Blog Problems, Hijacking and a Cat with Thumbs!

Now that I've finally managed to publish my last post on The Muppets Show Board Game, I thought I'd share with you a few problems I regularly encounter whilst writing my blog posts and in fact any other writing I attempt to do, on computer or even with a pen and pad and more often and not while drawing...

                                                           

First off I should mention something that most of you should already know - I'm a cat person, I spend the majority of my time literary covered in them, at any moment in time, while I write my posts, mostly lying in bed with a bottle in my back unable to move much, I'm pounced on... 

My feet have all manner of chew marks from where I've become a Human cat toy while I slept, and my chest to my knees has between 4 and 6 cats draped across it at any one time, with my crazy jug dog squeezed in amongst them somewhere or more often than not, on her side being suckled as she keeps producing milk to feed her 2 and 1 year old "kittens"...

Lord. Melchett suckling Roxy

I'm also the subject of suckling, Tingle has been doing this to me since we first met when he was a few weeks old, and is more often than not stuck to the side of my Pikachu Onesie paddy pawing away and dribbling everywhere, but I digress.

Mr. Tingle suckling "his" Pikachu!

One thing that happens often is that my keyboard gets hijacked and that's really what I'm trying to share, but you know me I have to do these ins and outs of a duck's arse introductions first!

Mr.Tingle - Suckled himself to sleep

So,  first up is Mr. Tingle's contribution to my Muppets post...

I know Miss. Piggy is violent towards Kermit, and this is technically Domestic Abuse but, seriously Tingie - GBH?

I think that's pushing it a bit far!

Lord Melchett & Roxy

 Here's another one of Melchett suckling Roxy, just because it's blooming cute!

Roxy Derp -  The Cat Mother!

And here's one of Melchy having a sleepy on Aaron, which shows off his thumbs pretty well, he actually has two fully formed thumbs but one of these has a smaller thumb coming out of the side.

Lord Melchett & Aaron

He has extra toes too, but it's his sister Zelda who really takes the Polydactyl cake as she has a total of 28 fingies and toes, whereas Melchy only has 11!

Princess Zelda

Their brother Tingle only has extra toes, his front feet are like any other cat's and their little sister Moogle doesn't have any extras!

 Zelda's front left paw.

I took this picture of Zelda's left front paw when she was a kitten, it shows her two thumbs, she has three on her right front one!

Anyhoo, I digressed again...

Melchie puts those thumbs of his to good use, whilst I was writing my last blog post he decided he'd do his best Miss. Piggy impression *sigh*!

This isn't the only time this has happened though, the weirdest thing about it is when the cats do Google searches it is never for things that don't exist, for a while they had us worried, they seemed hell bent on World Domination, but thinking about it living under Feline rule would actually be preferable to living under this Government hauh hauh!

Wanna see some more?  Well alrighty then!

Mistress Moogle

This is Moogle  apart from being tiny and adorable, she's also a bit of a nutter, now I'm fully aware that most if not all cats are mental cases, cat logic being what it is, but Moogie Boogie Woogie, takes the biscuit... 

That said she's not quite as bad as her big brother Ziggy was as a kitten, he walled himself up and we had to remove half the wall to free him, he went swimming in a bath full of hot water and he tried to throw himself out of a second storey window - all this is made much more insane when you consider that he is such a scaredy cat that he freaks out if anyone sneezes!

Moogle hijacked my keyboard and wrote this... 

At first glance you might think "gibberish" but if you read it aloud it sounds suspiciously like "Ziggy" - so why would she search Google for Ziggy and what did she hope to find?  

 Possibly this video I uploaded to my YouTube account some time ago!

This is one of several videos I took of Ziggy & Vimes as kittens suckling upon Roxy's teats, she got so into being a mum that she produced milk for them to drink - not bad for a virginal dog that was still technically a puppy herself!

Talking of Ziggy...

Mr. Ziggy looking smug!

