#the cat in the hat. t.s. eliot

[kaggsy59]

"The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter..." #readingthemeow

Practical cats, or moggies that cause havoc – that’s what I’m featuring today on the Ramblings to celebrate the Reading the Meow challenge hosted by the Literary Potpourri blog. Last year for the challenge I was prompted into a reread of one of my favourite novels, the magnificent “The Master and Margarita”. This year I have gone for books which are more playful but which nevertheless make for…

[frillyheathen]

Why does no one talk about Mr. Mistoffelees giving birth?

Seriously, I feel like I'm going crazy since I haven't been able to find anyone else with the same interpretation.

So a while back I read Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot in order to annotate it and gift it to a friend. Throughout the book I got the vibe that the main "joke" of the book is the grandiose way cats view themselves interacting with humans, in contrast to the way that humans view cats.

Like...Skimbleshanks does not literally run the train. Macavity hasn't literally committed every human crime. Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer don't actually commit grand larceny. It's a formula--cat logic vs. human logic.

It's the same for Mr. Mistoffelees (in the poem at least, since he does do actual magic in the play). He does normal cat things that are inflated to become magical cat things in service of cat logic.

Cat Logic: But his voice has been heard on the roof When he was curled up by the fire. And he's sometimes been heard by the fire When he was about on the roof-- (At least we all heard that somebody purred) Which is incontestable proof Of his singular magical powers

Human Logic: Maybe the family misheard, maybe there was another cat, maybe the family mistook a pile of socks for Mr. Mistoffelees the way every cat owner has at least once.

Like, Mr. Mistoffelees never does anything explicitly magical in the poem. The bulk of the poem is just talking about the family not being able to find him, which is a common dilemma for anyone living with a cat. Then the last few lines of the last stanza are the final oomph--the final punchline.

Cat Logic: And not long ago this phenomenal Cat Produced seven kittens right out of a hat!

Human Logic: It's the common story where a family takes in a stray cat, makes false assumptions about that cat's anatomy, and now there are newborn kittens in the sock drawer.

MR. MISTOFFELEES GAVE BIRTH TO THOSE KITTENS AND NO ONE IS TALKING ABOUT IT. I'M NOT EVEN THAT INTO CATS THE MUSICAL, BUT I NEED SOMEONE ELSE TO ADDRESS THIS SO I DON'T FEEL INSANE. Anyway, feel free to add your thoughts on whether or not Mr. Mistoffelees is a single father.

[daimonclub]

Halloween great quotes

Halloween great quotes and aphorisms Halloween great quotes and aphorisms, 50 famous and amazing ideas for your pleasure by the World of English or English-culture.com blog Halloween for the year 2022 is celebrated/observed on Monday, October 31st. What the dead had no speech for, when living, They can tell you, being dead: the communication Of the dead is tongued with fire beyond the language of the living. T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets Be silent in that solitude, Which is not loneliness – for then The spirits of the dead, who stood In life before thee, are again In death around thee, and their will Shall overshadow thee; be still. Edgar Allan Poe If human beings had genuine courage, they’d wear their costumes every day of the year, not just on Halloween. Doug Coupland The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown. H P Lovecraft Be wary then; best safety lies in fear. William Shakespeare Treats and tricks. Witch broomsticks. Jack-o-lanterns Lick their lips. Crows and cats. Vampire bats. Capes and fangs And pointed hats. Werewolves howl. Phantoms prowl. Halloween’s Upon us now. Richelle E. Goodrich It’s Halloween, The night we all play, Trick or treat, We won’t go away. Be we ghoul or goblin, ghost, We’ll knock on your door, To see who scares you the most. Anthony T.Hincks Halloween shadows played upon the walls of the houses. In the sky the Halloween moon raced in and out of the clouds. The Halloween wind was blowing, not a blasting of wind but a right-sized swelling, falling, and gushing of wind. It was a lovely and exciting night, exactly the kind of night Halloween should be.” Eleanor Estes The jack-o-lantern follows me with tapered, glowing eyes. His yellow teeth grin evily. His cackle I despise. But I shall have the final laugh when Halloween is through. This pumpkin king I’ll split in half to make a pie for two.” Richelle E. Goodrich There is magic in the night when pumpkins glow by moonlight. Anonymous Shadows of a thousand years rise again unseen. Voices whisper in the trees, “Tonight is Halloween!” Dexter Kozen On Hallows Eve, we witches meet to broil and bubble tasty treats like goblin thumbs with venom dip, crisp bat wings, and fried fingertips. Richelle E. Goodrich Witch and ghost make merry on this last of dear October’s days. Author Unknown

Halloween quotes by English-culture Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. Christmas and the others can end up making you sad, because you know you should be happy. But on Halloween you get to become anything that you want to be” Ava Dellaira Halloween is fun, but it wasn't always my favorite holiday. I think Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Tobin Bell Tis now the very witching time of night, When churchyards yawn and hell itself breathes out Contagion to this world. William Shakespeare When witches go riding, and black cats are seen, the moon laughs and whispers, ‘tis near Halloween. Author Unknown We are born from the star dust, and there we have to come back, under some nice carpets, to enjoy some cheerful Halloween parties! Carl William Brown Clothes make a statement. Costumes tell a story. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Fear has many eyes and can see things underground. Miguel de Cervantes There is nothing that gives more assurance than a mask. Colette On ol' Halloween Night These monsters join the living If they had it their way They'd stay until Thanksgiving. Casey Browning Halloween wraps fear in innocence, As though it were a slightly sour sweet. Let terror, then, be turned into a treat... Nicholas Gordon Halloween isn't the only time for ghosts and ghost stories. In Victorian Britain, spooky winter's tales were part of the Christmas season, often told after dinner, over port or coffee. Michael Dirda Every Halloween for six years, I was a Ninja Turtle, and Mikey was my favorite. The turtles really made me who I am today. They got me into martial arts, meditation, surfing, skateboarding; big time influence on who I am today. Greg Cipes Halloween is bigger than Christmas in America. I've experienced it in New York, Los Angeles and Washington D.C., and if you're in the right neighbourhood, every house is decorated with spooky ghosts, spider webs, and jack-o-lanterns. Rhys Darby

Halloween best quotes ever If ever there was a holiday that deserves to be commercialized, it's Halloween. We haven't taken it away from kids. We've just expanded it so that the kid in adults can enjoy it, too. Cassandra Peterson Where there is no imagination there is no horror. Arthur Conan Doyle People value Halloween, like Valentine's Day, because they can tell themselves that it's not merely secularized but actually secular, which is to say, not Christian, Jewish, Hindu or Muslim. Amity Shlaes This Halloween the most popular mask is the Arnold Schwarzenegger mask. And the best part? With a mouth full of candy you will sound just like him. Conan O'Brien On Halloween, kids get to assume, for one night the outward forms of their innermost dread, and they're also allowed to take candy from strangers - the scariest thing of all. Kate Christensen Charlie Brown is the one person I identify with. C.B. is such a loser. He wasn't even the star of his own Halloween special. Chris Rock Once in a young lifetime one should be allowed to have as much sweetness as one can possibly want and hold. Judith Olney True love is like ghosts, which everyone talks about but few have seen. Author Unknown They that are born on Halloween shall see more than other folk. Saying of unknown origin Proof of our society's decline is that Halloween has become a broad daylight event for many. Robert Kirby

