Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Not loving this new fraud based economy.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

The “burn-it-down” people are good with that until they become part of the kindling.

The Giant Orange Man Baby is having a bad day.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires.

America is going up in flames. The NYTimes fawns over MAGA celebrities. No longer a real newspaper.

The unpunished coup was a training exercise.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

One way or another, he’s a liar.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

We will not go quietly into the night; we will not vanish without a fight.

Every reporter and pundit should have to declare if they ever vacationed with a billionaire.

He seems like a smart guy, but JFC, what a dick!

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

This fight is for everything.

Everything is totally normal and fine!!!

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

This isn’t Democrats spending madly. This is government catching up.

Jesus watching the most hateful people claiming to be his followers

This must be what justice looks like, not vengeful, just peaceful exuberance.

If you are still in the gop, you are either an extremist yourself, or in bed with those who are.

Prediction: the gop will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

You are here: Home / Medium Cool / Medium Cool with BGinCHI – Cats

Medium Cool with BGinCHI – Cats

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In case you’re new to Medium Cool, BGinCHI is here once a week to offer a thread on culture, mainly film & books, with some TV thrown in.

After next week, BG will be on hiatus for the summer and will return on Sunday, August 22, at 7pm.

Medium Cool with BGinCHI – Cats 2

In this week’s Medium Cool, let’s talk about cats (no, not the musical). From The Lion King to The Master and Margarita to the poetry of Christopher Smart, cats have appeared in various roles in every kind of cultural production around the world.

Let’s hear about your favorite fictional portrayals or representations (visual, aural, virtual) of felines.

Reader Interactions

293Comments

  3. 3.

    zhena gogolia

    I tried to name my very first cat, a stray black DSH, after Behemoth, the cat in Master and Margarita, of course pronouncing it “BeegeeMOTE,” as in Russian, but the first trip to the vet put an end to that and he became Buddy. But I do love Behemoth

    ETA: I guess it should be BeegheeMOTE so as not to be confused with Barry Gibb & Co.

  6. 6.

    Lacuna Synecdoche

    BGinCHI @ Top:

    Let’s hear about your favorite fictional portrayals or representations (visual, aural, virtual) of felines.

    Elder Scrolls Khajit.

    Only because I can’t immediately think of any other popular culture portrayals of cats that aren’t insufferably cute, twee, obnoxious, or cloying.

    I’m sure there must be more that are sufferable, but examples just aren’t coming to mind …

    Perhaps I need to read The Master and Margherita.​​

  9. 9.

    Chacal Charles Caltrop

    Greebo and You from Terry Pratchett’s discworld novels.

    also Ms. Marvel’s Goose from the MCU (who’s an alien, not a cat, but still….)

  10. 10.

    dmsilev

    We are siamese if you please…

    After seeing that film, my Dad tried (in vain) to talk my Mom out of getting a couple of Siamese. One of whom, the story went “thought she was a German Shepard”. Very territorial and protective of her family; my grandmother was scared to come and visit, as were lots of people. When I was a baby, she’d sit on the rim of the crib and flick her tail back and forth for me to grab at, which invariably freaked out people who knew her as “killer cat”.

  11. 11.

    Lacuna Synecdoche

    @zhena gogolia: ​

    Oh, yeah, he’s a human-sized black cat who packs a revolver. He’s in Satan’s entourage and plays some extremely amusing tricks.

    Danke. Will keep in mind.

  15. 15.

    TheOtherHank

    My kids loved watching The Aristocats (I loved it when I was kid, too. To the point where when I first saw the word aristrocrat in print I thought it was spelled wrong). My older boy would request viewings of “5 Cats”. When boy #2 was on the way we asked boy #1 what we should name his new little brother and the two most popular answers were 5 Cats and Tarzan (his other favorite movie).

    I’m also a big fan of Granny Weatherwax’s cat Greebo

  17. 17.

    prostratedragon

    Those two up top are the first I remember. I always liked Sylverster’s goofiness. And Pyewacket, who aic served as a nice scapegoat when things started to get all witchy. Come to think of it though, there are far more dog characters than cat characters. And it’s not because cats are not characters!

    ETA: How could I have forgotten Spot?

  18. 18.

    Spanky

    “All alone in the moonlight ….”

    I’ll see myself out.

    Actually, I gotta go give one her thyroid pill and another (Spanky!) his insulin shot.

  21. 21.

    prostratedragon

    Garfield also sounds about like some cats would sound. Though my top cat of long ago, a Siamese, would have sounded like a classic tenor, Caruso or Pavarotti maybe. Especially at 3am.

  22. 22.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Juju:

    ?? Love to eat them mousies

    Mousies what I love to eat.

    Bite they tiny heads off,

    Nibble on they tiny feet.” ??

  24. 24.

    jackmac

    I’m rather fond of Grudge, the Maine Coon and queen of all her surroundings, in Star Trek Discovery.

  26. 26.

    SiubhanDuinne

    I’m so glad you mentioned Christopher Smart. In college I sang the solo “For I will consider my cat Jeoffrey” when our choir performed Britten’s Rejoice in the Lamb. Since then I’ve read Smart’s entire Jubilate Agno several times. The Jeoffrey bit is much, much longer than Britten’s selection, and any cat-lover needs to read the whole thing. It’s just mesmerising and wonderful.

    Another big Pyewacket fan here, also too.

  27. 27.

    RSA

    I’m not a fan of the Siamese cats in the header picture; it’s a not-very-nice mid-1900s stereotype of Asians, comparable to the crows in the movie Dumbo who represent Black Americans.

    I’ll nominate something different: Why Cats Paint: A Theory of Feline Aesthetics, by Heather Busch and Burton Silver. It’s a deadpan analysis, with photos, of the topic given in the title, and very well done.

  28. 28.

    WaterGirl

    @Juju: Was that the one where he illustrated the four steps for taking a cat for a walk?

    It went something like this..

    Step 1, find the leash.

    Step 2, attach leash.

    Step 3 might have been dragging the cat by the leash and

    I believe Step 4 was holding a gun to the cats head.

    3 and 4 might have been revered.  It’s been a long time, but that’s how I remember it.

  30. 30.

    TomatoQueen

    @SiubhanDuinne:  I have a much-worn potholder with that verse, and the Meatloaf Tabby.

