Happy New Year

Wishing you all the best in the year to come!

Merry Christmas

Love,
Opus and Roscoe

Not a creature was stiring....

Hurry up! Go on! Get to bed! If you don't go to bed like good kitties and doggies (or whatever pet you may be), then Santa Paws won't come! It is almost 7pm here in Italy and we think we had better jump in bed now. Have a wonderful Christmas eve! We know you have all been good and that there will be plenty of goodies from Santa Paws waiting for you in the morning.

Buon Natale!

Love,
Opus and Roscoe

Counting Our Blessings

It is wonderful have friends! We feel so lucky to have met so many wonderful animals and humans thanks to our blog. What blessed little cats we are! This past week we have received the "Life is heck without friends" award from Momo the cat, Sassy, Percy and his pals at Jan's funny farm. Thank you all for your wonderful gift and more importantly, thank you for your friendship.

We also received a Christmas present from our sweet friends, Maggy and Zoey, at the Zoolatry. What a wonderful Christmas portrait! Thank you soooooo much!

Yes, life is heck without friends. Lucky for us we have made so many wonderful friends!
Grazie tanto amici (thank you so very much friends)! Life is so much better with you in it!

CCSI The Blog

We are proud to announce the arrival of CCSI the Blog! Here you will find all the past episodes, information on the cast and crew, how to become involved with the show and latest CCSI updates!

You will also find a CCSI merchandise shop where you can buy all kinds of CCSI products, including your very own REAL LIFE members badge (proceeds will go to an animal charity).

In other news the wonderful executive producer, Sassy, has hired Karl ,Ruis, and us as full time CCSI staff! We are now officially part of Little Productions!

Be sure to stop by the blog and check it out. Also feel free to peruse the shop. If ya don't see something you like, check back later as we are constantly adding new items.

A big thank you to Karl for getting the blog and merchandise store off of the ground! And thank you to Ruis for fixing those darn nasty HTML cods that we couldn't fix. The blog is really shaping up!

Thank you Sassy for all of you hard work with CCSI. We are looking forward to working with you, Ruis and Karl for many years to come at Little Productions!

Sassy with her gifts from the CCSI: Santa Caper cast & crew

NOW SHOWING: PART FOUR

Get on over to Sassy's to see the exciting conculusion of CCSI: The Santa Caper!

Now Airing: Part Three

Part Three of CCSI: The Santa Caper is now airing on Sassy's blog.

graphic by Karl

Where is Santa? Has he been kidnapped, or worse? Did the Easter bunny do it? Or could it be the Tooth fairy? Tune in tomorrow for the exciting conclusion!

Now Showing: Part Two

Graphic by Karl at The Cat Realm

The second installment of CCSI: The Santa Caper is now airing on Sassy's blog. Go check it out!

NOW SHOWING

Graphic by Karl at The Cat Realm

The second episode of CCSI is now airing on Sassy's blog. Scurry on over there to check out CCSI's latest show!

Written by Karl
Directed by Ruis
Produced by Sassy

A Night on the Red Carpet

It is a night at on the red carpet for the cast and crew of CCSI: The Santa Caper.

Script by Karl
Directed by Ruis
Produced by Sassy

All paparazzi red carpet photos are the complements of Ruis and the staff at Kattenpraat.

Tune in tomorrow to see the premier of CCSI: The Santa Caper on Sassy's blog!

Time to Get Home

We had so much fun at the cast party, but had to get home so we could get rested up for the big CCSI red carpet premiere (the show airs tomorrow). Since we were already in California, we talked about just staying, but then thought it was best to get home. We didn't think to bring our clothes for the premiere and Roscoe couldn't wait to get home to show his friends his new hat. Thanks for the hat Sassy (thanks a lot, ugh).

So we said good bye to our friends, hopped into Sassy's helicopter and started back towards Italy.


It will be a short trip home as we have to pack and get back to California for the big, CCSI red carpet premiere tonight. The show will air tomorrow on Sassy's blog. We can't wait!

The Party is in Full Swing

We are having a great time at Sassy's CCSI cast party. The castle is beautiful, the food is outstanding and the wine is impeccable. It has been so much to see our friends again and to let loose after working so hard on the CCSI Christmas episode.

