You may have already seen this. He (or she?) is known as the Don Piano cat. I first saw it on Funniest Home Videos back in the 1990s and it still freaks me out! We all know birds are good mimics, but can cats do it too? Is this video even real? It could be fake, but ABC would sometimes air fakes if they were well done and entertaining enough. [link]

If you're a pet, here's why you should never try to lick someone else's balls: [link] The expression on the cat's face at the end is priceless...he's like WTF?!

This bunny has a great counterattack for fending off hostile cats. Poor kitty. [link]

Finally, SEPTA's workers hit the picket lines after working without a contract since March. In fact, it took intervention from the governor to keep them from striking while the World Series was being played here! Anyway, Philadelphia has no bus or subway service until further notice. So I'm either walking, using the train (under a different contract), or bumming rides from my coworkers. I'm just grateful I have a ride to my job. I'm sure others are out there aren't as lucky.

The Yankees lead the series 3 games to 1 and the Phillies are facing elimination. It's all up to Cliff Lee to delay the inevitable. And if they pull out a win tonight, they have two more chances to blow it Wednesday and Thursday. The Phillies have shown time and time again that they possess talent and the ability to make clutch plays. But enough for a three game winning streak against a clearly superior Yankees team? No.

Now the Phillies know what the Rays, who they defeated in last years World Series, feel like. Some days you're the hammer and some days you're the nail. Nobody ever remembers the team that lost.

Here's a great cat I just learned about from an article in the local newspaper. Her name is Nora and she's a whiz on the piano! [link]

Here's another Nora clip: [link] Rolling one's head across the keys is an effective--and cute--technique.

Time for some different cats. Please watch this one very closely: A harmless smack on the butt or sexual harrassment? You be the judge! [link]

They say that this week's adopt a pet, Pinkey, is a very loving cat. [link] That's gotta hurt.

Finally, the Phillies have a legitimate opportunity to repeat as World Series champions. Except for the Yankees, historically, repeat champions don't happen that often in baseball. If they can win tonight, they'll have a 2 game to none lead on the Bronx Bombers so let's cheer them on!

Some time next year, I hope to take a vacation through the Midwest which includes a stop in Detroit. Detroit, it is said, lives and dies with the auto industry. Detroit is also said to have the largest inventory of pre-Depression skyscrapers after New York and Chicago. Today, many of these buildings stand vacant. Some have been converted into residential uses and a few have been upgraded into modern office space. But it seems unlikely that there is enough demand for office, living, and retail space to revitalize all of these buildings. In fact, journalist Camilo Jose Vergara has proposed to make a part of downtown Detroit into a kind of ruins museum. After all, he argues, Rome still has the Colloseum and other vestiges of the Roman Empire. Of course, if they aren't preserved as some kind of ghost town, they risk being razed. Such is the case with the Lafayette Building: [link]

The Renaissance Center was built with hopes of turning around downtown Detroit. Unfortunately, this “city within a city” gave tenants and employees little reason to wander outside what was something like a gated community. In the end, all it did was mainly siphon existing businesses and workers from older buildings. The more recently built Comerica tower which is located in the established business district does much better.

See Detroit.com photos are predominantly of blighted sights, but vibrant structures like the new stadium are sometimes shown too. [link]

And what about Detroit ’s future? The good feelings brought about by the Red Wings' hockey dynasty are all fine and dandy. But the Red Wings can't bring about what the Detroit area really needs: Business and job creation. At the rate things are going, only one of the Big Three automakers is likely to survive. Therefore, Michigan will have to find new direction to take its economy or its precipitous decline will continue. Thoughts?

This is an outrageous act of animal cruelty. You can see a news report about it here:

[link]

Yesterday a suspect was arrested, a 19 year-old man named James Davis. He no doubt has some serious mental issues having seen both his brother and his father killed in recent years. Apparently his goal was to stop this cat from wandering around his yard. Didn't he have the sense to know a cat tied up like that can't defend herself, get food or water, or go home? Or the sense to know that a cat this tame is obviously someone's pet?

Sticky is such a sweet, trusting cat. The man who did this took advantage of this. As he was wrapping her up, she probably thought he was simply petting her. The most amazing thing about the still photo of the cat all taped up is how calm she looks. Like she's just asking, "OK, can you untape me please?" Such a level head and a kind disposition. You can see how nice she is with the SPCA workers. They've gotten over 100 offers to adopt Sticky but I think they're still hoping her original owner will step forward.