     

    CJ Cherryh has done two series in which cats (Merovingen Nights)  and catlike creatures(Chanur) are central, and I like them both.

  32. 32.

    Amir Khalid

    There’s something vaguely racist about how those Siamese cats in Lady And The Tramp are depicted, and you also saw it in the Asian-looking cat who played the drums in The Aristocats.
    Animated films aside, how often is a domestic cat the protagonist in a movie or TV show? The thing about cats is, they are who they are, and unlike dogs they’re not great at taking direction. I remember the cat from that live-action sitcom — Sabrina? — but he was a not very realistic animatronic puppet most of the time, and right now that’s all I can think of.

  33. 33.

    germy

    I haven’t read all the comments, but does anyone remember Mehitabel, the glorious feline character created by Don Marquis? She was friends with Archy, the typewriting cockroach.

  34. 34.

    Ken

    @Antonius: Version of Aslan in Neil Gaiman’s The Problem of Susan.

    The witch looks at them all, then she turns to the lion and says, coldly, “I am satisfied with the terms of our agreement. You take the girls: for myself, I shall have the boys.”

    She understands what must have happened, and she runs, but the beast is upon her before she has covered a dozen paces. The lion eats all of her except her head, in her dream. He leaves the head, and one of her hands, just as a house cat leaves the parts of a mouse it has no desire for, for later, or as a gift.

  36. 36.

    A Ghost to Most

    My personal favorite is when I warned a jerky neighbor that Bill, my 23 lb Maine Coon didn’t like dogs. He laughed arrogantly, and let his German Shepherd off the leash.  The dog promptly got his nose ripped opened. Some people can’t take a hint.

  37. 37.

    TEL

    Loved Bagheera from the first time I saw the Jungle Book as a kid. I loved how this wild jungle cat was also Mowgli’s protector, and was kind of a pompous old fuddy-duddy to boot. The movie came out before I was born but my elementary school would play children’s movies in the cafeteria over the summer – we could bring in blankets and food for a double feature. I watched most of my early movies that way.

  39. 39.

    Tony Jay

    The story “A Dream of a Thousand Cats” in Neil Gaiman’s Sandman. If you ever wonder what your adorable little pussy-wussy is dreaming about hunting when they lie there making little swiping gestures, it ain’t mice, and if enough of them dream the same dream at the same time…..

    I wonder which came first, Gaiman’s story or Pratchett’s line that starts “Cats were once worshipped as gods…”. They were friends as I recall, so maybe it was homage either way.

    The first major cat-centric story I remember was a text with some pictures story in an annual I had as a little kid. Best as I can recall it centred around alleycats who were having problems with the local rats. The rats had always been kept at bay by a fierce, one-eyed white cat, but he’d aged and been kicked out by the pack in favour of a new but less formidable leader. One kitten goes looking for the elderly exile only to get ambushed by the rats and their enormous Rat King, then rescued at the last second. I remember the knot in my stomach as the old cat fought of scores of rats to save the kitten, eventually losing his last eye to the horde before the Rat King dared face him, and still managing to tear out his enemy’s throat before succumbing to his wounds because, well, cats are awesome. Cried my eyes out for hours. Loved that story so much. Not a clue what it was called or what annual it was in.

  40. 40.

    germy

    Here’s part of a poem that Archy the cockroach wrote about Mehitabel:

    this is the song of mehitabel
    of mehitabel the alley cat
    as i wrote you before boss
    mehitabel is a believer
    in the pythagorean
    theory of the transmigration
    of the soul and she claims
    that formerly her spirit
    was incarnated in the body
    of cleopatra
    that was a long time ago
    and one must not be
    surprised if mehitabel
    has forgotten some of her
    more regal manners

  41. 41.

    TEL

    For books, I’m really fond of the earlier books in the Mrs. Murphy mystery series by Sneaky Pie Brown and her “mom” Rita Mae Brown. It stars Mrs. Murphy the intrepid tabby cat, along with Pewter – a Tunchesque-statured grey kitty, and Tucker – a corgi.

  42. 42.

    SiubhanDuinne

    As you know, I’m incapable of letting a perfectly good “Medium Cool” pass by without referencing Dorothy L. Sayers. So here’s one of my all-time favourite descriptions of a cat, from her Unnatural Death:

    Lord Peter, having wrapped himself affectionately round an abnormal quantity of bacon and eggs, strolled out to bask at the door of the “Fox-and-Hounds.” He filled a pipe slowly and meditated. Within, a cheerful bustle in the bar announced the near arrival of opening time. Eight ducks crossed the road in Indian file. A cat sprang up upon the bench, stretched herself, tucked her hind legs under her and coiled her tail tightly round them as though to prevent them from accidentally working loose.

    And here’s a picturesque line from Ngaio Marsh’s Death at the Bar:

    The parlour is across the side passage and opposite the public tap-room. It has a secret and deserted life of its own. Victoria’s Jubilee and Edward the Seventh’s Wedding face each other across a small desert of linoleum and plush. Above the mantelpiece hangs a picture of two cylindrical and slug-like kittens.

    :-)

  43. 43.

    Ken

    The first cat-character I recall was Jinx, in Walter R. Brooks’ Freddy the Pig series.  The only thing I remember about him was a scene where (for some reason) the animals were debating whether various sayings were true, and Jinx suggested they test “Any stick will do to beat a dog.”  To which the dog said fine, as long as they then tested “There’s more than one way to skin a cat.”

    Hmm, I don’t think the series as a whole was that dark…

  45. 45.

    aliasofwestgate

    My favorite is Diane Duane’s ‘spinoff’ of her Young Wizards books, the Feline Wizards. Starting with The Book of Night With Moon she lays out some great characters and mythology as well. They use the same wizardly system the kids do, to do a crazy job only felines are best suited for which is watching world gates. Also slyly pointing out that cats can vanish at will and so much more. *grins* All 3 books are much more adult than the YW books, but still amazing because she gives everything i could love about cats. She agrees with Pratchett about cats, on many levels. Great adventures, more worldbuilding and following this tiny pride that watches the worldgates of Grand Central Station, NYC. I may reread them at some point again, i consider them some of my comfort food books.

    Yes, i also adore Greebo from the Discworld as well.

  46. 46.

    germy

    I remember Dave Sedaris describing his mother’s cats as drowsy and secretive.

    A good description, I thought.

