Breaking Cat News by Georgia Dunn for March 27, 2022

The Woman must have it on DVD.

Be right back, going to spend the whole day watching The Lord of the Rings. So I guess I won’t be right back, exactly…

Sunday Funday

I remember reading it when I was in high school (mid 1960s). I got so into it that I didn’t even notice anything else.

That’s about how long I lasted trying to watch the movie before I wandered off and never came back.

Happy Sunday everybody!

My friends were into the books, but I didn’t like fantasy but preferred science fiction. However, I picked up enough by osmosis to fake a discussion.

I started reading Fellowship of the Ring when I was 7 (in 1978, having read the Hobbit a few months earlier). I got as far as Nazgul on the Brandywine before the nightmares made me stop for several years, so…yeah, good plan.

Notice the interplay between the Woman and Elvis. It’s so sweet.

I had to take a break in the middle of the movie and walk around the theater lobby for a bit. It was exhausting.

Why? When they have learned to read, give them The Hobbit. Then let them loose on the Lord of the Ring books. Reserve The Silmarillion as a punishment.

I remember the Rankin/Bass version of The Hobbit showing on TV when I was a kid, but I didn’t actually know what a Hobbit was until Jackson’s trilogy came out. And now, years later, I have The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings in my reading queue. Fantasy is my favorite literary genre, so feel like I owe it to Professor Tolkien for his influence. ❤

My hubs raised his kids on the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings; that’s how they learned to read – The boys’ needing to know what happened next taught them to read sooner. Pretty smart boys; one skipped a grade. They are still readers (and gamers).

I’ve never seen any of them.

Tolkien had the right idea about the scary bits. When his kids asked if dragons were real, he knew they were really asking if they were safe in their beds, and he’d just go “There are certainly no dragons in England today.”

Beautiful job of drawing Gandalf the Grey and the Shire, Georgia. ❤

I love how Puck’s extended speech bubble is mixed with the smoke of a hobbit-hole’s chimney :-P

How do you get the kids to stop after 20 minutes? I think they will demand more, and then you get to more scary stuff.

In case no one else has said it; read The Hobbit to them instead.

This is some sort of plan.

I’m not sure WHAT sort but it’s DEFINITELY SOME sort of plan!

How old do they have to be before they learn about Tom Bombadil?

That’s … not a bad idea.

What a lovely Elvis loaf.

This is awesome! Who does not like LOTR?

Awww… Elvis and The Woman…Movies are better with a friend!

Meanwhile, Back on the Nile

Queen Catshepsut the Golden: Queen Mags and I would like to welcome all of you to the annual Senior Bridge Tournament.

Queen Mags: I want a clean tournament. No ruff stuff, make contracts, not contact, and watch your slams.

Quen Cat: Well said, Mags. Now I would like to thank the Awards Committee, Adobe Style, Iron Glove, Sophititi, and Maat-Tilda for creating these lovely prizes. And for Iron Glove’s Grand Trophy. Let the games commence.

Sometime Later, During a Break

Thomios: Everyone, feel free to help yourself to some delicious snacks courtesy of the Royal Procurers. Ladies, any comments?

Alice-Ata: We’ll never tell!

Thomios: Right. Now everyone be mindful of the rules of having food at the table during play.

Elvis-Anum: Puckmosis, aren’t you participating?

Puckmosos: No, cribbage is more my style.

Elvis: Fair enough. Have you met my partner, Awile-Fixit?

Puck: Pleased to meet you. I’ve met your great-great-great-great grandson Wally.

Awile-Fixit: Yes, I’m really proud of the boy. And he helped build the prize shelves.

Puckmosis: Really? I didn’t think we needed new shelves.

Elvis: Actually, we do. Lupinium is doing his intermission routine.

Enter Lupinium

THWUMP

I was reading at 2, and Dad started me on SF&F at 7. He still feeds me good novels at times. Hubby buys me the books I want to keep my mind off my pain.

BCN Newspaper Anniversary Day: March 27

Today, March 27, is BCN’s Newspaper Anniversary Day, and this year we celebrate FIVE years since the first newspaper strip was published in 2017!!

(This is not to be confused with BCN Origination Day, which was celebrated on March 12—along with St. Catty’s Day, March is just packed with holidays!)

