and has just been declared extinct.

This is very sad news and a tragedy.

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

Not much to report today.

random thought #2

2006-12-18T23:00:00.000+11:00

Sir Francis Drake was a bit of a pirate. He also traded in slaves.

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

Today was okay. I ate my usual amount for breakfast and dinner.

Tonight, Bobby came over, and then not long after Timmy, and I sat on both their laps, though I much prefer Bobby's. They had a beer and then had a risotto for dinner (made with onion, bacon, mushrooms, asparagus and gorgonzola). Then they watched Team America World Police.

wine also comes in...

2006-12-17T21:30:00.000+11:00

There are always bottles of wine at my house. You never know when the odd guest may drop by to visit and cuddle me.

Of course, guests deserve wine in real bottles, whether with a cork or a Stelvin screw cap, and served in real crystal wine glasses.

The Hardy Wine Company recently launched the "Shuttle" featuring a 187ml (single serve) acrylic wine bottle securely sealed by its own acrylic wine glass. The tamper-proof bottle is opened by a simple twist-top action, which also releases the glass in which the wine is poured.

Now Palandri Wines has launched a recyclable pouch the "Cheer Pack". With a resealable plastic screw cap, it contains the same amount of wine as a traditional bottle, is half the size and weighs just 15 grams compared with 500 grams for a glass bottle.

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

Today was a slow day, apart from when my human did some house cleaning, but at the same time, I also had a nice long brush of my fur.

Aside from that, not much happened today. I ate a little bit today.

random footy pic

2006-12-17T21:00:00.000+11:00

round 12, 2006 - Justin Sherman handballs a disposal

Earth Hour

2006-12-16T23:30:00.000+11:00

On 31 March 2007, Sydney will go dark for one hour between 7.30 and 8.30pm by turning off all the lights as a step towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

See - WWF - Earth Hour

What a great idea. What would make it even better is if everybody caught public transport on that day.

Sydney going dark for one hour will make a small difference, but imagine if New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo, London etc also participated.

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

I went to visit the vet today and had to stay there for over an hour. I was given my yearly vaccination, then Ernie the locum (not my regular vet called Rob) examined me.

He felt me carefully and said the growth/lump inside me is the size of a tennis ball. He thought it would be too dangerous to do anything about it.

I also had to get stitches on my back leg as my human accidentally cut me when he was trimming my hind fur last night. The little accident cost him an additional $73.15. Serves him right. I hate having my fur trimmed.

I've just been sleeping most of today and haven't eaten anything at all, not after all the drugs injected into me like the vaccine, anaesthetic (a new one suitable for elderly cats), the antidote and penicillin.

Robbie is a Lion

2006-12-15T21:30:00.000+11:00

Robbie Williams has been in Brisbane performing at his latest concert.

On Wednesday night he even wore the football jumper of my team on stage. Woohoo!

And earlier, Robbie being given the jumper by Luke Power, Tim Notting, Simon Black and Daniel Bradshaw

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

I woke up my human very early this morning, but he chose to ignore me in favour of the alarm clock radio. He had to go in early today. Why he needs a contraption requiring electricity when I do the job so well is beyond me.

Anyway, today was a better day as it wasn't so warm. My human had a treat for me tonight. After I had my usual chicken, my human gave me some of his cooked tuna as well. Woohoo!

Tonight, we are watching Capote.

ig-Nobel faux pas

2006-12-14T22:15:00.000+11:00

I hope so called 'celebrities' have learnt from the major faux pas by Sharon Stone, that it is extremely bad manners to upstage the King and Queen of Norway, by arriving fashionably late, after the royals had arrived last and on time.

Queen Sonja and King Harald (arrived on time, but last as per protocol)

Sharon Stone (arrived late - she should have been refused entry)

See - Norway Aftenposten

Ms Stone should have turned up on time before the King and Queen.

There are some things that money and fame cannot excuse, and good manners is one of them.

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

Not much happened today.

that dictator

2006-12-13T22:15:00.000+11:00

Augusto Pinochet managed to live to 91. His regime tortured and killed 3,000 Chileans.

He overthrew the elected socialist government of Salvador Allende with the support of the United States.

