Gideon Lewis-Kraus got paid to go to Japan and pet cats (hell yes I am jealous) and reading his Wired report is very soothing:
… The Internet’s preference for cats runs so deep that when Google’s secretive X Lab showed a string of 10 million YouTube images to a neural network of 16,000 computer processors for machine learning, the first thing the network did was invent the concept of a cat. America might have inflated the Internet-feline bubble—the Cheezburger Network raised $30 million last year in venture funding, and the Bible has been translated into Lolcat—but Japan was where the Internet-feline market began, and persists, as a quiet, domestic cattage industry. If you want to know why the Internet chose cats, you must go to Japan.
Lest I unfairly ratchet up your collective expectations: I will never get to pet Maru, and neither will you. Maru’s supervisory documentarian is named Mugumogu, but beyond that fact, hardly anything is known about her… I commence months of fruitlessly obsequious email courtship with Mugumogu but ultimately to no avail.
All of this reticence is infuriating. In America people post a video of themselves whistling “Free Bird” in a tutu and they’re heartbroken if they’re not immediately invited on The View. It’s different in Japan, though. There, they haven’t yet cottoned to the idea that the whole point of the Internet is not only that it might make you famous and universally loved but that it might make you famous and universally loved overnight, and for no real reason, and that then it would give you fairly precise metrics for just how famous and loved you were, and for how long. For the Japanese, the Internet is primarily not about self-promotion and exposure but about restraint and anonymity…
YouTube has told me that Hideo Saito and Manaho Mori—the custodians, managers, promoters, and chief can openers of the Musashis, once one of the most important cat bands on the Internet—would be delighted for me to visit them and interview their cats, but that it would be best if I brought along a translator. My friend Rebecca, who loves cats but lives in a Tokyo apartment building that does not allow pets, is happy to oblige. She is not, however, without concern…
Hideo, as it turns out, speaks about his cats in calm, measured, elegant English. (He spent some of his childhood in England and the US.) “I started writing songs for cats because I’d gotten bored writing songs for humans. But the thing is, cats have limited vocal … limited vocal—”
“Limited vocal range?” Rebecca suggests.
“Yes, limited vocal range. I found I needed five cats to cover one octave.” We are sitting around an oblong dining room table in the sun-drenched cedar den of a ski chalet in a central Nagano prefecture, along with six cats spanning a spectrum of liveliness that runs from contemptuously drowsy to asleep. Manaho, Hideo’s wife and business partner, holds one on her lap, face out and totally blasè as it regards us. Hideo is trained as a musician and sound engineer and looks the part, with variable-tint eyeglass lenses (the panels now shaded graphite from the ambient snow glare), a retiring studio voice, a scruffy suggestion of goatee, and a relaxed-bemused ’70s mien. Manaho describes herself as a voice coach and producer.
Four of the cats are Norwegian forest cats. They’re huge, lustrous, woolly, like a sheepdog made into a pillow. Their coats have a glossy weft of lunar rainbow. According to a thinly sourced but entirely plausible Wikipedia squib, Norse legends refer to a skogkatt, a “mountain-dwelling fairy cat with an ability to climb sheer rock faces that other cats could not manage.” That’s apparently this cat’s pedigree; he is directly descended from myth. On the way up into the mountains, before I lost data service on my phone, Manaho friended me on Facebook, then sent me a photograph of Musashi hovering over snow. Rebecca worried I was bringing her to meet a bobcat. Hideo and Manaho’s teenage son, who is about to leave Japan to study animals at a university in Tasmania, hands me Musashi after I sit down. He holds Musashi out to me like a muff of fraying fog. Musashi makes no noise; he is sandbag-limp. The cat is 8 years old and weighs almost 20 pounds, his fur the ur-slate of celestial cinder. My chair bends back beneath his heft. He goes back to sleep as soon as the fuss of brief stir is complete, clucking and grumbling in his resumed dreams. He is the biggest cat I’ve ever seen. I hold him to me. I love him…
***********
Apart from self-soothing with cat videos, what’s on the agenda as we start another month week?
satby
Trying to avoid the regular news media as much as possible today. And applications for more jobs. And basket painting.
