It’s the battle of the titans: Maru versus Ceiling Cat, and the voting ends at midnight (EST) tonight. I’m asking my “minions” to go vote, with the chance of winning a prize. Just go to the Catfight! site and cast your vote for either Maru or Ceiling Cat. Then simply indicate which way you have voted in a comment on this post.
Now be honest. Don’t vote for Ceiling Cat (who, by the way, is a religious symbol) and write that you voted for that adorable fluffball Maru. And don’t not vote and say you did.
IF MARU WINS, I will award the following prizes. To reduce the appearance (though not the presence) of bias, there will be two winners:
Those who voted for Maru: a randomly selected winner gets an autographed paperback edition of Why Evolution is True
Those who voted for Ceiling Cat: a randomly selected winner gets a mint-condition paperback (autographed by me) of Krista Tippett’s Einstein’s God: Conversations About Science and the Human Spirit (I can’t wait to unload this one!).
Maru! Of course, I voted for him. There’s no cuter than Japanese cat cute. >^.^<
Hmm. Tough call. Ceiling cat did give us the LOLCat Bible. And I tend to think that it’s useful for illustrating the silliness of religion.
But then there’s Maru . . .
Well, the bribes decided it. I already own WEIT, and I do like to add items to my woo/crank shelf.
I voted for CEILING CAT.
Did I misread the bribes? I don’t see any prize if CC wins. Prizes appear to be awarded only if Maru wins. WEIT for one of the wonderful persons who voted for Maru, and a white elephant for one of the losers who voted for Ceiling Cat.
You didn’t misread. It’s just that sometimes one has a use for white elephants.
Yep: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/robin-inces-bad-book-club-by-robin-ince-2026955.html
Such is the price of faith.
Maru rules!
I voted for Maru!
Maru gets the vote.
You bet your sweet billy club I voted for Maru! And he’s kicking ass right now too.
Can the Ceiling Cat create a box so large that Maru cannot jump out of? (or into?) I think not! Another vote for Maru!
Well, it was sort of tempting to vote for a sacrilegious cat, but in the end I voted for Felis Gump Maru.
Strikethrough fail on Felis Gump. Doh.
One more for Maru! For the bribz!
This is not about cute. It’s a about better. Ceiling cat isn’t a God, he’s just been turned into a religious symbol by his followers. He’s just a good cat, who watches you masturbate. It is, however, a tough choice, as Maru’s antics are awesome and better documented – but he’s just less iconic that t3h ceiling cat.
I voted for Maru from home, and was actually surprised to see Ceiling cat trailing, so I voted for Ceiling cat when I got to work.
Do I get entered for both prizes? Or excluded from both for cheating? (Where does it say you only get to vote once anyway) Or do I only get entered for my first choice (which was Maru, by the way, partly because I thought he’d be the underdog. Um. Undercat).
You get entered only for the first vote. Otherwise it’s UNFAIR! 🙂
Besides, sending both books together in the same package might lead to spontaneous combustion.
more like matter and anti-matter
Maru! Maru! Time well spent!
Maru FTW!
another vote for Maru.
Maru!
I voted for Maru. Ceiling Cat freaks me out anyway.
Another vote for Maru here. 🙂 Good luck to both kittehs.
Maru all the way… Though when I win, I want my autograph to say, “I’m sorry. I’ve been wrong about the importance of hybrids throughout my entire career.”
Also, I have very astute students who just showed me free online pdf versions of your book… I think from Russia. If you want me to give you links, let me know and I’ll e-mail to you.
Yes, please do send them to me. My email is easily gotten by simply googling me and going to my university site. Thanks.
Speaking of sending things to you, I emailed you a few weeks ago with a question about Marsupials and Metatheria (this name was in the email). If you got the email, would you be kind enough to send a quick answer?
Oh dear; I vaguely recall that and thought I had answered it. Resend plz.
Maru obviously… I dont believe in ceiling cat
Of course I voted for Maru. I’d much rather read ‘Why Evolution is True’. 🙂
I was going to vote for ceiling cat but he completely put me off when he insulted the adorable Maru by arrogantly prancing about the room meowing “how ignorant!, how ignorant” at the top of his lungs. I think he’s one of those militant new catty-ists.
So Maru it is!
I voted for Maru, it is so cute!
I voted for Maru – he’s an excellent box jumper.
Maru FTW! We need a weekly contest for a signed copy of WEIT! Or visit Arizona soon, but bring your papers.
I second this. Arizona needs people like Jerry Coyne to help dispel the craziness around here.
Besides the problem we have with bigotry and paranoia, anecdotally I can say that Arizona also lags shamefully behind in accepting evolution as a fact.
