Boredom…

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
Former Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King… but my mother spelled it wrong

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?
While watching a ‘Where Are They Now…’ special about Menudo

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?
Yes, but it’s more impressive when I write in the snow.

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?
Anything endangered…

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?
According to the court systems of Canada, Taiwan and Cambodia… no

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?
It depends… who would be me?

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM?
No… I prefer Colgate

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?
Yes… and a spleen in my freezer I still can’t remember freezing.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?
Yes, I’m more afraid of the Lindy Hop…

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?
Honey Bunches of Your Mother…

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?
Shoes? We don’t need no stinkin’ shoes!!!

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM?
Cold

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?
If they have a tail…

15. RED OR PINK?
The doctor gave me cream… it’s now back to normal color thank you very much!

16. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST Favorite THING ABOUT YOURSELF?
The second smallest toe on my left foot… it’s always looking at me funny.

17. WHOM DO YOU MISS THE MOST?
Mr. Hooper…

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO COMPLETE THIS LIST?
What list? There’s a list? WTF???

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?
It’s summer… good luck finding me in either…

20. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
Not sure… they were speaking Chinese…

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
Dead Ringer For Love… Meatloaf and Cher

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?
Melted

23. FAVORITE SMELLS?
A gym sock in late July

25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU?
Hung jury… can’t answer…

26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?
Japanese…

27. HAIR COLOR?
Never use it… I accept nature as it comes

28. EYE COLOR?
Mainly white and black, but I think there is another color in there somewhere…

29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?
Nope… Reebok

30. FAVORITE FOOD
Antarctican…

31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?
It depends… how expensive is the Happy Ending?

32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?
Police Academy 37 – Tokyo Patrol

33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?
If I’m not wearing pants, do you expect to see a shirt?

34. SUMMER OR WINTER?
Sumter… much better than Winmer

35. HUGS OR KISSES?
Twix…

37. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND?
To what?

38. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND?
Seriously… be more specific…

39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?
I’m typing this quiz… I can’t read and type. What kind of freak do you take me for?

40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?
That’s a little personal, but I am sure the mouse will dispose of the pad somewhere where I don’t have to see it.

41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT?
Dust, a candle and a spider…

42. FAVORITE SOUND(S).
Your mother… (think it over for a second and you will get it)

43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES
The Who

44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME?
The second star on the left and straight on until morning…

45. WHERE WERE YOU BORN?
Are you trying to steal my identity? Same place my mother gave birth to me… didn’t think to ask that question Mister Question McQuestionson did you?

46. WHOSE ANSWERS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK?
I didn’t ask anyone anything yet…

47. WEEKEND PLANS?
I have no clue if I want to wear underwear tomorrow, so anything beyond that is anyone’s guess…

48. DOGS OR CATS?
Basselope…

49. Shark Attack or Parachuting Accident?
Both… much more lead story-ish for the 9 o’clock news.

50. Which cartoon character do you want to be when you grow up?
Any boyfriend of Judy Jetson… Mmm… I want to work on those Cogs and Sprokets!!!

The Prides… They Are a Changin’

There was a slight panic last night when for the third time one of my original six cats was missing.  Over six months we were able to Catch-Neuter-Release forty-three cats by the river/boardwalk here in Xindian.  I know every one of them by sight, and have named each one in order to keep track of them, even after the CNR ended.  When we first started, there were six that were to be the first and main catches.  We got five of them in the first two weeks and the last one took almost six months to catch.  Of those six, they are all still there (except one still recovering from an eye injury).  But this last week I couldn’t find Toughy.

I can’t pick a favorite down there as they are all great cats and I seriously love each one, but there is something a little more special about the original six.  We have seen them go from wild street cat, violent loner or tough fighter cat to loving, adorable, street-smart Taiwanese street cats.  Every time I am at the bridge to feed them, I always see the original six.  I know their areas and their prides (there are four distinct groups, which I look at as a pride).  Moustache, Wrong Place and Mouthy are in one, Mamacat and Crazy are in another, and Toughy roams a little between Moustache’s crew and her own area.  It’s this other area I am worried about.

