I have a ton of things to do before I head out of town tomorrow, and Tunch can tell that I am busy, because he is sitting on the futon behind me bitching non-stop. I could spend 12 straight hours watching football on the couch and he will not so much as look at me, but the moment I have things to do, here he comes. Jackass.
At any rate, here are some pet pictures. First, my friend Kris sends in Rowan:
Keeping with the bunny theme, here another little fellow:
Finally, this image of forbidden love:
I will be back this afternoon. This will have to hold you.
*** Update ***
Tunch in action:
Tunch, a moment ago, after jumping onto the desk, knocking over my right speaker and pulling the fan out of the window, sits between the monitors contemplating what else he can break. I came back from the bathroom to find my desk ripped apart and that “innocent” face.
Bastard.
Laura W
I would love to have a really big bunny. There was a gargantuan all white one in a local pet shop I still dream of.
If I could get to my ancient photos of life in Monterey, CA, circa 1991, I’d scan a great shot of my Bianca cat sleeping with Fred the guinea pig in his cage.
smiley
Did you know that Obama, if elected, will shut down all the coal mines and coal-burning plants? Yep, he will, by decree, just like he’ll do all of those other horrible things to this country.
greynoldsct00
You won’t be with us on election day? Oh my!!
Brian J
My dog is like that. I’ll be up and about for a long time, but the second I or anyone else sits down on the couch, she’s at the back door, making that face that she wants to go outside.
Don’t be ridiculous. That’s on the back burner. First in his plan is raising tax rates to 95 percent. Then he’s going to force everyone into a gay marriage. Finally, at the end of his first week, he’s going to impose Sharia law. It’ll take until the second or third week before he arbitrarily eliminates entire industries.
Face
Wait….WHAT? You’re leaving us on election day? WTF x 1000!?
Seriously…..THE biggest day in blogging history, and you’re going AWOL?
Brian J
Oh yes, I asked this last night, but up until the time I went to bed, nobody had answered. I’d like to know what the hell McCain is doing in Tennessee today. He’s holding a rally in Blountville in about an hour. As TPM says, it’s a "curious" stop, because it’s widely considered a safe state. That’s charitable, I guess. Unless I haven’t been paying attention, the Senate race isn’t competitive, nor are any House seats hotly contested by each side. I don’t know how the media markets in this area work, but unless it’s some sort of effort to try to reach western North Carolina and southwestern Virginia at once, it just doesn’t make sense.
Pastafarian
If that’s Tunch’s innocent face, I don’t want to see his evil/annoyed face.
Bulworth
Tunch looks pretty innocent to me.
Laura W
Blue is definitely Tunch’s power color.
Laura W
@Face: I’m thinking John’s been invited to Chicago with a backstage pass.
bootlegger
A prediction of what McCain will be doing tomorrow night?
South of I-10
I love that smug/self-satisfied look on Tunch’s face. Only a cat can produce that look, usually after having destroyed something.
greynoldsct00
Maybe he’s just making his presence known so he doesn’t accidentally get locked in the bedroom again? That and he LOVES you!
zzyzx
Where’s my Whitey tape?!?! I was promised!!!
Baconbuyer
What South of I-10 said. Tunch rules!
The Dangerman
@Brian J:
Is there a nearby Casino?
Brian J
Assuming nobody gets hurt, wouldn’t it be kind of cool to have McCain react like Jack Nicholson as the Joker in the first Batman movie when Batman breaks up the parade in downtown Gotham? First, instead of shooting someone like Joe the Plumber, he’d lunge toward him and punch him in the mouth. Then, he’d have Nancy Pfotenhauer and the other clowns on his campaign break out rifles to shoot in the air, all the while screaming, "Go, go, go! Get the hell off my lawn! Seriously, my friends…no, you’re not my friends…you’re all my enemies! Get the fuck off my lawn!"
Brian J
Somebody said it was near Bristol, Virginia, but wouldn’t it make more sense to, you know, campaign in that city, rather than a city next to it? Or is this just how mavericks operate?
Mean Gene
Glad to know my cat isn’t the only one who’s opposed to workplace productivity.
fuddmain
@Brian J:
There’s a line in one of James Lee Burke’s novels that goes something like, "Don’t try to get inside the head of a moron."
I think it applies here.
Incertus
@zzyzx: Are you really that eager to get Rick-rolled?
Josh Hueco
@Bulworth:
I don’t know…That looks more like a "if you only knew what I do when you’re not home" face to me.
JGabriel
John Cole:
No wonder you have so many problems with Tunch. That’s NOT an "innocent" face, that’s a: wry expression.
