PIFA Transe Express

WOWZA.  Tonight was going to be the end of the Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts and was going to end with a huge performance from Transe Express that required this huge crane:

Mama thought about it for about two seconds, and it was decided that I would stay home and guard the house.  While I wasn't exactly thrilled with this decision, once the bells started ringing and the music began (just 2 blocks from my house), I realized what a good decision-maker she can indeed be.

So Lulu here:  The show started with this guy ringing his bell...

Then the crane started to slowly pull him off of the ground...

 

The musicians were attached to the large metal cage, which opened and closed like a giant steel flower - all around the edge were the musicians, who flew in a circle as well as went up and down.  And then there were the trapeze artists inside.

At the finale, the bell-ringer dropped down and was hanging from a box with lots of lights and smoke...

They were all over 100 feet in the air - it was pretty magnificent.

Even from my crappy vantage point behind a tree, this was spectacular.

Thanks Philly and PIFA - I was feeling kind of crappy this week, but then you go and do something wonderful like this.  Glad I came out and walked the 2 blocks.  Not completely thrilled with the group of drunk Italian-American (I know this because they told me repeatedly) women drinking directly from their bottles of red wine right in front of me (or that they used some of the event's equipment boxes as "recycling stations"), and there was a lot of "interesting" trash around the hood this morning during Bogie-walk, but hey, you can't have everything.  Still - Made me smile.

 

Love,

Lulu and Bogart

So Very Civilized

Well, well, well... you just NEVER KNOW what you're going to see when you're out on a walkie...

Still hot. 

But what is this?

OH HELL YEAH, the troughs that hold water for the horses that cart around tourists also have a handy-dandy fountain for dogs.  Absolutely brilliant.  I'm liking this city more and more.

You get to look around at lots of charming old buildings and things, AND there is a water trough.

YUM!

Love,

Bogart

Spring... What Spring?

It appears that we will be skipping the spring season here in Philadelphia - the sun has come roaring out and IT'S HOT

So what's a fuzzy boy to do?  Shorten the walkie a bit, have mama carry a bottle of water for me, and do some fine relaxation exercises in the park.

I find that I can relax better, concentrate deeper, when I find pieces of random tennis balls.  Don't you?

I'm willing to work a bit to find them - this one was actually buried - and mama was truly impressed with my mad anthropological-dig skills.

See?

Yeah, it's hot outside.  Mama dressed wrong, and I still have too much fuzz for 80 degrees.  Oh but wait, I HAVE AN IDEA

The fountain in Washington Square Park is off-limits to swimming and dogs.  Except that it hasn't actually begun working for the season yet.  And there just happens to be some water inside from the recent rains...

Yeah, I'm going for it.  You can't stop me.  Even just a little refreshing water on my paws is helping.

And bonus - it's full of sticks!  WINNING

Love,

Bogart

Art is Subjective

Ok... what is this supposed to be?

Some sort of childs drawing - angry graduate, monster plate spinner, or grumpy frenchman?

I have no freaking idea.  I'm going to have to plead "dog" in this case - as in, I'm a dog so I just cannot fathom what it could possibly be with my "he's only a dog" brain.  Yes this doesn't happen often, but sometimes I just... don't know.

I'm thinking that if I get a little drool onto it, it will add to the artistic integrity of the piece.  Give it that extra something.  Or, well, just keep it from blowing around.

Love,

Bogart

RIP Sekhmet

It is with great sadness that I tell you about the loss of my best cat friend Sekhmet.

I've known her all of my life, she's always been my greatest teacher and most patient head-lick-ee.

Sekhmet woke up this morning with something very, very wrong with her back legs.  Mama and I tried our best to help her, I gave her a gazillion kisses, but it was for naught.

We often hear people say that you can only be a "cat person" or a "dog person".  I'm very lucky in that my mama truly is both - she was a "cat person" long before I came along, and has fully embraced my dog-ness.  Perhaps it's because the cats raised me that maybe I am more cat-like, that she's been able to embrace her dog-person-ness as well.

I love all of my kitties, but Sekhmet and I had a special bond.  She was the matriarch of the family, fair but tough, with a singing voice that was, well, distinct.  She was an all-black cat with some Siamese in there somewhere, so she was quite the chatterbox in her croaky-throaty voice.

