June Blog

Well, it's been almost a month since I got going on the blogwagon, and it's been fun! I like the opportunity to post random thoughts when the muse strikes. It's really easy with this site, blogger.com. Thanks to my friend Dana who inspired me to start this blog. Her blog is "Zhadi's Den." Check out her witty prose on cats, wine, moving, surfing, relationships, dancing, acting, zombies, and much more!

I'll keep on blogging, and my next post will probably be in July. Thanks for visiting, and thanks especially for your comments!

Look over to the right on the sidebar: you can now subscribe to be alerted of new posts to my blog!

Cat Naming Contest: Conclusion

(Note: Read this post first.)

Jen went cerebral after all. I predict Paiwacket will rarely be called Paiwacket. He will be called Pie, Cutie Pie, Pizza Pie, Pie in my Eye, and maybe even Three Point One Four One Five Nine...

Someday he may reject his name completely: The Cat Formerly Known as Paiwacket will adopt this symbol.

Wrapping up my friend Jen's big contest, I present her email with the final results:

--- Original message: ---
The kitty arrived last night and despite a rather unfortunate case of fleas, which has been taken care of, he's an absolute delight! It is with great pleasure I inform you that his name is:

*Paiwacket* (Pronounced: Pie-wack-it with the emphasis on the first syllable.)

This was our first choice before the competition, and I'm afraid nobody could beat it. It's just too cool! Anyone unfamiliar should go rent the movie, "Bell, Book and Candle" starring Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak.

So you are all losers! But you are also, all winners! Please see the results below...

GRAND PRIZE
Though she did not submit this name for this particular competition, I'm naming my sister, Stephanie, winner since she was the one who had originally come up with this name.
Unfortunately the KIA people were thoroughly uninterested in donating a Sedona for this competition, and somewhat discourteous I might add. Apparently it's a good idea to get corporate sponsorship before announcing contest prizes. Live and learn. We've had a degree of luck with the Cadillac people though! So expect your prize to arrive within 2-3 days! Congratulations, Stephanie!

SECOND PLACE
is awarded to my friend, Amanda
for her suggestion of "Roman"
I nearly succumbed to this one, and not because Rick studies Roman history but because it is the name of a character in "Rosemary's Baby," a movie that I am obsessed with. Don't ask me why! Seriously, don't. I don't know why.
Due to an altercation at the local FedEx office (apparently you can't send fresh fish) I've found a suitable alternative, which will be arriving within 2-3 days. Enjoy your delicious fish!

THIRD PLACE
is awarded to Rick's sister, Victoria
for her suggestion of "Icabod"
I just like it!
Your rock candy will be arriving within 2-3 days. Congrats!

HONORABLE MENTION
is bestowed upon my friend, Lisa
for her suggestion of "Democrat"
I'm not sure if that was intended as a dig but I thought it was really cute! Hey, honorable mention for an honorable political affiliation! HAH!

**But wait! You are all winners, keep reading, or at least scan for your name...**

THE CULINARY AWARD
goes to Moncia
for her suggestion of "Kitten Catchatorre"

THE CULTURE AWARD
goes to Roksolana
for her suggestion of "Liev Rickovitch Carrier"
Explanation: "Liev" means Lion in Russian. And "Rickovitch" is a patronymic middle name derived from Rick as the cat's new dad. Interesting, cultural and historic, her explanation included Tolstoy for cryin out loud!

THE COPY-CAT AWARD
goes to David
for his suggestion of "Cujo"
This had already been suggested by Monica, which David had no way of knowing.

THE EGO AWARD
goes to Mark
for his suggestion of "Mark"

THE FILM HISTORY AWARD
goes to Dana
for her suggestion of "Harryhausen"

THE GHOSTS OF CATS PAST AWARD
goes to Lillian
for her suggestions of "Wooster Deux" and "Lester"
Although I will own that we did end up with the name of another dead cat, but still!

THE HEY-THAT-ACTUALLY-FITS-BUT-IS-JUST-TOO-SIMPLE AWARD
goes to Suzanne
for her suggestion of "Simon"

THE HUH? AWARD
goes to Doug
for his suggestion of "Tolliver"
Seriously, Doug, what is that?

THE JERK AWARD
goes to Mike
for his suggestion of "Dogbait"
Shame on you, Mike!