Things got a little crazy when Daisy jumped into the pool.

(photo by Miss Daisy)

It looked like so much fun that many of us joined her, until there were more animals than water in the pool!

Click on photo to view a larger picture.

(It is VERY important to us that EVERY ANIMAL who was at the pool party be in the photo. We did our best to get everyone in there, but with so many animals at the party it is easy to miss someone. PLEASE let us know if you were in the pool so we can add your photo, just leave us a comment on this post. Thank you.)

Later that night, back at our cottage, I caught Roscoe wearing Sassy's beautiful swimming cap. Sorry Sassy! Roscoe just "borrowed it" without asking. We promise to get it back to you ASAP!

ROOOOOSCOE!!!!!!

-Opus


What? What? I didn't steal it! I asked Sassy, in private, if I could try it on and she said it was perfectly fine. Don't cough up another hairball, Opus. I am going to return the beautiful swimming cap to Sassy; just as soon as I buy one for myself!

-Roscoe

Off to the Party!

So it turns out that Opus didn't like my choice of tuxedos. Who would have guessed? I thought they were smashing! Once I got home and saw Opus's reaction, I knew that I had to fix the problem right away; he really is taking this "Hollywood thing" much to seriously.

I told him not to cough up a fur ball and got to work. It just so happens that I know a cat, who knows a cat who is a friend of Roberto Cavalli's dog. A few phone calls later and I had two Roberto Cavalli white dinner jackets on their way to our house. Needless to say, Opus is beside himself with happiness.

Sassy's party doesn't start until tonight, but we had a long journey ahead of us so we left early. Sassy's helicopter picked us up and off we went to California, USA! It was a long trip, but it was lots of fun to watch the tiny world beneath our paws.

At last we arrived in California and immediately spotted the Hearst Castle perched on a hilltop. It was even more beautiful in person than it was in photos.

So now we are here, a little early, just waiting for the party to start. We think we will take a walk in the gardens and see if we can't find Sassy.

We just can't wait to see all of our friends at the party tonight! Be sure to stop on by the castle!

-Rocoe

Roscoe Has Done It Again!

Tomorrow is the cast party that Sassy is throwing at Hearst Castle in California. Knowing that it would be a swanky, Hollywood affair, I went out and bought a pair of tuxedos. I picked out the tuxedos, I gave the tailor our exact measurements, I paid for them; all Roscoe had to do was go and pick them up. I had chosen nice white dinner jackets with black pants but apparently Roscoe didn't agree with my choice and came home with these!!!!!!



How on earth am I EVER going to show my face in Hollywood again if we show up to the cast party wearing these!!! ROSCOOOOOOOOE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-Opus

What is HIS problem? I think we look cheerful and fun!

-Roscoe

Team CCSI Member Badge

We would like to announce the arrival of the Cat/Canine Crime Scene Investigation Members badge. A group of us working at the set of CCSI thought it would be fun to have a CCSI members badge. We were honored when they asked us to design the badge and spent many hours working on it. We hope you like the end product.


This badge is for ANY animal who has been involved in any of the CCSI episodes (cast or crew). If you are a member (meaning you have worked on the shows or if you are a reviewer for the show) and would like a badge for your blog, simply copy the one above.

It is our desire to turn this badge into a working button; meaning that when you click on it, it will direct you to a page explaining CCSI and how to get involved. Right now there is just so much going on with the final production of the second episode that the button will have to wait.

In the meantime, copy the badge and enjoy it. When we have a code for a working button we will make an announcement for anyone who would like to replace their badge with the button.

Thank you to all cast and crew members, current and present, who have helped to make CCSI such a success!

-Roscoe

Been Busy

We have been so busy this past week with trying to wrap up The Great Raffle Giveaway and working on the CCSI set. We are acting in the show; Opus is Alabaster the elf and I am the detective trying to solve the crime with the lovely Asta, who is staring opposite of me. The biggest chunk of our time has been spent in the office working on the graphic design. Anyone who makes photos knows how time consuming this can be. Ruis, Karl, Asta and Daisy are all on the graphic design team and we have been hard at work trying to get all the scenes finished.