By chance, my celebration of this year’s anniversary is made more delightful by my receipt yesterday of “Behind the Scenes With Burt” which covers the transition of the strip from a web comic to a newspaper strip! Curling up with a good book has never been so much fun!

As per tradition, in celebration of BCN Newspaper Anniversary Day, I humbly suggest that those of us who do not have the good fortune to have BCN in our local papers should commemorate today by writing the local paper and, politely, urging them to carry the strip. Explain why you love it and why it would be a good fit for the paper. Even if you have written before, write again. Even if you don’t actually take the local paper (or any newspaper), still write to them. The number of newspapers that a strip appears in is critical to that strip’s success and survival. As BCN lovers, we can do no less than our very best to see the strip in our local papers!

I am one of the very few who haven’t seen or read any of them, Fantasy is just not interesting to me, let the kids read BCN, a bit of real life hahaha!!!

Awww, the Woman and Elvis holding “paws” in panel three.

Nice!

A perfect tribute to the beginning of the absolute best trilogy ever. Georgia, you have captured the magic of The Shire and Gandalf.

My first introduction to Gandalf was through the books; by the time the most recent movies came out, he was already a very old friend.

Ian McKellen deserved an Oscar for that performance, over 6 movies.

“Fly, you fools!”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJZZNHekEQw

Loved the movie trilogy and all the characters. Great story wonderful sound track also.

And then soul withering chaos will rain down.

I love this! Sending to my daughter for her little ones. LOTR has been my go-to when I need balance in this crazy world

Ok. Thats weird.

OT: loss of a loved one.

If the kids get scared, show them the How It Should Have Ended version.

The Woman has good taste in movies.

Has Georgia posted this idea before, it feels familiar? Either way, it is brilliant. Now what other franchises can I use it for when I have kids? Harry Potter, no, Percy Jackson, no, Doctor Who, no, Dragonlance, maybe, I’m out of ideas.

When the first movie came out, there was a fascinating discussion on a science fiction forum. Some intelligent, well read people loved the books and some intelligent well read people had found the books so boring they never got beyond the first chapter. A good lesson in “diff’rent strokes for diff’rent folks.”

Like an old friend they can’t quite place who then traumatically dies.

Also, I love Georgia’s whimsical art, but the more realistically drawn Gandalf with no pupils looks drunk, high or possessed, I’m not sure what :P

The Woman holds hands with Elvis, then they sip tea in unison, awww!

Maybe read the book to them?

Oooh, I love this! Is that a Bree pony pulling Gandalf’s cart? And just look at all the fireworks loaded in back! Outstanding job, Georgia!I’ve never seen the movies, but I reread the books every decade or so (I’m pushing 80 and first read Tolkien in 1967, as a lit class assignment. Wasn’t sure I’d like it, but I was blown away. I still thank that teacher in my mind for insisting we read “The Fellowship of the Ring” Of course it didn’t stop there; I went on and finished the series and later became a fan of his smaller works; “Farmer Giles of Ham”, “Leaf, by Niggle” “The Adventures of Tom Bombadil” and “Smith of Wootten Major” not to mention the classic “Roverandom” which I have as an audio book read by Sir Derek Jacobi. In this early story it’s delightful seeing a forecast of his trilogy characters being formed. I know the film may be fantastic, but there is something so homely about reading the books and getting lost in that very real world.

I like how Elvis & the Woman have synchronized their sipping.

That’s beautiful. Did it work?

Previous generations had to use this technique with “Old Yeller”

Or she could just show them the Rankin Bass Hobbit (which is, sadly, better than the Peter Jackson Hobbit). The awkward thing is that, while Rankin Bass also did Return of the King, Ralph Bakshi animated The Lord of the Rings, and that one is definitely not kid friendly.

So I guess the Elm Street movies are right out

Ah yes, I have a friend who would not permit her 8 year old to watch The Fellowship of the Ring, because of the Ring Wraiths and Orcs. At the same time another friend was allowing her whole family from teenagers to 2 year old to watch as the younger ones cheered on the Orcs.

To me the Peter Jackson movies do a lot of things well, (BUT they don’t tell the full story of the end). Also, and perhaps more importantly, in editing things like Bombadil and the barrow wight out, and changing the key dialogue in the Weathertop sequence, and other seemingly minor plot adjustments; Jackson has removed almost all of Frodo’s brave acts. By the time Moria is over Frodo, comes off as a whiny trudgebag that has to be dragged all over middle earth by the rest of the cast. 1-800-555-waaa… call the wambulance. I do like Sir Ian McKellen, and Christopher Lee very much, (Lee was actually friends w/JRR…) and Viggo Mortenson. And of course I want to have tea with Cate Blanchett in the Galadrial wardrobe.

