(no subject)

[spatch]

Still no sign of the cat, which is incredibly disheartening but thank you all for your comments and help and good words, even the cranks who prove why anonymous screening is a good thing. (Now go back to your YouTube comments and continue to make clever insights like "lol that guy suckssss fag". There's a good troll.)

Tracy has been diligently fliering the neighborhood, especially in the places where we've had reports of Big Fat Tuxedo Cat sightings (Kidder Ave and Highland Road, and Cedar and Somerville Ave.) If you would like to help poster we would be incredibly grateful. There are two versions depending on whether or not you have a color or B&W printer. They're currently on Yousendit but I'll be transferring them to a more permanent host later on today.

abbie-lost.doc (B&W poster)

abbie-lost-color.doc (Color poster)

We also have a map up of sightings and postering locations; I feel as if we need a giant six-foot map with radial marks drawn around the house as in a police dragnet story.

I'm hoping that once the weather gets a bit better and he gets a bit hungrier, he'll venture out from wherever he is. I just hope whoever finds him is good people and hears about where he should really be. I've been toying with breaking the fourth wall on his blog, as it were, and writing for the first time as The Guy. I figured, though, that there'd only be one time ever when I'd have to do that. This reason at least has hope.

In happier news, joyeous and I saw My Fair Lady at the Opera House last night. We were in the nosebleeds (er, "Clouds") which provides a smaller view than the steeply-raked and considerably smaller Colonial, but the show -- a straightforward revival, this time -- was very entertaining and the set design quite clever. The actress playing Eliza acted as spirited as she needed to be, and was absolutely lovely. The trash can Stomp! number during "With A Little Bit of Luck" was surprising to me, but it kinda worked, all things considered.

Oh, and the actor who played Freddy really smacked of Michael Crawford in his young, goofy, physical comedy romantic lead days, and I thought that was pretty awesome.

The neatest surprise for me at least was the fact that Marni Nixon played Professor Higgins' mother. Marni was the singing voice of Audrey Hepburn in the film version of My Fair Lady (she also provided this service for other film stars, including Deborah Kerr in The King and I and Natalie Wood in West Side Story.) So, for me, it was a real treat to be able to applaud this familiar voice but in person this time. Quite nice all around, though.

I love the Opera House and want to find out the answer to a mystery. The mens' room on the second level is off of what was obviously the original Men's Lounge (the room has a darker, more masculine wood, and there are still the original closet-like phone booths with stained glass fronts.) The door to the actual Facilities themselves is right next to a flight of stairs, only these stairs go up two steps and are met by a wall.

I wonder what is, or was, behind that wall. Mystery steps always intrigue me.

Comments

[ron_newman]

Somewhere I've read that those stairs used to go to a neighboring theatre that has since been torn down -- either the Bijou or the old B.F. Keith's (later called Normandie and Laffmovie).

[spatch]

Judging from the position, I'd bet it was the Bijou.

[bostonista.livejournal.com]

I heard that a set of steps went (supposedly) to the theater next door, but actually went to a whorehouse. I did read that in actual non-rumor format ...

[spatch]

Now that's an exit from a man's lounge!

[ron_newman]

The Boston Fire Department ordered the Bijou closed soon after the Cocoanut Grove fire, largely because it was on the second floor and its exits led into neighboring theatres rather than to the street.

[kalliejenn2.livejournal.com]

i'm pretty sure i saw him at the end of kidder near college ave last night...i tried to grab him, but he ran.

[spatch]

This is WICKED good news to hear, especially if indeed it is the ol' fellow. I should go hunt around there tonight with a can opener. Thank you thank you thank you!

[kalliejenn2.livejournal.com]

my best advice is to bring a flashlight and look under cars - that's weirdly enough where most cats end up hiding.

[joyeous.livejournal.com]

_mattt actually saw him in the same exact place (assuming it was the same cat).

[ratatosk.livejournal.com]

Do you know approximately when? (I am another of Abbie's housemates, and am trying to keep a map.)

There is a grey and white cat in that neighborhood who is large and long haired, but not Abbie. You can distinguish it by grey fur where Abbie has black, white all around the neck in a "collar", and being not nearly as round/fat.

[joyeous.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure. Matt said he wrote derspatchel privately so you might just want to ask him. All I know is he said he saw two women petting a large black cat. He said it was on the corner of Kidder and Highland, but I assumed he meant College. Although come to think of it, there is a Highland Rd. that is different than Highland Ave, so maybe it was there.

[ratatosk.livejournal.com]

Ah, okay! We have that on the map already, under the assumption he meant Highland Road. Thank you, though!

[antikythera.livejournal.com]

Oh boy... Muggles aren't supposed to be able to see those stairs.

[ron_newman]

They go to the fnordth floor.

[hemlock-martini.livejournal.com]

I don't know offhand how many Bostonians read my LJ, but I'd be willing to redistribute the link to that document, if it helps. I wanted to ask before I did so because your phone number's on it.