  47. 47.

    brendancalling

    When I was little, I LOVED the “We Are Siamese” song.

    If you watch it as an adult, it’s incredibly racist, both the scene and the song.

    I’m generally not “that woke guy” but for real, I’m not sure if that’s the reference you want to front page on a site like Balloon-Juice, which is otherwise quite vocally anti-racist. It practically drips with stereotypes of Asian people, from the archaic name for Thailand, to the “slant eyes” on the cats, to the exaggerated “Asian” accents used to voice them.

  51. 51.

    BGinCHI

    Almost 50 responses and no mention of Jonesy in Alien?

    One of the best non-talking cats in all of film.

  53. 53.

    mrmoshpotato

    @prostratedragon:

    Garfield also sounds about like some cats would sound. 

    Some cats would sound like Lorenzo Music? (and eat boatloads of lasagna?)

    The local Italian restaurant must’ve loved Jon (and offered catering.)

  54. 54.

    billcinsd

    I’m going with The Amazing Maurice and his educated rodents. More Pratchett, but that is rarely a problem

  55. 55.

    hagsrus

    Cats in the Belfry et al by Doreen Tovey, highly recommended, and fond childhood memories of Orlando the Marmalade Cat by Kathleen Hale. (And let us not forget Beatrix Potter’s kitten roly poly pudding!)

  58. 58.

    RSA

    A few memorable cat-related movies:

    Cat People. Jacques Tourneur also made Night of the Demon, another favorite.

    Bringing Up Baby. Howard Hawks directs Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, and leopards. What’s not to like?

    Tales of Terror, a Poe anthology by Roger Corman. I’m thinking of the middle story, with Vincent Price and Peter Lorre, based on “The Black Cat” and “The Cask of Amontillado”. It’s not at the top of anyone’s list, but I at least remember it.

    Cat’s Eye. An average Stephen King anthology, but I like the way the cat provides continuity between the stories.

  59. 59.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    Gay Purr-ee, 1962. Hit me hard as a kid because it was so different from the animated movies I was used to. I think TCM showed it a few years ago, so it must hold up fairly well. It’s available (to rent) on several streaming services, including Amazon Prime and Apple TV.

  60. 60.

    Lacuna Synecdoche

    @SiubhanDuinne: Well, while we’re doing literary references to cats, I think it’s de rigueur to include a quote from TS Eliot. I’ll skip the cliche of calling out Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, and go with this verse from Prufrock instead:

    The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes,
    The yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the window-panes,
    Licked its tongue into the corners of the evening,
    Lingered upon the pools that stand in drains,
    Let fall upon its back the soot that falls from chimneys,
    Slipped by the terrace, made a sudden leap,
    And seeing that it was a soft October night,
    Curled once about the house, and fell asleep.

  61. 61.

    Ken

    @Old School: Bill the Cat.   Or Hobbes

    The world is crying out for a crossover.

    Well, maybe not the one where Calvin pals around with Bill.  But dropping Hobbes into the middle of the Bloom County gang…

  63. 63.

    MomSense

    One of my favorite artsy memories was looking at a William Zorach sculpture of a cat licking itself THERE.  I started to giggle and his granddaughter told me that if people could do that no one would ever leave their homes.

  64. 64.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @pluky:

    Paul Gallico wrote several cat books: Thomasina, The Abandoned, Jennie, and one which came up in a thread a while ago, The Silent Miaow. I think there might have been one or two others.

  65. 65.

    JCJ

    @RSA: 
    When my daughter was young she absolutely loved those cats since they, like she and my wife, are Siamese. My wife agrees with your dislike for the stereotype, but in one of the Disney books with an abridged story of Lady and the Tramp the cats were described as “crafty and bold”, or something like that. My daughter (age 5 at the time) thought that was great. She even wanted to be called “Si” and for my wife to be called “Am”.

  66. 66.

    Emma

    Jaysus, I forgot they even drew buckteeth on those freaking cats. Another vote to change the picture to something else.

    I’ll go with the Pokemon Espeon. It’s still the only Eevee evolution that reads as cat, rather than fox or bunny, and I have many good memories of crushing the Elite 4 with my Espeon when Pokemon Gold first came out :)

  68. 68.

    Lacuna Synecdoche

    @RSA: ​

    Cat People. Jacques Tourneur also made Night of the Demon, another favorite.

    Bringing Up Baby. Howard Hawks directs Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, and leopards. What’s not to like?

    Good choices. Kudos. Wish I’d thought of those. Good movies.

  69. 69.

    CaseyL

    The first fictional cat who made a big impression on me was Thomasina, in the Disney movie.  The scene where she’s outside in the rain, crying to come in, has stuck with me since I was a child.

    The first literary cat was either Rhubarb – a cat who inherited a baseball team – or That Damn Cat, a Siamese who helps solve a kidnapping case.  That Damn Cat was a novel first, then a Disney Movie (renamed That Darn Cat).  There was at least one sequel to the novel, which I also read.

  70. 70.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @brendancalling:

    Very true. When I subscribed to Disney + last year, I watched Lady and the Tramp for the first time in sixty-odd years, and I was appalled at the naked racism of the cats’ portrayal. Like you, I loved their song. (I remember a TV “behind the scenes” special that showed how Peggy Lee voiced both cats on separate tape tracks. Ho-hum stuff now, of course, but in the ‘50s it seemed liked a magical innovation!)

    I doubt I’ll ever watch the movie again. It’s cringeworthy now.

  71. 71.

    Geoduck

    Just to add to the chorus, using that scene with the Siamese cats was really not a good choice, WaterGirl. Although as noted, the Siamese cat in The Aristocats was if possible even worse.

    I remember enjoying The Cat From Outer Space as a kid, but I think I’ll avoid looking at it now.

  72. 72.

    Brachiator

    I used to enjoy the cartoon series “Top Cat.”

    Also, the short lived detective series, T.H.E. Cat, starring Robert Loggia.

    Also, the Outer Limits tv series episode “Soldier.” Quarlo, a warrior from 1800 years in the future is time shifted back to 1964. Hijinks ensue. Cat connection:

    Quarlo is befriended by a language expert named Tom Kagen (Lloyd Nolan) who takes the soldier to his suburban home. Quarlo isn’t as interested in the wife and kids as he is the family’s house cat Macbeth. He talks to the cat who ignores him. Quarlo then explains how in the future cats are used as scouts to help fight the enemy, being tied together with the soldiers through thinkspeak.

