Cleo's Trio - Benefit for SMART Rescue and Dominic Dance Theater - Huge Hit!

Wow, Cleo's Trio was a sensation on May 21, 2011, at Mixed Emotions Fine Art! One of my friends misspelled the fundraiser as “Cleo’s Trip” and that it was – some journey!

Of course my afternoon was crazy the day of my videoshoot, but things calmed down for me until a few days before the actual event.

The day before Cleo’s Trio, the humans were scurrying around trying to figure out how to keep the Real Ale kegs cold overnight since everyone from Real Ale had to go out of town Friday for another big event. The Mayor of Montrose came to the rescue and let us store the kegs in his club across the street, Meteor. Devon and Jeremy were very helpful, and Devon even brought the kegs over the day of the party and got them all set up for us! I wish I could have helped, but I’m just not that strong >^..^<

Watching people work is exhausting to me, so I needed some time to collect myself. I really love bubble baths, and having a party is the purrfect excuse to jump in the tub! Clarence likes baths too, so I let him share my bath water.

An hour before our event started, everyone was too busy to pay attention to me (you can hear me screaming in the background in the video above). That’s fine – I just took a stroll around Mixed Emotions. The humans didn’t realize how big the studio was, and they thought I was going to play my hiding game and not come out until after the party! Unfortunately Domenico with Dominic Walsh Dance Theater spotted me and ruined my surprise. I was just wanting to make my grand entrance once everyone was there!

I really love Two Star Symphony’s music! It’s so calming – I just hung out in my stroller and took the whole evening in. It was fun when people peaked in at me and I got some pets! By the way, did you know Jerry, with Two Star Symphony, has a tattoo with two stars and a CAT?! Pretty cool!



People enjoyed winning some great raffle prizes, eating the yummy food thoughtfully prepared by SMART Rescue’s volunteer Donna, and lots of delicious liquids to wash all that down: St. Arnold’s root beer, Real Ale Brewery’s Brown Ale and Fireman’s 4, and a terrific selection of red, white, and rose French/Italian wines donated by Dionysus Imports, Inc. Donna offered me some salmon, but I prefer to stick to my green beans!

As the evening went on, everyone wanted me to dance, but I didn’t want to hurt Dominic Walsh Dance Theater’s dancers’ feelings by showing them up. Instead I stayed in my carriage and enjoyed the serenade by Jo and Margaret of Two Star Symphony. I think I play the piano better in my video, but don’t tell them >^..^<



Dominic Walsh Dance Theater and Two Star Symphony did a marvelous job performing Terminus together! Dominic rechoreographed the piece (and the dancers relearned it!) so it would work purrfectly at Mixed Emotions. The dancers blended in with the rest of the party guests, and the guests were surprised with the dancers started dancing! They performed this twice and it was a lovely finale for the evening!



My night was topped off by the Mayor of Montrose stopping by to say hi while the humans were cleaning up. I was getting a little drowsy, but when he came over to me I jumped out of my carriage to show off my tutu! Mr. Mayor suggested I should be “the First Lady of Montrose”! I like that!

While things were being piled in cars, a couple of the cats Mr. Mayor takes care of came around to say hi. One is black and the other an orange tabby – very pretty and they both have collars and are being well taken care of!

Thank you everyone that came to my Cleo’s Trio! You helped make the fundraiser a success and a great time was had by all. SMART Rescue was able to raise much needed funds to help with the ongoing care of their animals and your contribution to Dominic Walsh Dance Theater will help with their future dance accomplishments!

We’re extremely grateful to the following that brought our event to fruition and made it fabulous!

Dominic, Leigh and the very talented dancers: Domenico, Randolph, Ty, and Marissa of Dominic Walsh Dance Theater

Debra, Jerry, Jo, and Margaret of Two Star Symphony for their beautiful music

Paula for opening the doors of her art gallery, Mixed Emotions Fine Art

Michele's beautiful photography & Herb's great animal pictures that were on exhibit

Chris and Real Ale Brewery for the delicious Brown and Fireman’s 4 beer

Doug with Dionysus Imports for the wonderful wine selections

Saint Arnold’s Brewery for the yummy root beer

Donna for preparing a wonderful buffet

Meteor and the Mayor of Montrose

Discount Tire

Spec's Fine Wines and Spirits

Splashtown

The gracious donors that choose to remain anonymous

The volunteers that donated their time and talents

All those that purchased tickets, made donations and participated in the prize drawings

Stay tuned for more events! Don’t forget, my birthday is in August!! Become my fan on Facebook!

