UPcat's Back

Yup, UPcat, king of the UP Main Library Cats, is back. He left when there was a lot of noise from the renovation of the Main Lib steps. Saw him yesterday and I just had to take a pic of him again. Sabi nga ng mga guards, "Andyan na ho uli, kaso madungis sya ngayon." Yeah, and he hangs around the guard table instead of the pillar. Maybe he's sick and tired of Catalog already. :D

Misc July Pics

What does a yoyo-poi-spintop-skilltoy professional give himself for his birthday?
A yoyo. (No brainer, actually.)

In this album:
1. My newest yoyo, Yoyofactory Red DXL large bearing DV888
2. Spontaneously at Sara's with Jen, Marj, Asia, Del, Chad, Bunski and the cat who sat on my lap last July 29. This is after eating at Grill Queen Maginhawa with Nix and Karen (who went home together) and the same Grill Queen where Marj and Asia found Mr. 10/10. Kung alam ko lang, inaya ko sina Stoi and Bianca. Mas masaya siguro yun... Or pati si Marian...
3. Interviewed today, July 30, by Rachel for an article on Librarianship and Information Science slated to appear in the Manila Bulletin. Was interviewed after Dean Vyva together with Iya, Eli, Kelvs, Chad (bago, hindi yung luma), Bianca and Noel.

:D

Yes, that is the same Cat who sat on my lap the last time six months ago when I was at Sara's with BLC and Harriet, Joan, et al.

A tale of two cats and one dog

"No," said the cat. "Now, you people have names. That's because you don't know who you are. We know who we are, so we don't need names."

- Coraline, Neil Gaiman

I was looking through the pics in my fone when I noticed I had some pics of cats and dogs. I planned to blog about them, but things (like work) got in the way. So here we go, before I forget.

This is a tale of two cats and one dog.

Mokey
If Ma'am Tin has Kikay and Ma'am Iyra has Oprah, I have Mokey. Mokey's a Lhasa Apso, a breed of jumpy, feisty and quick Tibetan Mountain Dogs. Think of them as Shih Tzus with less overbite and paws as large as those of German Shepherds. Their fur usually reaches the ground but we cut them short during summers so they'll be comfortable.

Mokey's real name is Mokong. Why Mokong? We've been breeding dogs for some time now. When the family started Utopia Kennels, we decided to follow the alphabetical naming of annual litters. Each dog has an official name on paper as well as a nickname for easy calling. So we went through the whole gamut of greek heroes, gods and goddesses (Achilles, Agamemnon, Io, Hera, etc), classical music composers (Beethoven Bach, Mozart, etc.), and historical European / Russian names (Trotsky, Tolstoy, etc.). When Mokey was born, we named him after Janno Gibbs' character in the GMA7 sitcom "Si Manoy at Si Mokong". So his littermates were named Manoy (Eddie Garcia's character) and Mimi (Rufa Mae Quinto's character).

Mokey's part of the 13th litter, but that's far from the last one. Our last litter, the 17th, had "Q" for names (hence Quasimodo, Quentin, Quixo, guess who they were named after?). All that said, Mokey's our last dog. He has outlived his siblings and great-great-great(?) grandchildren. He's now 11-12 years old, that's about 75 in human years.

He has started to lose his hearing and eyesight, quite common with the breed. When I arrive from school or work, it used to only take him 2 seconds to bound from the garden and into my lap. Guess what, now it takes him a whole minute. Getting him into the garden from the garage is a loooooong ordeal every morning so we could back out the car. He used to be able to jump till my chest when he was young. After a couple of years that height lowered to my waist, then my knee. Then a year ago he could only manage to lift his paws and push on my calves. Now all he could do is rest his head on my shoe, no more jumping. He still likes it when I hold his chest or belly (Hi Iya and Eli) and hoist him a few inches off the ground.

Damn alpha-male dog (yup, he held that title despite the arrival of younger males who have come and gone). He still doesn't hold still for photographs.

Adopt-a-Kitty
Last weekend I awoke to sounds of mew-ing (not meowing) near my bedroom window. My mom and my nephew Enzo said there's a kitten inside our front lawn. He just crossed the street and decided to make a cozy resting place in our flower box. Mom told me to get rid of him, us/we being a dog-family and all. Yep, at the height of our kennel we had about 17 to 19 dogs and pups yelping and yapping their way to their dog dishes. Not much till you find out our neighbor Tita Edith had 21 pusakals (mongrel cats) freely sashaying about in their garage. Talk about sleepess nights with all the meowing and barking.

