Tuesday, November 13, 2018

Blog #26: The Kisses For Hisses Initiative


After being inspired by a particularly daft cat named Psipsini Arkoudaki (see Blog #25: A Story About A Cat), I am hereby launching the Kisses For Hisses Initiative!

Random audience member: "What's that?"

Why, I'm glad you asked! The Kisses For Hisses Initiative is Cheshire Industries' latest innovation in pet care! It's the long overdue "next step" for cat videos, animal-themed memes, and the deluge of photos that have saturated the Internet.

Think about this: how often do you take humiliating photos of your animal companion? How many times have you put sunglasses on your doggy's butt using his tail as a wagging nose? How many absurd hats have you put on your cat? How many times have you gone viral with a video of your cat making a complete jackass of him- or herself? How many times a day do you Tweet about something your animal companion has done, and how often have your friends re-Tweeted your Tweet? And after their photos/Tweets/videos have been posted and lauded by the masses, how often have your animal companions received the adulation they deserve for being the source of our laughter and the sole reason we haven't descended into total anarchy and social collapse?

The answer is: NOT NEARLY ENOUGH!!!

UNACCEPTABLE!!!

The Kisses For Hisses Initiative is the answer! It's simple: when your animal companion has been made the focus of your latest Internet posting, show your undying appreciation by following these easy steps:

1) Pick up your animal companion like you are cradling a baby. Got a Great Dane? No problem! Just lay him on his side!

2) Proceed to kiss, cuddle, rub, and make cutesy baby noises until you animal cannot take the praise any longer. This process should take approximately 3 minutes minimum.

3) Keep your animal from escaping if they struggle or squirm -- that's just them being self-conscious, they'll get over it. They really do Love the attention and just need to put on a display to preserve their image.

4) You'll know that you've done this properly when your animal is growling and hissing and actively attempting to claw out your eyes! At that point you can safely release your animal companion until the next time you need to capture their antics and post them online.

SAFETY TIPS!
1) Don't bother with Kevlar: a cat's claws can rip through twenty layers without much effort. Instead, go for a butcher's chainmail apron.

2) Don't hang your snake companion from your neck when engaging in Kisses For Hisses. We here at Cheshire Industries have learned that snakes usually cut the exercise short when this is done by simply strangling their human. We've lost a few good Evil Minions that way...

3) While birds are usually not the hissing types, it has been observed that they are uncannily agile shots with their squirting bumholes. You'd be surprised at how much distance they can achieve when they're annoyed!

4) Dogs are unusually resistant to Kisses For Hisses; it is suspected they have no self consciousness to concern them selves with and may be the biggest attention whores of all. This matter is being investigated and future reports will be forthcoming.

DISCLAIMER:
Cheshire Industries is not responsible for fleas, worms, or other parasites and/or diseases any human may contract from their animal companion as a result of engaging in the Kisses For Hisses Initiative; nor will Cheshire Industries be liable for any missing eyes, ears, noses, tongues, or other bodily injury sustained during the participation of the same. Finally, Cheshire Industries maintains that if you're silly enough to rub your face in an aggravated cat's belly fur, you deserve what that cat's going to do to you and there is no jury on the planet that will disagree with us.


The proceeding has been brought to you by Cheshire Industries, and is sponsored by a particularly daft cat named Psipsini Arkoudaki, the humiliating animal media saturating the Internet, the desire for animals to get some get-back, and the number of people who are bound to participate in the Kisses For Hisses Initiative. Thank you.

I AM The Kyle and I approved this message!

Thursday, August 30, 2018

Blog #25: A Blog About A Cat

Cheshire Industries is a staunch Lover of animals of all kinds, with a special place in our hearts for cats. So I couldn't resist the chance to tell you all about a special cat who inspired the Kisses For Hisses Initiative (See Blog #26: Kisses For Hisses).

I have a wonderful friend in the UK named Aliki. She is a one-of-a-kind, Anime-obsessed, cute-to-boot Gothy chick that this Mad Cheshire is lucky to have in his life. She has a cat named Psipsini Arkoudaki (A pretty Greek name that roughly translates to "Little Kitten Teddy Bear"), or Psipsi for short.

(For those of you not proficient in Greek, the phonetic pronunciation is "Sigh-sigh-nee Ark-oh-dak-ee". Yay linguistics!)

