Medieval Kitty Paws (again)

Well, looks like Erik Kwakkel dug up another little moment of kitty mischief frozen in time. Check out his latest post here! (P.S. I've tweaked the exposure of the picture above to try to bring out the paw prints)

"Rocket-Cat" Blasts Out of Obscurity

This recent story reminds me of an old morbid joke I heard as a kid. To this day, I still feel ashamed laughing at it: 

How do you make a dog meow? You freeze it overnight and come morning, you run it through an electric saw - Meeeeeeaaaaoooooooowwww.
Now how do you get a cat to bark? You douse it with gas and light a match - Woooooof!

Now that I've gotten this black humor out of the way, you might be interested in reading up about the infamous "Medieval rocket-cat" that's been going around the internet lately... turns out that 1) Yes, this is a real picture, and 2) No, the cat was not part of some sort of medieval space program. Check out the facts, courtesy of the Appendix Blog here.

Animation: Joseph Gagné

Cats in Colonial French America

Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin, 1728.

For anyone who understands French, I highly suggest this interview with historian Jean Provencher talking about cats in New France! From Dessine-moi un dimanche on Radio-Canada. 

Harry Pointer's Cats

Here is a link to a interesting site regarding Harry Pointer's Brighton Cats : http://www.photohistory-sussex.co.uk/BTNPointerCats.htm

Art & Cats

I've just run across this wonderful blog, It's About Time. Though not just about cats, you can find many great representations of felines in various paintings. My personal favourite is this strange football-looking puss painted by none other than George Catlin. Check it out!

Shakespearean Jabs

Illustrating Shakespearean insults with cat pictures seem to add more potency to them for some reason... Visit  17 Shakespearean Insults To Unleash In Everyday Life for more.

Mark Twain, The Cat Lover

And might I add another personal favourite quote from this timeless author: 

Of all God's creatures there is only one that cannot be made the slave of the lash. That one is the cat. If man could be crossed with the cat it would improve man, but it would deteriorate the cat.  

- Notebook, 1894

For more wonderful Mark Twain quotes about cats and pictures of his own little companions, visit this wonderful site: Mark Twain Quotations, Newspaper Collections, & Related Resources.

(Image source: here)