Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Real American kitty goodness!

A few months ago, I asked my blogging friend Christine to bring me some American kitty treats when she came to visit her beau in Australia. Well, here they are:
Real American Shrimp Nip cat treats and a Real American Dog Hate postcard! Thanks, Christine! Here I am examining the card (Kate said that Christine's got very beautiful handwriting):

But then, I caught a whiff of the shrimpy, nippy goodness...


And had to investigate further...


Mmmmmmm. Niiiiiiiiiip...
I've never had nip before. Kate's a bit worried about what it'll do to me. She's just gonna give me a few shrimp at a time and see what happens. I'll let you know how I go! Thanks so much for the awesome present, Christine. Kate said she'd love to have you (and Mike) over for dinner when you come back in June/July.

Cheers,
--Pabs

Saturday, January 27, 2007

Angry

What the? When I signed into blogger to moderate my comments this morning, it MADE me switch to the new blogger. Now cats that have commented on my posts who aren't switched to the new blogger come up as 'anonymous' and I don't know who they are and it doesn't link to their blogs. I was so angry, I had to find something to bite.

THIS SUCKS! Sorry guys. If anyone knows how to fix this, please let me know. And maybe you could include your name in your comments for now, just so I know who youse are?

Cheers,
--Pabs

Friday, January 26, 2007

It was 219 years ago today...

Today is Australia Day.

That means that on this day 219 years ago, the first European settlers landed in Australia (from England, where my mate Faz lives. Hi, Faz!) to start a new colony.

Many people think that's not a reason to celebrate, because the new settlers did some pretty bad things to the original owners of the land. In some ways, it's a day of shame. But I'm not here to argue that case, because 1) I'm a cat; and 2) I've found a reason to celebrate Australia Day...

Proposition 1: The First Fleet came to Australia by ship.
Proposition 2: In the olden days, cats used to work on ships, keeping the mice in line.
Conclusion: Cats came to Australia with the First Fleet.

Which means that today marks the 219th anniversary of cats in Australia! Now THAT'S something to celebrate!

Happy Australia Day!
Cheers,
--Pabs

Thursday, January 25, 2007

It's all about me!

Monday was a great day. Check it out. Not only was I the star of Kate's cat-a-day 2007 calendar:
(I don't remember posing for this... is it you, Merlin?)

I was also the star of Nick, Kate and Uncle Simon's Scrabble game:

Actually, this was assembled by Kate, post-game. But you've gotta give her extra points for effort, even though some of the words aren't exactly complimentary. She might've beaten Uncle Simon with those extra bonus points!

Cheers,
--Pabs

Saturday, January 20, 2007

Sleepy Saturday...

This picture wasn't taken today.
It wasn't even taken on a Saturday, as far as I can remember.
But seeing as I 'scairt' many of you with the picture in my previous post, I thought I'd redeem my public image by posting a picture of me looking more... peaceful.

Kate calls this a picture of 'her boys', which Nick really hates. This is Nick and I, chilling out one evening a few months ago. Well, I'm chilling out. Nick looks like he's reading something important, 'cause he's taking notes and stuff. He probably wasn't very chilled out. You could say then that it's a portrait of contrasts-- human and feline, work and rest. It's a bit hard to tell, but this is one of my classic floor-sleeping poses. My left arm is pointing out to the left, acting as a bit of a chin-rest, while my right arm is pointing back the other way. Looks uncomfortable, but totally isn't.

It's one of my ideal ways to spend a Saturday. Or any day, for that matter.

Cheers,
--Pabs

Sunday, January 14, 2007

Most people I know think that I'm crazy...

... and here's the proof. Heidi (one of my First Mummies. Long story.) always said that my middle name was Legion, from the part of the Bible where Jesus heals a guy possessed by a legion of demons, inferring (in none to subtle a fashion) that my behaviour indicated that I was/am possessed by demons. This nightshot of me by Aunty Trakka adds weight to Heidi's theory.

Seriously though, how scary does it look? Humans: this is why we don't like the flashy box!!! It spooks us! We already have flashy eyes, so of course using the flashy box on us at night freaks us out.

And makes for freaky photos.

Serves you right.

Now I know how Prince William's girlfriend feels.

Sort of.

Cheers,
--Pabs.

Saturday, January 13, 2007

A kitty in need...