Like many people obsessed with all things cutsie who also happen to have a cat in their life, Aliki has a bad habit of utterly humiliating Psipsi by dressing him up, taking pictures, and then posting them to her friends. After sending me a few of these, it was clear that Psipsi's dignity had been obliterated. I mean, how's a cat to feel when his human places a mouse on his head and takes a picture?! Or buries him in Origami cranes? Or balances little stuffed animals on him when he's sleeping?

I wrote to Aliki appealing to her sense of compassion on Psipsi's behalf for his dignity. I told her I was prepared to launch #SavePsipsisDignity if that's what it took. I pointed out that the look in Psipsi's eyes was the soulless look an animal gets when it dies inside, which turns to tragedy for their human when, say, that animal decides to smother their human in their sleep. Or dart between their feet when they're at the top of a steep flight of stairs precariously balancing heavy packages.

To Aliki's credit, she saw the soulless look in Psipsi's eyes and relented. For two solid weeks, she resisted her need to cutsiefy her cat. She treated him with the dignity and respect his breed demands, and in all ways behaved as if the thought of humiliating her cat had never crossed her pretty pink head.

Psipsi, true to his cat nature, absolutely hated this new, dignified treatment of his person, and showed his displeasure when Aliki was preparing for an overnight trip to see her relatives. He sauntered into her room, climbed into her open suitcase on the bed, and, without taking his dead, soulless eyes from Aliki's, proceeded to take a long smelly and entirely deliberate piss right in her suitcase!

Psipsi has been housetrained since he was a kitten, and had never behaved in this fashion before. The only plausible explanation for his behaviour was simple, spiteful revenge.

Cats, huh?

As a result of this, Aliki returned to her previous ways with Psipsi and gone to new heights of humiliating him and savaging his dignity in the name of all things cute.

What has been learned here is that cats, those Beloved contrary furballs, may look miserable when their humans dress them up, and may disdain the way their humans capture their follies on camera for internet ratings, but in truth, they are cats and as such adore every moment of attention they receive. Truly, as has been demonstrated by Psipsi, they demand this attention, and woe be upon the foolish human who thinks to deprive them of their due fame. Like many humans, cats are whores for attention; their dignity is a paltry price to pay for the chance to be seen by the world in all their cat-glory.

And true to their cat nature, they'll never show the slightest appreciation to you for it, or let on in the slightest how much they adore the ooohs! and awwws! their humiliation inspires.

They are cats after all, and they have appearances to maintain.

The preceding message has been brought to you by Cheshire Industries and is sponsored by The Kisses For Hisses Initiative; a daft, soulless furball named Psipsini Arkoudaki; the pretty, cute-to-boot human who Loves him, and the number 9. Thank you.

I AM The Kyle and I approved this message!




Blog #24: A Dubious Honor

Recently I received something in the mail which surprised the ever-loving frak out of me. I have apparently become the recipient of a very prestigious honor from The Gettysburg Foundation: I have been nominated to be featured in their Battlefield Registry, which, according to the letter they wrote me, is "an interactive resource, reserved exclusively for our supporters, that is on display at the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center."

Hmmm...Okaaaay, interesting. Are they sure they got the right guy?

Included with this letter was a very well made certificate on quality card stock. It featured a very pretty view of what appears to be the old Gettysburg Battlefield and a Civil War-era cannon. The text reads:
For outstanding commitment
to celebrating America's heritage
and sharing the lessons in leadership and sacrifice
that history has to offer

Kyle Hulbert

is hereby nominated for special recognition by the
Gettysburg Foundation, and trusted to help sustain vital
efforts to preserve the Gettysburg Battlefield, share this
historic treasure with future generations, and honor
President Lincoln's legacy of leadership in Gettysburg.

Wait a minute, what?!

Clearly, there's been a mistake -- anyone who knows me knows that I'm probably the last person in the world anyone would mistake for being someone who's "committed to America's heritage." And leadership? HA! The last time anyone followed my leadership we all ended up before Magnimar's council of magistrates trying to explain why we thought it was a good idea to crossbreed gremlins with goblins!

(In my defense, it seemed like a really good idea at the time; I just didn't think the city would get so bent out of shape about it!)

So basically, the Gettysburg Foundation has nominated me to give them money and take care of their battlefield. Great! That's only a couple steps away from sticking me up with a musket!