The area at the river bend by the parking lot has always had a lot of cats in it.  After the renovations to the entire boardwalk were done, they began on the parking lot.  It wasn’t much work, but I would say about a third of the cats we have caught are from this area.  One of the best results from that area was Big Head.  He was a tough, smart, independent and very scary cat who was our first trap catch.  He would eat our food, but he would take your arm with it if he had to.  Within a month of the CNR he was the most loving, affectionate cat ever.  He would go for walks with me to find other cats, let me give him a good bum scratch, and he loved to talk.   It was like another cat.  We fell in love with Big Head.  The week before Chinese New Year he wasn’t there.  When I came back from the Philippines, he was still gone.  We never saw him again…

The other prides have cats who come and go, but he prides stay intact with their leader (alpha-cat).  Moustache rules the stairs, Mamacat rules the upper walkway, Security Cat has the bike path and security office, and a new pride is now forming in a bushed area with Stumpy, Fisher, Bridgecat and a few new faces forming the group.  The Parking Lot has always been more of a rotation of cats.  Big Head was in charge, then Toughy began working her way into the area as well, floating from the stairs to the parking lot.  We also added a cat to the mix that was caught elsewhere and had no where to be returned to named NTU.  For the last four or five months NTU has been more of the dominant cat there.  She never trusted me enough to touch her, but she was always there, ready for food, conversations and walks to find others in the area.  NTU was like one of the original six… always there.

The week we buried Angel, after finding her poisioned in the parking lot, I found NTU sitting on her grave, just silently looking at me.  Our usual conversation didn’t take place, but there was a connection to her understanding what happened and why I was there.  I fed her near the grave, and she walked with me after… silently, which was very unlike her.  NTU has always been a special one for me because we added her to the prides.  She was tough with the others, but mixed in well, holding her own with the Moustache’s, and Mamacat’s crews as well as never fighting within her own pride, a kind of understanding and respect between her and Toughy.  NTU disappeared four weeks ago…

The parking lot was like a ghost town last night.  Not a single cat came out.  Toughy was no where to be seen and no sign of the old or new cats who usually came from the bushes, from under cars, or even from down with the fishermen.  I could barley take it.  Little Big Head, Big Sister, Wulai #2, Fluffy, Tabby Tail and other CNR’s were gone, and even some of the new faces like Shadow, George (of the Jungle) and Little Black were no where to be seen.  I still don’t want to accept NTU has gone, but when Toughy didn’t come out, I knew something had to be wrong.

The pride on the stairs has stayed relatively intact.  Princess, Wulai and Kangaroo joined the pride when the construction began at the river bend and fit in perfectly.  Moustache, Wrong Place, Baby, Mouthy, Puffy and a few others are always there.  The pride is almost exclusively male with the exception of Mouthy (Princess is a boy… just very girly).

Mamacat’s crew was just her and Crazy for the longest time, but additions have joined to the dismay of Mama.  She is very protective of her territory and she is getting a little old and cranky… like the old woman who sits on her porch and yells at the kids playing in the yard.  Calico, Crazymama, Jack, Sweet Mama and Little Mama are now in the crew as well.  Bunny is still on the outskirts with a few other cats who roam in and out.  Now Sweet and Little have kittens who have joined the area.  The funny thing, this pride is almost completely female.  The interesting thing to watch is how the two prides are very close to each other.  If either of the prides mix, Moustache or Mamacat are quick to chase the intruder back to their own area.

Security Cat has one of the newer prides who have come together in an area that didn’t have many cats to begin with.  He is the most talkative cat I have ever come across and can make a meow last over a minute if he wants.  His pride is very young.  Many are kittens dumped in groups under the boardwalk, an area people seem to think is a great place to get rid of unwanted kittens..  There are two different sets of orange kittens who stay with him as well as a new black and white and a tabby.  One of he orange kittens has grown to be one of the largest cats in the area.  I dubbed him Simba a while back and he has grown to really suit the name.

As I walked the different territories last night I thought about the cats I don’t see anymore and more and more it came from the river bend/parking lot area.  I started counting the cats I was feeding.  Seven on the stairs, four at the security office, another four in the bushes, nine in the upper walkway, and a few random loners who brought the total up to twenty-seven cats.  Every name and face flashed through my head, but I kept thinking about Toughy.  My girl… my tough little round calico butterball.  She’s Mouthy’s mother and she’s like the mother figure to the stairs crew when she visits them.  I called Brandy to tell her, and I tried to ask the old lady who feeds the cats if she has seen her, but I think she thought I was asking about Mouthy, who we still have in the holding centre under care for her eye.

