Ape Think

Cat Date Lucy is the friendly visitor. In fact, she’s the only...

Sat, 18 May 2013 08:57:59 -0700

Cat Date

Lucy is the friendly visitor. In fact, she’s the only cat I’m aware of who hasn’t breached our cat door. She sleeps on our deck furniture, and on her way home, which is two doors up, she stops to roll around on the back porch. Weeby is smitten with her because she’s the only cat he’s ever met who doesn’t want to beat him up.

It was then that I realized that an entire television show,...

Fri, 17 May 2013 17:56:51 -0700

It was then that I realized that an entire television show, including the careers of the actors, the writers, and crew, not to mention the emotional investment of millions of viewers, were all carefully manipulated over the course of more than six years simply so Tina Fey could see the words “Liz Lemon Waffle Bowl Sundae” emblazoned on the wall of an ice cream shop.

Betty Davis - Ooh Yea From her self-titled 1973 debut,...

Fri, 17 May 2013 08:57:18 -0700

Betty Davis - Ooh Yea

From her self-titled 1973 debut, featuring bassist Larry Graham, guitarist Neal Schon, and Santana drummer Gregg Errico, with a little help from Sylvester and the Pointer Sisters on backing vocals.

superseventies: Betty Davis

Fri, 17 May 2013 08:57:13 -0700

superseventies:

Betty Davis

Frank! I finally got a picture of this elusive bastard, the...

Thu, 16 May 2013 11:09:51 -0700

Frank!

I finally got a picture of this elusive bastard, the only one in the ten years since I moved here. He bolts whenever he sees me, which is usually before I see him.

I used to call him Property Boy. He lives in the house behind us and thought our yard was his when I first moved in with my cats in ‘03. I quickly learned that he was a young bully, so I’d run him off whenever I saw him because I didn’t want him roughing up Laney. He did once make the mistake of sneaking in through the catdoor. His horrified screams woke us up and we ran to the living room to find Kenobi chasing him around, beating the shit out of him every time he tried to get back to the catdoor. He could see the backyard though the sliding glass door and kept jumping at it like a lunatic until we subdued Kenobi and opened it for him. Unlike our current duo of wienerpusses, Kenobi wasn’t about to let any random cats come sauntering into the house.

About a year ago, my wife and I were standing on the deck and watched as new neighborhood asshole cat Andy came scrambling over the back wall and scurried along the fence line from our backyard to our front, with Frank in hot pursuit. That’s when we learned his name. His human, who we’d never seen before, popped his head over the back wall and shouted “Frank! Frank! Get back here! Frank! FRANK!” Andy bailed through a hole in the next-door neighbor’s gate and Frank, suddenly aware that we were standing right there, quickly turned and ran back along the fence to his awaiting human’s Wilsonesque demi-head.

True Fans People piled in line yesterday to wait for tickets to...

Fri, 10 May 2013 11:41:56 -0700

True Fans

People piled in line yesterday to wait for tickets to this weekend’s episode of Saturday Night Live, as Kristen Wiig returns to the show for her first time as host.

Fun fact: Only three other SNL-umni™ have returned to host the show during the season after the one in which they left the cast: Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, and Eddie Murphy.

More fun facts: When Chevy returned, he and Bill Murray got into a fistfight just before airtime. After Bill’s first time hosting, producer Jean Doumanian and several cast members were immediately fired. Eddie Murphy’s return was actually his second time hosting the show. He has the distinction of being the only person to host while still a cast member. Thanks to 48 Hours co-star Nick Nolte being too hungover, Eddie was asked to perform hosting duties, and earned the disdain of his fellow cast-members when he changed the traditional opening line to “Live from New York, it’s the Eddie Murphy Show!”

I might be an obsessive fan, but thanks to people sleeping in the streets for two nights, I don’t feel like I take it too far.

The Meters - Here Comes the Meter Man Cool and breezy bayou...

Fri, 10 May 2013 07:18:38 -0700

The Meters - Here Comes the Meter Man

Cool and breezy bayou funk from their 1969 debut. Makes me want a cold meatflap sandwich and a liquor drink.

28 Days Later He had a note claiming that his name is Kevin and...

Wed, 08 May 2013 07:03:29 -0700

28 Days Later

He had a note claiming that his name is Kevin and that he has Catdoorstevensnesia.

"I don’t know if I’m gonna be man enough tonight to meet this challenge. I just hope that..."

Tue, 07 May 2013 16:41:47 -0700

“I don’t know if I’m gonna be man enough tonight to meet this challenge. I just hope that if I don’t meet it tonight and have to go back to being just a regular superstar athlete, movie star, that you people will remember me for what I was and not what I may become here tonight.”