Pinochet supporters would rather live under a military dictatorship than under a socialist government, even though it was democratically elected.

Plenty of European countries have had socialist governments elected - France, Spain, Sweden etc.

If there was a time for a coup, it should only occur when a government no longer abides by the principles of fair and free elections.

And the military should only be a caretaker until fair and free elections are held.

If the majority of the people vote for a socialist government, then they have chosen.

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

It was cold last night. I even stayed in bed all night (I usually hop off after my night time cuddle and my human is asleep and sleep on my mat in the living room).

I did a naughty thing though. This morning my human discovered that I had peed on his shorts that he leaves on the floor. He wasn't upset or angry with me, just worried that I might be getting old. The truth is, I was just being lazy.

I didn't feel like eating this morning and just went to sleep in my soft bed/basket on the couch.

Anyway, Emily came over tonight and she and my human had a rare roast beef with green vegetables. I didn't get any as usual, so I've just been nibbling at my cooked chicken dinner.

who is John Citizen?

2006-12-12T22:30:00.000+11:00

My human sometimes shows me official forms and the pamphlets that explain what they are and how to fill them in and I've noticed that a lot of them get John Citizen to fill in an example.

Poor John Citizen. Everybody knows where he lives, how old he is etc.

There is now even a picture of him.

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

Today was very cool compared to yesterday. It was only 15 degrees Celsius. What a big difference to yesterday.

Not much happened today.

France joins the global news service

2006-12-11T22:00:00.000+11:00

We don't have cable or satellite (pay) television in my house, so we are deprived of global international news broadcasters.

When something major happens, a lot of the Australian television networks broadcast live feeds from CNN or BBC World.

Our great multilingual government-funded (but with some advertising) SBS rebroadcasts news bulletins from other global broadcasters like CCTV-4 (from China) and Deutsche Welle (from Germany).

Some of the independent satellite television companies also provide Al Jazeera (in Arabic, from Qatar).

The global news community has finally been joined by France with France 24. What took them so long?

Hopefully our SBS will now also show French international news instead of the news bulletins from France 2 which we occasionally watch, but honestly, farmer Jean Luc and his activities in his small village in southern France really isn't that interesting!

Viva la France!

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

Today was hot. It was 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) and the inside of the house wasn't much cooler. I spent much of the day in my basket under the bed where it is dark and cool.

My human is rather surprised that I am quite hungry in this heat though.

Falling Water

2006-12-10T22:30:00.000+11:00

Two years ago I wrote about Frank Lloyd Wright and Falling Water.

Well, it seems that Brad Pitt also appreciates fine architecture. Angelina Jolie arranged a private tour of Falling Water for Brad as an early 43rd birthday present.

I think it was a very nice present.

See - MSNBC

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

Today was even warmer. Devi came over in the afternoon and she and my human had beer and watched The Omen (remake). I was outside napping on the deck, until my human called me to go inside as he claimed it was cooler. I went on strike as Devi wouldn't let me sit on her lap.

random footy pic

2006-12-10T21:30:00.000+11:00

Clark Keating and Jason Roe trying to spoil David Hille's mark
(round 17, 2006)

Crackers (Keating) is no longer in our team, but his hit out skills were amazing.

a Melbourne tram in San Francisco

2006-12-09T11:30:00.000+11:00

My human loves to visit Melbourne, not just because it is the home of Australian rules football in Australia, but it is also a great city and has wonderful trams (street cars).

My human loves the older wooden trams but most of them have been replaced with modern metal ones.

A vintage old wooden Melbourne tram was recently bought by San Francisco's MUNI.

The 496 (a W-2 class tram) now operates on the new F (Market) line from the Transbay Terminal to Castro Street and being extended to Fishermans Wharf.

See - Market Street Railway

Of course, there are are also a few other old Melbourne Trams operating in the US including Seattle.

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

Today was very warm. I slept mainly. I even tried to snuggle up to my human for a nap on the couch, but it was too warm. Nothing else much happened.

not the Queen's English

2006-12-08T23:30:00.000+11:00

Last night I wrote about the Queen's English and how it has changed over the years.

