Rabbits And Royals

[poliphilo]

We tried to rearrange the rabbits yesterday. We took Trig outside and put him in a pen with Tolkien in the hope that they might- now they've been neutered- become friends again. What happened was they sat as far apart as they could and ignored one another completely ( while Nikisha and Zhaim- from next door- poked bits of dandelion at them). Afterwards we let them out and they took up positions at opposite ends of the yard- Tolkien in the shrubbery and Trig by the back door, as if pleading to be let back in. 

Then we brought Tosh downstairs. We were thinking- now Trig had been removed-  he might like to be in the living room with us. He had other ideas. No sooner had I put him down than he ran back upstairs to "his" bedroom. This is called "voting with one's feet".

 

So, by the end of the day they were all back where they started. Tosh and Trig in the bedroom (where they tolerate one another- its not a friendship) and Tolkien outside. They say rabbits are social animals. I'm really not so sure.

 

The royal wedding is getting hard to ignore. I was flicking through the main channels last night and there were no fewer than four Will and Kate related programmes showing between 8 and 10. I wouldn't say I'm not interested- you can't not be interested in something that says so much about the state of the nation, but I'm not enthused. I want to see the monarchy phased out not perpetuated- and Will and Kate as media constructs (we don't know them as people) are so very, very dull.   

Comments

[chiller.livejournal.com]

Female rabbits are reliably social animals. The males, even fixed, aren't.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Well that's it, I suppose, all our rabbits are male.

[chiller.livejournal.com]

AHA. *tut* Sexist! *ducks*

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Actually we wanted girls. The plank in the shop sexed them wrong. By the time we found out we had become fond of them- and it was too late.

[chiller.livejournal.com]

Still, it's easier to have boys in some ways ... easier to get them neutered, anyway.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Less invasive.

[chiller.livejournal.com]

Cheaper too!

[karenkay.livejournal.com]

"plank" is a good word.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Do you use it in the States, or is it a Britishism?

[karenkay.livejournal.com]

Britishism. Briticism? Both look weird to me.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure either is in the dictionary

[michaleen.livejournal.com]

I have studiously ignored The Wedding, something that living sans teevee, and on another continent an ocean away, has probably made somewhat easier. Then this morning the BBC tricked me into clicking on a link to a wedding-related story. The tease said something about how military boots are made so shiny for a parade, but the story was actually about the military rehearsal for the big day.

Actually felt somewhat violated by the experience. And it was stupid of me as well, since unfortunately I already know how to spit-shine a pair of boots.

As for rabbits being surprisingly antisocial, I am not surprised. People also say that cats are solitary, yet that too is a myth.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I believe I saw that item about the shoe-shining. What I want to know is why they don't just issue them with boots made of pvc. Far less trouble. A wipe over with a damp cloth and they're done.

[michaleen.livejournal.com]

I don't know what they call them over there, but here the shiny artificial leather is called, Corfam. I assume you can buy boots made out of it. In the Navy, Corfam shoes were fairly common and popular, since no one wants to spend all that time polishing shoes that will be scuffed up in minutes on the job. You can tell they're artificial at a glance, though.

The purpose of all that primping and preening is psychological and the act symbolic. The hours spent taking a uniform to a state of perfection is indicative of the level of commitment to perfection generally. And to be honest, I rather enjoyed spit-polishing shoes, myself. It was a peaceful process and the result really was rather pretty.

[dadi.livejournal.com]

Here in Germany, you can´t escape the wedding either. Every single TV and radio channel continues to blab on about dresses, invitees, menues, more dresses... around the clock. I can understand that in England.. but here? But it was the same for the Swedish wedding a few months ago. I guess Germans are just all royalists at heart, they even get all upset about stuff happening in Monaco, go figure...

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

You'd have to be desperate for some monarchical glitz to care about what was happening in Monaco!

I think it's strange how we invest a crook with glamour just because he puts King or Prince in front of his name.

[daisytells.livejournal.com]

I cannot stand all the media hype over here. It seems like nothing else is going on in the USA or in the world. TV is full of Kate and Will biographies, parade rehearsals, what who will be wearing, who is going and who is not invited, etc. I have turned the TV off until Friday. I dont know WHY the media is making a week long TV special out of it. All the hype kind of takes the "special" out of the day itself, dont you think? I dont remember that clearly, but I dont think such a to do was made about Charles and Diana with the media spending a whole week in the streets of London prior to the wedding -- did they?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I think there was more genuine street-level interest in Charles and Di than there is in Wills and Kate. We're a less deferential society than we were- and look a little askance at the froth being whipped up by the media.

[pondhopper.livejournal.com]

You need to come to Spain. There is hardly any news at all about The Wedding.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I guess the Spanish- having a low-key monarchy of their own- have realised that kings and queens are no big deal.

[pondhopper.livejournal.com]

I have great admiration for the Spanish monarchy and I am no monarchist. They tend to conduct their lives discreetly and live like real people without any great fuss. They're good ambassadors for Spain.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

That's the kind of monarchy I wish we had.

[karenkay.livejournal.com]

I think "social" means that they have social rules. Not always comfortable ones.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Life in the warren must be pretty grim I think. All sex and violence.

[karenkay.livejournal.com]

Well, a lot of the human world is that way, too. I see this every day in the cats in my neighborhood, too. There are so many of them, none of them allies, but they mostly get along okay.

[airstrip.livejournal.com]

Is Parliament paying for this affair?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I don't know how it breaks down, but I suppose the state (meaning the tax payer) is paying for the security arrangements- if nothing else.