I was wearing my Abbie The Cat Has A Posse t-shirt last night and had to explain to my family that "this cat on my manboobs is missing." They were all very sorry to hear it and send along their most fervent finding-lost-cats mojo, along with their desire never to have me say the word "manboobs" again.

[amandaruth2001.livejournal.com]

My high school math teacher was a HUGE Julie Andrews fan and we celebrated Eliza Doolittle Day in her class. She felt that Audrey Hepburn should not have been cast in the movie since she couldn't sing her own part, and that robbed Julie Andrews of her big break. Of course, if she had been busy with My Fair Lady then we may not have seen her as Mary Poppins.


I've been thinking good "Abbie-come-home" thoughts for you.

[spatch]

My high school math teacher was a HUGE Julie Andrews fan and we celebrated Eliza Doolittle Day in her class.

Did you celebrate with a mock beheading of Professor 'Enry 'Iggins?

Julie Andrews won an Academy Award for Mary Poppins. Audrey Hepburn didn't get nominated for My Fair Lady, primarily, I believe, because she hadn't done her own singing. Somehow I think Andrews got the better deal out of that one, though it would've been nice to see her in the film.

[amandaruth2001.livejournal.com]

Andrews definitely got the better deal overall, and justice and people get what they deserve and all that. That was always part of Mrs. Wallrabenstein's little speech. :)

[byrneout.livejournal.com]

Our household is sad and hopeful for your poor missing cat. Fingers well crossed here.

[muse0fire.livejournal.com]

Hey, one thing I did when my cat went missing years ago - and you may have already done this - I went to my county pound and gave them a description. They gave me a list of all the vets in Georgia, and I called everyone that was in a 50 mile radius of Atlanta to give them a description and my contact info, in case anyone brought him in. I also called the pound every few days just to be sure.

(In my case it turned out my asshat ex-housemate had ignored a call from someone who found him, and didn't get a phone number, so at least I knew a family had picked him up, even if I had no idea who or where.)

[vylar-kaftan.livejournal.com]

My thoughts are with you. I hope everything turns out well.

[ketzie.livejournal.com]

I passed the flier links on to my bro who lives on Electric near Teele. One of his cats took off when he was moving from Davis about a year or so ago. Said kitty was recovered after a week or more, so he knows all about cat hunting in the wilds of Somerville. He'll certainly be looking out for the boy; I'll let you know if he is able to distribute fliers as well.

All best wishes from us up here.

[ratatosk.livejournal.com]

Electric is not very far from Hall at all, and I haven't gotten out there with flyers yet. It would be helpful to have some up over there, along with somebody keeping an eye out.

For now, though, the sightings are clustering on the east side of College ( http://pics.livejournal.com/ratatosk/pic/000a0ww4/ ), so hopefully he won't wander over there at all.

[ketzie.livejournal.com]

Said bro is on the look out, has emailed fliers to other Somerville friends, and will try to put some up on his block tomorrow.

(Come home, Abbie! Come home!)

[ratatosk.livejournal.com]

Thank you!!!!!!!!

[mcl.livejournal.com]

I'm so sorry to hear about Abbie, and that he's still missing. Narnie, Elsie, and I (their humble human) are all thinking good thoughts and informing the all-powerful feline overlords in the mothership that they need to contact Abbie immediately and help him find his way home safe and sound.


I'm glad to see you've put clothes out to help him find his way back. Though I was thinking tonight you might want to switch them out with a riper batch, now that they've been out there a few days. They've probably aired out quite a bit and lost their unique odor. Try to be extra-sweaty this week if you can. :)

Hang in there; you've got literally tons of people (and the humans who minister to those people's needs) sending good thoughts your way, and helping Abbie find his way home safely.

[fancycwabs.livejournal.com]

The problem with this is that the thing I want to do most right now is fly to Boston and look for a cat. Which is what an obsessive nature gets you.

[maggiebex.livejournal.com]

Hey Spatch, I'm having trouble with the B&W poster, the image isn't showing up. Do you still need more posters, or maybe fresh dry ones after the rains? If so, lemme know what to do about that image.

[ratatosk.livejournal.com]

Email me at ratatosk @ livejournal.com , or AIM at Espaliered4, and I can send you some different formats to try, as well as discuss postering locations. Spatch has the flu and can't do a lot right now -- yes, there are a number of things that people could do to help atm!

[fancycwabs.livejournal.com]

The image on the B&W poster was a tiny tiny cat in the corner of the big white space. It took several rounds of cropping and resizing to make mine show up in Word.

Not that Abbie's likely to turn up in Memphis.

[ratatosk.livejournal.com]

Okay! I'm using a modified version of the flyer since I use Open Office, so I don't know how the original shows up in Word.

[fancycwabs.livejournal.com]

It's not hard to fix in Word once you know that there's a teeny tiny picture of Abbie in the upper left corner of a big white blob of space.

[ratatosk.livejournal.com]

Sorry that was a non-sequitur -- I have this post tagged and thought you were someone else responding to one of my comments!

[(Anonymous)]

I had a dream last night that Abbie came home from his adventure. I hope it turns out to be prophetic! Get home soon, Abbie.