144 thoughts on “Henri returns”

  3. I guess it would be feline abuse to give him a beret and a cigarette, so I will just have to imagine it. C’est la vie…

  4. So Sartrean, so full of ennui…

    Yes, a beret, a cigarette, and a glass of wine would be most fitting. And in the background, Piaf singing “Je ne regrette rien”. Or, perhaps something by Jacques Brel?

    3. Jacques Brel is not really the one….
      He is NOT French,but Belgian,which is a big difference.
      That doesn’t mean he is more interesting pour autant.

  5. Sorry to be a sourpuss, but this video irritates me for several reasons. First, domestic animals in France don’t usually receive the same set of names that are given to humans. So, the initial idea of a cat named Henri is a little surprising. The French in the video is atrocious, and the accent of the speaker is unrecognizable, but certainly not French. The speaker sounds as if he’s reading a text written by a kid who’s done a year or two of French. As for the comments, few of us smoke these days, and few of us have ever worn berets (except in the Basque region). As for allusions to existentialism, that “philosophy” went out of data about half-a-century ago… at about the same time that French people stopped listening to Edith Piaf. Why is there this constant need, on the part of Americans, to caricature the French? And why is it almost always done in a naive and inexpert manner? Sacré bleu… as we have never said.

    1. I suggest lightening up, or having a few drinks to unwind. I lived in France for more than a year (Paris and Dijon), and I saw TONS of French people smoking though, granted, none wore berets. And so what if existentialism is out of fashion; Henri is extistential! And, by the way, I love and still listen to Edith Piaf.

      You might consider this question, too: Why is there this constant need, on the part of the French, to caricature the English? One of the striking aspects of living in France is the constant making-fun of Brits (I got to hear that because I’m American).

      Goose, gander. Anyway, Henri is funny!

      1. Dear “whyevolutionistrue”: There’s one thing I detest even more than American caricatures of the French: it’s being told to “lighten up” and have “a few drinks to unwind”. I’m a serious Franco-Australian writer, and a few drinks wouldn’t unwind me and lighten me up enough to consider that Henri stuff as anything more than poor-quality caricatural rubbish.

        1. Well, I think you should probably do your serious writing at another website, because I think you are taking yourself WAY too seriously. I can’t believe there is a troll about an Henri the Cat video!

          1. The angst is perfectly replicated. Oh why must you pick on the French? The agony. We are so misunderstood.

            Seriously, it’s a cat. Why is someone upset by a cat not speaking perfect French?

          2. Might Henri be speaking the French version of LOLSpeak? Chances are the French is the Google Translator version.

            I have no idea why the French are stereotyped this way – it’s just become part of the gestalt.

            And not having a human name? My brother had a cat named Gordo Papillion, and I have no idea if that’s proper French, either.

            It’s a cat video with a funny monologue. In reality, the cat is probably quite happy.

            So yeah, William, lighten up and find something important to protest against.

        2. William, lighten up and have a few drinks to unwind. And take that loaf of french bread out of your very tight bum. Doubtful you will ever be a “serious” writer of any kind (what does that even mean anyway?) if you’re so intolerant of the lighthearted writings of others, particularly writings/films about le chats.

          You should lighten up and have a few drinks to unwind.

          Have a nice day! 🙂

          1. Oh no, no, no! He says “Franco-Australian” which is much different to being an Australian. To make a great generalisation, it normally means being generally bitter about being surrounded by real Australians who don’t understand either your fabulous taste, or how fantastic the place you currently aren’t is – though my French friends are not like this. Still, step away from the troll. Don’t feed the troll. It will only make them stronger. Henri is wonderful.

        4. Henri the Youtube character is a sendup of cats and actually a very self-conscious sendup of French stereotypes, but you would not be able to get the latter if you are as painfully serious as the small percentage of French people for whom the personality stereotypes are actually true. You’re sitting there whining, “Oh, French people are nothing like this,” but you lack the self-awareness to realize that you sound as tortured and bitter as Henri.

