Three reviews: Book, soda, cat toy!

[thistlechaser]

Since susandennis recommended this cat toy and uploaded a video of her cat playing with it, I thought I'd do the same. It's a Bella Laser Cat Toy. It's a hard plastic bird with a weighted bottom. You turn it on and then set it down. There's a laser light in it that is motion activated -- when your cat taps (or pounces or chews on) the bird, it turns the laser on. It moves a lot wilder than it does when I use a laser pointer, which makes Ellie love it even more.

For some reason I could only upload a minute long video, so I had to cut off the beginning. I turned the bird on (tiny switch under its tail), then set it down on the floor. Ellie came and tapped it. (She had already been playing with it a while by the time I filmed it, so I think she was getting tired out. Usually she goes crazy over it.)

It took her a couple hours (over two or three days) to figure out how it works. Other cats learn right away, some cats never learn, some cats might play stupid to get their human to come over and rock it for them. :P

Soda: Sodastream tests have all been failures, and I'm not using it much anymore. I got a vanilla syrup (like you'd use in coffee), but that didn't work at all. Even using a lot more than recommended, I couldn't taste it. (I had to buy store brand though, so maybe it was just not good quality?)

The other thing I tried was a long shot: Blueberry syrup (like you'd use on pancakes). Not only did it not work, but my goal with this machine is not to start drinking a lot of calories, so I'm sort of glad it didn't work.

I did buy a small container of milk to try sometime, but I keep balking at the idea of it.

Book: Breath of Bones: A Tale of the Golem by Dave Wachter (Author, Illustrator).
Book received free for review from Diamond Book Distributors/Dark Horse.

Amazon blurb:
A British plane crashes in a Jewish village, sparking a Nazi invasion. Using clay and mud from the river, the villagers bring to life a giant monster to battle for their freedom and future. Collects the entire miniseries.

I don't review many graphic novels because they have to be read on my computer and not on one of my e-reader devices, so it takes a special story to catch my eye and make me willing to read it that way. (I work on one all day and play on one all night, I like to do my reading elsewhere.)

I'm not sure why, but I've always liked stories about Jewish folklore golems (animated creatures made only of mud and earth). One of my favorite ones was on one of the Batman animated series (of all places!). Breath of Bones is right up there on my list of stories about them!

The drawing style is traditional/western, which gives it a nice familiar feeling. The story and art worked well together. So, if you enjoy stories set in WW2, or if you enjoy graphic novels, keep an eye open for this one!

Comments

[donnaimmaculata.livejournal.com]

What a brilliant toy! It looks like enormous fun. And Ellie is so pretty with her dark fur and stripey tail.

[kamalloy.livejournal.com]

Vanilla sodas just don't work very well. I've had vanilla Italian sodas (just carbonated water and syrup, so the same thing you're doing) and the taste is fairly weak. Faint sweetness, not much vanilla.

Ages ago, Snapple used to make sodas, and they had an awesome vanilla one which basically tasted like vanilla extract smells. I also liked A&W Cream Soda, but I had to stop drinking that because the calories were insane and they added caffeine to it for no particularly good reason.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you were able to see her! I turned on all my lights, but it still came out so dark.

It really is a smart toy! It tips over now and again, but she seems to have learned not to hit it too hard.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Ah drat! That's just how it was: faint sweetness, not much vanilla. Not worth drinking at all.

The more I play with this machine, the more I like Diet Coke. :/

[ani-mama.livejournal.com]

That toy looks cool, but I don't think it would last too long in our 4 cat household. XD

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Supposedly it works better in multi-cat households. One (or more) cat rocks it, while the others chase the light. With one cat, she has to both bat it to make it move and then chase it, then come back to bat it.

It was really fun to watch her figure it out!