Friday, November 23, 2018

Don't Mess With Honorary Marine Cats




33 comments :

  1. Do not mess with a pissed off kitteh! Not ever! Once in a great while Erica lets out a little hiss at Frankie doggie. He about melts. Gud Boy!

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    1. Funny Adrienne. Our cats and dogs have always been best buds. LB play bites Webster the Beagle's ear on occasion which scares him and gets him barking while LB laughs and saunters off.

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    2. I've seen it go both ways, Kid. Animals are like people in that no two have exactly the same persoanlity or temperament.

      My 14-year-old black-and-white Winner is a true prima donna. She's the sweetest most affectionate thing to me, but tends to put any other animal we've had firmly in their place. Winner is what AOW would call an "Aloha" –– doesn't like competition, even gets jealous if I'm on the phone too long an tries to bat it ou of my hand, but she's never HURT any of our other animal friends, but she does want them to keep their distance.

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  2. SO SO CUTE....good for SMUDGE!!!!

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  3. Many don't realize that cats are capable of loyalty, great affection. –– and gratitude –– towards those who love, feed, comfort and protect them from a catch-as-catch-can life on the streets.

    Traits easly attributed to dogs frequently appear in cats as well, although most felines are more reserved than most canines about showing their feelings, –– except when seriously provoked as these touching videos attest.

    Loved that SMUDGE –– and his sweet family!

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    1. I have long been the recipient of much cat love and attention so I'm not surprised by this video. My daughters consider me a cat charmer. They also consider me to be a dog charmer, so in the defense of dogs, this dog should've been trained to not go after children, especially when it's allowed to run loose. Thank goodness a loyal cat was a first responder.

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    2. Cube, Far too many people allow dangerous dogs free reign. I don't think any dog is inherently dangerous unless they've something wrong in the head, it is how they are brought up / trained. My wife worked as a dog trainer and is very good at it.

      Though some dogs are more easily taught to be violent.

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  4. PART ONE

    For I will consider my Cat Jeoffry.
    For he is the servant of the Living God duly and daily serving him.
    For at the first glance of the glory of God in the East he worships in his way.
    For this is done by wreathing his body seven times round with elegant quickness.
    For then he leaps up to catch the musk, which is the blessing of God upon his prayer.
    For he rolls upon prank to work it in.
    For having done duty and received blessing he begins to consider himself.
    For this he performs in ten degrees.
    For first he looks upon his forepaws to see if they are clean.
    For secondly he kicks up behind to clear away there.
    For thirdly he works it upon stretch with the forepaws extended.
    For fourthly he sharpens his paws by wood.
    For fifthly he washes himself.
    For sixthly he rolls upon wash.
    For seventhly he fleas himself, that he may not be interrupted upon the beat.
    For eighthly he rubs himself against a post.
    For ninthly he looks up for his instructions.
    For tenthly he goes in quest of food.


    (CONTINUED)