Despite that American History is not something I am terribly impassioned about, I read the rest of the letter The Gettysburg Foundation included with my Official Nomination Certificate, if only for its amusement value. Get this: in return for a "special tax-deductible gift of $35 or more," they will send me a Presidential Challenge Coin embossed with the face of President Lincoln, and I will enjoy the following benefits:
 

     Free admission to the Cyclorama, Film and Museum Experience at the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center;
    

 A subscription to their quarterly newsletter, which includes special features from the Gettysburg Foundation and the Gettysburg National Military Park, informative historical articles _"and much more";

(Yep, no sales pitch is complete without promising "and much more!")
 

    A 10% discount in the Museum Bookstore;
   

    Discounts at local and national merchants through the Gettysburg Rewards program;
 

    Discounts on public programs and invitations to member-only events; and
    

    Special access to the memers-only section of the Gettysburg Foundation website.

WOW! All that for little ol' me? I feel so special! Oh, wait...
     

     My prison won't allowe me to have the Presidential Challenge Coin;
   

     I cannot go to the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center, at least not without a whole lot of armed and highly pissed off U.S. Marshals on my ass;
 

     I have no interest in reading their newsletter;
 

     I seriously doubt their Museum Bookstore carries H. P. Lovecraft or Pathfinder books;
 

     The Gettysburg Rewards program is unlikely to support the kinds of merchants I buy from;
 

     Me showing up to their members-only events would be an issue, unless they're going to allow the aforementioned armed and highly pissed off U.S. Marshals to be my plus-ones;
 

    I have no access to their website at all; and
 

    If I had $35 or more that I didn't need to buy Commissary to keep my stomach from eating my spine, I'd either put it towards funding a legal defense to get my cute ass out of here, or I'd give it to the ASPCA. Snow Leopards definitely need my money more than the battlefield!

That said, if they were able to guarantee I could actually participate in all these neat-o perks they're offering me (especially without the risk of getting shot by US Marshals), I'd absolutely join their club. But seriously, they really should have put more thought into their pitch -- it says "RIVER NORTH CORRECTIONAL CENTER" on my address!

The lesson here today, cats & kittens, is that if you're going to try to flatter someone into giving you money, at least offer them something they can actually use. Otherwise, you'll end up being fodder for someone's Blog who has way too much free time on his hands to make fun of you for it!

The preceding message has been brought to you by Cheshire Industries and is sponsored by The Gettysburg Foundation's advertising department, who clearly don't bother reading the addresses they send their panhandling letters to; the obscene amount of boredom I have been suffering lately; and the number 35 Or More. Thank you.

I AM The Kyle and I approved this message!

Sunday, July 8, 2018

BLOG #23: MEAN PEOPLE SUCK!

We here at Cheshire Industries cannot abide bullies, willful stupidity, or just plain impoliteness. After watching a recent episode of Celebrity Undercover Boss featuring the curvaceous Beauty Ashley Graham, I was particularly outraged by a certain person's crude and completely unnaceptable behaviour towards her and her equally curvaceous companion, Helei Amini (See Blog #22: The Awesomeness of Ashley Graham).

In brief: In the June 2018 episode of Celebrity Undercover Boss featuring Ashley Graham, the VP of Operations at DAS Modeling Agency decided that he would show what an unbelievable jackass he could be by turning away a disguised Ashley Graham because, he said, giving measurements to girls of "her kind" (that is to say, curvy or "big" girls) was a waste of his time and money.

Aside from his inevitable embarrassment when he discovers that he turned away Ashley-frakking-Graham, a girl with the kinds of dangerous curves Lamborghinis dream of, I was so disgusted by his treatment of her and Helei Amini that I wanted to send my flying monkey friends from Flying Face-Humpers Anonymous to go see him. Sure, they'd fall off the wagon, but if anyone deserves to be face-humped by neurotic monkeys, it's that twatwaffle.

Now, while it is absolutely commendable that neither of these Beautiful women gave that boorish idiot a second thought, I'm not so forgiving. His behaviour is simply not acceptable. Luckily for him, I don't think it'd be ethical to enable my simian friends at FFHA to fall off the wagon just to satisfy my own sense of moral outrage, especially when they've all been doing so well lately. Le Sigh...

While watching the show, I wondered idly what the "DAS" in DAS Modeling Agency stands for. Since I cannot in good conscious arrange the frantic face-humping pelvic escapades he deserves, I've been amusing myself coming up with meanings for the company's name. The best one I came up with so far is:

It should_stand for "Digging All Sizes," but clearly they're Dumb As Shit.

If anyone else has any ideas, I'd be happy to hear them!

Seriously, though, people. What the frak is wrong with this world? Why do people think it is acceptable to be outrageous dicks to other people? In an era where you can communicate with literally the entire world in an instant, how can we as human beings still be so narrow sighted that something as insignificant as a person's weight or their skin colour or their sexual preferences can dictate how we treat them?

