Cat I'm a Kitty Cat!

I think it's going to be a particularly good week to be a cat; providing you live in my house and your name is Inigo. We brought Inigo home back in November. We had intended to adopt a dog. In fact we had one picked out and accessories purchased, only to find that our townhouses did not allow dogs over 14"; and as we don't consider ourselves the 'toy' dog set we scrapped the idea altogether. That was the end of our doggie dreams. However our desire for a pet did not dissipate and one fateful day while shopping for material for Malcolm's Home Ec project, in a mall we don't normally frequent . . . . we found ourselves amidst a cat show & sale. Still, we had no intentions of buying or adopting a cat, but what harm would come over ogling some kittehs?

We headed over to a cage full of active little jet black and sable kittens where the woman was allowing passersby to play with and pet them. She told us she had a special deal for us. These kittens were destined for the local pound; where they do their best but still manage to euthanize more animals than they adopt every year due to the sheer volume of animals abandoned in a city this size, so on that day she was giving away those kittens free of charge. In fact they weren't even her kittens, an elderly friend had been keeping them after their mother had been run over before they were weaned. She had bottle fed them to keep them alive and now that they were 6 weeks and into more mischief the lady could not continue to tend to them. Sadly the decision was made to find them proper homes or let them go to the pound. You can't fault the old lady, she did what she could and was probably making the right decision to part with them as she had cats of her own to tend to. At any right Malcolm's mind was made up right then and there and it didn't take much effort to convince the man-thing and I either. We were getting a kitten.

We set about purchasing the necessities for our new little friend while Malcolm selected the perfect specimen from the litter (or rather our new pet chose him as they often do). The cat lady examined and proclaimed our choice to be a male, and we were off to the car with huge fluffy flakes of snow falling down upon him as he huddled into the fabric we had purchased for the school project. After some discussion we settled on the name Inigo. Of course as these things usually go . . . we began to have doubts about the cat lady's assessment that Inigo was a male. . . . in fact she was wrong. Inigo is definitely a female, but the name is still funny and it's still hers. We quickly discovered a few other things about our new family member as well. She was, and remains an extremely active high energy cat. The kind that likes to sit on your shoulder (earning her the nickname 'parrot kitty') & make robotic bird-like keening noises as opposed to the standard meow. We began googling for ways to keep her entertained as the usual kitty fare was not cutting it. We found many articles talking about cats with greater needs for play, those that tended to be rougher and more demanding of their human counterparts. One breed in particular was noted for these traits and also having strange vocal patterns and even riding around on their owners shoulders, greeting them at the door. . and a number of other weird things we had attributed to Inigo's particular upbringing. It was the Bombay. We googled Bombay kittens and hit the images tab. Sweet baby cheesus! That's our cat!

Inigo; severely pissed off at my attempts to capture her with her eyes open :P

With the exception of a few wrongly placed images on that page. . . yeah. Bombay's are known as black patent kitties with copper eyes. They are extremely high energy, needing constant attention from their owners and often behave more like dogs than cats. They're densely muscled hunters of the domestic landscape that attach themselves to their people like velcro, and it's the truth. I cannot walk anywhere in the house without Inigo being under foot. Which has led to me nearly breaking my neck on the stairs more than a few times in the dark of the night as she slips between my legs. She is now approximately 10 months old and though physically nearly fully matured she is still more active than the average kitten. Constantly stealing objects from around the house to hunt and fetch, and finding trouble whenever boredom sets in. It's a challenge to keep her occupied, not because she loses interest in her toys but because they still never seem to be enough activity for her. When she's entertained and fulfilled she's docile and friendly. . but when she's bored and under-stimulated. . there is hell to pay. The claws come out and every movement in the home must be tracked and attacked. She is not behaving in an aggressive vicious manner. She is playing and interacting the only way she knows how, but that doesn't make it hurt any less when her claws sink into your ankle from under the cover of your bed. She climbs on any and everything and jumps about like a kitty possessed. She needs near constant entertaining.

So this weekend we devoted some time and research to finding ways to better fulfill Inigo's needs. We started by purchasing a new litter box to handle her aggressive kicking and digging and some more kitty treats, while on the hunt for the two items we had settled on as necessary habitat requirements for our active little friend.

#1 - A cat tree. A nice tall piece of furniture all her own for scratching, climbing, chewing, jumping, and sleeping upon.
#2 - A new interactive toy for high energy cats.

