Aby-a-Day – 22 Juni: A Cat in Paris (Cartoon Tuesday)

The other day, Björn and I watched a movie I bought ages ago to have enough to get free shipping and then completely forgot about: Une Vie de Chat – A Cat in Paris. It’s a French film about a cat named Nico who leads a double life: Cat burglar’s partner by night, little girl’s adored companion by day.

It’s a marvelous movie, with suspense, intrigue, pathos and humour. But what struck me most was this one cat during the opening credits.

Kind of looks like an Abyssinian, don’t you think? At least the colour is spot on.

Whilst the plot definitely holds your interest…it’s the art that really captivates. It looks like hand-drawn colour pencil drawings, and the way it’s done, the colouring is constantly moving. It’s kind of mesmerising. We watched the dubbed version, and the English voices are a nice mix of British and American; it’s better than most dubbing jobs. If you can find it, it’s a great cat-themed film, showing that cats can be loyal and love their humans.

Aby-a-Day – 4 Maj: Isle of Dogs WIP (Cartoon Tuesday)

Last weekend, we watched an amazing movie called Isle of Dogs. It’s a Wes Anderson film, which I find rather hit-or-miss, but I did like his first stop-motion animated feature, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and it looked intriguing, so we gave it a shot. And, oh, was it worth it!

For a movie with the word “dog” in the title, it was actually, surprisingly, quite focused on cats. It’s an interesting Japanese pastiche in which the cat-loving Mayor Kobayashi has banished all dogs to Trash Island. In the introduction to the film this is all explained with some beautiful illustrations and scenes. My favourite, which is only seen for a minute or so, is the incredibly elaborate Cat Temple (seriously, look at that link; they did an incredible amount of work to create something that’s basically only one scene)! Of course, I instantly noticed the five cat statues to the right of the temple doors…one large, one tiny, two medium-sized and one small. I had to pause it and point out how the five cats matched our own five!

And then…I had to draw it. This is the sketch…

And here’s the ink. Covid aftereffects have really been kicking my butt this week, so it took me a while. I know where I want to go with this, and how I want the colouring to look, but it’s taking me longer to actually do it than I planned.

If you want to see the time lapse video of the work in progress, click the image to open it in another window.

Aby-a-Day – 23 Februari: 어떻게 헤어질까 (Not Cartoon Tuesday)

We’re skipping Cartoon Tuesday this week because I just got the most awesome movie today. How to Break Up With My Cat is a lovely Korean movie that stars an Abyssinian. It’s a romance between a travel magazine writer who owns an eight year old Abyssinian and a sushi chef in training…who can talk to cats and see their souls. I don’t want to give too much away because when I watched it I didn’t know anything about it besides it starred and Aby, and discovering what was going on was magical.

This is the inside of the DVD. I love it so much. The main cat star is a ruddy Aby, but the film also featured a bohemian white Scottish Fold and a blue Aby boy kitten. It is a very satisfying movie for Aby people.

Here’s the trailer…if you love Abys, you need to see this.

Aby-a-Day – 12 Januari: Zak sleeps with the fishes (Cartoon Tuesday)

A couple of weeks ago, I happened to see Men in Black: International on television. At the very beginning of the film, we see a cute little blue Terrantian in the lead character’s childhood bedroom. Molly helps the little guy escape from the Men in Black and as he leaves, he says something to her.

He was a stocky little guy with big, round eyes…so of course I had to draw Izaak as him.

I did most of the work on this in Procreate; just the background, signature and lighting effects were done in Photoshop. Playing with feathers was a lot of fun. Here’s the time-lapse of the drawing process for those who are interested (click on the image to watch in another tab on Flickr).

Sparta and Bob Hunt with StarClan

Sad news. Two of the world’s most famous cats have died this week. Sparta the Mean Kitty and Bob the Street Cat have died.

Sparta became famous when his human, Cory (aka Mr. Safety) posted his Mean itty song on YouTube in September 2007. That video, as of today, has had 91,004,261 views!

But on Sunday, 11 June, Sparta apparently had a saddle thrombosis and his back end was paralysed. Sobbing, Cory posted a short video to let Sparta’s fans know what was happening before he rushed to the vet. Sadly, there was nothing that could be done, and he had to be euthanised.

