Blog of the Month Award

Our dear friend, Sassy, gave us the Blog of the Month Award.

The award was in thanks for all of the hard work we did putting together the first episode of her smash hit CCSI: Cat/Canine Crime Scene Investigation. We had a great time doing the story, working with such a wonderful producer, great director and talented cast. Roscoe came up with the plot and I wrote the script. If you haven't had a chance to see it yet, you can watch part one here and part two here.

Thank you so much Sassy for such a prestigious award. And now we would like to pass it on to our friend, Asta, who is always wrapped up in a good story herself. If you haven't seen her blog, go and check it out! Her photos are amazing and her adventures are always entertaining.

In other news, we have had a wonderful response to our "Great Raffle Giveaway". Already, some generous felines and their humans have donated prizes. Thank you all so much who have already touched based with us. We are still looking for more small prize donations, so if you have a little something you like to contribute, we would really appreciate it; more prizes equals more winners. Please keep in mind that the raffle is not limited to cats, so any of our canine friends (or other animals as well) would like to join in, you are more than welcome.

Our human has bought a beautiful, ceramic candy dish with a cover that was handmade by an artist here in town. It is being donated as the grand prize, so be sure to make a donation to the Cat Blogosphere over the next two weeks to be included in the raffle.

And last but not least, look who has a vespa!

Roscoe is planing a trip to Rome with is friend Asta, who also has a red vespa, should she accept his invitation. Stay tuned!
-Opus

The Great Raffle Giveaway

We all love and appreciate the Cat Blogoshpere and now it is time to show them just how much! To close out our month long Italian celebration, we are hosting "The Great Raffle Giveaway".

Here is how it will work:

-Starting today and ending on the last day of the month, anyone who makes a donation to the Cat Blogosphere will be entered in the raffle.

-Names of the winners will be announced on Sunday, December 2ND.

-Keep in mind that no donation is too small.

-Be sure to include these three things: your name (pet and human), what kind of pet you are (cat, dog, ect.) and email address so we can contact you if you win. Mom Robyn will be keeping track of the donors and will only forward us the names for the drawing. Be sure you include your name and email address when donating so we can add you to the drawing!

-The number of winners will depend on the number of prizes donated (we already have a few).

Click here to make a donation with your credit card via paypal (you do not have to have a paypal account to use paypal, no donation is too small) or to find out how to send a check, click here to email Mom Robyn.

The folks at the Catblogshere provide us with a great service, it is time for us to step up to the plate and help them out. Just think, it everyone gives just a little it can really add up.

Looking for another way to contribute to the raffle?

We are looking for prizes to add to the raffle. If anyone would like to donate a small prize, it would be much appreciated. We will have a list of prize donors and their blogs, so everyone will get credit for their help. If you wish to donate a small prize, please email us at catnapsinitaly@yahoo.com or you can leave a comment on this post.

The prizes need not be big and all we ask is if the prize donor can mail the prize to the winner (rather than shipping the prize to Italy and then having us ship it back to the winner).

If everyone helps just a little, we are sure that this raffle can be a lot of fun and also a great way to help our friends out at the Cat Blogosphere!

LET THE RAFFLE BEGIN!

Be the Blog Award

This past Thursday our friend Daisy bestowed upon us the coveted "Be the Blog Award".

...this award is presented to a successful blogger, one who can “be the blog” - making it their own, staying with it, interacting with the readers, and just plain having fun.

If that wasn't enough, our friend, Momo, honored us with the same award today! That is wonderful because now Opus and I can each have our own award.

We want to thank both Daisy and Momo for giving us such a wonderful award. Sorry we didn't write about it sooner, but we have been so busy putting the final touches on our script for Sassy's production.

Grazie a tutti (thank you all so much).

And now we would like to pass this award to our friend, Gigolo Kitty, who always entertains us with his great comic strips.

We would also like to pass it along to Karl over at the Cat Realm for always sharing interesting, fun photos and great contests!

Stop by tomorrow for a BIG announcement!

More Cast and the Crew

We had a few late additions to the cast and wanted to introduce them to you. We also thought it was important to introduce the members of the crew who made this production possible.

Opus and Roscoe the writers, Sassy the producer and Ruis the director.

We also have....

Momo

as Second Mate Sandy,

Maggie

as Third Mate Chris,

and Zoey

as Fourth Mate Sunny.

The show is now airing on Sassy's blog. We put a lot of time and energy into the production and hope you enjoy it.

Meet the Cast

We are happy to announce that we have filled all of the roles for our CCSI script. We thought we would introduce the cast in the order that they were hired.