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    1. PART TWO

      For having consider'd God and himself
      ___ he will consider his neighbour.
      For if he meets another cat he will kiss her in kindness.
      For when he takes his prey he plays with it to give it a chance.
      For one mouse in seven escapes by his dallying.
      For when his day's work is done his business more properly begins.
      For he keeps the Lord's watch in the night against the adversary.
      For he counteracts the powers of darkness
      ___ by his electrical skin and glaring eyes.
      For he counteracts the Devil, who is death,
      ___ by brisking about the life.
      For in his morning orisons he loves the sun
      ___ and the sun loves him.
      For he is of the tribe of Tiger.
      For the Cherub Cat is a term of the Angel Tiger.
      For he has the subtlety and hissing of a serpent,
      ___ which in goodness he suppresses.
      For he will not do destruction, if he is well-fed,
      ___ neither will he spit without provocation.
      For he purrs in thankfulness, when God tells him
      ___ he's a good Cat.
      For he is an instrument for the children
      ___ to learn benevolence upon.
      For every house is incomplete without him
      ___ and a blessing is lacking in the spirit.
      For the Lord commanded Moses concerning the cats
      ___ at the departure of the Children of Israel from Egypt.
      For every family had one cat at least in the bag.
      For the English Cats are the best in Europe.
      For he is the cleanest in the use of his forepaws
      ___ of any quadruped.
      For the dexterity of his defence is an instance of the love
      ___ of God to him exceedingly.
      For he is the quickest to his mark of any creature.
      For he is tenacious of his point.
      For he is a mixture of gravity and waggery.
      For he knows that God is his Saviour.
      For there is nothing sweeter than his peace when at rest.
      For there is nothing brisker than his life when in motion.
      For he is of the Lord's poor and so indeed is he called
      ___ by benevolence perpetually —
      ___ Poor Jeoffry! poor Jeoffry!
      ______ the rat has bit thy throat.
      For I bless the name of the Lord Jesus
      ___ that Jeoffry is better.
      For the divine spirit comes about his body
      ___ to sustain it in complete cat.
      For his tongue is exceeding pure
      ___ so that it has in purity what it wants in music.
      For he is docile and can learn certain things.
      For he can set up with gravity
      ___ which is patience upon approbation.
      For he can fetch and carry,
      ___ which is patience in employment.
      For he can jump over a stick
      ___ which is patience upon proof positive.
      For he can spraggle upon waggle
      ___ at the word of command.
      For he can jump from an eminence
      ___ into his master's bosom.
      For he can catch the cork and toss it again.
      For he is hated by the hypocrite and miser.
      For the former is afraid of detection.
      For the latter refuses the charge.
      For he camels his back to bear
      ___ the first notion of business.
      For he is good to think on, if a man
      ___ would express himself neatly.
      For he made a great figure in Egypt
      ___ for his signal services.
      For he killed the Ichneumon-rat
      ___ very pernicious by land.
      For his ears are so acute that they sting again.
      For from this proceeds
      ___ the passing quickness of his attention.
      For by stroking of him I have found out electricity.
      For I perceived God's light about him both wax and fire.
      For the Electrical fire is the spiritual substance,
      ___ which God sends from heaven
      ______ to sustain the bodies both of man and beast.
      For God has blessed him in the variety of his movements.
      For, tho he cannot fly, he is an excellent clamberer.
      For his motions upon the face of the earth
      ___ are more than any other quadruped.
      For he can tread to all the measures upon the music.
      For he can swim for life.
      For he can creep.


      ~ Christopher Smart (1722-1771) from Rejoice in the Lamb (Jubilate Agno)*
      ______________________________________
      *Jubilate Agno was later set to musicby Benjmin Britten under the title Rejoice in the Lamb

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  5. A Bit about CRISTOPHER SMART from WIKIPEDIA:

    A "Commission of Lunacy" was taken out against Smart, and he was admitted to St Luke's Hospital for Lunatics on 6 May 1757 as a "Curable Patient". It is possible that Smart was confined by Newbery [a former patron and protector who disapproved of Smart's lifestyle, and therefore turned against him] over old debts and a poor relationship between the two; ...

    Regardless of the exact reasons, there is evidence suggesting that Newbery's admittance of Smart into the mental asylum was not based on "madness". However, there is also evidence that an incident of some kind took place in St. James's Park in which Smart started to pray loudly in public until he had "routed all the company" (Jubilate Agno B89).

    It is not known what exactly happened during his confinement, but Smart did work on two of his most famous poems, Jubilate Agno and A Song to David. ... At St Luke's, he transitioned from being "curable" to "incurable", and was moved to Mr. Potter's asylum for monetary reasons. During this time, his wife Anna left and took the children with her to Ireland.

    Smart's isolation led him into writing religious poetry, although he abandoned the traditional genres of the 18th century that marked his earlier poetry when he wrote Jubilate Agno. Although it is debated as to whether his turning inward to examine himself in his poetry represents an evangelical type of Christianity, his poetry during his isolation does show a desire for "unmediated revelation". There is an "inner light" that serves as a focal point for Smart and his poems written during this time, and that inner light connects him to the Christian God.

