Kitchen Table Kibitzing 8/6/2024: Fashion Goes To the Dogs (and Cats)

Good evening, Kibitzers!

Miraculously, pleasant weather has come to the Boston area this week — a bit cloudy and occasionally showery, but in the 70s all week and down into the low 60s overnight. ::quavery granny voice:: In my day, sonny, this was common summer weather! Not like this nonsense today!  /qgv

On the other hand, places well to my south are getting buckets and barrels of rain from Debby, and I am sure much of California is still broiling and sporadically on fire. On the other other hand, I got an email yesterday from our 714day, still traveling in Alaska, who remarked she had struck “the best 2 week stretch of summer in 2 years”. So… we do our best to enjoy the good parts, I guess, and survive the bad parts. 

Today I have a two-part diary! I picked part 1 based on my ability (always questionable) to keep it a bit short, so I’d have room for part 2. 

Last week, Thinking Fella brought us a xeet on the “Cat Ladies for Kamala” theme. I’m going to embed it just below the fold, but it’s a TikTok video (soundtrack a remix of the fabulous Sound of Silence track by Disturbed) of stylishly-dressed cats striding toward the camera “on their way to vote on Nov. 5th”. In my wanderings on YouTube, I happened to encounter some related content, albeit not voting-related, and it seemed like fun for today.

The xeet:

I don’t know who is responsible for the cats in that TikTok, to be clear. And I have no information about the people behind the YouTube channel The Maitrix, other than that they have a presence on most of the other social media as well. They dabble in various sorts of AI animation, but their main thing seems to be these “How Cats/Dogs Would Dress” episodes, narrated by AI Not-David-Attenborough. There are more dog episodes than I have room for, although the videos themselves are short — they’re all at the link.

I’m starting with cats, though, because that’s how we got here. There are only these few, probably because there aren’t as many well-known cat breeds, but as with the dog videos, there’s no evidence the series is done yet. So: How Would Cats Dress Themselves?

Persian, Orange Tabby, Ragdoll, Maine Coon, Sphynx   _[1:34]

British Shorthair, Calico, Bengal, Black Cat, Siamese   _[2:34]

Tuxedo Cat, Tortoiseshell, Norwegian Forest Cat, Angora, Egyptian Mau   _[2:15]

Onward to dogs!  Irish Setter, Maltese, Bull Terrier, Rough Collie, Saluki   _[1:40]

Great Pyrenees, Cocker Spaniel, Basset Hound, Corgi, Doberman, Yorkshire Terrier   _[2:18]

German Shepherd, Schnauzer, Cane Corso, Shiba Inu, Jack Russell Terrier, Pug   _[2:40]

Pomeranian, Yellow Lab, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Shar Pei, Italian Greyhound, Chesapeake Bay Retriever   _[2:42]

Bernese Mountain Dog, Dalmatian, Boston Terrier, Borzoi, German Shorthaired Pointer, Springer Spaniel   _[2:26]

Now we move on to part 2 of this bifurcated diary. I love a good parody song, as you know, and I’ve always tried to include political parodies here. The pickings were pretty slim for quite a while, but now, in a burst of Rational Exuberance, all kinds of people have new songs all at once, and I am here for it. (Links on song titles are the original songs.)

Sandy and Richard Riccardi call upon Burt Bacharach’s I’ll Never Fall In Love Again to warn us of what tfg II would bring.   _[2:14]

The Parody Project turns The Beatles’ Blackbird to the purpose of mocking tfg’s late-night shitposting.   _[2:31]

Comedian Rita Brent enlists The Temptations’ Papa Was a Rolling Stone to explain about the moment when she, like the Vice President, “turned Black”.   _[1:29]

Patrick Fitzgerald calls on Katy Perry’s I Kissed a Girl to make a little song for JD Vance.   _[2:59]

Rocky Mountain Mike uses Steve Miller’s Swingtown (and a little poetic license with Kamala’s name) for a short tune about the weirdness of the tfg ticket.   _[1:05]

Finally, Founders Sing start with Hey Jude, add the AI-animated likenesses of some famous Kamala supporters (list on the YouTube page), and come up with the anthem of the season, K-Krew. Get your lighter ready to hold up and join in on the chorus, “Ka-ma-la-lalalala…”   _[2:16]

🥥 🌴 🥥   The Election Box   🥥 🌴 🥥 I’m starting with some resources found on Daily Kos. They are mostly users who post regularly on specific election-related topics. Links are to the diary-list page. Yosef 52: Yosef’s diaries are studded with fired up/get angry memes, but mainly they are crammed-full listings of every possible kind of election information and resources. Rob in Vermont: Rob has designed a bunch of excellent Democratic bumper stickers. He will share some for free, or you can buy some if you’re able, or contribute to the fund that allows him to share them with others. The goal is to spread these commonsense messages throughout areas where voters may just not know who it is that works in their interest. Brainwrap: You may know our Charles Gaba from his ACA expertise, but he is also a monster fundraiser during election years. He painstakingly maintains Blue24.org, a siteful of ActBlue pages that allow you to donate directly to Democrats, from President and Congress/Senate through state legislatures, governors, AGs, justices, etc. It’s not a PAC, just a one-stop shop for direct donations, from which he makes nothing. bilboteach: bilboteach posts two mornings a week with a diary introducing a Democratic candidate for Congress/Senate, in the hope this visibility will drive some donations. He puts a lot of work into his thoughtful analysis of a candidate’s district and their strengths and weaknesses, to make sure readers understand which races are most vital and most winnable. lpeacock: Linda decided back in January that it was ridiculous how little press coverage Vice President Harris was getting for all that she was doing, so she set out to offset that by writing a weekly diary, the VP Kamala Harris Roundup. There you can find the VP’s published schedule, and tweets, video clips, and other information on what went on during the week. New: Cat Ladies for Kamala group: Sara R, Ann, ericlewis0, and MsSpentyouth have worked overtime to create this group where ANYONE, lady or not; cats, dogs, birds, fish, or no pets at all, can join in solidarity to save democracy and put Kamala in the White House. You do not need to write diaries to join, although you may! This is like Cranky Users — joining in itself communicates where you stand. Let Sara know if you would like an invitation (which arrives in your EMAIL now, not kosmail!) And finally, CHECK YOUR VOTER REGISTRATION STATUS REGULARLY. It’s easy — go to vote.gov, or iwillvote.com (a DNC operation) or google “am I registered to vote” plus your state. MANY people have been surprised to find they need to take action for some odd reason, and you certainly do not want to find this out too late to fix it! Encourage other Dem voters to do the same. Keep doing this until the election, because things change! IF YOU LIVE ABROAD, user Karl B tells us, YOU CAN VOTE! Go to VoteFromAbroad.org to request your ballot and learn all the information you’ll need (with no spam followup, he adds.)