But were too cheap to shell out?
Hooray for Spotify, where all your free listening desires can come true, and thanks to a nice advertising funded model in which only one short advert crops up every twenty minutes and no bell-end DJ wastes your time with shocking "humour", is considerably more interesting and fun than the radio.
Plus if you really liked that song that just came on, then listen to it again! Great!
It's not portable yet (apparently you lucky iPhone users will get it as an app soon) but I'm going to be connecting my laptop to the hi fi in the kitchen and indulging majorly in some outrageous Prog action this afternoon while washing up - for free!
This is awesome.
TRANS, however, is not. Not by a long shot.
A
Monday, 30 March 2009
Monday, 16 March 2009
Today's dose of lovely kittens and 'ting
In cat related news, unfortunately it turns out Odie (older daughter) is pregnant, or at least we are pretty sure, which necessitates a trib to be spayed and have her kittens aborted.
So, to cheer me and my readers up let's focus on the cute kittens who we're looking after.
AH! How cute is this photo?
From left to right it's The Bandit, Bootsy and Smokes. While smokes doesn't look it, he's significantly bigger than the others, and Bandit is still the tiniest (he's here in forced perspective). As you can also see, all of them have their eyes open, and their sight and hearing should develop over the next two weeks to the point of normality.
There you go! Now I have to clear out the catbox - great.
A
So, to cheer me and my readers up let's focus on the cute kittens who we're looking after.
AH! How cute is this photo?
From left to right it's The Bandit, Bootsy and Smokes. While smokes doesn't look it, he's significantly bigger than the others, and Bandit is still the tiniest (he's here in forced perspective). As you can also see, all of them have their eyes open, and their sight and hearing should develop over the next two weeks to the point of normality.
There you go! Now I have to clear out the catbox - great.
A
Wednesday, 11 March 2009
And now your new hero... Algo the Armed Trigger!
Thanks to my old mate scribsy for the link - and to apologise for the lack of pictures of kittens due to a strange vanishing camera (some already exist, I just can't find the camera...) here is the loverly result of a full two minutes work - in the national flag colours of Algolia, no less!
Every day I know less than the one before, about cats that is
I don't really want to get this turned into a dedicated cat raising blog, since I know nothing about raising cats it would just be an atrocious waste of yours and my time.
I do believe in introducing readers to the delights of taking in the needy young critters - I've already posted about the fostering sysem that Mrs Algo and Ihave entered into - and today as promised I want to describe the little kittens As of today they have hit a full week of age (ahh) and at least one of them has two open eyes.
N.B. You may recall I'm not posting much about the older ones since I don't like the idea of their previous owners seeing me slag them off (the owners, not the cats!). Certainly there'll be no photos of them really.
The three kittens are boys (I was told - I have no frame of reference with cat "parts" myself, but here they are:
Bootsy:
A very noisy little guy - and very wriggly too (maybe he's got the funk already?) he differssignificantly in colour from his brothers and his mum so I'm guessng he takes after Dad. Unlike the others his eyes haven't opened at all as of today.
Smokes:
Dopey obvious name time - look, you have to call em something for reference right? The first to get an eye open (but beaten to the finish line by Tiny Bandit) and by far the largest of the guys so far. More docile than Bootsy, still cute as... er... a kitten. Must work on comparative cuteness measurements!
The Bandit (AKA Tiny, AKA Dave P)
Only one person calls Bandit "Dave P". It's Dave P. Bless. We were a little concerned about the little guy since he's so small at the moment, but both eyes are open (when he's not yawning) and he's looking around happily.
They vanished the other day.
Serious.
I took a lie down (having got up at 6:30 with Mrs Algo to feed them, and went back after a half hour to find the basket empty and no sign of them. Needless to say Ihad a coronary on the spot. Once nhey'd replaced my heart with a nuclear reactor (must have accessory) I looked for them and eventually found them under the sofa. Only Tiny had wandered off beyond reach, so a massive furniture moving session reminiscenti of the old traffic jam game (remember that?) got underwa, probably traumatising the poor mites for life as the sky literally moved away!