Feast Day of St. Martin de Porres - Nov. 3

Lover of the poor, healer of the sick, promoter of peace among races, SAINT MARTIN DE PORRES charity also “extended to the ANIMAL kingdom and he inaugurated the FIRST SHELTER for stray CATS and DOGS. It was his sincere belief that ALL CREATURES WERE EQUALLY LOVED BY GOD so all were deserving of his compassion and servitude.

When his prior ordered poison to be set out to end the innundation of RATS and MICE the monastery was suffering from, Martin went out to the garden and softly called the rodents out of their hiding places. He reprimanded them for invading the monastery and promised to feed them every day out in the garden if they would stay away from the building. Thus both sides kept to this agreement and Saint Martin is still invoked to prevent infestations of these pests.” Today is his feast day. To read more see The Journey of a Bishop (above quote from site).

Saint Martin de Porres will be smiling at all the cats and their owners at my cat blessing/cat walk November 13 benefiting SMART Rescue. I hope you can make it!

Feline ONLY Blessing and Walk in Montrose, Texas

It’s going to be “Cat’s Lib” Day November 13 in Montrose, Texas! Why a cat lib day? Have you noticed how there are so many activities for dogs and their owners? Just last week, in the Houston Chronicle’s Pet’s Page calendar list it was exclusively for dogs! Not to mention all the doggie parks and yappy hours found all over our city. To celebrate, I, Cleo the Cat, am having a cat ONLY cat blessing and cat walk complete with a lunch at Rudyard's Pub that will help SMART Rescue!

I believe “Cats Are People, Too” as stated in Sloane Crosley’s blog post for the New York Times. Yes, I Cleo the cat, walk on a leash, enjoy dressing in dog clothing (only because there is no cat clothing line), love socializing – and I would be very happy if people would not refer to these traits as “dog-like”. I am a cat and cats can be as cute, intelligent and friendly, as dogs with no comparison. Being called dog-like is about as flattering as a woman being called man-like because she can do a man’s job.

So, enough of this nonsense Houstonians, get out and show how important your feline friends are to you! With your support, I’ll organize many other cat-only (and their humans) events. Granted some cats may be a bit shy, so their owners are welcome to bring them in picture only and be their representative for equal rights for cats.

Don’t get me wrong, I do love dogs (as you can see in my video advertising this event), but I’m all for getting cats top billing too!

In addition to being part of historic event, you will also be helping a great cause SMART Rescue – a no kill rescue organization. They help both cats and dogs equally – many are in need of surgery because of abuse. In fact, SMART is raising funds to save the leg of one year old bedlington terrier who was shot by a cruel human. Please help if you can: http://smartrescue.chipin.com/smart-rescue-injured-bedlington-terrier.

Here is the information on my upcoming event. I hope to see you all there!

November 13, 2010 at 12:30 PM Cleo the cat’s FELINE ONLY (and their humans)

Cat Blessing and Cat Walk Blessing by Father Jay Walsh at Lamar Park (Waugh Drive at Hyde Park Boulevard)
Walk immediately following to: Rudyard’s English Pub 2010 Waugh Drive

If your cat doesn’t like traveling or is no longer with us, bring a picture!

All food sale proceeds at Rudyard’s will go directly to SMART Rescue!

FREE Ginger Shortbread Cookies and Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream for kids! (with purchase of lunch for adults)

MORE INFO: www.facebook.com/CleoCleoCat

Cleo the Cat Goes to Pet Blessing at St. Anne's

I had such a great time at the pet blessing at Saint Anne’s Catholic Church today! I had fun socializing with all the dogs, and there were some other beautiful cats there as well as a hamster, parrot, and turtles. My brother Clarence was going to go with us, but he ran off so Lily went. She did well on her first social outing!

Fathers Jay and Bill did a really nice ceremony saying how important us animals are, and all the humans sang for us! I chimed in a little bit, but the dogs really carried the tune!

They had some contests, and I won best costume (I went as a dog in a dress)!

