Once I had a Secret Paw...

Oh wow, oh wow, oh wow!! My Secret Paws present came a few days ago. Kate has taken soooo long to post about it, sorry! It was very exciting. But before I could open the present, Kate made me pose for my official Secret Paws portrait:

It's not so good. You can tell that I'm not interested in sitting for a portrait... I just wanna open my present. I've had letters in the mail before, but never a package!

Kate, can I puh-lease open it now?

Ohhhh... this handsome kitty must be my Secret Paw. Hello!

... but what's underneath?

Goodies!

So here's all my loot: two packs of toys, two packs of Greenies and a nip mouse! (My first nip toy ever, by the way! I love it. I've been grooming it ever since I got it!)

Not to mention a portrait of my Secret Paw, Gypsy (or is this a picture of Gypsy's sister Tasha? I'm a bit confused. Can you help me, Gypsy?).

Secret Paws is the best idea ever. If it's on again at Christmas, I'm totally going in it again. (P.S. Glad you liked your presents, Gypsy! Thanks so much for mine!)

Cheers,
--Pabs

Great Cats in History #1: Nigel: I'll tumble 4 ya

[Kate and Nigel, late 1983]

This is the first in what I intend to be a series of posts about the great cats in history who preceded me as Kate's feline companions. The subtitles are songs that Kate relates to these cats for one reason or another. Now, Kate lived with other cats before Nigel, but Nigel was the first cat that Kate thought of as hers (besides, there's no photographic evidence of the others). Anyway, back to Nigel...

Nigel was born on VFL Grand Final Day in 1983, the day that the Hawthorn Hawks thrashed the Essendon Bombers 20.20.140 to 8.9.57.* Nigel and his three sisters were born in a shed in Kate's backyard. Their mum, Tabitha, was Kate's family's cat. Nigel was allowed to stay with the family and become Kate's cat because he was the only boy, and Kate's dad didn't want any more litters of kittens in the family (this was in the days before neutering was so universal). So Nigel's sisters had little red ribbons tied around their necks and were given away at the local school fair, much to Kate's dismay. But she got to keep Nigel, and an intense yet one-sided friendship was born, a friendship beautifully epitomised in the above portrait of Kate and Nigel.

Tabitha ran away a few months after her kittens were born, so Nigel became the onlycat of the house. He was very well loved by Kate, who vaguely remembers making up songs about him and singing Boy George songs to him (like 'I'll tumble 4 ya'). Being very young, Kate suspects that she probably loved Nigel a little too much and didn't give him the time and space alone that every mancat needs. With his mancat urges growing, Nigel took Gemma the Golden Retreiver puppy's arrival in the family in the middle of 1984 as his cue to move on to parts unknown. While he wasn't around for very long, his tabby mancat charms were enough to make Kate a cat girl for life.

So here's to Nigel! Next month, Garfield: A groovy kind of love.

Cheers,
--Pabs

* A short lesson in Australian Rules Football scoring. 'Goals' are worth six points, 'points' are worth one point. so Hawthorn's score of 20.20.140 means that they kicked 20 goals (20x6= 120) and 20 points, a total of 140 points. That's a pretty high score. One more thing: VFL stands for Victorian Football League, which is what the Australian Football League was called before it became a national league in 1990. Interested in more info? Click here.

My adventures in Kate's dreams

[Maybe if I sleep in Kate's bed, I'll have adventurous dreams, too! Read on for details... ]

Guess what, everycat? Kate has had dreams two nights in a row which featured me doing adventurous things that I would never do in real life!

Dream #1 (Tuesday night): Kate dreamt that there was a big swell in the Derwent River (the big, wide river that Hobart is built around) and that her cousin Jarrod (who doesn't normally surf) wanted Kate to go down to the beach and watch him riding the big waves. Kate walked along the shoreline between Sandy Bay and Taroona (those familiar with Hobart will know where she means. Taroona is where Crown Princess Mary of Denmark grew up!), but she couldn't see Jarrod. So, she climbed into the water at Taroona and walked/swam her way along the shore (sometimes sandy, sometimes rocky) back towards Sandy Bay to try and find him. Guess who was in the water with Kate: ME! Swimming! Kate knew that I would follow her and be okay, but at one point she waited for me to catch up with her and she carried me the rest of the way to a surf club (that doesn't exist in real life), where she and I found Jarrod and his wife, Rebecca. We also dried off with a big towel.