    All time favorite feline. The Cowardly Lion from “The Wizard of Oz.”

  77. 77.

    RSA

    @JCJ: I’m glad your daughter was encouraged by the cats!  We all have different reactions

    ETA: Given other comments, I’ll explain my own reaction in a bit more detail. It wasn’t especially uncommon to hear people mocking East Asian accents, and it still happens today. That’s what the Siamese cats’ song sounds like to me. My grandparents talked a little like that. So it feels a little personal, as though someone were making fun of their English as a second (or third) language.

  78. 78.

    WaterGirl

    @Geoduck: As I said, not having seen it since I was a little one, I had no idea.  The image has been replaced.

    I appreciate everyone calling it to my attention.  Well, except for anyone who is implying that I would have put it up after having seen it as an adult!  :-)

  80. 80.

    Ken

    @Brachiator: I used to enjoy the cartoon series “Top Cat.”

    I remember that from Saturday mornings, and also Felix the Cat (what a wonderful wonderful cat, whenever he gets in a fix, he reaches into his bag of tricks….)

  81. 81.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    There’s a great cat, Jiji, in the Miyazaki film Kiki’s Delivery Service. A young witch’s familiar. I need to rewatch it, if it’s still on HBO Max, because one of Disney’s crimes when they released it years ago was to joke up the English dub and make Phil Hartman (turned to 11) the voice of Jiji. Ugh, there’s even a “Hello, Kitty!” joke. The subtitles were much better.

  85. 85.

    WaterGirl

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Snagglepuss? During Pride month?

    What’s the relationship between Snagglepuss & pride month?

    edit: okay, Snagglepuss is out and Pink Panther is in.  If that’s not a good choice, when I get back from my meeting I’ll put a photo of my Miss Willow. :-)

  89. 89.

    Brachiator

    Hmmm. I also have to put in a good word for Felix the Cat, both the 1919 original and the somewhat domesticated 1950s era revival. Years ago I attended a screening of silent movie era Felix cartoons with a live orchestra performance. Wonderful stuff.

    And as always I must acknowledge the mystery and poetry of the George Herriman’s Krazy Kat comic strip.

  91. 91.

    James E Powell

    @Brachiator: 

    Top Cat was one of my favorite cartoon shows. A blend of the East Side Kids with the Phil Silvers Show.

    My all time favorite cartoon cat has to be the Pink Panther.

  92. 92.

    James E Powell

    @prostratedragon:

    Garfield also sounds about like some cats would sound.

    Over the years, many of my students have told me that I sound like Garfield. I think it means I sound like Bill Murray.

  100. 100.

    citizen dave

    The orange cat in the Coen Brothers Inside Llewyn Davis plays an integral role.

    A recent feline who is part of the movie is the Netflix thriller with Amy Adams—blanking on the title but no not the Hillbilly movie, but rather the one where she is in an NYC house and has agoraphobia.

  102. 102.

    zhena gogolia

    A cat scene I’m not fond of is in the movie Gigi. Leslie Caron sings a whole song while slinging around her cat, and the cat looks sedated

    ETA: Don’t really like the way the cat is used in Breakfast at Tiffany’s either

    ETA: Or Bringing Up Baby, for that matter. Although I like everything else about it. Cary Grant in a marabou robe, divine!

  106. 106.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @zhena gogolia:

    Except for glorious Audrey Hepburn, there’s not a lot to love about Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Between the way Cat was treated and the disgusting racism of Mickey Rooney’s portrayal of a Japanese man, I’m just, ugh.

  108. 108.

    Kattails

    No mention of the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland? “Imagination is the only weapon in the war with reality.”   “But I don’t want to go among mad people”Alice remarked. “Oh but you can’t help that” said the Cat: “we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re  mad.”  “Never let anyone drive you crazy; it’s nearby anyway and the walk is good for you.”

    I will put in another plug for Nicola Bayley’s wonderful illustrations to The Mousehole Cat, written by Antonia Barber. Delicate, pointillistic, and so true to cats.

    Does anyone else remember Ronald Searle’s humorous cat illustrations?

    “A cat’s got her own opinions of human beings. She don’t say much, but you can tell enough to make you anxious not to hear the whole of it.”– Jerome K. Jerome

  113. 113.

    germy

    @Warren Senders:

    I remember one time when the brothers brought the cat to live in a teepee (tipi?) and the cat walked around in circles then complained he couldn’t find a corner to pee in.

  115. 115.

    Falling Diphthong

    The Cat from Outer Space. In which a scientist (maybe astronaut?) helps out a psychic and telekinetic marooned interstellar cat. Hijinks abound.

    One of those movies that I loved as a child, and then my kids loved. Daughter (20s) recently found it online and relived that bit of nostalgia.

  120. 120.

    zhena gogolia

    @Steeplejack:

    Oh, and also his little sisters Hana and Miri. Hana is adorable but just a regular cat, but Miri has some of Maru’s star power.

  122. 122.

    zhena gogolia

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Maybe. She does know how to wear a little black dress. And I love her “Moon River,” although I don’t much like the song in general.

  123. 123.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    Cat, hat, In French, chat, chapeau.
    In Spanish, el gato in a sombrero.
    And I’ll tell you something more now, you listen to me good.
    In German, I’m a katze und dies ist mein hut.
    Ist das nicht ein katze hut?
    Ya, das ist ein katze hut.
    Katze hut. Katze hut.
    Ya, das ist ein katze hut.

  124. 124.

    CapnMubbers

    Kedi. Turkish documentary of street cats in Istanbul., with subtitles.  Loved it, collected my favorite self-described crazy cat lady and drove two hours from Paradise to a little art theater in Nevada City because I missed the listing in the weekly free rag for the Chico theater.

  128. 128.

    The Lodger

    @WaterGirl: Snagglepuss and Pride Month? Well,  there was a WB/DC Comics mashup called The Snagglepuss Chronicles a couple of years ago where SP was a playwright who was rather loosely based on Tennessee Williams. Brilliantly done.

  130. 130.

    Steve in the ATL

    @germy:

     

    teepee (tipi?)

    Or even “tepee”, depending on what the crossword puzzle creator needs to fit

  133. 133.

    ET

    I am fond of the cat in Kipling’s “The Cat that Walked by Himself”

    But still I am the Cat who walks by himself, and all places are alike to me.

