Yoda has made an appearance on Earth

http://starwarsblog.starwars.com/ind...da-the-kitten/

--
Joyce ^..^

(To email me, remove the X's from my user name.)

wrote in message
...
http://starwarsblog.starwars.com/ind...da-the-kitten/

--
Joyce ^..^

He certainly does look like Yoda!


--
Joy

Happy New Year!

On 01 Jan 2009 22:22:16 GMT, wrote:

http://starwarsblog.starwars.com/ind...da-the-kitten/

a furball without fur - he/she ook like Yoda LOL

hopitus wrote:

Ahem....I wouldn't call him "cute"(whisper)

In general I agree that sphynx cats aren't exactly "cute". They're too
weird looking for that description, I think. This particular picture
is cute to me, because it has its eyes closed, which gives it more of
a kitty face. When they open their eyes, they look like aliens with huge
bulging eyes and tiny wizened faces.

I will share with you that I have - at big cat shows - held and petted
Sphynx cats (never saw a kitten) by way of friendly and easygoing
owners there; they are surprisingly *warm*, considering very very
short fur, kinda like "peach fuzz", and just as laid back and friendly
as your average Persian pedigreed at such shows, in high competition
for prizes/cash/trophies....Persians look grumpy because of their
little "pushed-in" noses/faces but put up admirably with the neverending
fluffing, combing, brushing, eye-picking for crusties of their owners.

I think cat shows are weird. Occasionally I'll watch a show about one
on Animal Planet, and I think they are just bizarre. The way the presenter
handles the cat, picking it up with each hand under each pair of legs,
and turning the cat this way and that to show all the cat's wonderful
features, etc. And then, yes, all the fluffing of fur and so forth. I
don't necessarily think it's cruel, although it must be pretty boring
for a lot of the cats. Just doesn't seem like a very natural life for a
kitty. Mostly, though, I just think it's weird, and the people who do
it seem kind of weird to me, too. (Yes, I did see "Best in Show". )

I might like it better if the kitties were moggies, just because I
usually respond more to moggies than to purebreds. But it would still
seem like an odd preoccupation, and unnatural for the cats.

--
Joyce ^..^

(To email me, remove the X's from my user name.)

wrote in message
...
hopitus wrote:

I think cat shows are weird. Occasionally I'll watch a show about one
on Animal Planet, and I think they are just bizarre. The way the presenter
handles the cat, picking it up with each hand under each pair of legs,
and turning the cat this way and that to show all the cat's wonderful
features, etc. And then, yes, all the fluffing of fur and so forth. I
don't necessarily think it's cruel, although it must be pretty boring
for a lot of the cats. Just doesn't seem like a very natural life for a
kitty. Mostly, though, I just think it's weird, and the people who do
it seem kind of weird to me, too. (Yes, I did see "Best in Show". )

I might like it better if the kitties were moggies, just because I
usually respond more to moggies than to purebreds. But it would still
seem like an odd preoccupation, and unnatural for the cats.

--
Joyce ^..^


I know for a fact it's more fun to actually *go* to a cat show than it is to
watch one on TV. I've only been to one, and it wasn't any huge televised
competition, to be sure. But it was an FFA sponsored event. To walk into
an auditorium filled with cats (each with the most glorious, luxurious cat
cages you've ever seen' and hear all the soft (not raucous) meows all over
the place... oh my! I remember walking up and down the aisles, peering into
cages at all the sweet wonderful cats. I'm sure it's pretty boring for the
cats. But those owners definitely lavish love and attention on them.
Brushing, fluffing, dangling toys in front of them. I never saw so many
feather wands in one place in all my life! And all the cats were very
sweet.

I know there are some cat shows for non-purebreds. Persia wouldn't stand
for it, of course

Jill

jmcquown wrote:

I know for a fact it's more fun to actually *go* to a cat show than it is to
watch one on TV. I've only been to one, and it wasn't any huge televised
competition, to be sure.

I've been to one, too, long ago. It was just by chance - I was walking
down the street one afternoon, and I passed a large auditorium/conference
center that happened to have a big banner out saying "Cat Show". So of
course, I couldn't resist. I just walked right in, didn't have to pay
admission. I know what you mean about it being fun to see cats everywhere
you look. But something about it depressed me, and the cats I saw were
all the most extreme version of whatever breed they were. I had only ever
had or known moggies, so to me, these were some weird-ass cats. Also,
this happened in the mid-70s, so things might've been different then, in
terms of, say, cage size and general treatment of the animals. But it
turned me off of cat shows ever afterward.