THE LOONEY TUNES AWARD
goes to Jennifer
for her suggestion of "Taz"

THE NAUGHTY AWARD
goes to Krishawn
for her suggestion of "Strumpet"

THE QUITTER AWARD
goes to Natalie
who gave up after her mother suggested "Biggles"

THE SADISM AWARD
goes to Brandon
for his seemingly innocuous suggestion of "Mittens"
Figure it out for yourself. Shame on you too, Brandon!

THE SCI-FI AWARD
goes to Richard
for his suggestion of "Gort"

THE SPELLING AWARD
goes to Anna
for her suggestion of "C-A-T"
Cute, but he's just going to get confused when we discuss taking him to the V-E-T.

THE TACTILE AWARD
goes to FreeThinker
for his suggestion of "Fuzzy"

And finally...
THE SHE WHO NAMES THOSE WHO SHALL NOT BE NAMED AWARD
goes to Victoria, yes a second award,
for "Hastur," "Nyarlothotep," and "Yog-Sothoth"
Damn it! Now you've made me name them! Anyone who doesn't understand these references should rejoice in the fact that they obviously had a healthy childhood spending plenty of time outside.

A full list of suggestions is at the end of this email, for anyone interested. Thank you all for participating. I hope you had fun.

Later,

Jen
..................

All Suggestions...
Amanda- Cooper, Roman
Anna- C-A-T
Brandon- Mittens
Dana- Harryhausen
David- Cujo
Doug- Tolliver
Jen H.- Taz
Krishawn- Strumpet, Bix
FreeThinker- Fuzzy
Lillian- Wooster Deux, Lester
Lisa- Democrat
Mark- Sir Reginald, Mark, Brandon, Mr. Adams, The Big Meowski, Captain Kibbles, Chuck, Sloth, Mr. Poopers, Buffy
Me- Paiwacket, Vinkman, Spengler
Mike- Dogbait, Stradavarius
Monica- Biggles, Catzilla, Rover, Cujo, Cat Ballou, Catatonic, Kitten Catchatorre, Kitten Emeritus, K-Mart
Natalie-
Rick- Gort, Clortho
Roksolana- Liev Rickovitch
Steph- Starbuck, Hugh, Apple, Doof, Grey
Suzanne- Simon, Simeon
Victoria- Hastur, Nyarlothotep, Yog-Sothoth, Cat (like on Red Dwarf), Ichabod and Snotling

Pansy Division

My friend Dave and I caught a great show last night at Cafe Du Nord, with three local "queercore punk" bands.

Headliners Pansy Division never lost command of the audience, from the explosive first number to the encore. If The Donnas can be called the "female Ramones" then Pansy Division can be called the "gay Ramones." Their brand of rapid-fire pop-punk is similar to the late, great Ramones, AC/DC, and Green Day (who they toured with in 1994). It seems every song's lyrics has something to do with queer culture (or is it subculture?) and they are often clever and funny.

They closed one song by sneaking in the riff from "Love Gun" by Kiss. Nice touch!

Opening bands were Nervous Breakdowns and Ex-Boyfriends. Both rocked; but Ex-Boyfriends were ultra-tight and pounded out catchy hook after catchy hook at breakneck pace. The duo worked up a sweat, and the crowd loved every minute. Dave aptly summed them up as a "gay Tenacious D."

Cat Naming Contest

My friend, Jen, seeks help finding a name for her new cat:

--- Original message: ---
Ok, y’all. Rick and I are getting a new kitty on Monday. I’ve decided that we need to have a little contest for names. If someone can come up with something better than our current choice, you will win the grand prize. We will also choose the best second, third, and fourth suggestions.

Now, if you are receiving this email, you ought know Rick and I are not the types to name a cat Jeff or something boring like that. Also nothing cute and fluffy like snowball or snowflake or crap like that. Don’t take offense, that’s just not us.

So put on those thinking caps and come up with something really creative! You could win one of these fabulous prizes…

Grand Prize: 2005 KIA Sedona*

Second Prize: A delicious trout*

Third Prize: Three pieces of rock candy*

Honorable Mention: Will be mentioned

Ah, c’mon! It’ll be fun!

Jen

*All prizes are subject to availability and are largely fictional.