Dream #2 (last night): Kate dreamt that she was living back at home with her parents (I have never lived there, just so you know) and that she had a big fight with her mum. Something to do with cooking (which makes sense, because Kate's parents used to run a cafe/restaurant, and they all lived in the apartment above it). So, she jumped on her bike and rode up to visit her grandma (whom she called 'Nan'), who lived in a cute cottage about 2kms away. Guess who followed her on foot: ME! Going for a big walk across town!

She had a really nice time at her nan's place, they always used to have great chats (I don't know where I was during this time. I hope I was inside, because Kate's nan's cottage always had a few mice lurking behind the skirting boards! Yum!). Then she decided that she'd better go home and face the music with her mum. So she hopped on her bike (which was a tiny pink and white BMX-- she never had one of those. Well she did, but hers was red) and got ready to ride home.

At this point, I turned up again. Somehow, I made it known to Kate that I didn't want to follow her on foot; I wanted to get a ride on her back. So, I jumped on. But I was facing the wrong way... which meant that I was facing behind her, my front paws on her backpack and my back paws on her shoulder... and my butt and tail in her face! Ha ha ha ha!! Anyway, Kate didn't mind; she was just so stoked that I was riding on her shoulders while she rode home. Me! Riding on Kate's shoulders while she's on a bike! About 3/4 of the way home, I decided to hop off and walk for the remainder of the trip. That's kind of all that Kate remembers...

Lotsa words in this post. But I had to tell you how I was a star in Kate's dreams! I wonder what I'll do tonight?

Cheers,
--Pabs

More meme madness!

Hi everycat,

Chairman Mao tagged me for this meme last week. I've compiled my list, now get ready to find out more about me!

1- Favorite season?
Late spring (October-November). Long, sunny evenings, great garden smells. Love it!

2- Favorite colours?
Shades of brown teamed with black... just like me! I do like red, too.

3- Favorite room?
Nick and Kate's bedroom. It's so versatile- I can survey my territory from the window, and there's such a variety of sleeping options: on the carpet by the window, under the bed, on the bed, in the bed... brilliant!

4- Do you like dogs?
I have to be diplomatic here, because there are a few dogs in my fan club, and I have a 'brother' who is a dog. I think that all God's creatures have a place in the world. I'm just glad that my 'brother's' place is 300kms away from me at Kate's parents' place.

5- Ever been in an airplane box?
No WAY. My v-e-t prison box is the only box I've been in, and I intend to keep it that way.

6- Do you have to get bathed?
My self-administered lickbaths are more than sufficient.

7- Are you in love?
I have a number of really close lady friends in the blogosphere, but I wouldn't want to comment beyond that.

8- Where would you like to travel to?
Given the answer to question 5, and the fact that I live on an island, I don't think I'll be travelling anywhere too far. Home is my favourite place. Having said that, I'd love to meet my blogging buddies in person. I think it's important to know what your friends smell like.

9- What do you ignore?
Nick and Kate when they say 'Get OFF' or 'Get OUT'. It's usually kitchen-related.

10- How many lives have you used up?
At least a few, I reckon, with all my fight clubbing.

11- Do you have any dark secrets?
Not since I did the true confessions meme a while ago.

12- What is your favorite holiday?
You know how the Dandy Warhols have that song 'Every day should be a holiday'? Well for cats, it is!

13- Water or milk?
Water all the way! I Don't like milk... but I'll have a lick if someone leaves their cereal bowl within reach.

14- Why do you blog?
i) to raise my public profile and the profile of Pablo Enterprises and the West Hobart Tigers; ii) to meet lots of awesome blogging kitties.

15- Are you into extremes?
i) extreme fight club; ii) extreme snoozing; iii) extreme chicken.

16- Favorite TV shows?
AFL matches, Arrested Development(wish it was still on air!), Australian Idol, Rage (all-night music video show on Friday and Saturday nights).

17- Are you a pesty lap cat?
Tried it once, but it's not my thing.

18- Inside or outside cat?
I'm 50-50 on this one. But at the moment, given the current cold snap, it's more like 90-10.

19- What makes you happy?
Sunshine and chicken.

20- Your most embarrassing moment?
Probably when I admitted to the blogosphere that the West Hobart Tigers don't actually know how to play footy... yet!

Anycat who wants to do this meme and hasn't... you're tagged!

Cheers,
--Pabs

Pablo by torchlight

This was me on Thursday night, June 21st.
The shortest day of the year (that is, the day with the shortest amount of daylight).
The day when Hobart had its lowest maximum temperature for two years (6C/43F).
At around 9pm on this, of all nights, we had a power blackout.
By then, the temperature was around 4C/39F.
I know that's not amazingly cold for some of you (like Jack and Persephone up in Canada), but it was pretty cold for me, and even colder for Nick and Kate, who don't have the benefit of my luxurious furs to keep them warm.

