From rathergood.com original home of the “Viking Kittens”, comes this cool “chill-out” kitten combo. It's actually grown on me a bit, and it's been a nice diversion playing on the iMac in my office while I toil away on a nearby PC. Yes, it's been a pretty rough couple of days…
The music is “We Like The Music (latino remix)” by John B.
Thanks to our friend jellypizza for calling this out. Not sure I quite get the Soprano's reference, but ok…
I think the photo says it all.
Find out more about today's Peace Globe blog event by visiting Mimi (no relation to our Italian synth-loving feline Mimi) and sign up.
As if last year wasn't enough, there is more sad news from our friends at BETA in Lebanon:
More than a week has already passed now with, at the beginning, severe clashes between the Lebanese army and some armed groups in northern Lebanon. Immediately following those deadly conflicts, car bombs and hand grenades went off in Beirut and its suburbs, and the first bomb exploded very close to one of the cat shelters in Ashrafieh area. Fortunately, the glass and walls remained intact at the shelter.
As many readers are probably aware, the Lebanese army has been involved in a confrontation with Islamic militants that have taken up residence in Palistinian refugee camps. Nobody likes them in Lebanon, even reliably militant Hezbollah leaders support the Lebanese army moving against them (and of course the Palestinians in the camps are going to suffer more because of them). The attack in Beirut near the cat shelter is either a direct response, or by someone who sympathizes with the militants. I guess it's one I have trouble understanding. These Islamic militants have no redeeming value, even for those who want the US out of Iraq and Israel out of the Palistinian territories. It makes the suffering of people and animals in their path even more tragic, and we're glad the cat shelter was spared their violence.
Another feline story with some hope amidst the current events:
[This kitten was] rescued by a CNBC reporter from one of the mostly bombed Palestinian camp in the north of Lebanon. The reporter was kind enough to pick up the dirty starving kitten. A few days later, she also found the sibling of the kitten and also brought her to us. Both kittens are now boarding at one of the BETA members home, getting lots of food, affection, warmth and care and of course playing with lots of toys.
We at CatSynth are happy that someone cared enough to rescue the kittens, who of course did nothing wrong but ended up in the middle of a useless human conflict.
I should note that the sources for this article were BETA in Lebanon, Agence France-Presse and the BBC, so don't suggest this report is some US-orchestrated media plot. (There are plenty of those to go around already.)
Luna and I welcome everyone to the big Weekend Cat Blogging #104 Roundup. If you want to join in the fun, leave a comment here. Meanwhile, we already have several early entries, so lets get started.
First up are the funny goings on over at Kate in the Kitchen. Looks like Harmon cannot has cheezburger anymore, as he and Bustopher jump on the lolcat bandwagon, albeit involuntarily.
It's looking pretty dark over at lamiacucina, where they do a really great Luna-looking-out-the window impersonation. But what a great view of the old Rhine.
Kashim and Othello celebrate Gotcha Day at paulchen's food blog. Read the story of how they were adopted five years ago. You'll laugh, you'll cry, it's better than…um, well actually it is Cats! They are also holding a contest in honor of their new blog. Hopefully their contest goes more smoothly than ours did.
It looks like Sundance is still under house arrest at “What Did You Eat?“. Of course there is also Uspie, her arch nemesis Bubba, and the squirrels flippin' us off. What's up with that?
It's catch and release with a new friend, Aloysius at catymology. You can has chipmunk.
Kimberly of musicandcats misses her cats when she goes away on vacation. I know the feeling, I miss Luna when I'm gone. But like us, it sounds like they have found a great pet sitter to give love to the cats and peace of mind to their humans.
Taboo and whaleshaman are ready to party over at Jelly Pizza. Well, as long as party means snuggling up under your favorite red blanket. Looks comfy.
Sesame found a great spot with a view over at Just Sharlene and the Spice Cats. He apparently enjoys watching housecleaning unlike most cats who quite sensibly run for cover or the nearest exit.
Sunny Bob enjoys a blueberry pop tart over at Pet's Garden Blog. Many cats are very picky about what the eat, but apparently Sunny Bob is not one of them. Bon apetit.
It's Motown weekend over at sammawow…oh, ok, maybe not. But we do have China Cat and Willow contemplating Temptations. “Come on – You know what we want…”
Despite their “weekly idiotic fights”, Fridolin and Maruschka truly enjoy one another's company. See some really sweet photos of them curled up together at Rosa's Yummy Yums.
INTERLUDE. It's shaping up to be a lovely evening here. Sunshine, and a gentle cacophony of rustling leaves and multiple bands practicing in the distance. Although there is much that needs tending in the gardens and elsewhere, I prefer to relax on the patio with a light vino and continue with the WCB roundup…
It's Cats Galore at The World According to Pia. Among the many cats are a stately white shorthair from Pia's own breeding, and a host of adorable kittens. Collect them all!
The cats over at Lucky and Charmed enjoy Cat TV. But they are especially excitied this week because they now have bunnies!
INTERLUDE. I have been taking a shortcut on my morning walks to the local cafe this weekend via the train tracks. Yesterday, I saw several cats; one of them returned today, a little skinny calico who has probably taken up residence near the shopping center. More on local strays in a subsequent post. Now back to our regularly scheduled blogging…
Laser cats have taken over the neighborhood over at I Got Two Shoes. And poor Kamikaze attempts to save a shred of dignity with frilly ribbons on his paws.
At chat kazte, Sasha spends all her time outdoors. She also enjoys the fine art of “found water.” Nonetheless, Sasha still manages to look pretty good after rolling in the dirt.
