Whiskers Wednesday

I thought I should press my luck while SS has some time to put pictures up. This one shows off my whiskers (you may have to biggify the picture to get the full effect). Someone said, in all seriousness, that she thought I was male because I had such long whiskers! Duhhhhhh!

Tummy Tuesday

This is going to be a sleepy Tummy Tuesday for me in the warm sun. Not a very elegant pose but I never pretend to be THE Sleeping Beauty. What's more, it shows that I'm not really as fat as I look in sitting and crouching poses. I only weigh about 7lbs; it's just the fluff that makes me look double the size that I really am and earns me the nickname of the Fat Lady.

Grad students and Cats

While I was enjoying myself at that great party of Sassy's, SS found some more quotes in regard to graduate students (she is one!) and us feline. I have edited some of them but on the whole they seem pretty true. I should know, I have lived with one for years and I am a cat (surprise, surprise!).

They talk to you and you can't understand what they are saying.

They tend to run amok in the apartment/house for no apparent reason in short bursts of frenzy, followed by dormancy.

They can survive with a minimum of attention, but do like to be noticed and praised every so often.

They are creatures of the night.

They follow instructions if they feel like it.

Cats barf hairballs, grad students barf highballs (and any other drink they consume to excess).

Food, especially junk food, is very important to them.

They are both attracted to free food - contribution from Jimmy Joe

They love it if you feed them - contribution from Jimmy Joe

Sleep is also very important to them.

Both can sleep or otherwise ignore you while you are talking to them.

Both hide when something big and noisy (vacuum cleaner or supervisor) comes into their vicinity.

They can sleep just about anywhere.

They have their own set of morals.

They are both attracted to the computer (although cats mainly like it for the warmth).

They both get amazingly high on herb extracts.

They both represent anarchy in its most creative form

The idea of movement horrifies them.

They both tend to collapse in the middle of rooms: grad students due to exhaustion and/or frustration; cats due to a warm sunbeam.

Acknowledgement:
Harold Reynolds
Jon Martin
Bob Hankins

with some alteration and editing from MoMo the Cat and contributions from Jimmy Joe.

Clipart taken from http://www.xmission.com/~emailbox/catstuff.htm

Kooka

Just how could I have left out the kookaburra! As Charlie said this silly bird just laughs at you. I actually have one of these cackling characters coming to my garden and even stealing my food at times. The wet one is pretty cute looking.

New takes on established icons

I am just too full to eat anymore and therefore would not do justice to the Iranian feast that SS has in mind. Therefore, I will leave it for a later date. Instead, I am going to visit our marsupial and other Australian wildlife friends and introduce them to you.

There is no surprise that the kangaroo and koala are on the list. However, look at the photos and you'll see why they are being posted.


Have you seen a kangaroo in the snow? Here is one taken in winter just past when it actually snowed quite a bit in the highlands and even just south of Sydney.




The white koala (above) is a rarity. It is not to be confused with an albino koala which has red eyes. This cutie was found injured in an undisclosed spot and nursed back to health by wildlife rescuers before being released back to his home just a few weeks ago. Not surprisingly, it made national headlines.



Platypus and wombat are favourites of SS, so she wants them mentioned. Once she stayed up all night by a creek waiting for the appearance of these very shy creatures when she was on vacation in Tasmania. She gets very upset when she sees wombats being killed by callous motorists on highways.

The quoll is probably the only one out of all these furries that is suitable to be kept as a pet. It is very loving and friendly. I'm not sure whether it is quite legal for a private citizen to keep one at this stage. However, those who have kept the eastern quolls as pets say that they readily co-habit with other domestic animals such as cats, love cuddles and patting and can even be trained to use a kitty litter.

Food, glorious food!

Now that momo has unanimously stimulated everyone's appetite, I am doing an international food blog series. The first one is dedicated to the blogging kitties and woofies from Italy, Germany and Spain. Are we ready?

