Thundercat – HO!

One of the first stories my Internet spider brought me today was a funny little bit about a Florida woman, naturally, who was warned by police that her bikini was too revealing. So she took it off and continued on her way. Much to her surprise, they arrested her. That was funny, but not worthy of a whole article. Then there’s the story of how Samsung bugged all of its laptops with key logging software so that it could spy on its customers all over the world. While incredibly stupid, it’s pretty much all summed up right there. And now that they’ve been caught lawyers will get involved and lawyers are rarely funny. At least not intentionally. Some of the other findings were awfully dark or wildly technical. Not that I’m prone to avoid subjects like that it’s just that I’m in a good mood today and saw no reason to ruin it.

So I’m going to write about kitties and the cartoon characters in Thundercats. Which is a good thing. So far, there have been three iterations of Thundercats since its cartoon demise. The live action version reportedly had Pantero as a gay panther who pranced around Liono and ….., well, let’s not even think about it. Warner Brothers killed it before it got past pre-production. Then the CGI version met a similar fate when everyone involved realized it was horrible. Now there is, allegedly, a new cartoon being made which may, or may not, see the light of day.

Sorry. Never mind the Thundercats. Instead of writing about abject failure, let’s look for something successful and fun.

I happen to own three cats. All are rescues and each has a distinct personality. If you’re on Facebook, you can read their histories at your leisure. Suffice it to say that I’m familiar with felines. In fact one is trying to help me type this article.

That’s not really as useful as it might first seem. For all her prowess on the keyboard she can’t spell.

Thus, when I read the story of the kitty whose purr is louder than a vacuum cleaner, I knew I’d found my story for today. Raphael G. Satter has all the info that’s fit to print.

No need to bell this cat: A gray-and-white tabby by the name of Smokey has cat-apulted to fame with purring so loud it has been recorded at a potentially record-setting 73 decibels.

The British community college that measured the sound said it peaked at 16 times louder than that of the average cat. By some estimates, that is about as noisy as busy traffic, a hair dryer or a vacuum cleaner.

The 12-year-old, ordinary-size feline first came to national attention last month when her owner, Ruth Adams, decided to run a local competition for the most powerful purr. That led to a local radio show appearance, and from there, media coverage snowballed, with the tabloids full of headlines like “Thundercat” and “Rumpuss.”

“Sometimes she purrs so loudly it makes her cough and splutter,” Adams said on a website devoted to the cat, which was rescued from a shelter about three years ago. Smokey “even manages to purr while she eats.”

Hoping to see Smokey recognized as top cat, Adams asked Northampton College in central England to provide the equipment needed to submit a world-record application. Last week, the college dispatched a team with specialized sound equipment to record Smokey purring in the comfort of the family home in the village of Pitsford, about 70 miles northwest of London.

The recording has been submitted to Guinness World Records, the college said.

Seventy-three decibels is louder than ordinary conversation, which is generally around 60 to 70 dB. On a video posted on the website, the purring sounded like the cooing of an angry dove.

Guinness World Records spokeswoman Amarilis Whitty said she is eagerly awaiting the recording.

While Smokey may have gotten used to the attention, the Adams household seems to be getting a little sick of it all.

“Oh, God, you’re not the only caller,” said a man who answered the phone at the home Wednesday. He then hung up.

Cats purr by moving the muscles in their throats and diaphragm. But precisely why they do it is a matter of debate. Cats can purr when they are pleased — for example, when they are stroked — but they also purr under stress. Some scientists believe that purring has a social or even a healing function.

“She is LOUD VERY LOUD and keeps going,” Adams said on the website, adding: “She is one very happy pussycat and wants to tell the whole world how happy she is.

There are reports that the cat actually purrs at 92 decibels. That would be close to rock concert volume. Obviously those people are what we Yanks call “delusional.”

Anyway, I hope this was the purrfect start to your day.

Yeah, I went there. What of it?

Listen to Bill McCormick on WBIG AM 1280, every Thursday morning around 9:10!