Friday: Hili dialogue

August 12, 2016 • 6:30 am

Okay, today I’m going to get the date right: it is August 12, 2016, and Friday in Poland. It’s not only World Elephant Day, devoted to appreciating these magnificent beasts, but also, if you’re so unlucky as to be a Scientologist, Sea Org Day, the organization where you get almost no pay and have to sign billion-year-contracts. As Wikipedia notes:

Sea Org Day is a special event for all Sea Organization members, with rank and rating promotion ceremonies. It has been alleged by former members that recreational Sea Org Day events are mandatory: one ex-Scientologist claims “the one day a year you are supposed to get the day off, you are made to go on a bus to the beach, be there for roll call, participate in group games, etc.”

On this day in 1883, the last living quagga expired at the Artis Magistra zoo in Amsterdam.  And, in 1944, the weeklong Wola Massacre ended in Warsaw, in which Nazi soldiers, on Himmler’s orders,  indiscriminately killed between 40,000 and 50,000 Polish civilians and resistance fighters in retaliation for the Warsaw Uprising (different from the Warsaw Ghetto uprising). Nobody was ever prosecuted for this crime. The city of Warsaw was then destroyed.

On this day in 1887, physicist and roué Erwin Schrödinger, butt of a thousand Internet cat cartoons, was born in Vienna. His wave collapsed for good in 1961.  And on August 12, 1990, the great cartoonist Bernard Kliban (known to all of us as B. Kliban), died of an embolism at 55. His bizarre cartoons often featured cats, like this one:

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Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili (who hates Leon), dismisses his rival’s talents:

Hili: Apparently there are cats who like travel by car.
A: Yes, Leon loves it.
Hili: Oh well, there are cats and there are cats.
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In Polish:
Hili: Podobno są koty, które lubią jeździć samochodem.
Ja: Są, Leon to uwielbia.
Hili: No tak, koty są różne.

And out in Winnipeg, Gus decorates himself by lying amidst the flowers. I can’t help but think he realized that this would make a nice photo:

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13 thoughts on “Friday: Hili dialogue”

  3. As a youngster I had that cartoon as a prized T-shirt. I completely wore it out, wearing it so much.

      1. I had the sheets and pillow case. Still do, somewhere, but no more single beds in the house.

  4. Why is it that some cats just do not like each other? My garage/outdoor cat and my indoor cat do not get along at all. One male, one female.

  5. I kind of like the sound of, “sign a billion-year-contract”. I can see how it might allay some fears.

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