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You are here: Home / Pet Blogging / Cat Blogging / People, Keep On Learnin’; World, Keep on Turnin’

People, Keep On Learnin’; World, Keep on Turnin’

by John Cole|  February 22, 20141:42 am| 62 Comments

This post is in: Cat Blogging

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Steve, in the smallest portion of the cat tower but the uppermost peak, checking out the landscape and looking down on his manservant (THAT WOULD BE ME):

higherground

He really is one of the most magnificent beasts I have ever seen.

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Previous Post: « Open Thread: GOP Clan Markers
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Reader Interactions

62Comments

  1. 1.

    Villago Delenda Est

    February 22, 2014 at 1:45 am

    He is indeed a fine looking feline.

  2. 2.

    MikeJ

    February 22, 2014 at 1:47 am

    Before they went into warp, I transported the whole kit ‘nkitten caboodle into their engine room, where they’ll be no tribble at all.

  3. 3.

    Villago Delenda Est

    February 22, 2014 at 1:50 am

    @MikeJ:

    Interestingly enough, David Gerrold claims that he is NOT responsible for that pun.

  4. 4.

    Yatsuno

    February 22, 2014 at 1:54 am

    @Villago Delenda Est: I could see Doohan ad-libbing that & the producers just rolling with it.

    Also: PAPA STEVEDORE HEMINGWAY!!! I shall send up catsignals tout suite!

  5. 5.

    Wallis Lane

    February 22, 2014 at 1:59 am

    I, for one, welcome our new feline overlord.

  6. 6.

    Omnes Omnibus

    February 22, 2014 at 2:01 am

    @Yatsuno: It’s just a cat. It isn’t Beau who is the only pet who ever really mattered.

  7. 7.

    Punchy

    February 22, 2014 at 2:04 am

    At some point Mr. Cole, yer expected to find a ladyfriend. Match.com yo. Trust me.

  8. 8.

    Linkmeister

    February 22, 2014 at 2:04 am

    He’s a handsome beast.

  9. 9.

    Suffern ACE

    February 22, 2014 at 2:05 am

    I wonder if the partition of california would go as smoothly as the partitions of Yugoslavia, India and Sudan, or would it be kind of like Moldova?

    ETA: Sorry. Thought this was an open thread. Your cat pictures are much better.

  10. 10.

    Wally Ballou

    February 22, 2014 at 2:09 am

    The question now is whether His Steveness has, indeed, reached the highest ground.

  11. 11.

    Villago Delenda Est

    February 22, 2014 at 2:10 am

    @Suffern ACE:

    That “split California into six separate states” is the harebrained scheme of a glibertarian douchecanoe venture capitalist, who should be scheduled to ride in the tumbrel right after that Perkins twatwaffle.

    Cripes these people are utter idiots outside of their own small little Galitan ponds.

  12. 12.

    Mnemosyne

    February 22, 2014 at 2:10 am

    I’ll have to see if I can get a decent picture of Annie’s latest nap preference, which is to be at the top of the cat tower with her head and one front paw dangling down from the hole in the platform. Why this position is comfortable, I have no idea, but she’s been doing it a lot lately.

  13. 13.

    Steeplejack

    February 22, 2014 at 2:11 am

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    I summered in Galita once. It was very nice.

    ETA: The royal ponds at Randsbruch are spectacular.

  14. 14.

    asiangrrlMN

    February 22, 2014 at 2:13 am

    WHAT DID YOU DO WITH HIS LEGS, COLE??? I adore Sir Willie Whiskertons III.

    @Steeplejack: Hello, stranger! I hope you’re doing well.

    @Yatsuno: Hi, hon. Thanks for the catsignal.

    @Omnes Omnibus: OO! I’ve missed you and your commas.

    Halloooooo to all the nightowl old-time BJers!

    ETA: Patented triple reply AND an ETA. it’s like I never left.

  15. 15.

    Suffern ACE

    February 22, 2014 at 2:14 am

    @Villago Delenda Est: I think it wouldn’t stand a chance, but then the 2/3 majority budget rule was put there by the voters at the behest of a rich guy.

  16. 16.

    PurpleGirl

    February 22, 2014 at 2:27 am

    @Mnemosyne: There’s one cat foster parent who has a tower that has been nicknamed the “Enterprise”. The top platform is a ring called the “Bridge.” Any number of kittens and a couple of momcats have fallen asleep with their heads falling over the top edge of the Bridge. We watchers cannot comprehend how the position is comfortable but those little scamps keep sleeping that way.

