Friday, December 31, 2010

© Panos Andronopoulos

Cats as the fifty-three stations of theTokaido

Utagawa Kuniyoshi, 1798 - 1861

Thanks to Andrés Seoane | Reblogged from LA VOZ

Felix the Cat - Felix Gets His Fill - 1925

The Rum Tum Tugger | T. S. Elliot

The Rum Tum Tugger is a Curious Cat:
If you offer him pheasant he would rather have grouse.
If you put him in a house he would much prefer a flat,
If you put him in a flat then he'd rather have a house.
If you set him on a mouse then he only wants a rat,
If you set him on a rat then he'd rather chase a mouse.
Yes the Rum Tum Tugger is a Curious Cat--
And there isn't any call for me to shout it:
For he will do
As he do do
And there's no doing anything about it!
The Rum Tum Tugger is a terrible bore:
When you let him in, then he wants to be out;
He's always on the wrong side of every door,
And as soon as he's at home, then he'd like to get about.
He likes to lie in the bureau drawer,
But he makes such a fuss if he can't get out.
Yes the Rum Tum Tugger is a Curious Cat--
And there isn't any use for you to doubt it:
For he will do
As he do do
And there's no doing anything about it!
The Rum Tum Tugger is a curious beast:
His disobliging ways are a matter of habit.
If you offer him fish then he always wants a feast;
When there isn't any fish then he won't eat rabbit.
If you offer him cream then he sniffs and sneers,
For he only likes what he finds for himself;
So you'll catch him in it right up to the ears,
If you put it away on the larder shelf.
The Rum Tum Tugger is artful and knowing,
The Rum Tum Tugger doesn't care for a cuddle;
But he'll leap on your lap in the middle of your sewing,
For there's nothing he enjoys like a horrible muddle.
Yes the Rum Tum Tugger is a Curious Cat--
And there isn't any need for me to spout it:
For he will do
As he do do
And there's no doing anything about it!

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof | Tennessee Williams

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is one of Tennessee Williams’s best-known works and his personal favorite. The play won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1955. Set in "the bed-sitting room of a plantation home in the Mississippi Delta" of Big Daddy Pollitt, a wealthy cotton tycoon, the play examines the relationships among his son Brick, Brick's wife Maggie the Cat, and his friendship with the late Skipper, as well as Brick and his father and other family.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof features several recurring motifs, such as social mores, superficiality, decay, sexuality's consequences, and death.Dialogue throughout is often rendered phonetically to represent accents of the American South.

The play was adapted as a motion picture by the same name in 1958, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman as Maggie and Brick, respectively. Williams made substantial excisions and alterations to the play for a revival in 1974.

T. S. Eliot

Again I must remind you that a dog is a dog - a cat is a cat.

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Night and the Cat

By Elizabeth Coatsworth | Illustrations by Foujita

Foujita & Cat

Photographer unknown | Thanks to Andrés Seoane

Léonard Tsuguharu Foujita

Ernest Menaul

"The cat has too much spirit to have no heart"

Patti Smith with Her Children & Cat

St. Clair Shores, Michigan, 1996 | © Annie Leibovitz

Patti Smith & Cat

Charles Bukowski

"In my next life I want to be a cat. To sleep 20 hours a day and wait to be fed. To sit around licking my ass."

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Charles Bukowski & Friend (3)

Photographer unknown

Charles Bukowski | The History Of One Tough Motherfucker

he came to the door one night wet thin beaten and
terrorized
a white cross-eyed tailless cat
I took him in and fed him and he stayed 
grew to trust me until a friend drove up the driveway
and ran him over
I took what was left to a vet who said,"not much
chance...give him these pills...his backbone
is crushed, but is was crushed before and somehow
mended, if he lives he'll never walk, look at
these x-rays, he's been shot, look here, the pellets
are still there...also, he once had a tail, somebody
cut it off..." 
I took the cat back, it was a hot summer, one of the
hottest in decades, I put him on the bathroom 
floor, gave him water and pills, he wouldn't eat, he
wouldn't touch the water, I dipped my finger into it
and wet his mouth and I talked to him, I didn't go any-
where, I put in a lot of bathroom time and talked to 
him and gently touched him and he looked back at
me with those pale blue crossed eyes and as the days went
by he made his first move
dragging himself forward by his front legs
(the rear ones wouldn't work)
he made it to the litter box
crawled over and in,
it was like the trumpet of possible victory
blowing in that bathroom and into the city, I
related to that cat-I'd had it bad, not that
bad but bad enough 
one morning he got up, stood up, fell back down and
just looked at me. 
"you can make it," I said to him. 
he kept trying, getting up falling down, finally
he walked a few steps, he was like a drunk, the
rear legs just didn't want to do it and he fell again, rested,
then got up. 
you know the rest: now he's better than ever, cross-eyed
almost toothless, but the grace is back, and that look in
his eyes never left... 
and now sometimes I'm interviewed, they want to hear about
life and literature and I get drunk and hold up my cross-eyed,
shot, runover de-tailed cat and I say,"look, look
at this!" 
but they don't understand, they say something like,"you
say you've been influenced by Celine?" 
"no," I hold the cat up,"by what happens, by
things like this, by this, by this!" 
I shake the cat, hold him up in 
the smoky and drunken light, he's relaxed he knows... 
it's then that the interviews end
although I am proud sometimes when I see the pictures
later and there I am and there is the cat and we are photo-
graphed together. 
he too knows it's bullshit but that somehow it all helps.

