I Dare You All...

... to come up with a Dare of your own!

One year ago at this day Anastasia went to the bridge. And instead of mourning her death today we decided to celebrate her life by holding another Dare, a tradition at The Cat Realm that she invented with her pink wig challenge.

We call this fourth Dare the "Get Involved Dare" because we want each and everyone of you to come up with a Dare of your own. You can Dare us to do anything - no violence of course! And try to keep it kitten friendly...
A panel of judges will vote on the best Dare and the winner will be the next Dare for everybody to do!

The panel of judges was chosen from among cats and dogs who all have done outstanding efforts to bring us all together - get us involved - as a community. The list of those individuals is long but our maid insisted on keeping the number of judges small so we did have to make a selection...
I will only list one of the sometimes many of the efforts by those we chose:

Pablo for his AWESOME Footy Finals Fever competition
Nelson LaPurr for giving us MEOW LIKE A PIRATE day
Skeezix for his Halloween contest
Opus for the Mafia Movie Night
Sassy for CCSI
Gretchen for giving us Mike
Lenny for the 2008 Paw-Limpics

Monty Q. for his Do The Q! contest originally was also on this panel. As you all probably know his family lost their sweet baby Violette, so they need him for support. Our purrs and thoughts are with him and his family during this time of incredible grieve and sadness.

Every animal and human can participate, one entry per animal/human.
You have to have an active blog to participate but if you share a blog with others each one can enter.
Please try and explain your Dare in ONE sentence!!!
Email it to us at
idareyouall at gmail dot com
Enter your name in the subject line and leave your blog address with your Dare!
Deadline will be August 31, 9 pm Pacific Time, that is midnight EST.
By entering your Dare you give permission to The Cat Realm to use it in any way we see fit as long as we give you the proper credit for it.
Of course we can change these rules at any time, thank you Skeezix, hahahahahahahaha!

Please leave your name and blog address in the Linky box underneath so we know who participates!
Keep your Dare a secret, we don't want to spoil the fun!

Now get creative, you can check out our first three Dares ( #1, #2, #3 ) for inspiration and then come up with something outrageously new, funny, simple, weird, thoughtful, alien, plain, YOU name it!
Have fun!

We will make the rounds and challenge you all personally but it might take us some days to get around to everybody. And sorry Yao-Lin - we will do this alphabetically ...
If you don't find yourself on our blogroll but would like to be on there - let us know!

APPENDIX:
After we put on and do the winning Dare we will then also post ALL the other entries and dare you to do as many of them as you possibly can!

Get Ready!!!

Souvenirs From Africa

I am back home and finally met Tintin. I don't know why Mrs. OZ was worried about what I might do... I am happy he is here and hope he likes his new home with us!
We started out with a little wrestling match right away! I am sure we will be good friends!

Now onward to the gifts! Of course I brought souvenirs from Africa as presents for everyone! Tintin got a pair of "training glasses" - and I will start looking around for his real ones which he will get once he gets his real teeth.

Mrs. OZ got a copper plaque in the shape of Africa, with a lion and an elephant on it.

The maid got a kanga and some Masai jewelery (Tintin needs to inspect, hahahahahahaha)

The butler got a Masai shield. Remember the rescue mission? Check out the shield that Roscoe is wearing while dancing!

Everybody liked their presents, and I think they were all happy that I am back! I am sure happy - although I already miss my Ruis who is back home with his family who are all very sad about Maxime's departure to the bridge....
BUT: I have a Dare to do! Remember: Only 2 more days! Are you ready yet.... see tomorrow....

Remembering...

... so many who have left us this week. Cats. And a little human too.

Our sweetest sister-in-law Maxime.

Our friend Felix.


And dear little Sprout, Monty Q.'s human sister Violette. In honor of her our Buddha is wearing violette. Her funeral service is today and our hearts are with her family. We will leave these candles burning all weekend.

Good Bye Sweet Max

Our dear sister-in-law Maxime went to the bridge today.
Rest in peace, Maxime, we will miss you.

picture by Kattenpraat, taken at 5 weeks of age (August 1994)

Wordless Wednesday

Finally Some Pictures...

After all the long memes I posted lately I thought it is time for some pictures! Who wants to read a lot of stuff when you can say
"a thousand words with one picture"???

So I will show you today how I supervise Tintin when he is playing:


I allowed him to pick the pictures he wants to be posted.

And after we did the post we had a well earned meal together.