    Such a cat thing…. I do like the Cheshire Cat as well……

  134. 134.

    Kabecoo

    @germy: one more thing. My mother is 94. She can’t tell you what day or year it is but last week I asked her if she remembered any poetry. She recited parts of two poems by her father and all of “mehitabel has an adventure“, laughing all the way.

  137. 137.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Steve in the ATL:

    not to mention that it’s “Tiffany”, not “Tiffany’s”. And they don’t serve breakfast.

    Talk to Truman Capote and Blake Edwards. I was merely referencing the film.

  138. 138.

    Geoduck

    @zhena gogolia: It’s been reported that the cat in Gigi was sedated. The cat didn’t get along with Ms. Caron, and for whatever reason director Vincente Minelli absolutely insisted on using that particular one, so yeah. Ugh.

  139. 139.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    For me, it’s Hepburn, Buddy Ebsen, and Mancini’s score. I didn’t care for either George Peppard or Patricia Neal in those roles, and I’ve already mentioned my thoughts on Mickey Rooney.

  142. 142.

    Ann Marie

    There are a number of mystery series that features cats.  I’m fond of the Midnight Louie series by Carole Nelson Douglas, set in Las Vegas, with Louie narrating some of the chapters of each book.  Also the Joe Grey and Dulcie series by Shirley Rousseau Murphy is a lot of fun (the cats are able to speak, not always to the delight of their human companions), but the author’s conservatism can be irritating sometimes.

    Another series is the Sitehuti series by T. Lee Harris, set in ancient Egypt, featuring a young scribe who finds himself adopted by a temple cat (who terrifies everyone else).  Good for a laugh.

  143. 143.

    laura

    I love all the cats – the movie stars, the literary cats, the comics, the influencers from yesteryear to tomorrow. I love them in the ceiling, on large military vehicles and such like and in containers of every shape. I’ve recently unearthed a Kliban apron from back in the day- big chef tabby is tossing a skillet of meices and is reserved for special occasions.

  150. 150.

    Laura W.

    A mystery book series by Carole Nelson Douglas features a cat that helps solve lysteries. The reader is privy to the cat’s thoughts – he sounds like a hard boiled pi in a film noir.

  151. 151.

    Mike in Oly

    @Omnes Omnibus:  What’s wrong with Snagglepuss? He has been well reimagined and reclaimed for a new gay era by Exit, Stage Left!: The Snagglepuss Chronicles which used an outdated stereotype to explore the history of LGBT oppression in mid-century America. As one of ‘the gays’ I have zero issue with Snagglepuss. Long live pink cats.

  153. 153.

    columbusqueen

    @TheOtherHank: Yeah, I still love the Aristocats b/c it was my very first full length Disney cartoon.

     

    I also the eccentric French animation The Rabbi’s Cat from about 7 years ago. Totally unique, with a cat who eats a parrot & learns to talk. He then demands he be bar mitzvahed.

  157. 157.

    Steeplejack

    Bent Fabric, “Alley Cat.” One of those songs embedded so deeply in our Muzak subconscious that we no longer think of it as a song, merely as wallpaper or a sound effect.

  158. 158.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @BGinCHI: ​
      You didn’t watch Zoom on PBS as a kid? You poor deprived child. I even got a Zoom book with games, projects, song, and shit.
    Come to think of it, this may explain my aversion to modern Zoom.

  159. 159.

    Josie

    Probably a dead thread, but I cannot resist the memory of a chapter in Shirley Jackson book Life Among the Savages. A bat makes the mistake of flying into the author’s house. Jackson hides under a blanket while her husband fails miserably at either catching the bat or getting it out of the house. Their cat Ninki takes care of the situation while refusing to hide her contempt for the ineffectual humans. One of the best chapters in a hilarious book.

  162. 162.

    catclub

    @debbie: 

    The kitten in Trufaut’s Day for Night. The little guy follows his own bliss.

    There is the cat that signals the glitch in The Matrix

  166. 166.

    Mel

    @Juju: 
    “I must have misdialed. It’s your neighbor, Mrs. Slocombe…. I’m trying to get my pussy on the phone.”

  167. 167.

    eddie blake

    been to this well a couple of times today and i can’t believe i didn’t think of josie’s pussycats or, for that matter, tom jones’.

  169. 169.

    prostratedragon

    @RSA: No argument from me on the cartoon Siamese up top (though I haven’t actually seen the thing since I was about 6), but for better or worse they’re my first memory of fictional cats.

    Btw, my having a Siamese as a cat friend years later is purely coincidental; I wanted a cat at about the time a friend had some kittens to place. He turned out to be a real winner and protective companion, his nightly town crier act even becoming part of his charm.

    Late this evening I remembered a cat from a children’s book I read and enjoyed a few years ago, Marsh Cat by Peter Parnall.

  171. 171.

    Tehanu

    @aliasofwestgate: ​
      Totally with you on Diane Duane. Have you read the 3rd Feline Wizards book (or possibly 4th), The Big Meow, with Damon Runyon as one of the main characters?

  176. 176.

    Mnemosyne

    My husband was not a cat person when we first got together, but within a couple of months, my then-youngest cat Natasha had adopted him as her person. We’ve had cats ever since — we’re on our second mutual set.

    I keep trying to put cats into my stories but I keep running up against the word count. I do have one in my novel, though, who is modeled on our magnificent tuxie Keaton.

    I hate that cats are usually disposable in movies. I’m still salty that my friend didn’t warn me that a cat gets eaten in The Shape of Water.

  180. 180.

    The Moar You Know

    animals know when you’ve saved them from the pound/shelter and you will never know a more loyal and devoted critter.  Congratulations and I wish you many years of cat fur and purring.

  181. 181.

    BGinCHI

    The cat in Alien is still my favorite, although there’s a really funny cat in one of the “Rick & Morty” episodes.

  185. 185.

    Sheila in nc

    “Midnight, not a sound from the pavement,

    Has the moon lost its mem’ry? She is smiling alone.