© Masahisa Fukase

Thanks to Alexandros Mistriotis

Leonardo da Vinci

"The smallest feline is a masterpiece."

© Nobuyoshi Araki | Chiro (1)

Fernand Mery

"With the qualities of cleanliness, affection, patience, dignity, and courage that cats have, how many of us, I ask you, would be capable of becoming cats?"

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Οι γάτες της Rue d' Hauteville

Οι γάτες της Rue d’Hauteville” (Εκδ. Πατάκη) είναι το ημερολόγιο της μετεγκατάστασης του συγγραφέα στην Ελλάδα ύστερα από τα χρόνια του Παρισιού ή καλύτερα ο τελευταίος μήνας της παρισινής ζωής του. Η μετακόμιση, τα βιβλία, τα κουρτινόξυλα, η στείρωση των δυο του γατιών –υπενθύμιση του δικού του ευνουχισμού λέει κάπου ο ίδιος- είναι ένα μικρό αριστούργημα οδυνηρής ειλικρίνειας. Κυρίως μού θύμισε ότι αυτό που ονομάζεται σήμερα συγγραφέας στην Ελλάδα δεν είναι αυτό που ήταν κάποτε. Γιατί συγγραφέας σημαίνει τελικά να μην τα βγάζεις πέρα με τους ανθρώπους και τα πράγματα, να έχεις απλήρωτα γραμμάτια και να γράφεις χωρίς να έχεις –ή χωρίς να πιστεύεις ότι έχεις- υποχρεώσεις επειδή “το αυγό γεννιέται σε μιαν απόλυτη αυτοσυγκέντρωση της κότας”.
(Απόσπασμα από την κριτική της Αμάντας Μιχαλοπούλου για το βιβλιο του βασίλη Βασιλικού στο Bookpress)

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Thanks to Ritsa Masoura

Kurt Cobain & Cats

Thanks to Georgia Panakia

Sylvia Plath | Lady Lazarus (excerpt)

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And I a smiling woman.
I am only thirty.
And like the cat I have nine times to die.

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http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/sylviaplath/1404

Sylvia Plath & Cat

Thanks to Georgia Panakia

Ernest Hemingway & Cat

Photo by Torre Johnson

Ernest Hemingway

"One cat just leads to another."

A Monkey Washing a Cat.

Thanks to Andrés Seoane

Monday, December 27, 2010

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

“Watch a cat when it enters a room for the first time. It searches and smells about, it is not quiet for a moment, it trusts nothing until it has examined and made acquaintance with everything.”

William Burroughs Interview

Victor Bockris, William Burroughs and Cat - September 1990

One of the most significant changes in William's life since moving to Kansas has been his relationship with a number of cats. At many given time over the last few years he had up to five cats at the same time living with him."

VICTOR BOCKRIS: Do you think you've learned a lot from living with your cats ?

WILLIAM BURROUGHS: Oh heavens! I've learned immeasurably. I've learned compassion, I've learned all sorts of things from my cats, "cos cats reflect you, they really do. I remember when I was out at the stone house Ruskie sort of attacked one of the kitten. I gave him a light slap and then he disappeared. He was so hurt. And I knew where he was. I went out into the barn and found him sulking there, picked him up and carried him back. Just the slightest slap like that. This is his human, his human had betrayed him, slapped him, yeah. Oh heavens yes I've learned so much from my cats I can't tell you. They reflect you in a deep way. It just opened up in me a whole area of compassion that I can't tell you was so important. I remember lying in my bed and weeping and weeping and weeping to think that a nuclear catastrophe would destroy my cats. I could see people driving by saying: "Kill your dogs and cats," and this, you know, I spent literally hours just crying with grief. Oh my God, and then also the feeling that constantly could be some relationship between me and the cats, some special relationship and that I might have missed it. Yes, yes, did I ever. Some of this is in The Cat Inside. Some of it was so extreme that I couldn't write it. I could not write it. Did I ever learn from my cats, my God, Oh my God. People, you know, think of me as being so cold - some woman wrote that I was someone who could not admit any feeling at all. My God. I am so emotional that sometimes I can't stand the intensity. Oh my God. Then they ask me if you ever cry ? I said Holy shit probably two days ago. I'm very subject to these violent fits of weeping, for very good reasons. Yes.