Major Major Major Major
shameless plug alert
but my newest chapter in my story has a japanese guy with a makeshift shinto prayer
speaking of cats…
Schlemazel
I got good news from my boss yesterday, I do NOT have to travel to San Mateo this week, My immediate supervisor wanted me to simple because it was no work for him. He is an idiot and a putz, the trip would have been a waste of money as well as my time. But I had a brief conversation with his boss when she questioned the travel request. She is nether stupid nor lazy so she immediately recognized the pointlessness of my going and denied the request. This is going to piss my immediate supervisor off because he will now have to do his damn job. But I don’t have to care as I won’t be working for him much longer and it is his boss who called him on it. I get to avoid having to wade into the Superb Owl madness. Thats a win-win
Rosalita
Who’s up for a field trip to Japan?
I have work and my after hours time at the shelter with the cats so I definitely get my feline fix.
satby
@Schlemazel: Well, that’s good at least. You think the boss’s boss is getting sick of him?
Schlemazel
Also too – as a kickstarter partner I got an advance copy of Becoming Phoebe, the novel by Tissue Thin Pseudonym. Many of you know I read the very first draft a couple years ago and many subsequent revisions. The finished product it very polished and as good as I remember (really better). It will become available online today I believe.
HERE is the link to the GoodReads page
satby
Speaking of cats, I hear my cat Rocky climbing on the heat duct in the basement. He likes to sleep there because it’s extra warm. Drives the dogs nuts though, they think there’s a giant mouse or something down there.
Major Major Major Major
@Schlemazel: Amazon here.
Yay Tissue!
Baud
Go Iowa! Let make Caucus Day Baudcus Day!
Schlemazel
@satby:
The previous boss was in the process of having him fired but events lead to a complete change for every boss in our chain up to the CIO. The new people felt it would be unfair to can him without letting him prove it to them he deserved it. They are dragging this out but I think part of that is they are reorganizing and going to have the whole show run by contract help ( a really long story of politics & feuds) so that none of us will have any real work to do but just be shelved for project management tasks.
OzarkHillbilly
So yesterday was the annual Soulard Mardi Gras Dog Parade (formerly known as the Krewe of Barkus Parade) and people did all kinds of mean and cruel things to their dogs in faltering attempts at comedy. Including this poor guy.
satby
@Schlemazel: Almost sounds like you work for my old company. The only thing I miss is the paycheck. And I do miss that a lot ;)
satby
@OzarkHillbilly: I was afraid to look, but the bulldog doesn’t look that upset.
BillinGlendaleCA
Cats, meh.
Dogs rule!!!
Major Major Major Major
Why was six afraid of seven?
Scapegoat
Here is Kusha hard at work.
Covered in fluff, and tri-polar in disposition (sleep, eat, purr-bomb), he is a wondrous beast — sort of a living “stuffed animal”.
I welcome our furry overlords, brought to us (intentionally or not) by the AI gods who govern the internebs.
satby
@BillinGlendaleCA: I like them both. I’m bipetual.
OzarkHillbilly
@satby: Nah, sometimes I think the dogs enjoy it more than the humans. Somebody even brought a pig.
Schlemazel
@satby:
That is all I am in it for now, the paycheck. Went without one for a time and missed it more than I expected.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
Baud! is now in a position to be Queen/King maker.
OzarkHillbilly
A boxer for Betty Cracker.
satby
@Schlemazel: I’ve had almost comical bad luck lately, but I’m less stressed than when I was working. At one point I wasn’t positive I’d make it to 60, the last 3 accounts I was on all had at least one upper manager felled by heart attacks. The worst was an account executive who died at age 48. So I miss the money, and the people (who still call and write for advice), and not really anything else.
Well, all the travel was nice too, but they had cut that already.
WereBear
I adore Wegies (Norwegian Forest Cats) and our Olwyn is a strong mix.
Gimlet
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:
..now in a position to be Queen/King maker
Joni misspelled “Baud”.
https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/557669945493172225/riSbj-X-.jpeg
Elizabelle
Good morning, all.
Our long national [Iowa] nightmare is almost over. Tomorrow, we will be in a post-Iowa caucus world. Look over there — New Hampshire!
