Cats are GOOD. Don't believe TV.

Been wanting to post this for many years. As a child I remember the insanity of "cats are evil" and "dogs are good" themes running through the cartoons I watched, all while curled up on the couch with my favorite kitty snuggled and purring next to me.

This does not apply to all cartoons. Among those I do not abhor:

• Garfield (actually this one says dogs are dumb, but doesn't go so far as to say they're evil)
• Heathcliff (same as Garfield)
• Thundercats

Stereotypes against Cats documented here

Here are the cartoons my gen watched growing up, and the slant against cats is terrible!  If you didn't have a cat of your own, you might not know the truth.

Sylvester & Tweety

Sylvester is the sneaky, dim-witted predator and Tweety is the adowable widdle birdie. Sylvester might win battles, but Tweety always won the war.

Tom & Jerry

This one might not be as bad because Tom, Jerry, and the dog probably inflicted as much damage on each other as possible. Tom always got worse treatment.

The Simpsons

(this section would not have been possible without http://simpsonswiki.net)

I do know that Tom & Jerry's faux counterparts, Itchy and Scratchy mimic them, and that the mouse always ends up winning over the cat.

Perhaps one day I will thoroughly research and document all cat and dog episodes in The Simpsons, but the most cat oriented episode summary is as follows. Draw your own conclusions.

Episode 322 (FABF04) "I, (Annoyed Grunt)-bot"
Snowball II gets hit by a car, and after Marge reads the bookWhen Bad Things Happen To Cute Children, she and Lisa go to find a new cat. Unfortunately, Snowball III drowns trying to catch fish in the Simpsons' fish tank and Coltrane, aka Snowball IV, falls out the window to his death after listening to the music of the original John Coltrane. While sitting outside, the Crazy Cat Lady throws a cat at Lisa that looks exactly like Snowball II. Lisa sends it away, thinking it'll die if it's with her. When the cat walks away, a car, owned by Gil is about to hit it, but the car misses and drives into a tree and explodes. Noticing that the cat didn't die, Lisa takes it in. In order to save money on food dishes and to forget any of this ever happened, she names it Snowball II, even though it's technically Snowball V.

The episode marks a milestone in the history of the series, as Snowball II is killed off, the closest thing to an actual Simpson family member actually being killed off (besides Homer's mother death in season 19's "Mona Leaves-a.") 16.3 million people watched this episode on January 11, 2004. At least it had a good ending.

The Smurfs

The Smurfs have a dog friend they hang out and play with and love. The only enemy of the Smurfs is Gargamel, and his cat Azrael.

How many children did this corrupt and brainwash to think the media lies?

Inspector Gadget

Our hero Inspector Gadget and his niece Penny have a helpful dog named Brain. Our villain Dr. Claw (already implying bad=claws on a cat) has a sidekick cat (nameless?) who gleefully accepts the Dr.'s pets and laughs at every misfortune that happens to Gadget and Co.

Apparently Dr. Claw never ventured out from behind his computer, and lived in a dark place (with access to wine according to this screenshot?). Meanwhile the heroes are out in the fresh air (possibly drinking beer?).

Geek aside: Although there is a cat/dog stereotype here, they do not stereotype the use of technology. Although Dr. Claw has a [Windows 95] machine [with modem internet access], they do not say all IT is bad. Penny has her famous [4G wireless iPad] computer book and does some nice things with it herself.

  


Found a great link on this very subject with regard to Walt Disney. Please click here for that info!

http://www.graspingforobjectivity.com/2010/03/truth-about-cats-and-dogs.html

Good News for Cats moving forward - The Future is Bright!

Cats on the Internet:

Some are internet behemoths, taking up to 100% of an employee's average workday. Some are esoteric, some possibly offensive, but we can all agree that the more cats there are on the internet, the better this world will be.

I Can Has Cheesburger

The pinnacle of human engineering, the apex of society. This is the website that made cat-loving acceptible in society and I love them for that. This now mainstream website was once an offbeat experiment but has grown into a kitty empire.

  

Cat vs. Human

Although the name seems to indicate a cat-hating site, you can instantly tell that the person who writes these comics loves cats. She is writing from the perspective that loving you cat is a given, and the comics are then drawn from the everyday small quirks and conflicts that arise when living with a cat. So cute, well drawn, and highly recommended. There is even a book out on Amazon I got which is awesome!

source: catversushuman.blogspot.com

Cats that look like Hitler

From the site: Does your cat look like Adolf Hitler? Do you wake up in a cold sweat every night wondering if he's going to up and invade Poland? Does he keep putting his right paw in the air while making a noise that sounds suspiciously like "Sieg Miaow"? If so, this is the website for you.

Stuff on my Cat

An amusing way to pass your time if you are very bored. If done properly, this will only slightly irritate your cat yet result in a lot of stuff on him or her.

Pieces

The Iceberg killed Titanic
Strewn 'cross the ocean floor
But what happened to bunny
That turned her into gore?

