Cats!

November 18, 2015 9:48 AM

Stray cats walk across stage at G20 summit in Turkey
posted by Stewriffic (47 comments total)

Cuz they got cat class and they got cat 5-point plan to defeat ISIS while simultaneously combatting global warming?
posted by Captain l'escalier at 9:53 AM on November 18, 2015 [29 favorites]

The Guardian needs better headline writers. It should say, "Stray cats strut across stage at G20 summit."
posted by Area Man at 9:56 AM on November 18, 2015 [49 favorites]

Heroes!

And on the topic of the G20, has anyone come up with a good explanation for the behavior of this mercurial fellow?
posted by Atom Eyes at 9:59 AM on November 18, 2015 [11 favorites]

This is a really disrespectful way to talk about the appearance of the leaders of the shadowy international organization that rules all the world's governments through mind contro--look, kitties!
posted by Sequence at 10:02 AM on November 18, 2015 [6 favorites]

Best of the web
posted by growabrain at 10:03 AM on November 18, 2015 [1 favorite]

Atom eyes, the guy was trying to get close to the corner where these 2 fellas were talking without anybody notices
posted by growabrain at 10:08 AM on November 18, 2015 [3 favorites]

And on the topic of the G20, has anyone come up with a good explanation for the behavior of this mercurial fellow?

Someone on reddit suggested that he was possibly taking this picture with a camera hidden in his bag.
posted by Ennis Tennyone at 10:09 AM on November 18, 2015 [3 favorites]

Area Man criticizes headline, provides suggested improvement, announces plans to chill
posted by aydeejones at 10:09 AM on November 18, 2015 [1 favorite]

The Stray Cat

That does not keep me from having a terrible need of--shall I say the word--catnip.
Then I go out at night to chase the mice. Vincent Van Meow in a letter to his brother

The summit does not exist
except where one black-haired tortie slips
in like a cat wedged into a scanner, no idea how or why,
The stage is silent. The cameras roll with twenty flags.
Oh stray stray cat! Can
Has cheezburger I?

It frolics. They are all alive.
Even a tabby bulges in its orange fur
to freeze mice, like a god, with its eye.
The old gray tom licks its paw.
Oh stray stray cat! Can
Has cheezburger I?
posted by nzero at 10:14 AM on November 18, 2015 [5 favorites]

So that's what Brian Setzer's up to these days. Weird venue for a gig, but... ---What? No, I didn't click the link, why?
posted by entropicamericana at 10:15 AM on November 18, 2015 [3 favorites]

Mercurial man was almost certainly getting a pic. He looks so obviously suspicious that he was not immediately disappeared for questioning because a trained assassin or spy wouldn't act like Mr. Bean on Adderall. Of course this just opens the door for awkward assassins and spies
posted by aydeejones at 10:16 AM on November 18, 2015 [8 favorites]

The cats were clearly planting mics for the Global Meowspiracy!
posted by GenjiandProust at 10:19 AM on November 18, 2015

So that's what Brian Setzer's up to these days.

I think he's a sales engineer for Bigsby tremolos now
posted by thelonius at 10:21 AM on November 18, 2015 [2 favorites]

So that's what Brian Setzer's up to these days. Weird venue for a gig, but... ---

Oddly enough, he lives in Minneapolis.
posted by Area Man at 10:21 AM on November 18, 2015

Full video of the mercurial man with soundtrack from RT itself.

I could not see a camera in his bag.
posted by FJT at 10:27 AM on November 18, 2015 [5 favorites]

Ok, I got more out of this thread than I had anticipated. I wish Halloween wasn't over, I'd be Mercurial Mr. Bean Man and just float around all the other trick-or-treaters oddly.
posted by sidereal at 10:30 AM on November 18, 2015 [4 favorites]

Really, I would like to see something like this, but with one of the G20 leaders. Preferably David Cameron.
posted by Johnny Assay at 10:31 AM on November 18, 2015 [1 favorite]

These journalists have done irreparable harm to our national security. Now the terrorists know they can simply shape-shift into cat form and get through our checkpoints. There simply aren't enough laser pointers to keep them all distracted.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 10:31 AM on November 18, 2015 [5 favorites]

Laser pointers would be the simple, brilliant move our almost-beaten hero protagonist makes in the shape-shifting terrorist cat movie. When all seems lost, our hero sees a $2.99 laser pointer just barely out of reach...
posted by sidereal at 10:37 AM on November 18, 2015 [3 favorites]

Are we sure they weren't checking for bugs?
posted by maryr at 10:38 AM on November 18, 2015 [5 favorites]

Our cat-sweeping consultants will be advising the conference on how to get everyone going in the same direction.
posted by hank at 10:39 AM on November 18, 2015 [2 favorites]

I eagerly await G20 podiums being available for purchase in Neko Atsume.

