Dona nobis pacem: 4 June 2008

As you can see by the date in the bottom left corner of the image, this is my second year doing the blogblast for peace... why not join in?

Peace be with everycat!
Cheers,
--Pabs

'scuse me?

Seven years and older is senior? Does this mean it's time for me to apply for a pension card? I thought eight years of age was the prime of my life!

Cheers,
--Pabs

PS Can somecat please teach me how to play lawn bowls?

True story Thursday

The following conversation took place last night between Kate, Kate's friend Nikki and Nikki's three-year-old son Xavier, while Nikki was reading Xavier one of the Spot the Dog books...

Xavier: Where's Suzie? [Suzie is Spot's baby sister, who appears in some books]
Nikki: I don't know, she's not in this one, maybe this story happened before Suzie was born. Do you remember when it used to just be you and me and Papa before Esther was born? [Esther is Xavier's baby sister]
Xavier: Yes.
Kate: Do you remember when Esther was in your mummy's tummy?
Xavier: Yes... [pause] ...and Pablo was in your tummy.

What the... ?

Cheers,
--Pabs

Farewell, Bonnie

[Thanks to Zoolatry for the lovely Bonnie graphic]

The lovely Bonnie Underfoot went to the Bridge last Thursday. On behalf of the Pablo Fan Club (of which she was a loyal member), I'd like to send my bestest purrs to Victor his family at this very sad time. We'll miss you, Bonnie! Please visit Bonnie and Victor's blog to send your condolences and read Victor's touching account of Bonnie's last hours with her loving family... but take tissues!!

Cheers,
--Pabs

(Portrait of a) Tabby Tuesday

A few weeks ago, Nick and Kate's seven-year-old niece came around for a visit with her family. While she was at our place, she chose to render my likeness in felt pens (you Americats call them magic markers?). I was extremely flattered.


She also wrote a series of questions for Kate to answer about me. You'll have to biggify this to be able to read it.


Cool, huh?

Cheers,
--Pabs

A little late, but here's my six-word memoir

Quite a while ago, Zoey from Zoolatry tagged me for the six-word memoir meme. Here are the rules:
1. Write your own six-word memoir.
2. Post on your blog, and add a picture if you'd like.
3. Link to the one who sent it to you.
4. Tag at least five more blogs.
5. Let the tagged blogs know by leaving a comment.
6. Write your memoir - have fun!

Now that all the excitement of the premiere of CCSI III is over (by the way, a big fat conCATulations to the team who put the show together... I've never worked with a more professional group of animals in my life), I've finally had time to consider the six words that best describe me and my life and times:

'Eat as many chickens as possible!'

[Oh Kate, that photo is SO unflattering!]

I know it's kind of a cheaters' way to tag cats, but this one has been doing the rounds for a while, so anycat who wants to give this a go and hasn't been tagged yet, you're it!

Cheers,
--Pabs

It's almost showtime!

Hey everycat, don't forget that this weekend is the premiere of the new CCSI drama CCSI III: The Missing Mummy Caper. You can check it out at Sassy's blog: http://littlesassycat.blogspot.com Being famous sure has its perks... check out the gifts I received from the CCSI III executives for my involvement in the project:

Do you think this means that I won't be getting paid? Might hafta talk to my union about that one...

Break a leg, everycat!

Cheers,
--Pabs

I'm a celebrity! Yay!

Seeing as I'm about to become an uber-famous celebrity (I'm in the cast of the new CCSI production CCSI III: Missing Mummy Caper), I thought that I'd better take the Catster 'Which celebrity is your pet?' test. This was my result:
Keeping a straight face around Pablo is a cheek muscle-wrenching nightmare. Try as you may, but giggling is inevitable because Pablo is comedian Will Ferrell! For a while Pablo was just funny on Saturday nights, but that's all changed now that he's taken his act on the road. Whether he's being silly in real life or on the silver screen, Pablo has a true knack for making people crack up. Pablo has even managed to make the crossover to the cyberwebs, where he delivers raw, fresh, uncooked humor to his countless cyberpet fans. A fast runner, Pablo runs marathons when he's not dreaming up his next slapstick routine. Widely talented and able to impetsonate any number of two and four-legged critters, Pablo's fans will be lapping it up for a long time to come.

Hmm. We love Will Ferrell in this house, but even I don't think I'm good-natured enough to be likened to such a great guy. I think I'm a more unapproachable type... like Marlon Brando. Anyway, I made Kate take these glamour portraits of me at the weekend just in case Vanity Fair contact me at short notice and Annie Leibovitz is on assignment:



Ooh. Brooding. Sultry. Yet oddly captivating.

Here's to fame and fortune!

Cheers,
--Pabs

Hey Trip! It's us!