Schlemazel
@satby:
I used to enjoy the travel but then it became more of a pain in the butt. I have met a lot of nice folks but would be retired if I could afford it but that is a few years off yet.
Schlemazel
@Elizabelle:
Oh hell this is hardly even the beginning of the nightmare, we have at least another 10 months to go and in some ways it is going to get much worse
BillinGlendaleCA
@Elizabelle:
and Nevada, and South Carolina, and Florida, and New York, and Texas, and California…YeeHaw!
David *Rafael* Koch
Broad City = Queen Makers?
Where Did “Yas Queen!” Come From? And Why Is It Taking Over Pop Culture?
Elizabelle
Checked, and absentee in person voting for our March 1 primary is already available in Virginia. So I can go vote at the registrar’s office/county government center. That’s exciting. Goes on the TO DO list for late this week or early next one.
Elizabelle
Japanese cats may rule, but KLM has a mighty cute beagle employee in their lost and found division.
Check this out. Dare you not to smile.
Baud
@BillinGlendaleCA:
I miss the smoke-filled rooms of yore.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: Don’t tell anyone, I’m going to try to quit smoking today.
(Hums Lennon’s “Cold Turkey” in the corner.)
WereBear
I LOVE that!
debbie
@BillinGlendaleCA:
I have a question for you. Has this year been colder than normal up where they grow artichokes? My supermarket is selling artichokes labeled “frost kissed.” They’re brown and appear past their peak. The label says they’ll cook up just as delicious as an artichoke in its prime. As it turns out, they’re right, but I thought this was a very unusual marketing strategy.
BillinGlendaleCA
@debbie: They grow artichokes up north, but was really cold in December statewide.
Baud
@BillinGlendaleCA: I thought you already had.
OzarkHillbilly
@Elizabelle: As long as there are no squirrels in the airport.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: Nope.
Iowa Old Lady
@Schlemazel: Worse for the rest of you, maybe, but much better here.
We have a blizzard coming in tonight. Last I heard it was supposed to start snowing at 10. Caucus goers should be fine but plane travel out of here could be impeded. Usually the Des Moines airport takes in several hundred rental cars and ships folks off to NH. We’ll see.
Baud
@BillinGlendaleCA: I blame Obama.
And congrats on making the effort.
debbie
@BillinGlendaleCA:
Thanks, and good luck with the quitting. Quitting’s a real accomplishment!
Baud
@Iowa Old Lady: Haha. Reporters getting stranded in Iowa makes me happy.
Let’s do this thing, IOL!
OzarkHillbilly
@Baud: I must have quit smoking 2 dozen times before I finally quit for good. The sad thing was, my last year of smoking was 4 cigarettes a day. Just.could.not.give.up.those.last.4. Back when I was still hard core caving, I could go under ground for a week with out a cigarette, no problem. But the first thing I did as soon as I hit daylight was fire one up.
Those goddamn things are insidious.
Iowa Old Lady
@Baud: We will have to see if you are viable.
Wait. That sounds a little drastic.
Iowa Old Lady
@BillinGlendaleCA: Good luck to you on quitting. That’s tough.
OzarkHillbilly
@BillinGlendaleCA: A buddy of mine once told me it was all about getting your mind around it. Certainly was true for me. Thank God for Ch@nt!x. With out that dream machine I’d still be smoking. Even with it, not until the final month of my prescription was I able to stop, and that was just plain old fear and desperation at work.
Baud
@Iowa Old Lady: The future of the country rests on your powers of persuasion.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
Too funny.
BillinGlendaleCA
@debbie:
@Iowa Old Lady:
@OzarkHillbilly: Thanks for your words of encouragement, I came to the conclusion that my refound joy for hiking and smoking are not all that compatible. Also as I told the kid when she told her mom and I that she smoked, “damn that’s an expensive habit to take on”(she quit 4 years ago).
Iowa Old Lady
@Baud: I was just reading an article about an app that the Clinton precinct captains have that allows them to figure if they can release a supporter to O’Malley without hurting Clinton but keeping any O’Malley supporters from going to Sanders. I don’t have that, so my efforts on your behalf will be limited.
