Just Some TV Stuff ... and Stuff

I haven't seen Roofus the Cat since Saturday but the weather has been icky. He's probably under a roof, not atop one. But I went to GoogleEarth and pulled up this satellite image of the area (obviously not really current as we have no leaves these days). You can click on it to make it larger.

The yellow dot is where I stand at the Plainfield Train Station taking Roofus photos. The red dot is the "Chotola" apartment building where he rests on the bay roof between the front fire escapes. The purple dot is the ex-Budget Car Rental where the elderly man feeds all the feral cats. The big aqua arrow means it's two more blocks that-a-way to my apartment building.

My latest Survivor review is up on TV Squad. And, over on CliqueClack TV I have my latest "TV Shows Off the Beaten Path" column posted. This one is about the show Cold Case. Bob Sassone over at TVS has spilled the beans about the next location for Survivor -- Brazil. Actually, Jeff Probst spilled the beans to Ryan Seacrest and Bob must have been eavesdropping.

Reality News Online has an interview with ousted Survivor castaway Crystal posted. Gee, she did so poorly on the physical challenges because she "threw her physicality out the window." Um, yeah. That's what she said --

Crystal: That just went out the window after I had a chance to run up the first hill. It’s hot as hell, I’m hungry. It just snowballed downhill. I think I had one good challenge, when I pulled Paloma off the pole.

RNO: But why did you go downhill?

Crystal: The challenges are not devised for everyday things that people do. They were hard as hell. For a person who’s been in tip-top shape, those challenges were hard. So I threw my physicality out the window and [decided to] play a social game.

Whatever. I'm just glad she's gone. And she is NOT in "tip-top shape."

RNO: What do you think of the reason behind you being voted off?

Crystal: I thought of the fact that I was social threat out there. I think folks didn’t want to go to the finals with me because I would have won. I think I had a great relationship with many of the castaways out there. To some extent, we had some sort of connection with every single one of the castaways. I would have won.

Delusional, I say!

So ... any C.S.I. fans out there? What did you think of the introduction of the Lawrence Fishburne character (to replace William Petersen) last night? I like Fishburne, so I think it might add a new dimension to the show.

Today's musical non sequitur:
Uno, dos, one, two, tres, quatro
Matty told Hatty about a thing she saw.
Had two big horns and a wooly jaw.
Wooly bully, wooly bully.
-- "Wooly Bully" by Sam the Sham and The Pharaohs

Roofus the Cat, 'tis the Season, and Some TV Doings

The holiday season is in full swing in the shopping district of Westfield, NJ. I always enjoy the decorations at the James Ward Mansion Building, but find the Ann Taylor store on its first floor a bit too pricey for my budget. (Clicking on the images will make them larger.)


Apparently Saturdays on my way to work are the scheduled nap times for Roofus the Cat by the Plainfield Train Station. Yesterday was cloudy and grey, but there he was napping away.


Then there's Friday's sunset full of contrails taken at the Bridgewater, NJ Train Station. One of these days, I'm going to knock down those power poles so it comes out unobscured! This is over the field of geese who mysteriously stay through the winters now. I'm still waiting for the deer to show up.


And then there's television. You know ... what brought us all together here!

Tonight is the season finale of The Amazing Race. I'll be opening a post for comments at 8 PM ET even if it doesn't start on time due to sports. Unfortunately, the season finale is only one action-packed hour, but I'm really looking forward to it! Bonnie Hunt has said that she will have Phil Keoghan and the winners on her show this week. I'm thinking probably Tuesday because that's the day she's been having the Philiminated on. I record her show every day anyway, so I'll catch it. She's rooting for Dandrew. And, to think I like her! Argh!

Tonight is also the premiere of Leverage on TNT (10 PM ET/PT). Since I missed the first two episodes of screeners, I MUST watch how it all starts.

On Tuesday night, up against Leverage, is a new real life cop series called Manhunters: Fugitive Task Force on A&E (10 PM ET/PT). It's a show following the Fugitive Task Force in the NJ/NYC area. I know they're in action around here, but my own lifestyle doesn't warrant them pounding on my door. That's a good thing, of course. I have enough stress with knee woes and working for a living -- I don't need arrest issues, too! Like their series Jacked (with the Auto Theft Task Force), this is going to be a show I'll be either recording or watching as they air it at other times. I love that about the cable stations -- you can usually catch the shows re-aired at other times and don't have to wait for reruns!

Today's musical non sequitur:
Take me to another place
Take me to another land
Make me forget all that hurts me
Let me understand your plan
-- "Tennessee" Arrested Development

Off Topic: Roofus the Cat and My Own

Yep, this is my own cat Scherzo pretending to be a lolcat. A personal bailout would be nice. After all, I'm not a business who's supposed to know what I'm doing and how to be a profitable business.

Yesterday morning, despite rather raw temperatures and cloudy skies, I spotted Roofus the Cat taking a cat nap way up high. Someone mentioned in previous comments that people live in the building.

Yes, there are folks living in all of the buildings whose roofs Roofus roams except the one condemned one. However, Roofus has outlasted all of the tenancies. The apartments in the buildings seem to mainly rent to seasonal immigrants. Right now many are empty and might not be filled for the winter.