So, with no light and no heat, they rugged up and found torches and candles. I followed them around, because I wasn't sure what was going on. Then Kate asked Nick to take a photo of me by torchlight (that's it, above).

Then things got a bit experimental.

Nick found his little pen torch and he and Kate did some 'light painting' with timed exposure shots:

This one's a cat; you can kind of tell. I'm there to the right.

Here's Nick trying to do a 'P' for Pablo (I'm there on the right again).

Kate tried to draw some cat ears on her head...

... then Nick gave me two heads. (Don't worry, it's not real!)

Kate was thinking that she was going to have to give me a candle-lit meal, but then the power came back on. The 45-minute blackout was fun, but I was glad to be able to see my food and have the heat back on.

Injury update: I'm totally on the mend. The antibiotics have worked a treat and my would is healing beautifully. My furs are even growing back! Thanks for all your good wishes. Fighting might be tough, but it's not fun when you get hurt. I'll try to control myself in the future.

Cheers,
--Pabs

The horror...

Ok, so I've been fighting again.

This time, I copped a nasty bite just above my left eye. The bite wound was invisible under my furs, so Nick and Kate didn't know it was infected until my face puffed up a few days later (you can kind of see that in the first shot of me in the prison box, my left eye is all squished up).

So it was a rare trip to the v-e-t for me. Luckily, this is only a five-minute car ride down the hill to the city. I wouldn't let Kate take any pictures of me in the v-e-t surgery... some things are best left private. And it was very gross, anyway. All that needs to be said is that I came out with a heap of my face furs shaved off and some antibiotics that Kate has to give me every day for a while.

I'm ok now, it's probably worse than it looks. I just have to suffer the shame of having shaved furs on my face for a month or so. Does it make me look tough? Maybe I need to wear a t-shirt that says 'You should see the other cat...'. Daisy or Skeezix, do you have one of those?

Cheers,
--Pabs

Happy Christine Day!!

This is my friend Christine and her almost-husband, Mike. Mike is from Hobart, while Christine is from the US of A (has been living in Louisville, KY, for a few years now) . They met through their blogs, their friendship blossomed into love and, after meeting face-to-face late last year, they are getting married on June 29 in Hanover, Germany (where Christine's parents live).

But that's not why I'm writing about Christine.

I just read Mike's blog, and today is Christine's birthday. Mike has proclaimed today Christine Day, and has asked me how I'll be celebrating the occasion. Christine and Mike were my blogging inspirations, and Christine was nice enough to bring me some American kitty treats when she visited Tasmania over Christmas. So I'd really like to make her feel special today.

Here's where you come in...

It would be awesome if everycat who reads this could pop over to Christine's blog and leave her a Happy Birthday comment. Please say that Pablo sent you! Don't feel like you have to, but it would be great if you did.

Happy Christine Day!

Cheers,
--Pabs

Wednesday workshopping

I'm always trying to think of new ways to increase profits here at Pablo Enterprises. You know my post from the weekend about spending some 'me time' under the bed? Well, I workshopped a great idea. You know how people like chocolate? And cute, fluffy kittens? Well, I thought of a way to combine the two that doesn't involve cats getting boiled up and used as Turkish Delight filling or cats having to get melted chocolate all over their paws (Ew! Sticky!). Stay with me... please...

I present to you... the Giftcat*!

Giftcats* could work in one of two ways: 1) The Giftcat* could act as a delivery service, and not be part of the gift (more like a singing telegram, if you will); or 2) for those wanting to give a cat as part of the gift, the Giftcat* could be shrinkwrapped with the box of chocolates (I'm looking for some volunteers to pilot this part of the business plan, let me know if you're interested).

Giftcats* are sure to be a hit. If you want to get in on the ground floor, call my broker and arrange to buy some Pablo Enterprises shares before they go sky high.

So, next time you want to say something special to that someone special... say it with a Giftcat.*

[Need to work on my smile...]

Cheers,
--Pabs

*Patent pending

Farewell, Suzanne...

Much-loved cat blogger and Pablo Fan Club member Suzanne went to the Bridge today, Australian time. She was sixteen years old, and had kidney disease, the same illness that took Kate's cat Kobie to the bridge in 2000. Lots of love to Toni and the rest of Suzanne's family... we're thinking of you! And thanks to Daisy for making and sharing this beautiful tribute card. Goodbye, Suzanne... we'll miss you!

