It’s Caturday, but before I get to the pointy eared people, I thought I would announce a pet food recall. Diamond Pet Foods has announced a voluntary recall of dry pet food because of salmonella. It also includes Costco’s Kirkland Signature and Nature’s Domain Products. You can read more about ithere. I have also discovered that Natural Balance is also recalling some of their food made by Diamond. You can read that announcementhere. The recall includes dog AND cat food, so please check your labels. I don’t want to read about anyone losing their much loved pet to this.
I might add, that while food appears to have been the problem with Kitsy being sick, it was not because of salmonella. The other two were eating the same food and they were fine. Now that he’s on a grain-free food, Kitsy is doing much better. He’s scrawny, but he’s eating well, so he should gain weight again.
Now it’s time for the pointy eared people to shine.
Tito and Miss Nightshade Jenny sleeping in a sunbeamMiss Jenny snuggling with Kitsy. She adores the boys.
I love creepy movies and I love creepy pets as well. Like many people, I’m a fan of icanhascheezburger. The last theme I did with lolcats was Monty Python. This time it’s Silence of the Lambs. Hannibal Lecter was one of the most delicious bad guys ever.
San Francisco is famous for its hills. Bernal Hill is probably my favorite. As I mentioned in my last post, we went there to take a walk. The wind was pretty gusty so we stuck to the paved road that circles the peak. Usually we go to the South side of the hill as its closest to home, but this time we headed over to the North side.
Did I mention that it was windy? I don’t like wind. I really don’t like wind. I grew up in the desert and we had ferocious winds storms. Ok. I’ll shut up about the wind already. Here are some of my photos from the hill.
The blue flowers are Pride of Madeira (echium candicans)Red Valerian (Centranthus ruber) growing on the hillsideNudist treeRed Valerian and chertBernal chert with poppiesChert
No, there is no butterfly in the photo. However, like a butterfly, this little bit of artistry is fleeting. We went off to Bernalwood for a walk around the hill and I found this on a post next to the North parking area. I consider myself lucky to have seen it as the winds are brutal and it has probably blown away by now.
This isn’t the first time we have found what I refer to as Butterfly Art. It has taught us to really see what is around us rather than just taking things for granted.
While Mazuzu continues his recovery, Jenny shows signs of boredom. Add to that the oh-so attractive scent of freshly laundered socks and she’ll leap into action, ‘sploding the contents of the laundry bag all over the kitchen floor.
She spent so much time rolling in it, biting and clawing, that we actually noticed two colored spots on her gut: a solitary dab of orange and a light blue one where she was, erm…- fixed.
And she fought us for them, too...
Weird, I know, but there you go. Getting the socks all over the place was just the “apéritif”, and she moved on to paper towel shredding on the bed, attacking our toes and my calves, throwing one of her stuffed toys in the air repeatedly (we had to cover our coffee mugs just in case).
The nurse is now bigger than the patient
Hours later, the little Hellion’s crashed on the cat tower recharging her batteries while Tito’s out chasing some flying thing, perhaps imaginary.
"Don't make me get up there!"
… What Nurse Jenny does most of the time: keep Maz the Schnazz warm:
The rains are almost done for the season and the clouds will make way for the summer fog, but it has been glorious. When the clouds are that great, it means a trip to Sierra Point with the camera.
Looking to the East toward San Lorenzo and the Oakland airportLooking to the North East toward Oakland and BerkeleyClouds and sun
After that, we went to McLaren Park to take a walk around the reservoir and watch the dogs play in the water.
The reservoir appeared calm at first glanceAs we watched, we saw a duck. Not far behind was the dogThe duck was taking the dog for a swim
The dog never did catch up with the duck. When the dog got too close, the duck would flap partway across the pond to lengthen the lead. Then the dog would chase the duck until it got too close and then it would start all over again. Twenty minutes later, the duck was still leading the dog around the reservoir. The dog got his/her exercise for the day.
After the entertainment provided by the dog and the duck, we headed back to the car. On the way, we found a pair of lizards enjoying the sunshine. The male lizard was doing a little romantic dance for his lady lizard that alternated between head bobbing and push ups. He was quite enthusiastic. We moved past quietly so as to avoid disturbing their budding romance.