It’s the kind of face that says, "Yep, I fucked up your desk. I was bored. What are ya gonna do about it? Nothing, that’s what. And I’m completely arrogant about it."
If you can’t read your cat’s expressions, John, then you’re never gonna be able to control him or train him to behave reasonably.
.
The Moar You Know
@Pastafarian: No shit, that’s just what I was thinking. That cat looks like he’s about three days away from launching his grand plan to destroy all humanity.
Face
@Laura W: Probably more like New Kids on the Block.
The Moar You Know
@JGabriel: Reminds of a old cat of mine who not only copped that attitude after destroying something really expensive, but also topped it off with "yeah, and I’m way too cute for you to even get mad at".
greynoldsct00
I’m a huge fan of JLB! Glad to meet another one
JGabriel
The Moar You Know:
I don’t know. I think Tunch looks a little bit like Ving Rhames, or Chi McBride.
If, you know, either of them were white. Or hairy. Or a cat.
.
Josh Hueco
John…If you find cake batter all over your keyboard and feline pr0n on your hard drive when you get home, you’ll know who put it there.
jake 4 that 1
Yeah, that cat looks innocent and he isn’t the least bit fat.
When my cats look half that catitudinal I open a can of tuna and run.
Ned Raggett
@jake 4 that 1: I read that as "rum," which could make for some very happy cats.
Pastafarian
@jake 4 that 1:
John finally found a camera angle that doesn’t make Tunch look fat: behind two computer monitors.
boonagain
I guess McLoser’s campaign stop is in a corner of the state whose media serves Va, NC, Ga as well as Tn.
It’ll probably draw a couple of hundred people since the weather’s nice.
jake 4 that 1
@Ned Raggett: No, the rum is for me to use as an anesthetic/antiseptic after a mauling.
tim serbo
the second, unnamed bunny pictured above is mine own. his name is hoppipolla, after a song by sigur ros. it’s icelandic for "hopping in puddles," which given his bathroom habits is more accurate than i might wish. in most other ways, however, he is a most delightful companion, so i can’t complain much. when he’s in a good mood, he expresses his happiness by jumping straight in the air. bunny people call that a binkie.
Tom Ames
One day I got home from a long weekend and my cat Sputnik gave me that look. She then–very deliberately, while I watched–walked over to my collection of LPs and peed all over them.
Sputnik looked a lot like Tunch, actually, but she had more of the gray/brown mackerel tabby on her head and back.
She got run over 10 years ago and damn if I still don’t miss her.
Laura W
@Face: Thanks. I needed that one! Phew….
Perry Como
Hank Williams Jr. is kind of tone deaf.
Cyrus
Sounds like Stockholm Syndrome to me.
daryljhusseinfontaine
@JGabriel: Yep, that’s a look that says "There ain’t no what now between me and you. We’re clean and clear, but your LA privileges are revoked."
D
Commie-rade Rommie
That’s one snarky-looking fat cat.
When I was a kid my Aunt had a Siamese who was loud, obnoxious, er, "big-boned", did whatever the hell he wanted, and was still the nicest cat who let you pet him whenever. He was called Oddy for a good reason.
He was de-clawed and still caught robins with regularity. He wasn’t stupid enough to go after Blue Jays, tho – I don’t think I’ve ever seen one in a cat’s mouth. Anyone know of a cat brave enough to try?
Laura W
@Pastafarian:
I know I’m going to hell for all the laughs I get out of Fat Tunch jokes, but my reaction is truly beyond my control.
Maybe tomorrow when I get home from GOTV, instead of hitting the booze before I set my purse down, I’ll go back through recent threads and make a Top Ten Funniest Fat Jokes at Tunch’s Expense.
#10: He is not fat. I think maybe if he were a darker color, it would make him look slimmer. J. Cole, 10/24/08
bago
Titular word.
Tymannosourus
Need I be worried about this Obama coal crap on drudge?
postmodernprimate
Tunch looks a lot like serious cat.
Dennis - SGMM
Question: If Obama is elected, as seems very likely, how long will it take Broder, Krauthammer, Kristol, et al, to write Very Serious Columns calling on him to demand fair play for Congressional Republicans?
Charity
Here’s my funny cat story:
We had a big dinner party last Sunday, and my husband & I were doing loads of cooking and cleaning the day before. Our cats are not fond of us having a house full of people. They also come down religiously at 5pm for their dinner.
About 7:30 pm, Husband comes down and asks if I’ve fed the cats. I checked the time and was shocked: I never heard a peep from them, and I was so busy I just kept going on working.
We think they assumed that, because we were cleaning, we were having guests that night, and had gone to ground. Apparently we only clean when we have guests. A reasonable assumption, and a bit of an embarrassing indictment on our tidiness skills.
