Hello, Honey, Elvira Mistress of Felinity here.
I'm more than just a great looking Pussycat, I'll have you know!
Bold, Fresh, Smooth, and the most delightful Pussycat in the world!
You can call me Mistress Elvira, for short, just don't call me late for dinner, treats, a nap, or a snooze!
Welcome to The Elvira Factor!
You are about to enter the No Bull Zone!
Grab your tails, Felinity Assembled, it's going to be a bumpy ride! ;-D
(You missed the debut? Shame on you! ;-D )
Now for the Meowing Points Memo:
Do you read the newspaper?
It's like a book, but a whole lot thinner, and cheaper, come out daily, and sometimes even delivered to your doorstep so your human doesn;t have to leave home in search it.
Um, you DO read books, don't you?
Yes, I know, I know, newspapers were made to be Napped, and Snoozed on, especially when your Human wants to read it, and they make great places to cough up a hairball, when doing so on the carpet, the computer keyboard, or the young Human's homework, would get you in some serious trouble, but...
Do you READ the paper at all before, or after?
I'm not just talking about the news, sports, local, entertainment, business, opinion, and pet sections (if any), but the Sophisticated Literature, and Artwork, to be found in the Comics Section.
I'm only a year old, and was not introduced to the Comics by Daddy, & Nikita, until November, but I find myself enraptured.
At least as far back as the 1920's, and Felix, Humans have had a fascination with Cats in the Funny Pages.
Most of them have had an uncanny understanding of all things Feline, and even when they didn't the strips, for the most part, had, and have, some redeeming value.
There were strips that treated, and treat Cats in a psotive light, and there were, are others whose depictions when not outright hostile, were, and are, a tad, um, fuzzy. ;-D
There have been, and are, strips all about Cats, or where ther Feline was, and is, one character among many, passing thru when you least expect them to.
What's important is that there are such Strips out there, and you can liven up your day by checking them out, and even do something positive for the mental health of your Human, by encouraging them to read them.
In the sidebar of this blog you may have noticed a list...Comic Strips for Cats, and Cat Lovers.
There are currently 11 Strips listed, all found on either Gocomics.com, or Comics.com, or their own websites, including even online only Strips.
We will be adding more to the list as we find them, or are alerted to them.
Got a favorite? Let us know in the comments, or by e-mail.
And that's the Memo! ;-D
Next up is...My Word!
The word, this week, is "Felinity", in honor of the Cat in the strip 9 Chickenweed Lane. ;-D
- Solange - Edda's Siamese cat, the very quintessence of Cat, and a popular enough character to spawn an ongoing thread of strips focused on her, Hallmarks of Felinity. The cat who would become Solange first appeared on March 23, 1999, which happened to be the second Hallmark of Felinity. Originally, the animal characters in the strip consisted of a whippet named Rudyard, succeeding a greyhound named Divot, and a spot-eyed cat, Ambrose. Rudyard and Ambrose often held mental conversations regarding their human owners, when Rudyard wasn't chucking insults at the cat's naïvete. Solange soon replaced Ambrose after her introduction, and the greyhound quickly disappeared from the strip as well.
You go, Girl! ;-D
Um, heh, where was I?
Oh, yes...
When I did a Google I found a Wiktionary page first in line with an explanation.
It says "The state of being Feline, Catlike", "Any Feline characteristic".
OK, fine, but then #4 in the results was a Vampire Coven, something about "Nocturnal Felinity".
Aside from admiring the cool images of Black Cats on the home page, I just got a headache trying to understand their Philosophy, and what they are about. ;-D
For this they collectively are my Knuckleheads of the Week! ;-D
#10 on the list was more to my liking!
A blogger named Barbera wrote a post, in January, about her Cats, and shares a real cool photo of them at meal time. ;-D
In a post about laughter, and happiness, with quotes from scripture, she shares this:
"In the past twenty years, we have had somewhere between 50-75 cats on our property. Many have come and gone; all have been outdoor dwellers. Some tame and some wild.
