Ode to A Cat: Pussy

Thomas Gray (1716-1771)

Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat

I.
'TWAS on a lofty vase's side,
Where China's gayest art had dy'd
The azure flowers that blow;
Demurest of the tabby kind,
The pensive Selima reclin'd,
Gaz'd on the lake below.
II.
Her conscious tail her joy declar'd;
The fair round face, the snowy beard,
The velvet of her paws,
Her coat, that with the tortoise vies,
Her ears of jet, and emerald eyes,
She saw, and purr'd applause.
III.
Still had she gaz'd; but midst the tide
Two beauteous forms were seen to glide,
The Genii of the stream;
Their scaly armour's Tyrian hue,
Through richest purple, to the view,
Betray'd a golden gleam.
IV.
The hapless Nymph with wonder saw:
A whisker first, and then a claw,
With many an ardent wish,
She stretch'd, in vain, to reach the prize.
What female heart can gold despise?
What cat's averse to fish?
V.
Presumptuous Maid! with looks intent
Again she stretch'd, again she bent,
Nor knew the gulph between;
(Malignant Fate sat by, and smil'd.)
The slippery verge her feet beguil'd;
She tumbled headlong in.
VI.
Eight times emerging from the flood,
She mew'd to every watery God,
Some speedy aid to send.
No Dolphin came, no Nereid stir'd:
Nor cruel Tom, nor Susan heard.
A favourite has no friend.
VII.
From hence, ye beauties, undeceiv'd,
Know, one false step is ne'er retriev'd,
And be with caution bold.
Not all that tempts your wandering eyes
And heedless hearts, is lawful

Ode to the Cat

Lest we forget the grapeness of the cat.



The animals were imperfect,
long-tailed,
unfortunate in their heads.
Little by little they
put themselves together,
making themselves a landscape,
acquiring spots, grace, flight.
The cat,
only the cat
appeared complete and proud:
he was born completely finished,
walking alone and knowing what he wanted.

Man wants to be fish or fowl,
the snake would like to have wings
the dog is a disoriented lion,
the engineer would like to be a poet,
the fly studies to be a swift,
the poet tries to imitate the fly,
but the cat
only wants to be a cat
and any cat is a cat
from his whiskers to his tail,
from his hopeful vision of a rat
to the real thing,
from the night to his golden eyes.

There is no unity
like him,
the moon and the flower
do not have such context:
he is just one thing
like the sun or the topaz,
and the elastic line of his contours
is firm and subtle like
the line of a ship's prow.
His yellow eyes
have just one
groove
to coin the gold of night time.

Oh little
emperor without a sphere of influence
conqueror without a country,
smallest living-room tiger, nuptial
sultan of the sky,
of the erotic roof-tiles,
the wind of love
in the storm
you claim
when you pass
and place
four delicate feet
on the ground,
smelling,
distrusting
all that is terrestrial,
because everything
is too unclean
for the immaculate foot of the cat.

Oh independent wild beast
of the house
arrogant
vestige of the night,
lazy, gymnastic
and alien,
very deep cat,
secret policeman
of bedrooms,
insignia
of a
disappeared velvet,
surely there is no
enigma
in your manner,
perhaps you are not a mystery,
everyone knows of you
and you belong
to the least mysterious inhabitant,
perhaps everyone believes it,
everyone believes himself the owner,
proprietor,
uncle
of a cat,
companion,
colleague,
disciple
or friend
of his cat.

Not me.
I do not subscribe.
I do not know the cat.
I know it all, life and its archipelago,
the sea and the incalculable city,
botany,
the gyneceum and its frenzies,
the plus and the minus of mathematics,
the volcanic frauds of the world,
the unreal shell of the crocodile,
the unknown kindness of the fireman,
the blue atavism of the priest,
but I cannot decipher a cat.
My reason slips on his indifference,
his eyes have golden numbers.

-- Translated From
the Spanish of
Pablo Neruda

Thanks to Cats That Look Like Hitler (Kitler)

King Power - follow up

I see now King Power and the Thai Authorities are complaining saying that the BBC and other media are giving Thailand a bad name by reporting these stories.

How F***ing typical this action is.

I think Thailand is doing a damn fine job of ruining its tourist industry all on its own. But then this does ring true of Thai behavoir too. Typically a beach will get very, very dirty and it won't bother the Thai people. Only when someone says that the tourists don't like it, will they start picking up the rubbish.

Vietnam and Cambodia are open now and flocks are heading to other shores where they are not fleeced even before leaving the airport.

....OMG and a deal to buy Portsmouth football club by an arab has just gone belly up as he is known to be a colleque of Hugo-A-Gogo himself, Thaksin. It's believed he may have some involvement in the purchase so UK dropped it. He makes a great bad guy. There will be a movie about him one day.