I know there are some cat shows for non-purebreds. Persia wouldn't stand
for it, of course

Yeah, I'd like to see someone try to show one of my cats!

--
Joyce ^..^

(To email me, remove the X's from my user name.)

hopitus wrote:

Thank you, Jill; at least you have experienced RL visit to "cat
shows" (CFA sanctioned) prior to passing judgment on them "en masse".

See my response to Jill's post - so have I.

--
Joyce ^..^

(To email me, remove the X's from my user name.)

I went to a live show once in
Chicago. Not seeing well, I experienced it from a more audio perspective.
Yeah they wee fluffing and blow drying and combing but, the tone of voices
of those doing the work was wonderful. Much better than the mothers in the
beauty shows you see. And the sound of group purring was wonderful. I
can't say I heard one unhappy cat. Some of them had more than one cat as
their BABY got nervous if his friend wasn't there. Just see humans do that
for someone in a show.
"hopitus" wrote in message
...
On Jan 3, 4:22 pm, wrote:
hopitus wrote:

Thank you, Jill; at least you have experienced RL visit to "cat
shows" (CFA sanctioned) prior to passing judgment on them "en masse".

See my response to Jill's post - so have I
Joyce ^..^
:LONG
Discussions of cat shows are no doubt boring bigtime here but at least
it's on
the ng topic. I want to make something clear....Joyce, I can totally
grasp why
the cat show you wandered into turned you off. That is when my much
older
friend and I were going to a lot with our HHP cats entered in that
category,
which HHP is much less exacting "points" to win than the "purebreed"
category.
When that happened, cat shows were in their heyday; all over the
country people
actually traveled a "show circuit" with their prizewinning cats, ever
hungry for more
trophies and prizes for their entry (AFAIK, no HHP owners traveled out
of FL to
enter the shows, FL is big enough that owners and yes, *breeders* from
north state
would come down to our area for the big shows (TICA, CFA, etc.) The
atmosphere
in the shows was odd, yes....some but not most pedigreed owners held
themselves
above us HHP entries...but I found friendly, caring breeders and
pedigreed owners
who not only were *proud* to tell me history, "points" their cats
judged on, and
even to let me "pet" and "hold* their entries, who were mostly at
worst bored and
only willing to get out of their cages decorated with Big Blue
Ribbons, etc. to be
held by a hoomin stranger. How the hell else would anyone think I
actually got to
hold and love one of those peach fuzz numbers, so rare anywhere, who
usually clean
up with the prizes as there is usually *only ONE of them*??? Yes, a
friendly Sphynx
breeder. I don't approve of breeding species to try to get a cat with
great "points" (show
qualities for their breed ) but always in the back of my mind was the
cold hard fact that
most breeders pay through the nose to contribute to even *having* the
show at all, and
they contribute heavily to general cat welfare groups and causes
nationally, so I was
not hateful-feeling toward pedigreed people/cats at all. You see the
same people at most
of the shows, so we made some lasting friends from all over, who even
contacted me
when my friend died in '97 with sympathy and regret at her passing.
If what you witnessed was the trueism that owners of cats entered into
the shows arre
very similar to parents of kids like Jon-Benet (God rest her soul)
in child beauty/talent
competitions, yeah, it's rough up at the top! I have seen pedigreed
owners lambasting
judges over and over again, LOL, while we lower-for-of-life HHP
entries watched in awe.
That sure would turn you off. But the cats, all the cats, were cool
with even being hoisted
high in air above judging bench for ooo and aaahhh display by
audience...and the breed
I feel is just *made* for competition, cosmetic grooming, and applause
is the Persian'
so grumpy-looking face, but natural inborn showoffs, IMHO.

"Granby" wrote in message
...
I went to a live show once in
Chicago. Not seeing well, I experienced it from a more audio
perspective. Yeah they wee fluffing and blow drying and combing but,
the tone of voices of those doing the work was wonderful. Much
better than the mothers in the beauty shows you see. And the sound
of group purring was wonderful. I can't say I heard one unhappy
cat. Some of them had more than one cat as their BABY got nervous
if his friend wasn't there. Just see humans do that for someone in
a show.


