Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween to all my faithful readers, both furry and fleshy! If you are of the furry persuasion I hope you keep yourself safe tonight. Staying inside is best but if you have to be out, don't even think about talking to strangers. If you do end up out, try finding the littlest kid you can and then steal their candy. I've heard candy is REALLY GOOD, even though those lousy peeps have never given me any. I think it must be flavoured with tuna and cheese and spiders and cream if everyone thinks it's so delicious. Zephyr and I will be spending the evening downstairs sleeping on the bed and eating the exotic basement food (they say it's the same old crunchies, but it just tastes DIFFERENT). I haven't even wanted to go out lately - it's raining way too hard and those dumb fireworks are just too loud. Right after Halloween we can start counting how many days until Christmas, right?

Finally

FINALLY those peeps are letting us have a fire every night. I was COLD and I was resorting to SNUGGLING every single night. So very wrong when I should be roasting my furry white belly in front of the fire. Ahhhhhhh...that's SO GOOD.

That Time of Year

Not too much to blog about these days. I'm mostly just doing lots of hanging around the house and getting outside in between rain showers. I did hear a rumour that I might not be allowed out AT ALL this weekend. Something about that bizarre knocking-on-doors-and-begging festival that they have every October. The peeps say that bad things happen to good cats around Halloween sometimes, so they'd like me to stay home and be safe. I'm sure I'll complain about it (a lot) but I know that it's best for me. If I COULD go out though I think I would go trick-or-treating and see if I could get myself a giant bag full of cheese. Mmmmm....cheeeeeese. It's the best treat in the world. And who could resist a sweet face like this? I wouldn't even need a costume. Although a teeny tiara would be nice...

My Scaredy-Cat Brother

I'm pretty much fearless. That's a well-known fact. But did you also know that, as I am to fearlessness, my fur-brother is to fearfulness? It's true.

Case in point: a knock at the front door. The Door Opener walked over to open the door (because that's what she's good at). From halfway across the room, Zephyr peeked his head slowly around the sofa to see what was going on. When he saw who had knocked, he tore off across the house, his feet spinning out from under him, desperate to escape the evil figure he saw at the door.

And exactly who was it at the door?

A Girl Guide* selling cookies.

Yes, my fur-brother is terrified of 9-year old girls bearing boxes of their chocolately mint delectables.

I'd be more mortified, but I'm too busy trying to knock one of the boxes off the kitchen counter so it'll break open and I can sample the contents.


*Americans probably know them as Girl Scouts.

The Humiliated Feline

Once my peeps were watching an MSNBC documentary about a frightening trio of singing sisters called "Triple Image" (long forgotten in North America, but perhaps still big in Japan). These diminutive demons had one particularly catchy song that became lodged in our brains. As the documentary ended, to my horror, the Can Opener picked me up under my shoulders and stood me on my hind feet, making me dance as he sang that insipid song at the top of his lungs.


I'll never forget the humiliation. When he put me down, I ran upstairs in shame.

He's never done it since, though he's occasionally tempted.

But I don't think he wants to see my eyes tear up like that again.

I was reminded of that horrible moment when I watched this and found yet another song that will take way too long to leave my head.

I'm not really fond of music.

(Thanks to Timmy for the link!)

Trip to the Vet

Well, Zeph and I had our yearly trip to the nice Vet today to have our check-ups and get our shots. This is a picture of us on the way home - Zephyr didn't feel like having his picture taken. I was a VERY good girl. I got in the carrier without a fuss (Zephyr braced himself and made it hard for the peeps to get him in). I didn't cry in the car (Zephyr sounded like he was being tortured). I even licked the Vet and laid down on the table for some belly-rubs (Zephyr cried some more and then hid his face in the Door Opener's elbow). I thought it was a pretty fun adventure all in all (although the shot part wasn't all that pleasant), but Zephyr really likes his routine, so he was really sad to have to leave the cat bed. The Vet declared us both just the right weight. I can't believe she thinks that behemoth is "just right". After the Vet we even got to ride in the car to pick up Uncle Glen and then I got to help him and the Can Opener shingle the house all afternoon. BIG FUN. They couldn't have done it without me!

