Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The unpunished coup was a training exercise.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

Conservatism: there are people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

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

Jesus watching the most hateful people claiming to be his followers

Republicans in disarray!

Today in our ongoing national embarrassment…

You come for women, you’re gonna get your ass kicked.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

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

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

The media handbook says “controversial” is the most negative description that can be used for a Republican.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

If you still can’t see these things even now, maybe politics isn’t your forte and you should stop writing about it.

Dear Washington Post, you are the darkness now.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

People are complicated. Love is not.

The line between political reporting and fan fiction continues to blur.

Roe is not about choice. It is about freedom.

You are here: Home / Pet Blogging / Cat Blogging / Late Night Open Thread: Opportunistic Cats in Art

Late Night Open Thread: Opportunistic Cats in Art

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Modern art:

Pre-photo art:


(More at the link.)

Hey, look at it from the cat’s viewpoint: All those delicious snax just sitting there, for hours and days, with nobody to shoo them away. Bast helps those who help themselves!

Bonus British monarchy content:

Reader Interactions

20Comments

  1. 1.

    A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)

    There is a picture by Nicolaes Maes (one of Rembrandt’s pupils) called Old Woman Saying Grace, which has her at a small table with her dinner, a nice fish fillet on it.  She has her eyes closed, saying grace, and her cat, at the bottom of the picture, has hooked the tablecloth with a claw and is about to bring down the fish dinner to the floor.

    My mother got a reproduction of this from The Rijksmuseum years ago

    ETA: Frist!

  2. 2.

    Roger Moore

    Hey, look at it from the cat’s viewpoint: All those delicious snax just sitting there, for hours and days, with nobody to shoo them away. Bast helps those who help themselves!

    From a art history perspective, that’s probably not it.  Those still lives were generally created with some kind of moral message in mind.  They would almost always have negative elements intended to show imperfection in the world: wilting flowers to show beauty fading, a skull to mention mortality, etc.  I would guess having a cat stealing some of the food was along the same lines.

  3. 3.

    SectionH

    Cats of Yore is one of my favorite follows. And it’s not all about ebil cats.

    I thought I remembered that painting from the Rijksmuseum, so went and looked. The cat’s on the other side of the table, nowhere near the old woman’s fish. Cat is pulling the tablecloth so what looks like a loaf of bread to me is gonna hits the cat’s head.  And the big knife near the bread? LInk to painting

    Roger – Maybe the message on that painting was give your cat a bit of fish too and they won’t pull all your food onto the floor.

  4. 4.

    Anne Laurie

    @Roger Moore: Those still lives were generally created dressed up with some kind of moral message in mind.

    Artists will do what they gotta do for the market, but I still say the cats were free agents, giving the scribblers ideas in return for snax.

    Even among the buyers, there’s always been a tension between ‘I want something pretty to hang over the mantel’ and ‘This isn’t just godless frippery, it’s a moral lesson.’

    The modern equivalent is that genre of wildlife art where vibrant, loving pictures of wild animals are prominently labeled ‘A Nice Day to Kill Something’ or ‘My Dream Bag’, because the buyers don’t want their friends to think they’re the sort of people who enjoy ‘pretty pictures’.

    (I love both the classic / medieval works and the wildlife art, but I also laugh at the inside joke!)

  5. 5.

    JoyceH

    You pick up great tips on this blog! I knew about and follow Cats Being Weird Little Guys, but Cats of Yore is a new one.

  6. 6.

    prostratedragon

    @SectionH:  Precisely what I found to help: when having certain treats for myself, give the cats a bit first. They did get sated long enough for me to cook and eat.

  13. 13.

    mrmoshpotato

    Still life with a Cat and a Mackerel on a Tabletop. Giovanni Rivalta.

    Holy mackerel!  (Not sorry.)

    Oh, a secret message box!

  16. 16.

    germy shoemangler

    @prostratedragon:  when having certain treats for myself, give the cats a bit first. They did get sated long enough for me to cook and eat.

    I have something with our cat I call “her right to first refusal”.

    If she sees me eating something she’ll come over and ask for a bite.  If I’m eating something like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (something I know she won’t want) I’ll let her take a sniff.  She then realizes it’s not what she wants and she walks away satisfied.

    If I’m eating chicken, though, it’s a different story.  She’s all about the chicken.

  17. 17.

    David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch

    One of my cats is super friendly, very out going. All the neighbors let her in – kids love playing with her. One day Elsa decided to snack and ate a $200 aquarium fish. I was mortified.​

  18. 18.

    J R in WV

    We had a senior giant cat I named Rufus, for his red head, white tom cat with many red-orange spots. He would sit at the table with us, would stay at his place setting, would accept tiny bits of whatever would interest a cat. Was mannerly in every way, appreciative of a bit of meat or cheese, frequently sat at the  table when we had neighbors to dinner. He made it up to near 20.

    I have a cat on my shoulder, purring, right now, a tiny girl, 6 pounds of affection. about 16, on special thyroid diet kibble,  not very interested in food, never has been.

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