Halloween best quotes and decorations Proof of our society's decline is that Halloween has become a broad daylight event for many. Robert KirbyWhen black cats prowl and pumpkins gleam, May luck be yours on Halloween. Author Unknown When black cats prowl and pumpkins gleam, May luck be yours on Halloween. Author Unknown It's said that All Hallows' Eve is one of the nights when the veil between the worlds is thin - and whether you believe in such things or not, those roaming spirits probably believe in you, or at least acknowledge your existence, considering that it used to be their own. Even the air feels different on Halloween, autumn-crisp and bright. Erin Morgenstern Halloween starts earlier and earlier, just like Christmas. Robert Englund I see my face in the mirror and go, 'I'm a Halloween costume? That's what they think of me?' Drew Carey There is nothing funny about Halloween. This sarcastic festival reflects, rather, an infernal demand for revenge by children on the adult world. Jean Baudrillard In Britain, the major public holiday used to be Guy Fawkes Day... that was celebrated on November 5th with things like bonfires and fireworks... I think that made Halloween seem preferable. The idea of having pumpkins and costumes and parties seemed much more appealing than burning down your neighborhood. Lisa Morton In our town, Halloween was terrifying and thrilling, and there was a whiff of homicide. We'd travel by foot in the dark for miles, collecting candy, watching out for adults who seemed too eager to give us treats. Rosecrans Baldwin On Halloween, don't you know back when you were little, your mom tells you don't eat any candy until she checks it? I used to be so tempted to eat my candy on the way to other people's houses. That used to be such a tease. Derrick Rose I'm not a real Halloween kind of guy, because Halloween is every day. Al Jourgensen

Halloween quote by the great poet Poe For about 30 years, Halloween was taken over by pranksters. By the '30s, pranks were causing cities millions of dollars of damage. They considered banning Halloween in many cities, but instead, parents got together and came up with party ideas for kids, and a lot of them involved dressing up and costuming. Lisa Morton There haven't been organized protests, but I have heard of protests where people have wanted to celebrate Halloween. Lisa Morton You look at Cheney, Rumsfeld, Karl Rove, and Bush - if you saw them on Halloween, they wouldn't need a costume. You'd give them a treat and compliment them on what great-looking demons they were. They are demons. There's no doubt about it. Tommy Chong I live in New Orleans part of the year, and it's a really fun eating town. I bought two homes there, one to live in and one as an investment. They love to eat, drink and dress up in costumes. There are so many reasons to dress up - Mardi Gras, Halloween, Southern Decadence. Jennifer Coolidge I hear from many a man around Halloween that's dressed up as Mama for Halloween. It's a great costume. Vicki Lawrence I'm a really big fan of all things macabre in general; Halloween happens to be my favorite holiday. Dove Cameron I love Halloween, trick or treating and decorating the house. And I love Thanksgiving, because of the football and the fall weather. And of course, I love Christmas - that's my favorite of all! Joe Nichols I learned to glitter the pumpkins for Halloween not because I went into it thinking, 'I'm going to glitter some pumpkins!' No. I bought all of these big, cold, slimy, disgusting pumpkins and tried to carve them, and it was gross, so I had to find something else to do with them. Glitter was life-changing. Jen Lancaster I hate Halloween. I hate dressing up. I hate - I wear wigs, makeup, costumes every day. Halloween is like, my least favorite holiday. Amy Poehler My favorite scary movie was always 'Halloween.' I love that there's hidden emotion underneath Michael Myers' psychotic behavior. Plus, he has the best mask, hands-down. Chris Zylka I've never seen 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre', I've never seen 'Halloween', I've never seen any of the 'Friday the 13ths.' Lin Shaye Download the pdf file about Halloween History If you like Halloween you can also read the following articles: Halloween great and famous quotes Halloween or All Hallows’ Eve Halloween quotes and aphorisms Halloween death poems http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ceNe5q9xfI   Read the full article

[nekoewen]

Flat Caps!

Watching Maggie Mae Fish’s video on T.S. Eliot (who was a fascist) and Cats led me to the Wikipedia page on sumptuary laws, which is a term for laws that place restrictions on what people wear. These apparently came from a combination of economic protectionism, elitism, and ideas about propriety. England had a lot of these, and in particular flat caps originally became a thing because Parliament made woolen hats mandatory for nearly 30 years.

[ramrodd]

How can the essays of George Orwell be used to develop critical thinking about current events and issues?

COMMENTARY:

You can begin with the opening sentence: “The clock struck 13” is like the opening sentence of “The Love song of J. Alfred Prufrock:

“Let us go then, you and I, When the evening is spread out against the sky Like a patient etherized upon a table”

In terms of your experience of the narrative of 1984, the first sentence of 1984 is like the door in Revelation 4.2 and the mirror in “Through the Looking Glass”. If read that line and close your eyes, maybe spark a doobie and play the opening theme of “Twilight Zone”, defines the phenomenal reality of the narrative.

What you just read is an example of literary analysis as performance art.

If you go through 1984, you will find a trail of these cultural artifacts of the characters in the novel, like bread crumbs, leading your forward. Dagny Taggart has a similar role in Atlas Shrugged, dragging you by your dick, forward, into the inevitable submission to the superior intellect of John Galt, who talks the same shit as the Unibomber’s manifesto. With Dagny, who leaves a lingering bouquet of Chanel no. 5 and sex, she is the bait in Ayn Rand’s Venus Fly Trap.

The conceit in English letters is to conceive a narrative as compelling as scripture using different literary mechanisms

And, when it comes to critical thinking, Hegel comes in handy for his mathematical clarity and simplicity. Especially when you include the 4th law of logic in your outline.

Prufrock is setting out for the clubs in Top Hat and Tails, as one does. The cultural perspective defines The Great Gatsby. This is what was referred to as “The Swells” in the America of “It’s a Wonderful Life” Only, J. Alfred is an American in Oxford. You can hear the twang of James Whitcomb Riley in The Hollow Men, but T.S. Eliot is channeling the young Prince Edward, getting ready to Top Cat his way around The Strand.

Hegel and Kant make it easy and fun to do. And, as a commercial process, a capitalist tool. If you are invested in “originalism” of the Barr Decision, Kant anticipates George Washington as a Deist and Hegel reflects von Steubin’’s influence on the Just War Doctrine of the US Army War College and the command and organizational processes of the Command and General Staff College and US Army Ranger School. Ayn Rand and Robert Heinlein shared the first Prometheus Award in their particular category, the difference being that Robert Heinlein’s version of the future is informed by Kant and Hegel and captured by Starship Troopers as they tie into Arthur Clarke’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, while Ayn Rand, like Newt Gingrich, trying to re-write the Bolshevik Revolution. Like Major Trainwreck Greene, the Whites would have won if she had been in charge.

I’m an Army brat. The idea of the clock striking 13 would have happened on Armed Forces Network in Germany in 1956, when Newt Gingrich and I were stationed in Stuttgart at the same time. Just after Sputnik. Sputnik totally freaked the Army community out. There were still a lot of POWs from the Philippines in the Army community as a particular point of price of service. They’d been there, done that after Pearl Harbor and the entire community shuddered.

The US Army community is a socialist society by constitutional necessity, so the socialism of the novel seemed familiar. I was too young to understand the betrayal: that would happen for me in Vietnam. But from my experience, socialism is nurturing and enabling and encouraging one to be all one could be.

I’ve had many meetings at 1300 hours ever since i lived in Germany. In 1956, the US Army community was prepared to snatch the women and children back to the states in 24 hours during the Hungarian Revolution. So, the idea that there was a war going on just over the horizon, which informs 1984, was a fact of my life.

I understood perfectly the evil George Orwell was getting at and I agreed with him. An important role that Critical Race Theory is how damaging evil is and how to fix the damage and renew the culture using capitalism.