It's not right. If everyone put as much time in working out the problems of the world as they did in creating vicious and reprehensibly cruel memes about other people they don't even know, we wouldn't have nearly as frakked up a world as we do now.

So I'm throwing down the gauntlet. If you're reading this, I challenge you to go out of your way to do something nice today for a complete stranger. Do something to counteract this epidemic of nastiness in the world. And don't retweet shitty, abusive messages, memes, blogs, or other posts; don't give those nasties the fuel to spread their misery. If you can, delete those kinds of bilge whenever you find them (Ethical hackers, I'm talking to you!).

If I were in the Freeworld with you, I swear I'd have no reservations about dedicating my life to a campaign of online and Freeworld promotion of the kinds of positive messages that people like Ashley Graham, Lizzy Howell, Alexa Phelese, Helei Amini, and others like them have already begun to spread. I'd do it on my own if I had to, even if nobody else was helping me. But I know I'm not the only one that feels this way. I can't be.

It's no enough to feel outraged by hatred and bullies, my friends. You have voices, use them. DO something!

The preceding message has been brought to you by Cheshire Industries and is sponsored by the hope that people will stop being outrageous dicks to one another; the dream of a time when people will put more time into encouraging each other than being cruel; and your local chapter of Flying Face-Humpers Anonymous. Thank you.

I AM The Kyle and I absolutely approve this message!

BLOG #22: THE AWESOMENESS OF ASHLEY GRAHAM

Last week while I was flipping channels, I came across something that really blew me away, and I wanted to share it with all of you.

There's this show that I have only ever heard about called _Celebrity Undercover Boss._ Apparently, these celebrity types dress up and infiltrate the lives of other people to see what they're actually like. I used to think that part of the allure for celebrities was to see how everyday people would treat them if they didn't know they were celebrities. But that's another Blog.

As a rule, I don't really watch a lot of reality shows. Usually it seems to be an excuse for attention seeking idiots to try to outdo each other in being idiots. There are a few exceptions, but not many. This episode was definitely an exception.

In this episode, Ashley Graham -- an amazingly gorgeous supermodel with curves to die for -- had gone undercover and met with three different people. I am sorry to say I missed the first segment. The second segment, however, featured a wonderful woman named Helei Amini: a plus-sized model originally from Afghanistan who grew up in Fargo, North Dakota. Aside from the fact that Helei is a frakking knockout, she was also sweet as sugar and as personable as a person can be. She and Ashley (going by the name of Morgan) met at a place called DAS Modeling Agency. Ashely was pretending to be new to modeling and to have no idea what to do. Helei immediately began talking to Ashley about the process, and they discussed Helei's background, how she got into modeling, etc. The two of them were the only curvy girls in the room, and I was pretty disgusted by the looks the other "conventional-sized" models gave them.
 

(I would like to take a moment to address any "conventional-sized" model-types who might read this: it doesn't matter how Beautiful you may be, when you give shitty_ "what-the hell-is-that-whale-doing-in-here?" looks to big girls who walk into the same modeling agency you happen to be in, you're not just being uglier than a Vogon's backside, you're also being a galactic-scale bitch as well)

The two of them get called in, and the woman who initially speaks to them is nice enough and offers to get Ashley's measurements. When she does, this guy -- the VP of Operations, who was apparently running the place -- started giving the nice woman a cup full of crap over her even giving these two curvy girls the time of day! When Ashley asks him if everything is okay, he proceeds to tell her in the shittiest possible way that he does not want them wasting his time.

Okay, I grok. I would never begrudge a person for their preferences, especially when you're running a business. By that I mean if your agency focuses on "conventional" looks, that's your choice (and, in my exalted opinion, your loss); but at least have the decency to not be a complete dickwad twatwaffle about it! There is no excuse for talking to these two like they're something foul that you're scraping off your boot.

Never mind that idiot. Ashley and her new friend leave and go eat, where, to her new friend's credit, she reveals that she doesn't ever let people like this VP douche-nozzle get under her skin.

In the next segment, I was really happy to see that Askley Graham was going to meet a girl all of you have probably seen on the Internet long before I saw her on an AT&T commercial: Lizzy Howell, a young girl of size who can pirouette like any size 2 I've ever seen! During that segment, this girl helps Ashley in a dance class (even lending her tights and a bra!). Ballet is this Beautiful young girl's life, and she definitely has the skill to make it. All Lizzy needs is someone to give her that chance, and you'll see her rocket to ballet superstardom!

