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I feel like everyone’s always looking to the Jetson’s and asking “Where’s my flying car?” instead of looking to the Flintstone’s and thinking, “Man, I could really get down to the swinging sounds of a cat piano.” According to the Internet (and I believe everything I read online), inventor Anthanasius Kircher invented this horrid thing way back in the 17th century to bring a smile to a melancholy prince’s sour mug.
Apparently, kitties of ascending meow pitches are placed in individual pens (see elaborate diagram for details!), and everytime a key is pressed, it pokes one in the rear. Probably not something I’d want to find under the Diwali tree (I’m an animal lovin’ vegetarian after all), but the idea certainly made me laugh.
BY THE WAY: just as a sidenote, I wasn’t sure what to call this post… Meowy-Melodies? Take me to your Litter? Kitty Porn? (I know, that doesn’t make sense… but it’s got a nice ring to it.) I went with Cat Power just for the indie cred. If you’ve got a better headline solution up your sleeve (and by better, I mean punnier), send it in already!
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Instead of playing music, this piano plays “meowsic”. And if you’re wondering what they are playing….they are playing “pok-a” meowsic.
posted by T Rodgers on 7-19-2006 at 10:31 am
Title suggestion: Katz in Jammer
posted by Swells on 7-19-2006 at 11:25 am
CatASStrophic Concerto
posted by Jenny Inzerillo on 7-19-2006 at 11:35 am
Catrearian Meowlodrome. Buy a Siamese cat and you won’t have to bother poking him or her to get a operatic meowlodious note or two…
posted by Jan Bodine on 7-19-2006 at 12:34 pm
I’m going to have to start consulting you all for puns more regularly! On a slightly different note, I’m thrilled to see 4 people actually found this post. Thanks for the input…
posted by Mangesh on 7-19-2006 at 5:02 pm
How about “CATSymphony”?
posted by Elizabeth on 7-19-2006 at 7:04 pm
It brings new meaning to the term “caterwauling”!
And you really would be able to tune a piano with a tunafish! HA! I kill me!
But wait, there’s more.
My music would leave you “feline” good.
Would this be an instrument played by Cat Stevens?
Does this mean that this is strung with catgut?
posted by Dion on 7-19-2006 at 11:13 pm
What would Andrew Lloyd Weber say about these musical “Cats”? I bet he would laugh!
posted by Rich B on 7-21-2006 at 9:52 am
All the caterwauling is about to induce a catastrophe of catalepsy and catarrh in the catamites… But seriously, doesn’t it resemble the Monty Python bit with the hammers and mice (Playing Three Blind Mice)? Now I know where they stole it.
posted by sheila on 7-21-2006 at 5:07 pm
oh, I haven’t thought about that skit in years. I was just thinking about Monty Python this week when I saw pictures from the Gin Olympics online. It reminded me of the Upper Class Twit of the Year competition.
posted by Mangesh on 7-21-2006 at 6:42 pm
ow is all i thought of the whole time
posted by lily chambers on 7-26-2006 at 6:26 pm
make it 12
posted by robb on 5-21-2007 at 12:25 pm
Grand-Meowo
posted by drew on 8-13-2007 at 3:27 pm
So, did the Kircher cataphoneum’s cacophony of caterwauling cause the crown prince to crack a smile? Inquiring minds want to know.
And I loved the mouse-ical rendition of the Bells of St Mary’s rendered by our favorite python.
I will do everyone a favor and refrain from relating the story of the stuttering cat.
posted by Tom on 8-14-2007 at 11:02 am
Remember those horrible “Jingle Cats” songs, Christmas carols “sung” by meowing cats? Now we know the truth. I always envisioned it more like handbells though, cats lined up on shelves, and you pull their tails to “play” them. (I’m sorry, I got a little carried away with the “bunny ears”… THERE I GO AGAIN!”)
posted by Maggie on 8-17-2007 at 6:34 pm