Charity, in the midst of drawing up a cleaning schedule…
D-Chance.
@Tymannosourus:
No more so than Obamamerica’s flipping off McCainMcCain on Drudge…
Bottom of the 9th, and they’re swinging at every pitch within bat reach of the plate, no matter how wild the pitch may be.
D-Chance.
greynoldsct00
You won’t be with us on election day? Oh my!!
He’s moving to Canada. Damn that Obamamerica. The GREAT MIGRATION northward begins!
Tymannosourus
@D-Chance.:
yeah, I see that. What’s that noise?
Oh, just the McCampaign’s death rattle.
Tom Ames
@Cyrus: "Sounds like Stockholm Syndrome to me."
That’s about the best description of cat ownership I’ve heard.
Phoebe
I say that look says: "You need to know there’s more where that came from, if you were considering leaving or anything." They know when you’re leaving.
Rommie, when I was 10 I had a Burmese [he was a stray, but he was all brown, with a solid build] who, one night, came to the door with a live Blue Jay in his mouth, which was flapping and screaming. I added my own flapping and screaming to the mix, and it never happened again. But Brownie got a Blue Jay, yeah.
I love the bunnies. Thank you for the bunnies.
Napoleon
Well there is already a website dedicated to impeaching Obama.
http://www.obamaimpeachment.org/
The Moar You Know
@Commie-rade Rommie: Yes, and I can only wish my dear departed Britt would have stuck with just going after birds (at least she never went after a raptor). Jays were just another minor annoyance to her. That cat wasn’t afraid of anything for the first decade of her life – first night I had her, I came outside to find her, back arched, in front of a thirty-plus pound racoon. On seeing me, she decided the odds were good enough and chased that racoon across the street, into the neighbor’s hedge. I caught up with her before she could follow the coon inside, picked her up and hauled her inside. She was purring like mad the entire walk back.
John Cole
I hate you all.
Napoleon
Well there is already a website dedicated to impeaching the MUP:
http://www.obamaimpeachment.org/
cyntax
@Dennis – SGMM:
Since they’ve already written them, just as long as it takes to update them with one or two details about the margin of the win or to quote a line from Obama’s speech that fits said topic and then hit send. Expect them this week.
smiley
@Tymannosourus:
No. Consider the source.
Svensker
This article from Crooks & Liars gives the low down on the coal kerfuffle. Turns out — surprise! surprise! — that the quote was taken out of context and that McCain had proposed the same thing in the Senate.
Dennis - SGMM
@cyntax:
Sounds about right. I try not to read any of those folks too often – I’m already stupid enough.
The Moar You Know
@Tymannosourus: Only if you were worried about Obama’s birth certificate, the "Whitey" tape, Joe the Plumber, PUMAs, Agent Flobee’s veracity, the manner of Vince Forster’s death, the Obama Murder list, the Bill Clinton murder list, Whitewater, Gennifer Flowers, the guy who supposedly sold Bush coke back in college, 9/11 being an illusion done with cruise missiles, holograms, and Shin Bet, or whether the United States ever really landed on the moon or not.
neddie jingo
@Brian J: Bristol’s on the VA/TN border — the state line goes right down the main drag. I think that’s the explanation for the confusion; I’ve heard it referred to as both Bristol, VA, and Bristol, TN.
Morfydd
Commie-rade Rommie said: "He wasn’t stupid enough to go after Blue Jays, tho – I don’t think I’ve ever seen one in a cat’s mouth. Anyone know of a cat brave enough to try?"
When I was little I clearly remember bluejay bits scattered across the back yard at least once. It was fenced, so the culprit wasn’t a dog, and our cat notoriously owned the neighborhood, so it probably was Andy. He was a terror.
Dennis - SGMM
Heard an actual PUMA on my NPR station (KPCC) just now. She was a Clinton supporter but now she’s voting for McCain. The host kept pressing her about how Obama’s policies are closer to Clinton’s than McCain’s so Obama would seem the logical choice for her. Her answer? "It’s different now."
Half the people can be part right all of the time, an’
Some of the people can be all right part of the time,
But all the people can’t be all right all of the time.
I think Abraham Lincoln said that.
"I’ll let you be in my dream if I can be in yours."
I said that.
Bob Dylan, Talkin’ World War III Blues.
The Thinking Man's Mel Torme
Clete Purcell beating the hell out of some wiseguy with a skillet of creamed chipped beef is one of the classic passages of literature.
greynoldsct00
That, and many others. And since this is a pet post, I’d like to also share my love for Tripod.