I fed them all, six cans of food, which really isn’t a lot for that many cats, but a lot compared to the two cans I used to bring.  I said goodbye to each crew as I left and gave Moustache a good belly rub and Wrong Place a big hug and massage, then headed for the washroom by the parking lot to wash my hands of the cat food.  Moustache, Baby, Princess and Wulai followed me for the walk and as I threw the last two empty cans in the garbage and looked out at the desolate parking lot, remembering the faces of the cats who used to cal it home, I heard a little squeaky meow come from under one of the cars.  I know these cats so well you could tape their meows and play them to me and I could tell you who they are.  I stopped dead and called out, and there she came like nothing was wrong… my Toughy.

I had no food for her, but I spent more time with her, petting, playing and showing her affection than any of the other cats last night.  I think she was a little confused as to all the attention, but she deserves it.  I really didn’t think I would get to pet her again, so I made up for it.  She rubbed, rolled and gave me a few little bites as if nothing had changed from the last time I was there.  I wanted to somehow convince her to get out of the parking lot and rejoin Moustache’s pride for good, but I know she loves to sun herself on the roofs of cars and be the first to get fed when the feeding lady begins her nightly walk.  I just hope that my cats, the original six, as well as the others are there for a long time, but I know the shelf life for a Taiwanese Street Cat is not as long as those I have cared for before.  I only got two months with Big Head, one day with Angel… and now… I still don’t want to accept it…

I found Toughy, but I still keep listening for NTU and thinking she is going to pop out from under one of the parked cars, waiting for her canned food that she loves so much…

The only pictures of Big Head and NTU I have are both in the traps.  I wish I had more of them, but I just never got any more.  I think NTU is a part of the video I posted about a month or two back which I am going to go and check now.  As for Toughy, I have some good shots of her, but I want more… more of all the cats.  I wish I could get good videos of each pride, but it’s late at night and not well lit when I go down there.  I am going to document these cats more.  They have given me two different book ideas, I just don’t know which one to start first…

My Favorite Un-Read Novel…

Have you ever realized after a long time that one of your favorite novels, one you tell everyone they should read is actually a book you have never read?  Probably not, but I figured that out today.

I was at the bookstore hoping they would have a paperback (cheap) version of something by either Phillip K. Dyck or Kurt Vonnegut (been wanting something different from them for a while) and I looked at one fot he display tables, and there it was… The Count of Monte Cristo.  This was the progression of my thoughts as I looked at the book…

• What a great book!
• Wow!  It’s cheap.
• This is a big book.  I don’t remember it being this long before.
• I remember Professor Schell droning on and on about certain parts of the book we studied. God, he was boring!
• This book is really long… when did I have time to read it in university?
• Did I even read this book?  I remember studying sections of it…
• Damn… I have to buy it now.  I’ve never read this book!

As I stood there I felt like I just got kicked off the short bus for being the dumbest kid there.  I’ve never read The Count of Monte Cristo!  I’ve watched the movie (with Guy Pierce) at least ten times (once at the drive-in) and I remember every boring lecture about it in my Classics class at university, but cover to cover… nope!

I don’t even think it would have even crossed my mind if it wasn’t for Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress (great book by the way).  Alexander Dumas was just one of the writers who they had in their checst of books from which they read in secret to the seamstress and retold the stories to villagers and the seamstress’ father.  Although the book was more about their connection to the words of Balzac, I loved the idea of these boys, being reeducated in the mountains of China in the 1970′s, with no escape but each other, reading The Count of Monte Cristo.  I think it was a more important book to the boys than Balzac.

So, I now have The Count of Monte Cristo sitting here on my table waiting for my Cookie Monster bookmark to go in and let the tale begin.  I just have to finish Rant by Chuck Palahniuk (not good so far) and get the rest of my Lonely Planet India read as well.  Maybe Dumas will travel with me this summer, or maybe it will be something to look forward to when I get home.  Either way, I can’t wait to finally read one of my favorite novels.

