We have three items this week, though Caturday Felids is moribud because of lack of interest. If comments are not in the two figures here, I’m giving up, and for real.
First, we have a short report from Canada of two “adventure cats”, Fitz and Vlad. These are now becoming so common that I think that many cats can, with proper training, can become Adventure Cats.
The adventures of these cats are documented on the Facebook site Fitzcapades, which has 631,000 followers. Here’s a photo of the two cats kayaking taken from the site. And don’t tell me they don’t enjoy it!
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I’ve written many times about how medieval artists were unable to paint or draw cats, although they did pretty good with humans. Frequently they’d put human faces on cats, but they’d always screw them up completely. Cheezburger has a hilarious collection of bizarre medieval cat paintings here, and I’ll post five for your amusement:
Now, for only $40, you can buy 24 figurines of bizarre medieval cats. It would make a perfect present to give an ailurophire, art lover, or connoisseur of the bizzare. If you give it to someone on December 1, they’ll have a weird cat every day until Christmas Eve. Go to the link above or see the Facebook post below (click on it). I’m not sure if the figures are based on real drawings of medieval cats, but who cares?
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And here’s a treat if you like cat-themed entertainment: a whole two hours of a documentary on cats narrated by British actress and presenter Joanna Lumley. There are two parts to this “Catwoman” series, and I’ve watched bits of both. It’s very good and full of information and entertainment. Distributed by ITV studios, it was first made in 2009 but of course is still current, as cats haven’t changed. I’ve put the two parts, each 45 minutes long, in order below:
Part 1 (Lumley goes to Chicago at 2:45 to see our Cat Circus):
Part 2:
Have a look and you might well be drawn in.
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Lagniappe:
The bent tails of Nagasaki’s street cats. Many cats in that Japanese town have bent tails or bobtails, and they’re considered lucky.
And look at the size of this lynx! (Do not try this at home.)
h/t: Marion, Ginger K.
Go Fitz and Vlad! Hey, our cats loved the great outdoors, too. Until they got out. Then they wanted to come in. And then out again, …, And then… . It seems that Fitz and Vlad were indeed enjoying what they were doing. Nice snow suits, too!
Now there’s an idea for a coffee table book: “Ugly and Deformed Cats of Medieval Europe and Beyond!” It would be a companion to the figurine set. I’ve read that these messed up Medieval cats aren’t the products of bad artists—despite all appearances—but that cats were seen as having sinister powers so we’re depicted as such. Well, they do have such powers, but that’s no reason to mess them up so badly.
I don’t think I can manage 90 minutes of cat video right now, but the two Joanna Lumley videos are the ones I’ll reach for when I’m ready.
Finally, I’ll have to look for bent tails from now on. I think our cats’ tails were bent at times depending on their moods.
Thank you for this lovely collection of cat pictures and videos. I would be sad if there were no more Caturdays.
Thank you for these postings. The videos will be my Saturday evening entertainment.
Although I’ve seen medieval depictions of other animals, I don’t remember that they were so grotesque as those of the cats. Love that collection of medieval felines and wish I had someone who would appreciate it!
Is that lynx real??!! It is humongous; its fur looks so luxurious – nice to bury one’s head in, though I would not trust it!
The cat with the “bent” tail doesn’t seem unusual to me, though it would if the tail were bend all the time. Many of my cats have occasionally walked around with their tails bent to one side or the other.
I hope we can get at least six more people to comment, as I would be very sad to lose this segment – I look forward to it every week.
I suspect that cats were not as common in the medieval era as today, and artists were not necessarily familiar with them. They had no problem depicting horses and cows, but when it came to cats they ended up inserting a human face or somesuch simply because a cat was a rarity.
Oh, but per Google AI:
Also,
So I don’t think their terrible depictions can be attributed to a lack of models. Also, medieval artists were terrible at depicting babies for some reason, despite the fact there was no shortage of them.
Please keep Caturday, we love it, just because we don’t comment doesn’t mean that we don’t read and enjoy!
I second your comment.
I love the Caturday posts, and often share them with friends on Facebook. I hope you will see fit to continue them.
I’ll definitely watch the Joanna Lumley videos. I see she’s with a cheetah. YouTube seems to have an abundance of videos with cheetahs being petted and purring. I’m envious.
Yes indeed. Joanna Lumley, Purdy in New Avengers with Steed in management. The last breath of my favorite 1960’s British intel productions. A nice surprise!
And Lumley starred in Absolutely Fabulous, one of the best Britcoms ever!
Your Caturday feline always brighten my Saturday. I hope that your readers will continue to provide you with links and that you will continue to share the bounty,
Caturday is always fun. And we got a new cat species too this week. I think cats were very common in the middle ages. Drawing them weird might just have been convention. Although with many seemingly simple artistic endeavours, for a long time noone can do them and then someone finds the trick and then everyone can do them.
Please, continue with the Caturday!!
Two figures! We love Caturday here at this house!
Twenty-four days of ugly medieval cats is a very niche market!
Glad to see the comments made it into double digits – I love the Caturday felid trifecta but don’t often comment.
YouTube has not made those videos available in my country, so I could not watch them.
Those figurines of medieval cats will indeed make a great present for a friend of mine.
