Look into its eye....
January 12, 2006 1:31 PM Subscribe
A mesmerizing photo of a vicitim of Holoprosencephaly . The kitten Cy didn't survive but for a few days.
AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!
posted by BobFrapples at 1:39 PM on January 12, 2006
posted by BobFrapples at 1:39 PM on January 12, 2006
This post needs a spoiler alert for the easily traumatized! I saw that yesterday and I can't get over seeing that poor little kitten and thinking about his sad, short life.
posted by ereshkigal45 at 1:39 PM on January 12, 2006
posted by ereshkigal45 at 1:39 PM on January 12, 2006
posted by Armitage Shanks at 1:41 PM on January 12, 2006
. (
posted by soiled cowboy at 1:42 PM on January 12, 2006 [1 favorite]
posted by soiled cowboy at 1:42 PM on January 12, 2006 [1 favorite]
As I told someone earlier this week when I first saw this photo, "At first you think he's cute, but Cy will haunt your dreams."
posted by almostcool at 1:46 PM on January 12, 2006
posted by almostcool at 1:46 PM on January 12, 2006
Following up on my previous statement, it looks like something that might have come out of Chris Cunningham's mind. In fact, I'm sure that we'll see Cy again, running around and terrorizing someone in a future Squarepusher or Aphex Twin video.
posted by almostcool at 1:56 PM on January 12, 2006
posted by almostcool at 1:56 PM on January 12, 2006
I was gonna say yesterday that this type of news definitely belongs on MF, but I couldn't because the post was deleted. Thanks for reposting.
Creepy stuff. More on cyclopia.
posted by mrgrimm at 1:58 PM on January 12, 2006
Creepy stuff. More on cyclopia.
posted by mrgrimm at 1:58 PM on January 12, 2006
It hurts to look at that picture. It really does.
posted by brundlefly at 1:58 PM on January 12, 2006
posted by brundlefly at 1:58 PM on January 12, 2006
"I was gonna say yesterday that this type of news definitely belongs on MF, but I couldn't because the post was deleted."
It also kept lonbaugh's joke hanging with no punch line, which I will now complete:
"No nose? How does it smell?"
Terrible!
posted by mr_crash_davis at 2:01 PM on January 12, 2006
It also kept lonbaugh's joke hanging with no punch line, which I will now complete:
"No nose? How does it smell?"
Terrible!
posted by mr_crash_davis at 2:01 PM on January 12, 2006
Surely it's photoshopped! Aren't kittens eye(s) closed when they are born?
posted by milkwood at 2:06 PM on January 12, 2006
posted by milkwood at 2:06 PM on January 12, 2006
Cats? Ha! You wanna see some real scary shit, look up holoprosencephaly in humans.
One day, hungry for a way to procrastinate I went to Wikipedia's list of cephalic disorders and put them through Google Image search.
Worst. Idea. Ever.
posted by Anonymous at 2:09 PM on January 12, 2006
One day, hungry for a way to procrastinate I went to Wikipedia's list of cephalic disorders and put them through Google Image search.
Worst. Idea. Ever.
posted by Anonymous at 2:09 PM on January 12, 2006
Pshaaa, like bilateral symmetry total lack of.
posted by Smedleyman at 2:13 PM on January 12, 2006
posted by Smedleyman at 2:13 PM on January 12, 2006
Surely it's photoshopped! Aren't kittens eye(s) closed when they are born?
Snopes says "Eyelids are also generally absent in such births, which explains why the eye of the one-day-old kitten pictured above is open even though cats are usually born with their eyes shut and remain in that condition for the first week or two of their lives."
posted by anastasiav at 2:32 PM on January 12, 2006
Snopes says "Eyelids are also generally absent in such births, which explains why the eye of the one-day-old kitten pictured above is open even though cats are usually born with their eyes shut and remain in that condition for the first week or two of their lives."
posted by anastasiav at 2:32 PM on January 12, 2006
At first you think he's cute,
are you people on crack? I don't understand this conception of "cute" (like this (seemingly) disembodied head - comments seem to think it's adorable. It just looks sad and freaky to me.
posted by mdn at 2:52 PM on January 12, 2006
are you people on crack? I don't understand this conception of "cute" (like this (seemingly) disembodied head - comments seem to think it's adorable. It just looks sad and freaky to me.
posted by mdn at 2:52 PM on January 12, 2006
Poor thing.
Am I a sicko for thinking it could have been a great pet for Leela?
Yeah, probably.
posted by John Smallberries at 2:54 PM on January 12, 2006
Am I a sicko for thinking it could have been a great pet for Leela?