 

I’ve been trying to figure out what is wrong with me lately.  I’ve been over-tired, sore and I can’t even finish one of my workouts at the gym anymore.  I was talking to one of the guys at work the other day and he said we are getting old.  I thought about it, but then I remembered, he and I are the same age, but he parties all night, drinks, smokes, eats fast food and downs coffee and energy drinks to get through the day… all things I don’t do.  He should be aging faster than me, but I still couldn’t figure it out.  Then I realized that it isn’t that I can’t do it anymore… it’s that I never did it before!

When I was in my teens, I ran a lot.  I loved fitness class and I would run every day if I could.  5K… 7K… 10K… 15K… all those were normal for me.  For a few years, I was just a runner.  After a few years I started into weights.  I worked out with my best friend and got into really good shape, but never ran, I just did the weights.  I got bigger, but the thought of running was gone and the thought of impressing the two older girls who worked at our gym (Bernadette and Cindy… oh how we loved them) was all that ran through our heads.

My job at the airport was great for keeping in shape, and then university was great for packing on about 30 extra pounds of beer, Pop Tarts and Dunkaroos.  I gained a lot of weight in university and I would get gym memberships on and off (usually free or discounted as a package with an advertising deal I came up with for them), gaining size, doing a little cardio as well, but not doing enough to kill off the daily Burger King and Tim Horton runs.  By the end of university I weighed a little over 240lbs.

Then, after university, I got sick.  Well… let’s be honest, I got dumped, turned into a big ball of depression, took no care of myself and ended up putting myself in the hospital with some serious problems.  I dropped from 240 to about 170… and not in a healthy way.  I was just getting myself back on track when that kid came into my place of work and put that shotgun in my face.  I started running that night.  I ran two hours that night, and two the next night.  I ran more and more, and then started boxing.  I didn’t do weights… just boxing and running.  Then when the weather got better, I started rollerblading.  5K… 10K… 20K… It was full out cardio and with my job hauling beer at work eight hours a day (cases, not bottles) I was in great shape.

Once I came to Taiwan I got lazy.  I actually lost weight here from walking everywhere and eating really healthy, but lost my fitness.  So I got my gym membership last year and started working out.  First some cardio, then some weights.  Then more cardio and more weights… and now lots of cardio and lots of weights.  My cardio conditioning is throug the roof and my weights are going up each week (so I can finally beat a certain friend of mine in an arm wrestling rematch from 1994).  So the last month I have been having problems.  I do my cardio and I can’t get through the weights portion of the workout.  I do the weights first and I can’t do the cardio very much.  It’s making me mad because I can only get to the gym on certain days at certain times and I can’t do the whole workout.  First I thought it was the heat, then that I was getting older, and a million other reasons… but I finally figure out, I never did full cardio and weights in one workout before.  I’ve been doing both of my old workouts, combined into one super workout my body isn’t used to.

I worked myself up to an hour of cardio (45 minutes and the beginning and 15 at the end) with about an hour to and hour and a half of weights in between and usually about 20 minutes to a half hour of abs and core.  I guess it wasn’t until I sat back and looked at it that I realized that that is INSANE!  No wonder I Can’t finish the damn workout… I already killed myself doing cardio. 

I cut the cardio down to 20 and 20 when I do weights and to an hour or an hour and a half on non-weight days, just doing cardio, abs and core on those days (like today).  I don’t feel as beaten up as I did before (except for the damn ab workout today) and I’m not falling asleep on the couch afterward either.  It’s funny, in my mind I keep telling myself I used to always do this, but in reality, I pushed different memories together and convinced myself I used to do this, when I really only did one or the other.

Like always, I still don’t like the way I look… especially torn between weights and cardio, never knowing which one I want to do more, but I did get a few smiles and looks from the ladies in the cardio area at the gym (and on the elevator too), so I guess I still have it (or something hanging out of my nose).  Is there a term for Asian girls who like Canadian guys?  When it’s the other way around it’s called ‘Yellow Fever’… but there has to be a term for them being attracted to me.  I came up with one, but it may be taken in a completely different context.  Beaver Fever!  I like the way that sounds…

Rainy Day at the Movies…

Taipei has some great second-run theatres in town which save you a lot of money.  There is one just around the corner from my house that runs two screens with two movies each for $100nt (3.50US), but sometimes their combinations of movies leaves a person wondering if they even know what the movies are even about.  Although I have rarely been to it, there is a movie theatre in an alley by one of my favorite night markets where you pay $140nt and you have eight movies to choose from.  If you work it right, you can really see some good movies combined together.  You just have to plan out running times and showtimes.  There are four theatres, each running two movies, so if you do work it out right, you can get your money’s worth.