An aficionado of any kind of treats (and I mean ANY kind), Sekhmet was always small in stature, but larger than life.

She also had a little issue with being on the 'nip... but that just added to her already sparkling personality.

We couldn't bear to see you suffer, not for a moment, and so mama took you to the vet so that you wouldn't be in any pain.  It's very, very hard for her - she knew you longer than she knew Klaus! - and you two have been through so much together, but the one thing that she's always promised is that you would never suffer.  And so you drifted off in her arms.

RIP beautiful girlie.  We will all miss you, always.

Love,

Bogart and Lulu

Bogart's Kimpton Quest

Bogart Handsome Devil has entered himself in a Kimpton Hotel contest to win himself some sweet swag! Please consider voting for us (Bogart's tummy thanks you in advance):

http://www.kimptonhotels.com/services/pet-photo-contest/gallery.aspx

Love,

Bogart

A Man and His Bone

Hm... wait... vague memories... yes, coming back to me now...

BONES!!!  Must be for me... too big for cats, too carnivorous for the mama-vegetarian.

Beef Marrow Bone.  Now we're talkin'.

Oh sweet marrow bone, how I have longed for you for so very long.  The mama-vegetarian is really quite bad at this buying meat thing, thus she has long forgotten to look for you, much less bring you home to me.

Oh mama, have I mentioned recently how much I LOVE YOU...?

These are just freakin' delish.  Lip-smacking-ly good.  And so fun to eat, too!

Check out the fierce technique...

Love,

Bogart

The Magnificent Magnolia

Purty, aren't they?

We've somehow never discovered this until now.  I think it's because all of the magnolias are blooming, rather than just bare branches like everything has been for so long.

Must investigate.  Magnolia Tribute Garden - lovely.

Lovelier.  Just needed a little Airedale-ing up.

Apparently George Washington was an aficionado of the magnolia.  The more you know...

Ok, enough of that learning stuff.  I HAVE TO POOP...

Love,

Bogart

Kafka's Diet Challenge - The Results

Ok, I didn't think this was actually possible.  There, I said it.  There was no way that my tubby tabby was going to lose significant weight in a month.

Kafka, my short-haired orange tabby pal, agreed to try Hill’s Science Diet Adult Cat Light food for a month.  The box arrived with the goodies, and Kafka was thrilled.  Almost ANYTHING can be considered food by Kafka, he is truly a cat of little finicky-ness.  And thusly, his girth increased proportionally to his love of food (and stealing his housemates' food) to about 17 pounds.

We were also going to try helping Willie, our long-haired orange tabby, lose a little.  He came to us about 3 years ago when a very good friend of ours passed away, leaving him in our care.  Willie is AWESOME but he looks huge.  Upon closer inspection (in order to get a true feeling for exactly how much he should probably lose) there wasn't nearly as much cat under all of that long hair as we'd thought.  And he only weighed about 15 pounds with a big frame and giant paws, so we were definitely going to concentrate on Kafka.

Ta-da!

Today Kafka weighs 15 pounds - he lost 2 pounds in a little over a month!  I know he looks a little, um, "intense" in this photo, but for once it's not for want of more food.  He was really satisfied with the Hill's Science Diet food and maybe even puked a little less than usual (so hard to tell - with 5 cats, it's not always easy to figure out just who puked, where, and when).

Never one to miss a meal, Kafka enjoyed the little beige pellets.  I didn't change his other, regular food during the test (he gets a spoonful of wet food each day along with all of the other kitties, along with being allowed to free-feed at the crunch trough).  The only thing that changed was the crunchy food, and damn did it make a difference!

Kafka does kitty aerobics on his back.  Arms swatting in the air is his main form of exercise.  In fact he is named Kafka because of the story The Metamorphosis, where Gregor Samsa turns into a cockroach and cannot right himself.  Just let that mental image sink in for a few minutes.  There.  Now you can picture Kafka my kitty on his back meowing for more chow.  And yeah, he's still not a big exercise buff.

Again, he may not look it in this photo (it's hard to catch the wide array of emotions that Kafka is capable of on film), but he's a happy boy.  Still has some belly, still a mighty mouser, but carrying a bit less stash in the belly bag.

Thanks Hill's for allowing us to participate!  Kafka sends along his love...

Love,

Lulu and Bogart