Our room at the NEMO show last weekend was a patio room – it had a sliding glass door overlooking the pool.
Jacoby was fascinated with the giant window.
I think he stayed awake all Friday night looking out at the rest of the hotel.
He was pretty cranky the next morning. But it was so cute watching him look out the window.
“Oh, yay! You’re back on my side of the window again!”
This week’s Photo Hunt subject is “Youth.”
Last weekend we shared a room with Meg and her boy Chai Latte (aka “Garçon”). He’s a little red boy, only one year old. I first met him back in April, and he stole my scarf so he could cuddle with it. He’s a major love bug.
Garçon is such a sweet boy, and he and Jacoby got along amazingly well. They even both slept on my bed with me, Meg told me.
And then Garçon discovered Jake’s food bowls.
Yeah, Jake wasn’t too thrilled about that one.
Apparently, Jake’s okay with sharing me with another boycat, but he draws the line at sharing his food with one.
NEMO is actually becoming famous for its costume contest – which is a good thing.
Photo: Worcester T&G Staff/RICK CINCLAIR
Not only was a photo of Jacoby and I featured in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, but our friend Linda told me that she came back to the show this year just because she had so much fun entering the costume contest last year.
And I’m pretty sure she’d been working on her costume since last October, too. It was awsome.
Linda was General George E. Pickett, wounded confederate soldier, and Pippi was Clara Barton, wartime nurse.
They. Were. Incredible. Seriously. I’m so entrenched in the realm of pop culture that something like a Civil War general would just never occur to me.
Linda also pays incredible attention to detail. Her crutch was a tree branch with sheep’s wool wrapped around the top. But everyone really stepped up their game this year.
Amelia and Timbuka the Burmese dressed as Hiccup and Toothless from How to Train Your Dragon.
I wish you could see it better in this photo, but Timbuka has a little tailflap thing tied to his tail. And he kept it on through the entire contest, too.
Amelia’s mom, Stacie, dressed as Little Bo Peep with Bella the Burmese as her sheep.
I didn’t get this family’s name, but they, along with their HHP and their Ocicat, dressed as a family vet clinic.
My friend Charlotte was awesome, too. She was Galadriel, while her two Siamese Colorpoint Shorthairs Phoenix (the cream-point) was Legolas and Arwen (the tortie-point) was, well, Arwen. Charlotte had a stroller for the two of them, and she even dressed that up to match!
Arwen had a little headdress and a gorgeous blue gown. Legolas had a little tiny bow and quiver full of arrows.
They looked awesome.
Iris and Harold didn’t enter (they were the emcees), but Iris was a Native American and Harold (a Siberian) was an early crosser of the Bering Land Bridge. Our costumes aren’t only clever, they’re educational!
As you can imagine, the competition was pretty stiff. I don’t know how the two judges ever made up their minds. Linda and Pippi took second place, and the winner was…
Geri and Little Miss Muffet the Himilayan! They were dressed as a cocktail and a can of beer. Geri won last year, too, with a different Persian as Harry Potter and Hedwig the owl.
Jake and I are already brainstorming what we’re going to do for next year’s contest, and I’m pretty sure everyone else is, too! Not sure what I’ll do to top Marilyn, though…
On Saturday at the NEMO show, Iris did a parade of breeds, and a bunch of us volunteered our cats as breed representatives.
Of course Boston’s famous Strollercat was the Aby representative!
Jacoby and I were thrilled to see our friends Linda and Pippi had come to the show. Linda said they enjoyed the NEMO show so much last year, they had to come back for it (and the costume contest) again this time!
Pippi’s full name is Kimbelot’s Ahyoka Sunshine’s Pippi, and she’s a Grand Premier Somali. She’s also a cosplaying cat; last year she and Linda were Morticia and Gomez Addams.
I took a lot of photos while Pippi was up for her turn in the parade of breeds.
But the funny thing is…
Linda took a bunch of pictures of Jake when he was up!
The best part about the parade of breeds is that Jake and Pippi were in cages right next to each other.
CFA considers Somalis to be a shorthaired breed (even though they’re a longhaired variant of the Abyssinian – they also consider Exotic Shorthairs to be a longhaired breed), and cats are judged alphabetically by breed.
Abyssinians, of course, are the first shorthairs to be up, while Somalis are at the end of the alphabet so are among the last to be judged.
You hardly ever get to see the two breeds right next to each other.
It’s really pretty cool to see an Aby and a Somali side by side.
