7 Days to Apollo 11
One week, people, one week remaining until the fortieth anniversary of Neil Armstrong's first steps on the Moon! And, sweet fancy Moses, he found out the blasted thing's not even made out of cheese! "We came in peace for all Mankind."

Eye of the Tiger
I will never never never get used to Tiger's occasional but insistent demands to be petted while she eats. She will whine and stare at me, looking terribly pathetic, until I stroll over to her bowls, kneel beside her, and pet her while she eats or drinks, running my hand from her head to the tip of her tail. The late, lamented Sam would shoot daggers out of his eyes if I so much as looked at him while he eat or drank. The odds between fight or flight were pretty much fifty-fifty if I approached him while he was eating: he'd hightail it out of there lickety-split or he's bear his teeth and swipe at me with a declawed paw. (Bless his malicious heart, he never figured out that his claws had been removed when he was wee.) But Tiger fairly begs us to pet her as she eats.

Dad came up with a pretty satisfactory theory to explain this behavior. Tiger is a secondhand kitty, we adopted her as an adult cat from my aunt, uncle, and cousins in Springboro, Ohio. They acquired her as a kitten, a pet for my cousin Meghan, the middle child of three and the only girl. Later, they acquired a dog, Pancake, a very yellow golden retriever, and later still a second dog of unknown (to me) breed, named, because they are Buckeyes one and all, Tressel. While I have not inquired as to the particulars, Pancake and Tressel loved to chase Tiger around the house and torment her mercilessly. I have no idea what Tiger's disposition was before the dogs got at her, but she has been a tremulous 'fraidy cat the whole time we've had her. Poor kitty. Dad's theory is that in Ohio Tiger was vulnerable to canine ambush at her food and water dishes, like animals on the Serengeti are vulnerable to predators at watering holes. So, having us pet her while she eats helps her to feel safe and secure. I've no superior alternate theory, and Dad's logic stands up to scrutiny and seems to be supported by anecdotal observation.

I've known only two cats from Ohio, both of whom were tormented by dogs while their owners stood by and did nothing. That's just how people are in Ohio, that's just the way they conduct themselves. Many, too many people I've known cling to this ludicrous notion that my disdain for the State of Ohio is rooted in my natural Wolverine animosity for the "University of Ohio State." Nonsense. I've hated Ohio and Ohioans from before I even knew of the existence of Ohio State, and I content that however horrific the allegations I level against them, the truth is darker still. Tiger, poor bedeviled Tiger, is proof of that.

Science!
The essential difference between cats and dogs: dogs wish to please, cats demand to be pleased. I appreciate the fact that cats think they are our betters, I respect the audacity of that laughable assumption. I don't mind being manipulated when the manipulation is obvious: purrlink.

Science!

The Rebel Black Dot Song of the Day
Dance Hall Crashers, "Make Her Purr" (live) from The Live Record: Witless Banter and 25 Mildly Antagonist Songs of Love (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary: Not really a song about cats, but today wasn't the day for D.H.C.'s "Cat Fight" (also not about cats) or "Cat With 2 Heads!" by The Aquabats!

"You like to think you know her,
Know what it takes to make her purr,
But she don't live here anymore."