Look, I'm just saying if I can't buy a Christmas tree with a cat in it for 50 gold fish by the end of December I will have lost all faith in Japan.
posted by maryr at 10:40 AM on November 18, 2015 [6 favorites]

Atom eyes, the guy was trying to get close to the corner where these 2 fellas were talking without anybody notices

It looks like the guy on the left is trying to explain the hand-slap game to the guy on the right. If so, I would regard that as a misplaced confidence in foreign policy by the guy on the left.
posted by biffa at 10:48 AM on November 18, 2015 [3 favorites]

My cats would have been climbing up those flags so fast.
posted by Rock Steady at 11:04 AM on November 18, 2015

isn't that bad luck?
posted by Reasonably Everything Happens at 11:09 AM on November 18, 2015

Some intern who doesn't really get metaphors got told that the G20 was like herding cats, and he figured he better practice.
posted by Etrigan at 11:18 AM on November 18, 2015 [7 favorites]

Great security, eh? Good thing those aren't terrorist cats.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 11:23 AM on November 18, 2015

All cats are terrorist cats.
posted by el io at 11:36 AM on November 18, 2015 [14 favorites]

Looks like a momcat and her two half-grown kittens. They look pretty sleek, so I am guessing they are resident pest control who took a stroll into the public areas and found no mice.
posted by tavella at 11:39 AM on November 18, 2015 [2 favorites]

I could not see a camera in his bag.

Yeah, also that photo is clearly the exact angle of the RT camera. It's just cropped and blown up.

I think really he just noticed the camera started panning to him and wasn't exactly sure what to do. Possibly thinking he might of also been blocking a shot. Being a human is awkward.
posted by mayonnaises at 11:45 AM on November 18, 2015 [1 favorite]

Are we positive those are real cats? And not cunningly made robot cats there to eavesdrop on secret policy negotiations, or whatever the hell it is they do at these things?
posted by Naberius at 12:03 PM on November 18, 2015 [1 favorite]

I could not see a camera in his bag.

That's because it's hidden in the spine of the ring binder that is sticking out of the back of his bag. He's activating it using his phone.
posted by Kabanos at 12:12 PM on November 18, 2015

Also, I think he might be a cat.
posted by Kabanos at 12:13 PM on November 18, 2015 [5 favorites]

It's Turkey. Have you ever seen street photos of Turkey? I am 100% sure those are real cats.
posted by maryr at 12:29 PM on November 18, 2015 [10 favorites]

Also, I think he might be a cat.

He does exhibit strangely cat-like behavior
posted by sidereal at 12:34 PM on November 18, 2015

Indeed, a popular saying notes “If you kill a cat, you need to build a mosque to be forgiven by God.” As a result, wandering the streets of Istanbul you will see many small containers by the sides of buildings, and discreet food rations doled out by its inhabitants. While the cats are not adopted formally, they are taken care of by no one and everyone, a giant community network of cat caring.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 12:40 PM on November 18, 2015 [24 favorites]

RULES OF CAT, CONT'D
34.If there is a place Cat wants to go, Cat goes to place.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:45 PM on November 18, 2015 [7 favorites]

That Rule of Cat is much better than the correspondingly-numbered Rule of Internet.

I'm sure there are downsides to living in Istanbul (not Constantinople), but being in a land where cats are cherished by all isn't one of them. (Of course, for someone who's allergic, it could end up being hell.)
posted by JHarris at 1:22 PM on November 18, 2015 [1 favorite]

That Rule of Cat is much better than the correspondingly-numbered Rule of Internet.

Rule 34^2: If there is a place Cat wants to go, there is porn of it.
posted by Etrigan at 1:25 PM on November 18, 2015 [5 favorites]

That Mercurial Man video is the funniest thing I've ever seen. I think because he looks exactly like Gary from Veep, and this could be a scene straight out of Veep.
posted by bleep at 1:35 PM on November 18, 2015 [5 favorites]

How much past the boundaries of human vision does a cat's vision extend? I ask out of technical ignorance. Think about building lasers that were invisible to human eyes, so there would be no floating red dots to trigger a security response, yet would still be completely visible to cats. Put a dot on Putin's forehead and dance it around frantically. Put another dot on Obama's lap, then shut it off, so it looks like a second cat just jumped up for a nice petting. Headlines read: "Putin hated by catdom, Obama is the new leader of Felines For Peace (FFP)." For good measure, put a third dot on Bibi's crotch and have it perform the tarantella. Good times guaranteed for all!
posted by Purposeful Grimace at 1:36 PM on November 18, 2015 [1 favorite]

That Mercurial Man video is the funniest thing I've ever seen. I think because he looks exactly like Gary from Veep, and this could be a scene straight out of Veep.

THIS. Someone really needs to tweet that gif to Tony Hale and Armando Iannucci, assuming it hasn't happened already. Too much Veep is a dangerous thing.
posted by longdaysjourney at 3:07 PM on November 18, 2015 [2 favorites]

Good job, kitties. Our plan is working.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 3:09 PM on November 18, 2015 [4 favorites]

I also notice this stage is cucumber free.
posted by namespan at 3:12 PM on November 18, 2015 [12 favorites]

The cucumbers only serve to make us more secretly vengeful.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 5:08 PM on November 18, 2015 [9 favorites]

maryr: It's Turkey. Have you ever seen street photos of Turkey? I am 100% sure those are real cats.

Agreed. Turkey is basically Ulthar. Even the ruins of Ephesus had a substantial feline population the one time I was there.
posted by baf at 7:28 PM on November 18, 2015 [2 favorites]

Nthing that Turkey is awash in street cats, well-treated by everyone as far as I could see. I'm glad they were represented at the summit.
posted by LobsterMitten at 10:31 PM on November 18, 2015 [3 favorites]