Yeah, probably.
posted by John Smallberries at 2:54 PM on January 12, 2006
This has already been deleted once. This one is moderately better having a real link.
posted by Ynoxas at 3:03 PM on January 12, 2006
posted by Ynoxas at 3:03 PM on January 12, 2006
Have any human cyclopoids survived into childhood/adultood?
posted by lalochezia at 3:09 PM on January 12, 2006
posted by lalochezia at 3:09 PM on January 12, 2006
Big eye(s) in proportion to head size = "awwwww", even when it's a lethal anomaly. Sometimes it all goes wrong and the poor creatures get born instead an abortion being triggered during one of the QA checks pregnant bodies do.
posted by reflecked at 3:10 PM on January 12, 2006
posted by reflecked at 3:10 PM on January 12, 2006
soiled cowboy writes ". ("
I spat food out of my mouth laughing at this.
posted by chiababe at 3:39 PM on January 12, 2006
I spat food out of my mouth laughing at this.
posted by chiababe at 3:39 PM on January 12, 2006
I so wish that I had never taken acid so that I was not now fantasizing about how catastrophically awful it would be to see that picture while tripping. Get me out of this wormhole!
posted by digaman at 4:00 PM on January 12, 2006
posted by digaman at 4:00 PM on January 12, 2006
One day, hungry for a way to procrastinate I went to Wikipedia's list of cephalic disorders and put them through Google Image search.
Worst. Idea. Ever.
So yeah, nobody else do this. I was having a good day until I thought "how bad could it be, really?"
Really.
posted by puke & cry at 4:34 PM on January 12, 2006 [1 favorite]
Worst. Idea. Ever.
So yeah, nobody else do this. I was having a good day until I thought "how bad could it be, really?"
Really.
posted by puke & cry at 4:34 PM on January 12, 2006 [1 favorite]
Poor kitten.
Why are we all trading his picture again? To me, it's just one small step above goatse. (I rate it at .8 goatse, to be precise.)
posted by JHarris at 4:38 PM on January 12, 2006
Why are we all trading his picture again? To me, it's just one small step above goatse. (I rate it at .8 goatse, to be precise.)
posted by JHarris at 4:38 PM on January 12, 2006
this pic has been going around for a while, and it makes me sad everytime I see it.
posted by mcsweetie at 4:45 PM on January 12, 2006
posted by mcsweetie at 4:45 PM on January 12, 2006
To me, it's just one small step above goatse.
But the kitten isn't holding her eye open with her paws now is she.
posted by iamck at 4:48 PM on January 12, 2006
But the kitten isn't holding her eye open with her paws now is she.
posted by iamck at 4:48 PM on January 12, 2006
hmm, nope. Cyclops kitten != gaping anus. I'd give it a .348
posted by puke & cry at 5:02 PM on January 12, 2006 [1 favorite]
posted by puke & cry at 5:02 PM on January 12, 2006 [1 favorite]
Urgh. Poor kitty.
One day, hungry for a way to procrastinate I went to Wikipedia's list of cephalic disorders and put them through Google Image search.
Worst. Idea. Ever.
Urgh!!!
posted by slf at 5:14 PM on January 12, 2006
One day, hungry for a way to procrastinate I went to Wikipedia's list of cephalic disorders and put them through Google Image search.
Worst. Idea. Ever.
Urgh!!!
posted by slf at 5:14 PM on January 12, 2006
Have any human cyclopoids survived into childhood/adultood?
Maybe.
posted by maudlin at 5:22 PM on January 12, 2006
Maybe.
posted by maudlin at 5:22 PM on January 12, 2006
So yeah, nobody else do this. I was having a good day until I thought "how bad could it be, really?"
IS THAT A CHALLENGE!?
posted by Citizen Premier at 6:03 PM on January 12, 2006
IS THAT A CHALLENGE!?
posted by Citizen Premier at 6:03 PM on January 12, 2006
I know it's rude to laugh at other people's mutations but... (warning, nsfw, nsf some people, and nsf my reputation).
posted by Citizen Premier at 6:06 PM on January 12, 2006
posted by Citizen Premier at 6:06 PM on January 12, 2006
painquale, I came into this thread to post the same link. I'll never look at Tom Cruise the same way again.
posted by MrMoonPie at 6:24 PM on January 12, 2006
posted by MrMoonPie at 6:24 PM on January 12, 2006
Over at Boing Boing they wrote about the response to posting the picture, many (100) people emailed in to say in effect that it was a hoax because kittens are not born with their eyes open. All I could think is, if you can accept that a kitten can be born with one eye how big of a step is it to accept that in such an abnormal case the eye might be open?
incidentally it sounds as if the AP reporter obtained the original digital memory card and all indications are that the sequential photos in their original format could not be tampered with with out showing definitive evidence of such.. so yeah it's real.
posted by edgeways at 7:58 PM on January 12, 2006
incidentally it sounds as if the AP reporter obtained the original digital memory card and all indications are that the sequential photos in their original format could not be tampered with with out showing definitive evidence of such.. so yeah it's real.
posted by edgeways at 7:58 PM on January 12, 2006
IS THAT A CHALLENGE!?
