Cats on the set

Just a short memo about cats on the set. In the movie The Godfather, Marlon Brando is sitting with a cat on his lap. Brando gives it an expertly hand treatment and the cat purrs and rolls around. You may think this scene was carefully scripted and rehearsed. In fact, the cat was a stray in the studio, nobody knew it, it was placed in the last minute on Brando's lap by director Coppola and it immediately started working. But it didn't earn any credit or goodies for its performance, as far as we know, and the job was a one-off. Now in da movie A Man Called Ove, there's also a cat, this time a long haired one, who is likewise absent from the cast list. Why that is, is hard to tell, since that cat has quite a big role in the movie and is in some ways a reflection of the main character. Like Ove is an obsessive life saver, the cat also is a life saver. It saves the life of obsessively suicidal Ove. If you cut to the chase, the movie is actually about the man saving cat and the old crusty curmudgeon is but the side dish, even if a tasty one. To be completely honest, I did find mention of the cat in the trivia section of the entry about the movie on IMDb. It is stated there that the cat's role was played by two ragdoll cats, Magic and Orlando, both of Polish origins and probably blood related. You might argue that omitting Magic and Orlando from the cast list is yet another example of structural racialism and homocentrism that runs contrary to the ethos of liberal Sweden. On the other hand, the movie tried to be including in other ways. You had mentally ill people, gay people, handicapped people, middle eastern people, old people and two Polish cats in it. So on the whole, we shouldn't complain too much.

The lap of the month

I've just been chosen the lap of the month by a majority of the cats (four out of seven). It all started while Mary went away to Scotland and the cats were on the lookout for substitute laps to settle on, mine being the most affordable in the neighborhood. So that was basically it. Yet, even well after Mary's return to Vrensted and subsequent to waned jet-lag and culture shock, the trend continues, according to some observers even gaining further momentum. Especially Bonnie is breaking new ground and all ground rules of decorum. She seizes any opportunity to jump my lap, which is especially distressing while I'm eating. She will settle there for as long as possible, sometimes snooze and sometimes just smile enigmatically with her eyes closed and only reluctantly will she let go of her position and well, possession. I'm left to wonder what's so damn gratifying about my lap and with no answer forthcoming. Wimbelina and Aerial are more infrequent lap guests, while Norsky will only demean himself to nuzzle his snout against it, so he may not really count as a full blown lap lounger. But to be true,yos - it's not all bad to be the lap of the month, there are moments of quiet contentment and other moments of blissful unity of man and beast on the couch in Vrensted. Even if Sodomy never quite was our thing.