Central Planning
Of course the Japanese rule the cat-loving internet. Who else could have invented Bonsai Kittens?
Central Planning
@BillinGlendaleCA:
Good luck. I got the call last night that my dad’s wife has “a lump in her throat”. She’s going in for surgery in a few weeks. Smoked all her life. We’ll know about the prognosis/diagnosis (no biopsy) after the surgery.
Baud
@Iowa Old Lady: I trust your gut.
So the app let’s O’Malley get to the 15% so his supporters don’t go to Sanders?
Iowa Old Lady
@Baud: I believe so. I just realized it’s discussed in the previous thread.
debbie
@BillinGlendaleCA:
Ha! I remember telling myself I’d quit when cartons hit $20. (I almost faint when I see prices now.) I was a very heavy smoker (4–5 packs/day) and the patch is what finally worked for me. If you’re ready, it’ll be much easier than you think. And very liberating.
Mustang Bobby
I like cats, but I’ll always be a dog person. After all, when you were owned for 13 years by this little guy, what choice would you have?
RSA
I’m thinking that it began in the U.S., actually, with Kevin Drum’s Friday cat blogging, which he started doing in 2003 or 2004. It was to a political audience, but it grew.
magurakurin
@Baud: Yeah, it’s an old caucus tactic. If there are 4 delegates at stake and it’s 2-2 with a third candidate below the 15% threshold if one of the other two is leading by enough, they can spare the extra voters and send them to the third. Then the split becomes 2-1-1. They “block” the third candidates voters by essentially giving them a delegate from candidate 2. It would only work under certain situations and the Clinton campaign trained all of its precinct campaigns how to spot the opportunity and take advantage. The Sanders campaign is crying foul and hinting at dirty tricks even though it is a time-honored tradition of the Iowa caucus.
I guess the Obama camp went even further in 2008. They had actually made a deal with Richardson’s campaign to do such things or just have Richardson’s voters walk over to Obama’s side if he didn’t hit 15%. The Clinton campaign cried foul on that. It’s all just standard shit.
I hope Clinton wins, though.
shaun _in_tokyo
I would like to share my Japanese cat and baby video If I may. Taken on the first day home from the hospital. That was 7 months ago. They still aren’t really sure what to make of him.
Baud
@Iowa Old Lady:
@magurakurin:
Thanks. Interesting.
OzarkHillbilly
@debbie: I quit 5 years ago. I am one cigarette away from a 2 pack a day habit.
Iowa Old Lady
@magurakurin: This stuff about Richardson is interesting because I somehow missed that in 2008. At my caucus, Richardson wasn’t viable but his people met for a long time out in the hall ostensibly to decide what to do. We Obama people were at the other end of the same hall, and I could see their captain talking to them. I’ll bet this was the first some of those caucus goers had heard of the deal and they were not necessarily happy about having been bartered that way.
OzarkHillbilly
@magurakurin: All’s fair in love, war, and politics.
BillinGlendaleCA
@OzarkHillbilly: Politics ain’t beanbag.
Germy
Ted Cruz’s Iowa mailers are more fraudulent than everyone thinks
http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/ted-cruzs-iowa-mailers-are-more-fraudulent-than-everyone-thinks
Baud
@Germy: Kind of like Ted Cruz.
Tom
@Elizabelle: That’s hardly fair. All beagles are adorable.
Mr. Twister
@Germy: Booman has a good post about this too.
RSA
@BillinGlendaleCA:
Good luck! I quit in late 2014, and it felt like purely a psychological effort.
MattF
@Germy: Speaking of Cruz, I’m ready to put money on the proposition that Mitch McConnell did a happy dance when Der Trump accused Cruz of being ‘a total liar’.
debbie
@OzarkHillbilly:
Actually, I quit 22 years ago, and I don’t remember wanting a cigarette more than a handful of times since then. But it’s like any addiction: It’ll always be with you.
satby
@Elizabelle: Brilliant! Thanks for this!
