One thing I really enjoy about internet access is the huge number of on-line media sites. My morning standard is to check Google News Canada, which gives me an immediate take on what's hot for the news media, as news items are ranked by prevalence.

Along with the local Queen Charlotte Islands Observer, and the "back-east" Globe & Mail, I regularly check out Canada's equivalent of "Auntie Beeb", CBC. I feed my left-wing sympathies by reading The Tyee.

I don't find myself reading too many US media sites, although I do have a subscription to Salon, where, other than being a bit pretentious, my biggest complaint is that they don't have a high enough volume of fresh articles.

What I have been acquiring is a real addiction to British media, everything from the respectable to the point of ponderousness "Auntie Beeb" and The Times (yes, of London), as well as the Guardian, through to the much less serious Daily Mail, the totally light-weight and gossipy Hello! and the defiantly red-top Mirror. I am still studiously avoiding the cricket scores, although I have a weak spot for snooker.

What, you don't think I read 'em just for the sports news? 8-)

Finally, photos of Luna's now two-week old kits, the second and I very much hope last unplanned litter of kits for my household.

Yes, they are adorable... they are about the size of chipmunks right now, and bouncing around the cage when not asleep in a heap, causing Luna to retreat to the upper level. Once mobile, baby rabbits have no compunctions about impromtu nursing off their mother. Since female rabbits usually only nurse their babies once or twice a day and otherwise stay away from them, Luna's reaction to suddenly having a kit seeking an extra feeding is surprise, rapidly followed by fleeing out of reach. This doesn't seem to deter the babies one bit.

There are five kits, four in mixed shades of brown and gray, with dark brown ears, and one who appears white with grey and brown blotches. The white is a complete surprise, as mom Luna is a light grey all over, dad Sidestripe is shades of brown with some black striping, and Sidestripe's parents were solid black (Blacky) and shades of brown (Butterscotch) respectively.

Apparently, there are five genes that define rabbit fur colour, with an additional three or four genes that have something to do with how the coat looks. The information I could find on it got very technical and was mostly aimed at breeders. To add to my confusion, mini-rex rabbits come in a wide range of colours, and the official terms for them are not what I'd call self-evident... okay, "castor" seems to mean "brown", but "opal"? How 'bout "lynx"? Or "lilac"? A further complication is that kits change colour as they age. Butterscotch was lovely shades of cream through light brown when we first got him in May 2005. Now, he's matured to a darker brown, with almost grey shading on his belly and very dark brown ears, nose and with dark brown circles (like eyeliner) around his eyes. Oh well, I think it's safe to assume both Luna and Sidestripe carried white as a recessive.