Happy Friday!

I highly recommend using your procrastination time today to browse Shopcat.
This site features photos and stories about cats on the job across the nation, although a lot of them seem to be from California.

Here's Sixx, from Studio City, CA. Abandonned as a kitten, she went on to forge a career in computer repair and framing, quite an interesting combination. Sixx lives in Steven Levine's frame shop and loves carpet-topped counters, playing with the tape measure and tormenting dogs, not necessarily in that order.

Browse around and check out other Shopcats. Or add your own.

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Happy Friday!

Myfession: I can't get enough of Dogfessions. The brainchild of Nikki Moustaki, part-time Miami Beach resident, Dogfessions are postcards that illustrate deep secrets and hidden thoughts that canines (and their owners) would rather you not know.

Moustaki, a dog trainer whose "dogfession" is that her own two pooches are ill-behaved, came up with the idea about two years ago. At the Westminister Dog Show in 2006, she first asked pet owners for Dogfessions submissions. She now gets about 1,500 to 2,000 a month.

Myfession No. Two: Although Moustaki has expanded to Catfessions, Dogfessions are my favorite. Some are hysterical; others are so poignant and real, they make me cry. I think Dogfessions probably are best appreciated in all their full-color, creative glory through Dogfessions the book, just released by HarperCollins a few months ago ($19.99).

But you also can see some for free (and covertly, at your desk, on a Friday) at the Dogfessions Web site.

Here's the Dogfessions book video, which has some good shots of the cards.

Oh, and I really do want a puppy.

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Happy Friday!

Nora, named for surrealist artist Leonora Carrington, comes from an artistic family living in Philadelphia. Her mother, Betsy Alexander, is a teacher, composer and musician; her father, Burnell Yow, is an artist.

So it's not surprising that at the tender age of 4, Nora has a career -- as Nora the Piano Cat.
Yow has created several YouTube videos of Nora "playing" the piano, a beautiful Yamaha grand. The couple said they did not teach the cat this trick; she just naturally picked it up from watching Alexander give lessons and plays when the mood strikes her.

The most amazing part of this video is the "call and response" segment, about three minutes in. Betsy plays on a second piano, stops. And then Nora follows along.

Nora also has DVD, CDs and a new book, "Nora the Piano Cat's Guide to Becoming a Good Musician." You can check out her items here, on Amazon.com.

Thanks to Karen for sending me Nora's video.

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Happy Friday!

During my pre-lunch procrastination break, I got a chance to look at this video TJ sent to me last week. Now my co-workers are totally disgusted: I laughed so hard, Diet Coke came out my nose.

Clever clever, those digital technology ad people...
(No cats were harmed in the making of this video). Enjoy!

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Sorry, folks. Gotta take a blog break for a couple days.
I have a big project due.

In the meantime: Here's video of that New Bedford, MA. firefighter (the one we wrote about yesterday) saving a cat with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Thanks to SSS! reader Fred for this one.

And please cross your fingers for all creatures great and small in the path of Hurricane Ike, as it moves toward landfall in Texas.

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Happy Friday!

If you live with a cat, you'll be able to relate. Don't we secretly love them because they aren't afraid to let us have it when they feel like it??
Cool song, too.

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Happy Friday!

Lulu and Lolly, whose Maltese Road Trip exploits landed them in national magazines, are featured in what their two-legged groupies believe may be the first rock video promoting the adoption option.

I'll post more on this pair later. In the meantime, enjoy.

And as Lulu and Lolly say:
Looking for someone to rock your world? Try your local shelter.

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Happy Friday!

Engineers may think they can analyze, design and wonk their way around anything. But they may have met their match with cats, as the Engineer's Guide to Cats proves.

Take a Friday afternoon break and watch Oscar, Ginger and Zoey put engineers Paul and TJ through their paces as the cats demonstrate such arts as feline floral regurgitation and cat yodeling. You also will learn such helpful skills as learning how to calculate the internal volume and aspect ratio of your own cat, to better determine wind resistance and leaping capability.

And speaking of TJ: It was our own SSS! reader TJ who recommended this viral vid a few months ago. Thanks!

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Happy Friday!

Long ago, in a cubicle far, far away...

My then-podmate Lona (whose young daughter's first pet had her smitten with all things hamster) e-mailed me something that came to be known as the Hamster Dance. Created and launched by a Canadian art student 10 years ago this month, this Internet meme was a very early (and very simple) version of what we now call a "viral video" -- an infectious bit of Internet nonsense that winds up circling the globe a few million times, delighting Friday cubicle-rat procrastinators around the world.

Nora is a teen-ager now and her pet hamster long gone. But the Hamster Dance is alive, well and in multiple versions on YouTube. Click here for a close copy of the original. Back in the day, it was known as the Hampster Dance -- for the creator's pet and muse, Hampton the Hamster.

Below is a massively upgraded model, sort of like what a Broadway musical might be to a high school play.

Happy anniversary Hamster Dance!
You changed my life, and my Fridays, forever.

Click here for Hamster Dance history from Wikipedia.

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I can say from experience that there is nothing funnier watching your pup try to walk in shoes for the first time.

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Happy Friday!

Amanda Jones has been called "the Scavullo of pets," a nod to the late fashion photog famous for celebrity glamour portraits of Brooke Shields, Burt Reynolds and others. But Jones' pictures aren't just lovely. All that is wonderful and unique about companion animals shines through: Their grace, their playfulness, their kindness, their soul.

And you can get one of these photos every month in your inbox. Free. Just join Jones' Dog of the Month Club by going to her Web site here. This should hold you over until you can save $1,400 towards a photo session with Jones for your own fab dog or cat.

Above is Jones' picture of Chloe, the May Dog of the Month.

Jones, who has been photographing dogs and cats since 1994, lives in North Adams, MA. with her husband Chris and long-haired dachshund, Lily. She has done four breed-specific books: One each on French bulldogs, dachshunds, greyhounds and mutts.

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Happy Friday!

And speaking of happy -- take time today to make Kenzie, a Wheaton-colored Scottish terrier from Seattle, WA., exactly that.
Kenzie, you see, has a bad case of puppy love. A big crush. On Barney, the nation's First Dog. As you can see from this little poster she made.

The fact that Barney, a black Scottie, soon will be moving out of the White House has not deterred her. Kenzie, with the help of her Scottie brother Boone, has been relentlessly pursuing her dream date with the Barnster. She has launched a YouTube video campaign, asking Barney to please phone. Watch and you can see Kenzie is quite a catch: She works out, is an actress and world traveler, and quite cute.

Kenzie tried sending Barney a Valentine and has been on national television, pleading her case. Barney's family acknowledged her advances last year, and even sent some gifts: Pawtographed photos of the Presidential pets, Nylabones, etc. But alas, no date.

Here is where you come in.
Click here for Boone and Kenzie's Web site, Scottie Tails. You'll see a link where you can e-mail the White House on Kenzie's behalf.

A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

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Happy Friday! And Happy Fourth.

You hopefully aren't at work today, so you don't need something that can deliver some serious procrastination time. Instead, take a quick break from blowing things up, pump up the volume and watch kitties morph to the beat.

From PhotoAnimationGuy.

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Happy Friday!

Here's why every dog needs a yard -- with a swimming pool. What your dog does when you're not home.
Thanks, TJ.

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Happy Friday!

If cats went CD shopping, here's what you might see. Which one would be yours?

Cat listening to heavy metal.

Cat listening to techno while on Ecstasy.

Cat listening to mellow jazz.

Cat listening to rap.

Cat moshing.

Want more animated cats?
Click here to check out Totalleh.com. And rock on!

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