Quick Rant Part II

So this man who owns the deli around the corner from me got a kitten a few months ago. At under a year old, possibly 6 months, the kitten got pregnant. He gave her kittens away to customers. That was in the Spring or early Summer.

Tonight as I'm walking to the deli, I see his cat. She is obviously pregnant again. When I said something to the deli owner, his reply was a somewhat fed-up "I need to give her away." I suggested he just get her fixed so she doesn't get pregnant again, but his response was, again, that he is going too give her away. This disgusts me. He is going to give away a cat that needs to be spayed and now he has a new litter to find homes for. This is why there are strays everywhere. What happened to common sense? This cat should have been spayed in the first place, or at least after she gave birth to her first litter. Giving birth to more than one litter isn't good for a cat's health, neither is prolonging getting her spayed.

He obviously has her to just keep at the store, but that doesn't mean she deserves less love and attention than a house-cat. People suck.

End of rant.

Want To Get Your Band's Name Out There?

Two of my friends are producers for an off-Broadway play called ONCE AROUND THE SUN. It is about a struggling rock band trying to be heard in a radio world of American Idol winners. I wrote a review of it on this Blog. The show is awesome and the music is iPod worthy.

This one actor, Jesse Lenet, he is hilarious. He plays Dave, the stoner bass player. Anyway, Jesse decided that he wants to wear the t-shirt of a different band for each performance of the show. All you have to do is contact the show's producers (in this case my friend Gary) and find out how to sumbit your band's shirt.

Shirts must be new, size Medium, and have your band's logo on it.

The producers of ONCE AROUND THE SUN will contact you and let you know when it will be worn on stage.

To submit a T-shirt, contact: Gary@Maffeiproductions.com
Fax: 212-244-5561

Or mail a letter to:
Maffei Productions
330 West 43rd Street
#3
New York, NY 10036

P.S. So far Black 47 has sent in a shirt, among a few other bands.

It's A Miracle! LOL

In the Blog titled NEW KID ON THE BLOCK I told everyone about my new kitten and how I am waiting for my two 4 1/2 year old male tabbies to accept her. Well *drumroll Lars* They have!

It took them Sunday, Monday and some of Tuesday, but as of Tuesday night, Wednesday, last night and this morning, the hissing and hiding has stopped! As a matter of fact, they watch her with these looks of affection. When I put her in her box or close her in the bathroom, they look at me like I'm the bad guy. They get these sad looks as if to to say "why did you do that?" LOL It's cute.

Anyway, I feel like a miracle worker! From what other cat owners tell me, this is relatively fast!

The New RENT

A few weeks ago I was invited to the opening night preview of a new musical. This Blog is a long-time coming. I'm highly recommending tat everyone catches this while they can. It is currently in NYC for a limited engagement, but I will get back to those dates and other info later.The new musical is about, well, music. And it is a story every rock fan/musician/starving artist can relate to.

Once Around The Sun takes place in New York City circa now. The play opens up with a rehearsal performance by B-Side, a rock band struggling to be heard in an era where pre-fabricated pop and hip hop stars are dominating the airwaves and easily wooing record executives. B-Side's band members are: Kevin, a Rob Thomas look-a-like who co-writes the lyrics and music, plays rhythm guitar and sings; Skye, the female vocalist and keyboardist who shares co-writing duties with Kevin, who is also her fiancé; Ray, the passionate lead guitarist, Richie, the silent drummer; and Dave, the comical/lovable stoner bass player. It then takes us to the wedding of a couple we never see. Minus Skye, the band acts as back-up to Lane Stevens, the troubled, alcoholic wedding band leader and uncle of Kevin.

Struggling with their dream of making it big verse their current reality, the band bitches and moans about their day job, the lack of people who attend their gigs, and an acquaintance named Waldo, who is enjoying his 15 minutes of fame thanks to his win on American Idol. [One character calls the show American I-suck, and they All agree that no one talented ever wins].