It wa sa crappy, rainy day yesterday so I figured I would check out the listings.  Usually there is one or two I want to see, but the combinations never work.  This time I wanted to see almost everything there, so I had to figure it out.  When all was said and done, I could see three and a half of the movies I would like to see, and in the end I watched two and two halves of the movies. 

Friday the 13th was cool.  A good new Jason movie that isn’t cheesy like most of the films after number three.  Race to Witch Montain was the half movie.  It started when Friday was still playing and was the movie before Watchmen.  I saw a little under an hour of it and I think that was enough.  It was a cool flashback to the old movies which I loved as a kid, but too much Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson and I want to shoot myself.  After Watchmen (I skipped it here for a reason) I watched about the first hour of Knowing.  Knowing what I do now about the movie, I would have gone to the market earlier and skipped it.

As for Watchmen.   Did everyone forget to mention how cool this movie was?  I would have to put that as one of the best superhero movies I have seen.  No fluffy cartoon stuff there, Dark, gritty and nasty at times.  I loved it.  And what movie isn’t going to be cool that opens with a retelling of American history for the last 80 years to the tune of Bob Dylan’s The Times They are a Changin’? 

The movie actually has three Dylan tunes in it, but most only know the one.  The second was when Night Owl and Rorschach are heading to the temple built by Ozymandias.  Sure, it was the Jimmy Hendrix version of All Along the Watchtower… but who worte the song?  Dylan.  And the song fit so perfectly.  A lot of people complain about the songs in the movie, but the director picked songs for their meaning to the time and the scene, not to be cool like Tarantino does.

I almost missed the third song as I was getting up to leave during the credits, but then I heard a line coming out of a punk rock song that was playing “here comes the blind comissioner, they’ve got him in a trace…” and I stopped dead.  They had My Chemical Romance cover Desolation Row and I have to say… well done.  The song fit the movie and even with their completely different style, they still seemed to understand and get the meaning of the song, and at the same time make it their own.  I never get down on anyone covering Dylan, as long as they respect the song, but still make it something unique, I love it. 

I know I’m supposed to be talking about Watchmen, but hey, it’s a way cool movie that I am sure is almost out on DVD in other parts of the world.  We are just a little behind here.  The other cool part of the movie, it begins on October 12th… my birthday.  Sure, it’s a little thing, but for me it adds to the movie. 

So, to jump back to Dylan… if you want some cool covers of his songs that sound really cool, check these ones out…

Idiot Wind – The Coal Porters
All Along the Watchtower – Eddie Vedder
Simple Twist of Fate – Jeff Tweedy
Goin’ to Alcapulco – Jim James and Calexico
Shelter from the Storm – Mary Lee’s Corvette
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door – Warren Zevon
With God on Our Side – Buddy Miller
Like a Rolling Stone – Bob Dylan (Bootleg Series 1-3, Disc 2)

I know the last one is Dylan, but it is so different than the original with him playing an organ with such a young voice, just having fun and laughing it can only be considered a cover and a true gem.

So to sum up… four movies, two good, one bad and one way too cool for words. 
And Dylan… just makes everything a little bit cooler!

There’s a new Dylan album out…

Did someone forget to send the memo to Taiwan?

I’m so out of the loop all I see are corners and edges…

I received your letter yesterday
(About the time the door knob broke)
When you asked how I was doing
Was that some kind of joke?
All these people that you mention
Yes, I know them, they’re quite lame
I had to rearrange their faces
And give them all another name…

- Desolation Row

Free Movies Are Always Good?

One of the new teachers at our school has a wife who works at a local radio station.  She gets free advance screening tickets for movies quite a bit, but they don’t go to the movies that often.  She usually gives them to her friends, but since they have been borrowing a few TV shows off me to watch, they gave me some passes.  Free movies are always good… well… getting free passes is always good.

