Four-eared cat, China’s Olympic facade, tainted drugs
Yoda the four-eared cat is an Internet sensation. Everyone wants to see the little horned devil. I think I like him better than that poor six-legged deer. Though I like Lily, our 25-clawed demon cat best.
This article was amusing, if you care about the grand, elaborate façade China has put up for the Olympics: [...]
Tennis shoes, aliens and Wimbledon on Independence Day
The Oregon State University Nutrition and Exercise Sciences office is collecting old shoes this month to benefit kids in the local area through the Congressional Reuse-A-Shoe Drive. The goal of the drive is to collect as many worn-out athletic shoes as possible, which will then be recycled and turned into donated sports and play surfaces [...]
Lily the polydactyl kitten
We brought home our new polydactyl (six-toed) kitten, named Lily, from Portland three weeks ago, on May 25. Lily has 23 claws: 13 in the front (on 12 full toes) and 10 in the back (on 10 toes). Her left front paw has an extra tiny claw/mini-toe in between two toes. And the [...]
Cats and ducklings: Part two
This is a continuation of Cats and ducklings: Part one.
Since our cat Smokey died on Sunday, April 6 and was cremated on Thursday, April 10, these became two significant dates in our search of a new companion for lonely Eli. Reincarnation is a comforting idea, especially for grieving mothers. Soon enough, a litter of kittens [...]
Cats and ducklings: Part one
Happy Mother’s Day!
I was going to hold off posting about all of our recent cat and duckling experiences for a bit longer, but I’ve been inspired by Google’s avian-themed logo doodle for Mother’s Day. It looks like they’ve got a white pekin duck mothering two mallard ducklings. Hooray for adoptive parents. Unless that’s a [...]
Queen wasp in a bottle = new cat toy
Today we found a wasp on the kitchen ceiling. Seems odd for Oregon in January. I captured it with an empty juice bottle easily.
I originally thought it might be a paper wasp, because we recently had an open-comb wasp nest on the far side of the building. But this wasp was not slender and [...]
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 this [...]
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 [...]