Why, Charlie Brown, Why? » « Incremental progress

THEY IZ NIBBLIN ON MY BRAIN!

This has to stop. Other people have named cats after me: here’s PZ Meowers from Norway.

That is a fairly typical pose for me at home, but otherwise…I think the grammar centers of my brain are eroding.

P.S. These cat pictures better be worth it. I want to see a huge surge in traffic right away, or I’m going right back to spurious spontaneous controversy generation.

Why, Charlie Brown, Why? » « Incremental progress

Comments

  3. Brownian says

    What an ego!

    How can you be sure that cat’s name is PeeZee Meowers and not PeeZed Meowers, huh?

  7. Second Cousin Ogvorbis, OM. Twice Removed by Request. says

    My, what an ego. Someone names a cat PZ Meowers, sends a photo to you, and you automatically assume that ‘Meowers’ is an intentional mispelling of ‘Myers’ when we all know that it is the Greco-Icelandic word for ‘Cute and Fuzzy.’ Sheesh!

  9. jstackpo says

    Can we not send Dr. Coyne a whole bunch of cute (?) octopi pictures, with darling names attached?

  13. bbgunn says

    “Soft kitty, warm kitty
    Little ball of fur
    Happy kitty, sleepy kitty
    Purr, purr, purr.” – Big Bang Theory

  14. janine says

    In college, one of my friends had a cat named Mozart. He and his bother were movie buffs and loved the movie Amadeus. They learned that one of his past times was to shoot stray cats with arrows in the streets of Vienna from his apartment. So they named the cat in honor of that.

    They were rather strange.

  15. Russell says

    Catastrophists credence The Apocalypse of St. Felix of Catmos, which reports the genus Myers descends from squid- feline miscegenation in the bilge of the Ark after it ran aground on Mt. Aracat.

    Ratastrophists ,on the other hand, think Myers’s and squid have a common ancestor in the now giant ratite of Sumatra, which swam across the Wallace line after devouring all the cats and hobbits on Flores.

  16. eric says

    Tentacles? Check – five, four with claws.
    Protective mimicry? Check – “I’m domesticated, trust me!”
    Eats fish? Check.
    Has trouble opening cans on its own, but never stops trying? Check.

    Rather than fight over which critter is better, just call this one a pentapus and declare victory for both.

  17. interrobang says

    Awww, squee! Adorable! (Just like our esteemed host, who is smallish, fuzzy, and cute when seen in the Big Blue Room.)

  18. donny5 says

    PZ, next cat I get, I am definately naming after you. I think everyone should name their cats PZ, so when I walk down the street I can say: “Hey, there goes that cool Athiest Cat PZ.”

  19. frog says

    At least we can be fairly confident that cats are all atheists. I know mine doesn’t worship me.

  20. evilDoug says

    They iz nibblin on ur brain cuz o all the fishy squiddy goodness it has absorbed. Mmmmmmmmm!

  21. Dr. Audley Z. Darkheart, liar and scoundrel says

    That’s it. I’m renaming my turtle. Emery is now Pauline Zacharita Turyers.

    Hmmmmmm, needs work.

  22. magistramarla says

    I for one am really enjoying teh kitteh pictures.
    I think that cats are the perfect Atheists. They seem to understand that this one life is all they get (I don’t think that they believe all that nine lives thing). They enjoy their lives every single day.

  23. Kaintukee Bob says

    One important thing to realize is that thousands of years ago, cats were worshiped as gods.

    They have not forgotten this.

    Cat’s aren’t atheists, after all – they just think that they ARE gods…little fuzzy deities, ready to soak up adoration and dish out vengeance.

  24. René says

    Pee Zee is an excellent cat’s name. All cats’ names should at least have one ee (/i:/) sound.

    As are RI or ‘Indo’ females’. :~

    I just MAY have had one drink too many.

  27. charlesthornton says

    Apart from being written by a monk I would have thought you would find Pangur Ban agreeable.
    I and Pangur Ban my cat,
    Tis a like task we are at:
    Hunting mice is his delight,
    Hunting words I sit all night.