  17. 17.

    Yatsuno

    February 22, 2014 at 2:30 am

    @asiangrrlMN: If we need to tie you down this time we will! Only thing you need now is a time-warping comment and THEN all will be good.

    @Omnes Omnibus: I have a border collie on my bed. Right now he’s the only dog that matters.

  18. 18.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)

    February 22, 2014 at 2:34 am

    Over the past 48 hours the hockey teams I’ve rooted for have outscored their opponents 9-6. They are 1-3 while doing so. I think I’ll focus on the former rather than the latter.

  19. 19.

    Mnemosyne

    February 22, 2014 at 2:37 am

    Via Fred Clark, the greatest videogame of all time is in production:

    Goat Simulator

    But, sadly, no Mac version planned yet.

    (Basically, the game company animated a small amount of gameplay to demonstrate a new graphics thingamajig and people started demanding a full game. So they are complying.)

  20. 20.

    seaboogie

    February 22, 2014 at 2:43 am

    @Punchy: Honestly, what lady would put up with this tribe, and Cole too? Cole’s monks’ robe is a terrycloth bath one….

  21. 21.

    bago

    February 22, 2014 at 2:52 am

    Time to go hot tubbing and snowboarding with strippers. Wish me luck.

  22. 22.

    Montarvillois

    February 22, 2014 at 4:14 am

    I see you’re getting the hang of that camera thingy. Great pic.

  23. 23.

    Luci

    February 22, 2014 at 4:20 am

    Yes… yes he is one of the more magnificent beasts in this world. You got that right for sure! Thanks for posting and for getting better at pictures so we can SEE Steve!!!

  24. 24.

    KG

    February 22, 2014 at 5:37 am

    @asiangrrlMN: I thought something was off in the comments recently…

  25. 25.

    Dean Schmidt

    February 22, 2014 at 6:20 am

    What a magnificent beast!

  26. 26.

    sm*t cl*de

    February 22, 2014 at 6:33 am

    Bonus hairball.

  27. 27.

    WereBear

    February 22, 2014 at 7:13 am

    @Mnemosyne: with her head and one front paw dangling down

    Our Tortie Boss, Olwyn, does the same thing. She also likes to drape herself over Mr WereBear’s chest, whether he’s lying down or not. Mine! All mine!

    All who are touched with the Maine Coon Magic (like from Steve or our Reverend Jim) are forever changed!

  28. 28.

    J.

    February 22, 2014 at 7:19 am

    Speaking of Steve, and cats, check out this fiendishly clever direct marketing campaign aimed directly at cats. (What’s next, flyers for brownies printed on pot-laced paper?)

  29. 29.

    Botsplainer

    February 22, 2014 at 7:32 am

    *guffaw*

    http://www.salon.com/2014/02/21/exxon_ceo_joins_anti_fracking_lawsuit_after_drilling_threatens_his_property_value/

    Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson is involved in a legal battle over fracking. The weird part is, he’s on the side that’s against it.

    Don’t worry, Tillerson hasn’t changed his “Drill, baby, drill” mentality or had a change of heart about the evils of regulatory oversight in general. He’s just worried about the effect that drilling is going to have where he lives. Specifically, he wants to block the construction of a 160-foot water tower next to his home in Bartonville, Texas, which would provide water for nearby fracking operations. In order to do so, The Wall Street Journal reports, he’s signed onto a lawsuit that details the many unsavory consequences of fracking:

    [Tillerson] and his neighbors had filed suit to block the tower, saying it is illegal and would create “a noise nuisance and traffic hazards,” in part because it would provide water for use in hydraulic fracturing. Fracking, which requires heavy trucks to haul and pump massive amounts of water, unlocks oil and gas from dense rock and has helped touch off a surge in U.S. energy output.

    At the Great Orange Satan, somebody said that this suit has Dick Armey (the head of the Dick Army) as the lead plaintiff.

    Methinks that this guy hasn’t considered how many fracking cases he will now be justifiably subpoenaed to testify in, or the effect that it will have on potential punitive damages.

  30. 30.

    Tommy

    February 22, 2014 at 7:40 am

    @J.: As a marketing and cat guy I can’t believe I didn’t think of that. Sometimes a simple idea is the best idea.

  31. 31.

