First dispatch from Cats and Tulips,  Saturday, XXVI Avgvstvs  MMVI  (Rooters)

The first day of the show started at about 1030 hours CUT or EDT plus 6 hours. The cats all had to pass a vet check. This held up the start of the show because the time required for each cat ran the check well past the 0900 cut off. The judges and clerks were introduced and the show management visited everybody at their benches.  There are five rings in this show and Judges came from US, CA, Switzerland and also local areas.

It was interesting that all judging stopped right at noon for lunch. The reason was that the food service at this college gymnasium used for the show was served by the local bar and food service. If you didn't eat with the group what you got would be cold or gone.

Canadians are a fast bunch and the Canadian judge finished the approximately 150 cats by about 1500, local time, well ahead of the next ring. There were 16 in New Traits  at this show and only six were MC's. There were two MC winners. The kitten that Deb Brown agented got best MC in one ring but no rosettes. There was at least one MC rosette winner but this reporter was unable to determine which ring or cat since the reporter was unable to check out all the goings on from a rather disadvantaged location that one might consider "far out."

A better try will be made on Sunday, the second day of the show. We may be able to get a satellite video feed back to mainland US to keep closer track of events taking place. We did notice that one of the show personnel had a birthday on Saturday and the crowd sang a "happy Birthday" to him. Later on there was another similar sing but we found out that it was for someone that did not have a birthday during the show. We understand that the cake for that event was placed in the refrigerator for consumption at the Sunday show. No reason was given but probably the person celebrating that event would not be attending the show on Sunday. There have been reports of chocolate found in Amsterdam was laced with the compound found in hallucinogenic mushrooms. It is possible that purveyors of that cake may be aware of this and are keeping the cake for themselves for a blast after the show.

It appeared that everyone had a good time and there were no "cat loose" calls. Must be that the European cats are taught better manners than the cats from across the pond.

The next dispatch should come soon after this one since it is not likely that the carrier pigeon carrying this one will reach a suitable electronic terminal until late on Sunday night. We may be able to get all the Sunday show report from the video feed and fill in the details of the second day right off the video monitor.

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Final dispatch from Cats and Tulips, Sunday, 27 August 2006,

Again the show did  not get rolling until after 10:00. By tapping into the surveillance cameras this reporter was able to watch the activities at the show hall in nearly real time. Near the end of the show there was a mix up with the New traits MC's and the other breeds competing in New Traits where they were being judged in two rings at the same time. The MC's were shuffled back and forth between the rings and the judge (I couldn't see which one) lost track if the polys.  Silverfoot P and Silversocks P both received best cat in one ring each during the show. They are brothers so this should make Ma and Pa very happy.

The show was small compared with most shows this reporter has attended. Instead of rows of benches the benching area was set up as rings with maybe 10  by 15 half cages to the half rectangle. Quite  different from the shows in the US Northeast but much more friendly with lots of space for socializing within each bench rectangle. Also the cages are left open on the "back" side so visitors outside the rectangle can see the cats  through the back as well as the front.  Rings were three sided with 3 - 6 - 3 cages. One "fault" that these cages have is that the separators are outside the steel bars of the show cages making it impossible to wipe down the sides and back of the cage. A big plus for the cage company that has done the shows in the Northeast US.

The show was held in a gymnasium and the floor had been completely covered with heavy plastic sheets taped together to protect the floor. This was done by the college as part of the show arrangement. The show manager and assistants completely disinfected the entire show hall before the show was set up. That was a plus for them. This reporter has not seen this done at any of the US shows.

New Traits had been omitted from the judging schedule so many of the rings did not mix it in between the other events. This made for conflicts at the end of the day.

The show concluded about 16:15 and the crew from the Poly group assisted in tearing down the show cages and benches. From what we gathered it looked like they got a ride each way to and from the train station that had been a 25 minute walk the day before. The show was in Woerden, about a forty minute train ride from down town Amsterdam.

Next dispatch will cover the TICA annual if we can get a mole to report the goings on there.

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Rotterdam. NL, 31 August 2006

Inside sources in Europe advise that at the Woerden show two additional rosettes were awarded to Sharon's cats. The covert TV cameras failed to pick up this information. We stand corrected.

That show is over and the MCPI delegation is regrouping for the assault on the TICA Annual in Hannover in less than two days. There was bad news earlier this week when one very precious kitty crossed over the rainbow bridge in Holland.  We all mourn this loss and wish Godspeed in the recovery of all those close to the tragedy.

From the information obtained from sources that did not wish to be identified several  meetings and strategy sessions were held on Wednesday, 29 August and 30 August at various locations in and around Rotterdam. Deb and Justin plan to go on a shopping spree on Thursday then spend the afternoon floating along the many canals before preparing for an early departure for Hannover Friday morning. There was also talk of a birthday party this evening.