Having outdoor cats has been very beneficial for us. We hardly ever see a mouse, and when we do, it's usually a dead one. We've enjoyed watching our cats go springing into the air after grasshoppers, or play soccer with a ping pong ball. One late spring day we were entertained by kittens using the slanted metal door of the storm cellar as a slide. When they reached the bottom, they'd scramble back to the top and go sliding down again."
Felinity, and Felicity - on the blog "Alive By the Spirit".
Anyway, digging deeper in my Google proved less than enlightening, and it became inescapable that to best answer the quesstion "What is Felinity?" it was best to rely on the Mistress of Felinity, herself, the incomparable Solange.
Over the years, she has shared, with the help of her chronicler, Brooke McEldowney, at least 189 Halmarks of Felinity. ;-D
Which brings me to our Patriot, this week. ;-D
Dennis Osborn has an interesting website, the best part of it being his long time dedication to 9 Chickenweeek Lane.
The man knows a Good Pussy when he sees one, and fell in love with Solange to such an extent that he has a whole section devoted to her. ;-D
His Hallmarks of Felinity catalog shares #1 thru #189, 1999 to 2004, in chronological order.
Apparently the last time he updated the site was 2008, so it is unclear to me if there have only been 189 hallmarks, or if our Patriot has lost interest, or kicked the bucket.
Even Nikita & Daddy, are unsure of the number of hallmarks, and they have read the strip, daily for a year now, and we all plan to go back, and read all that is online (From the year 2000, on Comics.com). ;-D
Somehow I don't believe that the writer of the strip has not shared more hallmarks since 2004. ;-D
I belive a couple of e-mails are in order, one to Dennis, if possible, and one to Solange, via Brooke, and if I get any responses, I will share them. ;-D
Well, that's it for this edition.
Dear reader, your comments about anything you read in this post, or any other, past, present, or future, on this blog, are welcomed, and encouraged.
Thank You, and Good Day! ;-D
****UPDATE - 3/16 - 9AM****
The Hallmarks of Felinity LIVE! ;-D
There's a (Unofficial ) Tribute Page to the Comic, and they have the answer to my question about the Hallmarks!
Solange is Edda's cat. She is also insane. Oh wait, sorry, no difference. Solange has her own collection of strips, Hallmarks of Felinity, the first 46 of which appeared in a 2002 volume published by Andrews McMeel.
After #189, they were no longer numbered.
That's the Bad News...
The Good News?: Hallmarks of Felinity, Unnumbered
The Bad News?: There are only 23 listed on the page, and there are no dates.
The Good News?: The Hallmarks of Felinity LIVE!
I, Elvira Mistress of Pussydom, will keep an eye out, and Nikita & I, both will have more to say on the Hallmarks past, and present, in the future. ;-D
****END UPDATE****
****UPDATE - MARCH 14TH, 2012****
Oh, my Celing Cat!
The following comment was left to this post, on March 8th:
Very nice article!
It's the first time I'm seeing kitties in a role in comics.
It would definitely be interesting.
Jeff Allen
Who is Jeff Allen?
According to his website he is "one of the funniest, most inspirational, Christian comedians working today", not to mention a published author.
I was very honored, and so wrote to thank him, and ask what led him to our blog, aside from the obvious Google Search that our stats showed was carried out, over several hours before he left the comment.
It has been a week, with no reply, so I've decided to go ahead, and post the comment, here.
You can visit his website, here.
****END UPDATE****
Hello Miss Elvira.
That is a pretty interesting article.
We have not thought about Kitties in the comics, except for the comics Daisy does. :)
Thank you for your purrs for Mickey.
We miss Mickey, but know he is happy at the Bridge.
It just takes some getting used to right now.
Purrs Georgia & Tillie,Tiger
Treasure and JoyJoy
Posted by: Mickey,Georgia & Tillie | March 17, 2011 at 07:35 PM
Very nice article!
It's the first time I'm seeing kitties in a role in comics.
It would definitely be interesting.
Posted by: Jeff Allen | March 08, 2012 at 11:47 PM