        5. William,
          May I suggest an enema then? Every culture caricatures other cultures and the French are no exception. As a brit I get called a “roast beef” over there all the time and I laugh with them. Who are you kidding..the French still smoke like chimneys. You are in totally the wrong venue for these supercilious remarks…off with you

        6. Seriously – a “Franco-Australian writer”?
          I would have thought that that alone would have brought a wry smile to your own lips.
          Let’s face it. Its a cat, in a series of internet videos. Do you really need to inflate yourself over something so trivial? Have you never laughed at a Warner Brothers cartoon? Scribbled some inane verse, of your own? Why do you even need to (I use the term loosely) critique a simple, comedic video, from the internet? For fun, try critiquing some testicle crunching scateboard videos. I’m sure that’ll make all of the difference to the literary content of said videos.
          Oh, and stand up, turn the barstool over, and sit on the flat end. It may prove to useful in getting the stick out of your butt.

          1. Kudos! It’s a cat; it’s for fun. We don’t care, nor would 99% of U.S. know if French was “correct” or not.

            Can we not have, no matter who we are or where we live, have just ONE single thing that brings a small amount of happines without a pompous jerk like this one, to ruin it? Pox on you.

            If you are so smart, what are you doing lowering yourself to even allowing one single fleeting thought of Henri’ pass through your staggering intellect?

        7. Hey William–I could use a new diamond, maybe you could squeeze one out for me? I believe the whole point of Henri (which you’ve obviously missed), is that of satire. Being serious all the time just leads to premature death, so relax your standards a bit, eh?

        8. If you don’t like it don’t watch it. It is as simple as that
          I have looked William’s Antipodes blog….. well.

        9. William, you aren’t a serious writer. You are an uptight prick who tries to take the joy out of everything. What you don’t realize is that you yourself become a joke.

        10. Here’s my take on Henri, the videos, the Facebook. It’s just funny. It makes me laugh. Not much of that going on anywhere in the world now days. And if watching a cat “speak” French in a “bad” accent does it for some people it’s hardly a reason to hike one’s leg on them.

    2. “Why is there this constant need, on the part of Americans, to caricature the French?”

      Because you take yourselves too seriously, perhaps?

      1. It’s undeniable that the French take themselves seriously. Too seriously? Let’s say that we take ourselves seriously enough to attempt systematically to correct caricatures.

        1. Yet again you prove yourself to be humorless. So humor isn’t allowed to use caricatures? Ridiculous.

          I’m sure no French intellectuals ever wore a beret and smoked Gauloises while pondering the meaninglessness of life.

          2. Actually, I should clarify that the Henri videos are not really even making fun of French cinema. They are just using a silly, lighthearted version of that idiom to portray the boring life of a housecat. No doubt the video maker loves French film. The humor, low-key as it is, comes from portraying the thoughts of a housecat, a generally inscrutable creature as far as ‘thoughts’ go, as those of an existentialist deep in malaise. There’s no intention to parody the French, thus no reason to be offended.

          3. The alleged existentialist disposition of cats has been brilliantly presented for years by the Belgian cartoonist Philippe Geluck, whose work is considerably more intelligent than that stupid Henri stuff.

          4. “… the Belgian cartoonist Philippe Geluck, whose work is considerably more intelligent than that stupid Henri stuff.”

            Please post a link – preferably with subtitles. It should go down well here.

        2. With a name like William Skyvington, you are not French. I have lived in France on and off for over 40 years. I know many Parisians, and they have great senses of humor and laugh at the silliness of Henri le Chat. They laugh at the poor French and accent. You, cher monsieur, have NO sense of humor, you take yourself too seriously, and truthfully, none of us should be wasting time even conversing about this. Voila!

    3. Besides, in general the Henri videos are making fun of arty French films, not the French. They make me think of ‘Last Year at Marienbad.’ I loved that movie in college, but I still made fun of the narration.

      1. Exactly! I kept waiting for a red balloon to float by.

        We are making fun of the movie genre, William. France is as lovely a country as there is, and my experiences there have been wonderful. No offense intended.

        1. It takes a great stretch of the imagination to find artistic links between this silly Henri cat-video and the enormous Resnais movie Année dernière à Marienbad. Is the Henri merde really supposed to be “making fun” of Marienbad? I fail to see the link.

          2. Oui, je suis parfaitement sérieux. Je ne vois pas du tout comment cette présentation ridicule du chat Henri, fabriquée à partir d’appréciations superficielles, se rapproche d’une quelconque façon du grand film d’Alain Resnais.

          6. Willeeaamm..Your mothuuur was a hamstuurrr and your fartheeerrr smelt of elderberree…..

    4. I liked how his Frenchness was undermined at 0:23 “Mon français is perfect.” Which makes your criticism nugatory. You’ll never gain traction here, William, because it’s not about the French but about cats.