Presenting.......

Miss Daisy

as Miss Fistacuffs, the old woman

Latte

as Detective Gil Fishham

Momo

as Baroness Momo the Fluff of Dicken St Charles, aka. Fluffy, the missing cat

Tigger

as Snarls, the shipyard dog

Asta

as Mr. Pesce, the fish market man

Ruis

Sailor Sam

and Simba as first mate Matt

Thank you all for joining the cast of CCSI: The Kidnapped Cat Caper

Casting Call

Opus and I are participating in Sassy's script writing project. Since there is a writer's strike in Hollywood, she thought the networks would be interested in some fresh material from writers who aren't afraid to cross the picket lines. The show that has been chosen is CCSI: cat/canine crime scene investigation; an animal spin on the famous CSI television show. The first script chosen will be featured on her blog this Saturday.

We have gotten our story almost finished and are now looking for actors to play the roles. We are looking for animals to play the part of the detective, an old woman, a tiny missing cat, a fish market man, and a mean dog. If you interested, leave us a comment stating so and the part you would like to play. We will do our best to accommodate everyone. The pay is 10 kitty kisses from Italy per actor.

Who knows, this could be your big break!

***We are pleased to announce that all of the roles have filled at this time. Thank you to everyone who showed an interest.***

(All that is required to "star" in the story is a photo).

Seven Things About US

Classy Sassy tagged us for this meme. We are suppose to write seven things you might not know about us. Here goes.

1. When we were born, we had a natural bond with each other over the other kittens in our litter. For that reason, the lady who owned us tried to find someone who take us both in, but no one seemed to want two kittens. At the end of the end of the day, it was just the two of us left and the woman thought we were going to have to be split up after all. Thank goodness it all worked out. The person who came to pick one of us up saw us snuggled together sleeping and knew that we couldn't be spilt up. So, we both went to our new home together.



2. We were Christmas presents for our female human. We are the gift that just keeps on giving!

3. Rosocoe likes to talk in the middle of the night. - Opus

4. Opus snores. I mean he really, really, snores! - Roscoe

5. Oh yeah, well Opus likes to lick sweaters! - Roscoe

6. Yeah, but Roscoe likes to lick plastic and toilet paper! hehehehe!- Opus

Big mouth! - Roscoe

7. We are both demanding, spoiled, loving cats who like to have fun. But you already knew that, didn't ya?

We are gonna tag Karl, Asta, Mickey, and Mr. Hendrix, but play only if ya wanna.

Grazie amici!

Thank you to all our friends who made our Mafia movie marathon so much fun. We are happy that so many "Goodfellas" stopped in for some fun. At the end of the day, we all stepped outside for a group of photo.

Mafia Movie Night, November 11, 2007 Italy

(We tried to get a photo of everyone who came to the party. If you do not see your picture in the photo, but attened movie night please send us an email so we can get it added. catnapsinitaly@yahoo.com)

Mafia Moive Marathon Day

"The humans think they are the ones running the world, but we all know that they are just puppets. It is we, the average house pet, who are pulling all the strings."- Don Opus Gatone


Welcome to the Mafia Movie Marathon! Please come in and make yourselves comfortable. The movies will be starting soon. In the meantime, help yourself to some food and drinks. Machinegun Sassy was kind enough to raid a Speak Easy in Chicago and brought with her some boot-leg beer. We also have popcorn and Dr. Peper, gifts from Don Pyewacket, Don Tigger and Don Trixie of the Canberra Crime family. A big thanks to our friend Karl for bringing the catnip! Our human has made a batch of lasagna and some Italian sausage for us to enjoy. Do you know what they call Italian sausage in Italy? Sausage.

There is plenty of room on the chairs and couch, so get comfortable. We have also put pillows and blankets on the floor for those of you who have been trained to stay off of the furniture.

Let me start by introducing myself.

I am Don Opus Gattone of the Catania crime family (Gattone is Italian for "big cat"). My people came from a large city in Sicily, Catania, from which our family takes it name. My grandfather came to America as a young kitten when the local crime boss placed a hit on him. He settled in New York where he started his new life working as an honest man. Later he got into the olive oil business, a lucrative one, but not as lucrative as "other work". And so, in a turn of events beyond his control, he got mixed up in the underworld and turned to a life of crime.


This is Lefty Litterpaw Roscoe. He is my brother, my right hand man and also the family consigliere (consular). He is a great asset to the family and my personal best friend. It is nice to know, in this world, that there is someone I can truly count on.

