There goes my watch

he's found my glasses again

Shooozeeeeee!

Tonight I bonded a bit with Sue Ellen. Suzy is the skittish cat, who we suppose wasn't handled enough by humans as a baby.

She's pretty ok with me because I'm the softy bringer. But she also likes to play with the cat dancer toy, except JR is sooo toy hyper (like my cat Sherry) that she doesn't get much of a chance. So I locked him in the bathroom while we played. Then she was able to get all hunteree, and she started purring! I don't think I've ever heard a cat purr while playing. Then she plopped down on her back, just purring. So pet her for a bit.

I released JR, and went to sit on the couch and eat my supper, and lo and behold... she was sitting down the couch from me, which she's never done. Then JR decided she needed to be chased away around the house.

Suzy reminds me of Haley sometimes, even though Hal's very bold. But maybe when you join the calico club, you sign on to some things. For example, Haley loves to be chased, and I'm starting to suspect that mayyybe... Suzy does too. Hard to tell whether she's enjoying the thrill of being chased, or is actually terrified of me. Meeps! I just give little chases, and then I stop. Just a wee bit of "I'm gonna getcha! I'm gonna getcha!" And Ahhhh! she runs away. But not that far.

And when we were playing, she seemed to like sort of hiding and pouncing, which is how Haley hunts.

And THEN Suzy started chasing the shadow of the cat dancer, which she loved more than the cat dancer. And Haley LOVES chasing a laser pointer. Suzy definitely needs a laser pointer, I think she'd love it.

More JR

I forgot to mention JR's favourite thing of all: Running off with things.

This cat is sooo obsessed with running off with things (ROWT) that half his brain power is constantly reserved for this purpose. He sees everything going on around him, and he's just watching and waiting for... THINGS. Swissgirl had warned me about it, but it was astounding to see in action the first time I got here. I hide my watch in the kleenex box by my bed each night.

Today I emptied out a bag I had, on the table. It just contained a nail clipper. And JR was up on the chair and up on the table (where he is NOT allowed to be) in a nanosecond. Nail clippers! Gimmee!

Twice he's run off with the big elastic I use for my computer... I have to watch where he goes with it, so I can retrieve it later.

When I took off my glasses tonight, and put them on the table, he was there about a minute later. I watched, to see if they were too big for him to pick up. Nope! Down he jumps, my glasses in mouth, ready to run off and hide them somewhere.

watching movies at the start of a 3 day weekend...

I'm watching Star Trek IV, the whale one. Man... it's so tiring all the times that Spock is commended for acting a little human. Someone needs to compliment the humans when they occasionally act logical! Poor Spock. But then, Fernando accuses me of my Spocklike tendencies, which must account for my sympathy. Let the poor man be logical already! Leave him alooone!

On commercials I'm watching Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. And while I must say the monkey brains were the best part of this movie as a child (plus all the heart ripping), man is this ever a racist movie! Ouch! If racist is too harsh, then let's say Culturally Insensitive, Stereotyping and so forth. But I can't blame them for (apparently) banning it in India (see below, from wiki). All the Indiana movies are built on this stereotyping of primitive cultures, but this one reaaaally takes the cake. ...Oh man, he even uses a whip to haul back The Woman at the end. Yikes! Where's Marion! That's what I asked myself when I was a child: What have done with Mariooon!

In Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), chilled monkey brains are served as a dessert in a scene set in India. Hindus revere monkeys due to mythological character Hanuman in the epic Ramayana and a significant number of Hindus are lacto-vegetarians. The movie was banned in India for its "racist portrayal of Indians and overt imperialistic tendencies".^[9]

zzzz again

I try to take my sleep pill at midnight, when I arrive home. So I'm noticing that when 2 AM hits I am ready to diiiiie. Sooo sleeeeeepy!!!! I've been going to bed at 3 and getting up for work at noon. Which is good.

Anyway ...I'm going to bed, dudes.

proof that the boy cat is still alive

The girlie is off napping somewhere. She usually sits on the chair down here, but she might be in a post-softies stupor. I even warmed her softies a little in the microwave, cause she didn't like it when I put it down cold yesterday.