King Power Scam

I don't know if you guys are aware of this horrible scam, Thai cops and associates are carryiong out at the new airport (Swampy, as it is known), but it must be an awful experience. Some people having to pay 8,000 quid ransom to be allowed to go free. The victims get "caught" shoplifting at King Power shop, what ever that is) and held in a safe house until they agree to pay. One British couple escaped and got to the embassy. This happens a lot and there are a lot of posts on the net about it.

I just think it is awful, but I am very glad it is becoming international news. It seems the whole scamming market has gone from a harmless thing you accept on your holiday to a terrifying experience. Thai authorities should be punished and held accountable for allowing this sort of activity to continue. It is a disgrace and I would be happy to see people vote with their feet and give Thailand a wide birth while this carries on.

Read more...

http://www.andrew-drummond.com/2009/06/28/809/

Sunday

Sunday morning again and determined to tap the day for ample relaxation and good times. I have to write a small test for the kiddies but that shouldn't take too long.

I hooked up with old ship mates Tom and Don yesterday for some steak and then sat out on the rear balcony listening to tunes and talking with Tom. Don came over at night and we watched the original of The Taking of Pelham 123 with Walter Matthaeu and Robert Shaw. Though I could barely remain focused, the others enjoyed it. I have stopped watching movies lately at I find I just can't sit through them. I think our attention spans are being ever diminished by fast paced media.Don liked my theory which I think I picked up on the radio about USA having so many junk food outlets because someone did the maths and worked out it was cheaper to have a fat unhealthy die young of a heart attack society than live for a long time get old and cost the system money society. It's true. It's all been worked out.

I have high hopes of going to the pool today (preferably stoned) and chilling out. Then there is breakfast at the Swan with Tom. I find myself returning here upon occasion as all of the unsavoury types that used to frequent this place have either died or moved on. Apparently it still draws a crowd when the football is on.

I am still on my first game of Empire Total War and have decided to pick on Morocco as invading Central Europe was a bit daunting. Kyle and I have been exchanging notes on this game and hope to hook up on line sometime. Actually, Rob and Pete, this would be a great game to play together especially since the Campaign map part is turn-based. Attention to detail is superb and the game has a richness about it with its sweeping landscapes and Sargent-Major's shout of "Sir!" when you send the pretty lines of red soldiers to their doom.

Oi is as peaceful as ever and due in about 2 weeks apparently. It's a strange feeling. I guess JimmyV really knows what it feels like.

Amazing Music Site

Check out this amazing site for some great rare downloads;

http://madparade.blogspot.com/2008/01/church-seance.html

Rant

Still heavily into Oz band The Church and have just secretly found the elusive album, Seance which is supposed to be great.

Must push folks to listen to The Forum on BBC Radio podcasts. The philisophical debates are amazing.

However, the problem that I see is making the money grabbing bankers and corporations release control and their view to lay claim to resources on the land of native inhabitants. Did you know that the jungles in Borneo are being cut down faster than the Amazon forests? Aljazeera did a report on the indiginous people there being forced out by the Malaysian government to make way for resource extraction. This monster that is devouring the Earth, so self justified and self protecting. I heard recent report on the use of Cost Analysis placed on everything to avoid any moral or ethical decision making. So all decisions really, and I mean really, come down to "will it make a profit?". Whether it be Philip Morris cigarettes to the Chech Republic or removal of a sub culture hidden in the jungle. Obsurb decisions are made at the highest level regarding all sorts of issues and based purely on economics. Check out The Reith Lectures if you want to know more (Thanks, Matty).

Now I hear that Tony Blair is going for President of Europe. Holy Fucking Christ. Is this club just open for a few at the top? I think so.

As I wander around Hat Yai I witness how selfish most people are. Snotty people in expensive cars. There is a great docu out there called China Blue about a peasant girl in China who heads to a factory job in the city. The clothing factory where she works for 0.4 Yuen an hour is owned by an ex-policeman and the main customers are Levis etc. The owner is a hoot. Completely self-congratulating that he made it and relates to his staff as sub-human and not appreciative of culture, as he does a bit of Caligraphy to show the cameras he has culture. The show makes him out to be a complete wanker obviously - and he is.

And of course in the vast majority of cases the higher up the tree you are, the more you believe in it and buy into it and argue viciously to anyone who questions it, and of course spouts off a load of fluffy crap to justify unethical practise.

Did you know that 20% of the worlds coral reefs are now dead, and 50% close to extinction.

And of course (Peter knows about this) other problems are occuring in the ocean. Real bad problems, relating to the acidity of the ocean and the carbon dioxide absorbed by it.

Another interesting show was on the growing level of intolerance people are expressing upon one another and the constant noise that we surround ourselves with.

Anyway, back to Empire Total War. The irony!