I guess I think it’s a lot more awesome than Jake does…
I’m not really old enough to make this joke, but I’m a sucker for Cold War jokes and I thought it would be fun to draw.
Of course, this is is a riff on Jacoby’s JFK costume at the NEMO show this past weekend, and what might have happened had there been a Russian Blue there…as someone (Gary Larson?) once said, as long as one person gets the joke, I’m happy. Wish I’d thought of the Havana Brown Missle Crisis before I’d done the cartoon, though…
(Krushcat is saying “Support by United States rulers is rather in the nature of the support that the rope gives to a hanged man,” in case you were wondering……and the litter box says “We will bury you”…)
(Click cartoon to embiggen, or you can view all cartoons in Slideshow mode on Flickr.)
Technically, not Hipstamatic…but it’s square, artistic and I couldn’t resist!
It’s going to be tough coming up with a better costume than this for next year…
Also, check out this post our friend and fellow blogger Ellen wrote about meeting us at the show yesterday. She gave Jake a lovely little catnip goldfish that he adores.
This weekend was our NEMO CFA show. Jacoby did quite well: he made five finals! He got 10th Best Shorthair in Premiership (twice), 7th Best Shorthair in Premiership, 2nd Best Shorthair in Premiership, and 2nd Best Allbreed in Premiership!
But as last year, the best part was the costume contest. Towards the end of the Seacoast show last May, Meg, our friend Todd and I were brainstorming ideas for Jake’s and my costume. Todd said it needed to be amazing to win, and it needed to be something new. I mentioned Jake’s “Don Draper” suit and said we needed to come up with something to go with that.
And then it hit me. With his suit, Jake could be JFK…and I could be…Marilyn Monroe!
So that’s what we did. If JakeFK looks a little upset in some of these photos, it’s because he’s very concerned about the Havana Brown Missile Crisis.
It’s really late, and I’m really tired…and I have about 1,000 photos to go through that I took this weekend, so I’ll have a more complete report on the show and the costume contest later in the week.
But I knew you all were dying to see what we wore, so here we are.
As great as our costume was, there were a lot of great costumes this time. Everyone really stepped up their game this year. Our friends Linda and Pippi the Somali (Gomez and Morticia last year) were Clara Barton (Pippi) and Gen. George Pickett (Linda); there was also Little Bo Peep and her sheep, Hiccup and Toothless from How to Train Your Dragon, Galadriel, Arwen and Legolas, a family veterinary clinic and a beer can of Meow Light.
Jake and I didn’t actually win…but I got a lot of complements on our costume. I have to thank my friend Leza, for sewing the dress…it not only looked great, but it also was comfortable enough to wear to a cat show. I wish I could say the same for those shoes! Now to start planning for next year’s costumes…
This week’s Photo Hunt subject is “Engage.”
Gun-Hee was my Best Cat when I got engaged.
He helped me with everything, including trying on my veils.
Sadly, he died two months before our wedding…we scattered some of his ashes in the ocean on our honeymoon.
He was such a good little guy.
The NEMO Cat Club show is this weekend (Jacoby and I are actually in Sturbridge tonight, setting up), and of course we will be having another costume contest. It will be on Sunday, not Saturday, and Jake and I are only going to wear one costume (well…maybe two) this year – but that one will be a doozy!
Last year, we wore three different outfits. We started out with our Egyptian outfit.
Jake likes that one so much he can even sleep in it!
Then we switched to our “South Pacific” ensemble.
For the actual contest, however, we went with the “sushi combo”…which in retrospect may not have been the strongest choice.
The competition was wicked fierce!
I mean, there was Meg and Fire as Rastafarians (complete with nickel bag of catnip)…
…And Dante Mooner and Marsha as a witch and his cat…
…And my favourite, Linda and Pippi (a Somali!) as Gomez and Morticia Addams! And as great as those all were, none of them actually took home the prize. The two winners were…
Iris as Queen Marie Antoinette with her Turkish Angora…
and Geri as Harry Potter with Hedwig the owl!
Jake and I didn’t win last year…but as I’ve said, we have a great costume idea for this year . I hope to get some great photos of that, because I can’t wait to see them! If you’re in Western Massachusetts this weekend, stop by on Sunday and see the show – and the costume contest – for yourself! Tell ’em Jakey sent you!
It’s been a good week for Abys on my calendars this week: Look at this little cutie who was on yesterday’s I Can Has Cheezburger Day-to-Day Calendar page!
I think they actually meant “Goggie” (LOLcat for “Doggie”)…but still, look at that face!