You can do exactly the same thing with Atlas Shrugged as 1984. George Orwell was trying to warn the world about people who thought like Ayn Rand and William F. Buckley. Ayn Rand and William F. Buckley are exactly like the unfaithful servants in the Parable of the Vineyard. 1984 is about a country run by people like Ayn Rand and William F. Buckley. There is an actual, real time, connection between William F. Buckley’s campus marketing strategy for the 1960 agenda of the John Birch Society, the January 6 Conspiracy and the vast right wing conspiracy Hillary Clinton correctly identified in February 1993 that would drive Vince Foster to suicide,

Who is John Galt? Ayn Rand’s essential model of class room instruction is to beat you into submission and that was the first of 500 pages of similar abuse. John Galt is a perfect metaphor for William F. Buckley’s political objectives consistent with the John Birch Society in that they are so loathsome that they can vever be successful in polite society, much less the rational self-interests of Biden votes. John Galt has to do all his politics from subversion, sedition, sabotage and constitutional deconstruction.

George Orwell was waning America about the potential for the January 6 lynch mob to erupt into view and blow up America. Beginning at 1300 hours on January 6, 2021.

It’s critical thinking, every step of the way.

[godzilla-reads]

The Big List of Cat Literature

Nonfiction Books About Cats

“The Tribe of Tiger” by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas

“On Cats” by Doris Lessing

“Cat Sense” by John Bradshaw

“The Cat: A Natural History” by Sarah Brown

“Secrets of the Cat” by Barbara Holland

“Cathedral Cats” by Richard Surman

“Cat Confidential” by Vicky Halls

Catty Children’s Books

“Splat the Cat” by Rob Scotton

“Six Dinner Sid” by Inga Moore

“Millions of Cats” by  Wanda Gág

“Comet’s Nine Lives” by Jan Brett

“The Tale of Tom Kitten” by Beatrix Potter

“Kitten’s First Full Moon” by Kevin Henkes

“Pete the Cat” by Eric Litwin and James Dean

“They All Saw a Cat” by Brendan Wenzel

“Mog the Forgetful Cat” by Judith Kerr

“The Chinese Siamese Cat” by Amy Tan

Middle Reader Books for Cat Lovers

“Warriors: Into the Wild” by Erin Hunter

“Adventures of a Cat-Whiskered Girl” by Daniel Manus Pinkwater

“Travels of Suki the Adventure Cat” by Martina Gutfreund and Leigh-Anne Ingram

“Royal Rescues: The Naughty Kitten” by Paula Harrison

“Varjak Paw” by S.F. Said

“The Cat Who Came in Off the Roof” by Annie M.G. Schmidt

“Catlantis” by Anna Starobinets 

“Crenshaw” by Katherine Applegate

“Catwings” by Ursula K. Le Guin

“The Witches of Worm” by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

“Carbonel: The King of the Cats” by Barbara Sleigh

Feline Classics

“Classic Cat Stories” edited by Becky Brown

“The Cat in the Hat” by Dr. Seuss

“Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats” by T.S. Eliot

“The Guest Cat” by Takashi Hiraide

“The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe

“The Cats of Ulthar” by H.P. Lovecraft

“Jenny and the Cat Club” by Esther Averill

Cat Literature

“Tailchaser’s Song” by Tad Williams

“Felidae” by Akif  Pirinçci

“Thomasina: The Cat Who Thought She Was God” by Paul Gallico

“How to Tell if Your Cat is Plotting to Kill You” by The Oatmeal

“The Cat Who Could Read Backwards” by Lilian Jackson Braun

“The Book of Night With Moon” by Diane Duane

“Catfantastic” edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Andre Norton

“The Incredible Journey” by Sheila Burnford

“Alfie” by Rachel Wells

“Of Cats and Men” by Sam Kalda

True Cat Stories

“Homer’s Odyssey: A Fearless Feline Tale” by Gwen Cooper

“Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World” by Vicki Myron and Bret Witter

“The Dalai Lama’s Cat” by David Michie

“A Street Cat Named Bob: How One Man and His Cat Found Hope On the Streets” by James Bowen

“Cat Stories” by James Herriot

“Making Rounds with Oscar: The Extraordinary Gift of an Ordinary Cat” by David Dosa

“Casper the Commuting Cat: The True Story of the Cat Who Rode the Bus and Stole Our Hearts” by Susan Finden

“Oscar the Bionic Cat” by Kate Allan

“The Cat Inside” by William S. Burroughs

Cat Poetry

“Hate That Cat” by Shannon Creech

“The Owl and the Pussy Cat” by Edward Lear

“I’m Not Sorry: Poems by Cats” by Rosa Silva

“Poetry for Cats: The Definitive Anthology of Distinguished Feline Verse” by Henry Beard

“Cat Poems” by Elizabeth Bishop

“The Great Cat: Poems About Cats” edited by Emily Fragos

“On Cats” by Charles Bukowski

Three Cat Documentaries on Netflix

The Tigers of Scotland (2017)

Catwalk: Tales From the Cat Show Circuit (2018)

#CATS_The_Mewvie (2020)

Famous Authors’ Cats

Mark Twain and Bambino

Ernest Hemingway and Snowball

Stephen King and Smucky

Alice Walker and Frida Kahlo

Doris Lessing and El Magnifico

William S. Burroughs and Smoke

Haruki Murakami and Sundance

[frustrationinexcelsis]

In light of the recent thing with the Gatsby and the public domain and all that, I have elected to put together a roadmap of notable works that will enter the public domain per US copyright law in the next few decades, up to 2060.

Each work will enter the domain at the beginning of the year it is listed under.

2022: Winnie-the-Pooh (A.A. Milne); The Sun Also Rises (Ernest Hemingway)

2023: The Colour Out of Space (H.P. Lovecraft)

2025: All Quiet on the Western Front (Erich Maria Remarque)

2026: The Maltese Falcon (Dashiel Hammett); Last and First Men (Olaf Stapledon)

2027: The Whisperer in Darkness (H.P. Lovecraft)

2028: Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)

2030:  Murder on the Orient Express (Agatha Christie); Mary Poppins (P.L. Travers)

2031: Little House on the Prairie (Laura Ingalls Wilder)

2032: Absalom, Absalom! (William Faulkner); Gone with the Wind (Margaret Mitchell); The Story of Ferdinand (Munro Lead); At the Mountains of Madness, The Shadow Over Innsmouth and The Shadow Out of Time (H.P. Lovecraft)

2033: Of Mice and Men (John Steinbeck); The Hobbit (J.R.R. Tolkien)

2034: The Sword in the Stone (T. H. White); Appointment with Death and Hercule Poirot's Christmas (Agatha Christie)

2035: Finnegans Wake (James Joyce); The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck); Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (Robert L. May); Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats (T.S. Eliot); Murder Is Easy, And Then There Were None, and The Regatta Mystery (Agatha Christie)

2036: For Whom the Bell Tolls (Ernest Hemingway); Lassie Come-Home (Eric Knight); The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (Carson McCullers)

2037: Curious George (Margret and H.A. Rey)

2039: The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry); The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath (H.P. Lovecraft)

2041: Pippi Longstocking (Astrid Lindgren)

2043: Doctor Faustus (Thomas Mann); A Streetcar Named Desire (Tennessee Williams)

2045: Nineteen Eighty-Four (George Orwell); Death of a Salesman (Arthur Miller)

2046: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (C.S. Lewis); I, Robot (Isaac Asimov); Gormenghast (Mervyn Peake)

2047: The Catcher in the Rye (J. D. Salinger); Prince Caspian (C.S. Lewis)

2048: The Old Man and the Sea (Ernest Hemingway); Charlotte’s Web (E. B. White); The Borrowers (Mary Norton); The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (C.S. Lewis)

2049: Farenheit 451 (Ray Bradbury); The Silver Chair (C.S. Lewis)