I talked to Father Jay about how cats might be more comfortable having their own blessing, and he agreed to a special blessing for just us felines! Stay tuned for that!

So, in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi Day (October 5), here’s a prayer for all animals: Blessed are you, Lord God, maker of all living creatures. You called forth fish in the sea, birds in the air and animals on the land. You inspired St. Francis to call all of them his brothers and sisters. We ask you to bless these pets. By the power of your love, enable them to live according to your plan. May we always praise you for all your beauty in creation. Blessed are you, Lord our God, in all your creatures. Amen.

Prayer of Saint Francis:

Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon,
Where there is doubt, faith,
Where there is despair, hope,
Where there is darkness, light, and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;
To be understood, as to understand;
To be loved, as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive –

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

I say ME-OW!!

Review: My Birthday Party for SMART Rescue

I had a really wonderful birthday party! I’m so happy so many of my friends were able to make it out on a rainy day (and give up football!) and make a difference in less fortunate animals’ lives!

There were around 100 people and we raised $3,500 to help with medical costs and the continued care of SMART's animals! We also had food and sanctuary building supply donations.

The food was delicious! Hummus/avocado dip by the Broken Spoke Café, wonderful appetizers prepared by chef Joe Apa (made with cheese donated by Houston Dairymaids), fruit, sandwiches, ice cream donated by Blue Bell, root beer donated by Saint Arnold, the list goes on.

My birthday cake(s) was beautiful (made by Joe Apa)! One had a cat on a big ball of yarn all made with icing, and the other was Joe’s interpretation of Henri Matisse’s The Snail with a little help from his cat Maloney (I was hoping the big green bit was a smushed green bean since that’s my favorite!) I hear the French wine and Saint Arnold beer was very good too!

Last but certainly not least, the entertainment was fabulous!! If you saw last year’s video you would have seen my heart throb Chase Hamblin, and I was so happy this year all my friends got to see him in person! Wonderful musician and person! Constant Billy were sensational as usual and their new bass player, Dave Randall, is a great addition! OK, so I didn’t feel so much like modeling, but I did pretty good and everyone LOVED my new dress from BloomingTails!

Also, Constant Billy and Chase donated half the sales of their CDs to SMART Rescue! These musicians have huge hearts and I would be so THRILLED if they come back and play again for next year’s party!!

Thank you all who came to my party – it meant a lot to me! I will see you again next year if not before at events like my cat blessing/cat walk and Pet Polka featuring Brave Combo – stay tuned!!

CLEO the CAT's Birthday Party Benefiting SMART Rescue! 2010

I’m proud to show you my newest video advertising my 3rd annual birthday benefitting SMART Rescue http://www.smartpetz.com/, a no-kill rescue organization that actively pulls animals scheduled to be killed from places such as BARC (the city pound) and Harris/Montgomery County Animal Control. Funds are needed for surgeries - many of the injuries have been caused by animal abuse. SMART commits to animals for life, and they are in the process of building an animal sanctuary where these animals can live out their lives in peace, receiving the love and care they deserve – funds are going towards this too.

We are really happy Chase Hamblin and Constant Billy will be playing at our event! The Gypsies, who were represented in this video, canceled – but we’re still going to have a great time because Constant Billy and Chase are the BEST!! I may even do a fashion show if I’m in the mood!

So here’s the party info:
September 19, 2010, 3:00 – 7:00 PM
Alliance Française de Houston (The French Alliance)
427 Lovett, Houston, TX 77006

Complimentary adult/children beverages, food, birthday cake, ice cream, silent auction, raffle

$10 – all collected goes directly to SMART Rescue (kids free)

Please come and make a difference in these animals’ lives and have some FUN!

Whew, I am finally done with all my video shoots for my upcoming movie starring SMART Rescue (and me of course)! I have decided I DEFINITELY like studio shoots much better than on-location!

What an adventure! I was pushed in my zipped-up stroller through the busy streets of Houston. I didn't turn many heads though - guess they thought I was a real baby. I enjoyed all the sites though!

I loved the studio! It had AC, and I loved all the lights and cameras on me! Mark didn't think I could understand human talk, but I sure showed him when I did what he wanted me to do before he finished his sentence. I know what it takes to get all my best angles >^..^<

Well, I'm very anxiously waiting to see the rushes! More to come soon!