The Rules

The mantel is one of the places I'm not "allowed". Ha! Like those stupid fleshies can really tell me what to do. I make my OWN rules!

Rule #1: Cats are allowed anywhere cats want to go!
Rule #2: What Musette says, goes.
Rule #3: Treats are for sharing.
Rule #4: When Musette wants OUT Musette goes OUT.
Rule #5: When Musette wants IN Musette comes IN.
Rule #6: Toilet seats should always be left UP and shower doors left OPEN.
Rule #7: Never wake up a cat.
Rule #8: Fleshies should never go out of town without having Uncle Glen take care of the felines.
Rule #9: Musette sits on your lap when she feels like it, not when you want her to.
Rule #10: NO NEW CATS.
Rule #11: The fleshies should eat more tuna and give the cats the juice.
Rule #12: It is NOT funny to make the cats run into things with the laser pointer.
Rule #13: If you don't want your clothes slept on then put them away.
Rule #14: Everything is a cat toy.
Rule #15: Musette gets to pick her place on the bed and everyone else just has to find a way to fit in.
Rule #16: Musette reserves the right to hiss at anyone not doing what they should be doing.
Rule #17: The door to the basement should always be left open.
Rule #18: All the furniture is for scratching.
Rule #19: The blue chair and the black loveseat both belong to the cats. No humans should sit there.
Rule #20: The cat bed should never be washed.

Can you help me think up more rules? I'm sure there have to be some I'm forgetting.

Thankful

My fur brother Zephyr is NOT as cute or pretty or stunningly gorgeous as me, but I suppose he's handsome in his own way, so here's a picture for you.

Not much to post today - everyone here at Casa Empress is in a bit of a turkey coma. Yes - it was Thanksgiving in the True North Strong and Free and the peeps came back from the Grandma's place bearing large amounts of that most glorious of avian victuals - turkey. The smell of turkey drives me WILD so I've been demanding some every time the humans eat any (which is pretty often). Delicious.

I'm still holding out for turducken for Christmas. Surely there is no more perfect food in the world.

I'm thankful for Zephyr. And my peeps. And baby birds. And tuna juice. And sunny weather. And being able to go outside and inside and outside and inside as much as I want. And fires in the fireplace. And the water at the bottom of the shower. And the laser pointer. And the very thought of turducken. And the cat bed. And of course, all of YOU!

Meet The Less Universally Beloved Musette

Actually, her name is "Mewsette," so we don't really share the same name. Mine is spelled differently. I personally find the way she spells hers to be a little too obvious, but what do you expect for a cartoon cat?

Yes, when they named me, the peeps were aware of the 1962 animated film, "Gay Purr-ee," which features Judy Garland as the voice of lovely Mewsette, a country cat who finds big trouble in the big city of Paris, France.

This movie is notable for many things. The songs are written by the duo who wrote the tunes for "The Wizard Of Oz" (which is apparently a popular movie despite the dearth of kitties in its cast). The movie was created by Chuck Jones, who made all the best "Looney Toons" films. And "Gay Purr-ee" impressively captures that unique "je-ne-sais-quoi" possessed by The City Of Lights. (Don’t ask me to translate that phrase – I don’t know what it means.)

The peeps own this movie and recommend it to all feline fanciers. It’s widely available on DVD and VHS. These lovely pictures are from the Big Golden Book that came out at the time of the movie.



Here's a treat for my friends and fans, from the soundtrack of "Gay Purr-ee!" Sung by Robert Goulet (as the voice of the love-lorn Jaune-Tom), "Mewsette" isn't my theme song, but it's the closest thing you'll find to it in the Robert Goulet songbook.

Click here to listen to the Mewsette song (or right-click and Save)! Mewsette.mp3

Snugglepalooza

My fur brother Zephyr and I can still manage to snuggle in our cat bed, but that boy had better stop growing...We both go to see our supernice Vet next week for our yearly check-up, so we'll see just how humungously huge he's gotten. Last time I was 9 pounds and he was 11 pounds and he's been doing some growing since then, but no matter how much he weighs I'll ALWAYS be the boss of him.

It's Getting Cold Out Here

Psychic message to fleshies: LET ME IN.