2050: The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers (J.R.R. Tolkien); Lord of the Flies (William Golding); The Horse and His Boy (C.S. Lewis)

2051: The Return of the King (J.R.R. Tolkien); The Magician’s Nephew (C.S. Lewis); Lolita (Vladimir Nabokov)

2052: Old Yeller (Fred Gipson) The Last Battle (C.S. Lewis)

2053: Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand); The Cat in the Hat and How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (Dr. Seuss)

2055: A Canticle for Leibowitz (Walter M. Miller, Jr.); Starship Troopers (Robert A. Heinlein)

2056: To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee); One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish and Green Eggs and Ham (Dr. Seuss)

2057: Catch-22 (Joseph Heller); Stranger in a Strange Land (Robert A. Heinlein); Solaris (Stanislaw Lem); James and the Giant Peach (Roald Dahl)

2058: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Ken Kesey); A Clockwork Orange (Anthony Burgess); The Man in the High Castle (Philip K. Dick); A Wrinkle in Time (Madeleine L'Engle)

2059: Planet of the Apes (Pierre Boulle); Where the Wild Things Are (Maurice Sendak); Clifford the Big Red Dog (Norman Bridwell)

2060: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Roald Dahl); The Giving Tree (Shel Silverstein)

[amisssunbeam]

A Little Response to Rhavewellyarnbag's latest Review of The Terror's "Horrible from Supper" (the italics are me)

Being another look at The Terror, episode 01x07, “Horrible From Supper”. But first, the characters in The Terror to whom I own an apology for the things I said last night when I was drunk, in ascending order of how vile it was: Francis. Yes, what I said was true, but I should not have said it. Goodsir, on general principle, because he is a nice man, and doesn’t deserve to have the likes of me talking about him that way. Author’s note: Only daily do I apologize to Harry Goodsir (fictional) for the things I say about him, and to Harry Goodsir (nonfictional) for the things I say about a fictionalized version of him. I like to think that the former would forgive me, but I think that the latter might not. I painted him from the few photos made of him; he has a delightfully reproachful look. Resting bitch face, even.

In the 1845 photos, his eyebrows come together in a way which could be interpreted as judgmental.  But, when we think of the trials of sitting for a daguerreotype at that time (not nearly as jolly and pain-free as depicted in “The Ladder” –forgetting about the subsequent Tuunbaq attack) Goodsir’s reproachful look might merely result from the tedium of having his picture taken (or that fatal tooth was beginning to hurt). Tozer. Though, again, I meant it, and, like, look, I defy you tell me that he doesn’t look absolutely stunning when he’s afraid for his life in “Terror Camp Clear”. 

“The Terror” certainly broadens the parameters of handsome-ness.  Tozer, while listening to Morfin singing “The Silver Swan”, is more attractive than, than, than the Moon!  Or the Pyramids!  He’s supernatural.

The ship before it weighs anchor, before it, in some fundamental way, becomes a ship. Not yet having fulfilled its function, it is more like a theatrical set. The notion of limbo is a fitting one: the men descending the ladder, coming from the bright, noisy world above, could be entering the afterlife.

Who’s the cat who does the words about utter existentialism?  Rod Serling, was that his name?  Did everyone see his episode of “The Twilight Zone” about the toys in the Salvation Army barrel?  Yikes.

Nothing is working as it should, logic is suspended, and the topsy-turvy world of the carnival will become real.

The movie “Topsy-Turvy” is a great favorite of la famille Sunbeam.  Even so, there are useful parallels between that film and “The Terror”: class clashes, pretense and pageantry, and mainly ripping away the fine lace mask of the Victorian era.  The attitude of the servants in both shows is strikingly craven.

“Any tips, sir, for a first-timer?”

In the super-heated world of fandom, “any tips for a first-timer” sounds like the sort of pick-up line EC would use on the true Cornelius.

Poor Morfin.

Morfin is “The Terror’s” equivalent of the Victorian Little Nell.  Headaches, bad teeth, song-forgetter, probably a once-in-a-lifetime sodomite but nevertheless flogged for it.  When he and Tozer go out on that exploratory mission, he falls flat down and Tozer says something like “Don’t volunteer if you don’t have the bottom for it.”  (More heat for the fandom).  And he gets to be the first to see the severed heads. (Who thought Tozer and Morfin would make a good team for this task? Did they draw names?)  “Gently with that one, please.” It’s a little bit insensitive of Goodsir to express concern for his luggage before he does, Morfin, after Morfin’s just collapsed from pain, only looking like the living dead. That trunk, though, is Jacko’s tomb.

Harvey, your theory about Goodsir’s, ah, class-related selfishness is confirmed here.

“Are these our choices, Cornelius, or are they being made for us?” Gibson seems to falter, which is interesting. His idea to separate from the larger group doesn’t seem to be his own, which suggests that Hickey understood that it couldn’t be seen to have come from him. Gibson looks like death warmed over, but Hickey is just as perky as ever.

Gibson seems to get on-and-off injections of great intelligence, but his death-warmed-over look is consistent through the series.

 Hickey is also under-dressed, not even wearing a hat.

This is perhaps a very English-major thing to say, but there is a suggestion of a climate change (or a massive change in consciousness) occurring after Carnivale, as if the trauma of the fire left living dead who can no longer feel the cold, or, having felt so much fire, the survivors have had the idea of cold burnt out of them.

He does sometimes dress more appropriately, as in “A Mercy” when he was helping Hartnell transport supplies for the carnival. Suggesting that, in this scene, Hickey means to maximize his attractions. The obvious beneficiary is Gibson, but I think Hickey sees some value in displaying himself for Tozer, the one Hickey is really after, and has been since at least “Punished As A Boy”.

A sexy thought; how much nudity the men would crave.  When Hickey is flogged, he is completely exposed to the men present, and I think the sexuality of his having his pants pulled down really hits the sailors hard.  Francis alone looks like he’s going to climb out of his skin with the ferocity of his feelings (I won’t say desire, but that’s what I mean). Was it you, Harvey, or someone else who discussed how strong the thirst for touch must be among the Franklin Expedition?  I imagine the thirst to see bodies is just as powerful.

Then, I was immediately resurrected by the peek at Collins’ suspenders. He is... built like a cement outdoor commode. There is a lot of Collins to love.

The suspenders become iconic.  Collins is one very alluring sailor, even in his bulky sea-diving outfit with that great furry head sticking out.  Yet his sexuality seems neutered, compared to the other significant sailors  (Still, if Hollywood decided to make a chubby “Wuthering Heights”, Collins would make the perfect pudgy Heathcliff.) Author’s note: I don’t think Francis thinks very much of Goodsir, and the feeling is mutual. Goodsir has to obey Francis, but it’s duty without devotion, without deference, Goodsir having seen very little that would indicate to him that Francis has reformed himself. Francis may have stopped drinking, but he’s up to his old tricks, dismissive unless he wants something, ingratiating when he does. This is the way that Francis behaved toward Hickey, which gives an interesting contrast between Goodsir and Hickey: once Goodsir understands Francis’ motives, he’s no longer taken in; Hickey must understand that Francis was only drunk and trying to get into Hickey’s pants, but Hickey continues to try to make Francis like him.

Francis might resent Goodsir’s place in society, so settled and unique, while Francis himself has to maneuver around Sir John and James and all the rest.  But Hickey he can control.  (In a way, it’s a shame that Irving, the stupid old king of coitus interruptus, has to bust in again.  It would be in vain, and yet interesting, to consider what might have happened if that seduction had been consummated.  Think of the bickering harem Crozier could assemble: Hickey and Jopson and Gibson and then Irving, etc etc. (But this speculation, that a captain would handpick a seraglio of sailors,  is ruined by the knowledge that, despite all the porn stories and movies, there is no one a teacher would want less to seduce than her students.)