Some of you may have noticed that Charlie, Momo-dog and I are currently on tour in Berlin and we have decided that since all three of us were featured on the front page of Animal-Internet last week we should have a celebration. Being in Germany we have to try out the famous sausages and in particular the Thuringian sausage which has been produced for hundreds of years. The oldest reference to this is found in a transcript of a bill from an Arnstadt convent in the year 1401 and the oldest recipe dates from 1613.

Bratwurst with sauerkraut



Thuringian sausages being grilled

The second is dedicated to Opus and Roscoe, two lovely ex-pat kitties living in Italy. Pizzas, pizzas and more pizzas! Yummy, yummy, good for my tummy! Enough said. Let's tuck in! Paws up, whoever doesn't like pizzas - I just don't believe you.







Yummy pizzas!





The third is dedicated to Chloe, my very cute Yorky terrier nomss friend from Spain. Eveyone knows of paella but, listen to this, all you moms and dads (especially dads), it's a dish cooked on Sundays by the man of the family as an appreciation for his wife who has toiled all week at the stove. In Valencia, giant paellas are customary prepared at mass gatherings such as festivals, campaigns etc. Chloe's mom took her to one last weekend.

Giant Paella

Paella in preparation

That's it for today. I am too full to carry on. Next instalment is on Iranian and Cambodian cuisine. Why? SS carries out fieldwork in those countries and has many friends there. While she is one lousy cook, she and I both love eating.

Momo - the Himalayan dumpling

Now, how remiss of me not to mention momo (food), a kind of dumpling that is popular in the Himalayan region and India. Thanks to Momo-dog for putting me onto the scent.

There are the meat varieties - minced chicken, pork and water buffalo. We carnivores like that. There are also the vegetarian varieties - potato, tomato, cheese etc. But, wait for this, the tourist variety of Snickers or Mars Bar in downtown Kathmandu.

To really pig out, head towards Momo Plaza in Calcutta. Let's go, Momo-dog (and any one who cares to join us)!

On the subject of being Momo

At risk of being egocentric, I would like to delve further into the name of Momo. Momo means "the furry one" in Chinese and SS's Iranian friends call me Pashmalu, which is Persian for "furry". That was all SS knew when she first named me. The rest transpires much later and any coincidence in association is just that.

Momo in Japanese means 'peach' and it is also a girl's name. Momotaro (pictured) is a well-known character in Japanese folklore. In addition, there are other Japanese fictional characters by the same name - Minky Momo, Momo Adachi etc. A pet lemur and a pet dwarf flying squirrel, all fictional, also share my namesake.

Other associations include the 10th ruler of the Tu'i Tonga dynasty, two footballers, a town in the northern Italy province of Novara and another in Gabon, Africa. How cool is that to be able to visit a town with the same name!

Last but not least are the books by Michael Ende and Romain Gary. SS has read the one by Ende and highly recommends it.

Award

Thanks +++++ to HRH Prince Tybalt for sharing this award with me. In the same spirit I would like to dedicate it to my nomss friends Charlie, Momo-dog and Chloe. Charlie lives in Sydney, but she is a very cosmopolitan soul, having left paw marks in Texas and Berlin, Momo-dog is from Canada and Chloe is from Spain. Charlie is taking Momo-dog and me on a tour of her secret haunts in Berlin and Chloe is teaching me Spanish. A kitty needs to broaden her horizons these days and there is no better way than having friends as mentors.

Supermodel

Look what Maggy and Zoey's mom at Zoolatry did for me! Thanks +++++, Ann! I do feel like a supermodel now. SS would have no excuse not to get me a set of Christmas stamps with my Noel image on them. Please put paws to keyboard and vote which one you like best.

Berlin tour

I have just found out from my nomss friend, Charlie, that we are starting on an animal tour of Berlin where she spent many happy days. Please join us. Her blogsite can be found under my list of friends. Momo-dog is coming along, aren't you? I am so excited because I have never travelled beyond my immediate neighbourhood, except to visit the vet, which I would rather forget.

Special postage stamps

I have noticed my friend Momo-dog has her own 'caninalized' postage stamps. Perhaps SS would consider doing the same for me this Christmas and send my 'felinalized' stamps to her friends on Christmas cards. Momo-dog is very cute and has many blog pals. A hamster and I, however, are the only non-canine blog pals among her eighty-odd friends.