A Happy Birthday to Ywette from Anne's Food, who turns 10 today (June 3). See photos of her from kittenhood through the present. How wonderful to share all these stages of life with our feline friends.
There is one remaining tiny at Restaurant Widow, and it doesn't look like he's going anywhere. He's an adorable black kitten who enjoys computer typing and surfing the “innernets.”
Happy Gawai from Katz Tales, where Au is completely kitty collapso. We at CatSynth also enjoy being kitty collapso on the weekend.
We almost missed Willow doing her own blogging, but needs to Food Lady to help with the typing.
We have another Gotcha Day anniversary, this one from Megan and the Bad Kitty Cats. Biscuit Sinatra is five years old, and was adopted by Echo Baby and her human family soon after. LIke, Megan, we have some issues with our trackback system (it worked so well that we were inundated with spam/sping), but we always find the Bad Kitty Cats ourselves.
Some more WCB apocrypha: xenogere has lovely photos of the cats, and e.e. cummings as well! A shout out to Friday Ark #141 at the modulator. It looks like someone is posting a rerun of WCB 21.
We'll keep posting more cat blogging through Monday morning, so keep those links and comments coming.
Also, don't forget this is the last weekend of our CD sales to honor TeaCup and benefit his family the Bad Kitty Cats.
Even in a dimly lit room, you can always spot Luna by her eyes. Here she peeks out from among the glass tables (with a book of San Francisco photos in the foreground).
I'm sure she'll come out and say hi as we get ready to host Weekend Cat Blogging #104. As always, leave your links in the comments section or contact me if you prefer. Newcomers are always welcome.
I will post the round-up over the course of the weekend, so definitely come back a few times to see all the cats.
PARMA, Ohio, May 25 (UPI). An Ohio cat named Lucky survived being shot in the head with an arrow…Kristin Slovensky told WKYC-TV she was on her porch when the 8-year-old cat staggered up with an arrow through its neck.
…Police were investigating and Slovensky was wondering why someone would shoot an arrow at her cat.
“He's fixed, he's gentle, he loves to walk through the neighborhood, everybody on this street knows Lucky, and loves him,” she told the television station.
As the title of the article suggests, Lucky was a “Lucky cat indeed.” Another poor cat, Sammy from Georgia was not so lucky :(. You can follow the link to find out more, but is both sad and graphic, so please keep that in mind before reading. This was a couple's beloved pet, and we at CatSynth send them our condolences. It is worth noting that this tragedy occured in Georgia, which as discussed earlier recently upgraded its animal cruelty laws and has a strong veterinary forensics program. We certainly hope they catch whoever was responsible for both of these acts.
Well, it's Weekend Cat Blogging #100. The honor of hosting this milestone goes to Puddy and Kate at A Byootiful Life.
Once again, we turn our attention to he world outside of Luna's window. Remember this photo of Luna staring at an outside cat?
Well, the cat is a frequent visitor to the yard. He's been living here longer than I have, and was roaming the neighborhood long before Luna was born. He's actually quite friendly, and handsome as well:
We don't know his name because he doesn't have a tag, but he seems very healthy and sociable, so he probably has a home. He enjoys cruising the tops of fences and finding comfy spots to chill out:
He almost looks like a wild cat in that photo.
Although I don't have a photo of this, I have caught him staring in at Luna a couple of times, with that same frozen slack-jawed look that all the tom cats in the neighborhood, seem to get. Remember this tuxedo visitor?
Luna has all the neighborhood boys looking. It's kinda fun getting to play the role of proud but protective dad for her…
From serandipatree at flickr:
Although I don't have comfirmation on this, I gather the names of the two ginger kitties are Marx and Engels, and the lower keyboard is an Ensoniq (that's kinda E-MU, right?).
Those are great cat names. Power to the proletariat!
We at CatSynth are hanging a brown ribbon today as part of the nationwide march to Keep Our Pets Safe. Marches and other events are being planned in several cities throughout the US (though not in the bay area), but everyone is encouraged to participate online by displaying the brown ribbon to support pets and and the families who have lost pets due to the pet-food recall.
We also heard from artsy catsy about the “My Pet Counts” postcard blitz. Mail postcards today (April 28) to the FDA, the White House, your representatives and senators, and others who have actually been involved addressing this issue. Among those listed is Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois, who held hearings on the pet-food contaminations and the FDA response. He has also launched a public internet campaign asking “FDA to improve the safety of our pet food supply now!”
It was a bit odd to see Anderson Cooper of CNN specifically listed as a postcard addressee. I don't watch television at home. Apparently he did some early reporting on the pet-food contamination and did a segment in China. I haven't been able to find that video.
Speaking of China, they have admitted the presence of melamine and invited the FDA to help investigate, though the still have not admitted the link to the illnesses and deaths of any pets.
According to Pet Connection, more than 5,500 pet-food products, house brands and name brands alike, are now on the FDA's recall list. So far, Luna's favorite food remains safe – it contains corn gluten, but we are assured it is produced int the US (again, why would we important any corn products into the US?). Nonethless, it's still scary. What happens if it is later found to be contaminated as well? Switching to home-made food is not advised unless one really knows what he or she is doing. So while I'm happy to make treats for Luna from Meow Chow recipes and elswhere, I still rely on safe pet food for her continued healthy diet. We hope all our feline friends stay safe.
Pet Connection reports from its voluntary database that over 14,000 affected pets, of which 4500 have died.
