Hepcat

Hey! I guess it must be a Canadian variant! Other issues that can be found on the net are just 25 cents. So is my Canadian issue a priceless variant therefore?

I don't care what anybody says, I think the Shari Lewis of my formative years was hot!

Mmmmmmm, nice ones! (thumbs u

The WOMAN tells me that Cowboy's ears perked up and started twitching and he started to look around when Styx's song by the Tragically Hip was played on the radio yesterday. A new kitten may be on the horizon for us in mid-May:

We might be getting a new kitten in a few weeks though to shake old Ace and Cowboy out of their lethargy. Here though are scans of my three Black Cat Giants: Northland copy And here are scans of a few other Harvey Giants: Pacific Coast copy Pacific Coast copy

An old farmer's advice: “Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong.” “Keep skunks and bankers at a distance.” “Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.” “A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.” “Words that soak into your ears are whispered…....not yelled.” “Meanness don't just happen overnight.” “Forgive your enemies; it messes up their heads.” “Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.” “It don't take a very big person to carry a grudge.” “You cannot unsay a cruel word.” “Every path has a few puddles.” “When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.” “The best sermons are lived, not preached.” “Most of the stuff people worry about, ain't never gonna happen anyway.” “Don't judge folks by their relatives. “Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.” “Live a good and honorable life, then when you get older and think back, you'll enjoy it a second time.” “Don't interfere with somethin' that ain't bothering you none.” “Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.” “If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin'.” “Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got. “The biggest troublemaker you'll probably ever have to deal with, watches you from the mirror every mornin'.” “Always drink upstream from the herd.” “Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment.” “Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin' it back in.” “If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin' somebody else's dog around.” “Live simply, love generously, care deeply, Speak kindly, and leave the rest to God.” “Don't pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.”

Don't worry. I'll be back posting more actively in a few weeks. I just have a bunch of work related issues to resolve right now and something had to give. How soon is meow? Late May. In the meantime here are some scans of some comics from my collection you may like: 1 An early Charles Atlas ad is on the back cover: 2 Issues #2 and #3 featured a subscription ad on the back cover: 3 4 Mmmmmm, Baby Ruth! How I admired the Halloween ads Curtis ran for Baby Ruth and Butterfinger candy bars in Life and Post magazines as a kid! Neither were sold in Canaada at the time. 5 9 13 15

Pi goes really well with pink fingernails! She probably ended up then in the right home after all. (thumbs u

Oh?! How many threads in Comics General have more collectible-oriented content than this one? Two? Three maybe?

Don't worry. I'll be back posting more actively in a few weeks. I just have a bunch of work related issues to resolve right now and something had to give.

What on earth? Had I wanted this to be in Journals that's where I would have posted it in the first place. This thread though was never intended to be a journal. I want other people to participate and comment on whatever I post in it!

Here's Billy Bunny with an Easter basket for little Phoebe: Socializing with her friend Lilly after dinner: And here clockwise from the bottom are Ace, Styx, Hop, Hip, Deuce and Cowboy: Counterclockwise now from the bottom here are Ace, Styx, Hip, Hop, Deuce and Cowboy: Here's Phoebe later in the evening all tuckered out after the party. Too many deviled eggs perhaps?

Any more developments with the new kitten? The WOMAN says that it's clear that the kitten wants to be accepted by you and become a part of your household.

Oh wow! That little lion looks to be about six weeks old.

The ghosts of St. Patrick's Day past - first Phoebe: Phoebe with Ace and friends: Phoebe was beautiful but tragically we lost her to a car in 2008. Now here's Styx:

Cowboy in particular seems to be looking for the other two and asking for their whereabouts with plaintiff meows. This has been particularly hard on The WOMAN since she's still dwelling on the deaths of Styx and Deuce anyway and wondering whether there was anything more we could have done. She knows rationally that we did everything we could but she can't shake the feelings of guilt. As a result she breaks down crying every few days which chokes me up as well when I'm around since it leads to discussing and thus revisiting everything we did for the two of them all of which of course proved in vain. But since I'm busy at the office with my usual concerns, I've been able to put the events behind me much better than has she.