    5. Dude, you’re trolling a cat video, but you want us to take you seriously?

      Go suck on some pixie sticks, it might sweeten you up a little.

      1. What?? Ah yes as we are all so aware it’s the neo-cons who are usually the great comedians and artists in society.
        How does a video about a cat turn political??

    8. I don’t usually do this, but I feel impelled. Henri’s owners are at liberty to call him what they will. They chose Henri. Get over it. Secondly, and this isn’t caricature or stereotyping: the French are notorious for scorning people who try to speak their language. And you, Mr Skyvington, have proved that. P.S. Strange name for a Franco-Australian.

    9. ah william – you suffer from the the same ennui as Henri, but lack the proper expression of your anguish…I recommend you produce a video to release your sorrows…

    10. _@_v – geeze louise… what dingo at your baby to get you so bunged up over a furr-ench speaking cat with existential angst?

    11. What would someone who doesn’t know the difference between “data” and “date” know? Are you the translator of Henri’s video who doesn’t know the difference between “rouse” and “ruse”?

    13. Don’t you have a dog you can kick or something?

      Shame on you for bothering the rest of us for enjoying some light humor about a housecat. You couldn’t POSSIBLY be part Australian. The Aussies are WAAAAY to fun loving to claim you.

    14. I love Henry’s accent. I’m french and my english is very poor but I find Henry paw de deux absolutely exquisite ! and I have many friends whose pets wear human’s names . It’s so fine.

    16. Get a sense of humor! He brings laughter into a world that desperately needs it.

    17. I have found that most French people appreciate foreigners’ attempts to speak French and don’t expect perfection. I’m sure most would be impressed by a cat’s speaking French, even with an accent.

      1. Most native French speakers also know they don’t speak prefect English and appreciate the difficulty of learning another language, especially one as challenging as French. How do I know? Because not only am I from a family of a francophones, nearly every day I talk with native French speakers learning English who are helping me improve my French.

        This Aussie expat has something to prove, which is his personal problem to contend with–I just wish he’d stop making my French cousins look so bad in the process.

    18. Since you seem to have a problem with everything “Henri,” may I suggest you stop looking at his website. You are irritating the Henri lovers!

    19. Ma foi! Do you actually think that we don’t already know about your gripes, and that the pastiche is not part of the fun?

      Pfffffoui on your pathological need to be right. Please get over that, and replace it with a sense of humor. You will live longer and more happily, and will cease to be a complete killjoy and pain in the ass.

      Bonne chance, Mr. Skyvington.

    20. Your comments are really funny…I hope that is your intention. You know it is a light-hearted comedy video? Oui?

    21. SACREBLEU,not sacre bleu
      Sacre bleu being a sanctified primary color.And allegedly the original phrase which gave birth to the expression “sacrebleu”.
      But,how many times did you hear this word lately?
      Rather obsolete,I must say.

      1. William, if the videos “ruffle your fur” so much, may I suggest you not watch them and, would you please leave us alone?

        I’ve already thrashed you in previous postings.

        Actually, I do not believe you are who you say you are. I believe you are an American troll set on destroying any small spark of happiness in the world.

        Again, Pox on you.

    22. The Henri videos are a parody of an old film style, and have been praised as such in several well respected journals. It sounds like you are jealous of their success or that you need a humor implant. Whichever, you need to get out of that Franco-Australian sun. Your brain cells are burning.

    23. Mr. Skyvington,
      I understand your frustration but I suggest you consider embracing diversity when it comes to language and accents. Imitation is flattery and both English (my first language) and French are enormously popular worldwide. Also, by being a “sourpuss” about the accent, berets, etc., you are actually inadvertantly promoting the stereotype of French snobbery.

    24. “Sacré bleu… as we have never said.” Actually, William the Aussie expat who’s making my French cousins look bad, if you were a native French person like you pretend to be, you’d be familiar with older working class drinking songs from previous centuries that used “sacréblue” (one word, not two) a lot, suggesting that yes, the French really did say it at one time, particularly when they were frustrated working class folk who coped by getting drunk and railing against the upper classes. But I suppose an Aussie who could afford to immigrate to the French Alps probably doesn’t know much about France’s working classes, past or present, besides the invisible brown-skinned immigrants who clean up after you.

