Cat Survives China-to-N.C. Trip in Crate

Yeah, I know it sounds like one of those headlines you thought you'd see in the news ticker of SimCity 3000 but it's real. From Yahoo news:

HENDERSONVILLE, N.C. - After Eric Congdon opened a crate from China and discovered a cat inside, coming up with a name for the furry stowaway was easy.

China the cat had chewed through one of the boxes before it left Shanghai on April 3 and spent at least 35 days on a ship inside the container filled with motorcycle gear.

"I saw something in the container move," Congdon said. "I turned up the headlights on the fork lift to get a better look."

That was when he saw the cat cowering in a corner, weak but still alive. Congdon, owner of Olympia Moto Sports in Hendersonville, said he and a co-worker called the county's animal services when the cat would not let them near.

A co-worker of Congdon's plans to adopt China, as animal service workers are calling her, if she checks out with a veterinarian. North Carolina law says any animal coming into the country must be vaccinated and quarantined for six months.

"We have to take precautions," said animal services manager Brenda Miller.

How could China survive for so long on no food and water?

"Usually we say that animals can only survive a few weeks without food and only a few days without water," said Raleigh veterinarian Michelle Misavage. "The theory is that cats have such good kidneys their bodies adjust to the lack of water and somehow they received small amounts of moisture from condensation."

And here's China:

Over There

Can't believe I missed this series when it debuted on American cable a couple of years back. Basically the show's about a squad of soldiers (7 privates plus their squad leader, a staff sgt), their lives in Iraq and the effect on their families. Besides the usual drama and stuff, what I find interesting is the action - there's plenty of it, and pretty realistic action too. There's also the stuff you see on the news: IEDs, the two sided nature of the enemy, moralistic dilemmas, etc. No surprise though that the stuff shown are still relevant now, since the situation hasn't changed much in Iraq.

Granted, the series is pretty pro-American, in the sense that most 'dilemmas' are resolved by the usual they-had-no-choice-but-to-do-it angle, but in doing so, they also highlight the hard decisions that the men on the ground had to make. To me, the message is simple: what you see on primetime news may not be what you get. So anti-war protesters who go around hooting that Americans are slaughtering civilians in Iraq, bla bla bla...maybe you should watch this series. There's always two sides to a coin.

The theme song and credits are cool too. Unlike most series, the credits and theme song play at the end, blending into the closing stages of the storyline. A nice touch, which together with the theme song (Chris Gerolmo's Over There) really created an atmosphere. As a fan of war movies and series, I highly recommend it. It's like Tour of Duty, except in Iraq:

Bore Draw

Just got back last night and my first official task as resident couch potato was to sit up to 3am for the MU vs Chelski match, which as you might have guessed already, ended in a nil all bore draw. After which, I was face down on my bed till 3pm today. Yeah I know it's kinda hard to understand why I'm so obsessed with football; obsessed enough that I'd sacrifice my sleep even though I'm dead tired from all the travelling, but this lil diagram I found on Mahesh's Friendster profile might help:

Note the size of the 'ball sports' gland. But anyways maybe the match wasn't as bad as I made it sound. It's just that in my books, any nil-nil match is a bore draw regardless of the action. Good news is though, I got to see some of the young kids in MU's squad. Chris Eagles is indeed becoming quite the player.

It's just too bad that MU's outta the ECL. They sucked at Milan and the better side won. You'll get no complains from me. Now we'll just have to wait for Kaka to knock some goals in at Athens and for me to send sms-es to my dear Liverpool supporting mates after that. That and there's the FA Cup final on the 19th. Gotta find a way to watch it at the airport...cos I'm heading to Perhentian! Nothin but sea, sand sun and coconut trees for four days. Wonderful. Absolutely wonderful.

Song of the moment: Chris Gerolmo - Over There.