Roscoe taking a break during filming

Sassy just posted a bio about us that she had asked us write. Go check it out if you are interested in learning more about the CCSI graphic design team. Roscoe accused me of talking too much, but I just didn't want to leave out any important details of how we got started in "The Biz". Modesty has never been one of my strongest qualities but that is okay because I'm a cat! Hehehehehhee!

Team Opus & Roscoe: our days at the Daily Planet

We had a great success with the first show and the second is looking to be even bigger and better than the last. The premiere is on December 14th at Sassy's blog. Be sure to tune in to see our Christmas special which was written by the brilliant Karl and directed by the talented Ruis.

(graphics by Karl)

Last but not least, we have to thank Sassy who came up with whole script writing show idea in the first place. This has turned out to be a wonderful community project with cats and dogs working side by side. We certainly hope that someone out there is already thinking of a script for the next episode.

One last note, we have been working on a CCSI badge that is for ANY animal that has worked on any of the CCSI episodes (cast and crew). The graphic part is done, now we are just waiting to add the link so the photo will have a code (meaning it will take you to a post all about the show and how to get involved). Sassy will be passing those out once it is finished so contact her via email if you worked a show and would like the code. It should be ready in the next few days.



And one final, final note, we would like to thank Miss Peach for the wonderful time we had at her house yesterday. We know she worked really hard on her tea party and it was a fantastic party! What a great afternoon sitting around with friends and enjoying a good, hot cup of tea. We hope she had a nice time and that her human had a wonderful birthday. She had hats for everyone to wear; I'm still not sure about Roscoe's choice.

- Opus

Hey, what was wrong with my hat?

- Roscoe

When we were kittens, our human bought a pair of antlers for us to wear at Christmas time. We batted them away before they even touched our heads. It was a fun game of "You're gonna wear this" and "Oh no we won't". After a while the human gave up and left us alone. She came back a few more times to play the game, but we always won with the human slinking away in defeat.

Even though we refuse to wear reindeer anthers, that didn't stop the human from dressing us up this holiday season. "Thanks" to the magic of computer graphics we are ready for the holidays. Ho, ho, ho!

We LOVE Christmas for the simple fact that we were a gift to our female human one snowy Christmas morning many years ago. So in the spirit of the holidays, and in appreciation of the home we found that Christmas morning, we will allow the human to embarrass us by dressing us as reindeer.

Now that we have our antlers, we thought it would be a good time to take the "Which reindeer are you?" quiz. How interesting that such a simple quiz could capture so many of unique qualities that make us us.

Opus

You Are Prancer

You are the perfect reindeer, with perfect hooves and perfect flying form. Why You're Naughty: Because you're Santa's pet, and you won't let anyone show you up. Why You're Nice: You have the softest fur and the sweetest carrot breath.

Which of Santa's Reindeer Are You?

Roscoe

You Are Dasher

You're an independent minded reindeer who never plays by the rules. Why You're Naughty: That little coup you tried to stage against Santa last year Why You're Nice: You secretly give naughty children presents.

Which of Santa's Reindeer Are You?

Happy Holidays to all of our friends, with or without fur!

And the Winners Are........

The moment you have all been waiting for, the winners of the Great Raffle Giveaway! We had so many wonderful friends donate prizes for the raffle that EVERYONE who donated money to the Cat Blogosphere will go home with a prize! Lets not keep you in suspense any longer......

Ruis and crew at Kattenprat have won a wonderful 2008 cat calender and a Nip Raviolis.

Momo the cat has won beautiful, handmade cat earrings with a matching bracelet.

Grace and Company have won a Francien scrapbook from the Netherlands.

Zoolatry has won a booklet written by our own Karl and the late Anastasia.

Miss Peach has won an orange, baby Squillion still wrapped in its blanket from the Green Wall Shelter.

Samantha and Tigger have won a fantastic 2008 cat calender and two bags of cat treats.

Chey, Gemini and Georgia have won a hand painted ceramic candy bowl by an Italian artist here in our town.

Pyewacket and Trixie have won a colorful 2008 cat calender and a Nip Raviolis.


Tigger the FBI Cat has also won a colorful 2008 cat calender and two bags of Greenies cat treats.

Parker has won a booklet that was written by Karl and, the late, Anastasia of The Cat Realm.