Now, I would like to introduce to a few other guests who have already arrived.

We have a couple of fun- loving flappers here tonight and what good looking flappers they are. As you can see, they have already hit the dance floor. Introducing....

Daisy

Asta

Ruis


and Karl.

Over there at the poker table are a few cats known around the world as the Canberra Mafia,

Don Pyewacket, Don Tigger and Don Trixi.

Bellied up to the bar is one cat that you don't want to mess with. Meet

Machinegun Sassy.

Looking rather dapper in his tuxedo, here is a cat who is always, first and foremost, a gentleman. Don't let the good looks deceive you, this is one tough cat. Meet...

Derby, the Enforcer.

Also dressed to the nines is a friend of ours...

Cavey Momo.

After we have had a chance to enjoy a few refreshments, we will start the movie marathon. On the list today; we will be showing Godfather One, Two and Three, Casino, The Good fellas, Donnie Brasco, and Scareface. Please make yourself at home and enjoy the party.

And please, if there is something you need, a favor for which you must ask, just come to me.

And now, the moives....

THE GODFATHER

GOODFELLAS

DONNIE BRASCO

SCARFACE

Wise Guys: Tomorrow

Just a reminder that tomorrow is our Mafia Movie Marathon. We will posting photos of our friend who come in costume (real or digital), so send us your photos (catnapsinitaly@yahoo.com). See you tomorrow or else you'll be sleeping with the fishes! -Opus

Ummmm, I like fishes.- Roscoe

You really gotta toughen up kid! - Opus

I Dare You

VOTE FOR US! Voting has begun at The Cat Realm. Head on over there and check out the funny humans dressed up.

Opus and I have decided to participate in The Cat Realm's "I Dare You" contest. This contest dared us animals to dress our humans up in a silly costume, like they are used to doing with us. No cat likes to have big bows tied around their necks only to have a photo of it posted in the Internet for all the world to see! We thought this would be the perfect way to get even with the female. We didn't have time to shop, so we dug through some old boxes and came up with a Dutch hat (which included red hair) a mask that was bought as the carnival of Venice last year, and we topped it off with a giant white bow! Take that human!

We had a hard time getting the photo as our human wouldn't look right at the camera. She also kept batting at her braids and tried to bite her bow off. At last we got the perfect shot and sent it on over to Karl at The Cat Realm. You can see by the look on her face just how excited she was to be participating in the contest.

Even if we don't win anything, dressing our human up in a silly outfit was reward enough!

Sunday: Mafia Movie Night

We all know that there is no such thing as the mafia, especially here in Italy (wink, wink), but we won't let that stop us from having Mafia Movie Night. You are all invited to stop by on Sunday when we will be hosting a movie marathon of nothing but mafia movies, our female human's favorite genre. There will be plenty of popcorn, candy and coke for everyone.


The party will start early (for our friends in Australia) and go late into the night (for our friends in North America). Come on by anytime you like!

Opus and I will be dressed up in our best "mafia outfit", you are welcome to dress up as well. Photos will be posted of any of our friends who come in costume. If you don't want to, that is OK too. We will just be happy to have you here.

Be sure to pick yourself out a mafia nickname, like Sammy the bull or Lucky Luciano. We will make a list of our "gumba" names.

Ci vediamo dominica (see you Sunday)! Or else you can just "fogettabouit"!

***If you plan to come in costume and would like your photo to appear on Sunday's post, please send your picture to catnapsinitaly@yahoo.com. Grazie. ***

Blog Blast for Peace

Did we miss it? Are we too late?
Peace to you all!

Welcome to the Town Tour

Thank you for being patient and waiting for our town tour; our human was out of town and the computer was off. We would like to thank our friends Momo the cat, Momo the dog, Sassy, Asta, Captain Jack and Dante for sticking around to join us on the tour. We would also like to invite you, the reader, along for the walk.

We live in a quiet, little town called Fusignano (pronounced Foo- see- nyah-no), we call it Fusi for short. It is a good, size town, not too big and not too small. Fusi is located in Emilia Romagna in the province of Ravenna. There are around 8,000 humans living here and countless more animals. Nothing much exciting happens in Fusi, but the people are friendly and life is tranquil.

The tour starts at our house. We live in a nice home at the end of quiet street that is lined with trees. Our house is the last one on the street and it is bordered by a small river called the Senio.

Are you ready for a walk into town?