Karl is still on safari with the others. He emailed me that they will have an interesting post up this Friday! So don't forget to check Karl and Ruis blog!

For Sprout

Our hearts are heavy, and our purrs are with Monty Q. and his family. We are so very deeply sorry, sending you lots of big hugs.

The Needs Meme And Another Award

I saw the most interesting meme ever over at Luxor's place! As I am in "meme mode" I decided to do that one also! What a surprise it became!

The rules: All you have to do is Google your first name with the word "needs" behind it and post the results. Don't forget to tag (if you are the tagging sort)!

I googled "Mrs. OZ needs" - and guess what. I do not need a thing!!!!

The only entry that came up with Mrs. OZ ... was this:
Mrs. OZ managed to catch a nasty cold

BUT - and here it comes:
I found ANOTHER Mrs. OZ!
On MySpace! I sent her a message but haven't heard back yet.

Then I had Tintin do it too. Now that got us some results!

Tintin needs him
Karl, that is, I would assume... did you hear that Karl? Come back from safari - we miss you!
Tintin needs no introduction to Tokyo
WOW - barely 4 month old and he knows TOKYO already?
Tintin needs a car auction
don't we all, hohohohoho
Tintin needs to bring a skateboard next time
yes, I want to see that!
Tintin needs all his courage
living with me, of course he does!
Tintin needs to add some contacts and favorites first
I don't want to know what could be second...
Tintin needs to have #redraw on
???

Then we tried Karl's name -FUNNY!!!

Karl needs women in it
I don't think so!!!
Karl needs to take care of his baby
yes! He needs to come back and take care of Tintin! I could use the relief....
Karl Needs A Hobby
Like blogging, traveling, writing mysteries, partying and trashing parties, hunting, photoshopping, supervising the butler when doing artwork, training the maid and dressing up is not enough?
Karl needs a girl friend
Guess not! Happily married to Ruis.
Karl needs's public search listing
Does he? What do you think?
Karl needs to have his butt kicked
Hohohohohohohoho, good one! I volunteer, hohohohoho...
Karl needs the rest home and the basket weaving class
Resting home sounds about right. I have a feeling he wouldn't be thrilled about the class though....
Karl needs a matching scarf
That is always good advice. And the more scarfs one has the better.
I am sure Daisy would agree.
Karl needs to stop trying to dress like a Dior Homme model
What do you mean "trying"???

And last but not least, here are some VERY exciting news: I, Mrs. OZ, got my own personal "2008 Brillante Weblog Award"! Given to me by the wonderful Socks, Scylla and Charybdis, "...we have enjoyed getting to know her better."! Thank you soooo much!!!

The rules for the Brillante Weblog Award are as follows:
The award may be displayed on a winner’s blog.
Add a link to the person who you received the award from.
Nominate up to seven other blogs.
Then add their links to your blog.
Add a message to each person that you have passed the award on to in the comments section of their blog.

I will give this award to
Miss Peach - I admire her style
Bathsheba - as an early birthday present (August 12 is her birthday!)
Findus and Smilla - as a 'welcome to the blogosphere gift'
Luxor - because he is white, and stylish, and regal, kind of like me, hohohohoho...

Awards

The Two New England Schnauzers Hershey and Kacie have given us THREE awards!!!

We are very honored! Thank you so much Hershey and Kacie.


And we got this award from Daisy Mae and da Katie Katz for attending their party! Good thing we don't get one for every party we attend - that could be kind of embarrassing and would also fill up our free quota of Picasa Web Album space fast.... Thank you guys!


Karl emailed from Africa and told me he will be on safari UNTIL AUGUST 20!!!
Mrs. OZ

The Power Of Noms Day!

You might not have known - but our nomss friend Lucas has been missing from the blog world for quit a while. But for Noms Day he sent us a message:
"... I miss you all! It's just that the humans have been occupied with other stuff lately that blogging is just kinda not on a priority list right now. But please don't think that I've forgotten about you... I'm doing very ok and healthy. "
And he sent some pictures along, too!


Doesn't he look handsome? He did not keep the shirt on for long, though, because it is always hot where he lives. Just like were we live, hohohohohoho, so no shirts for us either, hohohohoho.
I forwarded the message to Karl on safari right away and he was very happy to hear from Lucas too!
Mrs. OZ

Brody Got Tagged!

Brody from Antarctica got tagged by Mike for the Unspectacular Quirky Meme.

Here are the rules: Link to the one who tagged you. List the rules on your blog. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours. Tag some blogger friends with links. Leave a comment on their blog to let them know they've been tagged.

