Blog Blast for Peace and Thursday Thirteen

Today is the BlogBlast for Peace! We are purring for peace.



It is also Veterans' Week (November 5-11). Since our human dad is an officer in the Canadian Forces, Veterans' Week and Remembrance Day are very important to us. Our dad's grandfather is a veteran who served in the Second World War. We would like to thank all the men and women who have served their country, and those who continue to serve, in order to protect our freedoms and to bring freedom to others throughout the world, and who try to bring peace or keep the peace in areas under conflict.

13 Ways to Take Part in Veterans' Week (courtesy of Veteran's Affairs Canada)

1. Pause for the "2-Minute Wave of Silence" at 11:00 a.m. on November 11 for the men and women who served our country during wartime.
2. Attend commemorative ceremonies at the local cenotaph.
3. Watch the national Remembrance Day services on television and remember that the National War Memorial in Ottawa is dedicated to those who served in time of war.
4. Wear a poppy in tribute to the men and women who sacrificed their lives for freedom.
5. Plan a candlelight tribute to commemorate a special anniversary with one of the regiments, air force groups or naval associations in your area. Visit Veterans Affairs Canada's Web site for links to Veterans' groups and organizations.
6. Spread the word about Veterans' Week.
7. Organize a lunchtime discussion on how the wars still have an impact on our lives today.
8. Encourage your local public library or archives, both important resources for community history, to create a display of wartime memorabilia (for example, photographs, uniforms, badges, military medals and decorations, diaries) in your office complex.
9. Hold a series of readings during the Week on books by or about Veterans and the wars.
10. Organize a walking tour of historic sites related to Veterans' achievements in your community, for example businesses, hospitals, museums, grave sites, etc.
11. Contact your local Royal Canadian Legion Branch, local historical or genealogical society, the history department at a nearby university or community college, or local Veterans' groups for information and speakers. Bookmark Veterans Affairs Canada's Web site for links to Veterans' organizations.
12. Visit a Veterans' residence, senior citizens' residence or nursing home to talk to older men and women about their lives and experiences during times of war.
13. Ask your local school board, a trustee or teachers to use the school resources provided free each year by Veterans Affairs Canada in the classroom.
    
    and for those currently serving:
    
    Get in touch with a member of the Canadian Forces either in Canada or overseas. All the addresses for Canadian Forces bases and overseas operations are listed on the National Defence Web site at Write to the Troops.

Tags: Blog Blast for Peace, Peace Globe, Dona Nobis Pacem, Canadian Forces, Remembrance Day, Veterans' Week, Sphynx, Canadian Sphynx, Canadian hairless, cat, hairless cat, hairless kitten, kitten, Sphynx kitten

Thursday Thirteen: People Food

To continue yesterday's theme, today we bring you:

13 Human Foods We Like to Eat

1. Salmon - D & M
   
   
2. Milk, the little bit in the bottom of the humans' cereal bowl (it doesn't bother our tummies) - D & M
   
   
3. Yogourt - M
   
   
4. Vanilla ice cream - D & M
   
   
5. Vanilla pudding - M
   
   
6. Animal crackers - M
   
   
7. Digestive cookies/biscuits - M
   
   
8. Cheese - M
   
   
9. Popcorn - M
   
   
10. Chips/Crisps - M
    
    
11. Ritz crackers - M
    
    
12. Sandwich meat - M
    
    
13. Fruit smoothies - M
    

Tags: Thursday Thirteen, Sphynx, Canadian Sphynx, Canadian hairless, cat, hairless cat, hairless kitten, kitten, Sphynx kitten

Thursday Thirteen: The Marathon

Our humans are running the Munich Marathon on Sunday. In honour of this fact, we bring you:

13 Things About the Marathon

1. A Marathon is 26.2 miles / 42.2 kilometres. Other races may call themselves "marathons" but an official marathon race is this distance.
   
   
2. This will be our humans' third marathon together. They ran their first in the Fall of 2005, the Prince Edward County Marathon, their second was the Hamburg Marathon in April 2007. Our dad has also run one marathon by himself, the Munich Marathon last October (2007).
   
   
3. The name, "marathon", comes from the legend of Pheidippides, a Greek soldier, who was sent from the town of Marathon to Athens to announce that the Persians had been miraculously defeated in the Battle of Marathon. It is said that he ran the entire distance without stopping, but moments after proclaiming his message to the city he collapsed dead from exhaustion.
   
   
4. The modern marathon was first run during the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 in Athens. This first Olympic marathon was 40 km (24.85 miles). It was an Olympic race for men only until 1984.
   