Only to your sanity. Only to your sanity.
posted by Anonymous at 9:00 PM on January 12, 2006
Only to your sanity. Only to your sanity.
posted by Anonymous at 9:00 PM on January 12, 2006
Great, and I was just about to go sleep. Now I'm going to have terrible nightmares about this poor thing dragging itself into my room and scratching at my bed posts, mewing...
posted by kosher_jenny at 12:05 AM on January 13, 2006
posted by kosher_jenny at 12:05 AM on January 13, 2006
C'mon, goatse? What's wrong with you people, that picture is freaking adorable. It looks like something from the brain of ridiculous Japanese super-cuteness. Even the name, Cy, just sounds like a Pokemon character.
And let's be serious, those of you sensitive over-empathizers who think you can imagine the subjective state of a one day old mutant kitten, if you support abortion (as I do) you have largely learned to stop your emotions over the systematic pain of human fetuses, at a developmental stage not too different from this kitten, and which recoil and cry as they are being aborted. Recent research (which hasn't gone undisputed) implies that this is just a reflex, but this by no means was always obvious, and later term abortions indisputably feel pain (and God help me if any of you cry-babies eat meat too!)
Choke, choke on your contradictions!
posted by dgaicun at 12:35 AM on January 13, 2006
And let's be serious, those of you sensitive over-empathizers who think you can imagine the subjective state of a one day old mutant kitten, if you support abortion (as I do) you have largely learned to stop your emotions over the systematic pain of human fetuses, at a developmental stage not too different from this kitten, and which recoil and cry as they are being aborted. Recent research (which hasn't gone undisputed) implies that this is just a reflex, but this by no means was always obvious, and later term abortions indisputably feel pain (and God help me if any of you cry-babies eat meat too!)
Choke, choke on your contradictions!
posted by dgaicun at 12:35 AM on January 13, 2006
Same for lab animal testing - giving rats cancer and every other horrible genetic and environmental ailment. Adult animals, dying millions a day, in every possible way, for our convenience. I guess what I'm getting at is that any empathy and squeamishness here seem way out of proportion to the situation and larger realities*. There is very little reason to feel virtually any sadness at this picture or take any offense - its just a visual oddity. What should offend people is substandard links which have been circulating on the Internet for considerable time.
* One might say the same about goatse! Sure, but c'mon this really is cute. Its not a painfully gaping hairy ass, it looks like some new wonderful Furby, come to life by the blue fairy.
posted by dgaicun at 12:55 AM on January 13, 2006
* One might say the same about goatse! Sure, but c'mon this really is cute. Its not a painfully gaping hairy ass, it looks like some new wonderful Furby, come to life by the blue fairy.
posted by dgaicun at 12:55 AM on January 13, 2006
Over at the Dumbrella boards, there's been a bit of (mostly) good-natured bickering arising from Overcompensating author/artist Jeff Rowland's contention that the picture was Photoshopped.
posted by alumshubby at 3:24 AM on January 13, 2006
posted by alumshubby at 3:24 AM on January 13, 2006
Big eye(s) in proportion to head size = "awwwww", even when it's a lethal anomaly.
What's wrong with you people, that picture is freaking adorable...And let's be serious, those of you sensitive over-empathizers
This is actually interesting to me because I don't think I'm necessarily reacting rationally - my visceral response is just "oh god." It just does not look cute. I think for me cute has to include some kind of wholeness or personality - I think two eyes gives the sense that the creature's looking at you, interacting somehow. One eye, esp with no visible pupil, doesn't have that effect. Playfulness, or sometimes what can be read as sort of thoughtful melancholia (puppy dog eyes) are part of cute. This animal basically looks dead to me (except maybe its upper shoulder area, how it positioned that leg), and dead = not cute.
posted by mdn at 8:51 AM on January 13, 2006
What's wrong with you people, that picture is freaking adorable...And let's be serious, those of you sensitive over-empathizers
This is actually interesting to me because I don't think I'm necessarily reacting rationally - my visceral response is just "oh god." It just does not look cute. I think for me cute has to include some kind of wholeness or personality - I think two eyes gives the sense that the creature's looking at you, interacting somehow. One eye, esp with no visible pupil, doesn't have that effect. Playfulness, or sometimes what can be read as sort of thoughtful melancholia (puppy dog eyes) are part of cute. This animal basically looks dead to me (except maybe its upper shoulder area, how it positioned that leg), and dead = not cute.
posted by mdn at 8:51 AM on January 13, 2006
Getting back to the Tom Cruise theory, are we sure he was born with only three front teeth? Maybe he suffered some sort of childhood accident that knocked one or more out? I only ask because this page:
http://tulsatvmemories.com/outside1.html
mentions him popping out an artificial front tooth.
posted by Oriole Adams at 1:54 PM on January 13, 2006
http://tulsatvmemories.com/outside1.html
mentions him popping out an artificial front tooth.
posted by Oriole Adams at 1:54 PM on January 13, 2006
Aaaw. Look at the cute hydrocephalic kitty....
/Sam And Max
posted by Jon Mitchell at 1:06 AM on January 14, 2006
/Sam And Max
posted by Jon Mitchell at 1:06 AM on January 14, 2006
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Ahh, but you thought about it, didn't you?
posted by NationalKato at 1:37 PM on January 12, 2006