Breezy Saturday afternoons are perfect for a serious catnip high:
I’m gonna give him another half hour and then put on some soothing music and talk him down from his trip. I’m trying to get some work done and he is making all sorts of noise.
Reader Interactions
85Comments
Comments are closed.
Trackbacks
-
[…] combination of the marijuana legalization measure coming up on the California ballot & reading this bit of nothing prompted the following […]
Athenae
TUNCH!
I just want to grab him and snorgle him and pet him and kiss him and cuddle him.
A.
eemom
Wow. I thought only doggies did that.
I think you’d better pet his tummy, ASAP.
JR
Is it just me, or does it seem like we’re all underplaying the serious opportunity that California seems to be giving us regarding People Nip?
Almost all of the pieces I’ve seen on it so far in Left Blogistan have revolved around the novelty of having a vote on legalization, or on the horse race aspect (can the polls be right? can it possibly pass?), with very little in the way of action items.
Am I the only one who thinks this would really be a BFD?
Genine
Awww! He is so adorable. I love that picture. It makes me think of DougL’s story of his pot-head Kitty Buds.
guhm61
I think I’m getting a contact high.
gogol's wife
As we say around our household: “Belly rub time!!!!!”
jeffreyw
The Trouble with Tribbles
rootless-e
Just for fun, for people who remember Matt Taibbi’s explanation of how Giethner’s Maiden Lane ventures would cost the taxpayer gazillions of trillions of gold bars.
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2010/04/should-the-fed-worry-about-maiden-lane/38328/
RedKitten
Awww…Tunch is all fucked up, and is adorable.
LuciaMia
Is tunch part turtle?
Linda Featheringill
The California People Nip issue has been out of the news recently. Is it supposed to come up for a vote soon? I don’t even know for sure what is going on.
russell
I want some of what he had.
PeakVT
he is making all sorts of noise.
Video, plz. Kthxbai.
robertdsc
The Liliputtians are going to have a hard time tying Tunch down.
Linda Featheringill
California and legalizing marijuana:
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62O08U20100325
Apparently, the issue has secured a spot on the November ballot. I guess the question will be decided by popular vote.
Somebody needs to run around and tell the DFHs that they need to register to vote some time before the November vote.
If we assume that a bunch of them will turn out to vote for the weed, do we have any idea how they might vote on other issues?
Cain
@Linda Featheringill
hilzoy fangirl
A song for Tunch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0V1pangstKg
Violet
So cute!
My local garden center has a cat. They keep the catnip in a birdcage. When it grows out of the bars on the birdcage, the cat gets to eat it. Otherwise, no. It’s a pretty good system for them, since they sell the stuff too. The cat has been known to circle the cage for quite some time. He’s very hopeful.
One of my friends has two cats who are brothers from the same litter. One goes completely nuts on catnip – bouncing off the walls. The other ones turns into a complete slug and barely moves. Interesting the different effects on them, especially since they’re brothers.
Cain
No. He’s just fat. SASQ.
cain
The Main Gauche of Mild Reason
@Linda Featheringill
Boxer (D-Sen, inc) and Brown (D-Gov, open) are both headed to pretty close races; unfortunately, both have come out pretty clearly against the initiative. Given the politics involved, I doubt any mainstream pols will endorse the initiative, which I think is a shame. I also think potheads are as likely to be glibertarian as anything, so the effect is hard to predict.
Violet
Probably still won’t be legal for anyone under 18 or 21, whichever states choose. So there’ll be plenty of rebelling and going behind parents’ backs.
The Main Gauche of Mild Reason
@Violet
Judging from success of prop 8, I’m going to guess the family/parenting angle is going to be significant on the pot initiative. I think the hardest thing proponents are going to have to do is drill it into the heads of the voters that pot would be regulated just like alcohol and tobacco, and not a teenage free-for-all.
licensed to kill time
@Violet
I accidentally grew catnip once (threw some seeds from the bottom of a catnip scratch pad into a pot, and voila!) and my cats used to love to curl up in the pot and sleep on top of it. They also liked to eat the leaves and the effect of “raw” catnip seemed much less pronounced than the “cured” variety. I think it’s good for their tummies, too. They were self-medicating, haha.
flukebucket
Is Tunch wallowing on the brown sheets I have heard so much about?
JR
Yeah, that’s what I had in mind. There just aren’t a whole lot of moments where that possibility is actually on the table. Seems like it should be a bigger deal, considering.