Cat trees are found plentiful in pet stores across the city, but they come with some pretty hefty price tags. We've seen them in the size we want anywhere from $200 and up. This weekend the best we found was on sale for an incredible half price and still $119 plus tax. I had brought some shipping tubes home from work so the decision was made . . . we would make our own. So far we have spent $10 on sisal rope for the scratching post and $12 on a ridiculously dense shag carpet to cover the platforms. We will scavenge the platform and base from discarded wood and build the supports from pvc the man-thing can salvage on the cheap from work.

in progress material shot

I promise more pics will be posted as the project progresses! So far the materials seem to be a hit with Inigo. The rope was immediately attractive and she's fascinated by the deep pile of shag. Hopefully the finished cat tree will give her a healthy outlet for energy and save us a good couple hundred dollars while we're at it.

Of course with the extra savings from the cat tree we were able to splurge on item #2, the toy she needs to keep her entertained and active while the humans are working and schooling all day long. Enter the Bergan Turbo Track! This thing is the internet darling of cat toys! Even the negative reviews of this toy are rated 3 stars and favorable to say the least. I had to search high and low to find a couple of reviews stating that it just wasn't a hit with any cats. We were unable to purchase this specific toy at any local retailers so we ended up ordering 3 of them from Amazon.com. It was a little pricey to have them shipped from the states but we are really anticipating great returns of enjoyment & entertainment from this one!

This toy looks epic!

I cannot wait to get this thing in the mail and set it up in any one of it's many configurable fashions, fun for the whole family; but most importantly . . . fun for Inigo. If any thing can keep her busy while we're not around this thing will! Anything that moves is infinitely fascinating to her, tracking., chasing, wrestling. . . . check, check, and check! Even if she uses it only 5 minutes out of every hour, that's 40 minutes of all out play while the humans are away! Cannot wait to see her go at it! It's going to be a good week to be a cat in this house!

Shades Of Scorpius! Why Didn't I Think Of That Earlier?

I just realized right this very minute that I missed out on a golden opportunity . . . twice. I have two sons. Caleb, and Malcolm. Plenty of thought and care went into choosing the right names for them, and I'm happy to say that they're both thoroughly satisfied with the result. However. . . . I really missed out on a pretty good opportunity to name either of them Daedalus. What was I thinking? How frikkin' sweet would that have been? Have you met my son; DAEDALUS?!! Ugh! Boy the fun I coulda had!

Daedalus intent on wreckin' up Herc's day . . again!

I used to watch The Mighty Hercules every morning before school, along with Rocket Robin Hood, and of course let us never forget The Hilarious House Of Frightenstein. You had to get outta bed extra early in order to see these gems but it was so worth it. I have my official Frightenstein Fiend Club shirt and pin (thanks to Steve) and I wear them proudly. I wonder if I could get a Daedalus shirt? It wouldn't make up for missing out on naming my son but it sure would be a sweet conversation starter. 

Daedalus vs. Hercules. . who will win?!

I couldn't find clips of some of my more treasured memories from the show, like the episode where Newton falls asleep and dreams that a new centaur is hanging out with Herc. Of course the new guy is wayyyyy cooler than Newton and everyone likes him much better. His name is Notwen, and when he finally wakes up Herc & friends have a real good laugh at Newton's insecurities because of course everybody knows Notwen is just Newton spelled backwords. Ha ha ha. . . ha. . . . ha. Yeah. Herc kinda was a jerk. 

Rocket Robin Hood!

I never was much of a Robin Hood fan but anytime you strap a jet pack to a guy's back and stick the word 'rocket' in front of his name; you've created a recipe for awesomeness. The show itself was pretty horrible; and since you probably just watched a pretty pathetic clip of the intro you're likely wondering how much worse it could get. Trust me. It sucked. Tiny little vignettes were sandwiched in between the ridiculously short episodes, and they were always the same ones, recycled again and again. Somehow though. . . that damn jet pack made up for all the sins of having to watch Friar Tuck eat the same damn chicken leg every single episode. 

Of course my real reason for getting outta bed so early was always Frightenstein. This show was the very best  that tv had to offer to adolescent me. I adored everything about this show. Vincent Price, the Wolfman, Igor, Grammar Slammer Bammer, and of course the Professor single handedly gave me a love for all things science. It probably explains a lot to say that I was a loyal viewer  rabid fan (who am I kidding?), even though none of my friends watched this show. Not for any lack of proselytizing on my part about the wonders of this gem, I assure you.

