1944 – Snowball the cat tries to take over a machine gun in Normandy so she can shoot some Nazis herself.
Blessed post. Good kitty
i want someone to read that headline in an old timey reporter voice
Okay fun fact: cats were actively deployed to trenches and ships to help deal with rodent infestations in both world wars, and they had the curb cutter effect of keeping the men’s spirits high.
One cat, Simon, was given the rank “Able Seacat Simon” after dutifully killing rats and mice that were destroying the HMS Amethyst’s food supplies. The ship had come under fire during the Chinese civil war and many of its crewmen had died. The cat had been gravely injured, too, but he picked out the shrapnel himself – seriously – and went straight to killing the rodents that were overrunning the ship. He unfortunately passed from his injuries two weeks before he was scheduled to receive the Dickin Medal. To this day, he is the only cat to receive this award.
Here’s another WW1 trenchcat, who would have been ratter, mouser, companion and gas warning – not AFAIK by dying, like a canary, but since cats reacted to the smell of gas long before it was strong enough for humans to notice, the troops had a bit more time to get their masks on, and the cats went into gasproof boxes.
Meanwhile, somewhere on the other side of No Man’s Land…
Meet Percy, mascot of HMLS (D20) “Daphne” with Lt Drader. Both survived the War, and Percy retired to live out his peacetime life in the Drader family home.
(Here’s a video clip; given how noisy, hot and smelly early tanks were, Percy seems remarkably unfazed.)
A US Army tank cat, Mustard of the 321st, with a Renault FT light tank and its driver Sgt Postal…
A Royal Artillery kitten (the battery mascot)…
Pincher of HMS Vindex on what looks like a Sopwith Pup scout…
Togo, ship’s cat of HMS Dreadnought (though I’ve also seen “HMS Irresistible”)…
Ship’s cat of HMS Queen Elizabeth atop 15″ main battery…
And speaking of big ships and big guns…
“Make nice all you like, Human. I despise you. I wanted a billet on a battleship, not this tinpot destroyer…” (Ching, of HMAS Swan.)
pretty fucked up how christian beliefs are referred to as “stories” but indigenous beliefs are referred to as “mythology”
yeah this but more than that, christian spiritual beliefs earn the title of a religion while indigenous spiritual beliefs are referred to as mythology (like you said). i’m not saying you’re wrong in how fucked up this is, but just that it’s worse than that, even. the separation of “myths” and “stories” isn’t quite as strongly dismissive as the much more common differentiation between “religions"and “myths.”
to label a belief system as mythology has the connotation of it being primitive or it being a belief system that nobody has anymore. a religion has the association of a common and contemporary belief system. it’s very directly a form of erasure.
you’re absolutely right. thank you for this addition and distinction – i hadn’t considered how truly deep the dismissal and erasure of indigenous religions went
God I hope I am immortalised by my husband for having 40 cats
Fun facts:
It cost $5,000 in 1888 to have this painting made, which is more than $120,000 in today’s money.
I say 1888 because it took three years for Kahler to complete, reportedly because he spent most of the time studying and sketching each cat to get a feel for their personality.
It was painted for Kate Johnson, the title was her husband’s idea though, proving him the most patient and good-humored husband in the history of crazy cat ladies.
Speaking of cat ladies, the picture actually contains 42 cats. Or more specifically, Mrs. Johnson’s 42 most favorite cats. She had 350 in total.
It sold at auction via Sotheby’s a few days ago for over $800,000 dollars, vastly more than its $200,000-$300,000 estimate.
The buyer is a private collector in California.
Probably someone who really, really likes cats.
I mean, really likes cats.
I love that every cat in this picture has a name i dont know. In fact, a name i will never know. Each was loved dearly by someone who knew their names. And now they are immortalised in this painting. Its just so lovely
eating artificial blue raspberry flavored candy that is so fucking blue that it turns your mouth the same unnatural blue is one of life’s simple pleasures
I'd Much Rather Have a Dragon 