Breaking Cat News by Georgia Dunn for June 05, 2023

“Ares, Cat of War” is preferred.

“Elvis” is acceptable.

“Heathcliff” is right out.

“Mr. Collins from Pride and Prejudice” is . . . well, this is a family strip, so we’ll go with Puck’s “mean!”

Anyway, Heathcliff was already taken by another cartoon cat.

I’m with Elvis. How DARE you LOL. But i’m loving Puck’s reaction. The perfect OMC face!

I read Wuthering Heights at far too young an age (an English teacher I didn’t get along with was involved, it’s complicated) and distinctly remember hating it. Never felt the need to revisit.

British Mysteries again, eh? I wonder whether anyone has found Lupin’s brooch yet.

A friend wanted to name her dog Heathcliff just so she could go outside at night and shout it in a forlorn voice.

Yes Goldie that is so mean. But ever so funny.

I immediately went to Monty Python’s joke ‘Semaphore Heights’. Python wasn’t so much a comedy troupe as they were a brain infection.

Pucky is right about the Mr. Collins reference — mean! :D I wonder which version of P&P likes best? Maybe the 1995 series staring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle?

Funny, my cat has started to call me “Baldrick.” But her sense of humor is a bit over the top.

That is mean and not at all true. I ❤️❤️❤️ Elvis.

OT: fractures

I had to look up Mr Collins. Being likened to him is even worse than being likened to Heathcliff. We were given “Emma “ when I was at school. I can’t recall finishing it. It was unutterably tedious. Not a murder, not a pirate, not a joke, not a single spaceship. And the typographer of that edition made it worse by using slanting hyphens. Very annoying. That put me off Austen.

I haven’t read Wuthering Heights, either, but I saw an old film version on TV.

Not really OT: cost of cat-sitter

Ross Poldark perhaps?

I don’t want to set off another cheese thread, but I cannot forbear from commenting on the line “Blessed are the cheese makers.” I don’t think that line was chosen at random. In old Jerusalem there was a valley called “The Valley of the Cheesemakers” and I’m certain that the over-educated smart@rses of the Python team knew that.

Lupin as Mr Darcy?

Time for a Hungarian Rhapsody?

Suddenly I have Kate Bush as an earwig! There are worse things.

I looked up that insult and it is gloriously mean. Like Elvis isn’t boring. He’s just angry all the time. He’s more like Mr. Darcy really. Plus 2/2 cats downstairs would marry him without him having to appeal to desperation. I do apprciate gerogia just getting to nerd out though.

The sniping is a hoot! The Woman is on a fine course of healing activities.

If it were me, I’d substitute Red Green and Monty Python for the British mysteries. I’m weird.

I recommend Death in Paradise. If you haven’t seen it yet there are several seasons to catch up on.

Goldie, that IS so mean!! Capital offense! Elvis is a handsome kitty and more likely to be akin to disgruntled, but gentlemanly Mr. Palmer from Sense & Sensibility. (ﾐゝᆽ╹ﾐ)

Wuthering heights? Bleah. Why would anyone want to reads that terrible tediously torturous tormenting blithering blathering heights. Reading it worse than if someone take a big hammer and pound your head in the most boring way possible.

The Woman should have picked a name from War and Peace. Then she could randomly change it every now and then.

I’ve never read Jane Auten but have been told Lois McMaster Bujold, whose work I love is a science fiction version of her

British mysteries, huh? I hope that includes, Sherlock! Mr. Cumberbatch, is my favorite Sherlock Homes, so far!

But Mrs Collins is a true heroine of her day. I call her method the Mrs Collins defense and is a great way to manage the retirement years….”half as much money, twice as much husband”. (She rescues the Barrett girls from one of them being forced to marry the biggest bore in Brit Lit and, as her reward, ends up eventually as mistress of the Barrett estate and with a son to inherit so her old age should be comfortable.)

For good British mysteries, may I recommend Midsomer Murders? For a Canadian twist, there is Murdock Mysteries. And for New Zealand, there are the Brokenwood Mysteries.