Any way, I have a soft spot for furry creatures so I just let the green-eyed kitten be. After a while he found his way out and stationed himself on a rock in the outer garden. I gave him a small cupcake. Dunno where he is now. You know what they say about cats, they adopt you, you don't adopt them.

UP-usakal
I came across this kitten just yesterday. But the circumstances were rather frightening.

As I was on my way to Diliman after dropping my mom off at Mendiola, I slowed down as the stoplight turned red at the V. Mapa / SM Centerpoint / Lumanog guitars area in Manila. Only a few cars in this batch of traffic. To my horror, as the truck in front of me pulled away to beat the red light, there was a kitten making his way across the road!

I've seen this happen a couple of times and I've tried to do the same thing a few times over. Many years ago, I saw a full grown cat in the middle of a two-way road (yellow line with the reflectors) curled tightly into a ball and meowing loudly. He was stranded. I stopped the car, even if it meant me being late for class. I got out and picked up the weakened cat and put it down in front of the nearest house. Oddly enough, the cat tried to stand up. Problem was he was wobbly and walked as if he were drunk. I assumed he was dizzied from all the cars which passed around and over him.

I though of that previous encounter when I saw this kitten. As the truck passed over him I saw how wobbly his legs were. Heck, I would think that what this kitten went through was the equivalent of an Airbus A318 passing just 6 feet above your head. I turned on my hazzard lights, stopped the car and stepped out to retrieve him. He had wobbly darted under the car and curled up just under the license plate. He didn't scratch or fight as I picked him up.

It was then and there that I realized that there were no residential houses nearby where he could have come from. I just guessed that he was deliberately left in unknown territory to fend for himself. He was muddy but he didn't have any mange nor any wounds. I placed him on the mat of the passenger seat. He quickly found his way under the cushions, meowed a couple of times, then fell asleep.

I brought him to UP. I gently woke him up and released him in the parking lot. He took shelter under the familiar license plate of the car. Of course the parking lot alpha-male Pusakal immediately sized him up and pawed at him a bit. But I guess he'll do okay.

Sure he'll be traumatized by the new surroundings. Sure there'll be nights when he'll be cold and hungry. Sure he'll be in fights, he may even lose one of his blue eyes like some of the UP cats I see. But, at least, he now has a fighting chance. I didn't want to see him end up as roadkill. So, if you do see him during one of your visits to the kiosks at the mountaineers' side of the UP Main Lib, do toss some food his way.

Feb 28 fone pics

LIS Congress 2009. UP BLC. Feeling Coraline with the Pursigidong Pusa (aka Kulit Kat) who kept sitting on my lap while I was eating during Yet's Thank You dinner at Sara's for UP BLC. Gusto nya sumama kay Ate Jen, pero KJ, ayaw nya isama sa boarding haus. Thank you for the nice night Yet, Joan, Lau, Mado, July, Deoji, Asia and Jen. Kahit may nagsuntukan sa may Maong's sa malapit.

Kuting, OSR at Isaw

Wala na yung mga kuting. :( Last pic 2 days ago.
Trying the macro and panorama of k770i again during the...
SLIS GA re: OSR referendum.
At dahil nagutom kami, Mang Larry's Isaw with Ma'am Tin and Ma'am Iyra.

Conti's, 3 Kittens, Timezone

Came from dinner at Conti's Trinoma with Ma'am Vyva, Ma'am Tin, Ma'am Nats and Ma'am Iyra. Had fun, was full. Didn't want to take pics, sentimyento kahit paano. Kulang na kami e. Ganyan naman dati pag nagkayayaan, hanap ng kakainan. Maligaya pero nakakalungkot lang. Rushed to Timezone Ayala Technohub where the LISSA Peeps were. Also here is my exam sked... Please note. And.... Tantananan! A pic of the three kittens. Lizzie, Catls and Juju. :D

UPLISSA 1st GA 2009

May 3 kuting na bagong panganak sa tambayan.
We just found them there.
Apparently one of the Main Lib cats gave birth and choose the tambayan for a birthing place.
Aliw. Some panorama pics too.

Wala lang...

Cats, girls, fishballs...

Cat Pics

Cat pics, October, 2008. UPcat, CATalog and ISSIcat. Special apperance by C5 Shell Cat.

More Misc March 2008

Had some misc pics left over.

Ex Libris: End of March

Hanggang end of March na lang...