Iowa Old Lady
@Germy: There’s that old Ted Cruz charm!
satby
@BillinGlendaleCA: Huge good luck. I know lots of ex-smokers and not all of them have great willpower, so if they could do it you definitely can!
magurakurin
@Iowa Old Lady: very interesting. I read that stuff about Obama and Richardson today. I should try to find where it was. That’s cool that you were actually there.
gvg
@Elizabelle: According to the internet the KLM beagle is a fake. It was a publicity stunt. 2014 ish
I wonder if they regretted it as I wouldn’t think being immediately outed as fake would really be good publicity.
satby
@Mustang Bobby: I love that picture every time you post it, what a happy little guy he was!
@shaun _in_tokyo: That’s great!
ThresherK
Whom among us doesn’t remember this Monty Python skit about performing mice?
NotMax
Cats?
*shudder*
@BillinGlendaleCA
Preach it, brother.
OzarkHillbilly
@debbie: I know a number of people who relate that, but I am not so fortunate. I want one right now, just talking about cigarettes brings back that old yearning. I suspect my addiction is approximate to a heroin habit.
satby
@gvg: Next you’re going to tell me there’s no Santa Claus. Nooooo!
Central Planning
@ThresherK: Or Monty Python’s confuse a cat
MattF
@OzarkHillbilly: In fact, a knowledgeable person once told me that heroin is easier to shake than cigarettes.
magurakurin
@Iowa Old Lady: I checked a little more. I didn’t remember it from 2008. Like I said I saw stuff about it just today. Both campaigns denied there was a deal but many felt that in fact it had gone down. Apparently, there was also someone close to Biden who said that Obama approached Biden with the same deal, but Biden turned it down. Only in America and only in Iowa. There is a certain element of charm to the whole Iowa Caucus, a perverse charm, but it is there all the same. In a way you can see why it has been able to keep itself out in front for so long, the process is so damned…political. It is in its way the perfect start to long road to the Whitehouse.
ThresherK
@Central Planning: Ha!
Our cats are already confused enough, especially when my wife’s left for work and I get begged for “second breakfast”.
magurakurin
@MattF: I’ve met people who said that very same thing. I was lucky that I never started smoking cigarettes. I smoked a little bit when I was around 20. One of my friends who did smoke saw me smoking one night and asked me why the hell I was doing that? He told me that if I kept smoking I’d get hooked and end up not being able to quit. Now, we were partners in crime and using things way heavier than cigarettes, but for some reason that really hit home and made a lot of sense. I never touched one again. He did me a big favor that night, I reckon.
NotMax
@Elizabelle
Familiar with the tale of Owney?
Always make a point to tell folks to stop by and see him in the Smithsonian.
Someone even brought me back a stuffed animal replica of Owney from the gift shop.
Central Planning
@ThresherK: Whenever our cat comes inside, she makes a beeline for her food dish and basically begs for food. EVERY. TIME. She will eat, go out the door, turn around, and come back in and eat more. It’s crazy.
My wife says she just wants fresh food, or fresh kill (from my kids’ Warrior cats books – possibly the worst series ever)
And, there’s always cat juggling. Roll the ugliness
ETA: removed redundancy
Randy P
@Schlemazel: Depends how you define retirement. We’ve done the calculations for how to retire sooner rather than later?
Could I retire within 2 years and live off my savings? Hell no.
Could I retire within 2 years and live off my savings plus less than half my current income doing some kind of part time work that I love for good people? Hell yes.
I recognize that for myself “work” is more about somebody caring about a product I’m producing, that it does some good for somebody. And that I don’t really want to ever give up that feeling that my existence matters to somebody else. But if my times of rising, leisure, vacations, and work are at my own choosing, I will be a happy “retired” guy.
NotMax
@satby
Of course there is.
(Fair warning: If you watch the full episode, you’ll never quite be able to look at model trains in the same way again.)
rikyrah
Good Morning, Everyone :)
rikyrah
I love Maru
MattF
Mr. Ponzi goes to China.
OzarkHillbilly
@MattF: I have read that. I think a lot depends on the person.
japa21
OT, but I see Becoming Phoebe is now available at Amazon.
Congrats to one of our own.
Randy P
@NotMax: Huh. We lived in the DC area for years and were frequent Smithsonian visitors and I never heard of Owney before.
Just illustrates what a vast place the Smithsonian is I guess.
