Having won the 4^th consecutive in a series of battles and entrenched themselves firmly in the "Catbird Seat", the Cats defied a longstanding tradition of leaving all weapons outside the alley. The poster shown above was displayed at each end of the alley by decree of the newly self proclaimed "High Council of Cats". "We are the best, so we make the rules" said a cat as he nailed up the poster outside my window. "We have kept our claws sharp and pulled in." "We never needed them to beat the dogs, but now that we have control of the alley we are going to keep it." Obviously there are radicals in every group and we can only hope this is not the sentiment of most cats. If the Cats do choose the way of the claw, I am certain the Dogs will retaliate and the alley will turn into a bloodbath. Word has it that the legality of the posting has been challenged and will be ruled upon soon. A ruling may not come in time to prevent a brawl next Saturday as any decision has to wait until the ruling body clears its docket. They are currently working on a ballot issue in Florida. The Dogs have found an ally in the fight which may swing the vote in their favor. It seems a claim has been made that the only ones to have a right to bear claws are the bears themselves. Any appropriation of bear claws on the part of the Cats will be considered a trespass on the person of the de-clawed bear.

Fortunately, this latest legal battle has seemed to detract from the mystical and magical theme we feared might be developing. I am happy to report that unless my mirror has been hexed, I have not been turned into a frog - yet. There is little magic smoke or pixie dust to be found in the alley and what is there is probably left over from last week.

 The Dogs roared to an early 7 to 5 lead at the end of the first round and looked like a stick of dynamite ready to explode. The wick must have been wet though because it fizzled in the second round watching the Cats win 8 of the 12 matches. By the end of the third, the one time dynamite was barely a small firecracker. Final score was Cats 29 Dogs 19.

Here is a tip for some fun - The Yahooligans are getting together in Palm Springs in January. I hear there are about 60 of our friends going. The January 13^th Ryder will probably be smaller than usual because of all the cats and dogs in Palm Springs but I am assured by super hostess Woo7NT that there will be at least one computer tuned in to the alley with as many kibitzers looking in as they can get. If you would like to go check out this site - http://www.geocities.com/clear_blue_98/

Ever wonder what some of our friends look like in real life? Now you can find out. There is a new site dedicated to embarrassing anyone they can by posting pictures from some of the gatherings around the world. So far the only ones there are from the Paris gathering but we are promised that many more are on the way. Check it out at http://www.geocities.com/bridgeplayerpics/home.html

Anybody know how our new friend Silver_wind made the consecutive lines on the chat board? It looked like a cut and paste had to be used to get them to join so nicely. If a special program was used it seemed to serve the same purpose. I desperately need a cut and paste or similar technique to make the pairs postings go quicker. If Silver is reading this, please share the knowledge with me. If any of Silver's friends has any influence, please see if you can help. Drop a note to me at [email protected] Thanks.

Welcome back old friend: SteveBurdette who joined us for some good old yelling and howling for his favorite team. Welcome back Steve - we hope to see more of you.

Welcome new friends: Maja; Silver_wind; Kalinkaskoyote (hmmmmm - have we met?)

Seen on the fire escape: Julie, Dmoen, Steve_Burdette, Kermit, Hbear, Joe_the_Penguin, Dittny, Puppycheer, Twiddjr, Fgresvik, Pom_Two, Bobmt, Kenebaby, Tangotinker, Susyq

Supersubs were: Imdj, Bigwin4dogs; Scorpiokirsten; Smilodonkiwi

Slams were bid and made by: Marykath/Puppyvw - 6S and Lorainew/John_Kennith - 6S

And a big HOORAY!!!! For

The trophy for purrrfect 3-0 tournament goes to: Kareyn_Au_uk/Aussieca and Psspll/Rzzjohn

The Cats were: RascatFrancylou/Galeb; Alan_Mitchell/Lynh; Redone/Maja(SUB Scorpiokirsten); LittleLadyBug/Silver_wind; Nuageman/Nonny; Harlequin_smiles/Marysue(sub-Smilodonkiwi); Kareyn_Au_uk/Aussieca; Debb/Dastarly; Poppeye/Felden; Orla/Nalen_Rose; Acastofmany/Golfnldy; Lorroobb/Kippers

The Dogs were: Jean/Xbrorsen; Softfire/Rueful_Rabbit; Psspll/Rzzjohn; JamesGreyWolf/Woo7NT; Kalinka/Kalinkaskoyote; Suegloss/Glossit; Seeweed/ReBos; Marykath/Puppyvw; Pob/BettyBoop; Deltagayl/BjBjr; Snoefte/Upho; Lorainew/John_Kennith