I'm #3! (guitar solo)

Just a quick post to express my glee at being chosen dare #3 at The Cat Realm's I Dare You All #5 contest! I'd also like to congratulate Diamond Emerald-Eyes with his "eastern egg hunt played with mousies" and Milo and Alfie with their "NUDE charity Calendar for cats." They tied for first. Hooray, what fun!

And how shall I celebrate? Why, with some feline-flavored heavy metal. Won't you stick your earplugs in and flick your concert lighters for the high decibel yowlings of "Hiss of Death," by Litterbox?

PS: it's ok if you can't get through it. I can't either but it's fun as long as you can take it.

the seven swabians, starring: a rabbit

photo: A. Praefcke

A little known Grimm tale, "The Seven Swabians" tells the story of seven friends from southern Germany and their search for adventure and success. Only one thing stands in their way: they're Swabian, an area which for a long long time "real" Germans looked upon as bumpkins and generally no fun at all. You figure this out right about the time they get seriously terrified by a sleeping rabbit:

A few days later their path led them across an unplowed field where a hare was sitting asleep in the sun. Its ears were standing straight up, and its large glassy eyes were wide open. All of them were frightened at the sight of this terrible wild beast, and they discussed with one another what would be the least dangerous thing to do. If they were to run away, they feared that the monster would pursue them and devour them all, even their skin and hair.

Things don't improve from there, but I don't want to spoil the story.

The image of the seven facing off the bunny pops up in regional craft and artwork, hopefully tongue in cheek by now. The illustration, a photo taken by Andreas Praefcke, shows the scene as depicted on an oven door in Deggenhausertal.

a dog a day, for the grownups

Dr. Salt draws a dog a day.
Black and white dogs, doing dog things, not so dog things, and being people more than dogs ("Salman Rushdog," for example). Done with a rounded economy of line, they're pretty cuddly dogs - even when they are evil. There is some black and/or rude humor and language, so don't say I didn't warn you, but they are funny and clever and you never know what each day witll bring.

Will it be Drinking Alone Dog?
Or the Dating Dog?
Or Ballerina Dog: "Dance like you don't hear the booing." Yeah.

Every day I draw a dog.

Madame de Lesdiguieres was a lady of the 17th century French court. (I can't find out exactly if she was part of the court under Louis XIII or XIV.)
Her cat's tomb, seen in the engraving above, bears this inscription:

Une Chatte Jolie.
Sa maitresse qui n'aima rien
L'aima jusques a la folie.
Pourquoi le dire ? On le voit bien.
(A pretty cat: Its mistress, who never loved anyone Loved it madly. Why bother to say so? Everyone can see it.)

From The Book of the Cat, by Frances Simpson (London, Paris, New York and Melbourne: Cassell and Company, Limited, 1903).

Maybe that's the same cat she holds in this portrait?

** An addendum: I am currently reading Abundance by Sena Jeter Naslund, a novel of Marie Antoinette. This also takes place in the French court, though mostly in Louis XIV's time. The amount of overly-detailed etiquette, the constant intrigues, the uses and discarding of friends and allies, suddenly made me realize the probable reason both for Madame's cold reputation and deep love of her cat. As we all know, your pets love you for who you are, no matter what. Kitty was probably the only source of such love that she had. What must that kind of life be like? Isn't that sad?

catupuncture

Poor lil' P*nut.

She's a sweet petite calico who is a mature lady cat now, and subject to aches and pains from arthritis. She lives with my friend Janet, who racked her brains for a good way to soothe her discomfort. Then Janet found Dr. Lisa Reising and the Animal Healing Center. There they specialize in alternative therapies such as homeopathy and flower essences, Chinese and Western herbal medicine, and nutrition. P*nut herself is benefitting from their acupuncture services.

Here's a couple of interesting photos of P*nut in treatment. Don't worry, that may look scary but P*nut is in no discomfort. In fact, she is gaining some relief.

an exemplary lapdog, in poetry

Epitaph On A Favourite Lapdog

I never barked when out of season;
I never bit without a reason;
I ne'er insulted weaker brother;
Nor wrong'd by force nor fraud another.
Though brutes are plac'd a rank below,
Happy for man could he say so!

-- Thomas Blacklock (Scottish, 1721-1791).

"kittens' wedding," and other victorian oddities

In times past, we know to our sorrow, there was no way to control the many litters of kittens and puppies that happen. Well. . . where there is material, man's busy mind will find something to do, and in the curious time of our recent civilization known as Victorian, taxidermy caricatures came into being.

What are those? Simply put, make up little scenes and taxidermize the tiny critters in poses and dresses appropriate. The result, at least for those of us with a feel for the Victorians, is a crazy mix of sweet, sad, cute and creepy.

I can't believe I have never yet posted on the master of such tableaux, Mr. Walter Potter (1835-1918). Best known for his "The Kittens' Wedding," Potter deftly arranged such other sweeping dioramas as "The Squirrels' Club," and "Athletic Toads." Well, you'd have to see them. And you can, along with a lot of background material, at this excellent page courtesy of A Case of Curiosities. (The site as a whole, and it is amazing, belongs to an artist currently practicing a variant of this craft.)

the smallest feline is a masterpiece, right?

Leonardo da Vinci said that. And I'm saying it's Friday and you can't MAKE me be too serious. So enjoy this mashup of art history and kitty style.

(I'm pretty sure this must have been liberally borrowed from its creator.

If that's you, A. Excellent work. B. Can I credit you? Please?)