Your Mom is on the News

CAT,
What the heck is your mom doing in Albuquerque? (besides seeking her 15 minutes of fame on the evening news)
CES


More fun with the evening news:





Let's throw in one animal/news blooper for good measure:



And finally, who can forget this one?:

Conceptual Art and the Kitties Who Sit Idly By

Probably everyone has heard something about The Gates installation in Central Park.

The Gates
Here's a bit of info.

Personally, I like the Somerville Gates.

Fluffy Rug Gates


Feeding Gates


Tub Gates

Days of Ramen

I've eaten plenty of ramen noodles in my time. The cups o' soup are the best because you don't even have to have a bowl.
But what are you supposed to do when you don't have a fork? I know... hand me that pack of ballpoint pens and get the duct tape out of my bedside table drawer....


from CollegeHumor.com

Filling Today's Cute Quota

keepin' it cool

A friend of mine sent me an email with this picture attached. It definitely makes one say, "awwww." Then I started to analyze. Every time I see a polar bear in captivity I think of Gus, the Neurotic Bear in the Central Park zoo. Gus became a phenomenon a few years back due to his behavior that was documented and at first determined to be some kind of neurosis. Later, it was deemed that he was bored and needed more activities that were natural to his species. I saw Gus and was a witness to his repetitive behavior and I felt really sorry for him.

Since then, I've had mixed feelings on zoos. On the one hand, having animals in captivity is the only way most of us will ever experience the more exotic creatures. But it's more like they are on display. They are in a simulated environment, and in most zoos that I've ever been to, they don't ever seem to have enough room. I don't know, they just don't look happy. What does a "happy" animal look like?
Click here,
Here &


Here.

Einstein the Talking Bird

You have got to see this bird. Click here for the video clip from Mario Lopez's show on Animal Planet: Pet Star. No, not that Mario Lopez; this Mario Lopez. Yes, A.C. Slater is now hosting a show on Animal Planet. It's no SBTB.

"People were throwing-up and peeing their pants"

Fark alerts us to a contest at Utah Valley State College where the students were vying for a '95 Ford Taurus. The story is found on Brigham Young University's news website, where a member of the UVSC Social Committee says they are known for doing things they wouldn't dare do at BYU.

USVC (photo by Kyle Morgan)

The first runner-up declined an offer of $175 from the eventual winner to drop out of the contest. After 21 hours, Mary Schauerhamer won when her final opponent lost his balance. I don't want to know what he slipped in.

I Would Vote for Pedro

Pedro & Napoleon

Click here for sweet dance moves.

Click here for Soundboard.

A Bit of Comedy

The Dance from the website The World of The Office

Say what you will about British comedy, this clip of Ricky Gervais dancing on The Office will go down in history.
My son loves to imitate his moves. He said, "Mommy, maybe he had too much beer."

No Alias Tonight

Bush
That sucks. And what's worse: Lost is a repeat. Isn't it sweeps month or something? I thought February was a good month for TV, but maybe it's March that has no re-runs.

Anyhoo, here is the only way to watch Bush's speech without being completely bored and disgruntled:
Drinking Game

Another Clip Worth Watching

Pink Is The New Blog alerts to a clip posted on Fair and Balanced.
The clip is a Fox News segment with Brigette Quinn interviewing an editor from Vanity Fair magazine. The website has received so many hits that they've had to stop hosting the clip, but from this page you can view the video at IFILM. It's not Jon Stewart/Tucker Carlson, but it's worth watching.

Click here for the clip.

One Man Speaks for Half of Nation

from Betty Bowers

I did not attend the $40,000,000 party in D.C. this week. Fortunately, there was one man who voiced the opinion of people opposing George W. and his policies.
Click here for clip from inauguration.

From www.blackthursday.com:

Sometimes you have an inauguration
not with the president you want,
but with the presidentyou have.

May the next four years bring peace,
tolerance, and justice to all americans
and all of the people of the world - despite the odds.

black-thursday.com

* Black-Thursday.com is referencing the answer Rumsfelf gave when asked by a soldier:
"Why do we soldiers have to dig through local landfills for pieces of scrap metal and compromised ballistic glass to up-armor our vehicles, and why don't we have those resources readily available to us? We're digging pieces of rusted scrap metal ... that has already been shot up, dropped, busted, picking the best out of this scrap to put on our vehicles to take into combat."
His answer: "As you know, you go to war with the Army you have ... not the Army you might want or wish to have at a later time."

Nice.

Is Your Monitor Dirty?

Yuck

Click here to clean it for free.

The Philosophy of Kindness

My religion is kindness.

My message is the practice of compassion, love, and kindness.
Compassion can be put into practice if one recognizes the fact that
every human being is a member of humanity and the human family
regardless of differences in religion, culture, color, and creed.
Deep down, there is no difference.