In a multilingual country like India where they have two official languages - English and Hindi, lots of people use both in a sentence which is a blended Hinglish.

There is a great story on NPR that is worth a listen.

If the the English spoken in many English-speaking countries continues to diverge any further (from each other), they may soon become different dialects.

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

It was warm today. My human came home from work earlier than usual. He tried to sneak in but I heard him and greeted him when he came inside.

Bobby came over tonight for a quick dinner of steak, couscous, button squash and broccoli. I didn't get any steak, but I did eat all my chicken.

I finally watched Superman Returns with my human.

young Clark Kent

the Queen's English

2006-12-07T21:30:00.000+11:00

Everybody knows that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II speaks proper English.

Well, a scientific study has shown that Her Majesty's English has changed over the years. But it is still Her English.

"In 1952 she would have been heard referring to 'thet men in the bleck het'. Now it would be 'that man in the black hat'.

"Similarly, she would have spoken of the citay and dutay, rather than citee and dutee, and hame rather than home In the 1950s she would have been lorst, but by the 1970s lost."
From - UK Telegraph of 5 December 2007

Next time she visits Australia, we will have to check out if she says 'Os-tray-lee-yah' or 'Ors-tray-lee-yah'.

See also another article also in the Telegraph.

The Queen in 1957 and 2000 (scientific analysis was made of her Christmas messages)

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

I wasn't feeling too well this morning and didn't want to eat anything. I also went to curl up in my basket under the bed, so my human worried about me all day.

He was glad to see me greeting him when he returned home from work. I also ate a little bit.

a random thought #1

2006-12-06T22:30:00.000+11:00

Why aren't goldfish actually gold in colour and silverfish, neither silver nor a fish?

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

Emily came over tonight. Woohoo! I spent a lot of time cuddling up to her while we watched TV (actually I was facing away from the TV).

John So, he's my bro - World's Best Mayor

2006-12-05T22:30:00.000+11:00

The Lord Mayor of Melbourne, John So who has cult status in his fine city, has now been voted World's Best Mayor (coming ahead of the mayors of Amsterdam and Harrisburg).

And seriously, there is a song called John So, He's My Bro about the Lord Mayor. He even has a fan club.

At the 2006 Commonwealth Games, John So received more cheers than Prime Minister John Howard. Even just mentioning his name in a Melbourne crowd will bring on a big cheer.

cuddling giant teddy bears is just part of the job...

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

I had a funny day today. After I had my breakfast and my human did all his preparation in readiness for work (shower - after which I went in to lap water from the bath tub, make lunch - kangaroo sausage sandwich - eww, eat breakfast, drink coffee etc), I went to my deck and sat by my water bowl so my human filled it up. After he did so, he put it near the catnip. So after I had my drink of water, I got into the catnip.

Ooh, it was so good. But I was sober by the time my human returned home from work and had my dinner.

to the stars...

2006-12-04T20:30:00.000+11:00

Professor Stephen Hawking reckons that the human race will need to spread to the stars and colonise new planets to survive (possible annihilation of planet Earth ).

See - BBC News

I hope there will be room for us cats on those space ships.

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

Nothing much happened today. My human went to work and I just napped all day.

Tonight we watched Smallville.

Clark Kent saves Smallville...again.

a new beacon in Paris

2006-12-03T22:00:00.000+11:00

A new tower called the 'Phare' (beacon) will soon be built in the La Défense business district in Paris, to be completed by 2012.

It will be built by a Los Angeles architectural firm called Morphosis which won a design competition.

The tower will be 68-storeys and stand at 300 metres high (shorter than the 320m Eiffel Tower).

The building/tower will include a 60m high atrium, gardens, cafes, shops and an observation deck and sky restaurant. One of the environmental features of the building will be a wind farm on the top and a curving facade to prevent solar overheating.

I think it looks like a giant cat scratching post.

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

Today was another quiet day. My human watched Boo which was a very scarey movie, which I enjoyed as my human needed me to protect him.

We're watching Crash right now. It's a very heavy film.

random footy pic

2006-12-03T21:45:00.000+11:00

Joel Patfull during round 8, 2006

an anagram

2006-12-02T23:00:00.000+11:00

Kyoto is an anagram of Tokyo.