I saw The Hangover actually a week before it’s official release in North America.  I meant to warn everyone that it’s a renter, but I forgot.  Sure, it was funny at points, but sometimes it was trying too hard and others it just didn’t try at all.  One thing about the movie I found interesting was seeing the gay Asian mobster in a theatre in Asia.  I found the character funny, but no one else in the theatre seemed to.  The total racial stereotype on top of the racial jokes really don’t go over well outside of America.  This was one of a few Hollywood movies where the stereotype and racial jokes really didn’t sit that well with me.  It didn’t ruin the movie for me, since it really was just brain candy anyway.

Tonight I raced from work to the other side of Taipei to see Drag Me to Hell.  Sam Raimi is a master at horror and really knows his stuff.  I just think instead of learning from his past work like Evil Dead and horror masters like Alfred Hitchcock, he watched way too many Tales From the Crypt movies as well as the Creepshow movies from the mid-80′s (as well as Thinner).  Did I jump?  No.  Was I scared?  No.  Did I see the ending coming a mile away and the last half hour was completely boring because I knew the damn twist while everyone else around me was shocked?  Umm… yeah.  Sorry… I’ve seen too many movies to fall for the old switch-a-roo.

The other funny thing about this movie is it is supposed to be so terrifying, but in a country where most of the good horror movies come from Japan, Korea, Germany and even China, a cookie-cutter American horror is just lost in the shuffle.  I heard more laughter than shock at this one.  And believe me, after watching a lot of Japanese and Korean horrors, I can see why this was just a run-of-the-mill family movie in Taipei.  No wonder Hollywood steals so many Japanese horror movies. 

From online previews I was really looking forward to these two movies and all I can say is they were definately worth the money I paid for them.  both would make good rentals, but then again, renting is expensive these days as well. 

I will admit I loved Star Trek (and I am not a Trekie in any way whatsoever), but the rest of the summer line-up so far doesn’t appeal to me.  Transformers and Terminator look like big budget money grabs, so I will wait until they hit the second run theatres here.  As for the rest of the summer, I’m glad I’ll be traveling Southeast Asia as nothing really appeals to me.  GI Joe?  Can’t say I really need to see a movie of the toys I loved as a kid.  I just don’t think it will be the way I want to see it.  Luckily there are some good up and coming Hong Kong movies for me over here.  I always like those.

Not sure if I explained, but Not My Cat was returned to me by the first person who adopted him.  To say it in a nice way, she had a lot of things happen to her in a short amount of time and the addition of a second cat who was not as calm as her other cat as something she just couldn’t handle… and was also the one thing she could actually control, so she dumped him back on me.  I have another version of the tale, but I will keep that one to myself.  Oh yeah… and he peed on her bed.  I gave him treats for that one!

He’s been back here for about a month and a half.  A lot of people have helped me to find him a new home, but he is a very large kitten.  People want a kitten and are a little shocked at how big he is for 8 months.  They fail to realize that he is the most perfect house cat you could find, especially in Taiwan where cats are not always as friendly or domestic.  If I could keep him, I would… but my time at home is limited and he deserves better.

The girl who is going to adopt him is coming tomorrow again.  She visits twice a week and plays with him, brings him treats and lets him be himself with her (even biting and scratching her) so  he gets used to her before the move.  She is having work done on her house, so she can’t take him until mid-July anyway, so it works out good.

He is turning into a dog now though.  Just watch the video and you will understand.  I have ever had a cat that fetches before…

As I am typing this we have been playing catch for about an hour.  he is actually to the point where if I put out my hand he will place the dice right in it for me to throw it again.  He is smart and hilarious!  Of course, it’s 4am and I want him to sleep soon!  he’s gettign realy good at the powerslide into the box.  He dives in head first, then half way in, he throws his body to the side and slides the rest of the way in as not to hit his back on the top of the box.  I love watching him, but once he gets a little worn out (like now), the slide isn’t as graceful. 