James has to move his little pick ax from one hand to the other to reach out to Francis, suggesting that, emotion aside, he made a conscious decision (his bones not yet reduced to broken glass) to grab Francis’ jacket, right over his heart, no less, and jostle Francis in a friendly manner.

This moment is comparable, to those who might be interested, to Star Trek: The Original Series’s “Amok Time” when Spock grabs Kirk by the arms. Quite the pensee could be written comparing Kirk-Crozier (the fair-haired captains) and Spock-Fitzjames, the haughty eyebrow-waggling second.  The latter’s reserve is melted, melted utterly by his realization of how much he loves his Captain. 

Author’s note: I am into Edward, but conditionally: I like him in that coat that makes him look substantial. Matthew McNulty is lovely, but he’s far thinner than I thought he was, which came as a bit of a shock.

His shortness is also quite astonishing. I can’t imagine Levesconte being involved.

Levesconte is too busy lying on his little officer’s cot, reminiscing about the time he said “benjo” and everybody cheered.

“There was a fourth man.”

I know you are referring to the raid on Silna in “Punished as a Boy”, but these words put one in mind of T.S. Eliot’s notes to the “Fire Sermon” in his “Wasteland”: “it was related that the party of [Anarctic] explorers, at the extremity of their strength, had the constant delusion that there was one more member than could actually be counted”.  Ah, the hypnotic potency of the top of the world.

Did Edward just grab Irving’s knee? Judging by Irving’s expression, yes, I think he did. I think he leaves his hand there for the rest of the meeting. Actually, no, he does not, but he appears to again bring it down to the general vicinity of Irving’s lower body.

I have run this scene over again and again and again (like the Zapruder film), and I think Edward does make an aggressively intimate gesture: “left and to the back, left and to the back.”  Irving does not seem displeased.

Hickey begins to assume what he imagines as Tuunbaq’s character. Having already, it’s implied, eaten part of Heather’s brain . . .

It is more probable that Hickey was just tapping at Heather’s brain, mainly because a brain IS not like a pudding; a pudding can be nibbled on without anyone noticing.  But if someone nicks a part of a cathedral, which is a self-contained entity, it would be noticed by, at least, Nurse Tozer.  Still Hickey might have tasted the cerebrospinal fluid, just for the Hickey of it.

When first aboard Terror, Hickey appears to be sizing up his new environment, but he also looks relieved, hopeful. It’s implied that he had a lucky escape from England, which had gotten too hot for him, but I think that he really believed that he was making a fresh start. Taking another man’s name was practical, perhaps a necessary evil, but I think that E.C. just didn’t want to be E.C. anymore.

I admire the symmetry of Hickey throwing a Neptune-sized bag down by Hodgson, thus startling him far more than one think a tough lieutenant would be startled.

Author’s note: . . Silna doesn’t fall into Goodsir’s arms, because there’s no reason why she would; she might like him, but he’s merely the least untrustworthy of a group of untrustworthy men who, by the end of the series, have not just made her home almost uninhabitable, but killed her father and her friends. Her discovery of Goodsir's body, the state it’s left in, confirms it: if this is what the British do to each other, she was lucky to get away when she did.

Hear hear!

By the way, if one is in the mood, another pensee could also be written about the real daguerreotypes of the Franklin expedition.  I am particularly amused by Gore and Fairholme.  Gore hates Lady Jane and this stupid thing she’s making him do. just so Sir John can be further exalted.  Fairholme picks up the vibe and poses just like Gore, only he has to borrow the affable Fitzjames’ jacket.

I think we’ve all been there.

[amethyst-labyrinth]

Detective Bustopher cast of characters part 2

@incorrectcats

Zipporah a female owl who own and runs The Runcible Spoon, a music hall, were criminals, agents of Macavity and The Bruiser have been know to frequent. She’s a petty fence, will hide criminals from the law or angry employers for a price. She’s attracted to cats male or female, but fancies herself in love with The Bruiser and he with her.

“Me and you?” The Bruiser scoffed at her after she made her declaration of love to him. “I’d rather turn you into a feathered hat for me old Moggy Molly! Now be off with you before I decides to go posh and wot peasant under glass.”

Isaac a Brazilian Shorthair, he’s a chemist’s cat, he helps Bustopher on his cases with forensics in his own laboratory.

Cat Morgan he is Mistoffelee’s father, (See Cat Morgan Introduce Himself by T.S. Eliot for information about him) He is very knowledgeable about myths and legends. He’s mates with Bustopher’s sister. He helps provide muscle and backup and his boat when Bustopher needs it.

[docmurph12]

Ok so advisory warning on part 2 of my CATS review.

I know very little about stage production compared to my self study knowledge of filmmaking. I am reviewing, in this second part, a film. Of a stage show. So I am not sure how this is going to turn out, other than I'm going to get a good look at how this is supposed to be, instead of what was delivered. I am also hoping this filter helps me clean up my final verdict on the 2019 war crime that was CATS. Buckle in, here we go!

Ok right away, the music is 100% better. I'm not being beaten over the head with dated instrumentation, and this thing is almost 20 years older than the movie. Wtf guys.

I have to say I dig some of the humor in the opening song. Like having a shoe thrown at them and everyone singing out of key as they are singing about cats being angelic vocalists singing Strauss and Handel. Shits funny to me.

So I'm noticing that this is going to be pretty much un-doable without ballet. I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't this. That's not to say that is a bad thing, i just wasnt expecting it to be so dependent on it. As far as the performances are concerned, so far it is a spectacle.

I have to say I hate this Rum Tum Tugger piece. The dude is like Prince with bad timing and a weak falsetto. I hate to say it but Jason Derulo might actually have done a better job.

Ok I give up. WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK with the Rumpus cat? Matter of fact, that goes for this whole thing. Seriously.

God I have so many questions about camera use here. How many cuts did they have to incorporate to account for all the moving pieces? Was this done over the course of a constant single performance? How many vocal parts got done in ADR? Did they recreate this when it was done in front of an audience?

Ok I have to say, that overlay effect was definitely done in post. Still pretty cool though.

We have officially COMPLETELY jumped the shark in the end of the third act. Fucking force lightning shooting ass Mr. Mistofoles.

There is a TON of repetition in the music. If I hear the words Jellicle, Mistofoles, cat, or deuteronomy one more damn time I'm going to.....lemme get back to you I still have 20 minutes.

Oh interesting, easter egg on set. The license plate of the car on set reads TSE-1. T.S. Eliot. Neat.

This is REALLY long winded. The last 10 minutes feel like 2020.

God-Kitty really nailed that last note. Fucking righteous.

Ok so I think I have what I need for a comparison and final verdict on the film. Here we go.

I don't know why anyone thought we needed this. In any forum. On any version of Earth. I will say that I can greater appreciate some of the performances and aspects of the movie more now. For example:

Rebel Wilson really took absolutely less than nothing and made it work out. She worked seemingly outside of her realm but nailed it, at least as much as one can in this arena.

Francesca Hayward's character was kind of a nice fleshing out of a character that previously existed. I like how she had a more central role in the film. She really was a dazzling performer in her own right. I just wish it wasnt obscured by the fur suit atrocity that made a wonderful ballet performance REALLY difficult to watch at times. For that matter Idris Elba's Macavity needed the additional material they gave him and I can...appreciate what he did with it. Just keep the goddamned trench coat and porkpie hat on.