Try Surfshark vpn (whom I do not work for). You can have your computer seem to be in almost any country you wish. Then you can check out the great cat videos brought to you by Jerry’s excellent Caturday posts.
Firefox these days comes with a built in VPN that’ll get you around those restrictions. Free download from here :
https://www.firefox.com/en-US/
I want that lynx! What a pal to have.
I’m always happy to hear a difficult cat like Vlad gets a home and a good one.
I love Saturday Cat details, but don’t currently have a cat to add!
I always read the Caturday posts! Sending the link to several friends who might enjoy it.
That figurine set is adorable. I was thinking who to give it to and was frustrated at the realization that most people I know are silly dog people or aesthetically challenged. And then I remembered someone: Me!
Thanks for the perfect gift idea. And thanks for Caturday!
I always read and enjoy the Caturday postings (and most others), but rarely feel like I have something worthwhile enough to put in the comments. But I’ll put this one in if it helps to keep Caturday around!
Those medieval cat figurines are now on my list for my daughter in law. She will love it.
I don’t think you realize how much Caturday (and all your other postings) mean to so many of us. It is a ray of sunshine during the devastation of the Trump Administration. Thank you for all you do.
I agree!
Sweet story of the adventure cats. Was surprised by how many outfits the cats have! Funny pictures of medieval cats. The little figurines are charming- can’t justify owning them, but they are very amusing-
Love the adventure cats! And the lynx, wow. 🐈🐈🐈
A great selection of cat stuff. Thank you. I could listen to Joanne Lumley all day. Her voice is sublime and the perfect fit to discuss cats and their vagaries.
I sincerely hope this webpage doesn’t end. I enjoy it.
That first medieval cat is not medieval at all. It’s a work by world famous Colombian painter Botero (1932-2023). His portraits of humans have the same facies as his cats.
As for the ugly medieval cats figurines, I suspect that what you get are not really threedimensional figurines but a flat calendar of some sort. My sixth sense tells me their ad is misleading.
Thanks for the info; I love that Botero cat. I will check out his other work.
I think the medieval cats are very small, but 3D. Per the website, they are made of acrylic.
Perhaps the problem was their approach to drawing as a skill. What needs to happen when studying drawing is that the artist has to learn to draw what he sees or has seen, not what he knows is there. That takes a lot of observation and sketching, as well as a self-critical approach when evaluating the result. That change of approach happened during the Renaissance.
That sounds like a very plausible explanation.
I thought I’d already seen Joanna Lumley’s series on cats but, watching the videos here, there were scenes that were unfamiliar to me. I guess I haven’t. I’ve enjoyed every series of hers that I’ve watched. I can confidently recommend this one.
On another topic, if anyone reading this would kindly respond, I have a question/request. I use a RSS reader to follow WEIT. Consequently, I’m not subscribed to the email service. In the RSS feed, each post comes complete – full text, media, links and no ‘fold’ that PCC(e) sometimes refers to. The only thing missing is the comments, of course. I always click through to the actual post here on WEIT, so that PCC(e) sees my page hit and other WordPress stats, and to read the comments. My question/request:
If you are a subscriber, can you please tell me whether the emails you receive are as complete as what I described above? Other web-post content providers provide only a paragraph or two of each post and you have to click on a link to read the full post. I suspect that PCC(e) doesn’t do that but I’d like to be sure.
Any feedback will be gratefully received.
βPer
On my computer it opens to the full post, but if I want to see an X post, for instance, I have to click on that and then backspace to WEIT. I refresh to see comments as they accrue. I hope this is helpful!
Thanks for responding, Tamara. I’m a bit confused – you see comments in the email?
Just checking … have you subscribed to the email service (at the top of the left column above)? When you do so, you receive an email from WEIT every time PCC(e) posts a new article. I’m interesting in the contents of those emails.
Assuming you’re an email subscriber, when you open a WEIT email in your email program/app, what do you see? The full WEIT article, a portion of the article followed by a link to the full article on WEIT, or something else? Are you seeing comments in your email program/app or do you have to click on a link in the email to the article on the WEIT website to view comments?
βPer
With apologies to the Bay City Rollers —
C-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y post!
C-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y post!
C-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y post!
C-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y post!
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Please keep on rockin’ to the feline beat
Of Caturday posts, Caturday posts….
Thank you for another amazing Caturday!
The medieval cat figurines would make a nice gift for a friend of mine.
Vlad and Fitz are adorable in their little outfits on their adventures. They have more clothes than a lot of humans.
And that lynx!! Do want to cuddle!
Cats and Joanna Lumley? How could I possibly resist?
It’s Sunday and I’m just getting to Caturday. I always look forward to reading it, but i’m not given to commenting in general. I can see that it is a lot of work and appreciate that you enjoy getting feedback for your efforts. I’ll try to do better!
This feature is my favorite of your posts! It is a wonderful antidote to the news. Keep ‘em coming!
No more Caturday! Please, sir. The world is dark enough now.
Caturday is enjoyed by myself and both cats on a big screen computer. So now they wondering why they don’t have a line of designer clothes to wear, especially for the winter. (They have access to an outdoor catio and say they’d look just as cute as the ones made by That Other Lady for her kittys.)