I work at a public library, and when I started there 3 years ago, I noticed that a lot of my co-workers are liberals or at least left leaning. (except for one 70 year old lady republican who does not trust Obama because he’s black – to put it nicely) But to my surprise, only 2 of them besides me accepted the fact of evolution and knew anything about it in any kind of detail. Three others seemed interested in the subject and after a few long talks seemed pretty convinced and intrigued by the idea. But at least 5 of them call it the monkey theory or fish theory and scoff in mockery at the whole work done in the past century and a half and claim that it is made up and complete nonsense (surprise! Surprise! 4 of these are hardcore Christians). I’ve done what I can there, and along the way de-converted 3 people to atheism/agnostics.
At the house everyone has suffered my wrath (really just long discussions about the bible, its history, its very dark and immoral stories, the outlandish claims, and the relentless clashes of religions with science) and now all there are athiest except for a brother and his wife (but they are deist at most). My father is now a flat-out and proud athiest and shocks everyone at work and his sisters when they come around with his irreligiosity and I think it’s damn awesome, since he also proudly claims that his youngest son (me) taught him a lot, mostly to not be afraid or ashamed to admit that you do not believe in fairy-tales. (If I accomplish nothing else in life, haha, which seems likely, I could die happy with that fact)
Crazy stuff, Phoenix iz not very highly educated. (Oh and when I was in high school, only one of my biology teachers ever mentioned the word evolution, it seemed taboo just to utter it in a classroom, and the same also applied to 2 college courses)
So, what’s my point with all of this? That, oftentimes we tend to blanket term evolution-deniers as right-wing republicans, but in fact a big chunk of left leaning citizens reject or are ignorant of what evolution is and is not. (Many seem to think that creatures just evolve spontaneously into new creatures, or as if the whole spiel had directionality to it, culminating in humans)
So yes, Arizona most definitely needs your intellectual clout Professor Coyne. We need re-enforcements, for though the statistics point to a shrinking of religious affiliation, I fear the crowd of ignorance/bigotry may be getting louder, stronger, and more desperately dangerous.
Maru ! natürlich.
Maru, hands down.
Jerry, use your power only for good. I voted for Maru, but it is meaningless since the demise of Happycat, who is a British Shorthair, the most beautiful and noble of all the cats.
Maru for me.
Maru gets me a book I’ll actually read, so thats who gets my vote.
Jerry, I do not quite know how to say to you…Please, sit down to your most comfortable chair, take a long, deep breath and maybe also a healthy dose of some fine single malt..
Here are the bad news: Bec Crew of the
http://runningponies.com/ fame sent me this message, after I had alerted her to the possibility of casting the decisive vote on teh Celestial Cat vs. Maru fight, via Twitter:
“No competition! Maru sucks”.
I know that you cannot leave that shocking and perversely Antipodean challenge to all standards of kitteh cuteness unheeded: it is a declaration of war and now it is the time for everybody to stand up and be counted.
Having already given that decisive vote for Maru in the semis, my choice is clear: I shall not say a word to Bec…:)
iz votehd fur maru. iz wahnt teh buk.
Totally voted for Maru. So adorable!
I voted for that adorable fluffball Maru.
But only because the best cat should win.
Seems that teh Ceiling Cat is badly trailing, after I gave the 844th vote for Maru, but it isn´t over until it is over, and if there is anycat who can make miraculous comebacks, it must be teh Ceiling Cat…I wonder whether Paul the Octopus knows the final outcome already…
Voted Maru! Ceiling cat is pretentious.
Maru for president!
I’m a proud Maru-voter. Maru (if you’re reading this), you leapt straight into my heart. Maru for state comptroller!
Maru 4 teh win!
Maru is possibly the funniest thing on the internet. I wish Ada did things that silly…
Maru >> Ceiling cat!
I voted for Maru!
Voted for Maru! (But only because my own Bonnie & Clyde aren’t contestants!)
.. well .. ‘my’ .. I am, of course, only their most favorite bringer-of-food and scooper-of-poop: there’s no matter of ownership.
Ceiling Cat is watching this contest. He watched me vote for him on the site you linked. He’s watching me post this reply. He watched me… well, let’s leave that out for now.
I vote Ceiling Cat!
Naturally I voted for Maru.
It’s so cute, it’ll probably eat anything!
まる (Maru) all the way.
A note to readers: Yes, this blog honors Caturday, and yes, Ceiling Cat commands us to honor Caturday, but that does *not* imply that this blog is a front for the Ceiling Cat cult! That is absurd, and I hope this post will put these impertinent accusations to rest.
Maru wins cutefight. Vote tallied.
Sorry. Ceiling Cat looks inquisitive, playful, and intelligent. Maru just looks mopey. So it’s gotta be teh Ceiling Cat!
But I did do my part to help Maru beat out that poser Sockington!
Voted for Maru!
Voted for Maru!
I voted for Maru before I even saw this post!
I voted for Maru. I must express my disgust and utter contempt for whoever set up the brackets that way. The final should obviously be Maru vs Sockington. Though Ceiling Cat is definitely the #3 internet kitteh.