Kimiko and Yuki have won a water color of a cat in Rome painted by our Italian, male human.

Dragonheart has won a wonderful cat calender and a handmade, cat bookmark from Artsy Cat.

Tower Hill has won a soft, warm holiday snuggle.

Fat Eric has won a handmade, fleece, paw print snuggle.


Kaze has won a collection of 12 postcards of cats by various Dutch painters and two bags of cat treats.

Latte has won an orange, baby Squillion still wrapped in its blanket from the Green Wall Shelter.

Chase has won a warm, hand crocheted snuggle.

KC, MIssy, Momma Turtle and the babies have won a Cat Blogosphere tee shirt and a pair of cat socks.

Dinah and the mites have won Daisy's "friends are important" mug (perfect for coffee or hot chocolate).

Sassy has won an orange, baby Squillion still wrapped in its blanket from the Green Wall Shelter.

Karl has won a Cat Blogosphere tee shirt and a pair of cat socks.

We had one donation that was made without a name. If it was your donation, please contact us as we have drawn a prize for you.

Anonymous has won a fun, cat calender and two bag of cat treats.

I will need everyone who has won a prize to send their mailing address to catnapsinitaly@yahoo.com so we can then forward your address on to the cat who will be sending you your prize.


A BIG thank you to everyone who participated in The Great Raffle Giveaway. It would not have been a success without the help of our generous prize donors. Thank you to all of you who donated money to the Cat Blogosphere. A grand total of $243.00 was raised for the Cat Blogosphere and that money will be put to good use.

A final thanks goes to the Cat Blogosphere for giving us blogging cats a place to come together.

A Little Late

We are running a little late. Please forgive us, but our female human is sick and this has really slowed things down for us today. She has managed to roll out of bed and we will have the list posted soon.

Check back a little later.....

TODAY IS THE BIG DAY!

It is the day that we have all been waiting for! The Great Raffle Giveaway Prize Patrol Van is in Las Vegas! We spent the entire night unloading the Prize Patrol Van, which was full of wonderful gifts donated by our sweet friends from all over the world!




Later this afternoon we will start drawing names to find out who has won which prize. Check back by 6pm Italian time to see the list of winners!

EVERYONE grab your lady luck and give her a big kiss!
LET THE RAFFLE DRAWING BEGIN!

Back in Action

The human has finally managed to meander back home. While she has been off sightseeing in Florence, Pisa, San Marino and Venice, we have been stuck at home without a computer. We are letting her know that we are not happy about her absence by following her around all over the house, getting under her feet while she walks and meowing like crazy. We also tripped her a couple of times; that will teach her to leave us again!

The Great Raffle Giveaway is winding down.

The Prize Van has arrived in Vegas just in time for the Great Raffle Giveaway. It is bursting wonderful gifts, all which were donated by our generous friends. Below is the complete list of prizes and the wonderful cats and friends who donated them. Thank you all for your contribution, we couldn't have done it without you.

The Great Raffle Giveaway Prize Patrol Van Inventory:

-Samantha and Tigger have donated TEN cat calenders.

-Rusi has donated a collection of 12 cat art postcards featuring Dutch painters and also a Francien's scrapbook (A-4, blank paper, sturdy cover,spiral bound).

-Miss Peach has donated handmade Kitty Kat ear joules and a handmade Kitty Kat bracelet.

-Sassy Cat has donated several bags of cat (or doggy) treats.

-The House of Mostly Black Cats has donated several Nip Raviolis.

-ML and KC have donated several Cat Blogosphere tee shirts and several pairs of cat socks.

-Rocky has donated one handmade cat bookmark (click here to view the beautiful bookmarks by Artsy Catsy).

-Kashlm and Othello have donated two packages of Greenies (healthy cat treats that are good for our teeth).

-Dragonheart has donated a hand-crocheted snuggle.

-Finny and Buddy have donated three orange, baby Squillions still wrapped in their blanket from the Green Wall Shelter.

-Snickers has donated a handmade, fleece, paw print snuggle blanket.

-Parker, Puff, Powder and Rudy have donated four bags of Temptations Cat Treats.

-Miss Daisy has donated a beautiful "friends are important" mug with her cute little face on it.