My reply:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Don't get too cerebral: I made the mistake, in Louisiana back in 1988, of naming my new kittens from the same litter after mythological characters I was reading up on at the time. These sister kitties were always into mischief; I'd attend to one and the other would start tearing up something. When I went after her, the other would be stropping my sofa. Back and forth, trouble!

In Greek mythology, Scylla was a horrible six-headed monster who lived on a rock on one side of a narrow strait. Charybdis was a whirlpool on the other side. When ships passed close to Scylla’s rock in order to avoid Charybdis, she would seize and devour their sailors. Scylla and Charybdis symbolize having to choose between two unpleasant alternatives.

So it was obvious: I would call them Scylla and Charybdis! Appropriate names, but most of my friends and neighbors could not remember these names. Scylla and Charybdis did not seem to know their own names. Eventually they got shortened (and simplified) to "Silly" and "Carrie." In their later years they mellowed out and finally responded to Silly and Carrie. No more "rock and a hard place!"

So don't do cerebral (Scylla or Charybdis), don't do pedestrian (Mittens), and don't be TOO clever. I think John Lennon once had a cat named "Jesus," so that's been done.

You know the game that reveals your Porn Star name? Take the name of your childhood (or current) pet and combine it with the street name you grew up on (or your current street). (My Porn Star name? Spike Bush!) How about working backwards, and name your kitty after your favorite porn star?

Ultimately, it will be something about your new kitty's personality of circumstances that will determine its name. But to throw something in the hat for the contest, how about "Fuzzy?" (catch-phrases are endless: "Heeey... it's Arthur Fuzzarelli!" "Here comes the Fuzz!" etc.) "Fuzzy" was briefly my old nickname, so there would be a bit of a legacy.

Let me know if I win a prize!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stay tuned for updates on this cat-contest!

My Music Library

As I build my digital music library and apply proper tags such as the year of release, I paused to run a report of my properly-tagged music so far, by decade of release. To my surprise, most of my music is from the 90s, and almost a quarter is from THIS decade (which is only halfway complete!). I have more stuff from the 70s than the 80s! This is more proof that the 80s was the worst decade ever for popular music.

The Universe Within

Last Thursday I met up with my friends Jane and Claire to see the exhibit of "The Universe Within" at the Masonic Center on Nob Hill. About two dozen actual human corpses and over 100 human organs that have been preserved using a method known as plastination are on display, and you can walk right up to them with no barriers. There's been a bit of controversy lately because the corpses have been oozing a mysterious fluid. You are not supposed to touch them; even though you can, few would want to ... although I did see some telltale finger swipes smearing that mysterious ooze.

(As it turned out, a local TV investigative team took samples from the bodies and sent them to a lab. The ooze is silicone from the plastination process and liquefied human fat. The bodies were not degreased properly before they were filled with plastic.)

This exhibit literally and figuratively goes "under the skin," exposing the complexity of the human body and allowing the general public a look at what normally only doctors and scientists are allowed to see first-hand. Jane, Claire, and I all had different reactions. Morbidly fascinated, Jane was a bit squeamish and had to approach the exhibits slowly and not linger too long at them. Jane is currently reading the bestseller "Stiff: the Curious Lives of Human Cadavers" so this was a timely visit for her. Claire was rather blasé; curiously engaged but not spellbound. But I could be wrong about them, as I was sharply focused on the bodies and body parts.

I was impressed with a deeper understanding of the body's form and function and I gained an even stronger appreciation for staying fit and healthy and safe. I understand my body so much more now. Pictures, drawings, and computer simulations are no substitute for seeing inside bodies with your own eyes. Looking at our rib bones and the muscle tissue between made me think of the spare ribs I often enjoy in restaurants ... we look exactly like what we eat! (We are what we eat?) Seeing what is under our skin led to a greater understanding of just what exactly I am feeling when I feel the various parts under my own skin. Now I know more about the veins, bones, muscle definition, etc. that I can feel but not see. And I did not know that our belly buttons are not really part of our skin. Our skin is just fused to the perimeter of our belly buttons, which are actually the end part of a tube from deeper in our bellies ... fascinating!

First Post

Hello Nice People ... this is my new blog's first post and thus a test. Don't bother thinking about this one. I'm just beginning!