SiubhanDuinne
I’m very happy to see Tunch so mellowed out. Wish I had him right here with me.
This blog is a good place for sharing news of all kinds, and I’m afraid mine today is pretty grim. I just got a call from a relative telling me that my cousin is in the hospital dying of liver failure. He’s delirious and not recognizing people, but I just made the decision to shift my Saturday afternoon around and go visit him anyhow. I’m just devastated. He’s youngish (early 50s), wonderfully good looking, and in some ways very fit (he’s a gifted athlete). But his parents and sister have known for a long time that he has a serious alcohol problem, although I personally have only seen it manifest behaviorally once or twice. Don’t know a lot of details but I expect I will as the weekend unfolds. Anyhow, please, on this beautiful day, I hope you will take a moment to send white light or good thoughts or prayers or whatever your preference is, to a young man who made some unfortunate choices and whose family is now franic with worry and grief as a consequence.
Thanks. I love this community. You don’t even need to post your wishes, I’ll get them and convey them.
some other guy
Similar measures were defeated in Alaska, Colorado, and Nevada a few years back, and those are pretty libertarian states– hell, libertine in the case of Nevada.
It’s probably assumed the Cali measure is similarly doomed. If it polls well in Cali in the run up to the election, though, I think you’ll see A LOT more stories about.
Doctor Science
HOW CAN YOU NOT PET THAT TUMMY?!?!?
I am treating this as an open thread, to ask some questions of those of you familiar with the multiplayer, online mode of games like Call of Duty.
We just got a letter from the middle school principal, saying (basically) that some kids seem to be carrying the kind of talk they get used to in these games over into the school. My kids are of the opinion that the administration is just blaming video games for something that was going to happen anyway, and that was my gut reaction, too.
However, adult online friends have told me that the racist, sexist, homophobic trash talk in the games *is* more virulent and constant than in other online fora or in RL. If kids spend a lot of time gaming (as you do), at a minimum they’re going to get used to using language that is not going to be acceptable in other contexts. They’re also going to be used to acting like completely unrestrained assholes.
To some, it seems like it has even become worse, of late: one said, The last few weeks as a matter of fact on Xbox Live I’ve heard lots of racial slurs that I’m not really used to hearing. And I say this as someone who spends a great deal of time on the thing. … I’ve never heard the n-word used so often in my life (and I’m from the ‘Deep South’). …
So, my questions:
1. Does it seem to you X-Box Live (and similar) gamers that there has been an uptick in racial, sexual (and anti-Muslim) slurs in the past month or so? One gamer said it remined hir of the Summer of AOL on Usenet, when n00bs with no sense of netiquette flooded in.
2. Is there anything parents can do to control who their kids game with? Anything that actually *works* in practice, I mean — parental controls that any 7th-grader can get around don’t count.
3. Is there anything the school can/should do to keep the Jerk Culture of the games from leaking over into the school?
4. The school says they’re planning to make this a “teachable moment”, working with the kids to teach them how to tell what is and isn’t appropriate for school. They’re also “planning a panel discussion with various religious representatives from our area to address the types of prejudice and stereotyping that can take place in our community” — I guess this is to help the adults, because I doubt that the kids would pay attention. Do you think the school can or should bring in high school or adult gamers to talk to the kids? Are the middle schoolers likely to listen?
bemused
One summer our cat was rolling around in a flower bed & I hadn’t planted any catnip. The stuff she found smelled minty, definitely not catnip but I never did figure out what it was.
I was checking out the ‘what are you reading’ post’ from a few days ago & I started laughing thinking about a wingnut blog book post would look like if there was such a thing.
Svensker
@ SiubhanDuinne
So sorry to hear that. Terrible news. Lots of love and prayers to you and your family.
Skepticat
Please give Tunch a little extra attention/catnip for me. I had to have my big, old, white cat put to sleep a few hours ago, and it broke my heart.
Doctor Science
apparently ! ? ! with no spaces is interpreted as an image. Who knew?
Svensker
@ Skepticat
Awww, very sorry to hear that.
demo woman
@SiubhanDuinne, What sad news and of course our thoughts are with you and your family. We are here for you and you need to chat later.
SiubhanDuinne
@skepticat: Oh, I am so sorry. That’s very sad. Hugs.
@svensker: Thanks for your good wishes.
demo woman
Tunch looks just what I imagined all West Virginia fans to look like. Spaced out, a tad overweight and happy.