Mainit, summer, may tao pa rin sa tambayan ng Ex Libris kahit umuwi na ang karamihan ng probinsya. Kinawayan nya ang kaibigang kanina pa naghihintay sa kanya.

"Hi, sir," bungad ni Gaea na humahangos na dumating sa Tambayan sabay kaway rin sa propesor na kasama ng mga thesis people.

"O, kanina ka pa hinihintay ni Jess."

"Oo nga, po."

"O, kayong dalawa? Kelan kayo gragraduate?"

"Summer na kami, sir," sagot ni Jess.

Nabaling ang tingin nila sa mga nakaupo nang may tumawa, meron sigurong nagbiro na naman. Parati namang ganito ang tambayan, masaya, maraming nagtatawanan.

"O," balik ni sir sa dalawang babaeng kausap, "Kunan nyo na ng litrato, hindi na mauulit yan. Gragraduate na yang lahat."

Biglang tumakhimik si Gaea. Nagsimula itong humikbi. Tumigil ang tawanan. Di na mapigilang tumulo ang luha, unti-unting tumalikod si Gaea.

"Huy! Wag kang umiyak."

"Okay lang ako, sir."

Nang matuyo na niya ang mga luha, humarap sya sa mga kaibigan at binuksan ang kanyang bag at dinukot ang baong digicam. Sa huling pagkakataon ay kinunan nya ng litrato ang kanyang mga kaibigang nakaupo sa tambayan.

Pusa(kat)

Sa likod ng parking lot, UP Main Library, malapit sa Sunken Garden. May pingot sa tenga pero mabait.

Tambulan sa Diliman

Tambulan sa Diliman
February 28, 2008
Hardin ng mga Diwata
UP Diliman

Miscellaneous Photos II - Feb 2008

Looks like he got into a fight.

Pics of UPCat and my month-old home theater system. I'm cheap, but hey, it works for me. A 5.8k 21in. Promac CineFlat 2100CT (not LCD, heck, it's 30thou cheaper). Cheap 1.6k Rainbow DVD. 2.4k 300watts MX Professional amplified stereo speakers. I only fire up the speakers when there's a good movie on, like Camelot (old Richard Harris film, ya know, before he became Dumbledore). I crank it up to level 4 to hear every clothesline, bodyslam and bitchslap in a WWE pay-per-view. BTW, at level 2 it's already deafening. I really haven't ventured into cranking it up past level 5 for fear of going deaf.

AV Librarian LoLcat sez "THEY’Z ALPHABETIZED"

moar funny pictures

AV Librarian LoLcat sez "THEY’Z ALPHABETIZED".
Got this from http://icanhascheezburger.com

This week in the UPSLIS: New Year

Rashem...Frashem... Patulugin nyo naman ako.... Ayoko ng mag-pose!

January 3, 2008. Wala pang tao masyado sa UPSLIS. Kaya kinunan ko na lang ang pwedeng kunan... Including UPcat. :D

Subic - Miscellaneous Pics

Subic 2007 Holiday, December 28 to 30, 2007.

Miscellaneous Photos

UPCat (jeez, this cat has too much exposure in our multiplies).
The Sun through the window.
Booths along the UP Academic Oval.
The UP Main Library Parols.

Mwehehehehe

Happy birthday to me...
Happy birthday to me...

I was on my way to Kris and Moira's wedding when I saw Puti aka Muning aka Whitey in front of the Main Library. Waiting for a mouse? O_o;;
So anyway, my birthdays are probably getting weirder by the year. I got some useful stuff from my mom, sister and nephews. I also got stuff for myself. Something for the martial artist in me, something for the inner geek in me, and something for the skill freak in me.


I got myself a pair of ball-bearing nunchucks. I bought these the day I bought the stationary bike at Toby's for the house. They had a pile of nunchucks in their martial arts section and I think I surprised the cashier and the manager when I said I'd like to add the two nunchucks. I think I scared them when I said I'd like to test them before they punch it in (hey, I have to be sure the balance is okay and that the swing / rotation is sweet). I think I awed them a bit when I did flips and rotations. I assume they usually see guys only do swings and transfers. Anyway, I love these guys to death.

I also bought an 80Gb hard disk and an enclosure for the increasing number of files I generate. And lastly...

Yup. It's a unicycle. A new skill / circus toy for me to learn. And I know it's gonna hurt really bad trying to learn this one-wheeled wonder. O_o;; I already fell about a dozen times last weekend just trying to balance myself.

Crossposted: http://gokitomo.com, http://gorilla.multiply.com and http://gorilla.vox.com.