        1. I agree or, Henri’s guardian/handler is toying with our tender emotions. My whole body shuddered like a feather on a pole with each new posting by M.Skyvington.

          Such gigantic leaps I took to try and swipe him from my universe. As Henri’ would say, “Alas, to no avail.”

          I bow to another with much more perserverance than I. Now, off to Facebook, UTube and, Twitter.

    26. Did it ever occur to you that his name might not really be “Henri”? That could just be his stage name for the purpose of these videos. His real name might be Bootsy or Tux, for all you know. Lighten up or quit watching!

    1. Le ton qui fait le chat ? Ça ne veut rien dire. Parlons français, pourquoi pas… mais ne disons pas de bêtises.

      Better still, stick to English.

      That Henri cat-video is rubbish in whatever language you choose.

      2. It’s a parody – lots of people, including me, find it entertaining and amusing – if you don’t like it then that’s fine but it says more about you than it does about the videos.

        Christ, I can’t believe that I am even bothering to reply to this …

        1. Know what you mean…
          With so many cute cat videos and pics that get posted, Henri’s posts and videos are a refreshing alternative.

  8. I’ve never seen a cat wearing boots, but all the same Puss-in-Boots lives. This cat is named Henri and he suffers from existentialist angst and the kind of voice-over and abrupt editing characteristic of some French films of the 50s and 60s. He is not supposed to be a true-to-life domestic feline, and his French is not supposed to be genuine standard French. I find Henri’s films hilarious and I hope there is an endless series of them.

  11. No fair, I want my own Kiwi caricature video blog to troll..no one takes us Kiwi’s seriously enough to poke fun. Discrimination! Waaah

  13. William – thanks for your analysis and criticism. I think I actually like the Henri videos even more for them, and I really wouldn’t have thought that possible.

  14. Henri is much loved by many human in cyberspace. My two cats agree with him on many things.

    Is Mr Skyvington a live homo sapiens or is he another figment of Henri’s imagination? I can not imagine a real person using his/her time on criticizing this excellent and entertaining effort.

    1. I believe Mr Skyvington is \”skyving off.\”

      So he\’s got nothing better to do than troll.

      All in the name.

  15. William, Henri is a parody of French New Wave films which many English university students either saw (and still see) in film class or in art houses and of the existentialism which animated these films and which many of us studied in philosophy class or just read in order to be pretentious. Yes, it’s a stereotype that has little to do with modern France and may not have had much to do with France in the 1950s and 1960s but it’s still a widespread image of France and more recognizable to us than reality. Forgive us.

  18. I am a French existentialist longhair tuxedo cat, and I am deeply offended by this video.

    I agree with the above poster. Us French cats never have names like Henri. It’s usually Vichy, Petain, Sarkozy and other silly names like that. So the many thousands of people who think this is funny are clearly wrong.

    Messyouare Skyvington, I applaud your highly sophisticated sense of humour. It takes a lot of intelligence to show the world how not funny are the things they laugh at.

    Sank you, fGHRom ze bottom of my FGHRench cat heaGHRt.

  19. Okay, why all these defenses of Henri coming in at about the same time? It’s not sockpuppetry because the ISPs are different. Still, I’m suspicious. Is this an organized campaign or something?

    1. People are finding the article because it got posted on the Henri facebook page:

      ‎'”As for allusions to existentialism, that “philosophy” went out of data about half-a-century ago…”

      Now my ennui is not only crippling, but out of “data”? Sigh…’

      In other news, the video is just a laugh (the french accent is funny because it’s bad, for instance). So I wouldn’t worry about it.

      1. Ooops, sorry blog owner, I confused the comments and thought you were also William Skyvington. My apologies for the last sentence!

      2. In point of fact, as I remember it, Existentialism isn’t out of data, it just believed that data was not useful in addressing the important problems in life.

    2. whyevolutionisture-not to be disrespectful but, you obviously do not have not never have had a cat or, know any cat people. This is not an organized campaign – this is just the way we are (:-D

      It does not bode well for the person who incurs the wrath of cat lovers. Henri’ has been a gigantic ray of sunshine in my rather drab and dreary life.

      It was no fun when Skyvington came along and tried to pop my many colored balloons. (French movie fans will know of what I reference.)

      I was instantly en garde with the appearance of Skyvington.
      Regards,
      Henri’s #1 Katfandeaux

      1. Actually, the owner of this website is extremely fond* of cats, and has owned several! 🙂

        *By fond, I mean loves them to the point of obsession. In a good way.