Check out this card I got last week:
I don't remember modelling for this one... is it you, Trip? The card was from our former neighbour Rachel, who sent it to me because she misses me so much. Can you blame her? It's over 6 months since she saw me last. Hey Kate, can we have Rachel over for dinner sometime soon? She needs a dose of this:

Cheers,
--Pabs

Easy like Sunday

Just because they get out of bed, that doesn't mean that I have to!

Have a sleepy Sunday, everycat!

Cheers,
--Pabs

Twenty-year-old tabby Tuesday

Heeeeeeere's Lucy:
If you're a regular to my blog, you will have met Lucy before. She's the cat of one of Kate's work colleagues (Aunty Sue, who comes and feeds me sometimes) ... she even visits them at work sometimes! (I would not like that, because I hate new places. But Lucy is very happy to go visiting. And she's always ready for formal occasions, with her lovely black eyeliner.)

Lucy is the Feline Matriarch of West Hobart... she's 20 years old! In human years! She's a feline Jane Fonda... still a smokin' hottie even though she's in her senior years!

Cheers,
--Pabs

Wordless Wednesday... Mwah-hah-hah-hah-haa!!

Cheers,
--Pabs

The book meme

Earlier this week, the 'grate' Jeter Harris tagged me for the book meme. Here are the rules:

1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open the bok to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag some people (or cats) and post a comment to Empress once you've posted the meme.

Now, before I post the info, I have to warn you that Kate usually helps me with my blogging from her work computer. The books near her computer are pretty bo-ring! (But can you see the photo of me that she keeps on the bottom right corner of her monitor? Nice!)

See? Her nearest book was the Style manual for authors, editors and printers (John Wiley and Sons, 2002). Here is the fifth sentence on p.123, and the following three sentences:

In contrast, when the name of the organisation or body is abbreviated but retains some specific elements, keep the capitals:
the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs ... a matter for Immigration ... the department
the Reserve Bank of Australia ... the Reserve Bank ... the bank
the National Press Club ... the Press Club ... the club

I kinda cheated, because there's an argument for saying that they are all part of the first sentence, but I think I've done everyone a favour by counting the three examples as sentences in their own right.

Like I said, bo-ring!!

This meme has been doing the rounds for a while, so consider this an open tag to anycat who hasn't done it yet and wants to give it a go (warning: make sure that your bean has an interesting book near the computer before you commit to this meme!).

Cheers,
--Pabs

My new toy...

Many of you have asked me if Nick and Kate bought me back any cool toys from Melbourne (seeing as they didn't let me go with them and watch the football). Well...

Hel-lo, new toy!

Mmmm... smells like 'nip... (The label says it's a 'bouncing furry octopus', but it just looks like a regular mousie to me.)

Can you see my new mousie hanging in the doorway, ready to play?

I think the instructions say that I'm supposed to do what that cat is doing...

... but maybe later, huh, Kate? This is one of those toys that a cat has to be in the mood for.

Cheers,
--Pabs
(PS Great news about Miral and Momo... both seem to be on the mend! Yay!!)

Best of times, worst of times

Best of times: me old mucker Faz gave me the totally hip blogger award!
And if Faz thinks I'm hip, it must be true! Thanks, Faz. This award was invented by Charlie, who said that the award must be passed on "to three hip bloggers to perpetuate the spirit of hip-ness, for which, if you need any help, you can refer to Zaphod Beeblebrox, who said, "I'm so hip, I can't see over my own pelvis!"

Well, this is tough, because most of my blogging buddies are totally hip. But if I had to name three, it would be Mr Hendrix (James Marshall Hendrix invented hip!) Mick (he oozes hipness out of his paws... get it?) and Tripper (there's no bigger hipster than the Tripster!).

Worst of times: My good friend (and fellow Aussiecat) Momo is sick! She went missing on Tuesday and when she was found on Wednesday, she was sick! The V-E-T says that she has toxins in her system. But it sounds like she's in good hands. Please get well soon, Momo!!


Also, I don't know her so well, but my fellow kitty blogger Miral (Ruis's sister) from Holland is very sick. Like everyone else, I'm sending Miral (and her family) lots of deep, rumbly Pablo purrs too.
Like I said, the best of times and the worst of times. I'd trade all the awards in the blogosphere for healthy, happy friends! I'm sure we all would.

Cheers,
--Pabs

I'm back, and so are they

Hi everycat,

Sorry I haven't been blogging for a while, Nick and Kate have been on holiday in Melbourne, and even though Uncle Simon looked after me very, very well, his Pablo-sitting duties do not extend to helping me blog (shame... might have to work on that for next time).

While in Melbourne, Nick and Kate went to the first game of the Australian Football League season: the Richmond Tigers (my team) versus the Carlton Blues (Kate's team). Both of our teams had a bad year last year (we finished last and second last respectively), and both were determined to make 2008 a better year. Unfortunately for Kate, Richmond ended up winning by 30 points, led by my hero, Matthew 'Richo' Richardson, who kicked 5 goals (=30 points). Here are some shots of the game:
A view of the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) from Kate's seat behind the goals at the city end of the ground. Over 72,000 fans were at the game.