    In the lamplight the withered leaves collect at my feet

    And the wind begins to moan…”

  186. 186.

    dexwood

    I’ve had two cats in my 71 years of trouble making. Lucifer, a dark gray cat, when I was in high school. My bed was directly under a ground floor window. He frequently woke me up by tapping on the window when ready to come in. Nimrod was my late 20s cat. I had been dating a woman for two weeks always hoping she’d come home with me. Following a Van Morrison concert she agreed. I had a waterbed at the time. When I pulled back the blanket I immediately saw how wet the sheets were. What the fuck! When I removed the bottom sheet I saw dozens of punctures from his claws. I ended up taking my date home before spending the rest of the night draining the bed.

  189. 189.

    Suzanne

    We lost our Scout last year. Our dog Luna is getting old, and SuzMom’s chihuahua/terrier mix Chica (the most irritating non-human creature alive) is also getting old. And they’re both grumpy, and so I don’t think it would be good to introduce a new cat at this time.

    I also need a freaking break. I don’t know how the house can get so messy so fast. It makes me cry sometimes.

  192. 192.

    Bryn

    My cat, Millie, is really cool. We adopted her as a “barn cat”.  And she’s 99% outside. But she’ll walk along side us while we’re walking our dogs, which is really fun.

  193. 193.

    prostratedragon

    Marsh Cat by Peter Parnell is a children’s book, but I found myself reading it once and enjoyed it. Marsh Cat is a feral who finds refuge during a rough winter as a barn cat, with other animals and even a human or two.

  194. 194.

    Rachel Bakes

    Peekaboo in the older Rose is Rose comics is pretty accurate: always in the way; racing around the house; purring happiness. The Japanese comic What’s Michael portrays every orange cat in Japan and is delightful.

  195. 195.

    NotMax

    I think I might be a cat person now.

    ::shudder::

    Cats are the animal equivalent of cilantro.

  196. 196.

    prostratedragon

    @debbie:  Well lol! That era’s equivalent of six-figure film school education, and they’re all captive to waiting on a cat to do something. Those French really know from absurdity.

  199. 199.

    Scout211

    This is definitely dating me but when I was a kid, a favorite movie of mine was The Three Lives of Thomasina.

    My sisters and I loved that movie and I have loved cats ever since.

    ETA: blurb added

    A beloved tabby cat becomes the catalyst for healing and hope between a young girl and her widowed father in Disney’s 1964 classic, based on the enchanting fable by Paul Gallico. Set in the Scottish highlands in 1912, the story focuses on Andrew MacDhui (Patrick McGoohan) a veterinarian who, after the death of his wife, has closed his heart to goodness and empathy– toward his animal patients and his only child. Left essentially an orphan, Mary (Karen Dotrice) finds love from her cat, Thomasina, until a tragedy injures the cat and her father orders it to be killed. A tenderhearted maiden (Susan Hampshire) finds Thomasina, detects a heartbeat, and nurses the feline back to health. Her healing powers eventually move beyond the animal kingdom into the lives of MacDhui and Mary. The stellar cast includes standout performances by Dotrice and Matthew Garber (who plays Mary’s loyal chum)–better known as the duo, Jane and Michael Banks, in Mary Poppins. Best watched with kids and Kleenex. (Ages 5 and older) –Lynn Gibson

  200. 200.

    A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)

    @Mnemosyne: I was so pleased that Jonesy the cat survived in the original Alien. I am a cat lady, so notice what happens to cats in movies.  I remember years ago being pleased with seeing the cat carrier at the end of Klute when Jane Fonda is moving.

  203. 203.

    A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)

    @Scout211: Have you ever read the Paul Gallico book the movie is based on?  He was a cat lover, and wrote several books with cats as important characters.  The Abandoned or Jenny is about a boy who is transformed into a cat and Jenny, a stray, teaches him how to act like a cat.  “When in doubt, wash” is her first lesson.

  204. 204.

    dexwood

    @JaySinWA: Funny. I ended up marrying her and we’re still together decades later.

    eta: I gave up waterbeds and adopted a dog.

  206. 206.

    LauraW

    For a completely fictional cat I suggest the midnight Louie mystery series by Carole Nelson Douglas. The reader is privy to cat’s thoughts and he sounds like Sam spade.

  209. 209.

    Josie

    James Herriot wrote a lovely children’s book, Moses the Kitten. My boys loved it and now I read it to my granddaughters.

  211. 211.

    germy shoemangler

    One of my favorite cat movies is Keanu starring Key and Peele.

    It’s like a Hope and Crosby movie.  They’re on a hunt for Peele’s cat and have to pretend to be tough guys to infiltrate the underworld.

    Caution:  above link is to “redband” trailer.  Liberal use of foul language.

  212. 212.

    Tom Levenson

    I can’t believe we’re this far into the thread and no one’s mentioned Nanny Ogg’s Greebo.

  214. 214.

    JaySinWA

    @dexwood: My waterbed seemed to attract my first (current and only) wife decades ago. We’ve had cats and leakages, although I can’t be sure a cat was responsible for the leaks. We moved off the waterbed also decades ago. I’m not even sure where you would find one anymore.

  215. 215.

    germy shoemangler

    @NotMax:

    An old article from Carl Strock.

    If anything, Saratoga nowadays is even more dog-friendly than it was when he wrote this:

    Melanie and Adrianna have cooked up a promotion called Dog-Friendly Downtown, which includes a decal that store-owners can put in their window advising everyone that they are dog-friendly, meaning dogs are welcome inside.

    Which means, of course, that you, the innocent customer, in the course of thumbing through a magazine or trying to pick out an objet d’art, might suddenly find your butt getting sniffed, but what the hey, friendly is friendly. Because, let’s face it, dog-owners are not exactly celebrated for their sensitivity to other people. If you jump in surprise, they’re sure to tell you not to worry, he’s just being friendly.

    Despite the Princetown writer’s concern, dogs will not be admitted inside enclosed restaurants; that would be a violation of state health regulations, so let’s be grateful for something.

    They will, however, be admitted to the outdoor eating areas that have become popular in Saratoga, if the restaurateurs choose to be dog-friendly, so you might want to bear that in mind before you take a table. You might find one of these freakish creatures salivating on your sandals before you finish your Fettucini Alfredo.

    https://dailygazette.com/2009/10/20/1020_strock1020/

  217. 217.

    Matt McIrvin

    Pickles, the protagonist of Esther Averill’s The Fire Cat, may not be a very accurately depicted cat but he is the clearest example of the Campbellian monomythic Hero with a Thousand Faces in children’s literature. Seriously, he goes through nearly all the stages.