        1. Thank you for clarifying author of comment knows all about cats. I did not intend as insult; just to let those know, who may not, most cat owners are as looney tunes as dog owners. The crux is I am in a huge snit “William” tried to rain on my parade! Again, (:-D Henri’s #1 Katfandeaux

  20. i love Henri. leave him alone. why do you criticize? it is just fun and entertaining. i suggest you not watch if you don’t like. i think this is very clever. Henri makes me smile. enough already.

    1. Actually, I rather warm to Mr Dallinger, who has a way with words and a fine, if warped, imagination….

      1. Mr Dallinger is a fiction – a troll parody of “readers’ comments” – and funny with it. I am hoping that Mr Skyvington is of the same ilk – and if not, my sympathies are duly extended (as are my claws).

        1. As I devolve further and deeper into my personal war against Mr. Skyvington, a tiny, inner voice whispers in my ear, “Kat”, is someone toying with Us, Henri’s adoring fans?

          Now that Henri’ has internet fame, has he fallen into the hands of a clever PR person?

  22. This is good stuff. I’m in love with Henri and the ornery William takes a close second with Hipsquared trailing two lengths.

  23. To Willy Skyvington: Asense of humor would be a very good thing for you to cultivate. If you are as serious as you claim to be, and the pseudo-Frenck kitty as worthless as you consider it, it really isn’t worth your time, time you could be using doing something REALLY SERIOUS. And those of us who are puerile enough to find the kitty amusing can go ahead and laugh. Laughter is very good for one’s health, by the way. Try it sometime.

  25. It’s too bad Krazy Kat isn’t around anymore… he’d throw a brick at you and snap you out of it.

    1. Ooh! Can I be Ignatz? (he threw the bricks) We’ll aim one at the troll….

  26. I suspect Monsieur Skyvington may be taking the mickey. As an Aussie-Australian, I sincerely hope so, otherwise he’s an embarrassment to both his people

  27. William, these Henri videos are not taken from a French, feline reality show. The cat can not actually talk and for all we know, may be the life of the party mix when the cameras stop rolling.

    BTW, I don’t believe that you are real either, but your character is very funny.

    A word of advice, come up with a better name.

  28. Well, honestly I am an American and can’t understand what everyone is so upset about. I thought Henri was really a cat in France. Maybe I am too naive. I don’t think it’s making fun of the French people. It’s all in fun. I love Henri. I find it very creative. As my son says “take a chill pill”.

    1. I think Henri lives in Seattle–at least his filmmaker does. However, I don’t think cats have nationalities, and they speak only “Cat,” which translates imperfectly into any human language.

      1. Hi, Toni. I, too, thought Henri’ was a tuxcedo kitty who lived in France. While it did not affect my admiration of Henri’, I was shocked, shocked, that he lived in U.S. I remain continually amazed we DO have a few cool places here. I have “French” in my genes and, it never occurred to me Henri’s videos were making fun of France/French people. Some people will try and cause a flap over anything. Skyvington obviously does not have enough to do, nor do I. However, I don’t go around stopping out the sparks of other folks little day dreams.

          1. M. Sobel, I know, I know, along with Facebook and Twitter. What a delight he is or, his clever guardians (:-D I stalk him everywhere.

  29. Hey you Henri haters just dont read it there are alot more people who like than dislike it. It amazes me the people who comment like this……

    1. Hi, Mary B. Re: Henri’ haters – I hope there is only one – Skyvington – who should have caught on by now, I consider him less than a box of well used kitty litter. If there are others, I fiercely hope for my White Shield of Protection and, I don’t inadvertently stumble upon them.
      Regards,
      Henri’s #1 Katfandeaux

  30. You, Skyvington, are a pompous, self-important jackass. A shallow pseudo-intellectual whose inane commentary gives new meaning to the word formulaic. Yes, you are smug and disdainful–but such affectations only conceal a colossal lack of talent. We laugh at your drivel and mock you behind your back.

  31. Mr Skyvington,

    I will write you a detailed response, since this seems to be such a big issue. Let me first establish that I understand the reasons for annoyance (and you certainly have the right to be annoyed/offended if you do take offence), and that this run-down/ramble of mine is not written in the intention to offend, rather than to discuss why offence doesn’t necessarily need to be taken from this video series.

