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EC8010 wrote: ↑Wed Oct 22, 2025 8:56 am
On the subject of cats (albeit large ones), I had breakfast at "The Shack" https://www.communityad.co.uk/exclusive ... cafe-hook/on Saturday. There was a poster above our table telling of a little history. Apparently, the owners of The Shack also ran a fairground where one of their ladies would drive a three-wheeler round the Wall of Death. Nothing new there. Except that she took a lioness named Rita with her. There's a photograph of said lioness in side compartment of a tiny car with intrepid lady standing next to it. As a cat-owner, I know that cats only do stuff they enjoy, and the lioness looked quite happy (positively grinning), so I assume it enjoyed the stunt. More significantly, I can't imagine anyone persuading a lioness to do something it didn't really want to do.
The children's TV programme had a go at that in 1968. Would the bit from 1:05-3:10 be allowed today?
EC8010 wrote: ↑Wed Oct 22, 2025 8:56 am
But if you look closely, the cat is magically flying head first immediately after take-off; I think it's been fiddled.
Stepping through it using /usr/bin/gifview, frames
20: on cushion, eye visible
21: on cushion
22: moving blur mostly invisible
23: legs pointing backwards, head/shoulders moving in the correct direction
24: legs retracted, possible eye visible in the right place
25 onwards: in the right place
Conclusion: likely to be OK, but would be nice to have more frames
I didn't step through it, but if it's real, then that cat moved pretty quickly. Mind you, they do.
As for the "Blue Peter" clip, thank you for finding that. Presenters were made of sterner stuff than they are today. All hail Valerie Singleton! And as for John Noakes climbing Nelson's Column on a bunch of wooden ladders tied with rope...
EC8010 wrote: ↑Wed Oct 22, 2025 8:56 am
On the subject of cats (albeit large ones), I had breakfast at "The Shack" https://www.communityad.co.uk/exclusive ... cafe-hook/on Saturday. There was a poster above our table telling of a little history. Apparently, the owners of The Shack also ran a fairground where one of their ladies would drive a three-wheeler round the Wall of Death. Nothing new there. Except that she took a lioness named Rita with her. There's a photograph of said lioness in side compartment of a tiny car with intrepid lady standing next to it. As a cat-owner, I know that cats only do stuff they enjoy, and the lioness looked quite happy (positively grinning), so I assume it enjoyed the stunt. More significantly, I can't imagine anyone persuading a lioness to do something it didn't really want to do.
The children's TV programme had a go at that in 1968. Would the bit from 1:05-3:10 be allowed today?
As Siegfried & Roy found out you can never trust a big cat.
An old gray beard with an attitude. I don't bite.....sometimes
Compare and contrast that with John Aspinall, who was a society sh1t from the 60s onwards, and had firm delusions about wild animals.
Aspinall wanted to be killed by his tigers (in his circumstances I might feel the same).
Three keepers were killed by his animals, two by one tiger, one by an elephant.
EC8010 wrote: ↑Wed Oct 22, 2025 2:37 pm
I didn't step through it, but if it's real, then that cat moved pretty quickly. Mind you, they do.
As for the "Blue Peter" clip, thank you for finding that. Presenters were made of sterner stuff than they are today. All hail Valerie Singleton! And as for John Noakes climbing Nelson's Column on a bunch of wooden ladders tied with rope...
... and with a more-than-vertical overhang at the top.
That's more relatable than this other short video. Just when you think he's reached the top...
MED6753 wrote: ↑Wed Oct 22, 2025 4:17 pm
This guy also found out the hard way. Supposedly the tiger was just giving him a "love bite"
Wild animals, such as bears and big cats, are unbelievably fast and strong. I don't believe they can ever be reliably tamed, even if brought up by one human from when they were small, at least there are enough stories of it ending badly to suggest it isn't a great idea to try.
A South African farmer killed by his pet hippopotamus.
MED6753 wrote: ↑Wed Oct 22, 2025 5:03 pm
Harley likes to sometimes give me a "love bite" on my hand and his fangs break the skin. He doesn't comprehend that it's painful.
My cat Loki has the same habit. While stroking him, you have to be careful, otherwise you'll get a hurtful "love bite".
MED6753 wrote: ↑Wed Oct 22, 2025 5:03 pm
Harley likes to sometimes give me a "love bite" on my hand and his fangs break the skin. He doesn't comprehend that it's painful.
My cat Loki has the same habit. While stroking him, you have to be careful, otherwise you'll get a hurtful "love bite".