I let Brody do his answers himself:

1. I never eat, drink or burp.
2. I am friends with a 50 year old teddy bear from Germany.
3. I don't talk. Or write poetry.
4. I was made in China (most probably my most unspectacular quirk...)
5. I never exercise.
6. I can move and I will demonstrate here:


(Music: "Ne me quitte pas" by Alison Moyet. Thank you Ruis...)

I tag Myrna. And any other fluffhead that happens to stop by!

Happy Noms Day

Today we are celebrating Noms Day ("Not Of My Species Day"), a holiday to remember that all beings are equal, to remind ourselves to be tolerant towards everybody, to reach out across species, cultures, nationalities, religions, languages, beliefs and appearances and to come together and embrace our differences.

We wish all of you a very happy Noms Day!

Karl and Ruis are celebrating Noms Day in Africa by making more and more and more and even more noms friends!

Important Announcement!

For the first anniversary of the nomss friend Dare coming up this Tuesday August 5, 2008 we will create an international public holiday and

declare August 5 to be Noms Day.

You celebrate Noms Day however way you want but here are some guidelines of what you could do:

Find a nomss (not-of-my-species-special) friend if you don't have one yet.

Find more noms (not-of-my-species) friends. One can never have too may noms friends!

Have a party with your noms friends. Tell us about them!

Make a post about Noms Day to spread the word and most importantly to promote tolerance towards each and everyone!

Tell your humans about it and urge them to observe Noms Day also. You know that species stands for:
species, race, religion, culture, nationality, language, profession, political party, and so forth - right?

Here is the official Noms Day button to take, we do hope you'll celebrate with us!!!

We are sorry about the late announcement - it's the maid's fault - she didn't tell us it was August 3 already!!!

Three Memes Day and Award

I am sorry this is such a long post - please do not give up - the pictures come at the end!

Karl is soooo bad! He totally forgot that we were tagged by Skeeter for a meme on JUNE 7!!! Yes, You read right: June 7. Almost two months ago. How rude is that to just forget about it and not do the meme?
So I, Mrs. OZ, will do it today! Thank you Skeeter, for tagging us!!!

Skeeter, LC, and Ayla made up the meme themselves! It was originally questions they asked of DaisyMae Maus. Here it goes:

Fill in the blanks… so I did in red:

1. “Any cat I do not know very well” makes me hiss!

2. “Being hold by a human” and “sharing the bed” are my least favorite things to do.

3. I would rather “play with the whirley bird” than get a treat.

4. Nip leafs are good but “wet food” is better.

5. Looking at the TV is “meaningless”. Unless I'm “in the 5th dimension” then its “spitting out treats”!

Pass it on…
As it is soooo long ago that we got tagged I assume everybody has played it by now? If you did not, PLEASE consider yourself tagged by me, Mrs. OZ, personally!


And wildcatsthree tagged us for the name game and as Karl is still gone I will grab the opportunity and do it myself too! This is how it goes:

What is your name?
Mrs. OZ for o to be precise: Mrs. Hissy OhneZahn

If you could change your name, what would it be?
Agatha

What is your pet's name?
Carrot (maybe I tell you about it later..)

If you could change your pet's name, what would it be?
Mao (maybe I tell you about that later too...)

What is your brother or sister's name?
Karl and Tintin. They are not blood brothers but household brothers.

If you could change their name, what would it be?
I do like their names and wouldn't change them.

Now I have to tag as many people (or critters) as the letters in my new name!
2? OZ
5? Mrs. OZ
7? Hissy OZ
10? Mrs. Hissy OZ
13? Hissy OhneZahn
16? Mrs. Hissy Ohnezahn

I will go with my everyday name, Mrs. OZ and tag 5 animals:
(and I don't know who played it before or not - so I will just go ahead)
Queen Snickers
Earl Grey
Bathsheba
Aloysius
Tigmut'hep


And Ariel and her mom came up with this Meme they call Makeover Meme that they hope we all play. Here are the rules....

Pick an identity of someone or something you like to be.Then photoshop yourself in the identity you picked and explain why you picked this identity.

This is any open meme to anyone who wants to play.
If you do play please let Ariel know so she can visit your page....

And this is who I, Mrs. OZ, picked, and I don't think it requires any further explanation...


I am also very proud and honored to announce that The Cat Realm received a most wonderful award, The First Ever "Skittles Pay It Forward Award"!
Thank you so much, Skittles, we very much appreciate it.