    BGK

    February 22, 2014 at 7:42 am

    I don’t really get the feline overlord cracks with respect to Steve. My two Maine Coon cats are the most polite, least demanding cats I’ve ever known. I once closed Rizzo in the laundry room for two hours. I noticed him missing, and looked everywhere. I finally opened the laundry room door and he was sitting there with an expression that said, exactly, “oh! May I come out now?” I once locked Sophia out on the lanai overnight. I come in the kitchen in the morning, turn on the light, and there she was outside the kitchen window, and all I got was a polite “meeeeep?” I let her in and she practically slobbered on me.

    Contrast this with Ava, the Siamese mix, who starts screeching when her bowl is half-empty…

  32. 32.

    Tommy

    February 22, 2014 at 7:51 am

    @Botsplainer: What is the phrase, not in my backyard.

  33. 33.

    Poopyman

    February 22, 2014 at 7:56 am

    @bago: Pictures, or it didn’t happen.

  34. 34.

    Poopyman

    February 22, 2014 at 7:59 am

    @PurpleGirl: There’s one over at FDJ’s doing that right now.

  35. 35.

    WereBear

    February 22, 2014 at 8:00 am

    @BGK: Maine Coon cats figure you made a mistake, and they forgive you for it. Siamese (my Tristan has a lot in him) are worriers.

  36. 36.

    Baud

    February 22, 2014 at 8:00 am

    @Tommy:

    NIMBY. Not in my backyard.

    To be coupled with its implicit, but less well-known corollary: IOKIYBY.

  37. 37.

    Tommy

    February 22, 2014 at 8:04 am

    Just starting to watch Up and I have to say it must suck to be Chirs Christie. Just when I think things can’t get worse for the dude, it does. But I guess you reap what you sow. I am an Illinois resident and I saw what happened to Blagojevich. When the Feds start to look into you they are going to find something.

  38. 38.

    Botsplainer

    February 22, 2014 at 8:08 am

    @Baud:

    This time, being an entitled, high powered Textard oilboy may be too much stupid for even a fawningly obsequious board of directors to meekly accept. This is the kind of stunt that opens the corporate checkbook for a share price crushing damage award.

    I would be surprised if he isn’t quietly shuffled away now that this bit of news is spreading.

  39. 39.

    Tommy

    February 22, 2014 at 8:10 am

    @Baud: My parents live in a town where people live in these huge houses and they have active oil wells in their yards (yes there is oil in Southern Illinois). I always felt that was kind of neat, well as neat as oil gets, that they live with the thing making them money.

  40. 40.

    Baud

    February 22, 2014 at 8:14 am

    @Botsplainer:

    Nothing surprises me anymore.

    @Tommy:

    I’ve heard of people doing the same thing with cell towers.

  41. 41.

    Tommy

    February 22, 2014 at 8:15 am

    @Botsplainer: Yeah I am not a lawyer but I would think if he wins this case, well every lawyer working for Joe/Jane Smith trying to stop fracking will cite that suit.

  42. 42.

    JPL

    February 22, 2014 at 8:25 am

    @BGK: I don’t really get the feline overlord cracks with respect to Steve.

    Giving John, a difficult time is our job.

  43. 43.

    Baud

    February 22, 2014 at 8:30 am

    Hey, front pagers, I am not sufficiently entertained.

  44. 44.

    Elizabelle

    February 22, 2014 at 8:39 am

    It looks like Saturday morning. The sun has risen. And yet ….

    @Baud:

    Good morning.

  45. 45.

    Tommy

    February 22, 2014 at 8:39 am

    Could somebody from NJ explain the darn state to me. Watching Up and I can’t wrap my mind around the place. I get the concept behind the Port Authority, but they have their own police department? Local police have their pensions cut, didn’t support Christie, but the Port Authority did support him and funny thing, their benefits were not cut.

    Look the last four governors of my state have gone to jail. Illinois isn’t perfect. I feel like my state is fighting with Louisiana to be the most corrupt in the nation. But NJ seems like a total cluster fuck.

  46. 46.

    Elizabelle

    February 22, 2014 at 8:41 am

    Here’s something fun in the interim.

    House of Cards quiz: figure out the DC locations where opening credits stills were shot.

    How well do you know DC?

    Way cool.

  47. 47.

    Elizabelle

    February 22, 2014 at 8:44 am

    And: is this portly contestant bringing game theory to Jeopardy?