We should try never to let our happy frame of mind be disturbed.
Whether we are suffering at present or have suffered in the past,
there is no reason to be unhappy.
If we can remedy it, why be unhappy?
And if we cannot, what use is there in being depressed about it?
That just adds more unhappiness and does no good at all.

By developing a sense of respect for others and a concern for their welfare,
we reduce our own selfishness, which is the source of all problems,
and enhances our sense of kindness which is a natural source of goodness.

This is my simple religion.
There is no need for temples;
no need for complicated philosophy.
Our own brain, our own heart is our temple;
the philosophy is kindness.

~ the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso

When photographers get bored.

Dancing Trombone Player

Daily Roundup alerts to the Dancing Trombone Player, Jonathan Arons, who is developing cult status through the internet. You have to check this out. Click Here to see video on Daily Medication.

Back to Her Old Self

Suki

Finally! It seems Madame Suki has forgiven me for daring to bring home another kitty. For the past few days, she has snubbed me, literally turned her back on me in disgust. Even though it has been the first few nights of uninterrupted sleep for me in years, I have to admit I was feeling sad about the change in her personality.

Yesterday though, when I was watching Alias, she came and lay on the couch next to me and believe it or not - gave me some gentle kitty-kisses with her head. I'm glad that she has been able to get over her anger. She has been playing with Charlie and I think the two of them are going to be just fine together. Charlie still flinches and lays down with Suki runs up to her (Suki is kind of a big kitty), but I think she'll see that Suki isn't going to raise her paw to her anymore.

Oh, the downside? Suki woke me up at 4 am - back into the old habits. (yawn)

One pissed kitty

I have recently adopted a cat, recently meaning three days ago. She is not a kitten but is less than a year old. I got her through an adoption agency at PetSmart and I just love her. Her name is April, but my son wanted to name her Charlie. He has since settled on the name April Charlie. So I took Charlie to the vet today to make sure she doesn't have earmites, and because she's been sneezing. The good news was that she is on the tail-end of a cold that she should be over soon, and she doesn't have any visible earmites. The bad news is that she had a little nervous accident in the pet carrier on the way home from the doctor. Now I don't blame her for that. She was in a dark box with little holes in it, and I can only imagine how strange it must feel to ride in a car when you haven't very much. I started to smell it but I think I was in denial. Surely, she didn't just go poop in her carrier box. Well, I brought her in the house, opened up the box, and sure enough...there it was. Not too much, but it was stinky. I picked her up and felt some wetness on her underside so I decided that we needed to wash her off. (clearing throat) I turned on the water in the sink and made sure it was a comfortable temperature and proceeded to put her in the sink. Anyone who has cats knows that normally they have an aversion to water. I know that. I've read the jokes about bathing a cat and know that it can be quite an adventure. That's putting it mildly, really. She scratched the mess out of me and then when I wouldn't let go of her, she started trying to bite me. What's going through my head is that I don't want my new baby-kitty to associate this horrible experience with me. I wrapped her in a towel and sat in my rocking chair with her for a minute to calm her down. She then went and lay down on my bed and started grooming herself. Well, when she got up from there, the bed was stinky. Like poo. (sigh) So I knew what I had to do. I turned the water on in the bathtub and poured some mild soap in so that there would be bubbles. I took Charlie to the bathroom, closed the door, and put her in the water. It wasn't that bad, actually; a lot easier than the sink. I lathered her up then rinsed, then wrapped her in a towel, rocking chair, etc. She's now sitting on her bed, grooming, looking pissed. But she still smells funny. Not like poop exactly. Maybe it's just wet-cat smell. Hope so.

**UPDATE**
She's smellin' so fresh and so clean.

Student in Santa Costume not "politically correct?"

Give me a break. A seventh-grade student was asked by his principle to leave the school's holiday dance because he was dressed like Santa Claus. According to the story, the student was told to leave because his attire was politically incorrect, and the principle was trying to adhere to the rules of separation of church and state. He also stated that he had to be sensitive to all of the students' religious beliefs. This really irritates me. Since when does Santa Claus symboilze the religious aspect of Christmas?
I support the separation of church and state in the sense that I don't believe students should be made to conform to one religion or the other. I don't think it's right to force Christianity or any other religion upon any individual. I am not a religious person, but I do celebrate Christmas. I try hard to keep in my mind the true reason for the celebration, but I have to admit that I love Christmas because it is the time of year that means family to me. In the situation of the school party, I think that the school principle took it too far when he prohibited the boy's attendance to the party. I would be furious if I were the child's mother.

FatBoy Slim video contest winner

My first reaction to this was that this lady has way too much time on her hands. Then I reconsidered; it's creative and complex, not to mention laugh-out-loud funny. Plus, kittens in hats, how could you lose? See the FatBoy Slim video for yourself:

from MilkandCookies.com

12/21/04