Ceiling cat isn’t even REAL!
I think of CC in the same way that I think of FSM: he is real, even if he doesn’t exist.
hmph… I’m miffed that Roomba cat didn’t make it to the finals. S/he drives and smacks pit-bulls!
Even still,s/he’s no Maru.
Maru, of course.
This means if I win, my copy of WEIT will have to be passed on to my fabulous niece who is starting college in two weeks under the gross handicap of having spent the past ~10 years under the influence of crazy fundys.
Voted Maru, of course! He’s currently ahead 67% to 33%!
I did voted for teh ceiling cat. While technically a religious symbol, CC is usually used to mock religious explanations.
If I win the Tippet book, you can send it to me at this address:
Creation Museum
PO Box 510
Hebron, KY 41048
Tkskayby
Maru
Like everyone else in Red Deer, I voted for Maru.
Voted Maru!
I voted for maru!
I voted for Maru. As cute as ceiling cat is, Maru is cuter. ’nuff said.
A Vancouver vote for Maru!
Maru.
Maru (just voted), because ceiling cat is not real. However, if this was a different contest, one for the cleverness of video making, Maru would lose to Ceiling Cat.
You’ve raised the minion bar–Myers will have to ply his with tempting rewards now to get them to do his bidding.
I voted for Maru at 2:10 MDT and Maru had 68% of the vote at that time
I voted for Maru too!
I voted for Maru.
Voted for Maru.
At time of voting, Maru 70%, Ceiling 30%.
I voted for Maruuuuuuuu!
Maru all the way
Voted for Maru. I don’t trust ceiling cat. All we see is a face. I think he/she is hiding something.
Maru gets the vote of the english jury
Voted for Maru, not for Tippet.
Voted for Maru, not for Tippet. (Second comment: first one seems to have gotten swallowed.)
Maru. But he needs to get some exercise!
Voted Maru, who has a nice lead btw.
Ceiling Cat 503 (30.6%)
Maru 1142 (69.4%)
Ceiling Cat 509
Maru 1178
That last vote for Maru was mine.
Maru. I can haz teh book plz?
…but only becuz Basement Kitteh iz not in teh kompetischun, or I vud haf voted fur himz
My vote went to Maru and he’s winning by over 40%!!!
oh, and this is now my new desktop background.
http://blog-imgs-46-origin.fc2.com/s/i/s/sisinmaru/DSC_0611.jpg
Looks like Maru is a winner as of this point in time (5:00PM EST)
Ceiling Cat 530 (29.9%)
Maru 1243 (70.1%)
Well, It wasn’t an easy pick, but I went for Maru.
Maru – Hiz da bomb!
Maru!
Maru has my vote.
Voted for Maru
BOKO-MARU!
(that’s a “Cat’s Cradle” reference, if you didn’t know)
He’s kicking CC’s little booties.
All hail Maru!
Okay, you bought my soul for Maru. I feel so violated. But I did it. I clicked the ominous circle and blasphemed against the one true god, Ceiling Cat.
Well, at least as I sit in the dark, dank, depressing, French Resistance bar themed domain of Basement Cat with bad open mike poetry, I might have something worthwhile to read, some possible glimpse of knowledge that could redeem my traitorous soul. Perhaps, if I am lucky, I will be a better educated feline Judas.
O Ceiling Cat, forgive me!
Maru. Because I can be bought. Have no idea what he/she looks/acts like…
I voted Maru =]
happy cat!
Maru, naturally. Ceiling cat watching over me is a somewhat disturbing feeling…
Yeah, he iz voyeur, but utterwize he iz gud. A much better deity than that Yahweh chap!
True, slight voyeurism is nothing compared to that chap from the OT. But nevertheless, Maru is cuter 😉
Maru is cuter than all other cats in existence!
Teh Ceiling C*t be praised! Mae mi vote count towards teh ultehmet victory of hiz holeynes!
OK, time to reveal the plot: teh Basement Cat just could not permit teh Ceiling Cat to win this, so teh Basement Cat took the form of Maru and told Jerry to bribe the jury, just to make it final…:)
Lol
I’m staying with Maru for my vote.
Maru cos he is the spittin’ image of my Murray.
Another vote for Maru.
It was a toss-up until I saw that the Maru prize was the better one. They’re both awful cute, after all, unlike some of the earlier contenders.
I voted Maru. Now how about you?
It would make a good political pin.
I voted for Maru!
When I voted for Maru, the percentage was 78.4 (I think; I can’t remember numbers to save my life)
CEILING CAT.
But only because Longcat was not available.
Maru. Currently 72% to 28% in favor of Maru.
Maru! Maru! Maru!
Another vote for Maru!
Voted Maru
Too cute not to!
Plus, I would LOVE to have an autographed copy of WEIT on the bookshelf next to “Your Inner Fish”, “The Ancestor’s Tale” and “The Greatest Show on Earth”