Cats, Our Mysterious "Others"

Our resident alien, Charlie, who has diligently overseen the creation
of this post. (2026, DS.)

"When a man loves cats, I am his friend, and comrade, without further introduction."

- The words of Mark Twain (1835-1910), American author, humorist, and champion of cats. He was known to rent cats when he was away from home (missing his own, vast feline collection.) His favorite cat was a black cat (with a white ruff) named Bambino. Twain is also credited for stating: “If man could be crossed with the cat, it would improve man, but it would deteriorate the cat." Both quotes and the photo of Twain insert right were sourced from the Smithsonian article: Mark Twain Liked Cats Better Than People.

"Mark Twain" was, incidentally, the name of of the building in Kansas City in which Mac Tonnies (and his cats) resided. (See blog sidebar.) Mark Twain is also one of the memetic connectives between this post and a new  cross-post on my other blog which will appear shortly regarding Kurt Vonnegut. Had Vonnegut, another of Mac's favorite authors, been a cat person, he would have appeared here as well.

Sunday, January 26, 2003

"Why 'Posthuman Blues'? Jack Kerouac's Book of Blues contains some essentially worthless poetry...but if he'd toted a palmtop instead of a ruled notepad, his output would likely find a small but fervent niche audience. His Book of Blues is rich blogging material, written as one would scribble postcards to one's own clone or multidimensional counterpart."

- Mac Tonnies completing his very first post on his new blog, Posthuman Blues. I wasn't aware that the "Blues" half of his title was inspired by Jack Kerouac (March 12, 1922 – October 21, 1969) and wasn't aware of Book of Blues although I did know of his reverence for On the Road.

Inset left is a vintage photo of Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac (his parents were French Canadian) and his cat. This photo, in essence, inspired this post. I suddenly had the hunch that there were more unexpected cat people to be found... and I was right!

(Source: Ranker. Note: slow-loading page but well worth the effort. Numerous celebrities with their cats... from Herman Hesse to Sartre to Bette Davis to Stanley Kubrick!)

Sunday, August 17, 2003

"I was on my computer waiting for a pizza to arrive when I noticed that Spook, my oldest cat, was unusually interested in the window above my air conditioner. I followed her gaze.

The bat from the previous night was hanging from the blinds! Inexplicably inside my apartment!

It immediately started flying all over the place, coming perilously close to the ceiling fan. I ran to the phone and called my apartment's emergency maintenance number and was told that a loose bat in my apartment didn't constitute an emergency. I told them it fucking well did and that they better send someone to help me trap it. (None of this was the bat's fault. I actually like bats; I just don't like sharing my living room with them.)

By this time both my cats were chasing the bat with gleeful abandon. The phone rang: the pizza guy calling from the lobby nine floors down. I grabbed my checkbook and met him at the door just as a maintenance guy and my building's new manager began conferring about the Loose Bat Situation.

The bat, probably exhausted and starving, flew into the kitchen as we walked into my apartment, and the maintenance guy was able to trap it in a towel. It made angry buzzing noises through tiny fangs as he escorted it into the hall. Fortunately, he had every intention of setting the bat free outside.

Now my cats are listless and forlorn. At first, Spook diligently kept looking for it and meowing plaintively. I think the realization that the bat is gone is finally hitting home. But it was certainly fun while it lasted."

- Mac Tonnies via this humorous Posthuman  Blues post. Mac had been blogging for 8 months before mention of his feline companions entered his Posthuman narrative. I guess he was looking for some comic relief... and he found it.

Inset right above is great photograph of one of Mac's fave songwriters, Morrissey, having a magic moment with his tabby found here.

Inset right is one of the most remarkable cat paintings I could find: Suzanne Valadon's glorious Raminou (1920). Valadon was a pretty remarkable artist whose remarkable story can be read in full on this (remarkable) blog. For more Valadon cats see Katzenworld. For a Trans-D article featuring Valadon, see here.

(Continued below the break...)

Cat Island (Updated: 4/14/2025)

"Cats crowd the harbor on Aoshima Island in the Ehime prefecture of southern Japan on February 25, 2015."
Photo credit: Thomas Peter/Reuters
(Click to enlarge)

"Aoshima Island is one of about a dozen "cat islands" around Japan, small places where there are significantly more feline residents than people. In Aoshima more than a hundred cats prowl the island, curling up in abandoned houses or strutting about in the quiet fishing village. Cats outnumber humans six to one on the island."

- Via the Atlantic article, A Visit to Aoshima, a Japanese 'Cat Island', Alan Taylor, 3/3//15

Every now and then I'm compelled to beam something up to Mac, and I couldn't resist this story. "Cat Island"? Made to order!

Thank you,  Xeni Jardin! :-)

Later note (April 14, 2025): Apparently, the cats had a job to do; they were called in to save Aoshima from a rodent infestation. The operation was a success! Find the full story on YouTube!

R.I.P., Spook & Ebe

Mac's beloved kitties, Spook & Ebe (click to enlarge)

Mac and his cats have been reunited.

It's not a Happy Halloween for Spook & Ebe...

According to Mac's mom, Spook & Ebe, Mac's beloved cats, were taken to a Kansas City, MO animal shelter that has yet to be identified. In the surrounding chaos that attended the discovery of his body, I'm afraid the matter of the cats was not uppermost on anyone's mind. I have emailed three shelters thus far, including the necessary data and the above photos, in hopes of finding their whereabouts. I will post this information as soon as it becomes available. Meanwhile, if you live in the Kansas City area, and believe you might have a home for these cats, please contact me via this blog or by email.