Dinca

Percy the Persian Blue and the Sinking Sand, Arran Ridley, 2010, 2 min, video

For me, this is nostalgia, evoking memories of my first years of web design, wherein I used free, visual-based .html editing services, e.g., expage, angelfire, geocities, and tripod. I believe all of those services are now defunct, with the possible exception of geocities, I think. My first website website was “Gecko Land,” a website containing an eclectic mix of gecko and salamander care-sheets. After global success with Gecko Land — the proof was in the guestbook, people from around the world sent their thanks — I launched a second website, Gecko World, another success. Those websites were up for seven or so years. This video by Arran Ridley reminders me of my first two websites, considering its elements of the auto-play midi-music that plays in the background, the animated .gifs, and other kitsch elements. That, and the cat subject is akin to my gecko and salamander subjects. So there is my subjective analysis of this video, not much I can add, other than I suggest you watch this video for shits and giggles.

Visit Arran’s website here.

Official Synopsis: Our 2 year old Persian Blue is a fussy fellow. Percy has always had hissy tantrums when faced with baths, grooming, food and vets visits but he’s a beautiful, proud cat with bundles of character. He’s a tentative mouser too but the one thing he cannot resist is chasing birds.

We have a sand pit in our back garden, which has a cover to keep it safe from Percy and other cat’s messages. It attracts insects and in turn birds which only makes it more interesting for Percy.

Anyway it’s been very stormy here recently and percy has been reluctant to go outside, he gazes out of the window and look at me all sad eyed and bored that there’s nothing to chase and no kingdom to survey as it’s covered in water- something Percy avoids at all costs!

I put Percy out the back door, early, one morning, after a very rainy night where thunder had made it impossible to sleep. Having got overtired I completely forgot about him until I sat down with a cup of tea mid-morning in the conservatory. I noticed the cover of the sandpit cover had been blown off and was lying against our garden fence. I ran into the garden to right the cover, only to find Percy, neck-deep in quicksand, there were a few feathers half sunk in the sand. Percy was very upset, he mewed loudly and gave me an expression so infuriated and was very grateful to be scooped out of his quicksand nightmare. The storm had been so powerful it whipped off the sand pit cover, and most of the sand, then pouring rain had made what was left into some very dangerous quicksand! I imagine a bird must have been flitting around on one side and Percy must have pounced in and become stuck!

Percy is no longer so keen to chase birds and respects the sandpit at a safe distance and he got a lovely thorough bath and grooming, which he reluctantly endured. Now he’s back to being a pretty kitty having learnt his lesson.