The mum had obviously picked them up and moved them as, I'm told they do when they want to avoid leaving a trail for predators - presumably I'm still in the "enemy" camp.
Anyhow, a swift change of bedding and things have settled a bit (yay for Mrs Algo's experience!)
Revel in their glorious cuteness, my friends!
A
P.S. Definitely losing my mind - I was all excited at the delievery of my new steam cleaner. I am mortified at my house husbandly mind - have spent today working over at BoardGameGuru to try and feel more executive-esque.
I do believe in introducing readers to the delights of taking in the needy young critters - I've already posted about the fostering sysem that Mrs Algo and Ihave entered into - and today as promised I want to describe the little kittens As of today they have hit a full week of age (ahh) and at least one of them has two open eyes.
N.B. You may recall I'm not posting much about the older ones since I don't like the idea of their previous owners seeing me slag them off (the owners, not the cats!). Certainly there'll be no photos of them really.
The three kittens are boys (I was told - I have no frame of reference with cat "parts" myself, but here they are:
Bootsy:
A very noisy little guy - and very wriggly too (maybe he's got the funk already?) he differssignificantly in colour from his brothers and his mum so I'm guessng he takes after Dad. Unlike the others his eyes haven't opened at all as of today.
Smokes:
Dopey obvious name time - look, you have to call em something for reference right? The first to get an eye open (but beaten to the finish line by Tiny Bandit) and by far the largest of the guys so far. More docile than Bootsy, still cute as... er... a kitten. Must work on comparative cuteness measurements!
The Bandit (AKA Tiny, AKA Dave P)
Only one person calls Bandit "Dave P". It's Dave P. Bless. We were a little concerned about the little guy since he's so small at the moment, but both eyes are open (when he's not yawning) and he's looking around happily.
They vanished the other day.
Serious.
I took a lie down (having got up at 6:30 with Mrs Algo to feed them, and went back after a half hour to find the basket empty and no sign of them. Needless to say Ihad a coronary on the spot. Once nhey'd replaced my heart with a nuclear reactor (must have accessory) I looked for them and eventually found them under the sofa. Only Tiny had wandered off beyond reach, so a massive furniture moving session reminiscenti of the old traffic jam game (remember that?) got underwa, probably traumatising the poor mites for life as the sky literally moved away!
The mum had obviously picked them up and moved them as, I'm told they do when they want to avoid leaving a trail for predators - presumably I'm still in the "enemy" camp.
Anyhow, a swift change of bedding and things have settled a bit (yay for Mrs Algo's experience!)
Revel in their glorious cuteness, my friends!
A
P.S. Definitely losing my mind - I was all excited at the delievery of my new steam cleaner. I am mortified at my house husbandly mind - have spent today working over at BoardGameGuru to try and feel more executive-esque.
Friday, 6 March 2009
An angry cat post, that's not for scratching
You may be wondering where I've been all week and why the movies have dried up and here's your answer; cats. We've also been concentrating more on Deadwood and The Wire than films, but I'm hoping to see Watchmen this weekend...
OK, I'm not famous for my tolerant nature - many things get me angry, but get this little tale - it's especially galling.
Imagine you're a lovely black cat, whose owners couldn't face paying to get you spayed.
When your owners have a baby, one of them (presumably Mum) develops an allergy and the lovely people kick you and your daughter (who's about 6 months old) into the back garden.
Thing is - remember your owners couldn't be arsed to get you spayed? Well guess what happens to an unspayed cat who is left outside for weeks? Yup - you get pregnant. Let's not judge - you're not a person, and its pretty much hardwired into you to get pregnant if you can.
Your owners do anything about it?
How about no?
How about they leave you to give birth in an old rotten Rabbit hutch? Yeah, that'll work.
And then why don't they call the local cat trust up and give them an ultimatum - If they don't come pick you up, they'll leave you in the cold to die. Nice owners you had there.
Wankers.