No. 12 in the yellow and black is Richo, my footballing hero. He's Tasmanian, you know! Here, he is playing in the full forward position, in front of the goals. He's waiting for his team mates to kick the ball to him, so he can turn around and kick a goal. No. 40 for Carlton is rookie defender Michael Jamison.
That's Richo again, this time from the front. This season, I hope I can get him down to Hobart to do a training session with the West Hobart Tigers, my team in the Southern Feline Football League.

Oh, and Kate wants me to say that it's this guy's 13th birthday today. Happy birthday, Ben (Kate's dog, who lives up at her parents' place, 300km from here. Not one kilometre too far, as far as I'm concerned).

Cheers,
--Pabs

¡Welcome Wednesday!

Hey everycat, say a big ¡Hola! to my new friend:

He's a gato from Mexico. My friend (and former housemate) Rachel brought him back from Mexico to give to me. I named him Javier, cause he's a little bit scary, like Javier Bardem in No country for old men ('What's the most you ever lost on a coin toss?'). I think he looks a little like he's dressed up for el dia de los muertos. Javier Gato, that is, not Javier Bardem.

Anyway, ¡bienvenidos, Javier! Please don't kill me in my sleep. Mi casa es su casa, mate.

Cheers,
--Pabs

PS A BIG thanks to Mom Robyn (mum of the Hot(M)BC)for bringing sexy back to my blog in the form of my virtual squillion Justin Timberlake!

For the last time, Kate, I don't HAVE FLEAS!!!!!

Just because a guy scratches a few times, and just because it's summertime does not mean that a guy has fleas!!!

I hate having the flea medication stuff squirted on my furs. It's cold and wet. And it tastes awful. Worst of all, it makes the furs between my 'shoulder blades' stick out for a day or so. Not a good look:
I noticed something funny about the cats who are posing on the flea meds box: they're all posed like the 90210 actors or the Friends actors used to pose in all their promo shots... all draped over each other and stuff. See what I mean?
They'd have to pay me a whole lotta money (or chicken-in-kind) to endorse flea meds! Still, I guess it's better than scratching all the time.

Cheers,
--Pabs

Hey! It's my first official Gotcha Day!!!

Last week, my fellow Aussiecat MoMo mentioned that she didn't know what a Gotcha Day was before she joined the Cat Blogosphere and that she didn't know when hers was, either. Well, same for me on both counts! So I had a talk with Kate, and she decided that even though she didn't know the date of my Gotcha Day, she knew that it was on the Monday or Tuesday of O-Week (Orientation Week) at the University of Tasmania in 2002, so my Gotcha Day could be on 1) either the Monday or Tuesday of O-Week at UTAS this year (which is today or tomorrow), or 2) on George Harrison's birthday, which she knew was sometime around now. And guess what? She found out that it's George Harrison's birthday TODAY, so guess what? TODAY IS MY FIRST OFFICIAL GOTCHA DAY!!!

I've been celebrating in style...

... a little laser-eye stringplay...

... a tin of Woolworths' finest (Chicken, of course)...

... and, to acknowledge Georgie Boy's birthday, a singalong to what is arguably the second-best post-Beatles album by any of the Fab Four.

Wow. I remember that day, six years ago, when Kate came and scooped me up from my comfy spot on Heidi's porch, put me in a PTU and took me to a strange house that I'd never been to before. I was so scared that I peed in the PTU and, when we got to Kate's place, I hid inside the wooden frame of her old couch for, like, a week. But things have looked up since then. It's been the best six years of my eight-or-so years of life. Here's hoping for many more!

Cheers,
--Pabs

PS: Kudos, kudos, kudos to Jessica Alba for knowing the Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! Oi! Oi! Oi! chant when she was interviewed by the Australian journalist on the Red Carpet at the Oscars. Nice!

Some arty night portraits...

Last night (around 9.30pm or something, before my curfew anyway), I was hanging around in the backyard and Kate came outside with the flashy box... but she didn't use the flash! She finally found out how to lengthen the exposure time, and so we did some arty night shots of me. Some of them came out a little blurry, but here are the best (and craziest) ones:




I had to keep very still for these shots to work, which is very hard for me. It was fun, although I don't know how you do it all the time, Daisy. Modelling is hard work! I didn't get any Temptations afterwards, but I did get an extra-large helping of stinky goodness. Was that a fair deal?

Happy Friday, everycat!
Cheers,
--Pabs

In my dreams

Listen up, everycat!

