The Catitat

M&M Battles

feeds@yuku.com (Chris Dee) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 07:47:46 GMT

Obviously, that previous post did not work and I did in fact jinx any hope of reopening the blog any time soon. So this time, no false hope, just a treat from a truly wondrous individual:

Heartbeat msg

feeds@yuku.com (Chris Dee) — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 13:12:20 GMT

Hey gang,
Was a good holiday, don't get me wrong. It's a very hectic new year, however, and what free time I have is going into the new chapter and the TBA that ate Tokyo. So there hasn't been any spare bits of Chris for blogging, and frankly, that isn't likely to change in the near future. So enjoy the old entries until I'm blocked and need to procrastinate or something.
Ciaomeow, as we say in the real neighborhood.

Biased, Stupid, Opportunists or Lazy? This one we can fix.

feeds@yuku.com (Chris Dee) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 10:06:20 GMT

Dennis Leary is doing the talk shows right now promoting his new book: Why We Suck. One story that keeps coming up is the PC outcry over comments in a chapter about parents special needs kids, but not the real ones, the ones whose needs actually aren't that special. The kids who don't actually have anything wrong with them except that their parents haven't done their f-ing job as parents and are essentially shopping doctors to get the diagnosis which gets them off the hook.
...

Buds

feeds@yuku.com (Chris Dee) — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 09:22:48 GMT

I had two interesting emails this morning, (mandatory plug for the new tale) interspersed in the Not My Kink reviews (/end plug).

The one was a Wiccan meditation on the transition from autumn to winter as a time to see past the obvious. Cutting through the purple prose: on the surface, nature seems to be dying. But if you look closer, you'll see tree branches covered with buds. Even in this time when things are shutting down to rest, preparations are already under way for the new...

Light Cats

feeds@yuku.com (Chris Dee) — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 08:38:41 GMT

Swedish people honor the Sun goddess Lucina, also known as St. Lucy, today. Girls dress in white gowns and wear garlands crowned with candles. They wake up their families with songs and a special breakfast. For this celebration, the Swedes make lussekatter, scrumptious saffron buns shaped in symbolic S-curves, figure-eights, and cats.

The name of the...

Election Day

feeds@yuku.com (Chris Dee) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 11:00:34 GMT

So much of what we've seen in comic books is a microcosm of what's happened on the larger stage: We've seen persons in power trying to insist things into being that simply weren't true, and reality in the form of flood waters, WMDs, and stock prices stubbornly refusing to conform to the official word in the press releases. We've seen petty mean-spirited and transparent abuses of power to punish those who voice opposition. And we've seen that best part of ourselves,...

$10 Million Cat

feeds@yuku.com (Chris Dee) — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 14:34:18 GMT

Looks like I can't actually embed the video from CNN, but trust me, just go and watch...

Japan's $10 million cat

Why I don't hate Mondays

feeds@yuku.com (Chris Dee) — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 09:31:21 GMT

Monday again. Time to either mope and make yourself feel 10X worse, or take stock in the situation.

Anything the size and scope of Cat-Tales, there are always going to be "circumstances beyond my control" like the networks say when their satellite goes poof in the middle of the Penn State game (A-hem. Nittany Lions 13; Buckeyes 6). The trick is to take that as a gift for the areas.

Due to said circumstances beyond, progress is currently stalled on the TBA that...

It's got a great beat but...

feeds@yuku.com (Chris Dee) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 10:24:01 GMT

It's a typical Monday morning so this will be a quick hit and run.

Saw an interesting article over the weekend about doctors using disco music to learn how to defibrillate. "Staying Alive" has the perfect rhythm, the perfect number of beats-per-minute. So does "Another One Bites the Dust" but they don't use that, for obvious reasons. It has the wrong message.

There's an important lesson there. If you're shopping for artists, singers,...

I don't want to jinx this, but...

feeds@yuku.com (Chris Dee) — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 09:09:49 GMT

There is a marked brightness at the end of the tunnel, and no sound of a locomotive coming my way. I am reasonably sure that with the release of this next chapter, I'll be over the recent craziness, ready to resume a regular rollout schedule, and possibly a semi-regular blog.

In the meantime, I hope everyone is enjoying Capes and Bats. I know I am, and it is certainly filling the void between Armchair chapters, the way

Investment Strategy

feeds@yuku.com (Chris Dee) — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 10:04:56 GMT

This isn't a current events blog, but I liked this:

If you had purchased $1,000.00 of Delta Air Lines stock one year ago you would have $49.00 left.