This is Possum. She's a NKOTB (new kitten on the block) here in West Hobart, but she's facing a bit of trouble. Her mum and dad found her in the gutter not long ago. They took her in and looked after her and even planned to keep her. But things aren't looking good. Her parents' real estate agent is being all 'NO PETS' about things, and appealing to the owner of their flat hasn't worked thus far. Please send Possum your bestest purrs (or even give her a shout out on her blog), cause she really wants to stay with her new mum and dad... and the West Hobart Tigers really want to pick her up in the 2007 rookie draft. I'll let you know how she gets on.

In other news, I've lost another collar! I'm keeping quiet about how I lost it, but I came home nude again the other night. They've bought me another one, but it's not very comfortable. Let's see how quickly I can rid myself of it and get another one!

Cheers,
--Pabs

Saturday, January 06, 2007

Melbourne: Part 2

As promised, here's the second and final installment in Kate's report on cat culture in Melbourne. The first report centred on cat tributes in the Melbourne CBD, and I mentioned that there weren't many live cats to be found there. Well, Kate did find some real live (and mighty cute) cats in the CBD. Unfortunately, they were in a pet shop in the Melbourne Central shopping centre. Check them out:
Cute stuff indeed. Now there's nothing wrong with being a pet shop cat. I've got nothing against pet shop cats (some of my best friends are pet shop cats), and I know that pet shops have smartened up their act in the past few years as far as animal welfare is concerned, but I still think it SUCKS that pet shops are allowed to make money outta selling cats and dogs when there are SO many abandoned and stray animals who need a home and someone to love them. If I was Kate, I would have busted those kittens outta there and spent the rest of my Melbourne holiday finding good homes for them. But that's just me.

I was hoping that Kate would be able to take a heap of photos of suburban Melbourne cats doing their thing on the streets and in their front yards, but according to Kate, they were quite elusive (either that, or she couldn't be bothered chasing cats for her whole holiday). Apparently Melbourne cats value their privacy and aren't as forthcoming as your typical Hobart cat. She did manage to snap this old timer while he was trying to evade her lens in the suburb of Kensington:
(That human on the left is Kate's friend Sarah. Hi, Sarah!)


But by far Kate's coolest live cat discovery in Melbourne (and props to Aunty Trakka for telling her about it) was Toto:
Yes, I know that Toto is traditionally a dog's name, but I guess his houseperson decided to reclaim the name for cats. Toto is a shopcat, which means that he works in his houseperson's shop. I've heard of shopcats and officecats before, but this is my first photographic evidence that they really exist. I think it's a great idea. Cats add style and sophistication to any retail establishment. I think that more shops should have cats on their payroll. It would help to attract the Right Sort of Customer (as long as the cats are appropriately remunerated!). But I don't think I'd be very good at it. I don't like strangers...

Anyway, Toto helps out at a shop called Paper Indulgence, on Victoria Street in Brunswick West:

It's a specialty paper shop, and Kate said that it sells all kinds of pretty paper (again, I'd be no good in a paper shop, because I chew paper).

Apart from looking attractive, Toto's main job is security:





Toto can often be found sniffing around people's bags to check for dangerous (or tasty) objects, and sniffing the carpet to find out who's been in the shop. He's always on the move, is Toto. That's why Kate didn't get a decent headshot of him (or maybe it's that paranoid Melbourne feline privacy thing again?).

Pablo Enterprises salutes Toto, a true hero of the feline world, for his contribution to human-feline relations... and he doesn't even chew paper!

Cheers,
--Pabs

Thursday, January 04, 2007

Breaking news from the Pablog newsdesk...

G'day everyone,

Just had to let the cat world know about an awesome piece of of cat-related news that broke in Australia today.

You can read the full story here, but to cut a long story short, an Australian bank unknowingly issued a credit card to a cat called Messiah when his mum applied for a secondary credit card in his name to test the bank's security procedures! Messiah's mum was also able to make Messiah a secondary account holder on her electricity account! The bank in question gave Messiah a $4200 credit limit, so everyone: the Fancy Feast treats are on Messiah!

Will I be applying for a credit card, I hear you ask? Why would I? Nick and Kate pay for all Pablo Enterprises expenses. But kudos to Messiah and his mum for putting a cat on the national media stage.

Cheers,
--Pabs