dogs can't be nazis! can they?

I just thought it wasn't totally fair for a dog's grave to be publicized as "The Nazi Dog" - anyway, I've just learned that Giro the Alsatian ever existed, and that his owner loved him well enough to bury him with a nice stone in the front garden of a London residence. He belonged to the German ambassador to Britain in the early 30's. What do you think, does his master's Nazism make the dog one too?

cats and dogs: a one dimensional theory of character

Every so often, I stumble across something that makes me go "whatthe?"

Today, it's a most thought-provoking essay on logarithmic.net on how people's dominance hierarchies are like the characters of dogs and cats. The who like the what now? Yeah. But the essayist has a point, and it's quickly grasped in the snippet below:

"Cat: Scratch my ear. Ex-cellent. May I use your leg as a scratching post? No? Hmm, how about I sit on you instead. Do not move. ... Well done. Now feed me.
Dog: Hello, let's do something. What should we do? ...
Yes, the stick fetching game would be acceptable. ... However I find that stick you are holding uninteresting. Try again. ... Ah, yes, yes!That stick I find quite exciting! Ok, I will fetch the stick. ... That was fun!

The distinction is this: cats propose things to do, dogs either
accept or veto these proposals. In a hierarchy, whenever two people talk one will play the cat and one the dog. In larger hierarchies someone in the middle of the hierarchy may play the dog or the cat depending on who they are talking to.

These roles exist for a good reason: they allow coordinated cooperative
action. In order for a group of people to cooperate, someone (a cat) proposes things to do, and other people (dogs) either say yes or no to the proposals. It is very hard to cooperate without performing some such exchange."

***
You'll find the further development of this fascinating idea (I think I'm a dog now) here.

contemporary feline artists

In a continuation of my post from a couple days back.... Turns out among all the wonderful new visitors (thanks guys!), there was a link to a dynamic, multi-media art force known as Faith. And you can see some of her deconstructivist work here. Here too. (Wink)

PS: I love it when one of the post labels is "Destruction".

puss in many many boots

Most of the fairy tales we know and enjoy have been kicking around for up to centuries. I was wondering about Puss in Boots this morning (do you not love what they did with the Puss in Shrek?). Turns out our suave kitty hero has also been around for lo these many: in 1553 an Italian tale called "Piacevole notti" has a clever cat as agent of a poor family's bettering fortunes.

The definitive early version is that written by Charles Perrault in 1697. You can read it all, and a bunch of other interesting versions and historical tidbits, at this excellent page.

elizabeth is one

Actually, the vet picked her birthday out of a hat; you know we have no real idea, but we're within a week. She turned one yesterday.









Remember this? Elizabeth then.

And here's that sassy girl now.

And here's a charming kitten by John Downman (1750-1824) from the Tate's drawing collection.

Cats paint worldwide

. . . and thanks to the online Museum of NonPrimate Art, you can see some of the examples of fine paw work sent in by proud owners. How about the bold red and white on blue of Aviary Arsonist, or the sexy pink on black of Feather Fondue? For a complete feline artistic environment go here.

"What's this about cats painting?" you say. Frequently asked questions for just such an occasion here.

office life: bird edition

Yesterday I got to pet sit a client's bird.

As you can see from the photo, he was cute and perky, and not hurting for toys. I couldn't remember exactly what kind of bird he was - I thought "cockatoo," but no, that's the really big kind.

Aha - cockatiel.

I don't know anything about cockatiels except that they are affectionate little guys. This one was, too; he hung by his bars making little "lookit me" chirps at first, then started showing off all his mirrors and sticks and things, and then kissed his reflection for a while. It sort of made my heart hurt a bit with the cuteness, to tell you the truth.

His "daddy" told me that at home he's never caged, and spends most of the day sitting on big calcium pills that look like eggs to him. Male cockatiels have a nesting instinct, who knew?

Well, probably the folks at Cockatiel.com. Gorgeous pictures there. Mine is not, but it's another cellphonecam shot, so there you go. And here's another.

dogs then

For some reason I've been on a dog photo kick after being tickled by the recent post on dogs in politics. A trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art online provided me with lots of lovely pups to admire. I mean who can't love Thomas Eakins' casual, blurry photo of Jimmy with Dog, and who won't wonder what the man in this picture did to rate having his face scratched out of the negative while the dog is front and center? And how about the down-home elegance of this Walker Evans scene?

hamster vacuum

Seriously, have you seen how much a hamster can fit into its face?

"i am a cat."

"As yet I have no name. I've no idea where I was born. . ."

So begins the comic social masterpiece I am a Cat, by Natsume Soseki. Published in installations during 1905-06, it's a send-up of the dynamic cultural and social changes of Meiji-era Japan. At this time many Western ways, fashions and practices were coming into Japanese society thick and fast, with varying degrees of graceful adaptation according to various observers. Wikipedia overview here; a look at a Google Books limited preview here.

dogs in politics

My gracious. Yesterday, on a round of family responsibilities in Portland OR, the spouse and I found ourselves trying to get downtown: "No matter," said we, "we know just where we are going."
What we didn't know is, so did 75K other people. There was a political rally for Sen. Barack Obama, and it took us 20 minutes to go 20 feet. We made it to the family reunion eventually, but this morning I find myself thinking about politics and pets.

And found "Dogs in Politics."

Here's another interesting. detailed and long/serious post on Pet Power in Election 2008.

mean kitty

I just had to share this hysterical YouTube with you...doesn't Sparta look like Elizabeth?

guest curator redux: kelly cat!