After Sparta was gone, Cory posted his last video on his Mean Kitty channel. He described what had happened, and thanked his followers. Sparta went from Southern California to Alaska to Oklahoma with Cory and his family. Over the span of 13 years, we followed the life of a man and his cat.

Then, today, Hodder & Stoughton and James Bowen announced the death of Bob the cat on 15 June at the age of at least 14 years on their Facebook page.

I’m sure most of you know about Bob from his books and movie. A busker living rough in Covent Garden selling newspapers meets a cat who decided that he wanted to adopt that human.

James Bowen says “Bob saved my life. It’s as simple as that. He gave me so much more than companionship. With him at my side, I found a direction and purpose that I’d been missing. The success we achieved together through our books and films was miraculous. He’s met thousands of people, touched millions of lives. There’s never been a cat like him. And never will again. I feel like the light has gone out in my life. I will never forget him.” And oh, how I understand how he feels…Jacoby wasn’t as famous as Bob…but I feel his light going out in his life sentiment.

2020 can bite my shiny metal ass.

May StarClan light your path, and you find good hunting, swift running, and shelter when you sleep, Sparta and Bob. You will be missed.

Aby-a-Day – 28 April 2020: The Maltese Dashiell (Cartoon Tuesday)

Today I finished that special portrait of Dashiell I started almost a month ago. Because Dash is named after the author Dashiell Hammett, who wrote The Maltese Falcon famously portrayed by Humphrey Bogart in the film version, I had an idea I wanted to make real. Above is the fur texture layer along with a neutral grey background.

Then I added a shadow of the Maltese Falcon based on one of the two photos of Bogie I used as reference.

Of course, Sam Spade needs a dashing fedora.

And a trench coat.

Then the final touch, to give the portrait a real Film Noir feel…the shadows.

But something was bothering me. I went back to my other Bogie reference photo and realised what was missing: There is a dark shadow of his hat, and the original background had a shadowy texture. I went back and fixed those two things and…voilà!

However, I generally crop my drawings to a standard size, but I draw on a larger canvas. This is the full-size version. Not really different, apart from the proportioning. It’s such a great feeling to finally get the image out of your head so others can see it.

Aby-a-Day – 19 Juli: The Singa King (Photoshop Friday)

Tonight, Björn and I are going to see the new live-action Lion King movie. We have been watching the trailers for months now, and one thing about them has really struck us.

Yep…

There’s definitely a similarity there. And it’s not just Izaak, you know…Millions of innocent cats have been held up in the air because of The Lion King.

Aby-a-Day – 23 April: Release the Flerken! (Cartoon Tuesday)

Warning…this post contains spoilers for the film Captain Marvel. However, if you have read the comics, it’s not really that much of a spoiler.

I am not a huge fan of superhero comics (I’m more of an Archie’s Gang kind of girl) or the “Marvel Universe.” I enjoy Deadpool (because he’s funny) and I love Big Hero 6 (because Disney animation and because San Fransokyo is awesome). And it’s kind of cool for me that I used to work with Chris Evans’ mother’s sister (she lived in Somerville) and now he’s Captain America…but by and large the who Avengers/X-Men/Spiderman movie monopoly just leaves me feeling…meh.

Until I discovered Captain Marvel. Of course, I had heard of her, but didn’t know much about the comic. Then I discovered that she’s a Red Sox fan and she has a cat. So of course I had to see this movie, right? Well…in the movie, she’s in LA and the desert and someplace in the South, and there is no mention of baseball or the Red Sox, so it was a bit of a let-down on that front. But the cat…oh, the cat more than made up for it!

Goose the cat (a female, but played by four cats, mainly a boy tabby named Reggie, along with Rizzo, Gonzo, and Archie) is easily the best part of the film. Goose even has her own poster!

For years I avoided Funko Pop! figures when I saw them in stores, because they are a) cute, b) have something for EVERY fandom you can think of (I am not kidding…they even have a figure of Joey wearing all of Chandler’s clothes!), and c) they are exactly the kind of thing I could get totally addicted to. But after seeing The Last Jedi, I had to get a Porg figure, because the Porgs in the movie reminded us so much of Logan

And now, I have Goose the cat and Goose the Flerken figures.