Both Ziggy and Vimes went through a stage of keyboard hijacking and Googling all manner of things we didn't know existed, unfortunately, due to frantic saving after two laptops died and still not quite sorting everything out yet... 

I can't remember where I put Vimes's contributions (involving climbing gear & N.A.S.A)  - I'll have to update this later when I find them...

Clearly a hacking attempt in both English and Welsh, which is kind of weird considering he's Scottish, but meh he does live in Wales so I guess it makes sense!

This one, of course pleased Aaron, he likes to think of the babies being as "nerdy" as himself and it's not just any Anime, oh no, It's Naruto - he glowed with pride!

                                                                             Sir Vimes

Sir. Vimes - Interested in N.A.S.A and climbing equipment, which is quite apt, the climbing stuff not the N.A.S.A thing, as when he was small we worried he may have eye or balance problems as he had problems climbing and judging even the shortest distances, he's over that now and thankfully didn't even need all those crampons and such that he was planning on making us buy!

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Hopkins the 3rd

 This is "Wolfie" Aaron found him as a stray while in college and took him to the nearby Vet' for safety, after discovering they'd only keep him one night, then back to possible danger for him, Aaron agreed to foster him until his owners could be found.

 Facebook posts, posters and left phone numbers gained no response and so Wolfie is now a beloved member of the family and like the others he likes nothing better than to hijack keyboards and try to play Aaron's MMORPGs.

In fact he's getting to be so much of a nuisance that we're seriously considering getting him his own "Kitty Scratch Pad Laptop" complete with mousey!

http://odditymall.com/

 But of course I digress once again, Wolfie's keyboard hijacking escapade had us shocked and saddened at his choice of research material...

It seems our little Wolfie may in fact be a closet racist, why else would he want to find information on that vile group the KKK?

Oh Dear!

 What's worse is I can't look at his face any more without seeing this moustache superimposed over it...

Hitler, sorry I meant Wolfie!

I feel pretty guilty because he is a lovely little guy and probably couldn't help it but hmmm what if? 

Greebo Hopkins

or Greebee as I like to call him is our most recent stray, he was hanging around my garden for about a week in June, and run away every time we went near him... 

Then one night he turned up on our doorstep, straggly as anything and battered from fights,.after several attempts Aaron finally managed to coax him closer to the door and went to get him some food...

After eating a whole tin of meat, he let Aaron tickle him, that's when he discovered the poor sod had this evil looking wound, he brought him inside, gave him another tin of food and I bathed him, rubbed some tea tree enthused Vaseline on him, then made arrangements to take him to the vet...

One car ride, a check over,three injections and £50 later, it turned out he had an infection - if left it would have killed him ...

Greebo & the hideous wound

I also de-flea'd and wormed him, over the last few months his fur has gone from scabby and scruffy to silky and smooth!

Greebo's now fully healed he has quite an impressive scar though...

 He no longer "wolfs" his food down as he's gotten used to having two meals a day and biscuits in between.

He loves his toy catnip mice, ball and catnip drops, sleeping on a human bed with a human to cuddle up with instead of a dirt floor, and having a Daddy!

He also now only cries when he wants company!

He's so lovable it seems strange he ended up a stray, still he's now a very happy "Hopkins"!

Unlike the others he is more interested in having a warm bed to snuggle up on than stealing keyboards and using two £30.00 Gaming Mouse Pads as scratching posts (mentioning no names - Wolfie!) so far he hasn't commandeered anything other than Aaron's bed!

I guess only time will tell... 

Laters,

                                      

THE MUPPET SHOW BOARD GAME by PALITOY - 1977

I've never met anyone who grew up in the 1970s and 1980s who doesn't still have a love for The Muppets,

 I really can't put my finger on why but ask anyone who was a child in those decades and just the mention of The Muppets will raise a wistful smile and a nostalgic longing inside them, heck even the adults around us at the time loved The Muppets and like us children of the 70s and 80s still look back on those halcyon days with longing, so it really should come as no surprise that I just happen to be the proud owner of a Muppet Show board game from 1977!

As you can see from the box, the game is for two to four players aged 8 to adult - the reason for this is because each player controls two of the eight counters.

The aim of the game is, as you'd expect pretty crazy - Chaos has broken out Back Stage in the theatre and no-one is where they should be, the audience are seated..."Curtains Up" is in a matter of minutes and The Muppets are running here, there and everywhere like a bunch of manics, so it's up to you to help Kermit get each pair of Muppets to the right place on stage before the curtain goes up...

When I opened the box I found all the playing pieces sealed in plastic bags, so I had to remove them and place them into the moulded areas of the box to check if I had everything needed to play the game.

The playing counters and their bases are colour coded, this corresponds to the area of the stage in which those Muppets should be waiting ready to perform their act once the curtain goes up.

As well as two Muppets each player has to control a "set" piece, these are also colour coded to match their respective Muppets.

Miss. Piggy & Rowlf have a Theatre set ( note they are dressed as Surgeons), Scooter & Fozzie Bear have a Park bench set, Zoot & The Great Gonzo have instruments and spotlights on their set and of course Dr. Teeth & Animal have their band set.

These pieces must also be moved to the front of the stage and placed in their respective areas before the Curtains go up.

You have a book of Stage Directions / Rule Book to help you and a pack of cards which contain directions, hazards etc...

The cards are used in place of a die and provide instructions on where and how to move, but they are not always so helpful... 

You may be moved Backstage, to The Wings, or moved by other players who draw a certain card, but to help you along and to counter these threats use could also draw Star Cards; these will countermand Hazard cards providing you hold at least one Movement card.

 The first person to get their Muppets and set pieces to the correct area at the front of the stage wins the game...

And allows Kermit to take a well earned rest!

15th August 2017.

As I've had a couple of requests for copies of the rules for this game, I've decided to revisit this post and upload scans of the Stage Directions (Rule Book) so anyone who needs a copy can just save and print them as required... So here goes!

7th March 2018

Many Thanks go to David Simpson, who downloaded copies of my original scans, retouched them and has kindly given me the retouched versions to upload here for anyone else who needs them..

As the Rule Book is printed on a single folded sheet,  the best way to print it so it looks more authentic would be to print the first side, then turn the paper over and print the second image on the other side.

It's also worth noting that the Rule Book is A5 in size so make sure you reduce the image so it is no more than 148 x 210 mm ( 5.8 x 8.3 inches) that way your replacement will be as authentic as a printed scan can be!

                                       

                                              Hope this helps, and happy gaming!!

                                   

                                                                Hugs,

                                               

Reunited Love-Birds!!

                               Whoever said on top of the wardrobe is no place to find love?

Kermieeeeeeeeeeeee!!

Yay I has new things!! - post on Dolls more Dolls, 3rd July 2009

cute little Fisher Price baby from John

Thank you so much John...She's adorable and such a lovely surprise as I got it in my head I was getting the armless one! .... She's beautiful

Janet identified her as a Little Mommy doll!

oh noooo.

I thought baby might be tired after her journey and put her down for a nap but along comes Aaron & Mr.Potato Head Takes exception to the new comer and awww poor baby :(

Spud Goes Psycho!!

One minute I'm cooking, next turn around and my potatoes are being detained :( maybe not such a bargain then a? 

It wasn't me ...I was cooking and turned around and saw him...then heard Aaron chuckling from outside the room lol Boys!!
 I thought to myself "oooo how evil can you get...showing a potato a masher?" Still, judging by the eyes on him, he's a complete nutter, so it's no wonder he goes psycho!

New little ladies


The little girl on the left is Canadian and was waiting for me when I got home from North Wales, the girl on the right is by KidKore and came yesterday *Grin*

Mannequin, Beaker & Fozzie From Janet!

Yay what a lovely surprise ... I had the full set of McD' Muppets and have been regretting selling them ever since I did so having Beaker find his way back to me was wonderful! And who don't love Fozzie and his stupid jokes?