Recent airings and dvd collections are sadly lacking the original skits of the Wolfman and Igor dancing in front of the psychedelic screen, licensing, music rights blah . . . blah . . . blah . . . . enjoy this youtube goodness while you can! And should you decide to procreate any time soon . . . consider Daedalus . . . no really. you might regret it later if you don't.

Man this show was the best!

Damien in Vicar Street Last Night

Damien in Vicar Street Last Night

News of these occurrences absolutely kills me :( What I wouldn't give to run away to Ireland and see these two perform together. *sigh* That is all lol.

Le Butcherettes & Facebook's Scarier Points

Some musical goodness brought to you by the fancy-schmancy Blog This! button hanging out on by my browser bar. This is it's first official run at helping me to remember to post more often, and I almost didn't do it. Instead I was about to post it to Facebook; a place I'm going to post less to since it is becoming more like a sanctioned stalker than a handy way of staying connected. Besides weeding out certain feeds from friends of it's own accord FB has become uber creepy in the last few months. It is constantly scanning the text of all posts and updates made in order to better predict which pages, ads, groups etc will appeal to the user. It even goes so far as to use colour matching as an attempt at suggestive selling. When Derby Baby showed up in my feed multiple times a day celebrating the impending release of what is to be an epic derby documentary. . . their pretty pink promo pic prompted FB's algorithm creator to determine that pink must be the colour for me! All the pages and ads suggested for me we're hot pink! I reloaded my page a minimum of ten times before it ran outta hot pink things to throw at me. Of course anyone who knows me for real is well aware that me and pink do not mix. Pink does not reside within my wardrobe. . . with the exception of a hot pink outline of Angus Young. Similarly when a friend underwent brain surgery recently, posting up progress pics of herself in the usual sick green hospital gown, FB noted my interest in her photo's and colour matched some beautiful ads for bridesmaid gowns. . . . . . in hospital green. Really FB? Puke green and hot pink? I can accept the fact that creating a status update about Alien nation causes me to have things like the Star Wars, and Alien fan pages suggested to me. . . . but seriously! Just because I view hospital recovery pics of my friends does not mean I wish to purchase sickly party gowns. You've gone too far. Anyway enjoy some music :)

The Rapture . . . . That Did Not Occur and My Hometown

It's the end of the world as we know it . . . and I'm bored as hell. May long weekend, nothing doing, just an over whelming sense of boredom. Got up & cleaned house today, did the shopping, and made some potato salad for dinner earlier this evening with the man-thing's father. Obviously this is not a normal occurrence as the man-thing's parents live back in Trenton; but being a truck driver sometimes lands his father out west. This time he was travelling from Maryland to Calgary. Which technically puts us as an outta the way unpaid detour, but I guess maybe he just wanted to see his son and hang out with some family this long weekend. (Even though I'm sure man-thing would argue otherwise) So we had some barbecue, and the men had some beer. I watched some live east coast derby action on Canuck Derby TV (I adore what these guys are trying to do for derby) and then the man-thing called it a night. So here I am . . bored, blogging.

Awhile back I was going to post one of those super cheesy 'hometown' posts for the Saskatoon peoples to ogle my roots. . . but then I started scouring the web for awesome pics and realized that most of the places I wanted to share. . . had darker images attached to them within my mind and catalogued on Google. Images of violence, and murder that seem to have proliferated in the last decade. The post never happened, much like the rapture that was set to occur today. (Nice work people who quit your jobs to fund billboards LOL) So, in lieu of earthquakes, floods, ultimate pain and suffering . . I give you sinners the bleakly nostalgic hometown post!

A little viewing music to set the mood

As it happens I actually don't have any of my own photo's here. They were one of the 'luxury' items we left packed in my mother's basement to be retrieved at a later date. So you'll have to make do with images procured through Google ;)

Downtown core at night. . looking particularly nice (more photo's and video's from owner's site here ) You can see 'Smoker's World' just on the other side of the crosswalk here. . a mainstay of Trenton retailers. . the place to procure magazines, cigarettes, and the occasional lotto ticket.

Another shot looking downtown from on the 'doughnut bridge'. We have two bridges. . the doughnut bridge, named for it's former proximity to the old Timmies location just left of this photo, and the 'chicken bridge' named for it's proximity to the KFC. (of course they have actual names but what fun is that?)