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From: "The Last Interview I Will Ever Do" by Victor Bockris

Reblogged from http://pantherpro-webdesign.com/burroughs/burroughs.html

Björk & Cat

Famous Cat Writers

"Edgar Allan Poe had a pet cat, Catterina, when he lived in Philadelphia. The Brontë sisters were well-known as cat lovers. Raymond Chandler talked to his black Persian, Taki, as though she was human and called her his secretary because she sat on his manuscripts as he tried to revise them. Jean Cocteau dedicated Drôle de Ménage to his cat Karoun, whom he described as "the king of cats." Hemingway shared his Key West home with more than thirty cats. Edward Lear was devoted to Foss, his tabby cat. When he decided to move to San Remo, Italy, he instructed his architect to design a replica of his old home in England so Foss would not be disturbed and suffer a minimum of distress after the move. George Sand (real name Amandine Dudevant) reportedly ate her breakfast from the same bowl as her cat Minou. H.G. Wells’ cat, Mr. Peter Wells, had the habit, if a guest talked too long or too loudly, of getting up from its chair, protesting loudly and stalking out of the room."

Via The Truth About Lies

Wim Wenders | Wings of Desire

Sunday, December 26, 2010

The Cat of Cheshire (3)

From Alice in Wonderland

Illustrator Sir John Tenniel
Thanks to Poly Hatjimanolaki

The Cat of Cheshire (2)

From Alice in Wonderland

Illustrator Sir John Tenniel
Thanks to Poly Hatjimanolaki

The Cat of Cheshire

From Alice in Wonderland - Illustrator Sir John Tenniel
Thanks to Poly Hatjimanolaki

© Weegee

Salvador Dali & Cats

Anonymous

"Home is where my cat is."

Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen

Des chats: images sans paroles

via L'Aquoiboniste

Federico Fellini | La Dolce Vita

Three Eyed Cat © Weegee

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Lait pur stérilisé | Théophile Steinlen

1896-1900

Life-Opinions of Tom-Cat Murr

1855 edition

E. T. A. Hoffmann's novel, often abbreviated as Kater Murr, carried the full title Lebens-Ansichten des Katers Murr nebst fragmentarischer Biographie des Kapellmeisters Johannes Kreisler in zufälligen Makulaturblättern herausgegeben von E. T. A. Hoffmann [Life-Opinions of Tom-Cat Murr, together with the Fragmentary Biography of Conductor Johannes Kreisler in Accidental Galley-Proofs, Edited by E. T. A. Hoffmann] and appeared in two parts (1819 and 1821). A third part was planned, but never published. In several respects this is a unique romantic novel.

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Thanks to Makis Andronopoulos

The black Cat | Pavlina Pampoudi

Theophile Gautier

"It is difficult to obtain the friendship of a cat. It is a philosophical animal...one that does not place its affections thoughtlessly."

Thanks to Stavros Papadopoulos

Το βάφτισμα των Γάτων | T.S Eliot

The naming of Cats | Translation in Greek
Mετάφραση στα Ελληνικά: Παυλίνα Παμπούδη & Γιάννης Ζέρβας.

Το να βαφτίζεις τα γατιά, έχει μια δυσκολία…
Δεν είναι επιπόλαιη κι ανάλαφρη ασχολία
Καθόλου δεν τρελάθηκα και δεν το λέω αστεία:
Κάθε μια Γάτα, ΟΝΟΜΑΤΑ ΠΡΕΠΕΙ ΝΑ ΕΧΕΙ ΤΡΙΑ!

Ένα να τη φωνάζουμε στην οικογένειά της
Ας πούμε, Βίκτωρ, Αύγουστος, Τζωρτζίνα, Ιπποκράτης
Ας πούμε Μέρλιν, Τζόναθαν, Αλόνζο, Μανταλένα
Καθημερινά ονόματα, καλά, συνηθισμένα.
Να βρείτε ωραιότερα υπάρχουν ευκαιρίες
Ονόματα για τζέντλεμεν και άλλα για κυρίες
Ας πούμε, Πλάτων , Άδμητος, Ηλέκτρα, Ευρυάλη
Μα όλα αυτά είναι κοινά και θα τα έχουν κι άλλοι.
Μια γάτα όμως, να ξέρετε, θέλει και το δικό της
Το δεύτερό της τ’ όνομα να ν ‘αποκλειστικό της!
Για να μπορεί αφ’ υψηλού τον κόσμο να κοιτάει
Και την ουρά της πάντοτε ψηλά να την κρατάει.
Πρέπει να είναι όνομα μονάχα για μια γάτα:
Χουρχούρης, για παράδειγμα, Γλείψος, Χνουδοπατάτα
Κι άλλα πολλά τέτοιας λογής μπορώ να αναφέρω:
Μπομπαλουρίνα, Πιρπιρής, Φρουφρου, Τρελοκαμπέρω.
Πέρα όμως απ’ αυτά τα δυο, υπάρχει κι ένα άλλο
Τ΄ όνομα το μοναδικό, το τρίτο, το μεγάλο
Το όνομα το μυστικό, που άνθρωπος δεν ξέρει
Και γάτα σ’ άνθρωπο μπροστά ποτέ δεν αναφέρει.
Όταν σε διαλογισμό λοιπόν μια γάτα δείτε
Πάντα ο λόγος είν’ αυτός και να το θυμηθείτε:
Σ’ απύθμενους συλλογισμούς βρίσκεται βυθισμένη

Για τ’ όνομα το άρρητο

Το αρρητορητονιάρρητο
Το όνομά της το κρυφό σκέφτεται μαγεμένη…

--T. S. Eliot--
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Thanks to Poly Hatjimanolaki