Bar patrons in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago are mourning the loss of resident bar cat, Radley, who made The Empty Bottle bar his home.
Radley was the first of the pub’s bar cats, all named after To Kill a Mockingbird characters. The other cats came and went, but Radley made the empty bottle his home for sixteen years. Estimates place Radley at about 19 years old.
Owner Bruce Finkleman reminisced, “The door was always open for him. He would roam around outside, he would sometimes leave for a couple days and come back. You know, he was free to go. And sometimes you would see a band start and you would see this black blur fly across the room as he was trying to exit the bar as quick as possible. And sometimes he would just sit on top of the bar and just be like really enjoying the bands. I remember watching a Red Red Meat show once a long long time ago and Radley was just sitting there, going, ‘Okay, I like this.’ Some bands, he liked so much, he’d try to stowaway and join them on tour.”
Staffer Ryan Rafferty added, “You could tell when he was into a band. There would be some nights that before even the second band was done playing, before the headliners would get up on stage. He would get up and crawl into a guitar case or a bass drum and, you know, make his home up there.”
Radley’s favorite band was one that never played live at The Bottle. Rafferty recalled, “Every time Heart would come on, especially Magic Man, he had a little extra pep in his step.”
Not that there weren’t issues with the aging cat making the bar his home. Finkleman said that as Radley got older, he was starting to get a little bit more territorial and a little bit crazier. He started marking his territory. And instead of marking his territory in any normal place, he decided that his space that he was going to mark was going to be where the drummer would usually set up on the stage.
Finkleman said that it got to a point where, bands around the country would come in and the first thing they would say is, it smells like home.
We’ll be hoisting our next pint to you, Radley!
Don’t forget! You can leave a comment on this post for an entry in The Cat’s Meow’s giveaway of a custom oil painting of your cat by Linden Alley.
Here’s a happy ending story for you: A man with a brain tumor arrives home to find his home in flames. His first thought is of his “therapeutic” cats, Boo Boo and Mew Mew:
When Glen Schallman got off the bus after work on Thursday, he gasped at the sight of his Rolling Meadows apartment building on fire.
Schallman, who has survived with a brain tumor, watched as all his possessions went up in flames.
“I just yelled, ‘My cats! My cats!’ I went into a major panic,” said Schallman.
The sudden and extreme stress apparently triggered a seizure and paramedics brought Schallman to Alexian Brothers Medical Center in Elk Grove Village.
While in his hospital bed, Schallman was relieved to learn that Boo Boo Kitty, a domestic black cat, and Mew Mew, a tuxedo cat, were actually rescued unharmed. They were brought to an animal hospital in Schaumburg for observation and boarding.
“Boo Boo Kitty was found under the covers and Mew Mew was found under the bed,” said a tearful 50-year-old, who works at Build-A-Bear Workshop in Woodfield Shopping Center in Schaumburg. “It’s a miracle that they are still alive.”
Schallman was a resident of 12 Oaks, where a fire Thursday consumed most of the three-story building, west of Route 53 and south of Algonquin Road. The fire reportedly broke out around 3:30 p.m. and took roughly three hours to extinguish. Twenty-seven families were displaced. Many have been staying at area hotels or with friends or relatives.
Rolling Meadows police and fire officials said Saturday that the case remains under investigation.
Schallman has been a resident of 12 Oaks since last October, arriving here from Phoenix, Ariz., to seek more medical treatment for his seizures. He was diagnosed in 2002 with hypothalamic hamartoma, a rare benign brain tumor located near the hypothalamus.
After his diagnosis, the former travel agent went on disability. He also acquired Boo Boo Kitty and Mew Mew as kittens. As the cats grew up, he says, they instinctively laid across his chest or seemingly felt for a pulse when he was having health problems. “They are my therapeutic cats,” he said.
Schallman said he doesn’t know what he’ll do once he’s released from the hospital, possibly on Sunday. He’s arranging to stay with friends in Chicago until he can sort out what’s left, if anything, of his belongings. He then must find another place to live and start rebuilding his life.
One thing is certain. His beloved Boo Boo Kitty and Mew Mew are alive and he longs to be reunited with them, possibly as early as Monday.
“I’m really stressed out and very scared,” he said. “I’ve lost everything. But I just have to keep going. I love life and I’m not going to give up.”
If you live in the Chicago area and are feeling the pinch during the current financial crisis, check out the following low-cost recession-busting options for cat care:
LOW-COST RABIES SHOTS: Cook County will hold a series of community clinics to vaccinate animals for rabies at a discounted rate starting in June. A one-year vaccination will cost $7, and a three-year shot will cost $21. Microchips that trace a pet to its owner can also be inserted for $10. Visit the Cook County Department of Animal and Rabies Control Web site for dates and locations.
LOW-COST MICROCHIP: Cook County will hold a series of community clinics at which microchips that trace a pet to its owner can also be inserted for $10. Visit the Cook County Department of Animal and Rabies Control Web site for dates and locations.
LOW-COST VACCINATIONS: At the Banfield Animal Hospital located in PetSmart in Skokie, healthy pets can receive $15 to $35 vaccinations after seeing a veterinarian for free on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 2 to 4 p.m. The mandatory vet visit normally costs $35 alone.
LOW-COST SPAY/NEUTER: Many area clinics and shelters offer low-cost spay and neuter services, including the Anti-Cruelty Society’s Spay/Neuter Clinic and PAWS Chicago’s Lurie Clinic. At these facilities, fixing your cat costs between $10 and $30, while the service for dogs costs between $60 and $75.