    “Henri, le char noir” is not necessarily making fun of the French: the premise is that Henri is an Existentialist cat. Given that Existentialism is strongly associated with the French (Jean Paul Sartre, Gabriel Honoré Marcel, Simone de Beauvoir, and to a lesser extent, Albert Camus and Maurice Merleau-Ponty, who branched off from Existentialism, it would only be fitting that whoever makes the videos tried to make him French (even if their own French isn’t perfect). It’s hard to write/speak perfectly in a language that is not your first language. Studies done by neuroscientists, psychologists, etc strongly suggest a “critical period” in brain development for learning language. This is in childhood, before adolescence, and would explain why children can pick up languages at the drop of a hat, while it is harder to learn languages in adolescence/adulthood. I learned French for 5 years in high school, went on exchange to Hyères at the end of it, then did a year of French at uni as an elective. I haven’t taken any French units since then, and while I can still handle a bit, I’m generally rubbish at it now! My vocab has shrunken dramatically, conjugating verbs is harder, and speaking it is harder – having not spoken it in ages, I assume my accent is atrocious! It does not mean that I do not try when I need to communicate in French, or that I love the culture any less. Similarly, I assume that this caricature isn’t for the purpose of mocking, but that it is just affectionate teasing. Being an Australian, you would be familiar with that concept. Aussies in general love taking the piss of their mates. (I say that as an Australian too!)

    As for Existentialism, it may be “out of date”, but in philosophy, newer isn’t necessarily better, and old movements in philosophy are still studied. I’ve been studying philosophy at uni and Existentialism is still frequently covered. Granted, my major is psychology, but I do a lot of philosophy as electives and know first hand that while the sciences are reliant on modern research and data, drawing only on the past for reference rather that evidence, in philosophy this is not always the case. We keep elements of old philosophies, build upon them (eg: Existentialism –> Absurdism) and continue to look back on them and analyse them. For example, Plato was around long before the Existentialists, and philosophy professors still teach us about the realm of forms and Plato’s allegory of the cave.

    The style of the video parodies the New Wave films popular at the time. (It’s just better that way, combining a philosophy popular with French intellectuals of the 50s with an artistic style also popular with the same crowd at the time.)

    Finally, stereotypes are annoying, especially when you feel you are on the receiving end, but they can also be amusing. If you’re on the receiving end, they can be amusing in a self-reflexive way. I’m an Australian too, so I am all too familiar with the Aussie stereotypes (which I too dislike, as I don’t really relate to most other Aussies – and kind of wish to escape to another country and associate with them instead. I tentatively propose that you may have done that with France, especially if you have some French heritage. I know I would.) As for the other stereotypes I am on the receiving end of: I have, among others, “Arts Student” (because of my choice of units at uni – oh and this also carries the implications of laziness, stupidity, heavy drinking, bullshitting your way through essays without actually doing any real work/ putting any real thought in, etc), and “Hipster” (because of my taste in music and the way I dress, and because I’m vegetarian) to go by, and I just laugh at those. Stereotyping is just a way of people categorising things in their mind, and everyone does it, at least to an extent. The French have their own stereotypes of other people, be they abroad, or in their own country (Have you read “Dessine-moi un Parisien”? [The English version is called “Stuff Parisians Like] It includes many stereotypes held by Parisians, such as those of Belgians, people who have southern accents, les banlieusards, and other Parisians). If, as the Existentialists claimed, nothing has any inherent meaning, stereotypes are just a way people give meaning to the world around them by classifying people. People love classifying things – we need to, it gives us a sense of order and stability.

    Sartre wrote “Life has no meaning a priori. Before you come alive, life is nothing; it’s up to you to give it a meaning and value is nothing else but the meaning that you choose”. If the Existentialists are right, and nothing has meaning, then this video and everything to do with it is meaningless and you can just assign to it no value whatsoever, and forget about it.

      1. Alice,

        you commented:

        “this also carries the implications of laziness, stupidity, heavy drinking, bullshitting your way through essays without actually doing any real work/ putting any real thought in, etc)”

        I’ll have you know that bullshitting your way though school takes a lot of work. It is an art form in its own right. In addition to getting me on the dean’s list it prepared me for life in the corporate world better than any class I ever took.

  36. “Quand le sage montre la Lune, l’imbécile regarde le doigt.” (“When the wise man points to the moon, the fool looks at the finger.”) ~Chinese Proverb

      1. hehehe…Ironically, a cat will look at the finger, probably sniff it, too. They don’t ‘get’ pointing.