-DMK has donated a wonderful, warm, holiday snuggle, just in time for the holidays.

-Karl has donated two wonderful booklets that he co wrote with Anastasia, Felines Unleashed. It is full of kitty wisdom and great photos.

-Roscoe and I will donate two Cat Blogosphere Print Calenders, one handmade ceramic piece made by an artist in our town and one hand painted water color of a cat in Rome made by our very own male human.

If anyone has offered to make a prize donation, but has been left off the prize list PLEASE email us ASAP at catnapsinitaly@yahoo.com so we can add you the list. The drawing will be held tonight with the results posted by 6pm tomorrow (Italy time). We can't wait to see who has won what!

_________________________________

Below is a list of those who donated money to the Cat Blogosphere from November 19th through the end of the month. These names will be entered in the drawing to win the prizes mentioned above. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE send us an email at catnapsinitaly@yahoo.com if you have a made a donation between November 19th - 30th and you do not see your name listed.

We don't want to leave anyone out, so email us ASAP!

__________________________________

Great Raffle Giveaway Contestants:

Ruis and Kattenpraat

Momo

Grace and Company

Zoolatry

Miss Peach

Samantha and Tigger

Chey, Gemini and Georgia

Pyewacket and Trixie

Tigger the FBI Cat

Parker

Kimiko and Yuki

Dragonheart


Tower Hill Mob

Fat Eric

Kaze

Latte

Chase

KC, Missy, Momma Tortie and the babies

Dinah and the Mites

***We have a donation that was made without a name. We are looking for the donor so we know who to send the prize to. Please send us an email so we will know who you are.****

Again, if you have made a donation and you do not see your name listed, email us ASAP. It is very important to us that NO ONE be who contributed be left out.

Tomorrow we write all the names of the contestants on pieces of paper and place those in one hat. Then we will write the names of all the prizes on pieces of paper and place those in another hat. To decide who gets what prize, one name and one prize will be drawn at at time. You will whichever prize was drawn with your name. In the event you were also a prize donor and happen to get your own prize, we will redraw a new prize for you. The list of winners will be posted tomorrow by 6pm (Italy time).

See you tomorrow at the Great Raffle Giveaway!

Please Stand By

We interrupt your normally scheduled posts at Cat Naps in Italy to bring you a special news bulletin. The humans have dumped us wonderful cats in order to play with their friends (the nerve). A very special guest is arriving all the way from America which means one thing for us, no computer. We will be back as soon as we can, please don't think us rude for our lack of posts or comments.

You know what they say, when the human is away the cats can't play (on the computer).

Be back soon!
Love,
Opus and Roscoe

More Addtions to the Prize Van

The Great Raffle Giveaway Prize Patrol Van is still on the road!

We have a couple more additions to add to the prize van. Thank you again to everyone who has donated either the Cat Blogosphere or to the prize van. This raffle has turned out great and we couldn't not have done it without your help and participation. Here are our fellow felines who have recently jumped on the prize van...

Miss Daisy has donated a beautiful "friends are important" mug with her cute little face on it.


DMK has donated a wonderful, warm, holiday snuggle, just in time for the holidays.

***Just Added***

Karl has donated two wonderful booklets that he co wrote with Anastasia, Felines Unleashed. It is full of kitty wisdom and great photos.

Thank you all for your kind donations. Scroll below to see the rest of the prize list. Later this week, if the humans are ever home with the computer on, we will try to get up some photos and an up-to-date list with all the prizes.

To join the raffle simply make a donation to the Cat Blogosphere (be sure to include your name and email). If you are interested in donating a small prize, just send us an email at catnapsinitaly@yahoo.com.

Hop on Board the Prize Van!

It's the Great Raffle
Giveaway Prize Patrol Van!

We are happy to announce the prizes that have been donated to the Great Raffle Giveaway by generous humans and animals from all over the world. Thank you all for lending a helping hand (or paw).

This is the list of prizes as of today:

-Samantha and Tigger have donated TEN cat calenders.

-Rusi has donated a collection of 12 cat art postcards featuring Dutch painters and also a Francien's scrapbook (A-4, blank paper, sturdy cover,spiral bound).

-Miss Peach has donated handmade Kitty Kat ear joules and a handmade Kitty Kat bracelet.

