CATastrophes Web Series Makes Us Laugh, and Helps Cats!

If you read Catladyland, I'm pretty sure you've got a great sense of humor and are all for cats finding great homes. Well, my friend Alana Grelyak of the Cat in the Fridge blog has teamed up with filmmaker husband Michael Gabriele to create a new humorous, cat-centric web series called CATastrophes. And Discovery Digital Network's Animalist.com has picked it up! This is good news for humans and cats alike!

CATastrophes stars Alana and actor/comedian Kris Flanagan, and each episode features adoptable cats and a couple who has to deal with comedic situations surrounding the cats. What's so cool about the series -- aside from the fantastically fun storylines and outstanding production quality -- is that these cats in need of homes get extra exposure. Win-win, right?

Kris and Alana are simply CATastrophic.

Between the longer features, Alana and Kris will offer tips on living with cats, showcase harder-to-adopt kitties and even reenact viewers' stories. And within the features are critical messages about important topics like spaying and neutering. The CATastrophes team has really figured out a way to use their medium to entertain and educate the public. And I much prefer their style to the hard-to-watch commercials and videos that feature the darker side of the subject.

Cats in tie = good entertainment.

The episodes will air weekly on Animalist.com and YouTube, and today's new one stars the one and only Lil BUB as a cat who has the power to take humans back in time! Also featured are adoptable cats from Tree House Humane Society in Chicago. I'm a big fan of The BUB, and thoroughly enjoyed this clever story. I'm planning on subscribing to the channel so I don't miss an episode. I'm sure after watching the current episode, you'll want to do the same thing. Plus ... BUB! Here it is:

Catladyland loves to support anything funny that also helps cats. This is exactly what CATastrophes does. I hope you'll join us in enjoying and sharing this fun and thoughtful new project.

This post is sponsored by Discovery Digital Network. I am being compensated for helping spread the word about CATastrophes, but Catladyland only shares information we feel is relevant to our readers. Discovery Digital Network is not responsible for the content of this article.

Off on the Right Foot!

It's Monday... how about a tidbit of kitty toes to start your week off the right way?

Speaking of feet...this weekend I found some shoes online.  

THESE are what I want for my birthday in March!  

I love them so much -- I will probably sleep in them.

Now get your feet moving and have a great week!

Wordless Wednesday and Something Cool!

That's the wordless part and now comes the wordy portion (aka the "something cool").  Last week, Catladyland was the Featured Blog on the About.com: Cats blog!  Franny wrote such a nice review for which I am grateful. What an honor and a treat!  If you've never visited this blog, you really should...and then follow it.  She writes about health and behavior issues, breeds, and fun features as well.  She's a very knowledgeable and super-nice cat lover!

Oh, and you'll love this: You can "show off your personal cat blog" on About.com: Cats.  Just answer a few interview questions and submit!  So many Catladyland readers are also devoted and talented cat bloggers -- this is an opportunity to get the word out about your cat blog!  You can take a look at my page here.

Have a fantastic Wednesday -- laugh a lot, kiss some cats, and eat the frosting before the cake.  And hey -- wear your silly pants for a while today.  Life's too short to be serious all the time, right?  Of course I'm right.

It Takes a Village to Teach Me how to Make a Child's Poncho

I recently discovered Expert Village, a wonderous widget of websitery that houses videos from almost 3,000 experts on how to do most anything. Seriously... one can learn how to tighten bicycle brakes, make a child's poncho, or even how to correctly breathe when playing the didgeridoo. Heck, there may even be a video on how to do all three at the same time. I first discovered this storehouse of instructional enlightenment when I had questions about the construction of a table runner I was sewing as a Christmas gift. I am a visual learner and respond more quickly to being shown how to do something versus simply reading the words. And if you'd like anything assembled and only have instructions that involve pictures of screws and vague-looking oblong structures labeled A-ZZ, you'd be better off paying the small fee offered by IKEA to have your Bjursta sideboard arrive pre-assembled. Digression-Express to Älmhult aside, I must confess that the table-runner instructional video assisted me in creating a fantastic piece of festive finery somewhat suitable to perhaps even adorn the Martha Stewart Living endcap at K Mart. As I further perused the horn-of-"how-to"-plenty, I began to think about other types of instructional videos that may help me with my day-to-day dilemmas. Here are some suggestions I'd like to submit to Expert Village:

* How to stop Cosmo the cat from drooling all over me when I am sleeping
* How to predict if this is one of the days my son will like peanut butter
* How to stop my kids from growing so I don't have to buy new pants every 3.5 days
* How to teach clothes to fold themselves and dutifully drift to the designated dresser drawers
* How to burn 500 calories by playing Scrabble
* How to teach my cats to maintain their own litter boxes
* How to transfer the nutritional value of broccoli to brownies
* How to harness the energy of bickering children and use it to power my vacuum cleaner

Now where did I put my didgeridoo?

Don't Try This at Home...Unless You Record it and E-Mail it to Me

I was just talking to a friend about how kids have always been fascinated with the odd and bizarre. I remember poring over the pages of the Guiness Book of World records; I was hypnotized by the grainy black and white photos of the smallest lady standing like a doll on a table, the woman with the crazy-curly long fingernails, and the heaviest man, busting out of his overalls - it hardly seemed possible! Times haven't changed much - now my kids love to look at those books and I still am still transfixed by anything curious and offbeat. We can hardly make a trip home to St. Augustine without the obligatory trip to the Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum. I've ogled those familiar exhibits dozens of time, but my eyes still pop at the prospect of a real shrunken head or a sketching of The Last Supper on a piece of rice.

Oddities still abound, my friends.... one must only peruse the interwebs a short time before happening upon sites which feature individuals who spend their time sharing freaky and useless brain candy with anyone who will plug into their dotcom. And I am the sucker that will devour that brain candy. This morning I've been nibbling away at this fantastic site which allows the viewer to choose a random item and then watch what happens when it's microwaved. Awesome, right? Admit it - you are just as curious as I am about what happens when a stick of deodorant or a clump of Christmas lights are zapped in a microwave oven. You must check this out for yourself - you'll thank me...or think I'm even stranger than you originally thought.

Look! An exploding eclair!

When Kitten Comes Marching Home

The hazy salmon sun permeates the dense smog on a cold Detroit morning. A tiny mew cries out into the damp basement air and the new mother pulls her newborn kitten into the snug security of her fur, urging the baby boy to suckle her warm milk. The weeks that follow are idyllic and carefree; packed with endless rumble-tumble with siblings and hours of nurse-n-nap with Mama. Then, one afternoon, while the others are sleeping, Mama pulls the kitten aside.


"Yes, Mama?"

"Son, you're six weeks old now and it's time for us to have a talk."

"Am I in trouble, Mama?"

Mama gently places her loving paw on his shoulder and brings him closer. "No, baby, you're not in trouble."

"Then what is it?"

"Well, I wish your father was around to have this talk with you, but we both know..."

Kitten drops his head and nods. Mama continues, "You're the cutest one of the litter - you know that."

Kitten rolls his eyes and shakes his head. "Mama...."

"Just listen - there is a future for those like you. Not all kittens are lucky enough to go and even fewer are lucky enough to survive, but the honor to be won... oh, the untold glory and honor..." Mama closes her eyes and a tiny tear rolls down her butterscotch cheek. Kitten reaches up and wipes the tear with his petite paw.

"What are you trying to say, Mama?"

"Kitten, you're going to war."



Kittenwar