Yesterday I got a phone call from Erik, who works in the next room. He said, “You need to come in here immediately.” I’m not in the habit of taking orders from men who collect action figures, but it sounded important and so I went and looked out his window and OMG kittens!!

Somehow every chick in the office heard about this within minutes and descended on the kittens. A girlgasm of staggering intensity (and decibel-level) ensued. It was really remarkable.

Speaking of remarkable, Matt Davis sent me this link. Less remarkable than the link itself is the fact that Matt “Cute Things Threaten My Masculinity” Davis sent it to me. It’s an olive branch, people. Take it.

My roommate’s cat was hit by a car a few weeks ago (RIP Madeline), so she and her girlfriend made a commemorative “ghost cat” for the well-trafficked, very cat-dense stretch of SE Stark where the cat was killed. This is not a very good photo, but I like the idea:

Cat vs. Ferret

Blogging from the cat camp site. Y’all are missing a pretty rad playlist. AND THE ADORABILITY. ‘Cause shit is cute. Cats I mean. Are cute. Also! The Rialto, I used to work there, is probably the best downtown bar and their drinks are stiff and the jukebox ain’t bad either.

I asked Courtney to say something quotable and she said, “I’m leaving.”

WOOT!!!!!

Matt Davis just showed up. HAIL BRITANNIA>>>FFFFSfsldkksdfklf<<>>. There should be a breathalizer on my blogin. I know! ANyway shit’s pretty awesome over here on the corner of SW Alder&Broadway. You should stop by and say hello!

Thank you to everybody who sent in cat pictures! I got a bunch of great responses—y’all have some nice looking cats. I’ll be showing off all the Blogtown kitties in an iPhoto-style slideshow at our campsite tonight (1 am, and you better believe there’s a soundtrack…). Stop by and say hello.

I’ll post a few photos after the jump, to tide you over until tonight… (the one up above is one of the foster kitties currently living in my basement)

Tomorrow night, the Mercury will be camping out along the Rose Parade route, saving a prime viewing spot for the lucky folks who won it in our charity auction. And of course we’ll be providing wholesome, family friendly activities all night long.

The schedule is here—our exact location is TBD, check Blogtown tomorrow for updates.

At 1 am, there will be a slide show, hosted and curated by yours truly, entitled “Pictures of kitties!!!1!!” I would love to include some photos of Blogtown readers’ pets—if anybody wants in, please send pictures of your cats, along with a brief description including your cats’ names, to ahallett@portlandmercury.com. And stop by on Friday! It will be cute.

I am not sure why anyone would wish to turn Cat Friday into Sexual Molestation Friday. That just seems weird. (Everyone knows there’s one day of the week, and one day only, for sexual molestation, and it’s Tuesday.) It’s almost as B-tarded as “Cat-urday.” I mean, come on, people.

So, in defense of Cat Friday (let it live forever), here some videos of kitties playing the theremin.

More after the jump! (The last one is my favorite.)

I guess I’m feeling a bit sensitive recently. I was looking for cat videos last Friday when I came across Charlie, a cat with Cerebellar Hypoplasia (CH). I was moved.

What the heck is saved-by-the-bell-u-are-hi-po-whatsits, you ask? Well, CH is a brain defect found in some cats that affects their motor skills. It makes them appear “drunk” or “wobbly.” This is particularly bizarre in a creature normally known for its grace and balance. Still, I believe it renders the cat 500 times more adorable. As adorable as, I assume, Wm. Steven Humphrey feels when he’s drunk and wobbly (which is, like, every day).

The problem is that CH is misunderstood and these cats are often needlessly put to sleep.

So, here’s a video of Charlie. In memory of all the little kitties who have given their lives for freedom and democracy. Just a warning: you might cry a little.

It seems this Cat Friday tradition of ours is making some people a little hysterical. We are in apparent transgression of the rules set forth by “The King of Threads” (who is a cat, I think?) regarding Caturday. Apparently you’re not supposed to, like, have a special day for your cat stuff. Because every day is Caturday, even though it originally happened on Saturdays. (See above.)

Also, I learned a new word: btard (or /b/tard, if you must).

Anyway, personally I think Cat Friday should remain. Primarily because Caturday doesn’t exist. It was made up by a bunch of nerds. And there is nothing nerdy about Cat Friday.

But if Caturday wants to start some shit with Cat Friday, we’re ready:

How about now?

Look, I love cats. I do. I have two of my own and I think they are amazing creatures. I talk to them, take pictures of them, cuddle with them. Oooh, sorry, that was starting to sound creepy. But no matter how creepy I get with my cats, I will never get as creepy as this:

Dancing with a tail of his own, Fred becomes a psychic extension of the cat. ‘I share its grace, power and oneness with the universe. I relate to Fluff and the whole spectrum of feline physicality on a profound level. I even regard birds differently.’”

Yes, this is from an actual book called Dancing With Cats.

I implore my friends and colleagues: If I ever get so bad off that I am stripping down, donning a cat tail g-string and dancing with my cat, take me to the vet and have them put me down. Or just send me to a nice farm out in the country…

Apparently this adorable house cat didn’t get the Mercury’s memo that today is Casual Cat Friday. He was too busy hanging out with his ne’er-do-well friend, the World’s Angriest Cat.