D58826
Oh my, our Christain betters strike gain from WaPO
Paul in KY
@Baud: By God, we’ll win with Baud!!!
debbie
Glenn Beck is desperately trying to unconvince his listeners from supporting Trump. There may be tears…
Paul in KY
@BillinGlendaleCA: Banzai, Bill! Know you can do it!
satby
@debbie: I thought there were almost always tears.
debbie
@satby:
True, but I think they’ll be real this time. He’s been a Cruz guy from the beginning.
schrodinger's cat
The Japanese cats I would love to hang out with would be Shiro Neko’s family. Shiro is the Zen Tunch.
MattF
@debbie: But will he get on his knees and beg? His audience has specific expectations in that regard.
Gin & Tonic
@OzarkHillbilly:
The cravings will get fewer over time. After 20-25 years you’ll hardly ever get one.
Paul in KY
@shaun _in_tokyo: Very cute, Shaun. See you have an ad on there (150,000 + hits). When did they contact you & see if they could throw an ad on there?
Paul in KY
@D58826: That’s what she gets for advocating release for the person who abused her.
Pro tip: Let him/her languish in that jail cell.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
I only first saw a picture of a Norwegian forest cat about a month ago, and now I’m obsessed with them. I want to be with them. I feel like I’m a dirty sneaking cheater with my beloved Woody, who seems to be unaware that I have fanatasies of other cats.
Paul in KY
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: That’s a lot of cat. Little too long haired for me. I am a confirmed ‘short haired’ cat person (after owning 2 or 3 long haired ones). Wonderful cats they were, but the hair…too much hair.
Iowa Old Lady
@magurakurin: I’m not a native Iowan and the whole thing still seems bizarre to me, but I have to admit that being in a caucus does create a buzz I don’t feel in a voting booth.
gogol's wife
I’ve been traumatized by Downton. And not in a good way.
Gin & Tonic
@Iowa Old Lady: They serve alcohol at the caucuses?
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
I’m amazed I got this far and no one has linked to Cat Pictures Please.
Iowa Old Lady
@Gin & Tonic: Unfortunately you have to get buzzed on political process.
ETA: I just got back from the gym where we were rolling our eyes at Trump and an R woman piped up that “he has a lot of good idea.”
NotMax
@Gin & Tonic
It’s Iowa.
They smoke cornsilk.
@gogol’s wife
Related video for dyed in the wool Downton fans.
Ben
There’s that damn number again.
MomSense
@the Conster, la Citoyenne:
Some people think my dearly departed Maine Coon cat was actually a Norwegian Forest Cat. Both are kick ass breeds. My sweetie had long blue/gray fur and the cutest curly bloomers underneath. The only downside is the ass shaving–yes it’s not just Cole who performs that service for his feline overlord.
MomSense
@rikyrah:
I love Maru, too. My son and I watch his videos and giggle. I especially love his crazy jumping technique.
Hillary Rettig
@satby: just so long as you’re not amphibious. :-) http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/pat-venditte-called-amphibious-pitcher-newspaper-article-1.2251992
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@gogol’s wife:
I know, right? That was unexpected. I didn’t sleep well last night, because my mind just kept seeing that whole scene. It was an amazing scene.
Hillary Rettig
speaking of cat cafes, this one had a problem: http://www.wmur.com/national/cat-cafe-runs-out-of-cats-temporarily-closes/37296438
MomSense
@the Conster, la Citoyenne:
No, no, no. Can’t watch until tonight!
Hillary Rettig
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: so wait – NORWEGIAN WOOD WAS ABOUT **CATS**????
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@MomSense:
Maine coons are awesome creatures, but the face on the Norwegian I saw the other day just blew me away. However, contemplating the butt is another thing entirely, and maybe I’ll just stick with my sweet faced gray tiger with the white markings Woody who loves me like no one else ever will.
Gin & Tonic
@Iowa Old Lady: I’m thinking the R caucuses would be a lot more fun with free beer and open carry.
Germy
@Gin & Tonic: cartoon of the day:
http://kikoshouse.blogspot.com/2016/02/cartoon-du-jour-on-todays-beyond-over.html
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@Hillary Rettig:
Of course! Everything is about cats. Cats rule everything, and it’s just easier to submit and assume that if there’s any question about the meaning of anything, it’s probably about a cat.