SiubhanDuinne
@demo woman: Many thanks, and I will certainly check in later. Am going offline for a while now as I head up to St. Joe’s.
Genine
@ SiubhanDuinne
@ Skepticat
Sending white and purple light your way.
MikeJ
@Doctor Science:
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/03/19/
I don’t notice that’s it’s gotten any worse recently, but maybe I just didn’t notice. There have been a couple of eagerly awaited games out in the past few months, maybe they brought more people in.
It would be interesting to know what upsets parents more, individual “bad” words or the sort of anti-gay, anti-woman, anti-muslim, anti-anything but straight white male shit that spews out of right wing blogs everyday with nary a curse word in sight.
Skepticat
SiubhanDuinne, what a painful situation. I wish you and the rest of your family well.
Doctor Science
MikeJ:
Yeah, I definitely thought of that Penny Arcade, too. Unfortunately, it’s not considered Safe For Middle School, though it conveys a truth middle schoolers really need to know.
My impression is that the concern is coming from teachers and other adults in the school, not from parents — who don’t really know what the kids are saying in the hallways, after all. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the slurs that caught their attention are anti-Muslim — the district has a significant Muslim population, as well as Hindus, Buddhists, pagans, atheists, and the whole Judeo-Christian spectrum.
MikeJ
@The Main Gauche of Mild Reason:
When I was a kid it was far easier to get pot than beer. People selling pot weren’t going to lose their license for selling to someone underage.
gbear
Tunch looks like he’s wondering how he got stuck to the ceiling. Poor kitty.
The Main Gauche of Mild Reason
@MikeJ
Which is actually the most politically effective argument for it, IMHO: the initiative will make it HARDER for your kids to get pot.
demo woman
Doctor Science, Some video games are violent but you can’t protect children from racist, sexist, homophobic trash talk . Some of what you describe is a daily occurrence on Fox News.
Jennifer
Current kitty loves the catnip but also goes nuts over…celery. Tries to climb into the grocery bag when I bring it home from the store. I tear off the leafy stems and she chews on them and plays with them.
Years ago, when I had another kitty who loved the catnip, I planted some in the garden. It grew into a HUGE bush and became a pit stop for all the neighborhood cats. I looked out the window one day and there were 3 of them…waiting in line. Seriously, the first had his head stuck inside the plant, wallowing away, the second was sitting about 15 feet back watching him, and the third about 15 feet behind the second. When cat #1 had his fill, cat #2 took his place while #3 continued to wait in line.
Mark S.
Deep sea submarine brings back giant sea cockroach.
They can apparently make adorable pets.
Brick Oven Bill
Again, John is mis-reading Tunch. This is not a cat that is high. This is not all about cat-nip.
Tunch here is in fact writhing in pain for his Constitutional liberties, as he observes the federal government charging the Michigan Democrat militia group with possessing a firearm during a crime of violence.
Tunch, being wise, believes that, even if there is a conspiracy case that can be made against these Democrats, of which he is doubtful, that this does not constitute a crime of violence.
Tunch relishes his right to express his opinions, even when they are controversial. Tunch speaks with zeal.
Linda Featheringill
To SiubhanDuinne:
I am sorry to hear your bad news.
Death watch is hard. I have sat death watch for a couple of cats and found it quite difficult. I would think it would be no easier with a human.
Here is hoping that your family can fill your minds with pictures of your beloved being charming and beautiful and happy.
Empty spaces hurt, don’t they?
Chuck Butcher
DrSci,
Disable the Messenger capability on Xbox Live.
Linda Featheringill
To Skepticat:
My sympathy in the loss of your big, white ball of fur.
As JeffreyW once said to me, “May he run swiftly to the other side.”
[And you may find that just because his body died that does not necessarily mean that he is gone. ]
Mark S.
BOB, that was pretty good.
licensed to kill time
When I was in middle school (many many years ago), there was plenty of racist, sexist and homophobic talk in the halls and on the playground. In my lifetime I’ve seen this blamed on rock and roll, comic books, television, violent movies, the Internet and now video games. I think kids just like to talk smack and they seem to pick it up from the ether and each other. Eventually most of them grow out of it….most of them.
I am generally skeptical that school authorities talking to kids has much of an effect. Overt bigoted behavior needs to be addressed, though.
Violet
@ SiubhanDuinne:
Very sorry to hear this. I lost an extremely talented cousin to alcohol a few years ago and know how tragic it is. You are in my thoughts.