With Enron, you would have had $16.50 left of the original $1,000.00
.
With WorldCom, you would have had less than $5.00 left.

But, if you had purchased $1,000.00 worth of beer one year ago, drank all of the beer, then turned in the cans for the aluminum recycling REFUND, you would have collected...

We're all still a bit mad here

feeds@yuku.com (Chris Dee) — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 09:24:41 GMT

Boy, it's been a while. The big project I once referred to as TBA-2, the TBA that ate Tokyo has been munching around the edge of Ginza. As predicted, the blog has pretty much gone dark for the duration, but I wanted to check in since newsletters aren't necessarily getting through.

We have a super new Cat-Tale taking shape: Capes and Bats by Wanders Nowhere. You can expect one or two chapters of that each week between now...

Blinders

feeds@yuku.com (Chris Dee) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 08:52:17 GMT

I can understand someone who is young and inexperienced thinking they have it all figured out. They'll learn soon enough, and that first hard smack of reality will certainly be punishment enough for whatever idiotic pretensions they are performing today, especially when it sinks in that it's going to go on that way for the next 50 years, give or take.

What I can't fathom are the ones old enough to know better: pushing 40 and chin deep in their own failure, and they...

The DEE...but then again

feeds@yuku.com (Chris Dee) — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 07:04:10 GMT

Okay, first, I am instituting a new award for quotes so sublime in their perfect crystallization of a known but never quite articulated idea that angels weep. The first recipient is one Sam Gafford, the "Lewis Black of comics", for the following:

(Dan) Didio is quickly becoming the George W. Bush of comics which means you can't trust...

10,000 Times

feeds@yuku.com (Chris Dee) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 09:31:29 GMT

There are 4 basic learning styles. They tell you that your first day training to become a museum docent, and I imagine if you're studying to become a teacher they hit you with it on day one also. I don't really remember all the details, but essentially, some people learn best in a classroom environment or from a book. Some respond to finding out how things are made. Some are dynamic learners, they pick things up by doing, etc. It's presented as an absolute: like you're male or...

Lighting

feeds@yuku.com (Chris Dee) — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 09:15:22 GMT

There is a famous lighting designer who uses only 3 colors. Her designs are masterful because she knows those 3 colors so well. She knows everything they can do, knows nuances no one else would ever find because they don't need to.

Now, technically, she doesn't "need" to either. It is a choice on her part to go on only using those three…theoretically. But when it comes to creative endeavors, you never know. Theoretically, I have...

New Chapter Day

feeds@yuku.com (Chris Dee) — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 10:29:10 GMT

Well, yesterday I got the chapter out. That's always a good feeling, but this time it was doubly so because I just worked it in during a stolen half-hour. Client changed the afternoon meeting time, and I just had time to get it posted. Then, after the meetings and post-meeting work, the first reviews had started to come in already. Pretty much the ideal chapter rollout, and a great day.

I am absolutely blown away by the number of readers mentioning Poirot, Nero Wolfe, Agatha Christie,...

Superman Trivia Question

feeds@yuku.com (Chris Dee) — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 11:53:48 GMT

Long story short, the TODO list crossed a line I cannot allow it to cross, and I have declared war. So instead of a lengthier theatre entry again today, you get superhero trivia courtesy of NPR & Chicago Public Radio®

Q: We all know that Superman is faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, etc., etc. But back in the '50s and '60s, he seemed to acquire even more powers just as he needed them, including which of these?

A. Super-whistling,...

The Men in Black

feeds@yuku.com (Chris Dee) — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 09:40:36 GMT

Today's planned topic is postponed so we can turn our attention to an article in the New York Times about a group of people I just love. STAGE TECHNICIANS.

Unseen Army Keeps the Show Going On

Holes

feeds@yuku.com (Chris Dee) — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 08:49:41 GMT

Most memorable radio ad I ever heard began like this:

Announcer: So you go into a hardware store to buy a drill bit. You don't want "a drill bit", you want HOLES.

I have no idea what they were selling, but that simple principle has always stuck with me.

Seeing beyond sales talk is one thing. It's pretty easy for moderately plugged-in people with developed frontal lobes to recognize a built-in bias. Seeing through window dressing is a...