CatmanDeux, ready for his close-up.
Cat videos rule the internet. They are so popular that otherwise sensible people readily admit to enjoying them. As a friend commented yesterday, cat videos lift the spirits. Lately my spirits have needed lifting due to the unrelentingly bad news: political, social and environmental. It has been difficult to tear myself away from the TV and Internet. I suffer from the absurd notion that if I turn away for even a minute, something even more terrible will happen. Then our cat sitter sent me a video of CatmanDeux biting his own tail and I remembered the pleasures of cat videos.
A few facts. There are feline video stars: Maru, Grumpy Cat, Simon’s Cat, Surprised Kitten, VaneCat, Colonel Meow, Nyan Cat and Henri, The Existential Cat. Maru has his Scottish Fold ears and his tendency to climb into boxes; as a bonus, he’s Japanese. Grumpy Cat looks like her name; Simon’s Cat and Nyan Cat are animated (ugh). Surprised Kitten is so adorable that her video has been viewed 75 million times. If you want to watch any of these videos, here is a website for all of these cats and more, courtesy of The Guardian, the British newspaper. No one loves kitties more than the Brits.
My favorite videos feature Henri, The Existential Cat. He’s not particularly special in the looks department except for his perpetual scowl. The brainchild of cinematographer Will Braden, Henri’s ten videos—satires of French films and their existential ennui, raise the intellectual level of the genre. I don’t feel as guilty spending time with Henri as I do watching cats running into windows or leaping at the sight of cucumbers.
It has been such a pleasure researching cat videos for today’s blog that the next time I am overtaken by fears for our democracy, world politics and/or the future of the planet I will try to shift my focus, at least temporarily,
FROM THIS
TO THIS
Have a good week.
