Smirkets

There's an extensive nomenclature associated with cats; Smirket is the term for a black cat.


Acclaimed for their advanced skills in poetry, Smirkets frequently go about with a "slim volume" tucked under their arm. Titles such as Lo, The Empty Bowl,  It's Hell Being a Cat and the always appreciated: Oh, What a Wonderful Cat have all been brought forth from the wellspring of sensitive lyricism for which they're known.

Here Bruce, of Basil & Bruce, shows off his dually. In his youth he toured with the famous Cirque le Shat de Mew, eliciting oooOOOOOs and ahhhhHHHHs from a spellbound, and frequently envious, audience.

Basil's Grand Plumeria

Cat Anthem

These days most communication, including that of literary style, is conducted and/or conveyed via email. Cats, being more olfactorially oriented, get their news, stock reports and other information through pee-mail. Thus, often the first thing they do when let outside, is to sniff nearby bushes or plants where messages have been "deposited."

Among the many types of publications in the world are journals. They're often a monthly or quarterly publication written for specific interests. Frequently of scholarly bent, they sometimes have the word "Review" in their title. You may have heard of Bloomsbury Review, The Harvard Law Review, and others. The journal most popular with cats is the Cat Odor Review.

Whilst checking (sniffing) their pee-mail,

they can sometimes be heard humming a tune. Originally composed by Edward Elgar as March No. 1 in D minor, it was adopted as the International Anthem of Cats.

Here is the original version performed by the BBC Orchestra. You may want to skip ahead to 1:56 where you'll, I'm sure, recognize the tune.

And now, The Anthem...