FREE PET FOOD: On the third Thursday of every month, people with proof of unemployment, public aid disability or social security aid can receive free pet food from the Animal Welfare League at 6224 S. Wabash Ave. Families in need can also visit the Pooch Pantry at B.C Dog Training Club in Mundelein on Saturdays from 9 a.m.-noon and Wednesdays from 1-4 p.m.
Well, we all know that there is a legion of cats who are Mets fans and Yankees fans, but now we have evidence of baseball cats in the heartland.
On Tuesday night, a cat sprinted across Wrigley Field during the 4th inning. Against the backdrop of the iconic ivy-covered walls, the calico deftly eluded capture while several employees tried to corral her. (Cubby Cat got her licks in — those employees were treated for nips and scratches.)
A security guard finally caught the cat but suffered the wrath of the fans after he grabbed Cubby Cat by the TAIL and lifted her over the wall and into the stands.
Cubs spokesman Peter Chase defended the security guard who picked up Cubby Cat by the tail, and said he felt the employees did well under the circumstances. “We all think the young man who picked up the cat did the best he could in a very unique situation,” Chase said. “The cat had already bitten several of our employees, including the young man who was doing his best to corral the cat on the field.”
A Wrigley groundskeeper said she should be named “Ozzie,” after White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, who claims to have seen giant rats at Wrigley Field.
A kind veterinarian at the game took charge of the cat and pronounced her no worse the wear for her adventure. She’ll be held until it is verified that she does not have rabies (several Cubs employees were bitten), and it is hoped that someone will claim her or offer to adopt her.
The Cubs are no strangers to baseball cats. In fact, many Cubbies fans believe the team is the victim of the curse of the black cat. In a 1969 game at Shea Stadium, a black cat walked past third baseman Ron Santo during a Cubs-Mets game and “cast a haunting glare at [Santo], then headed for the Cubs dugout, where it stared down the Chicago players as it skulked back and forth,” according to Suite101. The cat was blamed by many Cubs fans when the Mets won the World Series that year.
No one will be casting any blame in Cubby Cat’s direction, though: the Cubs won Tuesday’s game 7-2.
Imagine being the manager of a rock-n-roll band that falls apart a half-hour before the opening of a sold-out show. Like a scene from Spinal Tap, the lead guitairst has shut herself in her dressing room and refuses to come out. The pianist is engaged in an obsessive bout of self-grooming. The drummer has bolted and is cowering beneath the bleachers. Just another day in the life of Rock Cats, a rockin’ rollin’ trio known more for their looks than their musical (musicat?) talent.
Their manager, Samantha Martin, is brutally honest in her assessment of the band’s talents. “Their music sucks. I mean, when they’re playing, they’re not even playing the same song,” she says, while standing in the wings wearing a black velvet body suit and felt cat ears. “I don’t think they realize they’re supposed to play together.”
Yet, tickets to see them are HOT HOT HOT and their swag is selling of the shelves.
Rock Cats perform with the Circus Cats to packed houses and the audiences love every minute of it (well, who wouldn’t?) The troupe consists an unpredictable group of 13 cats—mostly orphans and strays—who walk the high wire, roll barrels, skateboard, leap to platforms and play miniature musical instruments as a kitty rock band.
Martin never knows when one of her purrsnickety stars will not be in the mood to purrform. She keeps two backup drummers (Waldo, a short-haired tabby, and Fiji, a long-haired Himalayan) at the ready, just in case. Often, mid-performance, a cat will walk to center stage but instead of doing the long-practiced trick, the cat will streeeeetch, lick her paws and stare absently at the audience. Martin is left with nothing to do but smile, throw up her arms showgirl-style and––ignoring the goof––triumphantly declare “ta-da!”
Martin started out training rats (which landed her on Leno) and exotics, but four or five years ago she says, “it dawned on me, there’s so many cat lovers out there. And then I’m thinking that you don’t see any trained cat shows.”
Her first shows were more like exhibition cat herding, but she still found herself and her feline charges playing to packed houses. As the cats’ fame grew, Martin bought a used RV––tricked out with cages and a play area––and they hit the road, crisscrossing the country for shows in Missouri, Wisconsin and Florida. Last summer, the cats landed a sponsorship deal with Evanger’s Dog and Cat Food Co., further fueling dreams of hitting it big. “If the right person sees the cat band,” said Martin, “these cats could be like the next Taco Bell dog.”
What has she learned in the last couple of years? “The cats are really like diva actresses,” Martin said. “They can’t be pleased and they’re always walking off in a huff.”
On that recent night, the cats pulled themselves together just before the curtain fell. As circus music filled the theater, the cats tottterd—one by one—across the high wire. The show picked up its pace, and the cats ran an obstacle course, swung from a rope and competed in a bowling contest against a chicken (Tuna, a white domestic shorthair, won with a strike).
For the grand finale, the Rock Cats took to their instruments, drawing ooohs and ahhhs from the crowd. Amid the waves of applause stood Martin, beaming like the Cheshire Cat in her velvet cat suit.
Does she regret becoming a purrfessional cat herder? “No, not at all,” she said, feeding the guitarist some tuna. “Because, when it works, it’s a great thing. It’s something that no one else is doing. There aren’t a lot of people who are excited about getting up in front of a crowd and being humiliated by a bunch of cats. So, you know, I feel like I’ve got a corner on the market.”
The Amazing Circus Cats perform today at the Gorilla Tango Theatre. For tickets go to gorillatango.com or call 773-598-4549. For more information about Martin go to amazinganimals.biz.
When Glen Schallman got off the bus after work on Thursday, he gasped at the sight of his Rolling Meadows apartment building on fire.