    Better far than praise of men
    Tis to sit with book and pen;
    Pangur bears me no ill will,
    He too plies his simple skill.

    Tis a merry thing to see
    At our tasks how glad are we,
    When at home we sit and find
    Entertainment to our mind.

    Oftentimes a mouse will stray
    In the hero Pangur’s way;
    Oftentimes my keen thought set
    Takes a meaning in its net.

    ‘Gainst the wall he sets his eye
    Full and fierce and sharp and sly;
    ‘Gainst the wall of knowledge I
    All my little wisdom try.

    When a mouse darts from its den
    O how glad is Pangur then!
    O what gladness do I prove
    When I solve the doubts I love!

    So in peace our tasks we ply,
    Pangur Ban, my cat, and I;
    In our arts we find our bliss,
    I have mine and he has his.

    Practice every day has made
    Pangur perfect in his trade;
    I get wisdom day and night
    Turning darkness into light.

  28. RFW says

    #3 Brownian says:

    How can you be sure that cat’s name is PeeZee Meowers and not PeeZed Meowers, huh?

    I’ll betcha a single TimBit™ that the letter “z” is pronounced something like “tsed” in Swedish.

    #14 janine says:

    In college, one of my friends had a cat named Mozart. He and his bother were movie buffs and loved the movie Amadeus. They learned that one of his past times was to shoot stray cats with arrows in the streets of Vienna from his apartment. So they named the cat in honor of that.

    That just shows you the fine disregard that Hollywood has for those quaint concepts “truth” and “facts”. It was actually Brahms, about a century after Mozert, who shot rooftop cats – with, iirc, a rifle – but I may be wrong about his choice of weapon. Mozart as a child is recorded as jumping down from the harpsichord and running to play with a cat that had strolled into the room.

    Brahms himself was (again iirc) actually a cat lover and was shooting rooftop cats because he knew they were strays destined for a short, unhappy life. He preferred to bring them to a quick end instead of a slow painful one.

    Don’t depend on movies for your factual knowledge.

    And don’t depend on blog commenters, either. I think I’ve got the facts right, but reserve, as always, the right to be spectacularly misinformed.

  29. DLC says

    Well, we could combine the cats and controversy and have Kitteh Gate™ !
    Dogs expect to be treated with a paternalistic attitude, whereas cats want to use your house to sleep in, your couch to scratch on and you to open cans of food and change the litter box. It’s not so much a partnership as it is a symbiosis.
    Point of Controversy: I like cats, therefore I must de facto hate dogs. There is no possible middle ground, you’re either a full on cattist or a complete bugnutty dog rights activist. but what about teh puppeiz ? There. I’ve gone and hurt my fee-fees. somebody bake me a cupcake. Preferably without a porcupine in it.

  30. Irene Delse says

    One important thing to realize is that thousands of years ago, cats were worshiped as gods.

    They have not forgotten this.

    Well… According to some authorities, so were Cephalopods… ;-)

  32. says

    In college, one of my friends had a cat named Mozart.

    I’m guessing they rejected Wolfgang for obvious reasons.
    When I was in college, no cats were allowed in the little 5-room apartment building where we lived. So we made do with the 4-5 neighbor cats that routinely hung out with us; they all had dumb hippie names like “Jasmine,” so we gave them all new ones taken from the British sitcom The Young Ones. These included Special Patrol, Bastard Squad, Lord Snot, and Felicity Kendall’s Underwear.
    We were considered strange, too.
    Killed By Fish

  34. janine says

    RFW, two things.

    First; the bit about Mozart shooting cats was not in the movie. They happened to both like the movie and the music of Mozart. They claimed that they that bit out when they did some research on him. (Pre Wikipedia.)

    Second; I did not say a word about the story being factual. I do not know. All I said is that was the reason they gave for naming the cat.

  35. says

    Because you need to drive MORE traffic, PZ. Shameful, shameful. Go back to creating spurious controversy so the rest of us can catch up to you in hits, please and thanks.

