Long Day On The Set

Belle has recently completed filming her first major motion picture, which is titled 'Belle'. The filming was quite an ordeal, so much so that the budget nearly tripled and the filming schedule went from two weeks to two months. Whoever said kitties were easy to make movies with was a big fat liar. This picture was taking during a particularly long day on the set. Belle was yelling at me to get her some bottled water in between takes. Now that she's a hot shot movie star, she refuses to drink tap water, the little prima donna.

'Belle' (the movie, not the cat) is a short film, about seven minutes long. It was written, directed, filmed, and edited by Andrea. It stars Belle and some Barbie dolls. The voices are done by Andrea, myself, and our friend Hans. If I were not so prevented by my extreme modesty, I would tell you that it is a work of cinematic genius. It will very likely win the Academy Award next year, but we decided to start small and just show the film here in Troy for now.

Yes, that's right, 'Belle' (the movie, not the cat) is going to be screened for the very first time right here in Belle's hometown of Troy, NY by the Troy Visual Arts Group. Needless to say, Belle is very excited about the premiere, but she has been non-committal in regards to whether she will be in attendance. Andrea and I have been encouraging her to go, but Belle complains that she doesn't have a thing to wear.

In order to get Belle to attend the premiere, Andrea and I got her a fancy new purple collar, which you can see in the above photograph. We felt it was appropriate for evening-wear, especially for occasions such as film-premieres. Belle very much enjoys her new collar, but she's not sure that purple is the right color for summer -- she seems to think that a teal collar would be better. Belle is nothing if not fashion conscious.

Wire Toy

This is Belle with her favorite toy. Her favorite toy consists of a piece of wire with some bits of cardboard at each end. Belle is very frugal when it comes to her toys, and she won't have us spending oodles of money on the latest and greatest kitty toys. Wire and cardboard, that's all she wants, and that's all she needs.

I used to try and get Belle more expensive toys. I once got her a little kitty house, which had various little shiny plastic toys attached to it for her enjoyment. Belle did not like the kitty house much at all. She said, "I did not ask for this kitty playhouse, and I do not want it. The colors are garish, the architecture is ostentatious, and I would not be caught dead in such a structure! Remove it at once, and bring me my wire toy post haste." Belle can be quite harsh at times, but I will admit that she tends to get her point across, if rather bluntly.

You may notice that this photo is fairly old, based on Belle's adorable little shaved stomach area. This photo is from early 2005, back when Belle had just been spayed. What a trooper -- she managed to get in some playtime even after a major surgery. I remember I told her she should take it easy and she said, "I'll take it easy when I'm dead. But right now, I'm gonna play my little heart out, you got that?" And so I let her play.

Vote: Does Belle need a friend?

This is Belle with another one of her friends, Cecil. Cecil is a plastic owl. In a former life, he was used as a piggy bank (or more correctly, an owl bank), but these days he enjoys a life of leisure, sitting by the window with Belle and taking in the scenery. Cecil is a perfectly nice owl, but he is not overly ambitious. I get the impression that he would very much be content to spend the rest of his retirement perched on a windowsill, not doing much of anything. "To each his own", that's what Belle always says about Cecil.

Lately Andrea has been saying that Belle should have a friend. And not a plastic owl or a stuffed elephant, but a real honest to goodness kitty friend. This sounds like a good idea, in theory. The problem is that Belle has only ever met a handful of other kitties since we've known her, and none of those meeting have gone very swimmingly. In fact, Belle is typically rather rude around other kitties. She usually ends up hissing at them, and sometimes taking a swipe at them with her little paw. Not very nice, Belle!

Andrea seems to think that eventually Belle would come around to another kitty, at least to the point where she would not hiss at it whenever she saw it. I am not entirely sure if she is correct in this matter, but I would hope that Belle would get tired of hissing eventually.

And then there is the question of whether Belle would actually enjoy another kitties company, after she got used to it. Would they play parcheesi together? Would they cuddle together and provide me with super cute photo ops? Or would Belle still prefer the company of Cecil the plastic owl to that of the new kitty in town? It's a tough call! Loyal audience, what do you think?! Should Belle get a new kitty friend, or is she better off with her owl and elephant?

Chair Shot

Today Belle took a look at her blog and noticed that the number of entries per month has been on the decline ever since her blog was established nearly four months ago. There were 13 entries in March, 12 in April, 10 in May, and 9 in June. Belle says that this trend is "quite disturbing", and that "actions must be taken at once to stem the tide", whatever that means.

And so, Belle has developed a plan to increase the number of entries posted to her blog. She has promised to provide me with a "treat" for each entry that I write. I am not sure what she has in mind for my "treats", since she has refused to tell me. She thinks I will work harder for the treats if she leaves them to my imagination. All I can say is that if my treat involves Friskies, I will not be happy.

In other news, Belle posed on top of our lounging chair for the better part of last week, only taking breaks for food and sleep. Belle knows a good photo-op when she sees it, and she doesn't stop posing until we give in and take a picture of her. In this case, Belle decided that she wanted a photo shoot on our lounging chair, but Andrea and I refused to give in. For day after day we did not take Belle's picture on the chair, but finally, in a moment of weakness, I pulled out my camera and snapped the photo you see here. It is very hard to resist photographing Belle.