The cat's miaow(economist.com)
economist.com
The cat's miaow
http://www.economist.com/news/obituary/21656623-tama-stationmaster-kishi-station-and-vice-president-wakayama-electric-railway-died
9 comments
This seems to me the most important article the Economist published this month, or even this year. Not about the Greek crisis, you say ? Well, realistically, even if you read and understood all their coverage about that, it's not like you can do something about it. Better to enjoy this.
It is certainly a beautifully written article.
The Economist always has best obituaries. This one was my favorite: http://www.economist.com/news/obituary/21584311-elmore-leona...
Agreed, they're always beautifully written. This one is my favorite: http://www.economist.com/node/16885894
It was lovely to read ... except the whole "dead" part
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FYI: miaow is the British spelling of "meow". A difference I didn't know up until now. (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/miaow)
And I learned that it's nyan in Japanese (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-linguistic_onomatopoeias), quite different from other languages! Also Korean has yeong and Indonesian meong. These sound like they developed independent of the Chinese one.
That explains the "nyan cat" meme.
I'm British and this is the first time that I've seen that spelling.
I used to spell it like that when I was younger, I'll admit I'd completely forgotten until I just saw this conversation.
I imagine it's just one of those things that's dying off with increased globalisation.
I imagine it's just one of those things that's dying off with increased globalisation.
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Must be Japanese, via transliteration…?
No, it's definitely used, but (like "gaol") probably not as often as the more obvious alternative spelling.
I think that would be "nya" or "nyan", then.
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> She was made an operating officer of the WER in recognition of her contribution to profits, the first female to be so honoured
Meanwhile in the US, Stubbs has been the mayor of a town in Alaska for 18 years:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stubbs_%28cat%29
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stubbs_%28cat%29
Off-topic: I would love to see a content-analysis of front-page HN submissions that identifies non-tech/programming-related, animal-focused submissions...and then does a summary count to find the most popular animal. I'm guessing cats are the Hacker News animal of choice...but it might be honeybees.
(Note: not that there's anything wrong with this. I would most definitely read a HN-like site for just honeybees and cats)
(Note: not that there's anything wrong with this. I would most definitely read a HN-like site for just honeybees and cats)
For those curious about what she looks like in her signature cap, here's a video of Tama-chan from a 2008 CNN story:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WVPwJIoPWk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WVPwJIoPWk
Paywall - can anyone summarise?
A small, unimportant rail station in Japan was the home of a very popular cat. Her popularity led to great tourist traffic and prosperity for the station, and she was eventually made vice president of the railway and given her own office (really!).
A small cat decided to grace some humans with it's presence...and in return generated significant wealth, helped rejuvenate a part of Japan and basked in adoration...all while nonchalantly being a cat and looking down upon us inferior human subjects...
Mostly, the cat just looks to me like a calico we recently adopted. Her name is Kashmir, but I mostly call her Queen Princess Jerkface. Charm isn't really one of her strengths.
Good god...I hope you do it out of earshot of Queen Princess Jerkface? Otherwise you are in for trouble...
The cat perhaps reminds Japanese travelers of the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, in which a foundling brings prosperity to her adoptive home.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tale_of_the_Bamboo_Cutter
And thanks folks!
I didn't get a paywall, but here's the Google cache version for you, if you want to read the whole article (someone else summarized for you already):
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://...
Marvellous, thank you!
You can also open links like this in a private browsing window (works for me in firefox, probably would work in others too). The economist website appears to decide you deserve a paywall based on cookies or other tracking.
There's is smarter than that. Private browsing won't always get around their paywall.
In any case, I just had to make change and get a ticket, and rang the bell at the counter next to the kaisatsu. No one answered, and then suddenly I realized that this Tama-chan was casually laying down and staring at me from a chair in the office. She made no move to help me, and simply yawned! I was quite surprised because service in Japan is usually excellent. Feeling slightly miffed but wanting to give her the benefit of the doubt, I asked her for help directly. She not only continued to ignore me but turned away to stare at the wall, deliberately showing her disdain.
Finally her supervisor (I assumed) returned. He was able to help me, and afterward, trying to remain calm, I coolly mentioned--with Tama-chan audaciously staring right at me, completely unconcerned with her dereliction of duty--how little help she had been.
He chuckled and nodded. "Yes, she's rather useless for this sort of thing, but the customers passing through love her."
I was honestly a bit put off and entered the gates feeling distinctly annoyed.
That said, of course I have sympathy for Ms. Tama-chan's family and friends--may she rest in peace.