Caturday has been put on hold. We’ll make it up tomorrow.
JBoD has just learned that Neil Armstrong has passed away at the age of 82. On July 21, 1969 Armstrong set foot on the moon and uttered those imortal words.
That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind
I was seven years old and I’ve never forgotten the thrill of it all. He provided inspiration to an entire generation.
Our condolences to his family, friends and the many fans. He will be missed.
These vids and pics made me laugh. Have a great day
San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park is where we go when we want to relax a bit.
I had just taken the fog photo when I saw it. It was a belligerent seagull. It was yelling at its reflection in the car. It was a riot. Even the people who owned the car got a laugh.
After that, we started to drive around to the other side of the lake when I saw it. It was another belligerent creature.
He was a feisty critter and he was just strolling down the sidewalk. We patiently herded him back to the lake as the gulls began to gather ominously. He made it back in one piece.
We don’t try to write about the passing of everyone. However, Scott McKenzie recorded one of the most famous songs of all about San Francisco. Written by John Phillips of The Mamas & The Papas, it raced to the top of the charts in 1967. It it became symbolic of a city and a generation.
From the Scott McKenzie website:
It is much saddness that we report the passing of Scott McKenzie in LA on 18th August, 2012. Scott had been very ill recently and passed away in his home after two weeks in hospital.
It has been our pleasure to maintain this web site over the past 15 years and this is the hardest update of them all. Farewell our much loved and wonderful friend.
Gary and Raylene Hartman
Our condolences to Scott’s family and friends. He will be missed.
Another Caturday has rolled around and it’s time for the furkids to shine a bit. Things are settling down since the loss of Kitsy. Tito and Miss Nightshade Jenny are slowly adjusting. They miss him and it shows, but they’re taking a lot of comfort in each other. I still haven’t been able to write a fitting memorial for my little clown, so it’s going to wait for a while. In the meantime, here are our sweet furballs.
Here is Miss Nightshade Jenny snoozing on a crochet pad. The pad and the ball were a gift from our lovely friend StateOfGrace.
The Olympics are over for another couple of years, but I thought I would leave you with this great vid by klusmanp at YouTube.
We have written about our friend and wonderful cat mum, flumptytail. She has many, many cats. She takes them in, spays and neuters and once that’s done, they are free to come and go from her home as they please. She feeds and cares for them and takes them to the vet whenever needed.
Now she has a sweet little puppy named Dilly. Miss Dilly is named for the song Lavender’s Blue.
Miss Dilly is about 3 1/2 months old. She came to live with flumptytail when her previous humans were unable to keep her. Her favorite toys are a squeaky fox and a huge cow. She loves all food, but chicken is her favorite. Isn’t she adorable?
Yesterday, Dilly went to the vet for her spay. It went well and she’s back home. She’s a happy little dog.
Lastech, Tito, Miss Jenny and I would like to welcome Dilly to JBoD!
Our previous post about our friend flumptytail:
Tito and Kitsune Reflect on Mother’s Day
We have written about our friend Abra Crabcakeya’s corgi, Tsula before. Yesterday, she turned seven.
From our previous post about her:
Tsula has a great yard and has plenty of opportunity to engage in her favorite sport. She loves to chase chipmunks, rabbits and squirrels. She always takes time for a nap right after breakfast. She has to keep her energy up for the chase. Her number one favorite thing is being daddy’s girl and spending her time with him.
She’s a very happy corgi and she adores our friend, Abra. May they have many more years together.
Many happy wishes from JBoD and we hope that Abra Crabcakeya will be kind enough to pass on a bunch of scritches.
Of course, all this calls for Sparky and his kibble dance.
We have written about Tsula before.
Tsula: A Happy Corgi
Her two buddies, Justice and Terra have crossed the Rainbow Bridge and are waiting for her.
Terra: A Wonderful Cardigan Welsh Corgi
Justice and Terra are Together Again
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about our trip to Point Reyes National Seashore and the lighthouse. This time, I thought I would share a few photos of the wildlife we saw.
Point Reyes has a vast amount of wildlife. It’s a wonderful site for bird watching, whale watching and more.
“The girl with the dragon tattoo” – (158 minutes, USA, 2011 – rated R)
I wanted to like this. Great cast, great director, great story… But like Steven Spielberg, David Fincher hits it about as much as he misses, and the opening sequence of “the girl with the dragon tattoo” is the best part of the movie.
Steven Zaillian is credited as screenwriter for this adaptation and described on imdb as a veteran scrip doctor. Here, it appears the doctor killed the patient. You very seldom get a strong female character matched to a strong female lead as was the case with Salander and Noomi Rapace. To say this version adds nothing to the original Swedish film is true but incomplete: the character treatment of Lisbeth Salander amounts to character assassination, although at 158 minutes it’s more like a prolonged torture session.
SPOILER ALERT BELOW.
When Lisbeth rescues Blomqvist from the killer and chases after him, she actually asks Blomqvist for his permission to kill the bad guy. In Fincher’s “girl with the dragon tattoo”, Lisbeth subordinates herself to Blomqvist, which is not just contrary to the source material (book and film), but bizarre…
The book’s original title, Män som hatar kvinnor, means “men who hate women”, and makes me wonder at the guys involved here. Too bad, so sad, avoid this stinker. This gets no beans.
UPDATE BY Rudha-an
Here is the opening title sequence that Lastech mentioned. It’s the best part of the movie.
“And they call it kitty love…”
That’s where the cuteness ends: Jenny starts by kissing on Tito, they exchange a few licks, and settle down for a minute, maybe a few seconds.
Then the wrestling begins. The headlocks and body slamming, what every Trekker recognizes as the Klingon mating ritual, somewhat different from the Vulcan mating ritual which also involves ass kicking, but of a Starship Captain.
As I type this, for instance, Jenny is still greeting me home, dancing figure eights under the chair, pawing at my leg and grabbing my arm to rub against. With purring and claws. I’m already bleeding in three spots. I got bit. Not too hard but firmly.
Must be the Tortie (Tortoiseshell) in her, the little brute. As a wrestler, she has a very solid stance: wide with hind legs bent. We saw her more than once using this position to wrap Tito in an embrace before slamming him down. Then again, he gives as good as he gets, and even has her retreating often, though never for long. Never for long.
I’m bleeding from a fourth scratch now.
Jenny will also walk on my pillow stopping just long enough to nom on my skull. If I pet her, which I always do, she farts. If my wife leans over to nose bonk her, Jenny’ll cough in her face, like Carol Beer on “Little Britain”:
Her newest trick: not a cough, but a vurp (a burp which sounds vomitous). All I can say is thank Ceiling Cat she doesn’t eat mice. Things are gross enough. Annnnd, I’ve got an eighth scratch… Well, a puncture, more like… Still, I feel like one of Jack the Ripper’s playthings.