SS is giving me a hard time these days with vigorous daily brushing. I showed my displeasure by a pseudo-pounce attack at her foot yesterday after a particularly harrowing brushing session. I would never really attack her! It's like this every spring - moulting time, hairballs.... bluhhhh!

Apart from the brushing and the thunder storms, I do like spring. The days are longer, weather is warmer and there are more chirpy avian visitors to our garden. There are also more colourful flowers and the trees afford more shade as their leaves start to grow back more luxuriantly.

Surrealist cats

Michael Bridges, the surrealist artist, has been kind enough to look in and approve the use of his paintings in the blog. Thanks ++. SS and I will continue visit his website from time to time to view his new works. Hopefully, there will be more surreal kitties appearing on the canvas. Here are some more... I particularly like the one on the top right. It reminds me of Patch visiting me while I nap away.

Thunder, lightning, storm!

I'm scared of thunder and lightning! We felines are sensitive and know when a storm is coming. There is one right now but I can't get into the house. Good thing there is a wide, covered porch in the back yard with a comfy garden lounge under which I can seek refuge. There was a storm last night too but SS was home and I managed to take cover under her chair.

Momo and Patch

SS was telling me about this book by Michael Ende, author of The Neverending Story, called Momo. She is going to read it when she finishes her thesis. It is a fantasy story about how young Momo rescued her people from time thieves. It is essentially a celebration of the power of friendship, compassion and the value of small but pleasant things that make life worth living.

Young Patch came visiting yesterday evening. His people must be working late as he seemed hungry. SS fed us milk and dished out an extra portion for Patch. We followed her around as she watered the garden, but also made sure that we didn't get wet. After that we both sat on the porch for a while before Patch went off.

Lonely

SS is away at uni all the time these days and I feel lonely. Please talk to me! This thesis of hers is taking a long time. Her scholarship is coming to an end in December and I hope that's not going to mean the end of kitty treats.
PS. This is not me but the kitty looks forlorn and we seem to share something in common so I decide to put it up.

Cat painting

I came across a contemporary surrealist painter who does cats. His name is Michael Bridges and his gallery site is www.mikesgallery.tripod.com/
There is a particular section for cats. Do have a look and maybe get a print for you feline friend! I hope he doesn't mind my putting up a sample here. I think this is cute. The title? Cat Painting, of course.

Cat's Paw nebula

Time to look to the night sky again. This time it is the Cat's Paw nebula (NGC6334) that catches my fancy. Discovered in 1837, this magnificent nebula can be located at the tip of the Scorpion's tail in Scorpius. It is 5,500 light years away and is ten times the mass of the sun. Big cat indeed that has such paws. It is an emission nebula and its red colour is due to an abundance of ionized hydrogen atoms. The picture on the right was taken by Matt BenDaniel (www.starmatt.com/gallery/astro/cats.html)

Such beautiful things up there! I will definitely put my name down as the next astrocat, either in this life or the next.

Weekend

It has been a rather uneventful weekend - very hot and windy on Saturday so SS and I had to retreat indoors for our lunch. It was the usual cheese and cold cuts. Somehow the cheese tasted different - I'll bet it was one of those low fat/salt varieties that SS buys lately. I prefer the full cream mature cheese.

The family went out to lunch on Sunday but didn't bring me back any tasty morsels. All I get these days are vigorous brushings and special feeding formula for prevention of hairballs. Moulting season is a pain for us long-haired species!

More on Cat's eye

While we are on the subject of Cat's eye, Chrysoberyl comes to mind. It is not only a gemstone that could wink at you like we felines when we are in the mood but it is also said to promote concentration, discipline, self-control and ability to learn and think clearly. Now, I think SS should invest in one of these cute stones to get her over this 'thesis' crisis.

Cost? Perhaps the university should have a grant to cover this type of gemstone therapy for its postgraduates. Surely a sound investment since the university gets a lump sum from the government once a thesis is submitted.