    Smart was left alone, except for his cat Jeoffrey and the occasional gawker. It is very possible that he felt "homeless" during this time and surely felt that he was in a "limbo ... between public and private space". In London, only a few of his works were still being published. However, not everyone viewed Smart's "madness" as problematic, and Johnson defended him, sometimes seriously and sometimes comically, many times. A century later, Robert Browning later remarked that A Song to David was great because Smart was mad, and that the poem allowed him to rank alongside of Milton and Keats. It is no wonder that a few of his loyal friends did come to Mr. Potter's and freed him.

    Little is known as to how and why Smart was released from asylum, but Elizabeth, his daughter, claimed: "He grew better, and some misjudging friends who misconstrued Mr Newbery's great kindness in placing him under necessary & salutary restriction which might possibly have eventually wrought a cure, invited him to dinner and he returned to his confinement no more." Although this may be a misstatement of the events, Smart did leave the asylum on 30 January 1763. ...

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    1. Good thing he wasn't female Franco, they may have burned him at the stake.

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    2. Unlikely in the eighteenth century, Kid. That kind of thing happened a lot during the Mediaeval period, but had pretty well petered out after the Enlightenment took hold, thank God.

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    3. If you read the long passage about Christopher Smart's ca Jeoffry, it's obvious the man knew cats very well, appreciated their special qualities, and respected them a great deal.

      It's possible that the cat Jeoffry really did preserve Smart's life, and gave him smething to cling to, love and focus on during that long terrible period of isolation.

      Smart wasn't crazy,. He was a poe and MYSTIC with extraordinary sensitive that caused him to see things very differently from others around him.

      My friend Emily Dickinson, herself an important poet and an exccntric recluse, who worked in virtual isolation, put it this way:

      Much Madness is divinest Sense ––
      To a discerning Eye ––
      Much Sense ––- the starkest Madness ––
      ’Tis the Majority
      In this, as all, prevail ––
      Assent –– and you are sane ––
      Demur –– you’re straightway dangerous ––
      And handled with a Chain ––


      ~ Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

      SHE REALLY KNEW THE SCORE!

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    4. Poetry often doesn't make much sense to me Franco and I never had a passion for it. Ditto dancing which certainly limited my dating choices. I'm a knuckledragger. :-)

      I liked Peter Ustinov's description of cats in the movie Logan's Run.

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    5. Poetry is just one of many ways a person may epress himself. It's just one of any number of avenues that lead to to learning how to appreciate Life, Kid. It has aways appealed to me from early childhood. Both my parents read to me all the time when I was very young, and both of them wrote verse, so I guess I come by it honestly.

      I like to share it, but certainly don't look down on anyone who doesn't "get it." I hope you don't mind? We never knw who may read our blogs.

      By the way, there are more things I don't begin to understand and can't appreciate than you can shake a stick at. Life is like a SMOERGASBORD. There's plenty there for everyone, but no one could possibly eat everything on the table.

      Take what appeals, and leave the rest to others who may love it, but, as my father always said, "Try everything at least twice before you reject it. If you don't you'll be missing out on a lot of great things in life.""

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    6. I've always loved Peter Ustinov –– a UNIÅ’UE and really BRILLIANT guy! I've never seen Logan's Run, maybe I should?

      Are you aware Ustinov's character was quoting the poet T.S. Eliot, who wrote a very famous set of poems about cats among other things? when talking to this two young people who seemed never to have seen a cat or known what cats were before?

      You may like poetry more than you think you do, Kid! ;-)

      It's amazing how Ustinov, who was British, and usually spoke with a beautiful, cultivated Oxford Accent, was able to emulate the speech of an old AMERICAN guy so perfectly Ustinov could play Shakespeare along with the best of them, and was terrific in any part he ever played. He gave fantastically entertaining often very funny MONOLOGUES too, and was a true comedian in the best sense of the word whenever he chose to be.