Things look grim for cats who are unwanted in the U.K. - twat owners like these ones refuse to get the poor things spayed or neutered and this leads to a whole lot of unwanted kittens and cats and there just anren't enough willing homes to take them in - certainly not a mum, young daughter and three newborn kittens at once. There isa great fallacy around spaying apparently and thats that a cat is healthier if they've already had a litter before spaying.
Let me make this clear, everyone in the cat arena has told me the same thing:
THERE IS NO BENEFIT LETTING YOUR CAT HAVE A LITTER BEFORE SPAYING. IN FACT YOU DO MORE HARM BRINGING UNWANTED, UNHOMED KITTENS INTO THE WORLD.
THE BELIEF IN ANY SUCH BENEFIT IS, LIKE SO MANY OTHERS, TOTAL BOLLOCKS.
For families like this one, there's a very stretched to the limit system of fostering in place - families or couples (or individuals) prepared to take in a mum and kittens in this situation and give their time and love to socialise and develop these guys. This is so they will hopefully grow into viable pets having the best possible chance of rehoming. Time and love are all you need - the trust provide food, litter and moral supportr and boy do I need moral support sometimes!
Make no mistake - there are two outcomes available to many unwanted cats - rehoming or death. It is impossible for any trust to look after all the cats that need looking after - many are feral or traumatised in the first place and don't adapt well to being looked after.
To get to the point, Mrs Algo and I have taken in the unwanted family described above.
The mum is about two years old and already has has one litter about 6 months agao (and yet wasn't neutered afterwards by her dumb f__ing owners) - the older daughter, who we've renamed since the given name was retarded, is the only one from the earlier litter still present and these two are fairly inseparable.
(Quick aside: I won't be giving the older twos' names on this blog to protect us from the owners beating me up - for calling them wankers. They are still wankers, though.)
Mumsy arrived tired but open to contact, and we've been happy with how she's settling. the older daughter is not so well socialised (partly due to the young age of her mother) and is having trouble overcoming her wariness - don't blame her, given her prior human contact.
However, today we've had the breakthrough we wanted with Odie (as in O.D. - older daughter) - she's been out of the pen (which was provided for us like everything else) and fussed a bit. With mum, treats got her out, but things were more difficult with Odie; she sniffs and lick treats but won't eat them not sure why but maybe she doesn't like fish flavoured ones - we'll get her in the end. Odie spent the last two hours of this evening hiding under our cheapass sofa but at least she's got out and about a little.
I guess I should say, if you think there may be room in your heart to help out a local trust and look after some cats please, please, please give it real thought (i.e. don't think you'll be ok then backpedal) and if you reckon you can help call them up and see what you can do.
These people do a wonderful job with very little support and staggering odds stacked against them. Any help you could give would be wonderful.
As for what happens later? After 6 to 8 weeks these cats will be rehomed - we may keep two of the kittens as our own (let's face it, we probably will) but the others need rehoming - you won't be forced to keep all 5-8 of them forever. The key thing to do is talk to the trust and see what they advise.
Oh - did I mention I knew nothing about cats until I got attached to the cat that nearly was a few weeks ago? Needless to say I am learning on the fly.
Since I won't post pictures of the old'uns for security purposes, tomorrow or sometime soon I'll probably introduce you to the kittens we've called (for now) Bootsy, Smokey and The Bandit.
Yes. The Bandit. Really.
We won't be keeping that name. But you have to call them something for reference! The Bandit is the runt, so gets called Tiny, sometimes.
Only Bootsy's name is probably permanent (for the real Bootsy go here).
A (going soft in my old age)
OK, I'm not famous for my tolerant nature - many things get me angry, but get this little tale - it's especially galling.
Imagine you're a lovely black cat, whose owners couldn't face paying to get you spayed.
When your owners have a baby, one of them (presumably Mum) develops an allergy and the lovely people kick you and your daughter (who's about 6 months old) into the back garden.
Thing is - remember your owners couldn't be arsed to get you spayed? Well guess what happens to an unspayed cat who is left outside for weeks? Yup - you get pregnant. Let's not judge - you're not a person, and its pretty much hardwired into you to get pregnant if you can.
