Watermark

April - May - June 02009

2009-06-10

the lives of thousands rest on his shoulders
the enemy is vile and wily

he is strong enough to carry this weight
he is strong enough to meet this enemy

he is strong, he is brave
he is willing to die for what is right

these people, if you can call them that
care for nothing, value nothing

they do not respect life as we do
they do not treasure family and god

he must be strong, he must be brave
he must be willing to die for what is right

he has prepared for this moment
for this, he was born

for this, he worked to become strong
for this, he is brave, for this

he is strong enough to save
his own kind, he is strong, he is brave

the enemy is vile, and wily, but weak
weak, they are tatters at the edge

of our genetic fabric, they must be cut
out, such contamination must be

cleansed lest it ... no, he will not think
of it, he is strong, he is willing to die

he is willing to kill, he is willing to die
for this, for right, for strength, for god

  

Friday Cat Blogging

Lucy and Henry are here to announce the end of Friday Cat Blogging 5, and the beginning of Friday Cat Blogging 6. They find this entire topic immensely boring, as you can see. Nonetheless, here is the list of cat blogging categories, for those who find some interest therein:

Friday Cat Blogging 1

Friday Cat Blogging 2

Friday Cat Blogging 3

Friday Cat Blogging 4

Friday Cat Blogging 5

Friday Cat Blogging 6

And a happy Friday to all!

Critter Resolutions

A Crazy Cat Lady action figure! Except for the fact that my hair is still mostly dark, and I'm not skinny, and I have only two cats -- that could be me. And since I am getting an iPod Nano for Christmas (!!!), of course I want this totally frivolous and useless [useless since I plan to wear mine around my neck] item:

Yep, that's an iPod case. Clearly, one of my resolutions should be to be less covetous -- but, later for that. In the meantime, since they are disinclined to make their own New Year's resolutions, I have decided to make them for the critters who share my space. We begin with:

MERRY CATZMAS!

Welcome to the 92nd Carnival of the Cats

Kitty Greetings

Boo and Spike have grown tails for the holidays! OK, not really:

   

But they do wish you a Merry Christmas! and a Happy Everything Else!; and they want me to remind you that the Carnival of the Cats will be here on Sunday -- a holiday extravaganza! Send your catblogging URL to submissions (at) carnivalofthecats.com or (my strong preference) use The Carnival Submission Form. Since it's Christmas day, the post may go up early, with additions on Monday; or it may go up late -- depends on how my day goes.

In addition to your submissions, the Carnival will feature Christmas cats from Lucy Rand, who did the card above, and who has sent me my first gift of the season:

I suspect I will find several uses for that. Here are a few extra entertainments for you, before the usual Friday roundup:

Insane Cat Video
A Cat's Christmas
Cute Overload (not only cats, it really is cute)

And now for our regular programming:

Friday Ark
I and the Bird
Carnival of the Cats
Carnival of the Dogs
Circus of the Spineless

See you Sunday!

Friday Cat Blogging on Saturday

As many of you know, TypePad had a little glitch yesterday which prevented any TypePad blogging. I had planned a link-heavy post, but I think you will be even happier with these great photos of PeeWee and DC [DamnCat!] from Cousin Sue. Click the images to see big ones:

Lovely Montana winter kitties; don't you agree? For further winter weekend critterese, try:

Friday Ark
I and the Bird
Carnival of the Cats
Carnival of the Dogs
Circus of the Spineless

ATTENTION! On Christmas Day, one week from tomorrow, the Carnival of the Cats will be here at Watermark. Send your catblogging URL to submissions (at) carnivalofthecats.com or (my strong preference) use The Carnival Submission Form. I will begin preparing this post early in the week, so if you catblog early, that's fine. I want a nice big carnival for folks to enjoy during the week between Christmas and New Year's -- so the more the merrier!

The Tabby Cat

Boo would like to tell you about grey tabby cats -- especially since Spike had his say about orange cats awhile back.

Penmarric tells us:

The word TABBY, is thought to be derived from the word ATABI, which is a type of silk manufactured in the Attabiah region of Baghdad. They exported quantities of this fabric to England, where the striped pattern was compared to the striping on the ‘tiger’ cat. This type of cat then became known as the TABBI, which was later modified to TABBY.

The history of the tabby pattern is complicated. The modern domestic cat appears to have developed from the African Wild Cat in Egypt. It was taken to ancient Greece and Rome by traders, and from there spread across Europe, Asia, and the Americas. In the progress, it bred with other wild cats, and eventually, the modern tabby is a dilution of what it was at the beginning . . .

. . . all domestic cats carry the tabby gene. If the tabby markings are not visible, it is because the coat color is masking it.

Friday Cat Coterie Shopping

Last week, we suggested some possible gifts for your lovely cats. Really, though, your cat wants what cousin Sue's PeeWee has -- a beloved sparring partner:

DC (Damn CAT!) and PeeWee ~
~ click for larger image

This week, we shall consider gifts for those whom cats have captured:

Friday Cat Shopping

As a highly evolved, spiritual being, Boo is supremely uninterested in Black Friday. Today I offer some kitty shopping links; here you may find something for your own divine felines.

Silly Kittiness, or Kitty Silliness

   

Spike and Boo are not at all sure what to think of the human susceptibility to kitty cuteness. Are cats not graceful, elegant, sophisticated, dangerous, intelligent, independent, and superior?

So what's with all this sweet, harmless, roundness? I mean, Hello Kitty? What resemblence does this have to an actual cat? This via Boing Boing:

Taiwanese airline EVA has repainted one of its jets with giant Hello Kittys. According to Popgadget, "the plane's interior features Hello Kitty-related items as well, ranging from boarding passes, baggage tags, dining utensils, and lavatory papers to flight attendant uniforms." Link

I mean, any actual cat would be offended. Then there are the robots, none of which have fur, mind you -- nor claws.