  220. 220.

    zhena gogolia

    He’s not really a cat but Behemoth in Bulgakov’s Master and Margarita appears in the guise of a man size black cat and is hilarious

  223. 223.

    Mike E

    I’ve just caught up on the animated Star Trek Lower Decks. The chief medical officer is a Caitian, basically an ornery orange tabby that definitely won’t remind you of the recent Cats movie, heh

  224. 224.

    germy shoemangler

    @zhena gogolia:

    Peele said they had to hire about four different cats to play the one role.  Each cat had his own skill.  One could sit quietly, one was good at running on cue, one was comfortable in a moving car, etc.

    He said it was like hiring accomplices for a bank heist or something. Each member with his own skillset.

    The hardest thing to do was to get the cat to wear a tiny bandana.  Actor cat was eager to please, performed admirably, but couldn’t cope with wearing that thing on his head.  It’s only in one scene, but they needed multiple takes because he kept swiping it off.

  225. 225.

    Matt McIrvin

    The animated web series Simon’s Cat features a cat who is very slightly cartoon-anthropomorphized yet has entirely the psychology of a cat.

  226. 226.

    zhena gogolia

    @germy shoemangler: I read something similar about the cat in Introducing Llewyn Davis. I couldn’t finish that movie because of the way the main character was treating the cats

  227. 227.

    raven

    We watched Cat People, a 1982 American erotic horror film directed by Paul Schrader and starring Nastassja Kinski, Malcolm McDowell, John Heard, and Annette O’Toole. It is a remake of the 1942 RKO film of the same name. It was on, mostly the New Orleans and bayou stuff.

  230. 230.

    HumboldtBlue

    There is a current documentary available on Netflix titled Don’t Fuck With Cats and its about a group of online sleuths who investigated and tracked down a man who was torturing and killing cats and posting videos online. I began watching and when it got to the first video of two kittens sitting on a chair when a man appears on screen and I immediately turned it off.

    The show comes with a warning for graphic content, and I just can’t watch videos of animals being hurt in any form or fashion.

  231. 231.

    germy shoemangler

    @zhena gogolia:

    Yes, I felt the same way.  I like seeing cats in movies, but not when they’re portrayed as a nuisance or whatever.

    In Keanu, they got Keanu Reeves to do a cameo.  He does the voice of the cat in a scene where Key (after ingesting some too-potent cannabis) hallucinates the cat speaking and giving advice.

  232. 232.

    germy shoemangler

    @HumboldtBlue:

    Hitler hated cats.  Authoritarians are notorious cat haters.  They can’t cope with something so little having such a strong sense of itself.

  235. 235.

    germy shoemangler

    @raven:

    I remember seeing the 1982 version in a theater when it first came out.

    The most astonishing special effect for the audience was the simplest to create.  The actor jumped off furniture backwards.  They reversed the film so it looked like the actor was able to leap up high like a cat.

  236. 236.

    Matt McIrvin

    @germy shoemangler: Mark Twain thought the cat was the best animal because of that quality. He thought humans could learn something from cats about refusal to submit.

  237. 237.

    J R in WV

    We’ve had a lot of cats, up to 9 at one point when a Maine Coon that everyone told us wouldn’t reproduce until she was 3… wrong. So wrong. She dropped 5 kittens, 3 on Wife’s pillow in the early morning, one on the steps up to the bedroom, the first one on the Kitchen floor. That one was cold and still, so I got a hot water bottle and a warm towel, came right around.

    Cats can be affectionate, also can be distant and hostile…

    We try to avoid newly born kittens, rescue adults is more our thing. That once was pretty sweet, tho.

  239. 239.

    oatler

    For EC cat horror, there was “The Squaw” from one of those Crypt or Vault comics. Neil Gaiman wrote a clever cat story in the “Season of Mists” Sandman installment. Then there’s Gene Wolfe’s “The Cat”, which ends with  “It is not well for those of high station  to involve the servants of their enemies in their quarrels.”

  241. 241.

    Almost Retired

    Jeez, threads like these are just total invitations for people to flaunt their obscure literary and cinema references.

    And I totally mean that as a compliment.

    Let us all praise Ayatollah, the breakfast-eschewing cat in the 1981 movie Diva.   I don’t think he really had much impact on the plot.  But I remember his name 40  years later, while I’ve forgotten the name of the famous opera singer at the center of the film, until I just looked it up (Kathleen Battle).

  249. 249.

    CaseyL

    @Scout211: I saw the movie as a child (and cried), joyously discovered the book some time later (and cried), and it still ranks as one of my favorite cat tales.

    There is also the kitty in Incredible Journey (the original, from umpetty ump years ago; not the abomination of a remake), who has a larger role in the book than she does in the movie.  Cue tears for that one as well.

    Other notable cats:

    Greebo, as mentioned by Tom. Greebo is Nanny Ogg’s tomcat, seen throughout the Witches cycle of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels.  My favorite is where Nanny turns Greebo human for Plot Reasons, and he retains his “Greebo-ness” and is a huge hit with human ladies.

    The Cat Who [insert rest of title here]: A series of cozy-ish mysteries by Lillian Braun, where two Siamese cats help the main character solve the cases, just by being cats.   One of the best lines describing a cat bathing itself has stuck in my mind ever since I read it, likening the action of a cat spreading its toes in a stretch,” opening like flower petals.”

    That Damn Cat (made by Disney into a movie with the G-Rated title of That Darn Cat) about a cat who helps the FBI solve a kidnapping case, escaping from the house where the victim is being held, with a watch put around his neck like a collar, and later leading the FBI back to the house.  The book had a sequel, Top Cat, and possible another after that, but I don’t remember offhand.

    Oh, and the classic Rhubarb, about a cat who inherits a baseball team.  Rhubarb’s character is… a little like Nanny Ogg’s Greebo, actually.

  253. 253.

    Mnemosyne

    The cats don’t start showing up until the second book in the series, but Elizabeth Peters’ Amelia Peabody mysteries have many Egyptian cats in them, starting with the cat Bastet (who is always referred to as “the cat Bastet”).

  257. 257.

    CaseyL

    Oh, and zefrank’s “Cat Diaries,” available on YouTube. Hilarious, along with “Dog Diaries.”

  259. 259.

    kalakal

    Captain Wow, Lady May & company in The Game of Rat and Dragon by Cordwainer Smith

  260. 260.