Cast in the shadows of their American Idol acquaintance, B-Side shares the stage with Waldo, therefore forced to go on at 2am and perform in front of the remaining 7 people. Notorious music diva/record executive Nona Blue approaches the band. They are pumped because they are under the impression that she wants to sign them all, only to learn her interest lies solely in Kevin. Kevin is now faced with a decision: does he leave his girlfriend, band mates, friends, and family behind to pursue his dream?

I wont make this post a spoiler, so you will have to go see this play for yourself. I, in fact, saw it twice. Once Around The Sun has appeal to music fanatics beyond the Broadway realm. It’s mix of pop, rock, swing and R&B. There are at least three of the songs that I cannot get out of my head. They can easily crossover from theatre and become radio hits.

Once Around the Sun is at the Zipper Theatre in NYC and has a limited engagement (until October 16). The theatre itself is cool: in the front there is a bar/lounge and when you enter the actual theatre, the seats are old, comfy used car seats. You can also take your drinks into the show with you.

The Zipper Theatre is on West 37th Street in Manhattan. For ticket info check out www.oncearoundthesun.com (the web site has limited previews of maybe 5 songs of the 21 in the show).

Love At First Sight, Plus The Green Monster Makes An Appearance

When I took Tabitha home on Sunday evening, she received mixed reviews from my two cats. Jeremy, ever the lovey dovey, gave her one paw up. He didn't hiss at her. In fact, he was curious about her from the start. He sniffed her, sat near her or slept next to the box she slept in. At the same time, he seemed sad.

Tyler, on the other hand, gave her arrival two paws down. Tyler, who is a Momma's boy, thinks he owns me. In fact, he even has jealousy spurts with Jeremy, who is from the same litter as Tyler and whom I brought home the same day as Tyler. Every so often, when Tyler sees me holding and kissing Jeremy, he will wait for me to put Jeremy down, and then pounce on him. Even when I put Jeremy down and immediately pick up Tyler, he manages to still go after his brother. With that in mind, the hissing and hawing Tabitha received from Tyler was no shock to me.

On Sunday they weren't ready to accept her 100%. I didn't expect them to, it was their first meeting. Tyler did hissing and hiding. Jeremy just sulked when he wasn't watching her or sniffing her. They came out of hiding when I went to bed. They each got into bed with me and laid in my arms. I guess they needed reassurance. I petted them and fell asleep.

On Monday, there was more of the same as on Sunday, except now Tyler even hissed at me. Boy was he pissed. I decided to take time and give the three of them equal attention. I let Tyler and Jeremy know they are my #1's and that Tabitha is a little girl who they shouldn't feel threatend by. Call me crazy but I think it worked because....

On Tuesday they started to pick up their moods. Jeremy no longer looked sad, he had his bounce back in his step. Tyler was hissing less and stayed out of hiding for pretty much the whole day. They each approached Tabitha to sniff her, even if she was in her box, they would look into it and check her out.

As of Wednesday (yesterday), it seems as though they both now give her two paws up, although when she chases them to play, they run for it. LOL

It will be interesting to see what happens tonight, although I do think love is in the air. Like I said earlier, Jeremy had a hiss-free curiousity about Tabitha from the beginning. He wants to love her. When Tabitha sees Jeremy, she wants out of her box bad, and when she is walking around and gets near him, she purrs. It's the cutest thing. She is 5 weeks old and already has a boyfriend!

New Kid On The Block

On Sunday my boyfriend and I took in a new baby kitten. It's a girl, a mix of tabby and calico. I took her to the vet today. So far all is well with her. She is 5 weeks old and her name is Tabitha.

Here is a pic of her standing up in her box: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v215/StephBKNY/DSCN0238.jpg

My other two cats, twin male Tabbies, are 4 1/2 years old and have to get used to her. Tyler hisses at her here and there, and Jeremy goes to smell her and stares at her but otherwise doesn't seem phased. He even laid down near her box this morning. She is only 1 pound 3 ounces! Bambina!

