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Skitty says, “I had a fab time hearing the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra play for visiting U.S. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi this week.”

See video here!

Skitty says, "I SO dig Gnarls Barkley."

The WXXI Public Broadcasting Council is proud to introduce an important new voice for the arts: Penny, the Artsy Hamster.

Born in a plastic bin in Petsmart, she recently accepted a new post as family pet, relocating to a cage in a private Western New York home. Inspired by Skitty, the popular author of “Secret Confessions from Skitty,” Penny now offers to share her considerable knowledge about the arts with you.

Her first question comes from Anonymous in Hightstown, New Jersey:

Dear Penny,

Another short and sweet post. I’m in my second week of getting up at 4:00 a.m. to host the local classical music morning show, and I’m a little tapped out. (I'll have some richer material for you, including a bizarre RPO-related story that landed in my e-mail this week. But I can’t get to it until later.) So I’ll stoop to cat-blogging with this message from Skitty and a picture taken this morning in our muddy garden.

Skitty says, “Spring rocks!”

Skitty has cabin fever. She's been pulling her fur out. The vet recommended she wear an "Elizabethan collar" for a few days.

Skitty says, "This stinks."

She confesses she's very curious as to the contents of the classical music CD Eliot Spitzer allegedly wanted to use to set the mood in his hotel room on February 13th. What was he thinking of? Samson and Delilah? Inquiring minds want to know.

Read more.

Skitty says, “I like High School Musical, High School Musical 2, and the song 'Ruby Blue' by Roisin Murphy."

Skitty would also like to squash the urban legend that the Cookie Monster (seen on WXXI-TV’s Sesame Street) will evolve into the Veggie Monster. Not true, though sources close to the puppet say Cookie is diversifying his diet to include the occasional broccoli spear. Skitty is not sure what to make of Lindsay Lohan posing as Marilyn Monroe in New York magazine. She’s wholly vegetarian, but not for kids.

Skitty says, “I like Andrea Bocelli.”

Skitty purred when she heard that Bocelli sang at the Metropolitan Opera earlier this week. But the purring stopped when someone explained to her that he was only testing the acoustics. Bocelli, the blind pop star tenor whose reedy voice is much-maligned by classical music critics, is friends with Met general manager Peter Gelb. Bocelli might perform an out-of-season recital.

How bad can he be? Well, he’s no Elvis.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btfBQQNk8Q8

Read on for miscellany.

Oscar Wilde said that there are two kinds of people in the world -- tedious and charming.

I recently heard that there are two kinds of bloggers in the world – serious and cat.

A catblogger is someone who blogs about cats.

In other words, not to be taken seriously.

I’ve weighed the risks and decided to advance with my dubious plans to introduce a new feature to this space:

Secret Confessions from Skitty

Skitty says, “I don’t really like Beethoven. Totally overrated.”