So Ace and Cowboy have modified their behaviour to fill the ecological/household niche vacated by their dearly departed comrades: Ace would never allow Cowboy to lie touching him previously. Two months ago he would have just said "!" and stalked off indignantly. Moreover Ace seldom lay on the futon or used the beanbag wicker chair in the living room. That territory was reserved for Styx or the other two. Nor did Ace previously show any interest in the computer. Styx had been the computer nerd. Things it seems have changed now....

Oh I'll still be checking in for things like Krypto covers of course!

Personal business demands will be taking up most of my time in the next little while. Therefore if I'm not around much if at all over the next few months, that won't be due to any health issues.

The WOMAN tells me that the sparkie on the coffee table went on again by itself yesterday. She thinks it was Styx telling her that Deuce was there with him.

Sadly it was inevitable. The diagnosis of lymphoma two weeks ago on Thursday revealed why Deuce wasn't bouncing fully back to health even though we'd treated and he'd battled through the pancreatitis, jaundice(liver failure) and upper respiratory tract infection since late November. The cancer was the underlying condition behind all of the others. I was down to hoping that we could give him one last good weekend on this earth but even that proved to be beyond our power as digestive complications appeared. The WOMAN ministered to him heroically to the end even sleeping downstairs so that she could check up on him two or three times during the night but by late Saturday I knew that it was time to end his suffering. So full of life, he'd been the most athletic of all the cats and was always brimming with energy and good cheer.

We laid another beloved friend to rest this afternoon. R.I.P. Deuce 2006(?) - 2 February 2015 While the happy memories will remain, at this moment there's only the grief and the tears.

The WOMAN sent me this email of her experience on Sunday: The sparkies are spiked rubber balls from a vending machine many of which require being bounced rather briskly for them to start flashing for maybe half a minute. Styx was the cat most fascinated by the sparkies. He would knock one down from the coffee table himself to get it to flash, although not always successfully since a lot of these require a more vigorous impact. Also interesting is the detail that Styx was the one who would sit with The WOMAN and monitor her computer activities, and now Cowboy seems to be adopting that facet of Styx' personality.

So The WOMAN sent me this email last Wednesday when I was beating myself up for my inability to save Styx: While the sadness still remains, I'm no longer feeling any guilt over Styx' death. I saved him from eventually being put down at Animal Control by adopting him in 2009 and then we caught a budding urinary tract infection in Styx a year later before it really got going and one quick visit to the vet was all it took to cure him. We gave him more than five years of love and a home full of cat beds, La-Z-Boys, cushion chairs, beds, a futon and the grandest cat tower money could buy. He was accepted as part of a brotherhood of three other cats in the household and one other from across the laneway collectively known as the PussyPosse. And when the end drew near, he spent his last two nights swaddled in the embrace of The WOMAN who loved and cherished him and who he loved with all his strength in return. I wish that I could have extended his stay on this earth but my powers in these matters are strictly limited. The WOMAN gathered up several more dozen pictures of Styx that she took over the last five years. I winnowed them down to these: Styx was willing to be friends with all, the kids from the daycare, the other cats on the street, the squirrels, the raccoons, anybody who wanted to be friends. A gracious host, here he was welcoming Sooty and Cheetah from across the street onto the porch, Styx looking over the Xmas gift bags he'd always arrange for his four-footed friends in the neighbourhood. The posse made a regular habit of gathering for breakfast at Grandma's Diner. Styx always flirted with the waitresses, Zita and Nikki. He loved basking in the sun on the porch, the front steps or in his garden. As you can see, Styx was never one to let any source of heat go to waste.

Too cool! They're only supposed to live 2-3 years!