It’s a good thing Elvis wasn’t named Heathcliff. Otherwise there might’ve been a legal issue with making the BCN.

British murder mysteries, tea, the occasional period-piece drama, and Pucky as the little spoon.

To me, Elvis is like Colonel Brandon [Sense and Sensibility] Dignified, serious, older with a heart of gold ♡♡♡

Withering Heights

Elvis Heathcliff: Kathy Goldie!

Kathy Goldie: Heathcliff!

Elvis Heathcliff: I’m afraid the trees on the moor are withering.

Kathy Goldie: There has been a severe drought.

Elvis Heathcliff: The trees are withering due to the weathering!

Kathie Goldie: There is a strong on the moor. That’s the meaning of the English word wuthering.

Elvis: This makes no sense at all. The wind is making a lot of nonsence.

Goldie: You mean the wind is blithering?

Elvis: It is also dithering.

Goldie: What can we do?

Elvis: Let’s leave this crazy place and head for Ancient Egypt.

Meanwhile, Back on the Nile.

Beatrixia: I just found a scroll of a story lost in futurity.

Elvis-Anum: Is it about a pair of star-crossed lovers torn apart by their families’ conflict, like Romeow and Juliecat?

Bea: Something like that. This one takes place on the moors of Yorkshire in England. The lovers are Kat-thy and Heathcat.

Elvis: Put it on the pile of romance scrolls and I’ll get to it.

Bea: What are you working on now?

Elvis: The classic Jane Pawsten story Pride and Pizza Dough.

Bea: That reminds me, Thomios is serving Make Your Own Pizza for lunch. There is a selection of cheese from sources of which we know nothing.

Elvis: The Royal Procurers come through again! Let’s head to the dining room!

Mr. Collins isn’t evil, just emotionally clumsy, and at times a little creepy. I’m with Puckie.

To each their own, but I like British comedies like “Last of the Summer Wine”, “Are You Being Served”, “Red Dwarf”, and “Keeping Up Appearances”.

Didn’t like it when I read it years ago. Saw an old, old movie of it recently and wondered why anyone would like it. Felt the same about Great Expectations. However, fell in love with Jane Austin’s works.

I refuse to go down this rabbit hole

One must consider the nature of the cat before giving them new names.

Elvis would definitely need to be named, Mallory, after the high strung Inspector Mallory from Father Brown.

Puck’s new name should be Morse, of Inspector Morris fame. Ever so proper and British.

Lupin would make the perfect Poirot.

Goldie of course would be Ms Marple. Who doesn’t love Ms Marple after all.

Tommy should just remain Tommy, as he is much like Tommy of Tommy and Tuppence fame.

Heathcliff, indeed! Elvis is much too intelligent and dignified for that. Besides, I don’t think he broods like Heathcliff, he goes into sunflower mode and gets it out of his system.

Two Australian shows I can recommend; Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, 34 episodes of mystery and period costume from the 1920s. Great production values and costuming and such. And for a later period drama and no mysteries but a very soap opera story, A Place to Call Home, from 1950 to 1960 year by year with a 4 or 5 year jump in there between seasons 4 & 5. Lavish locations, great cast. Both on Brit Box or Acorn. I caught them a few years ago on PBS.

Sounds like a good forecast, better than the summer heat we’re getting here all week.

I posted this late yesterday so am reposting this morning for those that might have missed it and might be interested!

OMC, look what just came in my email! https://tinyurl.com/mrk7f3wm How cool is this. If I still had a cat I would totally get this!

You cats are the most well read reporters I have ever met!

Really, Ms. Dunn! … HEATHCLIFF ??!! …

Whatever you do, DON’T rename Elvis after our 20th President !!! … :)

I think Georgia did watch Wuthering Heights and maybe Jane Eyre when she was resting. At least she had a Twitter thread where she discussed her favorite movie versions of them. I saw a moving of one of them, though I am not sure anymore which, I think Wuthering Heights.

By comparing Elvis to Mr. Collins, Goldie is also implying that the Woman is similar to Lady Catherine de Bourgh – that is a monstrous calumny!