!Skepticat: So sorry to hear this. Sad day. Many hugs.
Chat Noir
Skepticat, sorry for your loss. I have a big white cat (looks similar to Tunch) so I totally feel for you. I can’t even imagine what you’re going through.
My two older cats love fresh catnip; Sherman gets a little crazy and Natalie eats hers like her regular food. For Hobbes, my almost two year old, fresh nip is too strong. It has to sit out a bit and then he’ll play with it like it’s a dead mouse. And all three love the dry variety.
Goodness, but Tunch is adorable.
Mnemosyne
We still have a video up on YouTube of the late, great Boris enjoying some catnip while he was still a little high from the anesthesia after his teeth cleaning. He was 13 at that point but, man, did he love that catnip log.
Svensker
@ Doctor Science
Your kids are middle-schoolers? Then ask them to show you the game so you can hear and decide for yourself. If they do the “oh, dad!” whine, tell ’em tough nuggies — they’re not old enough yet to make those kind of decisions. You’re the parent.
If you find the game offensive, then ban it, and tell them why. Not in an “I’m gunna whup yer tail” way, but in an “our family finds these things offensive and racist and our family disapproves of racism, rape, torture, etc.” way. They will, of course, play the games at their friends’ houses, but they will be sneaking to do it and will understand that they are crossing a real line their parents have laid down.
Another option is to put the X-box in a public family room, so that the adults are aware of what’s going on.
That’s how we dealt with it a few years ago and it seemed to work pretty well. Our son did play the games, but felt guilty about it, and he did see the negative aspects that we had talked to him about, unlike his friends who were all like “cool! rape!”
HE Pennypacker, Wealthy Industrialist
Agree that would be nice, but we Californians have screwed up other votes, so I can’t really be optimistic…
Martin
The marijuana ballot measure will get to a larger economic benefit for the state – a real hemp industry. Don’t underestimate the weight that farmers are going to put behind something like that.
@Doctor Science:
We’ve been going through that with my 6th grade son and his school. The district has done a good job with it over the years, and makes heavy use of the male teachers to drive the lessons home. Those stick. We’ve got a different culture here because gaming is something of a local industry (Blizzard HQ is walking distance from me) so not only do the kids game a lot, but so do the parents and I think that helps get rules established better compared to households where there parents aren’t involved.
What’s interesting is when a kid transfers in from another area and has a different standard for the playground. Amazingly, the local kids talk to him and rope him into what’s expected. The swearing and sex talk doesn’t happen and last year was the ‘war on fag’ and the schools managed to make a meaningful impact on the use of gay terms as perjoratives – even at the middle schools.
The kids don’t get sheltered from it from what I can tell, but they’re learning what is and isn’t hurtful, what is and isn’t respectful, and so on, and once the school and parents got a large enough group of kids in line and made it something they’re conscious about, the kids seem to have taken over from there.
jeffreyw
Yay!
burnspbesq
@rootless:
Taibbi went off half-cocked and in less than full possession of the relevant facts? Doubleplusunpossible!
burnspbesq
@Siubhan Duinne:
Done. And if it plays out that way, may he be in Heaven a half hour before the Devil knows he’s dead.
Short Bus Bully
Off topic: According to [url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/]Huffpo[/url] the new Ipad was almost exclusively purchased by teh gheys…
Bad photo montage or emerging trend?
Lesley
Aw Tunchie. We won’t tell the DEA on you!
John Cole
Siubhan Duinne: All my best.
And why does Hilzoy get fangirls and all I get are minons?
Yutsano
@ John Cole:
Seriously dude? Have you been paying attention, or does LauraW need to whack you over the head with a rolling pin a few more times?
licensed to kill time
@JohnCole
There’s no minions like Cole minions, just no minions I know!
Anne Laurie
@ SiubhanDuinne: Your cousin, and his family, are in my prayers. Sometimes all we can do is be grateful for the time a genetic illness allows us (and, coming from a family with a history of alcohol abuse, I do consider it as much a genetic tragedy as cystic fibrosis or sickle-cell anemia).
Anne Laurie
Bemused:
There are a couple of catnip-relatives, collectively known as “cat mint”, which are almost as effective as the true Nepeta variety, at least to some cats. Since scientists say that catnip activates the same feline brain cells as sex-related pheremones, I guess some cats are just more suggestible than others.