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

Not much to report today. I made my human have a very lazy day which also included a nap together on the couch. Woohoo!

Dewey the library cat

2006-12-01T22:30:00.000+11:00

Dewey Readmore Books, the resident library cat of Spencer Library in Iowa passed away on Wednesday of this week. Actually, Dewey owned the library. Rest in peace Dewey.

I want my own library!

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

Today was a bit warmer. And not much happened.

St Andrew's Day

2006-11-30T21:45:00.000+11:00

Today was St Andrew's Day which is the national day of Scotland (much like St Patrick's Day is the national day of Ireland).

St Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland.

According to the City of Edinburgh Council
St Andrew's Day is celebrated on the 30th November.

It tends to be more popular with Scots who live abroad and there are many St. Andrew's Societies in places where Scots emigrated to. The St. Andrew's Society in Boston, in the USA, was set up in 1657.

St. Andrew's Day used to be a very popular feast day in Scotland as well. It was a common custom for farm workers and labourers to go "St. Andra'ing". They would catch rabbits and hares and later on in the day would feast and drink. There have been debates on and off for some time now about making St. Andrew's Day a public holiday in Scotland.

Many people wonder what they should eat on St. Andrew's day. Because Andrew was a fisherman, it seems appropriate to eat fish. Otherwise you could eat any traditional Scottish food. It used to be that a singed sheep's head was traditional!

We didn't have rabbit or fish for dinner. Nor haggis or singed sheep's head.

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

I had a good day today. This morning I wanted my human to chase me and play, but he went to work instead.

After I had some of my dinner, I discovered the catnip plant, but my human stopped me from getting too stoned. Hmpphhh...

Anyway, Emily visited tonight, so I spent a lot of time cuddling up to her while she and my human watched the pilot of Prison Break from the box set.

Iraq

2006-11-29T22:30:00.000+11:00

Engineering a war for political gain is bound to backfire, and the consequences are serious.

Whether the war in Iraq is a civil war or not is just moot. The country is in a mess, as a result of the war, and the situation is deteriorating.

Enough said.

See - Washington Post of 29 November 2006

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

I wasn't going to describe my day today, but I intercepted one of my human's emails to Emily:
From: daniel
Sent: 29 November 2006 2:54 PM
To: Emily
Subject: hey

Hey Em iLY
...
I wAs LaTE tO woRK tHiS moRNinG. i hAd tO cLeAn KeISEr'S boTtoM. PoOR LiTtLe tHiNg. ShE aLsO cHuNdeREd hEr bREakFaST.

dAniEL

I am so appalled. Talking about me like that. And you call that encrypted? I cAn TyPE LikE tHaT toO! I had strong words/meows with my human when he returned home from work.

Anyway, I felt better later. I even ate all my dinner tonight.

The Smurfs return

2006-11-28T22:30:00.000+11:00

I wrote about Azrael and Smurfs a few months ago.

Now a producer is thinking of bringing this classic cartoon series of the 1980s to the big screen - see Moviehole.net.

Well, I for one hope that poor Azrael the cat finally gets to eat some of those blue Smurfs.

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

Oh, I am so embarrassed about last night. I have told my human to stop me from using the computer the next time I am stoned on catnip. I'm not usually silly like that. It's just that the last time I had catnip was over two years ago.

Anyway, today was a really warm day, and it is still warm tonight. I still ate all my dinner though.

catnip wooooo......

2006-11-27T23:00:00.000+11:00

i bin on da catnip. i dudn't knowed we hav sum.

my hoomun gaved me sum afta my dinna.

wooooo...

ta ta for now.

i hope i'm sober tomorrow nite wen i kan write sumfing propa agin.

Ziggy, the white cat - from Israel to UK

2006-11-26T22:30:00.000+11:00

10 days, 2,000 miles - a white cat named Ziggy (not his real name) travelled from Israel to the UK (Lancashire) in a cargo container on a ship with no food or water.

He has been labelled a stowaway.

