Author: cyrakitty

Hump Day Hottie – Tim Minchin

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Well, it is Wednesday once again and I shamefully have not put up a post for a whole week.  I am a dreadful slacker, I know.  But since it is Wednesday, that means it is time for another Hump Day Hottie!!!  Woo-hoo!

With everything that has been going on in the world, and in particular the Japan disasters, I would like to spotlight an unusual hotttie – Tim Minchin.  The only reason I say “unusual”, is that some might say he is not conventional.  But I look not only at physical beauty (which Tim has) but internal as well.  Very important.  And get used to it, because I am likely to pick more unusual ones – it makes us unique.

Tim was born in the United Kingdom to Australian parents and grew up in Perth.  He is a comedian, actor and musician but is most known for his musical comedy.  In 2001, Tim married his life-long sweetheart, Sarah, whom he met when he was 17.

Tim has a, um . . ., unique onstage persona. He generally goes barefoot, saying it makes him feel more comfortable.  His wild hair and heavy eye makeup, which he considers important because he is unable to gesture while playing the piano and so relies on his face for expressions and gestures.  Tim says the eyeliner makes his features more distinguishable for the audience.

Now anyone who is familiar with Tim’s work has had the experience of laughing and crying at the same time.  Although “stunningly beautiful” would not normally be a response to his songs, I feel the one I have chosen to spotlight, Not Perfect, is just that.  He has captured a very difficult spiritual concept and given it his personal twist.  When you can look at yourself and say, “It’s not perfect, but its mine,” its a beautiful thing.

Hump Day Hottie – Kostas Martakis

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Ok all, I have decided I might try a regular column.  Every Wednesday I would like to bring you the “Hump Day Hottie“!!  I know, it will be a struggle for me finding all these drool-worthy men.

So the first ever Hump Day Hottie is Kostas Martakis!  The 26-year-old Athens born Gemini gained attention in 2006 with the reality talent show Dream Show.  Prior to that he was also a model and played basketball in amateur minor leagues.  He is not just handsome but smart, too.  He majored in computer technologies at the American College of Greece.

Below is his single, Loving You – a duet with DesiSlava, a Bulgarian pop singer.  Enjoy!

Cheer up

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To those of you who know me know I have been having a rough time of it lately.  So, I thought I would take a small poll.

In my experience, people have a “go to” item when they need cheering up.  Some may rely on a pet, a certain book, song or movie.

My first line of defense is my youngest cat, Beau.  A good cuddle with him will set me right for a while and calm my mind enough to get an untroubled sleep.  If Beau is unavailable (I’m out of town, perhaps) or not in the mood to deal with my churlish attitude, then my “go to” guy is the one, the only  –  Eddie Izzard.

I have noticed over the years that when I am feeling low, the first thing I look for in the DVD rack is his performance Dress to Kill.  His use of history combined with an almost innocent nature lead to, for me, captivating and entertaining shows.  Add an amazing voice and British accent and you have the charming creature that is Eddie Izzard.

So now I pose the question to you.  What is your “go to” item when you need cheering up?

Snakes Are NOT Slimey!!

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I don’t know why this fallacy upsets me so much, but it does.  Now, I am not a huge fan of snakes – or reptiles in general, for that matter.  But I need to take a moment to step back in time to explain.

When I was 14 or 15 years old – and being the huge animal lover I am – I decided it would be a great thing for me to begin volunteering at my local zoo.  I applied, was accepted and then “assigned” to the reptile keeper.  I need to stress that working with reptiles was not what I had wanted and even had second thoughts about the whole volunteering idea.  I much would have preferred to work with felids (cats) and preferably neonates (babies).  But, alas, no.  So I spent the next four years working with reptiles.  Not exclusively, after a while I was able to help other keepers – or even the reptile keeper, when he  had swing duties.  (Swing duties refers to helping cover other departments when that keeper was sick or on vacation.  If you ever see a job advertising a Swing Keeper you’ll know what they are referring to.)

Anyway, back to the reptiles.  I worked with all the snakes (all non-venomous) as well as various lizards, turtles and alligators and crocodiles.  I have personally handled all these animals.  (Yes, all.)  And I can tell you from experience that snakes (or any of the other reptile species I worked with) are not slimey!  Snakes are actually dry and soft.  I have never seen or heard of a slimey snake – unless it was sleeping in the water bowl.  Their scales are quite shiny and when the sun hits them just right, can appear iridescent.  And I think this is where the notion of “slimey” comes from.

Photo by Damien Farrell

There are some species that are quite beautiful.  For example, I worked with a Rainbow Boa (also called a Slender Boa) named Baby.  She was the most beautiful and docile snake in the zoo.  She is the only snake I would not hesitate to pick up even today.  As you may have guessed, the Rainbow Boa gets its names from the amazing colors in sunlight – producing a rainbow-type coloration.  The photo to the left is one of the best photos I could find to illustrate this point.

Fast forward to the present.

Since it has been so many years since I have worked with reptiles I am quite hesitant around them again.  Most reptiles give very little indication when they are distressed.  So one minute everything seems fine, then next you are  trying to disengage their mouth from your person.  Reptiles tend to have very small brains compared to their weight and strength.  For example, an alligator has a brain that weighs 8.4 grams, where even a squirrel’s brain weighs 7.6 grams.  I find it terrifying that these animals can be so large and massively strong and yet so stupid.  (For anyone interested a viper has a brain weight of 0.1 grams)  I bring up the issue of brain weight because many scientists believe that the brain-to-body mass ratio will give you a rough estimate of intelligence.

So now, I am happy to watch these animals but much prefer a barrier between us.  Working with them, I think, has offered me an insight that I can’t quite explain.  I seem to observe them on a different level.  Maybe one day I will understand it and be able to articulate it better.

Super Bowl? Forget that – I’m watching the Puppy Bowl!

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I have a confession to make.  And it may not come as a surprise but I don’t really like sports.  But as Super Bowl Sunday approaches, those of us who do not like sports but want to get in on the action have a wonderful alternative – the Puppy Bowl.

Animal Planet started the Puppy Bowl 7 years ago as just a filler item.  But it has blossomed into a full blown event!  And the wonderful thing is that they are using shelter puppies in order to help raise awareness to the rich resource of you local shelter.  The goal is to get animals adopted.  And I think this is a great idea!  They even do little “starting line-up” introductions.

I am having a lot of problems trying to figure out how to get the line-up (or any video for that matter) for this years bowl on the blog – so click here to see the current line-up.  But once the game starts, it is just dissolves into a few balls of puppy fluff as they play and chase one another.  How adorable is this?

And to those of you who do not know, I am an “animal” lover.  Which means I adore all kinds of animals from cats and dogs to birds and even reptiles.  But no worries, I understand there are people out there who are more cat lovers and I respect that.  So do the folks over at animal planet, so be sure you don’t miss the wonderfully cute Kitty Half Time Show.

This is the only video I was capable of getting embedded but it really doesn’t give you the full idea.  But I will keep trying, so feel free to check back and see if I had any success.

Be sure not to miss Puppy Bowl VII Sunday February 6, 2011 from 3 – 5 PM, EST on Animal Planet.