- O.J. Simpson
Opening monologue, Saturday Night Live, February 25, 1978

I was doing stuff out on the deck and saw this fly just sitting...

Mon, 06 May 2013 12:47:00 -0700

I was doing stuff out on the deck and saw this fly just sitting there. A while later, I noticed she was still there, so I grabbed my camera to see how close I could get before she flew away. The answer was very.

"With similar hat beaver but wider wings and panty of another blanket covered long pants suede open..."

Mon, 06 May 2013 09:13:22 -0700

“With similar hat beaver but wider wings and panty of another blanket covered long pants suede open outer sides of which were fastened by a resulting set of buttons which…”

- Excerpt of Google translation of an Español solamente Wikipedia article.

I just wanted a fucking picture of a cat and a bottle. First, I...

Sun, 05 May 2013 18:22:23 -0700

I just wanted a fucking picture of a cat and a bottle.

First, I tried indoors, but Chinaco freaks out when you try to pin him down indoors, so I decided to do it outside. I had to quietly follow him until he just plunked down on his own and then put the bottle in place. As I followed him, Weeby followed me. You’ll note the little fucker lost his clown collar last night. So, finally Chinaco plunked down, I put the bottle in place and got him used to it without him kicking it away, and got the one picture I needed before Weeby stepped in. It always starts with adorable nose rubbing and nuzzling. Soon, one of them goes for the throat and then the other guy either licks him to tell him to chill or bites back, at which point full on melee breaks out and it’s time to get your expensive liquor out of the way and just watch the show.

Chinaco³ In the castes of colonial Mexico, the natives and...

Sun, 05 May 2013 17:46:00 -0700

Chinaco³

In the castes of colonial Mexico, the natives and mestizos who worked as servants doing heavy labor were likened by the Spanish colonists to Chinese laborers, and were called Chinaco. Unlike most non-noblemen, the Chinaco, being in charge of the nobleman’s stables, became expert horsemen and helped contribute to the cause of the revolution against Spain, both sides of the Reform War, and against the French Intervention, presumably including the battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862.

A leader of the Chinaco forces was General Manuel González, who purchased land in the north eastern state of Tamaulipas. A century later, hurricane Inez devastated crops throughout the state, and González’s descendants decided to plant agave to sell to tequila distillers in Jalisco, which was the only state legally allowed to produce tequila. When the crops matured, the Jalisco buyers backed out, and the González family decided to start their own tequila company and called it Chinaco. They petitioned the government for years, and in 1977 received Denomination of Origin status, becoming the only legal tequila distillery outside of Jalisco. Each bottle bears the emblem of the horseback warrior who fought from being servants to Spanish nobility to being the earliest of Mexican nobility.

In 2011, my neighbors gave me a cat they found in a parking lot and I named him Chinaco. Because I was drunk.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Il Gatto Pagliaccio My wife got Weeby a clown collar designed...

Sat, 04 May 2013 18:55:01 -0700

Il Gatto Pagliaccio

My wife got Weeby a clown collar designed to make cats more visible to birds. His new name is Mr. Teeny.

James Brown - Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved In The Jungle...

Fri, 03 May 2013 07:45:00 -0700

James Brown - Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved

In The Jungle Groove is considered by many to be one of the ultimate James Brown albums. This collection of singles originally recorded between 1969 and 1971 was released in 1986, presumably to capitalize on his final surge of popularity following his participation in the soundtracks for Doctor Detroit and Rocky IV. This particular song is a great example of how he could combine social action and self love lyrically and irresistible groove and uneasy staccato musically. Quite possibly my favorite James Brown song.

Happy 80th birthday, James!

The Return of Mysterypuss One more visit and this guy’s...

Thu, 02 May 2013 09:14:12 -0700

The Return of Mysterypuss

One more visit and this guy’s gonna earn a new name.

Unless it’s just Catdoor Stevens in disguise…

Eine kleine nacht rodent

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 08:19:05 -0700

Eine kleine nacht rodent

Antibalas - Beaten Metal Brooklyn-based worshipers of Fela Kuti...

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 07:32:43 -0700

Antibalas - Beaten Metal

Brooklyn-based worshipers of Fela Kuti dropped this bombastic jam on their 2007 album Security. It opens with the percussion of various found objects and a dramatic warning via brass and then slips into an equally sinister funk groove that draws you in and creeps you out. Fantastic.

Another fucking bird. Only this time it was a not-even-remotely...

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 06:25:01 -0700

Another fucking bird.

Only this time it was a not-even-remotely dead, full-size, adult bird. It flew all over the living room and Weeby kept catching it. I finally got him to take it outside and then naped him to get him to open his mouth and it flew away. He’s been in solitary confinement for 45 minutes now and hasn’t shut up about it for a second.

Photo

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 19:54:21 -0700