    Why Arthur Chu’s playing style might be unsettling to traditionalists. He’s back for his fifth appearance this Monday.

  48. 48.

    Tommy

    February 22, 2014 at 8:46 am

    Oh a happy story:

    The Cook County clerk’s office says nearly 50 same-sex couples received marriage licenses after a judge gave the OK.

    U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman on Friday ruled that Illinois’ original ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. That means even though a state law legalizing same-sex marriage takes effect on June 1, there’s nothing to stop couples from marrying now.

    I can’t find the video of our Governor signing the law awhile back, but it was amazing. He said he wanted IL to be a progressive state. A state where a gay person would feel comfortable moving to. Starting a business or a family. Just happy my state is coming in the 21st century.

  49. 49.

    gf120581

    February 22, 2014 at 8:47 am

    @Tommy: We’ve actually only had the last two governors go to jail. Thompson and Edgar were indicted, but never convicted. But that’s stil not much of an accomplishment.

    I’m not very high on Quinn, but at least he’s honest.

  50. 50.

    Elizabelle

    February 22, 2014 at 8:49 am

    New thread: mistermix just put up a tech thread on broadband.

  51. 51.

    Elizabelle

    February 22, 2014 at 8:51 am

    @Tommy:

    Morning, Tommy. Haven’t cooked anything Cajun since we last talked about the River Road cookbook, but when I think Cajun or Creole, I think of you. Pretty good for somebody in Illinois, no?

  52. 52.

    OzarkHillbilly

    February 22, 2014 at 8:53 am

    @Tommy: Follow the money. That’s all you need to know.

  53. 53.

    Tommy

    February 22, 2014 at 8:54 am

    @Elizabelle: I got an 87. But then again I lived on Capital Hill for 15 years.When the opening credits on the show run I point out where all those places are :). I am stunned how much Union Station is shown. I lived like two blocks from it and I often think it is one of the most amazing buildings in the city. Maybe the third best building. The Library of Congress is stunning. And the National Building Museum. Those are my top two. Union Station third.

  54. 54.

    Baud

    February 22, 2014 at 8:57 am

    @Elizabelle:

    Good morning.

  55. 55.

    Tommy

    February 22, 2014 at 8:59 am

    @Elizabelle: That makes me happy. I don’t have any children, so my niece is like my kid. Her fifth birthday is next week and I just ordered her a King Cake. I was born in Baton Rouge when my father was finishing his PhD. I went to grad school there. My brother and his wife don’t have the connection to the place like I do. I took him to Jazz Fest a few years ago, but that is all. Got to give Katie a little Cajun love!

  56. 56.

    jake the snake

    February 22, 2014 at 9:19 am

    @Botsplainer:

    NIMBY, Mofo, NIMBY.

    Don’t we love our Galtian overlords.

  57. 57.

    jake the snake

    February 22, 2014 at 9:19 am

    @Botsplainer:

    NIMBY, Mofo, NIMBY.

    Don’t we love our Galtian overlords.

  58. 58.

    Howard Beale IV

    February 22, 2014 at 9:56 am

    @asiangrrlMN: Finally dug yourself out for the last dumping of snow round these parts?

  59. 59.

    SectarianSofa

    February 22, 2014 at 6:53 pm

    Need a magnificent beasts tag.

  60. 60.

    Ted and Hellen

    February 23, 2014 at 12:17 am

    He really is one of the most magnificent beasts I have ever seen.

    Yes, and it’s so cool that Tunch was torn to bits so that Steve could come along into your life. How’s the Pit Bull? Where’s the sister?

    It’s hilarious that you believe it equitable to tell an audience the entire tale in detail, leading up to and including the vicious murder by a creature that never should have been in your yard, brought there by a sibling, BUT suddenly the story stops being told and anyone who asks questions is a “dick.”

    As I’ve said, John, you can dish out the bile but you cannot take it. Insecure.

  61. 61.

    Texasdoc

    February 23, 2014 at 12:31 am

    @J.:
    Did you see the story about the Girl Scout who sold more than 200 boxes of Girl Scout cookies in a few hours by setting up her table in front of a medical marijuana dispensary?

  62. 62.

    Texasdoc

    February 23, 2014 at 12:31 am

    @J.:
    Did you see the story about the Girl Scout who sold more than 200 boxes of Girl Scout cookies in a few hours by setting up her table in front of a medical marijuana dispensary?

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