Speaking of the story, I really hate the lack of a flow that both versions of the story had. The attempt to sew the vignettes together into a more understandable story didnt really work out as intended. To second that, I think to make this work you absolutely have to go one way or the other. This has to be either a stage production or a film. It cannot be both. If they focused on making a movie instead of some fucked up hybrid of stage and screen it might have come off better.

My final thoughts? Repetitive and poorly constructed music, dated poorly in context. Poor execution in storytelling, especially when you consider it adapted a series of vignettes adapted into a stage script into a screenplay (wrapping my head around that hurts). This wasnt anything anyone needed outside of the pages of a T.S. Eliot book. The performances were alright, but can't we piece together another more effective epic or comedy or literally anything? Or here's a crazy idea, maybe something original!!!!

Final Verdict- The 1998 stage show on film was watchable at parts but it's still fucking CATS. D.

The movie? Taylor Swift was out of place, quality actors had a small rep tarnishing, music was BAD and VFX was set back probably 5 years. And its Fucking CATS. No grade for CATS. If I had to give it a grade it would be incomplete. I'm going to go brain bleach with Jay and Silent Bob Reboot before I get into my next request (Avatar the Last Airbender, for those wondering. Yes that one.)

[letterboxd]

The Purrfect Storm.

Since that Cats trailer dropped, the internet has had its whiskers in a twist, with cries of “impawsible, no way, they can’t do that”.

But they are doing that, and we can’t fight it, so we turned to Little White Lies associate editor (and Letterboxd member) Hannah Woodhead to help us understand this catalogue of mewsical mayhem.

Every so often, a film comes along that unites audiences in wonder and delight. We laugh, we cry, we emerge from the cinema born anew, washed in the collective excitement that comes from watching a sea-change take place before our very eyes.

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction: so came the trailer for Tom Hooper’s bombastic musical spectacular, Cats, slinking into cinemas this Christmas and your night terrors imminently. The internet reacted with a mixture of confusion, anger, fear and wonder. Out of chaos, comes order: sit back, relax, and let me answer all your questions.

What on earth…? Cats. Don’t pretend you don’t know what Cats is.

No, seriously. Okay, so Cats is a musical, composed by the overlord of British musical theater, Andrew Lloyd Webber in 1981. He’s also the man behind The Phantom of The Opera, Evita, Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat… the list goes on and on. And on.

So it’s a musical about cats? That’s literally it? Yes. Based on Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, by T.S. Eliot.

T.S. Eliot who wrote The Wasteland? Yes. He also liked cats. A lot. Like, he wrote a whole book of poems about how much he liked cats, to entertain his nieces and nephews.

T. S. Eliot in his study with his cat, Zuaxo. © The Estate of T. S. Eliot.

That… okay. So, what is Cats? Well, we join our feline friends on the evening of the Jellicle Ball—

The what? Okay, so, ‘jellicle’ is just how T.S. Eliot would describe cats. It’s a corruption of the words ‘dear little’, and in this instance, refers to the tribe of mischievous kitties who gather under the cover of darkness for a special party.

So the musical is about the party? Erm, sort of. Actually, it’s really just a sort of song-and-dance routine where the cats try to decide which one of them will be selected to ascend to a new life on the Heaviside Layer.

Excuse me? The Jellicle Ball is called to order by the wise leader of the Jellicle Cats—Old Deuteronomy—who announces that one of them will be selected for this great honor of transcending our world and going on to a better realm. They each introduce themselves to the audience—and argue their case for being the cat that deserves to shuffle off this mortal coil—with a little song and dance.

So it’s a talent contest where all the contestants are dancing cats, and the prize is death? Yes, it’s all very Black Mirror.

And it’s going to be a film? Directed by Tom Hooper, the luminary auteur behind The King’s Speech, Les Misérables and The Danish Girl.

Why is this happening? Because the Earth is dying and we’re all losing our minds, so anything goes at the cinema. Also, because musicals make a lot of money—even the ones the critics don’t like. The Greatest Showman, Bohemian Rhapsody, Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again. People like films based on stories they recognize, and they like singing along. It actually makes perfect sense from a financial standpoint, if not an ethical one.

But… why do the cats look so weird? In a star-studded featurette that preceded the trailer, there was much fanfair about Tom Hooper’s “digital fur technology”, which is being implemented to transform the actors into catctors. In the stage show, the performers usually just wear outfits and face paint that makes them look a bit like cats, but apparently that just wasn’t going to cut it for Hooper. But it just looks a bit wrong, doesn’t it? The human noses, the human hands, the strange cat-person-to-furniture scale they’re working with… there’s a lot going on.

What about all the cats in the trailer? Well, there are approximately 500 cats in Cats, but we got a good look at some of the key players. The first cat we see is Victoria—she’s a ballerina kitten.

Then there’s Mr. Mistoffelees, the black and white cat in the top hat. He’s a magician. Did you ever see a cat so clever?

Dame Judi Dench is playing Old Deuteronomy in this version, and wearing a large fur coat, possibly made from the skins of cats she’s bested in battle.

Then there’s Jennifer Hudson, playing Grizabella. She has the best song in the whole show, ‘Memory’, which is also the one you’re most likely to remember from your school talent shows when the one theater kid who really went for it would belt that out on stage and everyone’s parents would cry.

We’ve also got James Corden as Bustopher Jones, a gentleman cat, and Taylor Swift as Bombalurina, the flirtatious lady cat.

Why does she have boobs? It’s best not to dwell on that.

Is that Jason Derulo? Yes. He plays Rum Tum Tugger, the cat whose whole personality revolves around him being a bit of a shagger.

What’s Idris Elba doing? Skulking around as Macavity the Mystery Cat, the villain of the story (also called ‘The Hidden Paw’). I won’t go into details. I don’t know why he’s wearing a hat—in general, this version has a lot more hats than the stage show. There are plenty more cats to come too: Skimbleshanks, the Railway Cat; Gus the Theater Cat, played by Sir Ian McKellen. A cat for every occasion.

Why do you know so much about Cats, Hannah? Listen, I was a very theatrical child. Cats was the first stage show I ever saw, and I was obsessed with the VHS we had of the original film, which was a recording of the musical. I really don’t jive with Tom Hooper as a filmmaker, so this has been a difficult time for me. My only love, sprung from my only hate.

But… why? Listen, when you’re eight years old, you just want to see something cool every now and then. Remember the bit in The Incredibles where Mr. Incredible is asking the kid on the street what he’s waiting for, and the kid says, “I don’t know! Something amazing, I guess!” That’s what being a kid is. For me, seeing Cats was that. My mind was blown. There’s more than a little nostalgia tied into my feelings regarding Cats, and let me be clear: I don’t think this film will be good, per se, but I’m sure I’ll be entertained. Sometimes that’s enough.

Crikey. What will they think of next? Well, if Cats makes a truckload of money, maybe they’ll finally make a film version of Starlight Express, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s rollerskating musical about trains.

Trains? Yes. Singing trains. It’s 2019, why the hell not.

‘Cats’ is coming to cinemas worldwide in December 2019. For feline-lovers who can’t wait, please take part in our latest Showdown and then enjoy these lists of cat-related movies prepared by your fellow Letterboxd members: Films in which cats are secretly the main characters; Cat films everyone is too afraid to admit are good; Movies where I spend the whole duration of the film worrying about the cat; Cats of Gothic/Horror Film; Japanese films with cat as main or supporting character; and Cats as a main plot point.