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    7. Franco, there's probably a few that I enjoy. Feel free to post it. I just mention it in case you wonder why I don't reply to them. Just too hard for me to read and absorb.

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    8. IF you'd like to try to get more out of it, Kid, here's a suggestion:

      COPY and PASTE it, then LAY IT OUT FLAT as though it were ordinary prose. fForget the rhyme scheme and stanza construction, Just lay it out flat, and then read it. There may still be some odd metaphors and other figures of speech and allusions to parts of hstory and literature that might still puzzle you, but in the main it should be much easier to approach if you do as I've suggested.

      If you REALLY want to get more involved with it, try to paraphrase it –– i.e. TRANSLATE or REWRITE IT IN YOUR OWN WORDS.

      Not saying you should, just making a suggestion in case you'd like to learn how to enjoy it. more

      MERRY CHRISTMAS! Ho ho ho!

      <);^}>

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    9. I liked "Logan's Run" for many reasons. I thought the concept of the movie was unique, but I also found some of the characters enjoyable, i.e., the killer icy cave robot, and even more so, Ustinov's performance as the crazy cat man. I have long pondered what the third name of all my cats ever since.

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    10. Franco, Merry Christmas to you.

      Cube, I also. I directly related the main theme of the movie to religion and its promise of a reward or no reward at the end of life. I also sure liked that elevator with the women on it. I am a guy...

      The ice cave robot always comes to mind when I think of the movie.

      I'm thinking our cats don't have the greatest of names for each other, not all the time anyway. Ustinov was a huge character for me in that movie.

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  6. Cats rule!

    Once cats bond with their humans, there is no limit to what those bonded kitties will do to protect their humans.

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    1. Let's face it, AOW, they're just plain ADORABLE. I love my blind, incontinent Mr. Pussy as much as I have loved anything –– even though he seems mentally retarded (can't learn aTHING!), The little fellow has caused much trouble because I can't get him to stop wetting the carpet! (;-o BUT he doesn't know he's dong anything wring, so how could I punish him?

      I have had to resort to keeping him out n the porch, except for rare, heavily-supervised visits, but the ida of getting rid of him is impossble to contemplate.

      He had a very poor start in life, and came to me literally starving to death. The vet said he was already more than a year old, yet weighed only three pounds. Once I got a look at his sweet, little rund face, I had NO CHOICE bit to take him in.

      Anyone who doesn't instinctively love csts and dogs is a DOLT –– and somone I would NEVER want to know..

      Anyone who would hurt a fellow mammal –– espcially cats and dogs –– deserves the DEATH PENALTY.

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    2. AOW, Cats can rise to the occasion :)

      Franco, Anyone who uses the term dumb animal is an idiot.

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    3. Minxy is going nuts here now that I've put up a few Christmas decorations -- no tree because I want to have some peace during the Christmas Season. I hate to think what she could do to a Christmas tree!

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  7. I was able to teach one of my cats any number of tricks... of course all for a treat. My one problem was getting her to stop! The rolling over thing got to be pretty old and felt sorry for the cat. But then, I never could teach her NO.

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    1. Bunk, I never put a lot of effort into it but it's easy to see that they're trainable. Here they know exactly where to sit to get a brush job or treats.
      Back in the 80's there was a guy had an act at Circus-Circus in Vegas. Had those cats doing trapeze kind of stuff. Really amazing.

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    2. Bunk, also we've had more than one cat who would follow us when we walked the dog around the block. They'd hide behind a bush, then when we were far enough ahead,they'd ru to the next bush and hide. Pretty funny. I figured they wanted to make sure the dog was going to be Ok.

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  8. I Give Thanks to those who deserve it. Like Our President Donald J. Trump

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  9. OAR, Thank God for President Trump.

    btw, we don't talk about the other critters around here. I don't even want to see their names in print.

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