Yeah! Staunch Museum patron Kelly Cat made with the great Mark Twain story.

I may have mentioned Twain's cat Bambino before, but I'm pretty sure I never got hold of the "Lost Cat" notice for him. Kelly Cat did. With a lovely photo yet!

more cats of venice!

I hope I've not inadvertently posted this before, because it's so delightful. Jeff Cotton's "Fictional Cities: Venice Florence London" site examines the mix of fact and imagination in the experience of travel and living. It's one of my favorite ideas, certainly - that what goes on behind your eyes colors your perception of a place.

It also colors what you notice and remember. Which, if you're in Venice, might be the city's stray cats.

animal print

The Animal Print magazine, published in Rhode Island, has a snazzy little regional publication and a jazzy website to boot. You can look at a tiny animated flipbook of the current issue (and download it if you so desire). You can get The Poop on various useful pet related things. And don't forget, pages full of pets, pets, pets. Yay.

patsy ann

In 1934 Juneau, Alaska's mayor dubbed a prominent citizen the city's "official greeter." This citizen had been greeting all the ships at wharfside for years, even though she was deaf. In a way that was all right, since she couldn't talk, either -- Patsy Ann was a bull terrier.

cat records in history, from a 1882 nyt

"A man's sentiments with regard to cats are a kind of token of his age," begins this digest of a London Saturday Review article from 1882 found in the New York Times archives. It goes on to wax philosophical about the cat loving traits of many nations, the Lithuanian piije, the Turkish puschik. Africa, not Egypt, might be the cradle of the fully domesticated cat, and once archeologists found the tomb of Calpurnia Felicula ("Calpurnia Pussy"), but that monument is lost now.

The article goes all over the map but you can see it in a pdf here. (Just make it bigger if it comes out really small)

catmagic!

Yes, cats: the magic healing ingredient. The Literary Cat Homepage has stashed in its pages a few cat spells, including some for curing what ails you:

"To encourage broken bones to heal quickly and to take away pain, recite this charm over them after they have been set, whilst stroking a black cat.
'Blessing on your skull,
With holy secrets it is full,
Let it smile on these bones,
Precious as earths stones
Let it bless these bones,
And hush your groans,
Let it work the spell,
To lnit these bones and make them well,
Blessings on your skull,
With holy secrets it is full.'
Gather a little hair from the cat (make sure it is loose hair, so you don't hurt her) and put it in a little white linen bag, which is to be worn around the neck until the bones are well on the mend, Bless the cat with her magical name."

You can see some other spells here.

i shall call him mini-mutt.

Do you love your dog so much that you wished you could stuff him or her into your pocket for carrying around all day? I've found a felt artist who'd be happy to oblige you. AmeliaMakesArt on the craft network Etsy can create a needle-felted likeness of your Fido (or Kitty too if you ask). They look like hard work, but lovingly perfect. Ah.

Her Typepad blog has more examples. You're sure to enjoy.

pilotfish?

Back in 2005, the EXIT BIENNIAL 2 in NYC featured among other things Seith Weiner's Terranaut.

What could that be? Well, if an astronaut goes into space, a Terranaut must be exploring the Earth. Why would anybody need to do that? You're already here, right?

Oh yeah? What if you're a goldfish?

a gallery gone finely to the dogs

That would be The Dogs Gallery of Westlake Village, CA. Here you can consider the philosophical gazes of Lisa Graziotto's canines, the bold happy dogland of Anne Leuck Feldhaus, and Mylette Welch's expressionist pops and highlights of pure color on fur, just to name a few. Which is your favorite?

cat face 7 is out!

And he's being spied on by a nature program!

PS - Are a lot of you having trouble with the dog game? I'm sorry if it doesn't come up for you - it should.

cat fiction, 1762

"I am the renowned tomcat, Hamilton of Mt. Vernon. I have, since the day of my celebrated birth, been companion to Martha Washington of Mt. Vernon. This being a common 1762 day spent laid upon the carpet with lethargy most uncommon to my namesake, curse him, I have chosen to talk to my lowly readers to pass time."

Thus does a student at the private school Seeds of Learning place herself back in the early days of our nation, with a kitty not such a fan of Alexander Hamilton and not totally sure about Martha Washington either. Cute and well-written post.

(port-a-curator)

Museum-goers all,

I have to go hit the road - will be back tomorrow.
Here's another little pet game I found, but I don't play it very well!! If you figure out how to get perfectly positioned to dig up the bone, tell me after you have played

The Dog Game

friday funs, cat flavored

Oh - I realize I've been kind of cat heavy on the posting tip lately ("Not that there's anything wrong with that," I am sure Elizabeth would say). File under "why the curator is mailing it in" and then enjoy this deceptively simple-looking little game:

Chat Noir

The point is like Stratego...anybody remember Stratego? It was an actual board game....in any case, click dots ahead of the kitty so he doesn't walk off. Easy? Ah, not so fast, grasshopper.

Someday when The Pet Museum has a web page I'll have a page full of pet games.

my name is ichi

. . . says a little kitten by Iwao Akiyama.

Born in 1921 on Kyushu, the southern island of Japan, Iwao Akiyama learned to draw at age 8 by watching a Buddhist priest. And of his life since, he says,

"Now, I am over 80 years old, but I am still searching for my philosophy and always searching for my inspiration for my Hanga (Prints). I have applied myself to the study of folklore and of Buddhism. I will listen to my Hanga, always."

Bold, deft and sweet, his cats, his owls, and other subjects face you with a simplicity and joy of being. I so love his cats... see a variety on this page.