[thisguyatthemovies]

Cat-nipped

Title: “Cats”

Release date: In theaters Dec. 20, 2019

Starring: Francesca Hayward, James Corden, Judi Dench, Laurie Davidson, Jason Derulo, Idris Elba, Jennifer Hudson, Ian McKellen, Taylor Swift, Rebel Wilson, Ray Winstone, Laurent Bourgeois, Larry Bourgeois, Robert Fairchild, Mette Towley, Melissa Madden-Gray, Steve McRae

Directed by: Tom Hooper

Run time: 1 hour, 42 minutes

Rated: PG

What it’s about: Based on the long-running stage musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber (which is based on “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats” by T.S. Eliot), “Cats” is a musical fantasy about a tribe of cats in London called Jellicles who attend the annual Jellicle Ball and compete for entrance into Heaviside Layer, where they will undergo reincarnation.

How I saw it: Let’s get a few disclaimers out of the way. I have not read T.S. Eliot’s “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats,” nor have I seen the long-running stage musical based on it, “Cats.” I am not a musical guy, whether the musical is in stage form or at the movies; I prefer a movie be told in words and pictures rather than songs and dances. My knowledge of musicals goes about as deep as “The Wizard of Oz” and “West Side Story” -- and the musical based on “The Planet of the Apes” starring Troy McClure in “The Simpsons.” Which is to say, I am horribly underqualified to watch a musical, let alone review one.

That said, I did watch the much-maligned trailer for the movie version of “Cats,” and it seemed like a must-see spectacular train wreck of a film. Humans posing (and singing, talking, dancing, prancing, mewing) as cats – what’s weird about that? And as a bonus, the trailer made it clear that expenses were spared in morphing actors into cats (with human faces) in noticeably subpar CGI. Still, at one time it was widely reported that the production had racked up a budget of $300 million. Those reports apparently were not accurate, as “Cats” now seems to have had a budget in the more believable $95 million range. That’s still a lot of money to make a 102-minute film about cats with human characteristics.

Did the full-length film deliver on the mess promised in the trailer? Yes and no. “Cats” is as weird as you might expect, a hallucinatory song-and-dance trip full of “I can’t believe what I just saw!” moments. No one could ever get used to seeing cats with human faces showing affection by rubbing heads. But it also is based on just a sliver of a story, it sails adrift in a sea of tonality, and at some point it becomes clear that it’s just a relentless series of explanatory songs (spoken dialogue is sparse) about an army of characters and types of cats. And worse than that, about halfway through it seems rather dull.

What there is of a story is this: A white cat named Victoria (ballerina Francesca Hayward in her feature-film debut) is dropped off in London among cats called Jellicles. They are preparing for the annual Jellicle Ball, where one of them will get to be reincarnated by being sent off in hot air balloon to a place called the Heaviside Layer. The competition is fierce and is sabotaged by a Satan-like cat, Macavity (played by an uncomfortable looking Idris Elba), who himself wants to get to Heaviside Layer. Who will have their ticket punched?

Along the way, each cat we are introduced to gets their own song and story, and the song count really starts to add up. “Cats” could have done without some of them, most notably unfunny Rebel Wilson as Jennyanydots and James Corden as Bustopher Jones. Their intros come early in the film and would have you thinking this might be a routine comedy trying to milk as many yuks as it could out of fat jokes. But they come and go rather quickly, as does the tone they brought with them. From there, “Cats” slides into a sentimental story about Victoria not fitting in and eventually taking pity on Grizabella (Jennifer Hudson), who was part of the Jellicles tribe until she was tempted by Macavity.  

“Cats” has some stellar moments in which it threatens to become a decent musical movie, and they are lumped together in the middle of the film. Hayward takes the spotlight for “Beautiful Ghosts,” a touching ballad written for the movie by Lloyd Weber and Taylor Swift (who has her own brief part in the film). Ian McKellen as Gus the Theatre Cat tells his story (he’s an aged stage actor with palsy) through a sentimental half-spoken, half-sung song. Hudson gets the show-stopper song, “Memory,” and she clearly has the strongest voice among the cast (some of the signing is suspect), but her song comes across as bombastic – noticeably so given the tone of the rest of the vocal performances.

It's difficult to become emotionally invested in a film about human cats. That there is so much weirdness in the visuals doesn’t help. I saw the first version released to theaters, and the cats had human hands; a version with supposedly improved CGI (and presumably paws) was released a few days later. Also, perspective is an issue. At times the cats seem human-sized; at other times they seem about the size of mice; and at times they are roughly the size of cats. And when some of the cats wear hats, they just seem like humans with hair where humans don’t typically have hair.

Lessons abound here, of course, including how we are all the same even if we are different, how we need to let go of the past so that we can happily sing and dance in the present, and, as Judi Dench (as the Cowardly Lion-looking Old Deuteronomy) sing-talks in an awkward explanatory final scene, cats are not dogs. Cats are not humans, either, but they are in “Cats,” and there’s just no getting past how strange that is over the course of a “what’s-the-point?” movie that doesn’t figure to be remotely as successful as the stage show.

My score: 27 out of 100

Should you see it? Not unless you are a diehard fan of musicals and your curiosity gets the best of you.

[daimonclub]

Halloween thoughts and poems

Halloween witches festival night Halloween thoughts and poems, quotes and aphorisms by the World of English, that is English-culture.com blog and Carl William Brown Halloween for the year 2022 is celebrated/observed on Monday, October 31st. What the dead had no speech for, when living, They can tell you, being dead: the communication Of the dead is tongued with fire beyond the language of the living. T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets For these beings, fall is ever the normal season, the only weather, there be no choice beyond. Where do they come from? The dust. Where do they go? The grave. Does blood stir their veins? No: the night wind. What ticks in their head? The worm. What speaks from their mouth? The toad. What sees from their eye? The snake. What hears with their ear? The abyss between the stars. They sift the human storm for souls, eat flesh of reason, fill tombs with sinners. They frenzy forth... Such are the autumn people. Ray Bradbury But that’s what makes it so fun! Life is scary. So why wouldn’t we enjoy and make fun of that fear? It’s like life is trying to makes us fear it, and on this day we just mock its attempts and say ‘no, not today, today I’m not scared of anything you throw at me'. Patricia Morais The Harvest Moon glows round and bold, In pumpkin shades outlined in gold, Illuminating eerie forms, Unnatural as a candied corn. Beware what dare crawls up your sleeve, For 'tis the night called Hallows Eve.” Richelle E. Goodrich, Making Wishes

Halloween Magick Pumkins Treats and tricks. Witch broomsticks. Jack-o-lanterns Lick their lips. Crows and cats. Vampire bats. Capes and fangs And pointed hats. Werewolves howl. Phantoms prowl. Halloween’s Upon us now. Richelle E. Goodrich, Slaying Dragons

Cute Halloween Vintage Postcard It's Halloween, The night we all play, Trick or treat, We won't go away. Be we ghoul or goblin, ghost, We'll knock on your door, To see who scares you the most. But cringe not in fear, Or cry out in pain, Cause it's only a game, Oh, what a shame. But don't despair, In the cold night air, Because we'll be back, And then you'll be scared! But not just one, Or even two. And so we bid you, A sweet adieu.” Anthony T.Hincks

Halloween Haunted Night House One need not be a chamber to be haunted; One need not be a house; The brain has corridors surpassing Material place. Emily Dickinson The jack-o-lantern follows me with tapered, glowing eyes. His yellow teeth grin evily. His cackle I despise. But I shall have the final laugh when Halloween is through. This pumpkin king I’ll split in half to make a pie for two.” Richelle E. Goodrich, Slaying Dragons Halloween shadows played upon the walls of the houses. In the sky the Halloween moon raced in and out of the clouds. The Halloween wind was blowing, not a blasting of wind but a right-sized swelling, falling, and gushing of wind. It was a lovely and exciting night, exactly the kind of night Halloween should be.” Eleanor Estes, The Witch Family

Halloween Special Vintage Witch with her cat 'Tis the night — the night Of the grave's delight, And the warlocks are at their play; Ye think that without The wild winds shout, But no, it is they — it is they. Arthur Cleveland Coxe A gypsy fire is on the hearth, Sign of the carnival of mirth; Through the dun fields and from the glade Flash merry folk in masquerade, For this is Hallowe'en! Unknown Author Download the pdf file about Halloween History If you like Halloween you can also read the following articles: Halloween great and famous quotes Halloween or All Hallows’ Eve Halloween quotes and aphorisms Halloween death poems Read the full article

[emritcheson]

Why The New Cats Movie is a Terrible Idea

I was first introduced to Cats in my sixth grade music class.  Which, trust me, is the last thing you want to watch while in the same room as a herd of twelve-year-old-boys.  People in strange wigs and skintight suits gyrating their hips and rubbing their heads against other people’s crotches.  I was horrified and I wanted to go home.