Comrade Darkness
So, I’m waiting at the airport and I don’t usually watch the teevee news, but CNN is on (and I can’t change it)… they really have been reduced to nothing more than a résumé builder for Fox News wannabes.
Added: "I’d like to know what the hell McCain is doing in Tennessee today."
Going somewhere he can get a crowd over 2k for his overblown CNN coverage? Just a guess.
bago
You say VATS?
Face
@neddie jingo: I think it also borders CT.
Punchy
Translation: I hates me those n#ggers.
boonagain
@John Cole:
Should anyone point out that we’re all he has left? Those other bridges are burned.
Bad Horse's Filly
Animal antidotes, great way to take my mind off the election. My brother has a three-legged cat, who catches and kills rabbits (sorry…I know it’s horrible) and feeds them to the geriatric dog.
I had a cat, who when she was very small was in the backyard late at night, ignoring my calls for her to come in (she wasn’t even suppose to be outside, especially at night, but she snuck out). Suddenly we heard her scream and I grabbed a flashlight to look for her. I couldn’t find her anywhere in the backyard. Instead she was in another backyard, tuffs of hair pulled out in various places. Since all the backyards had 6 foot privacy fences, our best guess was a large owl. She didn’t sneak out much after that.
Comrade Nixon Hailfire Palin
Sully’s final plug for Obama totally rocks, IMO.
That One - Cain
Bleah, I was really confident yesterday but today for some reason I don’t want to see any polls especially crazy shit about certain battleground states getting down to the wire… ugh.
John’s probably going with kos to Chicago. If KOS hasn’t scored him some tickets, I would be disapointed.
I on the other hand, got two tickets from the Obama campaign to the democratic election party tomorrow at the Oregon Convention center. The folks at the campaign enjoyed the running competition to get volunteers between my wife and I who actually recruited quite a bit more than I have. I will probably try to help out tomorrow in any way I can. Then I plan to toast the country or wallow in misery if Obama lost. Either way, there will be drinkin tomorrow.
cain
Comrade Darkness
Okay, that has to be one of the more striking simultaneously disturbing and utterly sweet stories.
cyntax
Naw, a day without John throwing down with the curmudgeonly communiques is like a day without sunshine.
jake 4 that 1
@Dennis – SGMM: The correct question is: "How long ago did the bobble heads write, &c?"
The answer: The first time a Dem. came in after a Rep. during their careers as "writers."
Tymannosourus
@The Moar You Know:
what about Kerry’s war record?
Dennis - SGMM
@jake 4 that 1:
"Find and Replace" must be their bestest friend.
Phoebe
I also love the Sullivan final pitch. It’s perfect.
And this picture made me very very happy:
http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1855131_1790384,00.html
I can’t explain why exactly.
smiley
Ladies and gentlemen, the Obama Hustle. You have to watch ’till the end to see the Obama in the Obama Hustle.
djork
Question for everyone:
What do you have on ice as your celebration / desperation beverage of choice for tomorrow night?
J.
Sure, blame the cat. The poor thing’s just bored. And hey, you got a blog post out of it.
Btw, here in our nation’s capital they are already preparing for the inauguration (just came back from the Capitol) and you would not believe what I just saw over at the White House: an Obama-Biden yard sign!
Strange days, indeed. Most peculiar, mama.
boonagain
I’m going shopping this afternoon.
Looks like we’ll have about 20 people at our house for a light meal and snacks all night.
A bottle of Champagne will be opened each time a red state goes Blue. How many should I buy?
Svensker
Yup. Gigantic tropical mother-frigging butterflies.
It’s like right at the end of Lord of the Rings when all the battles are joined, and suddenly, everything pauses. Will Frodo throw the Ring into the fire, or will he be overcome by evil? The silence is intense, every eye turns, ever heart beats, waiting, waiting….
South of I-10
@djork: Oh, I was trying to come up with something witty like Arugula Salad and elitist martinis, but I am really thinking it will be Chicken and Sausage Gumbo and beer. Wine just hurts too much when I try to work the next day.
Comrade Ed Drone
Actually, it seems to me that we’re seeing that the portion of the electorate in the "some of the people all of the time" demographic is about 25%, give or take.
Most of them will vote for McCain (excluding the Bush write-in voters), and not many more will, I think.
Ed
Bubblegum Tate
The PUMAs will deliver a landslide victory for McCain! Really!
Ash Can
Horsecrap. John’s just planning on getting knee-walking drunk and posting as Birdzilla all night long. Whoopee!
wrye
So know I know that when my cat pulls this, she is pulling a Tunch. Good to know.
jake 4 that 1
@J.: Yep, we went down to protest the bailout (fat lot of good it did, but still) and seeing the all of the ground they’d fenced off BY ORDER caused me to resort to booze when I got home.
And nice pic. Heh.
greynoldsct00
A good gumbo is a party in a bowl… nothing wrong there! I miss good southern eats since I moved back north.
Perry Como
Obama’s grandma just died. Damn. 24 hours.
Laura W
@Perry Como: But you know, she knows. How bitterfuckingsweet is his speech gonna be tomorrow night. As if I weren’t going to be sobbing all sloppy and ugly already. Gad.
mantis
Woot! Just got a last minute ticket to the party here in Chicago. And the weather’s going to be lovely.
Here’s to going to work late and happy on Wednesday.
ninerdave
@Perry Como:
Man, that really, really sucks.
Comrade Nikolita
@Pastafarian:
Seconded. Tunch sounds like quite the cat. Our kitten’s a little hellion (he’s discovered how to jump on the kitchen counter and get up to the chemical shelf above our washer and dryer), and Cat’s just a bitch still.
@Perry Como:
That really sucks, to say the least. :( I see CNN has the story on their news wire.
mantis
@Perry Como:
Damn it all. Very sad.
Bets on how long it takes for some wingnut to come up with a conspiracy theory about the timing of her death? I’m sure those scumbags are typing away right now.
jakester
I’m really glad Obama was able to be there before she died. But damn it if this election isn’t producing real, actual physical pain for those that just want it SO MUCH. I don’t know if the stress had anything to do with the timing, but combined with the heart attack by his 41-year-old Nevada campaign director, and Studs Terkel on Friday – why couldn’t this stupid thing have been certified a week ago?
Crusty Dem
I’m with you, mantis. I left a comment for one of the chief douchebags.
South of I-10
@Laura W: You are right. Can you imagine how proud she must have been of him? I am glad Obama was able to go to Hawaii and see her before she passed.
The Other Steve
@Perry Como: I just saw this on politico.
This is so terribly sad.
Larry Craig nee Crusty Dem
I’m with you, mantis. I left a comment for one of their leaders.
kay
I’m in rural Ohio, and the headline on our local afternoon paper is "Obama sweeps County".
The high school "mock election" results are in.
He won in all five County high schools. Itty bitty schools: the graduating classes are never larger than 30.
Bush swept in 2000, and 2004.
A good omen, I think.
jakester
@mantis: Yeah, there’s already a diarist on redstate who has cogitated on this. See, he predicted a MONTH ago that she would die right before the election. Very suspicious, he says. So far, the commenters have pointed out that he’s a fucking asshat.
CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII
That’s hilarious Tate.
Marston doesn’t even know the definition of a landslide, using the # of 321 EV’s. NOT!
burnspbesq
Obama has made an interesting choice of venue for his last campaign appearance.
Manassas, Virginia.
I think we’re officially on symbolism overload.
jake 4 that 1
Well. That’s just crap.
CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII
Considering that some people have compared him to a modern day Lincoln, if it was truly symbolic, he would have gone to Gettysburg.
burnspbesq
Just rudely hung up on a Yes on 8 caller. Petty of me, I know, but it felt good.
Cris v.3.1
@burnspbesq:
Good point. Manassas was where John and Lorena Bobbitt lived.
L. Ron Obama
@Bubblegum Tate:
This is my favorite excerpt. Hypocrite, heal thyself:
L. Ron Obama
Also, that was most definitely on-topic, as it was in keeping with the bunny theme.
Delia
Breaking news: Cheney’s home town paper endorses Obama
mg_65
John, thanks so much for posting Brucie and Lil Pig. I am freaking out about the election, biting my fingernails down to my elbows and so forth, so it was extra nice to see.
I guess you can’t really see it in this photo so well, but my cat Brucie likes to go into the Guinea pig habitat and eat their grass. They don’t mind, I guess they like the company. And they’re stupid.
About Tunch: my best friend’s cat Fez had a figure that was fairly… globular, but people want to be polite, so when they met Fez, they’d say, "wow, your cat has… such a small head."
tim serbo, Guinea pigs go straight up in the air when they’re happy — we call it "sproinking".
binzinerator
Tunch [all innocent-eyed]: Mrow?
[translation into the French]: Moi?
Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse
Phoebe, I am convinced that the brown Burmese was born to kick serious ass. My solid little guy may look all defenceless, cute and adorable in the picture that has not yet been posted here, but he has the heart and stomach of a Rottweiller. Just don’t ask me how much the Rottweiller’s owner made me pony up for vet bills.
On a gentler note, Fry and Laurie: Mr. Burmie.