Aren’t they cute?

But wait, there’s more! The Flerken version is swallowing a blue glowing cube called the “Tesseract”…which glows in the dark! There’s also a third version I like to call “The Slurp” with Goose retracting her tentacles. I haven’t gotten that one yet…but I will.

One last thing…movies like this almost always have a special extra scene after all the credits have rolled (and which most people miss because they leave to early). About halfway through the film, I knew what the bonus scene would be…and if I was wrong, Marvel would have missed the best opportunity for a joke ever. I was not wrong, and I was not disappointed. Here it is if you would like to see it (yes, it’s sideways, but it’s apparently the only one on YouTube):

Aby-a-Day – 6 Februari: Wordless Wednesday (Emma, Lorelai and The Lego Movie)

Aby-a-Day – 14 Januari: Lorelai vs the Thing (Movie Monday)

When Lorelai was a tiny kitten, she was fascinated with the television. These photos are from 22 May, when Rory had been with us for about two weeks.

She really got into trying to interact with the people on the screen! She’s since outgrown her interest in the TV, but it was awfully cute (and not a little bit annoying) while it lasted. Also, if you look closely at the second photo, you might notice some previous Miniature Monday post subjects.

Aby-a-Day – 28 March: Zootopia (Miniature Monday)

I saw Zootopia a little while ago, and I LOVE it. I really can’t wait to see it again in the theatre. Yeah, it’s that good.

I mean, how often do you see a movie that addresses racial issues, stereotypes, discrimination with witty but insightful commentary and has cute talking animals? Not to mention a few awesome inside jokes.

The main protagonists, Judy Hopps the rabbit and Nick Wilde the fox are among some of the best fictional characters I’ve ever come across.

I think Mini Jacoby has a little man-crush going on with Nick, actually.

Abys are Everywhere: Television and Film

We all know that The Cat From Outer Space was an Aby (I’ve posted about that movie many times, and Jacoby is partially named for the titular Jake)…but did you know there were other Abys (and Somalis) in space?

The first time Data’s cat, Spot, appeared on Star Trek: The New Generation, he was a male Somali cat. In later appearances, he became a female shorthaired tabby…

Then, in the 1994 film Stargate (which I haven’t actually seen yet), there’s time travel to ancient Egypt, and you know what that means…Ra’s cat makes an appearance. I don’t know anything about the Aby who acted in this movie…I wonder where he’s from?

Finally, my favourite Abyssinian cameo is in the CSI episode “Jackpot” (Season 4, Episode 6). In this episode, Grissom is working solo in a little town called Jackpot (which actually exists), and while working the case discovers a banded, tri-colour hair.

Here’s an exerpt from the script:

GRISSOM: Hey, Doc, take a look at the scope, will you?

(DALE STERLING moves around GRISSOM to take a seat at the table to look through the scope.)

GRISSOM: I found some hair in Ross Jenson’s shirts.

DALE STERLING: That is cat hair.

[SCOPE VIEW: HAIR]

DALE STERLING: Tricolored. Probably … Abyssinian.

GRISSOM: You wouldn’t happen to have any Abyssinian patients?

DALE STERLING: One.

(DALE STERLING walks over to his wall where he has pictures of his patients. He takes a particular framed photo down.)

DALE STERLING: Uh … ah. Here she is. Isis.

(He shows the picture to GRISSOM.)

DALE STERLING: Her owner has allergies. He needed an aggressive, shorthair mouser.

(The picture is of LELAND BROOKS and his cat.)

Later that night, Grissom goes to Leland Brooks’ house, and, lo and behold, sitting on a chair on the porch is Isis, a blue Aby.

Oddly, while the cat they used is clearly a blue Aby, it seems to have a stumpy tail…When Grissom gets too close, she jumps off her chair and you can see her short tail. I don’t know anything about this Aby, either. But it’s always cool to see a random Aby while watching a favourite TV show. If you remember, I also found an Abyssinian in an episode of The Office!

Other People’s Abys – The Birthday from Outer Space

Everytime I find something super awesome and Aby-related, I wonder how the heck I didn’t know about it before. This is one of those things. And, wow…Just check this out!