This is our street, you can see that autumn is in full swing here. Soon the trees will be bare and then the fog will arrive. Late fall and winter can be very foggy in this part of Italy. In fact, this area (near the Delta Po region) is quiet famous for the fog. We think it is pretty, of course we always enjoy it from the warmth and comfort of our home. Are you getting tired? Don't worry, the town center is just a few blocks away.


This is our main square, called a piazza in Italian. The town piazza is a very important part of Italian life; you could say it is the heart of the town. Here you will always find people gathered either talking business or just gossiping. In the summer months there are concerts and after midnight mass, on Christmas eve, there is a party complete with live music, a bonfire and plenty of spiced, hot wine.

This small church was almost destroyed during world war two. In fact, most of our town was bombed as it was the scene of the front for four moths during the winter of 1945. When the allies liberated Fusignano that spring, there were only few building left and most the historical sites were gone. This church is now used as a shrine to the local fallen Italian soldiers. You could say this little church is the symbol of the town. Shall we hop on the steps for a photo? Everyone say cheese....



Let's continue on our tour. To the left is one of the few prewar buildings that survived. It is a private residence; some lucky people and their lucky pets get to live inside of it.

Up on the right another one of the few old building left in Fusi. It once was the town hospital, but now half of it is a pharmacy and the other half is an art museum. Our human male born here one wintry night many years ago.

We don't know about you guys, but all of this walking is making us thirsty. Are you ready to stop and rest your paws awhile? Let's stop off at a cafe to grab a drink and a snack. Cafes are a very important part of Italian life, there seems to be one (or more) on every block. Go inside anytime of the day and you almost surely find someone stopping in for a quick drink (usually some sort of coffee drink). This one is one of our favorite cafes, Bar Republica. We like this bar because this building is also another that survived the war. The facade of the building hasn't been touched since and, if you closely, you can still see bullet holes in it to this day.

Can we get you a cappuccino, espresso, or cafe latte? Who wants a snack? Have a seat and we will take care of everything. It is fun to just sit outside on a nice day and watch the traffic. How about another picture? CHEESE!


Did you see what is across the street? That is an authentic English telephone box! You are probably curious to know what an English telephone box is doing in Italy. Well, Fusiganno has a sister city on England and years ago they gave the telephone box to the town as a gift and as a sign of their friendship. It really works! Why don't we see if we can all fit inside at the same time!

Well, it is getting late so we had better get back home.

We had a great time showing our friends around our home. We have to come to love it here and hope that you all have enjoyed your visit.

Monday (late) Morning Advice

Well we had a great time on the town tour today. Thanks to all who stuck around so you could get a look at our village. We took some great photos and hope to get those up soon. Our human will be gone all day tomorrow, but she has promised to get the tour and the photos posted first thing on Wednesday.

Next up on the celebration list, Mafia movie night. Everyone who comes has to have a mafia name (like Sammy "the bull" or "Scarface"). So get your thinking caps on. Will post more details later.

And now for our Monday morning advice, if but a little late. This one comes to our email box from an anonymous sender.

Dear Opus and Roscoe,
Last night I stayed up all night, at a party, eating pizza and licking up catnip. Now I have a terrible headache and my tummy is burning. I think there just might be a fire in there. What can I do to survive the day?

Sincerely,
Firebreather

Dear Firebreather,
We think that many of us can relate to your problem this morning. Do what we did; a few Tums and return to bed immediately. You might want to consider getting your human to rub your belly, preferably while laying on a soft bed in a dark room. Best wishes to you and we hope you feel better soon.

Love,
Opus and Roscoe

**We retract our advice about taking aspring. You may do so ONLY if you are a human. The furry ones should stay clear of the stuff and stick to a belly rub. Thank you for your comments.**

Opus and Roscoe are looking for emails to use in their Monday monring advice column. If you have a question pertaining to care of or problems with your human, please write them at catnapsinitaly@yahoo.com. Thank you.

That Was Fun

A big thank you to all of our friends who stopped by our party yesterday. We had so much fun and thank you for helping us to celebrate our 3rd Moveaversary. Yahoo must have heard about our party because today they published an article about the history of pizza in America. Click here if you want read about it. Now you all have been to Italy, you know that there is a big difference between Italian pizza and American pizza; what they have in common is that they are delicious!

We hope you enjoyed the feast as much as we did. Sorry we fell asleep during the movie, but it was late and we are old cats.

To our friends who stayed the night, stick around. After we have had a good nap and a proper breakfast, we are going to take you on a tour of town. In the afternoon we can have some left over pizza and another nap. In the meantime, let's get a little more shut eye.

Thank you again to all who came!

Love,
Opus and Roscoe