My favorite bit about the birthday party was “filling in the corners”.

Definitely need to stop before the beginning of the journey.

LOTR! Great minds think alike. I have the last few days been thinking it is time to re-watch the extended version of LOTR, but then the figure skating world championships were on, and I had to watch all of that (U.S. did very well — congrats to all our skaters!). So today I am binging LOTR as well, watching it in unison with the family, cats, and, I hope, the robber mice.

I wish I had time to re-read the books again (for the ??th time — I’ve been reading them since the 1960’s), but I have so many books to read and I’m 71, running out of time. I’ve got almost 1,000 unread books on my Kindle, not to mention piles and piles of printed books (which I tend to prefer).

Con-cat-ulations.

By the time I was maybe 4, the Rankin/Bass version of The Hobbit was my faviourite movie. Admittedly, I hadn’t seen very many movies by that age, but I knew every note, every word, every moment in the soundtrack and sang along to it all. I had one of those learn-tp-read books with the audio (on record – not long after, the children’s books with cassettes became all the rage, and I had several of those too, but my old children’s copy of The Hobbit with the audio on vinyl is a treasured part of my collection). I also still have the soundtrack on vinyl. I don’t think I read the actual Hobbit until I was older – maybe 9 or 10 – but it’s always been like a friend to me. And yes, I disliked many of the edits in the LOTR movies, but on the whole, I found them enchanting and wonderful, and I watch them anytime I need to feel like maybe there is something in this messed up world worth fighting for : )

She should show the kids the animated Hobbit movie.

Yours is the only comic I follow daily, online. Enjoy it immensely! In addition to my own local BCN station (with 6 cat and 1 dog reporters), I have a possum that visits almost every night. I’ve named him Hamlet in homage to your strip. Anne in Houston

What, not showing them the animated The Hobbit first?I know I saw the animated The Lord of the Rings and The Return of the King, but I really remember The Hobbit a lot better as Rankin-Bass’s ‘77 special was just better in my opnion than Bakshi’s ‘78 movie and Rankin-Bass’s ‘80 special.

I remember seeing The Return of the King when it came out in 2003 (actually, I remember seeing all three live action films when they came out, but for this the first two don’t matter), there was a family who brought their kids who had to be about the Boy and Girl’s ages, maybe a year to three years older who sat in the row in front of me. I don’t remember if it was the Battle of Pelennor Fields scene or he final battle in front of the gates of Mordor, but I swear their little girl gave the biggest cheer of anyone in the theater. You’d have thought with how she was cheer that she just one the battle herself.

OT: Some of you saw that my dad was heading for stem cell tx. Update donor fell through so start again. Other update is life threw a huge reverse Uno card at me with a sizable neuroma (benign brain tumor). 0/10 do not reccomend neurosurgeries or 3.5cm tumors for any kind of fun. Life saving only and still sucks. All gone just have relearn balance/gait eating drinking a bit at 40. Temporary palsy is fun… Getting better long road but thinking of Georgia, kitties and orb helps lots. Hope you all are well. Georgia congrats on five of all our favorite years with you.

Beautiful! And The Hobbit actually was written as a children’s ongoing bedtime story…for Tolkien’s children. So the woman keeps a fine tradition indeed.

Happy Anniversary! You, the clowder, the fam, and the Orb do seem like old friends indeed. Thank you all for being yourselves.

For what it’s worth, although the orchestration does include flutes, the Shire theme is generally being played on a pennywhistle, a folk instrument—essentially a cruder version of the recorder.

Lovely artwork on the Shire =)

Sigh. I remember seeing Fellowship in the theatres <3

Also if you want to see scary, try telling Merry and Pippen there’s no second breakfast.

By the way…A Great Way to say ‘Thank you and Congrats’ to Georgia is to purchase one of her books or something from her site…Coffee Mug…anything… for those of us who don’t see the Broadcast Team in the newspapers, but only on the website…it’s a great ’’Thank you"…AND…the we get a Great Gift out of it too…..