It's pretty obvious why the cat, Esther, didn't land on her feet from the one-foot height. It's because she had already been dropped 500 times; poor Esther was now dead.

Saying "twenty-ten" is simply logical. It consists of only three syllables, while "two thousand and ten" has five syllables. We like things quick, so I'd be willing to bet that before long everyone will be using "twenty-ten." (However, I suspect that the people at the CBC here in Canada have been told to use the long version, because I haven't once heard the short way used on air.)

My cats would love this -- a great new toy!