So, I have his company for a few more weeks.  It’s been nice having a cat around again.  I miss it, and so many of the things he does reminds me of Charlee, George, Whiskey, Bubba and Tiger.  It will be sad when he goes… but I do still have my 40+ bridge cats to keep me company.  I think we may have lost another one of them… but I am keeping my hopes up that she just moved up the riad a little ways.  I’m still looking…

He may look cute, but right after I took that picture of him and me, he attacked my ponytail!

Poor Farrah… a true 70′s icon’s passing overshadowed by that of an already fallen star of the 70′s and 80′s…

www.picturesforsadchildren.com

I’ve been reading and watching a lot of total crap lately.  The books I have been looking forward to reading have let me down tremendously and shows and movies are just rolling in and out like spinning toilet water (I know, that doesn’t make sense, but I’m burnt out from a long day of teaching… so I don’t care). 

The Unbearable Lightness of Being was torture to get through, Please Don’t Call Me Human had real potential, then just fell apart like the author decided three quarters of the way through the novel to start doing recreational drugs to enhance his storytelling abilities.  Even one of my favorites Chuck Pahliniuk has gone over the edge with Rant.  I’m now reading Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie which is good so far, but with my track record lately, it’s going to fall apart as well.  The only novel I really enjoyed over the last few months was James and the Giant Peach, which I had never read before.  But even with that, I was expecting a little more.

As for TV shows, maybe after finishing The Wire, nothing compares.  Rome is boring the Hades out of me, Prison Break and Heroes have fallen into some strange oblivion, Desperate Housewives killed Edie and is going to get rid of  Kyle MacLachlan, and they cancelled Pushing Daisies and The Sarah Connor Chronicles.  I even did a Survivor marathon of four seasons in two weeks (I was sick on the couch and watch the entire China season) and am trash TV’d out (but I do have a lot to say about Survivor China… which I will save for another rant).  Even the WWE and UFC are getting boring. 

So, last night I went for something I don’t usually go for… Sci Fi.  I had a copy of Paycheck sitting here for almost a year that I never watched, so I threw it in and I have to say… way cool!  I know it was panned, but over the last few years I have become a fan of Philip K. Dyck (middle name is Kindred… again… way cool).  I have always hated Blade Runner, but I loved the book Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.  Total Recall has always been a cheesy favorite of mine, and I actually realy liked Minority Report (even with the Cruiseologist in it).  After watching Paycheck I want to go to the store near here and get Recall and Minorty just to watch them all together.  I’m tempted to see the final Director’s Cut of Blade Runner (I think it’s like the fifth version they have made), but unless it has all the stuff left out from the book that were so key to the plot (like the actual Electric Sheep) then I may still want to stick with the book.

I know the bookstore here has a huge section of Dyck books, but they are a little expensive.  I may have to contact the used book guy here and see if he has any in stock and pick some up.  I still can’t get into most Sci Fi books, but Bradbury and Dyck seem to do it a little different and I like it.  I’ve tried Orson Scott Card a few times and can’t get into it, and I did try Dune, but it just wasn’t working for me (although I would like to maybe give it a second try).   I don’t know, I guess something way out of this world is fun to read sometimes.  I think I’ve been reading and watching too many serious stories that I need some brain candy for a while.  Maybe that explains my recent addiciton to Two and a Half Men and How I Met your Mother, and my constant fallback to Elmore Leonard novels. 

Of course I have to really start into the Lonely Planet travel guides for India and Nepal soon, but maybe this summer I’ll change up the reading list a little and pour a little sugar in the tank instead of reading the stuff on everyone’s Top 50 Novels You Must Read lists.  Hell, I should make a list like that and make it a real list, not one of those ‘Look How Well Read I Am’ lists.  I love looking at the list of books I have read since I got to Taiwan (I keep track on my Faceblah page) and the contrast in books is hilarious!  Actually, I’m going to look at it now and pick five you shoudl read from the list…

Damn, that was harder that I thought it would be, plus I was worried all the books I really enjoyed are usually on people Must Read lists.  It think this list is a good mix of five (okay, seven… but you have to read all three Suzuki novels to really get the full effect of the Ring) that really opened my eyes and grabbed me.  If I had to narrow it down to just two, it would be Buckowski and Vonnegut.  If I had to go down to one… I’d just flip a coin.

Okay… i’m off to the gym with my Little Chinese Seamstress book to kill time during cardio.  I hope it stays on track…