   
5. The women's marathon was introduced at the 1984 Summer Olympics (Los Angeles, USA).
   
   
6. The length of a marathon was at first not fixed since all that was important was that all athletes competed on the same course. The exact length of an Olympic marathon varied depending on the route established for each venue so the choice of distance was somewhat arbitrary.
   
   
7. The marathon at the 1908 Olympic Games in London was set to measure exactly 26 miles and to start on ‘The Long Walk’ – a magnificent avenue in the grounds of Windsor Castle. At his own request it was scheduled to be started by King Edward VII personally. It was only on the day before the race that it was extended by 385 yards from its set 26 miles so that the King could start the race in the Great Courtyard of the Castle (385 yards up the hill) and so that the runners would cross the finish line in front of his wife Queen Alexandra in the Royal family's viewing box in the Olympic Arena - so the length became 42.195 km (26 miles 385 yards).
   
   
8. A fixed distance of 42.195 km was adopted in 1921 by the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) as the official marathon distance.
   
   
9. The world record time for men over the distance is 2 hours 3 minutes and 59 seconds, set in the Berlin Marathon by by Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia on September 28, 2008.
   
   
10. The world record for women was set by Paula Radcliffe of United Kingdom in the London Marathon on 13 April 2003, in 2 hours 15 minutes and 25 seconds.
    
    
11. In 2007, in the U.S.A. (the only country we could find statistics for) there were more than 407,000 marathon finishers.
    
    
12. 0ver 12,000 runners are expected to participate in the Munich Marathon this year.
    
    
13. We wish our humans all the best on Sunday! Good luck mom and dad!

Tags: Thursday Thirteen, Marathon, Munich Marathon, Munich, Running, Run, Race,

Thursday Thirteen: Photos

13 Recent Photos of Us!

(If you missed Merlin's masterpiece yesterday, be sure to scroll down and check it out)

Tags: Thursday Thirteen, Sphynx, Canadian Sphynx, Canadian hairless, cat, hairless cat, hairless kitten, kitten, Sphynx kitten

Thursday Thirteen: Things We Don't Like to Hear

13 Things We Don't Like to Hear

1. Merlin, NO! (when Merlin is doing anything he's not supposed to)
   
   
2. Merlin, GET DOWN! (when Merlin is up on the table, or the treadmill, or other places he shouldn't be)
   
   
3. Merlin, Stop That! (again, when Merlin is doing anything he's not supposed to)
   
   
4. OUT! Get out, Boys! (when we're in the bathroom or the Bowflex/Comic book room, when our humans are going to close the door)
   
   
5. It's too early for crunchies (we only get crunchies at bedtime)
   
   
6. We're all out of fishy treats (Dragonheart likes to have dried fish cubes crushed and sprinkled over his stinky goodness)
   
   
7. Dragonheart, is your brother being a bad influence? (when Dragonheart, normally the "good boy," does something naughty, like Merlin would do)
   
   
8. Get off the laptop! (gee, we're just trying to blog and visit our friends)
   
   
9. You're supposed to be an obligate carnivore! (when Merlin tries to eat people food, like animal crackers, cheese, etc.)
   
   
10. Merlin, we're trying to eat. Leave us alone. (when Merlin climbs all over our humans when they are trying to eat)
    
    
11. It's human alone time (we aren't sure why humans need time alone apart from us)
    
    
12. Not right now, Merlin (when Merlin tries to climb all over our dad, and cuddle on his chest, when our dad is trying to do something)
    
    
13. Bath time (no explanation needed!)
    

Tags: Thursday Thirteen, Sphynx, Canadian Sphynx, Canadian hairless, cat, hairless cat, hairless kitten, kitten, Sphynx kitten

Thursday Thirteen: Nicknames

Here are thirteen nicknames that our humans call us, in addition to our regular names (Dragonheart and Merlin). Dragonheart's nicknames are followed by a D, Merlin's by an M, and ones that apply to both of us with a D and an M.

1. Dude (D, M)
2. Dragon-Dude (D)
3. Four-legged stomach (M)
4. Mommy's Good Boy, Good Boy (D)
   
5. Handsome, Handsome Boy (D, M)
6. El Destructo (M)
7. Purr Meister (M)
8. Purr Machine (M)
9. Crazy Cat (D, M)
10. Psycho, Psycho Kitty (D, M)
    
11. Silly, Silly Boy (D)
    
12. Little$h!t (M)
13. Adorable Little $h!t (M)

Gee, from those nicknames, can you tell who's the well-behaved one, and who's the trouble-maker? ;)

Tags: Thursday Thirteen, Nicknames, Sphynx, Canadian Sphynx, Canadian hairless, cat, hairless cat, hairless kitten, kitten, Sphynx kitten

Thursday Thirteen: Photos On Our Cat Tree

Just some random photos of us on our cat tree in the cat room / spare room, that our mom took yesterday (click any photo to view a larger version).