Cheers,
--Pabs

Sunday seclusion

You may not believe this, but sometimes it's hard to be Pablo. There's a lot of pressure, a lot of expectations. Sometimes, I just have to get away from it all. In those times, I head for my secluded spot under the bed. And that's where I' ve been for most of this weekend, just me and my thoughts, chilling out on the spare mattress...


It's not very glamorous, but it's my special chillout place. Hope you liked seeing it!

Cheers,
--Pabs

Dona nobis pacem...

'Life is very short
and there's no time
for fussing and fighting, my friend.'
from We can work it out (Lennon/McCartney)

Blog Blast for Peace: http://mimiwrites.blogspot.com

Cheers,
--Pabs

Cheers for the toys, Benny!

These toys could be the future of the West Hobart Tigers. My friend Benny gave them to me last year. It's a funny story, actually; he and his friends Matt and Pos wanted to play ping pong, but there was one small problem - no ping pong balls. So Matt called all the shops, but it was a Sunday evening, so no luck. Then he went out to get snacks. An hour and a half later he came back with snacks... and a pack of toys for cats, one of which happened to be a red ping pong ball! I scored the rest of the toys.

Anyway, most of you would know that Daisy has done a few posts this week about her cool collection of toys and all the things she does with them. Meanwhile, I've made the grand confession that the West Hobart Tigers (and every othercat in the SFFL) don't actually know how to play Australian Rules Football. So I got to thinking about these toys that Benny gave me, and how I could use them in some training skills and drills with the Tigers...

A preliminary sniff to start things off...


Experimenting with the 'L' formation...

Dodge the barbell, pick up the ball, tackle the mousie...

Things got a bit crazy towards the end there, but I think these toys will make awesome training equipment. Can't wait to share them with the other Tigers. Thanks, Benny!

Cheers,
--Pabs

My true confessions...

Well, Monica has tagged me for Marilyn MonREOW's True Confessions meme. Trouble is, I confessed most of my confession-worthy deeds in my seven facts meme, like my greasiness and the fact that I wasn't properly toilet-trained until I was two. But never fear, cats of the blogosphere, there's always more dirt in the Pablo Files...
So... my true confessions:
1) This is related to my pre-toilet-trained days, when I used to poo in corners... a lot. When I went to live with Kate, her housemate Rachel nicknamed me... Pablo Poopants. Part of the reason I shaped up with my toilet training was to live down that name.

2) When I was a youngcat, I disgraced myself by jumping up onto the lap of a dinner guest and proceeding to eat her delicious meal from her plate. You snooze, you lose, Jan!

3) Like most of you out there, I jump up on tables and benches when the housepeople aren't around. But I've also got a thoroughfare. Nick and Kate call it the 'kitchen bench', but I know better. It' s my thoroughfare between the loungeroom and the rest of the apartment. Who needs doorways when you've got a multi-level thoroughfare?

[Here's Nick cluttering up my thoroughfare by making jam. Photo taken from the loungeroom.]

4) Okay, this is a biggie. You know the West Hobart Tigers? The Australian Rules Footy team that I captain/coach in the Southern Feline Football league? Well... nocat in the SFFL actually knows how to play footy. We have teams and training sessions and we get together for matches, but we don't know how to play. We're working on it though, and that's the main thing! I'm actually trying to get star Australian Football League player Matthew Richardson (a Tassie-born footballer who plays for the Richmond Tigers) to come down and do a training clinic with us.

5) I have a pinup of a Balinese hottie from Cat Fancy magazine on the fridge next to my food bowl!
Don't worry, I only buy it for the articles! You can also see my picture of Amos and Heidi, my favourite Garfield comic (Panel 1, Jon:'Who knows? Maybe there are beings on other planets?' Panel 2, Garfield: 'Yeah...' Panel 3, Garfield: 'Chickens would be nice...'), and above that is a picture of Axel rolling around on the floor of his Nonna and Nonno's house.

So that's my true confessions! I tag Phoebe, because I don't think she's done hers yet, and I tag Axel too, for a very specific confession... I wanna hear about his breakout at Melbourne Airport!

Cheers,
--Pabs

My 50th post: Dedicated to Heidi

It's my 50th post! I've been blogging since August last year, so it's taken me a while to get here. I love blogging; I'm so glad I started. I've made so many friends from around the world and you've all had the chance to get to know me a bit... it's great! Thanks, everycat, for your comments and encouragement.