More pics:
Jeremy and Tabitha after they went nose to nose: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v215/StephBKNY/DSCN0237.jpg

Tabitha and Anthony:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v215/StephBKNY/DSCN0221.jpg

Tabitha checking out her new pad: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v215/StephBKNY/DSCN0219.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v215/StephBKNY/DSCN0226.jpg

Tough Questions: Food For Thought

I got this in an e-mail: THE BOTTOM INFO IS THE BEST!

Question 1: If you knew a woman who was pregnant, who had 8 kids already, three who were deaf, two who were blind, one mentally retarded, and she had syphilis, would you recommend that she have an abortion?

Read the next question before looking at the response for this one.

Question 2: It is time to elect a new world leader, and only your vote counts. Here are the facts about the three candidates.

Candidate A.
Associates with crooked politicians, and consults with astrologist. He's had two mistresses. He also chain smokes and drinks 8 to 10 martinis a day.

Candidate B.
He was kicked out of office twice, sleeps until noon, used opium in college and drinks a quart of whiskey every evening.

Candidate C.
He is a decorated war hero. He's a vegetarian, doesn't smoke, drinks an occasional beer and never cheated on his wife.

Which of these candidates would be your choice? Decide first... no peeking, then scroll down for the response.





-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------




Candidate A is Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Candidate B is Winston Churchill.
Candidate C is Adolph Hitler.



And, by the way, on your answer to the abortion question: If you said YES, you just killed Beethoven.

Pretty interesting isn't it? Makes a person think before judging someone.

Wait till you see the end of this note! Keep reading...

Never be afraid to try something new.
Remember: Amateurs...built the ark.
Professionals...built the Titanic

And Finally, can you imagine working for a company that has a little more than 500 employees and has the following statistics:

* 29 have been accused of spousal abuse
* 7 have been arrested for fraud
* 19 have been accused of writing bad checks
* 117 have directly or indirectly bankrupted at least 2 businesses
* 3 have done time for assault
* 71 cannot get a credit card due to bad credit
* 14 have been arrested on drug-related charges
* 8 have been arrested for shoplifting
* 21 are currently defendants in lawsuits
* 84 have been arrested for drunk driving in the last year...

Can you guess which organization this is?

Give up yet?



it's the 535 members of the United States Congress. The same group that crank out hundreds of new laws each year designed to keep the rest of us in line.

Did You Know?

Since I'm rethinking my occupation, I figured I'd post a mini-resume, "Did you know?" style, so here it goes:

*Did you know I majored in journalism at Kingsborough, where I was editor-in-chief of the campus paper and a member of the Associated Collegiate Press? Under my leadership the paper won top honors. I interviewed various politicians such as Senator Charles Schumer and Congressman Anthony Weiner.

*I appeared on NY 1's Inside City Hall, participating in a round-table discussion regarding Mayor Guiliani's choices for Board of Education president, in the mid-1990s. I sat with two journalists and an NYU professor. I was scared shitless. My mom still has that on tape somewhere.

*I went on to study communications at NYU, while working full time as a journalist. As a journalist I covered campus/CUNY politics, fashion, pop culture, sports, retail, and the tobacco and oil industries.

*I worked as a Human resources executive for two years at Bear Stearns, where I was active in organizing the Big Brothers/Big Sisters of NYC for 2001/2002.

*I used to moderate a major Mets message board. I stepped down when it became a conflict of interest with my current job (we work closely with the NY Mets).

*Currently I work for a non-profit agency. I feel as though I have worked in every aspect of the agency. My only consistency here is the Fundraising Department. No matter what else I do, I'm always part of Fundraising. To quote my boyfriend (now that I know I can Blog about him) I've had more positions [at the non-profit] than the karma sutra.

*I met my boss through ex-Mets manager Bobby Valentine.

*I've been 30 for over a month now. I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up.