1. Merlin

2. Dragonheart

3. Merlin

4. Dragonheart

5. Dragonheart

6. Dragonheart

7. Merlin attacking his tail

8. Merlin

9. Merlin

10. Dragonheart

11. Merlin

12. Merlin

13. Dragonheart

Tags: Thursday Thirteen, Sphynx, Canadian Sphynx, Canadian hairless, cat, hairless cat, hairless kitten, kitten, Sphynx kitten

Thursday Thirteen: All About Merlin

13 Things About Merlin!

1. I was born on September 2, 2007.
   
   
2. I will be turning one next Tuesday, and I will officially be a Mancat!
   
   
3. My litter had two girls and two boys, so I have one brother and two sisters!
   
   
4. My breeder's Cattery name is MiracleLove.
   
   
5. My registered name is MiracleLove Bijan, but my daily use name, as you all know, is Merlin.
   
   
6. I am registered with TICA, The International Cat Association. So I have papers!
   
   
7. My dam was MiracleLove X Opium and my sire was Majikmoon Wolfgang Ama Nudius.
   
   
8. I came to live with my humans in my Forever Home on December 22, 2007, so my mom says I was an early Christmas present.
   
   
9. I am a pointed Sphynx, so when I was born, I was white (pink), and then my points gradually developed and darkened as I grew older.
   
   
10. I am a Seal Point and White Sphynx, with baby blue eyes.
    
    
11. My favourite thing in the entire world is purring! I purr ALL the time. I love to purr!
    
    
12. I'm a "daddy's boy" since Dragonheart has claimed our human mom. I prefer to curl up on my human dad whenever possible, but when he's not home, I'll curl up with our mom (if Dragonheart lets me) or with Dragonheart.
    
    
13. After purring and cuddling, my next favourite thing is playing. I love to play with all kinds of toys, but my favourites are interactive toys, like wand toys, the Whirlybird, and our butterfly toy (the same toy that we sent to Kaze that she loves so much). I also like to get into the trash to find new and exciting toys to play with.

(The top three photos to the right are from my breeder when I was a baby kitten living with him, and the bottom one is from my first day in my Forever Home.)

I hope that you will all stop by next Tuesday to celebrate my birthday with me!

Tags: Thursday Thirteen, Pointed Sphynx, Sphynx, Canadian Sphynx, Canadian hairless, cat, hairless cat, hairless kitten, kitten, Sphynx kitten

Thursday Thirteen: Tuscany

13 Photos of our Humans' Trip to Tuscany

1. Ruins of a Roman Theatre in Volterra

2. Fortezza of Montalcino

3. The Farm where our humans stayed

4. Siena Duomo (Cathedral)

5. Stained glass window in Siena Duomo

6. Pienza Duomo

7. Palazzo Piccolomini in Pienza

8. Volterra Duomo

9. Towers of San Gimignano

10. San Gimignano

11. A cat they met in San Gimignano

12. Walled city of Monteriggioni

13. Siena's Palazzo Publico

Tags: Tuscany, Travel, Siena, Italy, Thursday Thirteen,

Thursday Thirteen: Bald is Beautiful!

13 Reasons Bald is Beautiful - Why it is Good to be a Sphynx

1. No fur = no shedding!
   
   
2. No hairballs!
   
   
3. We don't have to worry about our fur getting matted or otherwise messed up.
   
   
4. Sphynx have a faster metabolism than other cats breeds, which means we can eat more food and stay slim!
   
   
5. Because we don't have any fur, our humans let us sleep with them, snuggled under the covers, so that we stay warm.
   
   
6. Weekly baths result in an extra serving of stinky goodness for being good while being bathed.
   
   
7. Sunlight feels really good against bare skin.
   
   
8. Humans always let us cuddle in their nice, warm laps.
   
   
9. Since Sphynx are friendly and outgoing, we charm everyone who meets us in person.
   
   
10. Large Sphynx ears make it easy to hear (useful for hearing the humans opening cans of stinky goodness or returning home after being away.)
    
    
11. Thick paw pads allow Sphynx to walk very quietly, sneaking around (great for pouncing on unsuspecting prey.)
    
    
12. Our lack of fur shows off our muscular confirmation quite nicely, it's not hidden under fur!
    
    and most important of all:
    
    
13. Our dad, who is allergic to other cat breeds, can tolerate Sphynx, so because we are Sphynx, we get to live with the best humans in the world.

Tags: Thursday Thirteen, Sphynx, Canadian Sphynx, Canadian hairless, cat, hairless cat, hairless kitten, kitten, Sphynx kitten