![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
So here is what happens when you put a babelfish in your ear and understand what they are talking about.
Meow Meow....
Mr Brown learned about the new (dissed) Association of Bloggers in Singapore.
He has appointed himself the overlord of cat bloggers and hereby sets the following best practice guidelines (as stated in the Cat Constitution Chapter 123-CAT):
(1) Cat blogs should be wholesome. So no pictures showing cats in inaapropriate poses.
(2) Down with dog blogs.
(3) Vegan cats are vile and should be shunned. We are carnivores. Cats fed broccoli are instructed to feed on fingers and toes.
(4) If you are not a member, then you are a cat nobody. (We are registered with SPCA and soon will be Catzetted).
(5) For membership, don't call us. We call you.
(6) Only Kuchinta cats allowed. I don't care if you are cuter than me. If you are a Persian cat, go back to Persia.
(7) Our official color is white. Always wear white only. Cats are not PC.
(8) You can come in anytime we like, but you can never leave (or you end up spayed, neutered and sent to the SPCA to be dealth with accordingly)
(9) Cat blogs must use proper LOL Cats english only. See here for reference.
(10) You flame me and I will flame you more. The overlord is all knowing and all-flaming.
If you are not partial for cats, no need to read further.
But if you are, you may want to pick up the new cat book "Dewey - the small town library cat who touched the world". Dewey Readmore Books was a stray cat who became a celebrity in Midwestern Americana, using all the feline powers cats have to offer (except for the one where they can spot dying patients like Oscar the cat).
I spend the last 24 hours reading through the book and probably spooked Mr Brown as I kept grabbing him for a cuddle every 10 minutes. I showed him the book cover and pointed at the picture of Dewey. He merely gave it an annoyed sniff and went back to sleep.
The cats always make it a point to annoy me with their sleeping antics. The cats, on the other hand, make it a point to annoy me when I am sleeping.
Usually the cats take turns sleeping with us the bedroom. More often the Chairman as he stays the longer. Mr Brown stays for an hour, gets bored, then sits besides the door waiting to be let out. If he notices that we are not giving him attention (because we are asleep), he jumps to the night stand and starts playing hockey with my keys, my watch, my phone or anything else that he can shove to the floor. If that doesn't work, he jumps to the bed, takes a bite at our toes, jumps back to the door in a flash and act as if nothing happened.
The Chairman, on the other hand, is more subtle but effective. He starts scratching on the bed, then squats as if about to pee. That cat sure knows how to get our attention.
Remember last year when I posted this funny clip about how cats can manage to wake you up when a fire in the neighborhood couldn't?
Apparently, the maker of the clip, Simon Tofield, has just won the Best Comedy in British Animation Awards. Since then Simon has uploaded 2 more clips about his life with his cat. Hat tip from one cat lover/tormentee to another.
While folding the laundry, Mr Brown appeared out of nowhere, hopped on the couch and started examining the freshly laundered whities.
After a sniff and a smirk, he proceeded to do his usual "getting comfortable" routine - that is, gingerly walking in a small circle until he found the most comfortable position on the couch.
"Hey. I need the space for the laundry, you know."
"Yawn"
"Move! you lazy cat! I got here first!"
"Double yawn." (don't bother me, in cat speak)
"You may have gotten here first, but I'm cute and you are not. Bug off."
The RayFlash arrived in the mail 2 weeks back but it sat on my table brooding until yesterday when finally I had some decent time to tinker with it. It was larger than I expected and definitely added much bulk (but not weight) to my camera, not to mention making shooting a bit more cumbersome. The deal here is that you attach your flash to this ingenious contraption and it channels the light across the ring.
I just recently rediscovered the joy shooting with a speedlight. I'm one of those who always preferred to shoot with ambient light. I still do, but it can also be limiting, and conditions are never ideal when you want to want to capture that million dollar shot. With a flash, you get sharp pictures but also at the cost of making your pictures look like mugshots. Fortunately, there are ways (other than using the rear/slow flash function of your camera) to manipulate your flash in order to make your pictures look more natural. All it takes is reading the instruction manual. I bet some people who owns an SB-800 don't even know you can shoot pictures with flash even with the flash not attached to the hotshoe (like a slave flash). Your camera can actually communicate with your speedlight via infrared but for SB-800 models only.
But back to the RayFlash, I was pleaseantly surprised that even with the light distributed across the ring flash, it was still strong enough to shoot a subject from 1 metre away (as you can see from the pictures of Mr Brown and the Chairman below). I've not really tried farther than that as the cats will just scamper away so I need to continually coax them to stay put. But I'm sure it can still shoot decently lit pictures even 2-3 metre away if you power your flash to full. With the RayFlash, you get the uniform shadow around the subject instead of the one-sided one you get with usual flash photography. Great for tight portrait shots.
Of course, this is all geared towards taking more portrait/body shots. I've always been partial to landscape photography but I think it's time to try something new, as soon as I can persuade some hunky guy to pose for me. 
There's something about waking up and having your morning coffee at noon that just slows down my metabolism. My thoughts are all slush and I just want to go back to bed. But how can I possibly do so at 1 in the afternoon?
The cats sure don't have qualms in doing soon. Chairman was doing his usual yoga poses while Mr Brown was sleeping perched on his favorite couch. As soon as I decided it was bath time, both cats scampered for cover. I had to drag out Mr Brown from under the bed clawing and screaming indignantly.
After the bath, the cats went back to sleep mode, with Mr Brown basking under the afternoon sun. I almost wanted to hit the sack as well, at 4 pm, until I remembered I have work to do. Bummer.
On any other day, the cats would be happily snoozing the day away. But on the weekends, they take pride in making known who has a run of the place. When it's time to be let out of the room, they make sure you know what they want - via the language of teeths. When they are hungry, they jump on the countertops, or partake of the food on the table, or stare at you until you surrender your juicy burger. When they refuse to poo on the litterbox because it hasn't been cleaned yet, they'll jump into the box and proceed to scatter all the sand on the floor. You definitely know who calls the shots in this household.
Mr Brown has been making himself comfortable at the sink lately, likely to get himself removed from the prowls of the Chairman. Apparently, the sink is a perfect hiding place for him, and a perfect furry towel for us.