I shudder to think what would happen at a cat show if everyone wasn't
absolutely over the top deferential to the cats.

The psychic energy around that many pampered cats is amazing.

Jo

On Jan 1, 8:56�pm, wrote:
hopitus wrote:

� Ahem....I wouldn't call him "cute"(whisper)

In general I agree that sphynx cats aren't exactly "cute". They're too
weird looking for that description, I think. This particular picture
is cute to me, because it has its eyes closed, which gives it more of
a kitty face. When they open their eyes, they look like aliens with huge
bulging eyes and tiny wizened faces.

� I will share with you that I have - at big cat shows - held and petted
� Sphynx cats (never saw a kitten) by way of friendly and easygoing
� owners there; they are surprisingly *warm*, considering very very
� short fur, kinda like "peach fuzz", and just as laid back and friendly
� as your average Persian pedigreed at such shows, in high competition
� for prizes/cash/trophies....Persians look grumpy because of their
� little "pushed-in" noses/faces but put up admirably with the neverending
� fluffing, combing, brushing, eye-picking for crusties of their owners.

I think cat shows are weird. Occasionally I'll watch a show about one
on Animal Planet, and I think they are just bizarre. The way the presenter
handles the cat, picking it up with each hand under each pair of legs,
and turning the cat this way and that to show all the cat's wonderful
features, etc. And then, yes, all the fluffing of fur and so forth. I
don't necessarily think it's cruel, although it must be pretty boring
for a lot of the cats. Just doesn't seem like a very natural life for a
kitty. Mostly, though, I just think it's weird, and the people who do
it seem kind of weird to me, too. (Yes, I did see "Best in Show". )

I might like it better if the kitties were moggies, just because I
usually respond more to moggies than to purebreds. But it would still
seem like an odd preoccupation, and unnatural for the cats.

--
Joyce � ^..^

(To email me, remove the X's from my user name.)

Orion made the cat-show circuit up until he was about 2; being the
doting grandmother I
tagged along to a few of them. Here are my thoughts cat shows:
1. It's great fun to see breeds that I'd probably never see, except on
TV.
2. The public is considered a necessary irritation by most cat show
people. It is
serious business to them. Most of them greet passersby with a baleful
stare and
dread fear you're gonna touch their cats (even though there are a
bazillion signs telling
you not to).
3. Being it was the #1 /Grandcat's first show and all, I took a
camera. It was just a regular
35mm camera. I only took a photo of Orion while the judge was holding
him. One very
cross woman with fluffy white hair and a face like she'd been sucking
on a lemon (BTW,
she looked exactly like the Persian she was showing)....told me if I
scared her cat with
the flash, she would have me thrown out. (WTF?) She wasn't even
showing her cat at that time.
4. Cats shows in themselves don't irk me at all. It's the *product* of
the cat shows -- which is
selective breeding. If the judges choose a Maine Coon with lynx tips
as Best of Show, then
they're ALL trying to product kittens with lynx tips. That's what
irritates me. When people
start trying to play Bast and "create" a certain look -- so they can
garner the coveted rosettes.
5. One whole wall, on the other side of the vendors, and kind of away
from the competitors, was
caged cats available for adoption by the local shelter, who had been
invited to the show. I
thught that was cool too. And of course, those people were ten times
more friendly than
the competitors. I stayed there most of the time.
6. Orion was a pretty good sport about it, until one day out of the
blue, he'd had enough. He
hissed at the judge, which was an automatic disqualification. The
judge remarked about his
extraordinary "furnishings" and what a shame he had to be removed from
competition. Then
he put Orion back into his cage, where he had to stay until the other
cats were judged. And
he did. With his back to everyone. I have a photo of all these
beautiful Maine Coons sitting
in a row like little statues, and then there's Orion's back.
7. I got to know a few of the show people. The ones I met were
horrible back-stabbers. They'd
ooh and aaaah over a competitor's cat, then turn around and talk about
what a dog it was.
Those little-kid beauty pageants got nothing over on the cat show
people.
8. Cat shows are the best place to find cool new toys and other cat-
related items. If you ever
do get to go, be sure to take some mad money!

Sherry