This woman’s son is obsessed with The Cat From Outer Space, which in itself is a little slice of awesome, since the boy is almost 8, now, and that movie came out in 1978. This was two years ago, and his mom and dad threw him a “Cat From Outer Space” 6th birthday party. Honestly? I’m jealous. I want a party like this!

She says, Parker, being a big fan of felines, loved it [the movie]. By the time it was over, he already had decided we would “play” the movie, with each of us taking on different roles. He is now “Jake” (the cat), my husband is “Frank” (the scientist who helps him) and I’m “the lady.”

So, he made him a stuffed Jake, complete with space collar, and her husband made him Jake’s spaceship, and they did a whole cat-space-themed party. So brilliant I can’t stand it.

She used the same stuffed Ragdoll pattern that I used to make Angel’s Mini-Me! I love how it turned out, too. I should try stretching it the way she did.

And how did I discover this amazing thing? Someone said they thought that Jacoby was “a very small alien hiding inside a cat suit,” and I, referencing the movie, responded that it wasn’t completely beyond the realm of possibility. And that lead to me to the bright (you should pardon the expression) idea of trying to find an illuminated collar for Jacoby to wear for Halloween. When I Googled “Cat From Outer Space Collar,” I discovered the stuffed Jake.

Her idea for the collar is pretty clever, too. It looks fantastic! It doesn’t light up, but it’s still very realistic.

Still, is it wrong to really want the same party a six-year-old had two years ago?

Puss in Boots: Backstage Auditions

This may be the best movie promotion I have ever seen.

Not Aby related, admittedly, but I just wanted to share. The Sphynx especially cracked me up.

I really hope the Puss and Boots movie (which opens tomorrow) lives up to the clever tie-ins and apps they’ve been releasing.

Aby-a-Day – October 25: Pose with Puss in Boots

I just downloaded a super fun app the other day for my iPhone. Pose with Puss in Boots, from DreamWorks may be just an advertising gimmick for the new Puss in Boots movie coming out this weekend, but it’s also really well done and an absolute hoot to play with.

The app allows you to insert Puss in Boots, Kitty Softpaws and other characters from the new movie into photos taken with your iPhone or Android device. You can use photos you’ve already taken, or take new ones incorporating the character of your choice.

There are several poses of Puss, including one flamenco dancing with Kitty, along with the other characters from the film (although, let’s be honest, the cats are the ones everyone’s going to use), and also Puss’ hat and his boots.

I took this one of Jacoby with Puss’ hat. You can move your chosen element around on the screen and resize it if necessary before you click the shutter. If you have a posing camera ham like I do, it isn’t hard to get great shots.

You can also take a photo with one element, and then go back and add other elements to make a fun composite shot.

I haven’t played around a lot with it, yet, since I only downloaded it last night, but so far I’m highly impressed (and amused).

Also included in the app are videos (including the awesome Old Spice spoof “The Cat Haz Swagger”), an Easter egg hunt, and a feature that repeats everything you say in “helium voice.” The only downside I’ve found is that there’s no way to mute the sound, so don’t try playing with this in a meeting or during a movie!

Best of all, it’s FREE! It actually works better and is more entertaining than a lot of apps I’ve paid for, so if you like Puss in Boots at all, I’d definitely recommend it.

Gun-Hee’s Last Trip Outside

It’s taken me a long time to edit and post this video. It’s the last time Gun-Hee went outside. It rained that last week after he was diagnosed with FIP and before he died. But Wednesday, June 25th, was nice enough to take him out into the courtyard of our building.

It’s very sad, and the Pernice Brothers’ song is sad, too.

Gun-Hee goes out walking

Gun-Hee walking home along the Harborwalk.

This is pretty much realtime…I trimmed a bit off to make it fit the music, but apart from that, it’s roughly 6 solid minutes of how Gun-Hee walks when we go out.

Flight of the Helicopter

This is an older video (circa the “Magic Wand” video of a few weeks ago) that wouldn’t upload to YouTube until last night.

Battle in Boston

I forgot to upload this video until today…Gun-Hee and Tessie wrassle to the Shods’ “Shoot You Down.”

Gun-Hee’s first two walks

These are the two movies of Gun-Hee’s first two walks out on a leash…