Romance in the sun. The male (right) was courting his lady
Thirty years before the excellent comedy “Bottle Shock” came out, this little known gem drew its inspiration from the troubled French wine industry. Question is: was it a diamond in the rough or straight up zirconium?
Marking a return to the Midnight Movie Madness review format is this bit of a curio from 1970s France, written and directed by Jean Rollin. I found this looking through Z-movie listings (I mean Zombies), although “grapes of death” isn’t exactly about zombies created by bad wine made worse by overused pesticides, it could have been called “les dégueulasses“, as country folk develop extremely bad acne, smearing it everywhere from car windows to… Well, anywhere.
Blind village girl with Elisabeth (L2R) Praise Jesus and pass the L’Oreal…
Maz has been giving us a scare this past week when we noticed a decline in activity and slight weight loss combined with a case of the runs. Dehydration = weight loss, evidently.
In his library: "I am a Ferrari, not a Lamborghini".
The good news is he is perking up and is now giving birth to healthy cat turds, after being administered some anti-diarrhea medicine and liquids (tuna-flavored water).
Riiiight. Don't we wish...
Most likely, the weather turning warmer for the next couple days will also help.
The thing is, his metabolism is such that we have to remain on constant alert for any change: another cat may take days longer to exhibit signs of distress, but Maz could crash overnight if the problem is serious.
“Take mah pulse… I know it stinks, idiot, I just buried my leavings! I say, TAKE MAH PULSE!”
In this instance we think the recent change in diet did not sit well with his Formula One car metabolism. As much research as can be done in terms of pet diets, a lot of it is empirical, with forum posts and advice columns taking you down conflicting paths. In other words it’s still kind of an art, especially when the patient can’t talk.
Well, perhaps he can’t talk, but Maz can unfortunately get on the interwebs. After receiving strange e-mails, we had to block payment on bookings he had obviously made for air fare and hotel accommodations in Cuba. He had found a clinic catering to dictators, specializing in eating disorders in the Vedado district of Havana.
Naked bastard… He’s still dropping them outside the box.
On April 18, 1906 at 5:12 a.m. the people of San Francisco and the Bay Area were awakened by violent shaking. The ground shook for a whole minute and when it was done, the city and it’s people were devastated. The magnitude 7.8 was felt all over California, Western Nevada and Southern Oregon.
San Francisco Earthquake of 1906: Market Street, west of Powell and Fifth Streets, showing area east of Taylor and Powell Streets. This is the main part of the retail district of San Francisco, ca. 1906
While the quake caused massive damage, it was the fire that completed the devastation. Of a population of about 410,000, up to 300,000 were made homeless. The death toll was originally reported as a mere 375 because government officials felt that the true number would hurt real estate sales and the rebuilding effort. It’s now estimated that a minimum of 3000 perished in the quake and ensuing fire. Chinatown, with a population of around 14,000 was destroyed and the dead were never counted. As a result, the true death toll of the 1906 quake will never be known.
Photograph of a Camp in Golden Gate Park Under Military Control After the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, 1906
Every year the event is commemorated and attended by the survivors. The number of survivors have been dwindling over the years. This year, three of the four remaining survivors attended the parade and private dinner on Tuesday evening.
William Del Monte and Winnie Hook, who are both 106 and George Quilici, 108 — will all be on hand to remember the great earthquake and fire.
Ruth Newman (b. 1901), the other survivor, wasn’t well enough to attend.
Lotta’s Fountain located on Market St. and Kearny
This morning, the survivors met at Lotta’s Fountain. There, they had a moment of silence beginning at 5:11 a.m. to mark the time of the quake.
Lotta’s Fountain is San Francisco’s oldest surviving monument. It was donated to the city by Lotta Crabtree and dedicated in 1875. In the aftermath of the quake and fire, people met at the fountain to exchange news and find out who was missing and who wasn’t. That is why it is used today to commemorate the Great Earthquake of 1906.
In 1910 Lotta’s Fountain was a meeting place again when the famous opera soprano, Luisa Tetrazzini came San Francisco and kept a promise to sing in the streets. At the fountain, she gave a free concert that was attended by an estimated quarter of a million people.