PurpleGirl
For those of us who don’t watch the Superb Owl: Sunday has the Kitten Bowl on the Hallmark Channel, and Animal Planet has Puppy Bowl.
bemused
Siberian cats are also gorgeous. Someday I want one but we already have two shelter long haired kitties. That’s all the litter box scooping and cat hair I can tolerate plus we also have two very hairy dogs that blow mountains of undercoat hair late spring.
D58826
Since this thread seems to be devoted to four footed creatures there is an article on the NYT about the working elephants of Myanmar. It seems that most of them are now unemployed because the teak forests have been logged over.They are not taking unemployment very well according to the article. Many have become bad tempered and bored. Obesity has become a problem as well. One owner complained that the males just want to have sex all the time.
Insert GOP joke here.
MomSense
@the Conster, la Citoyenne:
They really are spectacular cats. Mine had a beautiful face with piercing green eyes. I miss him so much.
shaun_in_tokyo
@Paul in KY:
It jumped from 0 to 10,000 hits overnight after it was linked on a Japanese cat video site.
Next day I started getting emails from video licensers. Five or six different ones contacted us.
We opened a college savings account for him with the upfront money. In 18 years it may pay for a couple textbooks.
I don’t think that there is any money in YouTube hits alone. Money comes from TV or getting on MSN or Yahoo home page.
I haven’t received any other update or payments yet so I don’t really know what the licenser has done with it.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@MomSense:
I feel ya, sister. My Woody is 11, and I’m already stressed that I’m likely to outlive him.
Luthe
If you want addicting Japanese cats, I suggest you download Neko Atsume. All the kitty cuteness you want with no litter box scooping required!
debbie
@gogol’s wife:
I know! That was such a shock.
debbie
Beck just interviewed Cruz who’s still confident of a win. He then read an excerpt from one of his book about Jessie Owen’s 1936 Olympics performance. Sure, that’s a smooth transition.
catclub
@ThresherK: It sounds like you may be confused about which animal is confused.
Paul in KY
@Hillary Rettig: Had to sleep in the bath due to 14 cats on bed.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@Paul in KY:
Which is why she was gone in the morning – the cats didn’t like him, so yeah. No. They did let him stay long enough to start a fire because you know, cats like to be warm and dry.
Paul in KY
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: Cats are pretty good judges of character…so mine tell me, anyway.
CaseyL
I had a 3-5 pack a day cigarette habit, and with the help of Chantix was able to get that down to less than 5 cigarettes per day. (That is, I quit completely while on Chantix, but went right back to smoking once the Rx was done.)
After feeling like a failure, I decided to try e-cigs. I am now a hardcore vaper – but still in much better shape than if I were still smoking! So my recommendation, if you can’t actually quit quit, take up e-cigs.
Scapegoat
@CaseyL:
Nicotine mints serve as my addiction. Been using nicotine gum or mints for the past eight years. Expensive, but my lungs are happier.
While I would not encourage nicotine use, it’s a lot like coffee — increased mental acuity, better memory, and mood enhancement. Helps me suffer fools (slightly) more gladly, too.
Best deal: Walmart house brand. WAY overpriced most elsewhere.
Feathers
@Central Planning: Actually that was out of MIT, or at least its environs. I know because it was long ago enough that websites were still hosted on home computers. Enraged animal rights nuts and started showing up to protest at the homes (apartments) of the folks hosting it. It moved around a bit until finding a home with a guy who got a kick out of the protesters. His (now ex) wife, my friend, didn’t enjoy it as much, which is how I learned of the saga.
There actually were a bunch of kittens. Some of them got a kick out of climbing into small jars and didn’t give a shit about someone taking pictures, thus becoming briefly famous on the internet. Actually, not so briefly since we are still talking about them sixteen years later.
Gravenstone
@Paul in KY: I have an online friend in the UK who seems to have a preference for larger cat breeds. For years he regaled us with tales of this two Bengals (Vlad the Impaler and Ming the Merciless). After their passing a couple years ago, he arranged for a couple of Norwegian Forest kittens from a local breeder. They’re freaking huge now!