Plush Life: 8/26/07

Saturday, September 01, 2007

Saturday Caturday

Oh, hai. I wuz just killing this feather.

Halloooooooo!!

Photos are high res, and yes, Ripley is a little out of focus- I just loved her expression.

Lightning

photo: Rob Dekker, photograph of lightning storm over Madeira, Portugal

I found these gorgeous photographs on a site that Phila linked to (for something else) Dark Roasted Blend, an interesting blog that always has a lot of weird and interesting things posted.

When I was in 5th grade, one of my teachers gave us an assignment, to write a paper (a report really) and give an oral presentation on a science subject of our choosing, the catch being that we were assigned a specific part of the alphabet and sent off to look at the Encyclopedia Britannica. I got "L" and the only thing that interested me was the entry on lightning, which went on for several pages. Gah! what a failure that report was! I was completely incapable of understanding, much less explaining, what lightning was and how it worked. "It's bright and pretty and causes loud booms!!" I shuffled my feet and struggled to explain what positive and negative charges were and what that had to do with clouds. Really, I hadnt a clue. That oral report was one of the longest 15 minutes of my childhood. The next kid up had the letter "D" and his report was on dogs. The class was very entertained.

Childhood can be so cruel.

These days scientists still don't completely understand lightning (or so I gather from watching the Discover and Science Channels), but it's essentially a plasma discharge- and both of these photos illustrate the incredible power of those discharges. Gorgeous and terrifying. I still don't really understand it either, but I still like the pictures a lot.

I always wonder if maybe aliens come flying through our neighborhood and look at our world and say, "fuck! I'm not stopping there- look at the atmosphere! Not only is it composed of corrosive oxygen, it has those huge freaking storms that give off plasma bolts!! Run for your lives!"

Okay, maybe not, but the pictures are stunning. And if you happen upon it, look out for a show that's frequently repeated on Discovery Channel about superlightning- which is about exotic kinds of lightning that happen above the clouds, some of it jetting all the way into the upper atmosphere at the boundaries of space. Here's a good graphic from NASA of the different types:

You can haz science!!

Friday, August 31, 2007

Bonus kittehs

More closeted rethugs? Reallyz???

Wut U mean mah face iz fat? I'ze just fluffy.

(pics are high res)

MADDDIIIEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

ROAAARRR!!! Maddie tries out her lionesse skillz. A kitteh needs skillz.

Dis printer iz making funny noises again.

We doan gnaw on R sisters, we givs 'em bathses.

RIIIIIIIPLLLEEEEEEE!!!!!!

I has a stick. I iz etting it.

Die feather on a stick! DIE!!!

Oh, noes! teh couch iz etted me. I'ze nao yoda kitteh.

Maxx!!!! memorial blogging

It still makes me smile to see his sweet face.

Friday cat blogging

Oy, very busy day again today. I have new pics, but they're still on mah camera- you can haz them l8tR.

K thx bai

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Get well Zoey!!

Awww, Ripley iz sweet, sweet gurl kitteh.

Zoey Update

Barry has an update on Zoey, and the news is pretty encouraging:

Went to the vet’s office early this morning to get the little girl. Was prepared to bring her home to start the long recovery process.

Ran into Dr. Mike as soon as I walked in, he had been trying to call me at home with an update.

Zoey had a “good” night, insofar as possible considering. She charmed the staff at the kitty hospital with her very strong and loud purring anytime she got attention.

So, Dr. Mike said that while giving Zoey another “once over” about 7 am, he noticed some movement in her jaw. Seems her mandible is cracked where the left and right halves fuse together. Dr. Mike said that many times, its just a send home kind of fracture, but he and Dr. Del are gonna wire her jaw together for 3 weeks.

That information eliminated Magoo as a culprit in the attack, and left Arrow alone at the perp. We wondered last night why there wasn’t any bottom wound to match the upper damage around her eye, and Magoo and her needle claws became suspect. But with the jaw info, everything points to Arrow.

Zoey is still hemorrhaging a bit in her sinuses, no telling how many tiny fractures there are in those little bones. The good news there is that the bleeding out of her right nostril has stopped, and the left is just a trickle this morning.

And the eye…

Dr. Mike says that he is able to see space between her cornea and her iris. That’s real good news, means that the eye fluid hasn’t drained out, and there is still internal pressure keeping the eyeball in shape, he was optimistic about her keeping the eye.

So, she remains in their care for today while they sedate her and do the wire magic on her jaw. While sedated, they’ll be able to get a much better idea about her eye too.

Sounds like she's in very good hands, with a caring staff at the veterinarian.

She does look pissed off in that picture though.

Bathtime

Silly gurlzz. Of course it eventually devolves into a wrassling match.

Oh, Noes!!

Barry's sweet kitty Zoey is in the kitty hospital (sad details here.) Please send her your healing love vibes.

Poor sweet baby.

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Extra kittehs

Ripley shows off her noble profile.

Maddie wonders why all the goopers are perverts.

Daily plush

Halloooo!!

Kitteh porn.

I'ze bathing, go aways.

I'ze ready for mah closeup.

Baby wild plushies

Brand new white lion cubs.

A one month old leopard cub.

Both photos shot by Muhammad Hamed at the Jordan Zoo, for the Associated Press.

Teh sweet.

Lightning

Photographed in Clifton, NJ on Saturday by Mike Groll for the Associated Press. The red streak across the screen is probably the tail light of a passing car- lightning shots are almost always time exposures.

I lurves me some lightning.