I think that he knew what he was doing. After all, if you were a cat and lived in Israel, wouldn't you risk the journey to go to a nation of cat-lovers?

See - BBC News

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

Today was a more pleasant day. I forgot to mention that I was brushed yesterday.

My human spent much of the time with me inside, though he did do some chores, but before a nap together on the couch.

random footy pic

2006-11-26T21:59:00.000+11:00

Simon Black's cool mark during round 14, 2006

purrdy kittens

2006-11-25T23:00:00.000+11:00

Two big white purrdy lion kittens have been born at Mogo Zoo, on the south coast of New South Wales (south of Sydney).

According to the zoo:
The lions have been hand reared due to the mother’s inability to look after them as a first time mum but we have been bringing them up as naturally as possible to their normal habitat. Things have been made slightly easier having two of them so they can benefit from the comfort of each other and living near the other lions. They hear roaring so there is no confusion about their background! Today we are thrilled that they are growing into boisterous cubs like their cousins, Purr and Joe.

These endangered animals have not been seen in the wild for over 12 years and the world-wide population is in the low double digits so these two new additions represent a major step forward in global efforts to keep the white lions alive. The lions, white due to a recessive gene, hold a magical place in African folklore and are rarer than the legendary snow leopards of the Himalayas.

They also need names. See - Peugeot Lion Cubs

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

Today was a hot day, so I spent most of it inside with my human. I ate my dinner tonight, but over a long period (so my human had to keep putting it back in the fridge, taking it out etc).

I joined my human for a nap on the couch in the afternoon, but it was too hot, so I hopped off.

the Fanatics

2006-11-24T21:00:00.000+11:00

Last night I wrote about the English Barmy Army.

Not to be outdone, an Australian version sprang up as the Fanatics in 1997 with members who travel all over the world to support Australian sporting teams.

The real sporting contest is about the Barmy Army versus the Fanatics, and who drinks the most beer.

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

Today was a boring day, but I did get a visitor for an hour when my human returned home from work with Malgosia. I'm her Kizia Mizia (my Polish nickname). It was too warm though, to lie on her lap.

I didn't eat much tonight, though I did have a big breakfast (nearly a whole drumstick worth of chicken meat).

the Barmy Army

2006-11-23T21:00:00.000+11:00

The Ashes is on again in Australia, which is a Test cricket series between England and Australia.

This means that the Barmy Army is in town (well in Brisbane at the moment - around 10,000 of them). The Barmy Army is a legion of English cricket fans who travel to support the English cricket team in an organised manner.

In fact, it was the Australian media that coined the term Barmy Army in 1994 to describe them. Barmy because they spent a lot of money going to watch their team which couldn't win a single game, and Army because they were organised by the hundreds, sitting together at matches singing atrocious songs to support their team.

I hope the Barmy Army people enjoy their time in Australia as we are going to take back the Ashes, so they need some pleasant memories of their visit.

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

It was another warm day today. My human came home from work an hour earlier than usual and tried to sneak up on me, but I was ready and greeted him at the door. Dang, says him! Anyway, I was so pleased to see him that I demanded my dinner right away, and I also ate it all too.

Babs-snatched! and Hirdy!

2006-11-22T22:00:00.000+11:00

Gubba's daughter Babs got her purse stolen.

And it is news because? Do we care?

In more exciting news, my human reported that he met James Hird today who signed my human's copy of his biography.

My human said there was quite a long queue and he waited 45 minutes. Understandable as Jim grew up here.

My human doesn't really find sports people's biographies terribly interesting, as many can't string a proper sentence together.

Jimmy on the other hand is one of the best footballers of this generation (retiring after the coming season next year), and is articulate and has an honours degree in engineering.

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

Emily came over tonight. Woohoo! She hasn't been to visit for a few weeks so I made up for it by staying on her lap for some time. She and my human had a simple pasta dish for dinner of chorizo sausages, onion and asparagus in a tomato sauce with fusilli.

Then they watched Tripping Over on TV.

hello x10

2006-11-21T21:30:00.000+11:00

Today was World Hello Day.

Apparently World Hello Day has been observed since 1973 and people are supposed to go around saying hello to ten strangers.