-Sassy Cat has donated several bags of cat (or doggy) treats.

-The House of Mostly Black Cats has donated several Nip Raviolis.

-ML and KC have donated several Cat Blogosphere tee shirts and several pairs of cat socks.

-Rocky has donated one handmade cat bookmark (click here to view the beautiful bookmarks by Artsy Catsy).

-Kashlm and Othello have donated two packages of Greenies (healthy cat treats that are good for our teeth).

Roscoe and I will donate two Cat Blogosphere Print Calenders, one handmade ceramic piece made by an artist in our town and one hand painted water color of a cat in Rome made by our very own male human.

NEW TO THE LIST: JUST ADDED THIS AFTERNOON!

-Dragonheart has donated a hand-crocheted snuggle.

-Finny and Buddy have donated three orange, baby Squillions still wrapped in their blanket from the Green Wall Shelter.

-Snickers has donated a handmade, fleece, paw print snuggle blanket.

***JUST ADDED TO THE LIST SATURDAY MORNING***

-Parker, Puff, Powder and Rudy have donated four bags of Temptations Cat Treats.

-------------------------------------------------------

We are still waiting to hear back from other friends who said they might have something to donate. This is just a list of the confirmed prizes, if we have missed anyone PLEASE send us an email a.s.a.p.!

You still have time to donate to the Cat Blogosphere in order to be entered in the drawing. No donation is too small. To donate click here .

We are also still looking for more prizes, so if you wanna hop on the prize wagon just send us an email at catnapsinitaly@yahoo.com. Prizes can be anything you wish from cat treats to a new car (but we are NOT paying for the shipping on the car, hehehehe).

Thanks to all who helped thus far! It should be a fun and exciting raffle!

-Opus

Happy Turkey Day!

Wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Love,
Opus, Roscoe and
the humans

A Roman Holiday With Asta

My friend, Asta, has her very own red vespa, so I thought it would be fun to invite her for a vespa tour of Rome. She graciously accepted my invitation and agreed to meet me a noon in front the Colosseum. I asked Opus if he would like to come along, but he told me he had "other plans".

(click on all images for a better look)

Asta was at the Colosseum promptly at noon with her faithful red vespa at her side. After exchanging greetings and taking a few snaps shots, we decided it was time to get going.



Asta was ready with a beautiful red coat to match our red vespas. We decided it would be more fun to share a scooter, so she hopped on the back of mine and we took off!


The first place I took her was the "Bocca della verita", the mouth of truth. Legend has it that if you stick your paw inside and have told lies, it will bite your paw off! But if you are an honest animal, your paw will come out unscathed. I was too afraid to stick my paw inside because of little, white lie I MIGHT have told about a certain hairball on the living room rug. But honest Asta stuck her paw right in and it came out in one piece! What an honest doggy!


We drove all over Rome making stops at St. Peter's square, Castle St. Angelo, and the Pantheon where a man from my town is buried. Archangelo Corelli, the great musician and composer was born in our little town of Fusignano. He was such an important man of his time that they honored him by placing him in a tomb inside the Pantheon. Asta was very impressed by this


I wanted to be sure that Asta saw the famous Spanish Steps. Go there any time of the day and you will find all kinds of people sitting and walking on the steps. Asta dared me to drive down the steps and so I did. It was a little more bumpy than we had planed and Asta almost fell off the vespa! There were some local police waiting for us at the bottom of the steps, but lucky for us they couldn't out run the power of the vespa!


It was starting to get late and Miss Asta had to get heading back to New York. There was one more place we HAD to stop before she left. I took her to the Trevi Fountain. Legend says that if you throw a coin into the beautiful fountain, it will guarantee your return to Rome one day. Asta and I threw in a couple of coins just to be on the safe side.


I took Asta back her vespa where we said our good byes and took one last photo. It had been a wonderful day full of adventure and friendship. It was so nice to spend the day with a friend who loves vespas as much me.


I started back toward home when I noticed a flashy, red car speed by me. I didn't get a good look, but swear I saw Opus driving a Ferrari with Momo the dog, Momo the cat and Sassy along for the ride.

I blinked twice, to get a better look, but by then the fast Ferrari was long gone.