I’ve been re-reading all the Warriors books recently (and cannot wait for the release of Bramblestar’s Storm next week), so my imagination is filled with cats in forests.
They recently recarpeted the common hallway on our floor, and the new carpet is a lovely shade of deep green.
The new green carpet along with the mahogany wood panelling almost makes walking in our hallway feel like a walk in the woods.
The bricks are rocks, of course.
So it’s not exactly ThunderClan’s camp in the ravine…but with a little imagination…
Sad news indeed from one of our closest friends…
Sparkle the Somali is very, very sick.
Sparkle and her human have been a HUGE inspiration to us and our blog. I was hoping to see her and Summer together, but if it is not to be…well. There will be a bright new star in Silverpelt when she goes to hunt with StarClan.
Know that we love you, Sparkle, and Summer may be taking over your blog, but she will never take your place.
I forgot to post this yesterday, but look who was featured on the Page-a-Day Calendar for August 19!
“Abyssinians have an almost otherworldly look, which may be why one was chosen to play “Jake” in The Cat from Outer Space, a role shared by two cats named Amber and Rumple. Playful and almost doglike in their devotion to their humans, the Abyssinian has become one of the most popular breeds in the United States, despite commanding high prices at pet stores and breeders. You could argue they earn their keep: Female Abys are remarkably skillful hunters, and often stay active well into their twenties.
Special Mention LINUS.—Alan Pressman and Melissa Palmer, Dix Hills, New York”
Again with the “doglike”..?
Interestingly, the question came up a while back on the Aby groups I’m on about which cattery bred Amber and Rumple. Carolyn Osier told this story:
“The cat originally chosen to screen test was a young ruddy male, GC Ruddy Raider of Wil-o-glen. At that time he was in the middle of a show season and doing very well, so when Disney told me they wanted to buy him and that would end his show career, I said no thank you. They wanted to own the cat so there would be no interference from anxious owners. It is my understanding that there were up to 7 cats who were used in the movie. I do not believe they came from well known catteries. I also heard rumors that several of them from one cattery died of FelV which was a problem at that time. I was very glad that I had not exposed Raider to that. Raider went on to produce wonderful offspring and I never regretted my choice, although I do enjoy the DVD of the movie from time to time and think about ‘what if’.
“FYI, a second cat also made the cut to screen test for the part, a champagne Burmese spay. I still have a copy of the Disney contract to send her for a month of screen testing. The original casting call brought about 30 different breeds. I always wondered why they didn’t choose one of the beautiful silver Persians. I will never forget the look on the face of the owner of a beautifully groomed red tabby Persian when the casting director suggested he might look very interesting if they twisted hunks of hair into spikes!”
Well, at least we know which cattery didn’t breed them!
Sometimes the most obvious cartoon ideas take the longest to think of…
Yeah. ABY ROAD. Duh!
This was inspired, in part, by this LOLcat, and this Bittersweet Candy Bowl homage.
The background comes courtesy of Rabbittooth on DeviantArt, who wanted to do an Abbey Road parody and wanted to help others with the same ambition. Thank you!!
(Click cartoon to embiggen, or you can view all cartoons in Slideshow mode on Flickr.)
A few weeks ago I made a joke about Angel sleeping with one eye open.
That’s kind of exactly what she does, though!
Even though she’s safely up high, on one of the wall shelves, she still keeps watch.
Just.
In.
Case.
I guess the coast is completely clear. Sweet dreams, Angel!
I thought this was really cute.
Jacoby and Angel were both up on the cat shelf that houses the memorial wool sculpture of Gun-Hee.
It’s not often that Angel will stay on the same wall climber with Jake (she was there first and he joined her) so I was glad I managed to capture this.
It’s the closest I’ll ever come to a family portrait of all three Abys together.
We haven’t been very active in the Cat Scouts recently, but we did just receive our very own custom neckerchiefs and woggles in the mail this week!
They’re quite well made, and of course include all the Cat Scout symbolism.
It’s all there: the sun and the tree, the river, the fleur-de-lis…
…and of course, a hiking kitty and the words “CAT SCOUTS.”
Here you see Scout Jacoby modelling his neckerchief.
He’s such a good poser!
The green goes well with his fur, too.
Angel proudly shows off her woggle, which includes her Bobcat rank badge.
You don’t need two eyes to be a good scout!
Angel also thinks the orange in the fleur-de-lis and on the Bobcat badge matches her fur much better than it does Jake’s.
The Daily Abyssinian...and Singapura 