Here's what JR likes:

- running all over the house
- playing under the blanket games
- playing cat dancer
- cuddling under a blanket (purrr purrr)
- watching the bubbles in my glass of ginger ale (for a good half hour yesterday)
- softies

When I was here last time I gave the cats a little tuna each night when I'd get in from work. The plan was, of course, to win over the kittehs, esp the super shy girl. JR was indifferent to tuna, but Sue Ellen was like: What the-! Toooonaaaaa! She'd greet me when I got home, and jump up on the kitchen chair and give me The Look. The Tuna Look.

This time I brought a can of softies, because it's a more balanced food. Well THIS she really recognized. I think she was a softies-eater in her former life. And now she's got JR addicted. They were running around my feet as I nuked it a little (cold food from the fridge is a bit sucky for cats). Meow! Me first! Softeeeeeez!

Simone's gonna kill me for spoiling them. But hey, soft cat food is way healthier than dry cat food. :-) Anyway, it's Babysitter's Rules. Mehhhh heh hehhhh.

my present amusement

I never watched Dynasty growing up--just Dallas. So I'm enjoying watching it; Swissgirl has the seasons on dvd. I'm still on season 1, it rocks. I love these characters. Jeff is starting to push back against Fallon. You go Jeff! But I hate Blake Carrington, it's hard to understand why Krystal loves him. He's so slimey and controlling! At least JR knew he was evil. Blake thinks he's a nice guy! Well, we haven't got to Alexis yet.

I love the 80s fashions--they're a *best of* of the 80s. The good stuff! I love Linda Evans feathered hair. Can't find very good photos though...

sleepies

I'm back at Swissgirl's home, catsitting. But I've discovered how to get online with my own computer, so I'll be able to stay a bit more in touch.

But now I must get to bed, cause I work at 11 tomorrow, which is like 6 am to me. Especially with this longer commute!

Back in Swissgirl Land

I've traded in one of these...



For one of these!

BACK OFF! Get your own sandwich.

I used to love this ad. I still like to say it.



And along the same lines, I like to say: That's my purse!

[King of the Hill: Bobby wants to learn to defend himself, and ends up in a women's self defense course. This is the result.]

eeeeeek! make it stooooop!

Ahhh! The story of me in bugs.

My annual ant invasion has begun! Armed with a book and a kleenex, I annually become unvegan.

I've said it before... I do not let infesting-insects get a toehold in my home. Spiders are welcome, flies I try to usher outside, the randomly passing silverfish or dust bug can go about its business. But fruit flies and ants meet with ruthlessness. I can't afford to try Nice Tactics, because once they set in, they're near impossible to get out. Ants, fruit flies and mosquitoes have adapted just fine to humans. The only pity I grant them is a swift death, except for fruit flies. ...They go into the garbage, still frolicking in their apple sauce trap.

Rorschach and Friends

Fernando and I saw The Watchmen last week, and today Nombly and I spent the day reading the comic. (And yes, this posting does contain spoilers, but I'm pretty sure I was the only one who hadn't seen it yet.)

I experienced a sort of love/hate feeling while watching the movie. Alan Moore's world, at least as presented in the movie, is unrelentingly violent and ugly. I found the Daniel and Laurie characters (owl dude and The Chick) boring... definitely would fail the 10 tonne megabomb test* (particularly apt in the context of this movie). While love scenes in many graphic novels and books and movies are often beautiful and add a layer of meaning and subtext, this one just seemed silly. In dark stories, a love story (a romantic one, or even between friends or family members) is often given as a counterpoint to the apparent violence and hopelessness of the world. In this case, I'm not sure if Alan Moore meant it as such... if so, it did not come across in the movie.

But also, I was frustrated by the end of the movie by the moral choices presented to me as possibilities. The apathy of Owl Dude, the Disconnectedness of Jon, the eye for an eye justice of Rorschach, and the egotistical can-do attitude of Ozymandius all left me cold. (I don't know what Hot Chick was supposed to stand for.) There was only one TINY moment I could *be in for*, which is when New York explodes and you see the old white guy and the black kid throw themselves into each others' arms just before dying.