In trying to convince myself how much I hated it, I found the film uploaded in segments to YouTube, and as it turns out, without the outside influence, I fell in love with it.

I fell in love hard.  The music, the costumes, simply how different it was from any other musical I had seen in my life, the characters and the actors’ different interpretations of them, and the energy of the fellow devoted fans - all of it was and continues to be pure magic.

I’m sure most of you have at least heard of the phenomenon that is Cats, but you may not be as familiar with it as you think.  Despite popular belief, it does have a story.

Based on a book of poems by T.S. Eliot, it takes place on the night of the Jellicle Ball, at which the Jellicle leader Old Deuteronomy chooses one cat to “be reborn and come back to a different Jellicle life,” which is considered a great honor.  Meanwhile, Grizabella - an old, fallen-from-grace cat - seeks affection from the others and tries to join in on the fun, but they reject her.  This leads her to singing “Memory,” arguably the most famous song from the entire show.  After she sings her guts out, the other cats finally accept her and Old Deuteronomy selects her to be reborn.

The version I watched in my music class that served as my introduction to this show was a film released by The Really Useful Group in 1998 and directed by David Mallet.

Talk has been thrown around for a few years now that Tom Hooper (director of the 2012 Les Misérables film) wanted to make a big screen film version of Cats, but in early 2016 the rumors were officially confirmed.  Now it’s 2019, filming has begun, and big names have come down like locusts in a Laura Ingalls Wilder book.  It will be produced by Working Title Films and distributed by Universal Pictures, Steven freaking Spielberg will serve as an executive producer, and then there’s the cast...

This cast hurts me in the way that I love all of them and don’t want to see them affiliated with this inevitable train wreck.

Ohhh, dear Lord, simply looking at this makes me ill.

The fact that Macavity has higher billing than Grizabella or Deuteronomy gives me extreme pause.  While he may be the main antagonist of the show, Macavity is physically present for about a scene and a half max.  He shows up to kidnap Old Deuteronomy, fights Munkustrap and a couple other cats, and then disappears in a puff of smoke (quite literally).

I don’t know how to explain why Judi Dench as Deuteronomy is a bad idea without sounding sexist, but it is.  What’s more, Judi Dench was cast as Grizabella (as well as Jennyanydots) when the show premiered in London in 1981, but due to an injury she had to back out and was replaced by Elaine Paige, who would go on to reprise the role in the 1998 film.  So clearly, bringing Dench on as Grizabella would have been a far more satisfying decision.

Ian McKellen as Gus the Theatre Cat is the only one I can see actually working.  He gave an impromptu sample of his lines on The Graham Norton Show and my heart swelled with tenderness, though he immediately showed he seems to be taking the whole thing with a grain of salt.

Jennifer Hudson is another one that I can almost see, except for the perpetuation of the “young Grizabellas” trend that’s been rolling ever since Nicole Scherzinger (seen above) was cast in the London revival in 2014.  I think half of the appeal and heartbreak of Grizabella’s character is that she is traditionally portrayed by an older actress and you can tell that she’s no longer in “the prime of her life.”  When she’s portrayed younger, it cheapens her.  Like, “Yeah, we know you only came to hear me sing the song, so hold onto the rafters, kiddos.”

Taylor Swift as Bombalurina (the character known for her voluptuous qualities) feels like they just picked two names out of a hat, and Jason Derulo...I’m not even touching that because Rum Tum Tugger is my favorite character out of the whole show and I hold him to very high standards on a regular basis.  I can only pray that they don’t try to bring Street Cat Tugger back from the dead, since they seem to be taking a lot of inspiration from the recent revivals.

(Aaand now that video is in my YouTube history.  It burns.)

There’s also the fact that Cats is an extremely dance-heavy show - jazz, ballet, tap, the works - and most of these celebrities are not exactly know for their dancing.

Now all of that said, let me go on record to say that I am not opposed to the idea of a new Cats film in general.  as much as I love the 1998 version, they did take a sprinkle of liberties and I would like to see something closer to the traditional stage version on film.  However, that is clearly not what Hooper is trying to do here.

The most important element of Cats - moreso than in any other musical, I will argue - is immersion.  This is a landscape that takes place between real life and fantasy, not quite one or the other.  And to make that work, you have to believe that these characters are real even though they look very little like anything you’ve ever seen before.  Star power is only going to distract from that, especially in a film version where the audience is going to be up close and personal with the actors as opposed to the minimum distance a theater provides.  We won’t be thinking, “Wow!  Macavity is so terrifying yet graceful at the same time!”  We’ll be thinking, “Wow!  That’s Idris Elba in cat makeup!”

Fortunately, not everyone on this list is a household name.  We have some proper theater people attached to this project, and while that does give me a little bit of hope, it doesn’t take away the fact that the production team is giving the most attention to the actors that have the most star power.  We’ve heard nothing about the music.  We’ve seen no photos from the set.

This film is already a Frankensteined cash cow with very little soul from the production on which it’s based.  And I have a feeling it’s only going to get worse from here on out.

[weeklyhumorist]

QUIZ: Is it T.S. Eliot or Missy Elliott?

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1. When it’s time to rhyme rhyme, I can get down for mine.

2. And there isn’t any call for me to shout it. For he will do, as he do do and there’s no doing anything about it!

3. Effanineffable

4. If you came to freak-a-leak you better bring your hat.

5. I got a cute face, chubby waist. Thick legs, in shape.

6. For a similar reason, when game is in season, he is found, not at Fox’s, but Blimpy’s.

7. Rum Tum Tugger

8. I’m like kak-a-rak-a-rak-rak-a-rak-a-rak.

9. Keep your eyes on my bum-bum-bum-bum-bum. And think you can handle this gadong-a-dong-dong.

10. Well I never! Did you ever, know a cat so clever.

11. Is it worth it, let me work it. I put my thing down, flip it and reverse it.

12. He sways his head from side to side, with movements like a snake and, when you think he’s half asleep, he’s always wide awake.

TS: 2,3,6,7,10,12 Missy: 1,4,5,8,9,11

QUIZ: Is it T.S. Eliot or Missy Elliott? was originally published on Weekly Humorist

[godzilla-reads]

Iconic Cat Books

Since I did a post for National Pet Day featuring my dog, Winston, I’m going to do another for all the cat lovers on here, featuring my cat, Karma. 

“Hate That Cat” by Sharon Creech

“Tailchaser’s Song” by Tad Williams

“Felidae” by Akif Pirincci

“Dewey” by Vicki Myron

“The Tale of Tom Kitten” by Beatrix Potter

“Varjak Paw” by S.F. Said

“Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats” by T.S. Eliot

“Warriors” series by Erin Hunter

“The Tribe of Tiger” by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas

“The Cat in the Hat” by Dr. Seuss

“The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe