No biting the personnel

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Originally uploaded by Fizzz.

Earlier in the year, maybe when we were away from home visiting Montreal, a light bulb started flashing periodically: could Truffles be bored? After all, it can’t be that much fun to be cooped up in a house alone all day long. At times we’d joke that we should get him a companion, a Trufflette.

It’s during our recent trip to Japan, after the scar of Tokyo’s stray cats, that we resolved to adopt a kitty. The day after our flight back we marched into the Seattle Animal Shelter and, low and behold, fell in love with an adorable puff of black hair.

Please welcome Kucci. That is her new legal name.

She’s a young female of the domestic short hair (DSH) breed. She also has a puff of white hair on the tummy. Life was very stressful for her at first. After her surgery she spent a week alone in a bedroom. Then she had multiple visits to the vet with sharp devices. Finally, this is a new world for her and there are so many rules to learn: no scratching the sofa; no nipping; no meowing; no jumping on top of the fridge to play with the flowers; no attacking feets passing by while hiding under the bed. Sigh…

There’s also the other cat. Since she’s between 7 months and 2 years old, she’s more energetic than the 5 years old king of the house, Truffles. When introducing a new cat into a house use common sense: introduce slowly, step by step. No one likes their world disturbed. Plus it’s so impolite of you to not provide a notice ahead of time. But by now they’re good friends. We were awaken a few days ago at 4:30 AM by two bullets playing tag in the bedroom. Yesterday they were wrestling on the bed. Periodically she licks his fur into place; a never ending task for him. He pays her back by eating all the wet food they’re meant to share. What a gentleman…

When considering a second cat we were afraid that it would always be judged against our first one. After all, we’ve yet to meet someone who doesn’t like Truffles. He has fur softer than Teddy bears and his American Curl ears give him a distinctly cute look. But Kucci is so physically different that we can’t compare them and of that we’re glad.

When I moved to Seattle years ago one thing gnawed at me for a looong time. I felt disconnected from pop culture. I missed hearing decent music and discovering the good upcoming groups. To be fair I didn’t have cable TV at home nor did I immediately appreciate the musical tastes of my new friends. It took a while before I settled into a groove. My first discoveries were KUOW and KPLU. One’s mostly talk radio while the other is a Jazz station. I couldn’t live without either nowadays. Then through a heated argument with W about Tori Amos came the British invasion which from Kate Bush went to Shakespeare’s Sister and Elvis Costello. There was also a bit of South-African music and a wiff of american groups (whose style did match my interest: Depeche Mode, Linking Park and Moxy Fruvous). But I was still without a decent everyday music station.

For sure there are many radio stations in Seattle besides the NPR ones. For example the C89.5 dance station is great (plus its run by students). But the others seemed very narrow. How much 80s rock can you play? Do I really want a country music station? Clear Channel must own stations in Seattle. I remember once approaching Vancouver and noting to myself how great the music was. Are Canadian radio stations, like Montreal’s Mix96, better? Not sure but everytime I go back I ask a good friend for samples of the new stuff. Diversity, it turns out, is the spice of my musical life.

Tonight at 4:34 PM a Seattle radio station played Malajube’s Montreal -40C.

Yup…

Long live KEXP, 90.3 in Seattle; my new love. Thx E for introducing me.

Since they are member sponsored they have very few ads (kinda like NPR). Their live feed, which I encourage you to listen to, gives them an international audience. Their focus is also obviously multi-national: this Monday evening’s programming included music from Congo. Finally all of their playlists and charts are online.

Judge them yourself. I need to go listen to more of the Tokyo Police Club and of The Decemberists.