CleverBlogName - Pets

Feeding

nospam@example.com (Rodger Donaldson) — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 01:17:00 +1200

Ada has now moved on to the complicated businesses of feeding cats. She has not yet mastered the art of opening food containers and spooning it out; rather she has learned the ritual of selecting a food, ensuring there are plates to eat from, and disposing of the empty container. And adding to the noise level if food is not placed in front of the cats at the appropriate time of day.

One day, of course, she will master the art of opening the food. I expect that I will come through to the kitchen to find two cats unable to move and a delighted child.

If only he understood....

nospam@example.com (Rodger Donaldson) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 21:49:00 +1300

When Ada wants to indicate the presence of of Jacques, she refers to them with her rendition of the noises Scarface Claw makes. If only I could explain this to him I’m sure he’d be dead chuffed.

Also: There is no entry in Wikipedia for Scarface Claw. WTF Wikipedia?

Why I Can't Be Trusted

nospam@example.com (Rodger Donaldson) — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 10:21:00 +1200

It is a well-known fact I can’t be trusted to go shopping on my own. Moore Wilson’s in the weekend alone can endanger finances. This is doubly, nay, triply true when there are things I can buy for Maire—and now, Ada. As evidence of this I present the following:

The child-sized armchairs are available from the Best Childrens’ Furniture Store In Wellington, or, as it’s more commonly known, Inhabit. They’ll even upholster it in an arbitrary fabric. I may be immune to—nay, contemptuous of—baby Nikes, but against perfect child-size furniture I have no defence.

Of course, it’ll be a while before Ada can really use her new chair. In the meantime the cats are more than happy to help out.

Cicada Rugby

nospam@example.com (Rodger Donaldson) — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 12:49:00 +1300

The game begins when a cicada flies into the living room. This marks the first part of the contest; obtaining the cicada marks the cat holding it as the ball carrier.

The ball carrier may hold the cicada for as long as they can stand legs crawling around their mouth and wings beating on their whiskers. While holding the cicada, the ball carrier should run to the safe spot in the house. The non-carrier is allowed to harrass the carrier into dropping the cicada into open play.

If the carrier drops the cicada or releases it for any reason, it is in open play, also known as the cat sadism phase. Both players may stand around the cicada, watching it or swatting as appropriate. If the cicada becomes airborne, whoever is quickest to snatch it out of the air may grab it and run to their personal safe spot, chewing on the delicious morsel as they see fit.

The game ends when one competitor pukes cicada wings on the carpet.

Cat Haiku

nospam@example.com (Rodger Donaldson) — Mon, 07 Aug 2006 11:46:39 +1200

I’d love to make the link a perfect (or even simple English) haiku, but I can’t. So you’ll just have to settle for a less elegant pointer.

Motion

nospam@example.com (Rodger Donaldson) — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 21:59:17 +1200

I, for one,

nospam@example.com (Rodger Donaldson) — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 22:02:11 +1200

…welcome our new feline overlords:

Reign of Terror

nospam@example.com (Rodger Donaldson) — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 11:00:22 +1200

In a moment of tax-rebate induced madness, I bought myself a new camera. This, of course, means I am overseeing a reign of terror inflicted on our cats.

Mostly they seemed unconcerned:

I’m pleased with the detail it captures; note the dirt on the chin and the hairs being picked up on the tongue (note the full size version is quite large):

There’s also a nice depth of field that I didn’t get out of my G3.

The built-in flash does provoke Satan’s cat Syndrome quite easily, though:

Wierdly the long lense I bought with it (a Canon 55-200mm unit) is actually often better for cat photos than the stock 18-55mm. This is because I can stalk them from a distance.

It helps to have cats that pose like perfect little models:

…although even the magic of clever cameras can’t save me from photos with not-quite-right-exposures.

But they gaze into a bold scoialist future, anyway:

Suspicion

nospam@example.com (Rodger Donaldson) — Sun, 02 Apr 2006 20:19:21 +1200

Domestic animals? No, sir!

nospam@example.com (Rodger Donaldson) — Thu, 26 Jan 2006 16:18:00 +1300

Now the father and son would settle simply for retrieving their photos and videos of Windfall, seized during the raid. Perkett said there’s sentimental value attached and proof of Windfall’s amazing domestic exploits.
“People have this mistaken feeling they can domesticate an animal and make it like a pet dog,” Anglin said. “But wild animals are unpredictable. They belong in the wild.”

Well, I can’t say I’d try and live with a bear like a house pet. But following the line of reasoning in this story we wouldn’t have pet dogs, either. And anyone who domesticated wolves would have the evidence siezed and destroyed. What next? You’d have people using the damn things for hunting, and herding sheep!

[…]they turned to smaller zoos and heard good things about Applegate Park, which a year ago lost one of its fixtures, a 26-year-old black bear named Sissy.

I bet he did. The bear might have different feelings:

But the world occupied by the black bear known as Windfall has shrunk to the size of a zoo cage

What were they protecting the bear from, again?