I've seen Roofus go up there -- he goes from an abandoned vehicle to a garage top to the back fire escapes of this same building, then accesses the roof from the back similar to how he gets on the fire escapes in the front. He's generally cleaner and healthier looking than the other local feral cats, but I credit that to his smart ways. The elderly man is still feeding all of the ferals (including Roofus) at the defunct Budget Rental Car place. The interior is stacked with huge bags of cat food and cats seem to come and go from inside to out somehow.

Not Tony Soprano's New Jersey

Nope, it's not Soprano's territory here where I live in New Jersey. It's Roofus the Cat territory! He rules the roosts and the roofs. I took these yesterday morning on my way to work. I had just been thinking it was a perfect day for him to be up there -- cold, yet the sun shining on the building front. He wasn't there when I arrived to the train station, but showed up just as the train was coming.

I managed to come down with a case of gastroenteritis last night and well into today (my day off from work). I'm not sure if it's related to the boil water advisory here in this area -- huge broken water main the other day, but I've followed the rules -- or I just ate something funky or picked up a bug (but no one I know has had it). But I was so violently ill for about 18 hours that I'd almost prefer knee replacement again! I'm feeling better now, but I missed all my TV shows last night -- Bones, Criminal Minds, CSI: NY, as well as Letterman. Blech. Plus now I have to be on antibiotics for a period so the knee replacement doesn't get infected. Perhaps my immunity defenses are still down from the surgery. One good thing ... now I have a bottle of Pepto-Bismo which hasn't expired two years ago!

I've watched my Bonnie Hunt Show recording from yesterday as well as today's show. She had Terence and Sarah from TAR on yesterday and he got all taken with her not liking him. Today she showed the perfect example -- when the couple came out to the stage yesterday, he was first and let the door slam on Sarah. I noticed it on the show, but I was thrilled Bonnie repeated the bit on today's show!


This last shot isn't Roofus the Cat, but I found the bike with the bad grafitti around it kind of interesting.

I Interrupt This Blog ...

So, there I was heading to the train station to go off for my blood draw and ... what is that up there? Yes! Yes! It looks like ... the return of ...

... ROOFUS THE CAT!!!

Alas, I had to go to the track on the other side away from Roofus, but he moved and started grooming himself. It's him! I had to zoom more than usual, so the photos aren't the best. Today was the kind of day I see him there -- chilly but with sunshine on the building probably making it the purrfect napping spot.


If you click on the images, they will enlarge.

Off Topic: Roofus and the Price of Gas

I didn't really have much time to watch television last night, not to mention that there wasn't much on I wanted to see! But I did see Roofus the Cat yesterday morning on my way into work despite the fact it was a bit damp and drizzling. He is the master of his domain and the city street below.



And then there's the price of gas. NJ tends to have the lowest gas prices in this area and it's all full serve. It's against the law to pump your own gas here. We recently went through some sort of major increase with taxes and this was the current price in Plainfield, NJ on Friday morning. How are you all faring with the gas prices in your area?

Latest BB9 Feeds Report

Heh. Zoetawny made a Natalie vs. Evil-Doers graphic for us! It's perfect! Thank you, Zoetawny ... you know how much you rock!

And I want to thank you all for all of the great comments and community here on the blog lately. I've been bogged down and haven't had the chance to spend much time commenting, but I am indeed reading them. I love it! What a fantastic group we've become! Yay! I have to say the one which made me laugh out loud was the anonymous commenter saying God wanted her to be here pretending to be someone else. But the community has to be the best I've seen on anything show related for ... well, forever! Thank you!

My latest live feeds report is up over on TV Squad. As usual, I'll be live blogging tonight's show here in a separate post. Thankfully I don't have to write the review afterwards. I've been filling in for JJ on his BB nights there for a while but the Wednesday show is Kristin's post.

I'll close for now with another shot of Roofus I took yesterday morning.

OFF TOPIC: Roofus on the Flip Side

I'm awaiting my latest BB9 live feeds post to go up over at TV Squad. It's been kind of boring in the house today. The big news there is they now have outside toys. Woohoo.

If you click on the image below, it should go larger. This is the back of the buildings where I catch Roofus the cat in the front. I was right about him going to the old ex-car rental place where the elderly man feeds the feral cats. Today I caught him going down the lower roofs to the car tops, then the ground.

Latest BB9 Live Feeds, Roofus and Friends of Roofus

My latest Big Brother 9 live feeds report is up over on TV Squad. I'll be live blogging tonight's episode here starting at 9 PM ET. You're all invited to come by and join the festivities in the comments!

Today was a day of cats. Where is Roofus? Where is Roofus? (He's there, I swear!) You can click on the photo for a larger image.


Why, THERE is Roofus!


I also walked by the ex-car rental place where the elderly man now stocks tons of cat food. These two feral cats were by the water bowl and a dish of dry food set out. Another was atop the roof of the garage which leads to where I believe Roofus accesses the rooftops. These two are part of the big-headed strays by the train station. They're short and, if thin, their heads seem way too large for their bodies. But, they're surely not thin now!


That's my tail of the day.

OFF TOPIC: Roofus the Cat

Despite heavy winds, Roofus returned this morning. I took this quick series of shots as the wind gusted near 50 MPH. He's sheltered from the wind there, I wasn't. You can click on the images to see them larger.

Off Topic: The Return of Roofus the Cat

It was a very brief, but very welcome sighting of Roofus the Cat yesterday. The photo quality is a bit off as I no sooner saw him and he was on the move. But Roofus the Cat is alive and well, getting some sun on the rooftop once again. I'll have a BB9 live feeds report for you soon!