Les spectacles son et lumière

~ iamthesunking

This time of year is always fireworks a-go-go here in TW8, with Diwali, Hallowe’en and Guy Fawkes* Night in quick succession, although not always in that order since Diwali is moon-dependent.

*Non-Brits, if you don’t know about Guy Fawkes, Google him. The government don’t like it when our protests are too loud (whatever “too loud” may be), yet they allow us to have loud firework parties every year to mark the anniversary of when some bloke tried to bomb them. Cat Daddy even remembers when little kids used to wheel an effigy of said bloke from door to door, before setting fire to it. I know. Our traditions are messed up.

There are many, many web pages detailing how to protect your pets from the horrors of fireworks. These range from simple tips such as keeping them indoors, to more elaborate techniques such as playing them pre-recorded firework sounds for several days beforehand to get them used to the sound. Luckily, because Louis Catorze is such a special case and normal rules are null and void when it comes to him, we don’t need to bother doing much at all.

In response to fireworks, we can rely upon Catorze to do any or all of the following:

1. Purring

2. Sleeping

3. Screaming

4. Moving up the stairs to get a better view

5. Gadding about at The Back on Extended ICB

6. Trying to escape out at The Front to flirt with marauding youths setting off firecrackers in the park

In other words, business as usual.

We can’t keep Sa Maj indoors; the screaming to get out would be far worse than the noise of the fireworks themselves. So, if the little sod wants to go out, we let him out (at The Back, at least; he may not be afraid of marauding youths with firecrackers, but it’s still a step too far for me). Despite being thicker than a concrete milkshake, the little sod seems to pick up very quickly on moods and tensions, especially when we are plotting to stop him from doing something that he wants to do, so any diversionary tactics would have him instantly suspicious.

We know we are among the lucky ones that our boy is so chilled. And we hope that your furry overlords were able to get through this noisy and stressful period without too much bother.

If Rothko did rois.

20 thoughts on “Les spectacles son et lumière”

    1. Yes, I can imagine them going out on the town and causing havoc! They would have looked so funny with one being big and one small.

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  7. Our clowder is pretty chill during the summer fireworkd 0 the neighborhood is retty quiet at this time of the year, so we are fortunate.

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  8. I was thinking to myself on Saturday about childhood November 5th and I remembered the chikdren on the town with their old pushchairs and their ‘guy’ calling out ‘penny for the guy’, which when I was very young I thought they were saying that I could be their guy and felt awful that I must have looked awful if they were shouting out that they wanted me to be their guy.

    When I walked to the town with my mum to do the usual Saturday morning shop, we would take some pennies with us and as we made our way around the shops we would check out the various ‘guys’ and the ones we thought had made the best effort would get our pennies. I never wanted to make one myself as it would have been too creepy for me! It was pretty much like carolling, as the children would go door to door with their Guy asking for pennies. The penny collection would then be used to buy fireworks for use in back gardens. My mum did outwork for the firework factory near the Sandwich power station and so I was allowed to do some of the work which entailed rolling the card into a cone and brushing glue, wallpaper adhesive, onto the join of the cone and once it was dry then we would stick the twist of blue touch paper into the top of the cone and the label around the side. I had to go careful not to use too much glue because it would take too long for the glue to dry and we wouldn’t get paid for those ones! Once thoroughly dry they would be stacked back in the crates ready to be picked up and taken back to the factory to have the explosive put inside and the bottom be stuck in to hold the explosive inside. We would be given a box of fireworks by Astra fireworks every yest and they were really really naff, the cones like we made had and they were such a let down lol you’d light the paper and there would be a puff of coloured come smoke out and then it would fizzle away to nothing lololol we’d have a Catherine wheel nailed to our garden wall and if we were lucky it would stay on the nail until out was finished but mostly they would fly off and would fly off and hit one of us!! After that we were only allowed to watch from my Sister’s bedroom.!

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    1. My mum once videoed the fireworks through her window, but all you can see is the reflection of her net curtains!

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