Some links to some very artsy pretty photo's . . . the old Coke sign . . .right around the corner from Jonzie's tattoo. . in case you wanna get inked by a guy you went to high school with. Night shot of the rear of the 'new' library/ city hall building (it will always be new to me) including the one thing you never go a day without seeing in Trenton, much less an hour. . . airplanes. Shot of the corner where the 'Hollywood North' sign is located. . also known as one block from my parents house.

Will S. . . has gone to the trouble of compiling an awesome Flickriver  of  Quinte West at large, complete with photo's of the Skyline Diner & Blue Room, and even the pallet yard where Tony used to build every day on Aikins Rd. Images from atop Mt. Pelion and even of Domtar. The only photo's I couldn't seem to locate to share here were ones of the 'doughnut bridge's' remarkable predecessor. As a child one of the thing's that stands out most in my memories of my hometown is the multispan swing bridge that originally sat at the mouth of the bay. With it's open grating and single arm to tell you not to enter; the bridge was going to swing and allow large vessels access into the Trent-Severn Waterway and it's many locks. Eventually traffic demands forced the city to do the unthinkable and replace the old swing bridge with a new higher arched bridge. One which was built adjacent to the old swinging bridge and 'slid' into place after the old one had been demolished. We all got to 'skip' school for awhile that day and watch this historic event with our class mates. I really would have thought someone would have a well documented series of photo's of this unique circumstance posted up somewhere on the net, but all I could find were citations in engineering documents. I'll keep looking though. . they're out there somewhere.

Anyway, this post could go on forever while I add any & everything about CFB Trenton. . but you can find a million pics or youtube videos online without any help from me regarding that subject. Though admittedly you'll also be dredging up the dark side of our sleepy little town's recent history as well.

The Remorseful Blogger Redux

Ok, so we've been here before; and although I'd like to promise you that it'll never happen again. . . I won't. The truth is it will happen again, many, many times. Sometimes life just sucks all the time and energy away from me, and though I may be vegetating with laptop at the ready. . . blogging is often just one more thing I wish I cared enough about to keep up with. I mean maybe that sounds a touch harsh, or as though I feel it's a chore. So why bother having a blog at all then?  The simple answer is because I can. I want to blog when I'm feeling the persuasion to write and I want to ignore it when life is just too damn hard to deal with as it is. Sometimes it seems the more I have to say the less I post at all.

Since I last posted I could have told you a million things. Posts that never happened could include, my new laptop, craft swapping, craft projects for friends and family, a million derby bout posts, the frikkin Reidell Vixens I recently purchased, the usual work craziness, some silly photo adventures, or even the anxiety that currently consumes . . man-thing's upcoming interview. Which could potentially lead to a better career for him. . . . a move to another city, and of course that would mean I have to start all over again. Find a new job. . . again. I could tell you about my own indecisive struggles, my total inability to decipher the correct path for me at this stage of things. The pervasive feeling that any decision I would make would amount to no better than simply flipping a coin and running with the outcome. Sadly I won't go into details here about most of those things.

I guess a good part of the reasoning behind this is that while my blog is fairly random and largely ignored (unless I have made a recent Craftster post)  I know that there is at least one person who is something of a secret voyeur of these posts. Never commenting here or in real life, but nevertheless reading anyway. Following my online doings in a shadowy fringe way. This doesn't upset me or make me angry at all. It simply prevents me from giving full disclosure of my life and the events that are transpiring. It shouldn't . . . and I know that best of all; but the fact remains that it does.

Anyway, I installed the Blog This! button tonight and I'm planning on making use of it in the coming weeks. It's my goal to get back in the habit and maybe even a new template is in order. For now I leave you with this:

There’s a reason I said I’d be happy alone.

It wasn’t cause I thought I’d be happy alone. It was because I thought if I loved someone and then it fell apart, I might not make it.

It’s easier to be alone. Because what if you learn you need love and then you don’t have it? What if you like it and lean on it?

What if you shape your life around it, and then it falls apart?

Can we even survive that kind of pain?

Losing love is like organ damage.

It’s like dying.

The only difference is death ends.

This?

It could go on forever.

Grey’s Anatomy – S 7 E 22 – “Unaccompanied Minor”

Teh Robot Overlord Race is Coming!

Personally, I think this is absolute frikkin' genius at work and cannot wait to see how far they can take this. However . . if you are in fact staunchly Vegan. . . please do not clicky the linky.