        I love that Henri has generated so much buzz! Vive le Chat!

        1. I haven’t seen this kind of public response since “Dear Abby” was deluged with comments on the proper way to hang a toilet paper roll. (But you are probably too young to know about that.)

          But Henri is certainly more entertaining than the nastiness going back and forth because it’s an election year, And a WHOLE lot better than discussing just how many countries now have nuclear weapons. Besides all that, Henri has give us something very valuable; he is living proof that “Weep and you weep alone” is not at all true.

          1. Hahaha! Thanks for the compliment, but I remember it clearly (and I don’t care what anyone says, the correct toilet paper direction is OVER the top).

            Besides, Henri distracts me from the THREE cat dramas I have going on in my house…the Schizo, the Diva and the Co-Dependent.

          2. Yeah, been there, etc. My first cat (during adulthood) was a lot like Henri, except that she was female, short haired and dainty. I’m still not sure she wasn’t one of Henri past lives. She died several years ago and I still miss her. But that trauma probably wasn’t nearly as bad has the last I lost. I caught one of those ‘super’ bacterial infections and was in a coma for two months. I suffered some irreparable organ damage, mostly in my lungs. While I was still in the hospital recovering from pneumonia, my Pulmonologist told my husband that he had to get rid of them because they might cause me some harm. So they got rid of all three of my cats, two of which I had ‘rescued’ when they were abandoned when they were only a couple days old. Though acquired years apart I felt the same about both of them. I fed them with an eye dropper, tended the wounds that had been cause by fleas or predators. I had to teach them how to bathe themselves, how to eat and even ‘eliminate waste’ (I thought everything was born knowing how to do that!) I even took them to work in my purse. They slept with me; we played and cuddled a lot. In my mind, they were my babies. And I had to come home to a kitty-less house. None of my family understood, but I never even had the chance to say bye.

          4. Well, I defied the doctor and got a small short-haired cat (my husband’s concession) off ‘death row’, so it’s better. And I convinced my brother to take Morgan, my most loved, so I know he/she has a good home. My sister-in-law even calls frequently so Morgan can purr at me.

            Just as a side note, when he/she was found, Morgan was caught in that space between the interior and exterior walls of an office building. The Momcat (a very feral cat) decided that the unfinished attic was a good place to have her litter. At least until the kits started wandering a bit. Morgan was weird (even by cat standards) from the beginning. For one thing he/she loved to steal my lingerie (the clean stuff, not from a laundry hamper)and hide it in a back closet. He/she even learned to open and close the drawers. Once he/she was grown, it became obvious that Morgan was not just any ordinary house cat.His/her mother showed to be a mixed breed but definitely a domestic cat. But Morgan looked nothing like her. First, once fully grown, he/she was HUGE for a domestic cat (almost twenty pounds and long enough to snag food from the kitchen counter standing on back legs.)When stretched out beside me he was almost the same height(or length)as my 5 feet. His/her markings were kind of odd and his tail was/still is longer than his/her torso, which is usually a trait of wild cat species. But things got even weirder. Since we had thought Morgan was female and never left the house, even though he/she was sexually mature we thought that we could put off the whole spay/neuter thing until finances were improved. But then Morgan went into heat for the first time; one of the other cats (an adult female) began affecting Morgan strangely. Upon a more careful look, we found that though there were no signs of male genitalia outwardly visible, they were all there hidden inside. And I do mean all. After we made this discovery, we took Morgan to the vet for this surgery. Almost immediately we got a phone call from their office to insure that we understood the situation and understood the difference between spaying and neutering. Once the vet made a more thorough exam, he understood that we wanted Morgan to be spayed and neutered. The vet even charged me for both procedures. God I miss that cat!

  37. Love the Holy Grail reference. Henri is adorable and I never thought that they were making fun of the French. They are just people who speak a little french and make cute home videos of their cat. Cats are cool and seem apathetic hence the existential cat thing. Its not in any way making fun of the french- we love Henri- if anything its poking fun at Sartre not the french in general. The french make fun of Americans aplenty! When I was in france we met a guy who was trying to hit on us and insult us at the same time. “oh you americans taking away your doggy bags of old food everywhere you go!” He also made fun of americans for picking up dog poop. At least Henri is a light-hearted well-intentioned home made video.

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