As I am a cat, I shall say my hellos via my diary/blog.

hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hello

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

Today was a very warm day. Thankfully my human left all the window blinds down.

It is still too warm which makes me not very hungry.

Where is ET?

2006-11-20T21:30:00.000+11:00

SETI, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence is now 22 years old. SETI looks for evidence of intelligent life forms by searching for signals from advanced technological civilisations in our galaxy.

Still no signals.

Time to start looking closer to home I think, like right here on Earth.

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

Today was a warm day, but I ate more than my usual quota of chicken. Nothing else much to report.

Newsflash: there is no dragon meat in Welsh Dragon sausages

2006-11-19T22:00:00.000+11:00

A smokehouse in Cornwall is in trouble for not including dragon meat in its Welsh Dragon Sausages. They are actually made from pork, leek and hot chilli.

Labelling regulations mean that they need to have dragon meat to be called Welsh Dragon Sausages, or use the word pork in the label/product name.

Apparently there was concern that vegetarians might buy the product thinking they were meat free.

See - BBC News

Don't normal people check the list of ingredients in food products they buy?

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

Today was a quiet day. I ate last night's dinner for breakfast. I haven't eaten all of tonight's dinner yet, but enough to satisfy my human.

random footy pic

2006-11-19T21:30:00.000+11:00

Joel Patfull downing Andrew Embley, round 20, 2006

celebrity leftovers

2006-11-18T23:00:00.000+11:00

The news is so celebritied out, that nobody is going to even take notice anymore.

TomKat wedding in Italy. Yawn!

Brangelina in India and all the fuss. Ho hum!

Neil Patrick Harris (Doogie Howser) and his big news. Duh!

Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson in Australia, filming in Port Douglas (where there are no fast food joints). Hmmm...

Remember the waiter who scavenged Britney Spear's half eaten egg salad sandwich and K-Fed's corn dog and put it up on eBay? Insane!

Now there is a Museum of Celebrity Leftovers located at the Old Boatstore cafe in Kingsand, a village in Cornwall UK. I kid you not.

See - BBC News

One of these days, someone is going to bottle celebrity farts and sell them on eBay and I bet some obsessed fan out there would even spend money on it.

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

I enjoy my morning cuddles when I get under the covers before my human gets up and he pats me and strokes my head and chin.

This morning when my human hung out the washing I went outside and rolled around in the dead grass (more like weeds really) but my human scolded me for dirtying my fur. Hmmph!

Anyway, my human went round to next door and asked about Hagrid, the black Staffordshire Terrier dog (who has visited us a few times through a hole in the fence), and the rough looking man just said that they "had him put down" and closed the door. I think they were tired of Hagrid trying to escape and breaking fences, the last being their back fence. Hagrid just wanted company and people to talk to him. He wasn't even sick. If only his people had taken him to the pound, he might have been given another chance. Poor Hagrid.

RIP Hagrid

I had more visitors today. Merlin's humans Kim and Liam came over in the afternoon and had dinner of teriyaki chicken with rice and broccoli. I didn't eat much.

cat-dog?

2006-11-17T22:00:00.000+11:00

There is a bizarre story out of Brazil claiming that a cat called Mimi gave birth to a litter of three kittens (all died) and three pups three months after mating with a her dog neighbour, called Dog.

Mimi's person is called Cassia Aparecida de Souza who is 18 years old and a student, and they live in Passo Fundo in Rio Grande do Sul, along with Cassia's husband Rogerio.

Blood samples have been taken from the kitten-pups which look like pups by a genetist from the Passo Fundo University to verify the outlandish claim.

See - Gazeto do Povo (if you can read Portuguese)

This claim is just plain absurd. For a start, cats and dogs do not have the same number of chromosomes.

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

I had a visitor today. Woohoo! Kettles' human Klaudia came over in the evening to cuddle me so I laid on her lap a bit. She then helped my human to make an asparagus, roast pumpkin, chicken and Roquefort cheese risotto. My human learnt another method of cooking risotto.

I ate most of my breakfast this morning and my dinner tonight.