So I sort of hated the movie... though it's the kind of hatred artists are happy to elicit, since I wasn't mad about a poorly made movie, but rather the ideas in it. And my reaction isn't too far from what Alan Moore intended with the comic itself:

"We tried to set up four or five radically opposing ways of seeing the world and let the readers figure it out for themselves; let them make a moral decision for once in their miserable lives! Too many writers go for that “baby bird” moralising, where your audience just sits there with their beaks open and you just cram regurgitated morals down their throat." (1988 interview)

But I still hoped that the graphic novel would have a little more depth. A little less people's arms sawed off, a little more depth. And indeed, it's the old white guy and black kid who got cut during the transition to screen, as well as all the other "normal" people. These two characters appear throughout the story, as does the psychologist who interviews Rorschach, a couple detectives, and a few people who visit the old man's newsstand. These are the people who don't have control over how the world is run, but have to figure out how to live in it, and they're the ones with whom I could morally sympathize.

Just before the attack on New York (which in the novel, is by a one eyed psychic squid monster!), we see all the ordinary characters. The old man decides that what's really missing is that people don't connect with each other, and he starts trying to connect with the kid who's been sitting there reading comics throughout the series. Meanwhile Rorschach's psychologist has an argument with his wife, who wants him to stop treating crazy people--and in the middle of it, he runs off to help a woman who's being beaten by her ex-girlfriend. His wife is pissed, and he tells her: "I have to [get involved]. In a world like this, I mean, it's all we can do, try to help each other. It's all that means anything." Then he, along with a couple other characters, try to intervene on the fight. And then they all get blown up by Oymandias' squid.

That's what's missing from the movie. But I'm satisfied that it's in the graphic novel. In fact, I'd even enjoy watching the movie again, this time to just enjoy watching the characters brought to life on screen, without worrying about the moral story.

That, and to enjoy my crush on Rorschach. My favourite joke in the graphic novel is between Rorschach and the newspaper vendor. Ror, carrying his The End is Nigh sign, comes to get his daily newspaper which the vendor holds for him...

Vendor: How's the end of the world comin' along?
Ror: It'll happen today. I've seen the signs. National Examiner reported a two-headed cat born in Queens. Today for certain. ... You'll keep my paper for me tomorrow?"
Vendor: Uhh sure. Sure I will. No sweat.



*Years ago this became the litmus test for whether I enjoy a story--if a bomb dropped on the head of the characters, striking them down mid-plot, would I care? My father has coined this as The 10 Tonne Megabomb Test.

Which dwarf are you?

recognize some old toys?

http://thisbiochemicallife.com/2006/07/04/a-trip-back-in-time/

work cat work cat...

Kitty sitting continues. I finished reading The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (three hours of commuting a day, not hard to catch up on reading. Good thing I brought 2 more books!) It was EXcellent. Soooo good.

I have to work a dreaded mid shift tomorrow... eeps! They haven't even started me on actual day shifts yet. Oh Lawd.

Anyway... I want to do a bit of work before I go to bed. My work days are just flinging by. Eeeps!

death by pillium

Ohhh I'm too sleepy again to write much. Again I took my headache pill right when I got home at midnight, and now I am dyyyying. Can't even sit through the rest of MASH. I'm out. Out! Goodnight.

in alternate reality kitty world

So I'm off at the home of my Swiss Friend, cat and housesitting. I was going to do a cute little blog update, but I took my sleepytime drugs when I got home (here) 3 hour ago, so now I am sleeeeeepy. Just want to watch the last half hour of this Bruce Willis movie... but sooo sleeepyyyy....

Amaaaazing!

This was an April Fool's joke on thinkgeek.com, but they got so many requests for it, they're gonna actually try to get it made (get the rights.)

It unzips using a lightsaber, and the pattern on the inside is of intestines.