Does he also bite you on the ankle if you don't immediately respond to his request to be fed?
An old gray beard with an attitude. I don't bite.....sometimes
Yes, cats will nip if boundaries are crossed, even if the boundary isn't apparent to us blobs. I'm afraid thighs and knees are fair game for treadling with claws out. They really don't mean to inflict pain, but their minds are switched off and they've reverted to kittenhood. On the whole, I have enjoyed having moggies around for the last forty years and willingly suffered their foibles (inadvertent clawing of blobs, deliberate clawing of expensive sofa/carpet, nipping blobs, being sick on duvet while blob is under it, leaving dead rodents to go whiffy behind washing machine or fridge, kittens running diagonally up curtains).
I had to climb a transmitter tower many years ago as part of my job; it was nothing like that video. That video showed a slim tower supported on a ball bearing and guyed by steel ropes. They sway (it's why they need the 4" ball bearing). Those chaps are nutters. Also, I trust the transmitter was switched off at the time. The tower I climbed was only a hundred feet or so and squat; it couldn't possibly sway. But that wasn't what my brain was telling me. I was later lifted up on a Simon hoist with a walkie-talkie. I had to take one hand off the railings to operate the walkie-talkie. Then, they wanted me to move the dish. That meant taking the other hand off railings. I didn't enjoy it at all. And all for a political party conference. I don't remember what height the hoist was, but it very definitely swayed.
Our cats are the only domesticated mammal that isn't "domesticated".
Case in point. About a month ago one evening I came into the kitchen and found Harley laying on the floor next to a dead mouse. Harley is an indoor cat and has never seen a mouse and in the 2.5 years we lived here we've never had rodents. But Harley knew exactly what to do. Over the course of 4 other nights Harley caught and killed 2 more mice. And he gave us a clue as to how they were getting in. He would sit in front of the stove and just keep watch. I called building maintenance to pull out the stove and sure enough there were some holes in the wall. The holes were filled in and no more mice. But even now a month later he'll sit in front of the stove and keep watch.
An old gray beard with an attitude. I don't bite.....sometimes
MED6753 wrote: ↑Wed Oct 22, 2025 5:03 pm
Harley likes to sometimes give me a "love bite" on my hand and his fangs break the skin. He doesn't comprehend that it's painful.
Making a noise like a distressed kitten has always worked for me. Works with rambunctious dogs as well, though I wouldn't try it with an aggressive one
MED6753 wrote: ↑Wed Oct 22, 2025 11:38 pm
Our cats are the only domesticated mammal that isn't "domesticated".
Case in point. About a month ago one evening I came into the kitchen and found Harley laying on the floor next to a dead mouse. Harley is an indoor cat and has never seen a mouse and in the 2.5 years we lived here we've never had rodents. But Harley knew exactly what to do. Over the course of 4 other nights Harley caught and killed 2 more mice. And he gave us a clue as to how they were getting in. He would sit in front of the stove and just keep watch. I called building maintenance to pull out the stove and sure enough there were some holes in the wall. The holes were filled in and no more mice. But even now a month later he'll sit in front of the stove and keep watch.
My daughter's dog will "keep listen" and "keep smell". It is the only known phenomena that is more interesting than a moving ball[1].
Very useful with a traditional suspended floor. Somewhat embarrassing in a friend's house. Entertaining in a shop/warehouse
[1] you know you're living koyaanisqatsi when you are relaxing in a nice hot bath, there is a plop, a chad/kilroy appears over the bath rim, and expects you to throw the ball floating in the water.
MED6753 wrote: ↑Wed Oct 22, 2025 5:03 pm
Harley likes to sometimes give me a "love bite" on my hand and his fangs break the skin. He doesn't comprehend that it's painful.
Making a noise like a distressed kitten has always worked for me. Works with rambunctious dogs as well, though I wouldn't try it with an aggressive one
MED6753 wrote: ↑Wed Oct 22, 2025 5:03 pm
Harley likes to sometimes give me a "love bite" on my hand and his fangs break the skin. He doesn't comprehend that it's painful.
My cat Loki has the same habit. While stroking him, you have to be careful, otherwise you'll get a hurtful "love bite".
Does he also bite you on the ankle if you don't immediately respond to his request to be fed?
Sometimes he is so overwhelmed that he thinks he is about to get something to eat that he tries to bite my forearm. But after the first painful experience, I learned to dodge the bite, and he has also become a little calmer now that he is no longer a teenager.
