In Memoriam: Kietze

Today my undeniably favorite cat, Kietze, died. Because of her old age and her deteriorating condition over the last month I knew her end would come sooner rather than later. It did not come as a great surprise, nor was it as shocking a loss as Ronnie's sudden demise only last week, but it is still a cause of great sadness for me personally.

Kietze has been with me for most of my life, since she first entered it some 20 years ago. A small kitten, escaping from an abusive household, we lovingly took the wild and frightened animal in. Her harsh first few months in life were revealed in her aggressive and belligerent nature, but under our wings she slowly grew out of all that. As she got older, she became increasingly mild and good-natured. The old cat who lived with me closely for the last two years wasn't anything in character like the temperamental, semi-feral cat we accepted all those years ago, having changed her attitude because of the love and care she received from us. She appeared noticeably thankful for the alternate life style we offered her. Especially when she moved in with me to enjoy her last years at old age in a peaceful, quiet environment where she was the only cat around and where she had my full attention.

Old age made its mark on her the last few months. She had become largely incontinent, which I accepted without complaining. She was deaf and her eye sight wasn't what it used to be. Her breathing and purring sounded uncomfortably unhealthy of late. Her hair was a genuine mess. She grew ever more skinny, though she had a fairly healthy appetite until two weeks ago, and she drank quite a lot of water on a daily basis. Despite all these signs of rapid deterioration, she still liked to be shown affection though, and returned the feeling vith vigor. Her sweet tooth remained until her last day (whenever butter was in her presence, she would appear not a day over fifteen), as did her stubbornness to do things she has better not considering her frail body. That last character trait seems to have been her undoing. I returned home tonight to find her with one paw entangled in an awkward position to my couch, as if she had tried to jump on it but missed her mark and took a bad fall. It was quite a shock to come home and find her like that, her lifeless body not showing rigor mortis just yet, as if it had occurred only an hour before. I blame myself for going to the movies tonight, thinking I might have prevented this from happening. But I know full well that it was definitely only a matter of weeks, days even, before she would succumb in some other way. I accept she has lived a full life, to an age none of my previous cats had the fortune of reaching, but doubt will haunt me for quite a while concerning the possibility of a gentler death.

Where do I go from here? Kietze was sort of a "substitute" for my previous (personal) cat, Draco, who died two years ago at too early an age because of a terrible illness. Kietze was lucky enough not to die of disease, but sure needed rest in her senior years. My parents recognized her need for solitude and we decided she would live her last few years in greater confort at my side. She did, and now her life has finally come to its natural end. But there are no substitutes for Kietze. The strong bonds I formed with both Kietze and Draco took years to develop, and though I love the cats that still live with my parents, I don't feel that connection with any of them, so they will stay where they are. I live in hope I can find another cat, in an asylum maybe, for whom I could ever care as much as for his/her predecessors. But Kietze was with me for such a long time, we basically grew up together. It's unlikely I will ever love another cat as deeply and heartfelt as I did her.

Farewell, dear cat.

 

In Memoriam: Ronnie

Tonight our cat Ronnie succumbed to an illness that had weakened him severely over the course of a week. Though we knew it could end up the way it did, we were hopeful he would show improvement, as his older brother suffered the same symptoms a few weeks earlier and he recovered apparently completely. He lived. Ronnie, sadly, did not. Unwilling to eat or drink and plagued by a harsh fever and continuous bloody diarrhea, Ronnie finally died of his exhaustion early this morning.

Unlike his siblings from the same nest, Ronnie was somewhat wilder, more timid and harder to fully get to appreciate than his much more amiable and sweet-talking brothers. However, those he knew and trusted he let in completely, allowing them to pat him just as lovingly as his brothers, except he wasn't afraid to show his affection in a more violent manner by using his claws and teeth if you weren't careful. Though not the most typically affectionate cat in the household, Ronnie very much anticipated the needs of his humans, and accordingly followed his own routine perfectly in sync with theirs. He'd escort my father on his way to the bakery and made sure my mother went to bed on time. The three red cats formed a beloved part of our family, each with his own personality, completing each other perfectly. They also had formed a good bond amongst themselves, instead of aggressively disliking their siblings as is more usual among cats. Like his older brother, Ronnie was the adventurous type, and he went for much further walks than his brothers who generally stuck closer to home.

Considering this, it may not be a coincidence that the both of them caught this illness, the type of which remains unknown (but hopefully will not spread to the rest of our pets!). Like his mother and his older brother, you could often find him welcoming you home on the street after a hard day's work, even though you would prefer if he stayed in the safer confines of the backyard and alley. Also like his mother, Ronnie died of a heinous disease at much too young an age, not even seven years old yet in his case. He was in his prime and should have had many more good years to follow, but it was not to be. He will be sorely missed by us all, likely even by his brothers who will now have to play together without him. Hopefully they will be able to do so for many years to come at least.

In Memoriam: Ray Harryhausen (1920-2013)

Sad news reached MovieScene late last night and my blog today:

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/146913/ray_harryhausen_overleden

The greatest living legend of special effects lives no more, but the legend remains forever.

It's ironic to know that, even in this effects saturated age where audiences have been completely spoiled by an overabundance of computer generated imagery, there's very next to no effects pioneers whose names have become household terms to the realm of special effects in the same regard as 'Harryhausen' has become over the years. Truth is, Harryhausen was just one man responsible for some of the most memorable fantasy action sequences in film lore, whereas his contemporary fellow effects technicians remain a vast, faceless army of pixel pushing drones. Their work, though at times undeniably impressive, just lacks the utter charm and persona of Harryhausen's stop motion creatures that have thrilled and inspired audiences for decades, and will for many decades to follow. Though never truly realistic - which was not particularly the master's intent since he realized full well the limitations of stop motion photography and generally aimed for a dream like atmosphere to add to the feeling of fantasy - his creations always felt more alive than most of their later counterparts.

Harryhausen was always a guarantee for a thrill ride of a movie experience, and even though he only worked on sixteen theatrical movies in total from 1949 till 1981, they are sixteen of the finest Sci-Fi and fantasy pictures ever, really the Lord of the Rings and Jurassic Park equivalents of those days. Though I am saddened by his death (even though he lived to an appropriate old age), I am glad his work will survive him and will always be remembered with general enthusiasm, not so much because it has withstood the test of time but because it has surpassed the test of time, proving that true effects craftsmanship doesn't have to be photorealistic to make for mesmerizingly exciting action sequences and leave a lasting impression.

My only regret when it comes to Harryhausen? I should have went to that masterclass of him in 2005... Oh well, at least I got some autographs on my copies of The 7th Voyage of Sinbad and The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms. I should go and have myself a Harryhausen monster movie marathon now.