I don't have any further information about Hagrid from next door. My human suspects that Hagrid may have been murdered (by a vet).

the King who was really Queen

2006-11-16T23:00:00.000+11:00

No, this is not about Edward II or James I of England.

In 1384 (16 November), ten year old Jadwiga of Angevin was crowned King of Poland — Hedvig Rex Poloniæ, not Hedvig Regina Poloniæ (Latin: Hedvig is Jadwiga, Rex is King, Regina is Queen, Poloniæ is Poland) even though she was a little girl.

It wasn't a mistake. The lords of lesser Poland wanted to ensure Jadwiga became a monarch and not a consort. At 12 years old, she married 36 year old Jogaila who was then crowned King of Poland.

Queen Jadwiga (also known as Queen Hedwig) retained her rights.

Now why did they crown that Jogaila as king anyway? Talk about taking advantage of a little girl.

Anyway, Queen Jadwiga did good things, and eventually became Saint Jadwiga (Patron Saint of Queens).

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

I ate most of my dinner again tonight.

The black Staffordshire Bull Terrier called Hagrid from next door isn't around. My human suspects foul play. Watch this space tomorrow.

the first White House cat

2006-11-15T21:45:00.000+11:00

The White House has been home to a number of cats in recent times.

The first White House cat, the first First Cat was Tabby, who owned Tad Lincoln, son of Abraham Lincoln.

Abraham Lincoln loved cats and four lived with him in the White House.

The Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC should have included a cat on Lincoln's lap.

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

It was so cold today. My human should have stayed home with me and cuddled me all day on the couch. It even snowed very briefly, which is highly unusual at this time of the year (we are a few weeks away from summer).

Anyway, I ate a regular amount of my chicken today. Woohoo.

oh no, Borat in Australia

2006-11-14T21:00:00.000+11:00

Borat visit now Australia to make known public his new film Borat: Cultural learnings of America for make benefit glorious nation of Kazakhstan.

He go Sydney and declare wanting Aussie wife, saying
"I would very much like to find Australian wife ... ladies, please send me photograph, preferably erotic,"

"My preference is for a woman who has more hair on head than back, and teeth that grow only on inside of mouth .... "

He also say
"I like very much Australia. I am a huge fanny of your country and I have been made feel very welcome here."

I think Borat make bad jokes. Who let him come visit Australia?

poor baby kangaroo

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

Enough of imitating Borat's mangled English!

Not much to report today except that I ate a regular amount of my chicken so my human is happy.

Todd the cat expelled from the Tory Party

2006-11-13T22:23:00.000+11:00

This is from the UK People newspaper (a trashy tabloid)

12 November 2006
CAT KICKED OUT OF THE TORY PARTY
By Nigel Nelson

A CAT has been expelled from the Tory Party - after being a member for two years.

Black-haired moggie Todd was even eligible to vote for David Cameron during his successful leadership bid.

His owner Annabelle Fuller cheekily signed him up with Tory youth wing Conservative Future when she left the party to join the UK Independence Party.

Annabelle, 25, said: "I signed him up for £3 as Todd Fuller. Anyone can get into the modern Tory Party because they never check."

Todd got junior membership which gave him full voting rights, even in Mr Cameron's election.

But he was finally expelled when an ANONYMOUSE caller spilled the beans to his local branch in Surrey.

What a shame he was expelled, Todd Fuller the cat may have been a sensible choice for party leader. He would be brighter than some of those dull humans in that party, even if it would be of the wrong political purrsuation.

*for The Ongoing Barks of a Well Read Dog, check out Shamus (who is continuing Cammie's legacy)

.........ooooooooOOOOOOOOoooooooo..........

I begged my human to stay home with me but he wouldn't as he had to go to work. Then we had heavy rain which was perfect weather for just napping on the couch so my human missed out on hours of cuddling me.

When my human returned home from work, I smelt that Border Collie named Tessie on his hand again. It seems that she ran to greet him three houses down from her own place and was inviting him to visit her. She barked/told him to go with her to the door, but my human declined and waved her goodbye. He decided that her humans might think it strange if he knocked on the door and said "Tessie invited me to visit". I can't believe that dog talks to him.

I did eat more today, and enough to keep my human happy.