Anyway, I'm dedicating this post to Heidi, one of the two young ladies who adopted me as a kitten and lived with me until I was 2 (when I went to live with Kate). Heidi got married last month in Seattle, Wa, to a fine young man called Amos:
Isn't she pretty? She's been living in Indonesia teaching English for a few years, so it's been ages since I've seen her. I couldn't get to her wedding, but I sent her a great gift. It was a picture of me, the most sultry and manly mancat picture I could find, which I got Kate to have made into a jigsaw puzzle. We broke it up into its pieces and put the pieces in a pretty little bag. Here's the picture we used:

Heidi was nice enough to send me a thankyou card, a wedding picture and a newsletter. Here I am checking them out:
Amos is a Christian missionary pilot on the island of Yap in Micronesia. Heidi and Amos will be going back to Yap as soon as Amos has finished racking up some flying hours stateside. Who knows when I'll get to meet him? I'm glad I don't have to live on Yap with Heidi because:
1) It would take a million plane rides to get there, and as I've said previously, cats were never meant to fly.
2) Yap sounds like an island where lots of noisy little dogs live. I hate noisy little dogs.
3) Heidi used to mix rice with my cat food. Ew! I hate rice.
4) Heidi used to dance around with me while singing ABBA songs. I hate ABBA. (Many people blame my current neuroses on these ABBA experiences in my formative years.)

Anyway, congratulations Heidi and Amos! Come and visit me sometime... but don't expect me to visit you.

Cheers,
--Pabs

A meme: Seven things about me

Hi everycat!

My good friend Phoebe (co-chairfeline of the Pablo Fan Club) has tagged me for a meme. So here it is: seven things about me.

1. Ok. Let's get a few awkward ones out of the way first. Fact Number One: I have two litter trays. See?
(Don't worry- they're clean!) There's an explanation here. Whe Kate first got me, I wasn't totally down with the whole toilet training thing, even though I was two years old. Kate noticed that I didn't like to use the tray when I'd already... um... been in it. So she gave me two, so I'd always have a clean one! I don't mind so much these days; in fact, I mostly go outside these days. The trays are just for nighttime and rainy days. P.S. Kate's thinking of trying me on the crystal stuff... do any of you use it? What's it like?


2. We all like to rub our scent on things, right? I know I do:

Well... I'm pretty greasy. Nick and Kate regularly have to clean the grease from my favourite rubbing spots in the kitchen (and on the legs of the ironing board).
See the greasy black mark? Even I admit that it's gross. But a mancat needs to mark his territory!


3. I don't do laps (sitting, sleeping in people's laps). Ever. Fact Number Four kind of explains why.


4. By my rough calculations, I've lived with 15 people over my seven years in the world. (For the first 2 years of my life, I was a sharehouse cat. Since then, I've lived exclusively with Nick and Kate.) I had to deal with too too many people when I was a youngcat... I think this is why I don't like people so much. Even now.


5. But recently, I've decided to let Uncle Simon pick me up without going nuts at him! Here's Uncle Simon. He's Nick's big brother:

Letting Uncle Simon pick me up is a Big Deal. It's his reward for feeding me when Nick and Kate go away. He understands my needs.


6. I have a post-food 'soul cry'. After I've eaten, I do a couple of really long, deep, mournful meows. There's two main reasons for this: 1- it's an existential cry. Kind of like, 'I eat, therefore I am a cat'. 2- I'm mourning the fact that I've just eaten, and the point just after eating marks the longest point before I eat again.

7. This is a big confession... I have a 'brother'. His name is Ben. That's not the confession part. This is the confession part:
Yep, he's a dog. He's Kate's dog. He lives with her parents, 300kms from here. Frankly, that's not far away enough. I've never met him; I've only smelt him on Kate's stuff after she's been to visit him. Let's hope it stays that way!

So there you go. Seven very candid facts about me. Now I have to tag other cats to do the meme. I tag Beto, Axel, Jack and Persephone and... any othercat who hasn't been tagged!

Cheers,
--Pabs

While the Kate's away...

I am not allowed on the table.

It's one of the Cardinal Rules.

But when Kate flies off to Melbourne for a week, such rules go out the window. Tables are great. I love being up on higher levels. You get a different perspective on life. Speaking of different perspectives (how's that for a segue?), Kate sent me back this picture she took in Chinatown in the Melbourne CBD:

They're Chinese lucky cats, said to bring prosperity to businesses who display them in their window. I'll have to ask my Chinese friend Shelley what the characters say.

Anyway, Kate's back home now, having attended her 'important conference', seen her football team get thrashed (that's what we call it when one team beats another by a big margin) by Nick's football team and dressed up as Madonna at Aunty Tracey's karaoke birthday party. She didn't get to go and see Axel though, which sucks.

So I'll be back on the blogosphere as normal now. But I don't think I'll try my luck on the table anymore. I might get squirted with the water spray!

Cheers,
--Pabs