My mate Yoggie tagged me for the Dreams Meme. Here are the rules:
1. Post who tagged you and link back to them and then to http://www.petspics.blogspot.com/
2. Then answer this question: What three things would you do that you have never done before, if you knew you wouldn't get caught, get in trouble or suffer any consequences?
3. Then tag 3 other kitties, beans, woofies, or any other assorted animal.

This is a little tough, because there are plenty of things I'd like to do and get away with, but I've done most of them before (e.g. sleep on the bed in the guest room, stay outside at night). The meme says that they have to be things that I have never done before... hmmm...

1. OK. I would like to be able to stay outside EVERY NIGHT and host my own kitty Fight Club. I'd like to be able to fight and bite and rassle with other cats and NOT come home with injuries, or give othercats injuries.

2. I'd love to spray on the furniture; who wouldn't?

3. I'd sabotage the vacuum cleaner so that it stopped working forever, and I'd put a magical force-field around the house so that every new vacuum cleaner that came in here broke as it crossed the threshold. This way, my Sunday afternoon naps WOULD NEVER BE INTERRUPTED BY STUPID VACUUM CLEANERS EVER AGAIN!

I did it! That was fun. Especially that last one. Very cathartic. Now I have to tag three othercats. I tag Mick, Gypsy and Tasha.

Cheers,
--Pabs
[PS: I have no idea why Blogger published this post twice... Kate must have stuffed up. Anyway, I've deleted the post with the fewest comments... sorry to the three kitties who commented there!!!]

Spot the Pablo

I'm so, like, totally invisible right now! This is how I like to spend my sunny summer Sunday afternoons.

Cheers,
--Pabs

28 years of Nick...

You kick me off the bed when I curl up on your side;
You kick me off your trousers when I curl up on them
after you've folded them neatly on the dresser for reuse the next day.
You swear when my furs get on your clothes
and make your eyes water and itch.
You spray me with water when I sing you songs in the middle of the night;
You prefer not to feed me because 'it encourages me'.

But deep down, I know that you love me
because you let me come and live with you in the first place;
and sometimes you play Stringplay with me
and Attack of the Blue Feather
and you change the lyrics to popular songs
so that they are about me
and because we are Kate's boys.

Happy 28th birthday, Nick!

Cheers,
--Pabs
[EDITORIAL NOTE: Nick made the point that he doesn't swear when my furs stick on his clothes, he said that he 'might say (with an upward, pleading inflection) "man", or even "sigh" '. I don't think he's ever heard of poetic license. Mick and Marilyn, I think you might need to teach him a thing or two!]

Superbowl Sunday

Now that's a SUPER bowl!!

Happy Superbowl Sunday, everycat! I'll always be a Viking at heart, but today... go Patriots!!

Update: AARGH!! They lost 14-17. The only game the Pats have lost all year. Man, that must suck. But congratulations, NY Giants and Giants fans! Only a month or so until Aussie Rules Football kicks off for season '08...

Cheers,
--Pabs

Tabby Tuesday: My stripes

(with apologies to the Black Eyed Peas)

"What'cha gonna do with all those stripes?
All those stripes that are on your furs?"

"I'm a-make make make make you purr, make you purr, make you purr!"

Cheers,
--Pabs

Two GREAT reasons to celebrate

Great reason to celebrate number one:
26 January is always a day for celebration in Australia, because it's Australia Day, which marks the anniversary of cats coming to Australia. 220 years ago today, the first kitty set a paw on this wide brown land. And I'm glad they did, because I couldn't think of a better place to live (although I'm sorry that the Europeans who brought the cats to Australia didn't ask the traditonal owners of this land if it was ok for them to live here too. That's just Bad Manners).
So in honour of the 220th anniversary of cats coming to Australia, I'm gonna teach you all an Aussie chant. If any of you watch sports like cricket, tennis or swimming, you will have heard this call-and-response chant before from Australian fans in the crowd. It needs a Chant Leader (me, in this case) and then a Crowd (that's you, everycat). So, it goes like this:

Pablo: Aussie! Aussie Aussie! Everycat: Oi! Oi! Oi!

Pablo: Aussie! Aussie Aussie! Everycat: Oi! Oi! Oi!

Pablo: Aussie! Everycat: Oi!

Pablo: Aussie! Everycat: Oi!

Pablo: Aussie! Aussie Aussie! Everycat: Oi! Oi! Oi!

Awesome! Now you're all honorary Australians.


Great reason to celebrate number two:

It's Lucy's birthday!!

Lucy the cat lives with a friend of mine named Sue, who comes to feed me sometimes when Nick and Kate are away. Guess how old Lucy is today?

20!!!

Seriously. Twenty years old. She's amazing. Still active, still snuggly. And she even got special birthday mail from her friends:

And her mum gave her a special party this afternoon with tea and scones! (I hope there was chicken, too!) Please join with me in wishing this lovely Aussiecat a great birthday, and many, many more!

Cheers,

--Pabs