  36. 'Tis Himself, OM. says

    From the post of Jason “Technoweenie” Thibeault:

    please and thanks.

    What Jason “Compu-nerd” Thibeault meant to say was:

    kthxbye

  39. eric says

    Public service announcement: remember to have your PZ neutered or spayed within the first six months. Also get them a flea collar or medicine – all that fur tends to attract parasites.

  40. Brownian says

    I’ll betcha a single TimBit™ that the letter “z” is pronounced something like “tsed” in Swedish.

    Wikipedia says the letters’ name is “Zäta” in Svenska and random other sources say it’s pronounced like ‘S’.

    Sour cream, please.

    All cats’ names should at least have one ee (/i:/) sound.

    Mine has two, one per syllable. Cats names should have only one or two syllables (three if you’re a cunning linguist) so you can work their names into pop songs.

    Hm, my kitty still doesn’t have a name yet…

    Have you considered ‘Zit’, carlie? As in, “That’s my puss, Zit. I named her/him after PZ Myers.”

  41. Brownian says

    all that fur tends to attract parasites

    Lemme guess: you’re neither a biologist nor a vet.

  43. Brownian says

    Must just have done a “special” cleaning.

    Weird! That’s almost exactly the excuse I used!

    In hindsight, I should have just asked to speak to my lawyer and left it at that.

  45. Russell says

    Atheists should devote more effort to persuading cats who look up to them that they are not gods.

    As the creatures abound in the Mid-Atlantic region, some Maryland publisher should invite PZ to author a short refutation of feline divinity, or Baltimore anti-catechism

  46. DLC says

    Chigau @31 : I certainly tried. got a B – I – N and G.
    Perhaps if I had closed by saying “I’ll prey on you” or something.

    Tis Himself @36 : dood. it’s kthxbai. nub. /peed-aunt.

  47. csmiller says

    Russell said

    Atheists should devote more effort to persuading cats who look up to them that they are not gods.

    When was the last time you say a cat look up to someone (figuratively)?

    “Dogs look up to you; cats look down on you. Give me a pig! He looks you in the eye and treats you as an equal.” — Winston Churchill

  49. stubby says

    His resolve is weakening. I volunteer at the animal shelter in a county adjacent to PZ’s and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him amble in looking for a cat.

  50. piranhaintheguppytank says

    Just wait. One of your critics will name their cat “Puss-Z Myers”. (BTW Sorry, I just couldn’t resist.)

  53. Pierre Le Fou says

    I was going to ask a friend to make me a wristband with
    the letters “WWPZMS” on it (What Would P Z Myers Say).
    Just to keep me grounded in reality. And as a way to deify
    our overlord, here.

  54. magistramarla says

    DLC @29
    Being a cat lover does not necessarily mean hating dogs.
    We live with two cats, and we both adore them. Recently, I was lucky enough to acquire a German Shepherd service dog to help me to get around. He has quickly become just as adored in this household as the kitties. My husband’s cat is still not too friendly with him, but my cat has become buddies with him – lots of mutual grooming going on.
    See, cats and dogs CAN get along!

  55. piero says

    “The resemblance between you is uncanny.”

    Are you kitting? Meowers is much better lo… I mean, Myers is much better looking.

  58. JohnnieCanuck says

    Ichthyic,

    Name it Mark. As in Deutschmark. As in German coin.

    Okay, okay. I can find the door myself, no need to help me out.

  61. birgerjohansson says

    You know, if you count the individual whiskers as tentacles, this is one hell of a cephalopod!

    Note the display of the “cute” rear paws. Any cat owner knows it is the strong rear legs that really can hurt you. This cat is trying to lure you close up so it can disembowel you.

  62. Olav says

    On the question of cats being atheists or not, I have this in my quote file (don’t know the source):

    “Cats make poor catholics. They refuse to accept guilt, and it is almost impossible to make them kneel without force.”

  66. Second Cousin Ogvorbis, OM. Twice Removed by Request. says

    How about “Coyne of the Realm” for your kitteh name? After all, it is well known that cats are royalty and we mere peons (dog lovers are slobberons).