Infamy (or: in-for-me)

My friends Nick and Bron posted this photo on their blog, which was taken outside their new apartment building in Glebe, Sydney (sorry I can't biggify it, it was taken using Nick's phone):

They have thus lifted the lid on my hitherto undisclosed past life in the Sydney underworld. Why am I banned from Sydney? Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies... well, not many lies. Not big ones, anyway.

Cheers,
--Pabs

Too hot for cats...

Don't worry, I'm not dead! It's just that we've had some full-on THFC weather this weekend. The kind we only get a few days per year down here in Tasmania. Our apartment is on the first floor, and has north and west facing windows (you northern hemisphere cats will have to reverse those directions to understand what I'm getting at: lots of midday and afternoon sun!), so when it's hot, I really flake.

Using my superfeline powers, I find The Coolest Spot in the House and park myself there. I stay as low to the ground as I can possibly go, and stretch out as long and flat as I can make myself.
I don't really sleep, I just lay there and wait until it passes.

It was so hot today that Kate even joined me on the floor at The Coolest Spot. I don't have any photos of that, because Kate wouldn't take any. I don't blame her, she's not half as photogenic as I am... would have made a nice mother/son pic, though.

Today, it reached 35C (around 95F). Even now, at nearly 11pm, it's still 21c (69F). But the best thing just happened. It just started pouring. I don't normally like rain, but I'm inside and I can feel the rain cooling things down. And the rain means there will be lots of interesting smells outside in the morning, when it will hopefully be much cooler!

Cheers,
--Pabs

Frootbat Friday: Frankie (West Hobart Tigers player profile #1)

Player name: Frankie
Rookie year: 2006
Skills: Stealth, curiousity, super frootbat hearing, Hepburn-like looks (Audrey, that is), extreme balancing and poise, patience
Favourite pasttime: Fencewalking

This is Frankie. She's the newest player in the West Hobart Tigers' squad (apart from Possum, whose transfer is still being processed by the SFFL... they're really dragging their paws!). 2006 was Frankie's first season with us and she did an awesome job. She came to us with an injury, and was even walking around with one of those plastic 'Elizabethan' collars around her neck, to stop her from scratching her face. A coupla the Tigers made fun of her, but I thought she showed some real guts by wearing it out in public and not even caring.

Frankie's been a real asset to the Tigers. She's small and delicate, which means that she can move quickly and silently. She's also very inquisitive and keeps an eye on our turf at all times, while still managing to maintain her characteristic grace and style.

Frankie loves fencewalking. Not just the one pictured above (the front fence of my apartment complex), but any fence. Her most favourite fence to walk on is my side fence, a wooden pailing fence which is covered by a gnarly old climbing plant. It's way hard to walk on- I've tried. But little Frankie takes her time, plotting her moves with extreme patience and executing them with extreme balance and style.

So here's to Frankie, the first West Hobart Tiger to feature in my series of player profiles. (Keep an eye out next month for West Hobart Tigers player profile #2: Skinny Ginger.)

Happy Friday, catbloggers!
Cheers,
--Pabs

A valentine for my ladies...

These beautiful cats are Phoebe and Monica. They are the co-chairfelines of the US chapter of the Pablo Fan Club. They're not really my girlfriends, but they're girlcats and they're my friends (and they're very pretty too...), so I'd like to send a shout out to them on Valentine's Day. And thanks to the Katnippia crew for a rockin' party today! Love those niptinis!

Cheers,
--Pabs

Evidence...

Kate found these feathers outside on the lawn yesterday. Under her clothesline. She wants to know what I know about them. I'm not saying anything about it, on the grounds that I might incriminate myself. But there's at least 4 other cats who frequent our yard space (all West Hobart Tigers: Skinny Ginger, Blackie, Graham White and Frankie) and it could've been any of those guys. But I'm there the most, so it's kinda fair to suspect me the most. BUT THAT DOESN"T NECESSARILY MEAN THAT IT WAS ME. And I'm not telling... What happens under the clothesline stays under the clothesline, right?

Cheers,
--Pabs