Your owners do anything about it?
How about no?
How about they leave you to give birth in an old rotten Rabbit hutch? Yeah, that'll work.
And then why don't they call the local cat trust up and give them an ultimatum - If they don't come pick you up, they'll leave you in the cold to die. Nice owners you had there.
Wankers.
Things look grim for cats who are unwanted in the U.K. - twat owners like these ones refuse to get the poor things spayed or neutered and this leads to a whole lot of unwanted kittens and cats and there just anren't enough willing homes to take them in - certainly not a mum, young daughter and three newborn kittens at once. There isa great fallacy around spaying apparently and thats that a cat is healthier if they've already had a litter before spaying.
Let me make this clear, everyone in the cat arena has told me the same thing:
THERE IS NO BENEFIT LETTING YOUR CAT HAVE A LITTER BEFORE SPAYING. IN FACT YOU DO MORE HARM BRINGING UNWANTED, UNHOMED KITTENS INTO THE WORLD.
THE BELIEF IN ANY SUCH BENEFIT IS, LIKE SO MANY OTHERS, TOTAL BOLLOCKS.
For families like this one, there's a very stretched to the limit system of fostering in place - families or couples (or individuals) prepared to take in a mum and kittens in this situation and give their time and love to socialise and develop these guys. This is so they will hopefully grow into viable pets having the best possible chance of rehoming. Time and love are all you need - the trust provide food, litter and moral supportr and boy do I need moral support sometimes!
Make no mistake - there are two outcomes available to many unwanted cats - rehoming or death. It is impossible for any trust to look after all the cats that need looking after - many are feral or traumatised in the first place and don't adapt well to being looked after.
To get to the point, Mrs Algo and I have taken in the unwanted family described above.
The mum is about two years old and already has has one litter about 6 months agao (and yet wasn't neutered afterwards by her dumb f__ing owners) - the older daughter, who we've renamed since the given name was retarded, is the only one from the earlier litter still present and these two are fairly inseparable.
(Quick aside: I won't be giving the older twos' names on this blog to protect us from the owners beating me up - for calling them wankers. They are still wankers, though.)
Mumsy arrived tired but open to contact, and we've been happy with how she's settling. the older daughter is not so well socialised (partly due to the young age of her mother) and is having trouble overcoming her wariness - don't blame her, given her prior human contact.
However, today we've had the breakthrough we wanted with Odie (as in O.D. - older daughter) - she's been out of the pen (which was provided for us like everything else) and fussed a bit. With mum, treats got her out, but things were more difficult with Odie; she sniffs and lick treats but won't eat them not sure why but maybe she doesn't like fish flavoured ones - we'll get her in the end. Odie spent the last two hours of this evening hiding under our cheapass sofa but at least she's got out and about a little.
I guess I should say, if you think there may be room in your heart to help out a local trust and look after some cats please, please, please give it real thought (i.e. don't think you'll be ok then backpedal) and if you reckon you can help call them up and see what you can do.
These people do a wonderful job with very little support and staggering odds stacked against them. Any help you could give would be wonderful.
As for what happens later? After 6 to 8 weeks these cats will be rehomed - we may keep two of the kittens as our own (let's face it, we probably will) but the others need rehoming - you won't be forced to keep all 5-8 of them forever. The key thing to do is talk to the trust and see what they advise.
Oh - did I mention I knew nothing about cats until I got attached to the cat that nearly was a few weeks ago? Needless to say I am learning on the fly.
Since I won't post pictures of the old'uns for security purposes, tomorrow or sometime soon I'll probably introduce you to the kittens we've called (for now) Bootsy, Smokey and The Bandit.
Yes. The Bandit. Really.
We won't be keeping that name. But you have to call them something for reference! The Bandit is the runt, so gets called Tiny, sometimes.
Only Bootsy's name is probably permanent (for the real Bootsy go here).
A (going soft in my old age)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