A friend of mine commented on Wuthering Heights – “If Mr Earnshaw had just gotten a cat instead of bringing Heathcliff home, a whole lot of suffering could have been avoided.”

Mr. Collins! Oh, no! That was the funniest thing I’ve read in ages! Ultimate insult.

Pride and Prejudice is a favorite of mine, along with both the Greer Garson movie and the Jennifer Ehle mini-series, although I prefer Colin Firth’s interpretation to Olivier’s. Darn, now I have to watch that again, and I’ve really got to get some work done.

Not a Wuthering Heights fan. I always thought both Cathy and Heathcliff were not nice people and deserved each other. I’m sure they would have been miserable if they had married, and probably one would have murdered the other.

The only other of the Bronte sisters’ novels that I have read is Jane Eyre, and I disliked Mr. Rochester. I prefer the Wide Sargasso Sea take on the whole thing.

Nice to know a “classical” education didn’t ruin Georgia. Those classics should never be taught until at least senior year in high school, and maybe that’s too early.

I much prefer “Elvis.” It’s a better dignified name for him.

I love Lupin’s concerned ears and little paws.

The woman should get an orange tabby and name him Heathcliff.

Elvis is nothing like Mr. Collins.

As much as I love a cozy British mystery, I have to give a plug for Asian dramas, especially the period pieces. The costumes and sets are gorgeous, and the variety of narratives are a refreshing change of pace. I can suggest a couple that are available on Amazon.

One of my favorites is New Life Begins. The story has a very Jane Austen-like theme as it comments on the state of arranged marriages, and how the women try to subvert the system. (The heroine, who’s doing everything she can to ‘fail’ in the imperial marriage selection process, sends in a unflattering portrait of her self holding a chicken.)

And for those crusty souls who can’t abide romance — I’m talking to you, ROBIN HARWOOD — I can heartily recommend A League of Nobleman. Both male leads are brilliant in their own right — one is a genius at analyzing crime scenes, while the other is a genius in political maneuvering — and the cat-mouse interactions between the two characters is extremely watchable.

For what it’s worth, here are Georgia’s characterizations of the cats as various sleuths:

https://www.gocomics.com/breaking-cat-news/2020/01/26

That Is mean.

Wow, Goldie, that is mean!

I know lots of people regard Heathcliff as a tragic hero, but I think he’s a horrible bully. So I’m glad Elvis wasn’t given that name either.

English literature is mostly excellent reading. But ‘Blubbering Heights’, as one of my friends called it, was a tough read. Gotta throw in The Return of the Native while I’m at it.

English Lit is fine by me, and I had an excellent high school teacher on it. One can NEVER go wrong with The Bard !! … :)

Mr. Collins is myopic and so is Elvis but with different motivation and results

I Love Jane Austin. She taught me how to read. I read all her novels several times before I understood how to carefully, appreciatively read each sentence. She beautifully imparts so much meaning to every phrase. I reread P&P every year. Fact: it is perfect. The only image we have of Miss Austin is a drawing by her niece. If you see the entire image, not just her face, you can just see her observing human nature brilliantly. I Love Jane Austin.

Or Garfield.

Mr Collins? He aspires to be Lady Catherine de Bourgh.

I LOVE Jane Austen for her use of language. I read P&P freshman year in HS. Tore my hair out until I got use to it. Her characters express their thoughts clearly and completely, well-thought-out, cogent thoughts. THAT was what made it difficult to understand, even back in ’64. Now reading her like reading poetry to me.

Heathcliff, Heathcliff, No one should ….

I agree with Puck, that is too mean. I wouldn’t wish Mr. Collins on anyone.

Elvis would be a perfect Heathcliff

I’m back!!!!!!! So many thanks to Daughter 2 and her husband!!!!!!

I don’t remember if I’ve read Pride & Prejudice, but I have watched it (version with Kiera Knightley) & generally liked it. It’s very thoughtful. Just skimming through the comments now, I see that Wuthering Heights was generally disliked by readers.

I loved Wuthering Heights, but Pride and Prejudice and Emma are my favorites. All books, no movies.