Even MOAR caturday!!

Iz dere a milk ring in dis couch?

Wut? iz dinnertime??

U dooz laundry? I halps U!!

Iz CATURDAY!!!

I lieks teh baftub dis week. Iz nice and kewl.

I killed dis mousie. I pluks it 2.

Den I be relaxrs. kai, thx, bai!

Somebody can haz BIRFDAY!!!

I can haz birfday?

Birfday hat??? WANT!!

I can haz many new toyz.

Oh noes! Hat, U DOING IT WRONG!!

Looks like Maxxine had a delightful birthday.

Plushy thursday

"Furst I noms..." (this is Maddie's favorite way of snacking- she lays on the floor and scoops her crunchies out of the bowl with her paw.)

"den I naps"

"Furzt I plaiz wit mah mousie in da baftub...."

"den I naps till mah centaur comes home."

I noes....

...U only comes here for teh kittehs.

"Yes, I iz in de baftub...nao will U thro me mah mousie? plze?"

"Wut? I'z goes to nom, kai?"

Homunculus Nebula

This is gorgeous.

Explanation: How did the star Eta Carinae create this unusual nebula? No one knows for sure. About 165 years ago, the southern star Eta Carinae mysteriously became the second brightest star in the night sky. In 20 years, after ejecting more mass than our Sun, Eta Car unexpectedly faded. This outburst appears to have created the Homunculus Nebula, pictured above in a composite image from the Hubble Space Telescope taken last decade. Visible in the above image center is purple-tinted light reflected from the violent star Eta Carinae itself. Surrounding this star are expanding lobes of gas laced with filaments of dark dust. Jets bisect the lobes emanating from the central star. Surrounding these lobes are red-tinted debris captured only by its glow in a narrow band of red light. This debris is expanding most quickly of all, and includes streaming whiskers and bow shocks caused by collisions with previously existing material. Eta Car still undergoes unexpected outbursts, and its high mass and volatility make it a candidate to explode in a spectacular supernova sometime in the next few million years.

From Astronomy Picture of the Day.

Alien life

AFP/Gabriel Bouys

Well, okay, just some jellyfish.

But still, it doesn't LOOK like it's from this planet, does it?

My favorite Stones song...

And apparently, Barack Obama's as well.

Pretty much describes the way I'm feeling this week.

Rough days... oh NOES!!

Poor Miss Ripley, she's had a trying couple of days. Much vaccoooming going on (we had ants! but we haz defeats dem) and last night, evil, rude hot rodders were scaring her with their awful VRROOOMING ENGINES and peal-outs.

Many scritches were needed to sooth a poor kitteh's gangled nerves.

Kittehs hate mondays

Why U goes to werk? whyz???

Iz a kitteh sundai

The best thing about Sunday? sleeping in with my gurl kittehs.

memorial lion kitty maxx

Seems like many kittehs and puppies have gone on to the great beyond lately. We can only hope that they'll join Maxx on his great adventure in the cosmos.

I miss you buddy.

Celebrate the Solstice

Simply beautiful. Photo Credit & Copyright: Anthony Ayiomamitis

From NASA's Atronomy Picture of the Day

Today's solstice marks the northernmost point of the Sun's annual motion through planet Earth's sky and the astronomical beginning of the northern hemisphere's summer. But only two days ago, the Full Moon nearest the solstice rose close to the ecliptic plane opposite the Sun, near its southernmost point for the year. Astronomer Anthony Ayiomamitis recorded this dramatic picture of the solstice Full Moon rising above Cape Sounion, Greece. The twenty-four hundred year old Temple of Poseidon lies in the foreground, also visible to sailors on the Aegean Sea. In this well-planned single exposure, a telescopic lens makes the Moon loom large, but even without optical aid casual skygazers often find the Full Moon looking astonishingly large when seen near the horizon. That powerful visual effect is known as the Moon Illusion.

My most vivid memory of the moon illusion is from a serene summer evening in 1967. We lived in northern California, back during the days when kids still went out to play. And on pleasant summer nights, the thing we hated most was the sound of our mothers calling us in for the night. This particular night was different though... it was so balmy and bright, that even the parents seemed to be out in the neighborhood, chatting up their neighbors and futzing about with a highball glass in their hands (it was the 60's ya know). When the moon rose that evening, it hung on the horizon like a giant world about to crash to the earth. It looked so close I felt I could run to the end of the street and touch it. It was magical.

It happened 40 years ago and I can remember it like yesterday. I've never seen anything remotely close to it since. How about you guys? Any great moon stories?

Bonus baby pics

Just for the hell of it.

friday Part 2

Wut?
I'ze watching teh birdies.

I lurves to nap.

Friday kittehs Pt. 1

Yes, there is a cat in there.

Noir!

Eeeeeeek!!! Eatage!!!!

I been nommed.

Kitteh teevee

Nom nom nom nom nom nom.

Photos taken through my window under supervision of teh plushygurlz.

Sleepy plushies

Admire mah supreem plushitude.

A tummy closeup.

Maddie likes to nap in the half pipe too. Tho she doesn't exact fit any more.

I can hear Athenae going "EEEEEEEEEEEEP!!" all the way from Chicago.

Tornado instead

How would you like to look out your door and see this monster?

Also from Dark Roasted Blend