    HinTN

    @Mnemosyne: Heinlein’s The Cat Who Walked Through Walls really established his alternative universe. It also signaled his intent to grow his libertarian tendencies beyond political polemic.

  262. 262.

    Mnemosyne

    @HinTN:

    “The Door Into Summer” was inspired by one of Heinlein’s cats, who was indignant that every time he opened the door for her, it was still cold and snowy outside. She insisted on making him follow her to every door in the house and he finally realized that she was trying to find the “right” door where the weather would be nice outside

    There’s a similar vibe with the Lieber story I linked to above. It’s very obvious that he observed certain behaviors by his cat and put them into the story.

  263. 263.

    oatler

    There was a thitd-season Night Gallery that had Leonard Nimoy as a murderer tangling with his dead wife’s cat.

  264. 264.

    CapnMubbers

    If you like cats and have not seen Kedi,a documentary about cats in Istanbul, do look for it. Utterly charming.

    I lived at the time in Paradise, CA and missed the nearest showing in Chico CA at the Orient and Flume art house. I tracked it to a Nevada City jewel box of a theater (called the Magic) and treated my dear friend Eileen to dinner and a movie there. She had eleven cats at the time—described herself as a for-real crazy cat lady. We were both enchanted by Kedi and hoped to see it again.

    The Magic closed after that showing, my friend died unexpectedly at 63 on Memorial Day 2018, the entire town of Paradise burned down November 8 that year taking my house and everything I owned including a CD of Kedi. I may replace it someday but not yet.

  267. 267.

    CapnMubbers

    @Steeplejack: SW Utah to be (somewhat) close to my daughter. She lives on a hilltop in the desert halfway between here and Vegas—nowhere really close by her that I would consider. Las Vegas has changed so drastically since I left 40 years ago and it was too frenetic for me then.

  269. 269.

    Narya

    Jorts the cat has been my timeline cleanse for more then six months. There’s even a sea shanty.

  270. 270.

    Ann Marie

    There’s a lovely Andre Norton science fiction short story called “All Cats are Gray” featuring a colorless gray woman named Steena and her big gray tomcat, Bat, who would go to bars with her and drink Vernal juice right out of a glass, neat.

  271. 271.

    CapnMubbers

    @CaseyL:

    Thank you—yes, totally devastating.  I chose not to rebuild in the burned over remains of Paradise.  None of my friends returned; we’ve scattered to the four winds. What’s left of the hospital will not reopen (only about a tenth of the previous population), not many businesses left…a number of younger families are gung-ho about Paradise Strong, we can grow our town again but I don’t have it in me to make yet another start.

  273. 273.

    Darkrose

    If you have any interest in musicals, film, and train wrecks, Why the Music in Cats (2019) is Worse than you Thought is a great way to spend an hour. He breaks down the musical Cats and why it works, and then dissects the travesty of the 2019 film. His rant at Tom Hooper is amazing: “Cats is proof that we do not live in a meritocracy”.

    There’s also Lindsay Ellis’ Why is Cats? video, which talks a lot about the genesis of the original show, which basically came down to, “Andrew Lloyd Webber is a cat person.” Her brief history of film musicals is fascinating. And “Hal, it’s about cats,” really works for many occasions.

  274. 274.

    kalakal

    I’d guess the best known cat in films is Ernst Stavro Blofeld’s feline friend.

    Fun fact. One of the BBC’s leading cricket commentators for decades was Henry Blofeld. He was asked did he ever get mocked for having the same name as the Bond super villain. He replied that his father  was at school with Ian Fleming, and they’d not exactly been the best of friends

  275. 275.

    CapnMubbers

    @raven:

    I may have known them by sight, Paradise was a small town as you know, but I had not met them. I spent three weeks sleeping in my car in Chico with only an ancient flip phone—no internet, no camera to document my presence in the town and escape through the flames after hours of gridlock trying to get to the Skyway (the insurance company would really have liked pictures). I missed reading Balloon Juice for that three weeks so I didn’t see that you had posted about them. I only caught up after Thanksgiving when I found my insurance company, they came up with some cash and I bought an iPhone and iPad.

  278. 278.

    kalakal

    @CapnMubbers: Oh yes, I’ll never forget that story. Smith did a lot of genetically ‘upgraded’ animal characters eg The Dead Lady of Clowntown. I’m so sorry to hear about all the grief you’ve had lately

  281. 281.

    BGinCHI

    I’ll mention too late the wonderful cat that opens Altman’s “The Long Goodbye,” who will only eat one particular brand of cat food, much to his owner’s chagrin.

  284. 284.

    Tehanu

    Diane Duane’s books The Book of Night With Moon, To Visit the Queen, and The Big Meow — the “Feline Wizards Trilogy” — are about cats who are wizards helping maintain the universe.  The Big Meow also features Damon Runyon as a major character.

    And am I the only person who remembers archy and mehitabel?

  285. 285.

    citizen dave

    Jorts- Yes

    Inside Llewyn Davis – cat(s) play an integral role

    Internet- owned by cats

  287. 287.

    NotMax

    Isn’t there a recent movie with that Cumberbatch fellow which has something to do with cats? Ah, here we go. The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, currently available on Prime.

    @Tehanu

    And am I the only person who remembers archy and mehitabel?

    Far from the only one.

  289. 289.

    A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)

    @Scout211: He also put together a wonderful coffee table type picture book called heT Silent Miaow which photographically documents how a stray came into the lives of a couple and took them over,  It is written as a manual for kittens.  

  290. 290.

    columbusqueen

    May I recommend the French cartoon The Rabbi’s Cat? Dryly funny with a wise view of religious differences & humanity in general.

  291. 291.

    sab

    We have five cats. Two started as pampered kittens, The rest were feral or semi-feral rescues. I have to admit I Iike most of the semi-ferals better as pets. They are grateful. The raised as kittens are very demanding of attention food etc like baby birds, kind of excessive. Now! The ferals are just grateful.

  292. 292.

    sab

    @NotMax: It hurts my mind to think of that poor cockroach typing painfully by landing headfirst on every typewriter key (and those were manual typewriters. You really had to bash those keys.)

    My dad treasureed his Archy books almost as much as he treasured Pogo. Now in his dementia unit he would watch Fox if his health aide would let him ( she won’t).

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