Smokey the $1000 housecat: A Hemobart story
This 1500-word post is all about our pet cats, Smokey and Eli. Yes, that’s right. 1500 words. About our cats. Welcome to a rare break from posts about popular culture and random Internet nonsense. This story is mostly about Smokey’s near-death experience and, more generally, about the housekitties. I had been waiting to write about […]
New fish and Novak Djokovic
Following the recent death of the last fish (Jezebel the alarmingly aggressive goldfish) from my original 2003 fish tank setup, I cleaned out the aquarium and started over this weekend. But, before I get to my new fish, I want to mention the U.S. Open 2007 men’s final. This was the first match I’ve watched […]
California rolls, cat battles, 300 revisited
I think this will be a short post in celebration of the weekend finally arriving. This was the longest four-day workweek ever. Sometimes there’s just no better lunch on a Friday afternoon than brown rice California rolls, with wasabi and pickled ginger (one of the few “pickled” items I enjoy). A delicious treat every now […]
Brix, Inland Empire, coconut for cats, South Park
Here are a few random notes to round out what’s been a busy month of August: Check out this cell phone concept, called Brix, courtesy of Yanko Design. Brix modular cell phone can expand into a large-screen display. It’s cool, but probably unrealistic for the mainstream. SciFi.com published a related article this week: “Top 10 […]
Genealogy of music (and the Skeksis departed)
I really enjoy seeing artists’ renditions of the genealogies (or family trees) of music, specifically rock music. Last year I bought a vintage t-shirt on eBay that shows a rock & roll family tree, starting with Leadbelly, Robert Johnson, and Louis Armstrong and progressing up the trunk to the outer branches of popular late 1980s […]
The death cat and professional sports scandals
I’ve always been interested in the so-called “sixth sense” of animals and humans. I used to read those Globe mini mags (the ones you can pick up while waiting in line at the supermarket) about “uncanny cats” and other similar eerie and paranormal topics. I am curious how animals are able to sense geologic events […]
Roswell, kitten neutering, Epsom salt, helium balloons
Today is the 60th anniversary of the Roswell incident, the most famous UFO sighting in American history. Read more from MSNBC: The Roswell Experience. I was kind of obsessed with Area 51 conspiracy theories when I was a kid. I visited Roswell during the summer of 2001, a few months before I moved to Oregon. […]
Independence Day: Hot dogs and melons
First, I have some, uh, breaking news: Today, at the Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest at Nathan’s Famous at New York’s Coney Island, the meatstick consumption title was brought back to America. That’s right, the mustard yellow belt of champions has returned to the land of obesity where it belongs. A skinny […]
Kitten resolution, Kitty Surprise, Propaganda wallpapers
I have good news about our kitten situation. We have found a home for the white-booted tabby named Peter (AKA Repete). A coworker has graciously agreed to let Repete live on her large property in rural Albany. We dropped him off this evening. There are two other well-fed indoor/outdoor cats that live at her house […]
Raccoon scales our balcony to eat cat food
Well, our exciting kitten adoption on Sunday afternoon continued with some additional excitement around 2 AM on Monday morning. I heard some noises coming from the second-floor balcony and I got up to investigate. When I flipped on the outside balcony light, there was a big fat raccoon eating cat food with her cute little […]