A polished feat of marvel
For wealth and the well-heeled
England, Ireland, New York bound
Is now a debris field

Her maiden voyage started
And cut short by the smack
In 70 years they found her front
Days later found her back

A bunny borne but weeks ago
Nestled in mother's womb
Life all ahead but now is dead
A trash can now her tomb

Bun's first peek out the burrow
Met Kittens unrestrained
And hours later I found her
In pieces more than twain

One leg, one leg, one body
Here lies the bunny dead
One leg, one leg, one body
I cannot find the head

~ RIP little bunny

Peter Whiffle by Carl Van Vechten

Frugal yet voracious readers will scour books and magazines for any hint of a Books to Read list so they can add it to their ever revolving que.  Such readers may want a Kindle, but books are all $10 on a Kindle and free at the library. Kindlelessness aside, I  found Peter Whiffle (book) by Carl Van Vechten (author) in one such recommended list somewhere within the last 3 years. I therefore thought it would be a typically enjoyable read.  Not so.  It was to be so entertaining I reread parts of it which I never do, and have found myself thinking of it often since.

There are schools of thought, ways of looking at life, etc. Karl Marx has Marxism. Ayn Rand has Objectivism.  Karl Van Vechten, surely then should have some -ism associated with his work Peter Whiffle, but upon a terse search I came up with nothing from the internet. Except Gay Writers. Which doesn't exactly help to categorize him, but perhaps he transcends categorization. Vechtenism is the belief in the power of the individual. Not as a means to anything, but as a reason to exist as an individual, living the life one desires to live. His story of Peter documents Peter from a younger man who dressed fastidiously, living paycheck to paycheck in consequence, to a middle aged man flush with a large inheritance but living in rags and consorting with the lowest wretches in NYC. Peter does not ask anything from anyone except to live life as he wants to. He travels, falls in and out of love, and always, the point is to satisfy his craving for new experiences and life.  Just to follow where his human desires go, (and for him) always collecting information for a potential book to write later on.  Peter never writes the book, but Carl writes it, and through his narrative and relatively typical life (somewhere between 'normal' and how Peter lives) we find out about Peter's journey.  It seems like Siddhartha, the quest of ultimate peace and Seinfeld, a story about nothing combined. It is a delight to read, and Peter extends our literary pleasure by mentioning many books people ought to read.

Before returning Peter to the library I flipped through all the pages with a pad of paper because and I wanted to add those books also to my Books to Read list.

Two full notebook pages, 6 photocopies, and extensive follow up searching via google later (sometimes he mentions authors, sometimes titles), I find myself able to make this list but I feel the need to also post it online. Authors and a brief description are listed unless the fictional Peter Whiffle sought fit to mention specific works.

• Théophile Gautier (French poet & writer)
• Jules-Amédée Barbey d'Aurevilly (French novelist & short story writer)
• Charles-Marie-Georges Huysmans (French novelist)
• Oscar Wilde (Irish poet & writer)
• Henry James (American writer)
• Thomas Hardy (English poet & writer)
• Sir Henry Rider Haggard (English writer)
• Lavengro by George Borrow
• Roderick Hudson by Henry James
• Dickens (c'mon, you know him)
• Fyodor Dostoevsky (Russian author/existentialism)
• The Way of all Flesh by Samuel Butler: A unique and ultimately optimistic turn on the Great Expectations theme.
• Sister Carrie by Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser (American writer/Naturalism)
• The Hill of Dreams by Arthur Machen 
• David Belasco (American playwright)
•  more to come? If i can find the other papers and photocopies?
  

He also mentions many artists, actors, and other influencial people within the book. I will not attempt to list these as well, but two of these are:

• Jan Baptist van Helmont, a Flemish chemist
• Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune specifically by Claude-Achille Debussy, the French composer  

He also goes into the merits of cats at length. I will endeavor to post it but suffice it to say it almost, almost comes close to doing cats full justice.

Last Night (actually last August on one of those frigid nights)

Things to know:

1. Kittens loves Alley

2. Alley loves her Soccer Ball

3. Sophie is scared of Alley

4. Alley doesn't like Sophie either

5. But Sophie loves to cuddle

The goal here for myself as a human is to enjoy the comfort/warmth of cats in the winter. And of course to sleep. Hubby was on a trip so I had the bed and cats to myself.  The cats have different goals however, far beyond human comprehension.

 (10pm)
 A little reading before bed.

(10:15pm)
Kittens sat between me and the book,
forcing me to hold the book high in order to read it.

 (11pm)
 Alley and Sophie both attempt to come into
the bedroom, high alert, both abort.

 
(11:30)
 Kittens finally gets off, allowing me
to stretch out and enjoy the bed.

 (midnight)
 Sophie makes a second attempt to jump on the bed.
Succeeds and begins to cuddle.

 
(12:30am)
Alley jumps on bed with pink soccer ball.
 Sophie flees.

 

(12:30 – 12:45)
Alley enjoys playing soccer. 

 

(12:46)

Alley passes out.

(1am)
 Kittens decide they are cold;

commence deep snuggle mode.

 (4am)
 Sophie gets on bed a third time,
and she begins to cuddle.

Oh Sophie!
Epic snuggling, purrs, licks, drooling, cannot ignore.

(4:30)
 Sophie falls asleep in my arms.
Kittens take the other pillow.

 (4:45am)
Sophie gets up and leaves,
Alley decides to snuggle, Kittens use this
to their advantage to force me further off the pillow.

(7am)
Alarm wakes me up. I have a soccer ball.