The best part of this entire segment was that Lizzy seemed completely oblivious to the monumentally positive message her video had on girls all over the world. To her, she was just doing what she always does, every day. She wasn't trying to make a statement, or send a message; she just Loves to dance, and that's all she was doing. It was the world that made her video go viral, because it was the world that took Lizzy's dance video to heart and saw in it a message and an inspiration for anyone who has ever been uncomfortable with their body. To her, though, it was just another day of dance class. I Love that!

At the end of the show, Ashley Graham revealed herself to her three subjects and then proceeded to help each them in the way they needed most. Each of the three people whose lives she infiltrated have been changed forever, and the message she instilled with this episode is that good things do happen to good people.

I absolutely adore what Ashley Graham did for these three. Anyone who reads this Blog needs to search out the Ashley Graham episode of Celebrity Undercover Boss and watch it.

Finally, though I didn't see the first segment, the woman Ashley helps is named Alexa Phelese; she is the founder of the nonprofit organization Every Body Deserves Love. Ashley Graham helped her get it a much needed boost.

You have got to check out her website and spread the word to your friends:

www.everybodydeserveslove.org

(Alexa, I you're reading this, I'm really sorry I didn't catch the first part of this episode. I am waiting for the repeat, since I don't have a TiVo! ^_^)

As for DAS Modeling Agency's VP of Operations, once you've seen the episode, I am sure you will want to give him a piece of your mind. Give him a piece of mine, too!

Seriously, Cats & Kittens and Truly Hoopy Froods, you need to see this episode.



_The preceding message has been brought to you by Cheshire Industries, Lovers of all things super-cool-awesome; and is sponsored by unexpected inspiration from unlikely sources; channel surfing; and my Love of feminine Beauty in all its forms, especially curvy ones. Thank you._


I AM The Kyle and I approved this message!

Sunday, June 3, 2018

Blog #21 The Mad Cheshire Returns!

      Hey there, cats and kittens and truly hoopy froods! I know I've been incommunicado for a year now. The last any of you heard from me (in Ohana Means Family), my crazy little world had been thrown into turmoil. My heart had been atomized when my Lifemate broke up with me, cast me out of the polyamorous family we were supposed to be building together, and generally frakked my head up something righteously fierce. After writing Ohana Means Family, I really didn't have it in me to work on much of anything. It wasn't very fun being me at that time. All the joy in the world had kinda skipped out on me, you know?
 

       In the year since last I uploaded Strangeness here, my heart has mended. I have had all kinds of way cool adventures, and I even managed to have a pretty wonderful romance with a Beautiful, Purple-Headed Princess before that bleeding prick, the Dragon of Insurmountable Time, took her captive and forced us to return to a platonic relationship. But the Dragon of Insurmountable Time couldn't keep the Princess of Purple Hair entirely out of my life -- she and I are still good friends. So, pththththtlp! to the Dragon of Insurmountable Time!
 

        Along the way, I've picked up a number of super-cool-awesome friends that have decided that the Mad Cheshire is simply too adorable to not have in their lives! ^_^ There's been a British Anime Cutie, a Bat in a Snowstorm, a Rabbit Enchantress, a mated pair of Witchy Ravens, and an elderly Witch who Loves my Origami. They have all deliberately exposed themselves to The Strangeness (frak me if I know why!), while going out of their way to make my life significantly richer for their presence in it. At the same time, they've been responsible for getting me back to my super-cool-awesome self again. 

         Besides that, there's been holes in space-time, irritable raccoons, a time-hopping cuttlefish with a flair for home decor, and a few brain sucking mind flayers who turned out to be damn fine conversationalists. All in all, things have been wild.
      

          In the last couple months, several people have written to me asking when my next installment of Strangeness would be uploaded to the Blogosphere. When it was pointed out that a frakking year had passed since my last upload, I felt I deserved to be kicked really hard in the 'nads for neglecting you all for so long.
 

          I really didn't mean to abandon you guys. Those of you who follow me on this Blog have been the best kind of super-cool-awesome, kick ass people a fun loving wildcard like me could ever want. For my absence, I apologize to you all, and I hope that those of you who have enjoyed my antics & exploits so far will continue to stick with me as we return to our irregularly scheduled Strangeness. 

          Stay tuned, people, everyone's favourite Mad Cheshire is back and the Strangeness is just getting started!