Fritz, the Cat

That’s it! I’m going to have to go on a diet. I hit 181 pounds this morning. That’s six pounds up from the recent basement!

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I never was much of one for reading horoscopes; that is, until Robin, that is. I started to pay attention to them, then, and have ever since. At a minimum, they’re harmless fun. And, I might learn something useful from them as well.

Take today’s horoscope for instance:

“You need to start understanding that expressing yourself is necessary to get you to the next level of happiness. In other words, for a healthier life, you need to share your feelings -- no matter what they are. So today, whenever you feel something, express it in the most original and creative way you can. Singing, dancing, cooking or even just goofing around are all great ways to display how you're feeling. If you keep your emotions inside or mask them, you'll be wasting your time.”

I’m not saying there’s going to be any dancing going on, today, but you never know…..

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Ben and I stayed up late last night watching movies. And, I slept very well afterward.

One of those family traditions that I’ve always enjoyed with the kids was watching movies. When we go to Florida on vacation, we still try to take in at least one movie in the theater. I remember watching movies like Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights in the University Square Mall with my daughter (I think Ben Begged off that one) and treasure those moments. And, we would rent movies and watch one or two at home, which is why I’m now looking forward to a Shrek Marathon.

So, watching movies at home last night with Ben was a continuation of that tradition. That’s not to say that Ben and I don’t go out occasionally to see something in the theater; we do. But just sitting around the house last night was nice.

We watched 300, a movie that I’d been wanting to see for some time about King Leonidas and the Spartan stand at Thermopylae.

We also watched Aqua Teen Hunger Force. It was somewhat interesting, but since I was up long past my normal bedtime, I fell asleep often during the movie. I guess you would have to be a fan to understand the movie.

I did find out reading the link for the movie that some characters from the movie, the Mooninites, were the subject of the guerilla marketing campaign featuring circuit boards with flashing LED lights that the Boston Police Department went nuts over in January of this year, reportedly spending over $1 Million dollars investigating the “bomb threat.” Boston was the only city of the ten major cities involved in the marketing campaign that overreacted.

See, I do learn things from my kids.

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As I said, I slept well. I was somewhat late taking my 10:00PM PC so I took only one, figuring I’d be taking another at 2:00AM. But somehow, I slept through the alarm, missing that dose. I woke up without ill effect at 5:30 to commune with Mother Nature and caught up with my dosing schedule. Then I fell back asleep and slept well until almost 10:00.

It’s looking like a pretty good day, people!!

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Nancy stopped by yesterday for a while. We talked about a variety of things and she taught me how to play Go Fish.

I can see I’m gonna have to run up North some weekend. I’ve been away for way too long. And BTW, Nancy, it was the North Country Inn we were trying to think of. See, all the stuff you can find on the Internet!!

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As the “Blogger” here, I get notification when someone responds with a comment to one of my previous posts. I believe that if you were to sign up for an account with blogspot or with Gmail (something I highly recommend) that you would be able to get notifications of new posts, and possibly be notified of new comments too.

So, when I got up at 5:30AM, I checked my email and found that there was a response to my post “Comment Replies” from my sister, Lorie, concerning Fritz, the cute kitten/ cat that my “blushing bride” of nineteen brought to our marriage, he was on my mind as I fell asleep.

Now, “Fritz,” as the name for a cat, isn’t all that unusual. But, in this case, the timing is suspect.

You see, in the 60’s there was an underground comic book character called Fritz, the Cat. And, in 1972, an animated film was produced about that character.

What was so unusual about this film is quite simple:

“…the film was the first animated feature film to receive an X rating in the United States. It focuses on Fritz (voiced by Skip Hinnant), an anthropomorphic feline in the mid-1960s who seduces many female animals in New York City while staying one step ahead of the law. The film is a satire focusing on American college life of the era, race relations, the free love movement, and left- and right-wing politics. Fritz the Cat was the first independent animated film to gross more than $100 million at the box office.”

I’d never seen a VHS copy of the film, but when the DVD became available in 2001, I scarfed it up immediately!!

Now, I was raised in a religion where everything was a sin, including frequenting the theater. You could watch a movie on TV, but you couldn’t see it in the theater without being in jeopardy of going to Hell. And Heaven help you if you got caught going to the movies.

In 1972, I was going to that religion’s major College near Chicago. There were folks who would go down to the local theaters just to see if they could spot the college kids attending the local movies. They’d then squeal to the Dean about all “the sinnin’ goin’ on in town.”

However, it was nothing to go to the theaters in Chicago and see the college’s administrative people, even the Dean himself, standing in line outside the big city theaters.

In ’72, I believe I was spending more time in the Dean’s office than I was in class.

Now, Kris’ friend, Michelle, swore that the movie had nothing to do with the naming of the cute little kitten that group of teenaged girls gave to their friend, Kris, in late ’72 or early ’73.

Yeah, RIGHT!

So Fritz, that cute little bundle of fur that eventually grew up into the cat with so much character, became much more than a cat to me. He became an icon for that entire period in my life. It still surprises me the strong emotions that the mention of that cat evokes when I think about him.

Rest in Peace, Fritz. We still love you!