Svensker
@ Annie Laurie
Yes. Planted some Nepeta in my front garden, not realizing it was a cat mint. Boy, did the neighborhood felines discover it quickly. Pulled it out — didn’t mind the kittehs, but didn’t like their decorations in the front yard so much.
Anne Laurie
Dr. Science:
Speaking as an outsider (I don’t have kids), there seems to be an uptick in violence/bullying/hatespeech talk in a lot of school districts every spring. Here in Massachusetts, the immediate cause for a lot of the news chatter is that 9 teenagers have just been charged in connection with a suicide-due-to-bullying back in January. The “cyberbullying” angle, the idea that kids can’t escape from Facebook/Twitter/online abuse, which makes it worse than “mere” physical abuse in person, has the state legislature is passing a new! improved! tougher! set of “anti-bullying” codes mandating state-wide teacher training, no-tolerance reporting, etc. I think it’s a great thing that verbal abuse, hate speech, and bullying is being treated as an ananthema, something that can & should be avoided, rather than an inevitable part of growing up. But I do wonder how much of the latest OUTRAGE at your kids’ school is a genuine change in the games, how much is that kids are “feeling the season” and mouthing off a little more, and how much is the teachers reacting either to their kids or to the educational zeitgeist.
Ash Can
Condolences to both SiubhanDuinne and Skepticat at this difficult time.
As for Tunch, will John have to make another trip (or two) to the grocery store this afternoon when Tunch gets the munchies?
Anne Laurie
Skepticat: Condolences on your loss. The worst thing about our fourfoot companions is knowing that, in the best scenario, we’re going to outlive them.
SiubhanDuinne
I’ve just left the hospioal and will post mmore later, but in the meantime thanks to all of youu for your comforting words and good thoughts. They mean more than youu can know.
ruemara
@SiubhanDuinne:
My best wishes, thoughts and prayers to your cousin and your family
@Skepticat:
Condolences on the loss of a beloved kitty. I lost one to disease years ago and the advanced senior smudge may not be with us much longer. I just try to think of them as warming up the heavenly couch until we get to snuggle again.
@DrScience:
I play WoW and the first thing I do is turn off trade chat. As black feminist, it keeps my blood pressure nice and copacetic. I dunno if there’s an uptick, but if there’s a control for general chat, shut it off.
BTW, TUNCH! That’s one happy fluffy kitty tummeh.
AhabTRuler
I always try to view it from the perspective that we can make their brief lives as wonderful as possible, but it is always so difficult to keep that in mind when we lose them.
WereBear
@SiubhanDuinne:
I’m so sorry to hear that. It might help to think he will be at peace.
@Skepticat:
All they ask for is love. I’m sure he was a most fortunate cat.
CaseyL
@SiubhanDuinne: My sympathy. I’m in the process of watching a dear friend go from “functional alcoholic” to “nonfunctional alcoholic.” The anger, grief and helplessness one feels are… really awful.
SIA
@SiubhanDuinne
Just saw your comment. Well acquainted with the devastation alcohol can create in a life and family. Sending white light to him and all of you. Hope all can find some peace in the situation.
And @skepticat, my sincere codolences. now that I’m older, I have more dear pet friends who have preceeded me to the other side. Wishing you healing and acceptance. I have a big white fat cat myself.
Skepticat
Thank you all for the kind words. As SiubhanDuinne knows, it does help.
He was a stray cat who was adored, pampered, and lived a very, very good, long life. He was exceptionally affectionate and traveled extraordinarily well, and I was very lucky to have had him for as much time as I did.
I’m grateful that I still have a warm fuzzy–my Maine coon cat–who’s doing his best to console me. And I’m grateful that this group is so full of pet people who also have consolation to offer.
SiubhanDuinne
Thank you all. I’ve posted a fairly lengthy response in the Final Four Open Thread.
asiangrrlMN
Dead-threaded, but my deepest condolences to Skepticat, on the loss of your beloved boy. May he run swiftly to the other side.
SiubhanDuinne, I am so sorry to hear this as well.
A bright, white light for both of you.
And, Tuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuunch! Heh. He’s so damn adorable, especially when nipped out.
jim
“Have you ever really looked at your paws? I mean REALLY looked at them? Whoa … they’re just so … AMAZING.”
SiubhanDuinne
@asiangrrlMN: thank you. Been a tough day and his parents (dad especially) in denial about the seriosity of their son’s condition.
@jim: that made me LOL, literally.