Your Cat Interview

[theplaguerat]

Hey! I was wondering if anyone has a copy that they could scan, or send me a link. Thank you! ;D

[lindenchase]

You have to love Google. Found it on someone's MySpace page, so instead of a link I thought I better copy and paste.


'Top Gear' presenter James May is known for his interest in either very posh or very basic cars and it seems he has similar taste in cats.

Fusker had all the makings of a high society cat. He came from a respectable background and musical one at that; the ideal companion for piano playing James you might think.

Instead he spends most of his time picking fights, upsetting the neighbours or down the local pub. "It all seemed quite promising." says James. "I thought he's be quite sophistacated but it turns out that he is a bit of a pikey. He picks fights with everthing, including the iron, vacuum cleaner, cars and bikes. He's a little sh*t."

It was the wife of James' TV co-presenter, Richard Hammond, who initiated the unlikely partnership. Having spotted James' weakness for cats she sprang into action having heard a litter of kittens needed new homes.

"It is quite well known that I like cats and we had cats when I was a kid but I was slightly wary of having one of my own as they need looking after.

"I was quite keen on black cats and so I was given Fusker (his name came from an old friend who hated cats and called them all Fuskers, a play on another word I think) who is black with a white bib. He looks like he should be wearing a top hat ike Fred Astaire and driving a 1960's coach-built Bentley but he'd be more likely to have an Opel Manta with a loud stereo and big exhaust!"

Love him or loathe him. Living in Hammersmith in West London, James admits the neighbourhood is divided when it comes to Fusker.

"Some are very fond of hm and he often spends the days with the old dears down the road but the other section hates him because he jumps on their bird tables. He's a real community cat and he's always in and out of houses and has his favourite armchair in each. However he's a bit clumsy and likes to chase flies but instead if picking his way through vases and wine glasses he knocks them over. I've not trained him to be like this I just think he's ill-bred, he's a peasant."

Fusker also frequents the church, where he is known to sit and watch the verger polishing the brass, and also the local pub.

James says: "The pub is about 100 paces from my house and I'll go there most evenings to find him already there sitting at the bar!"

This is a far cry from the scaredy cat who after being kept in for weeks in the early days would just have a quick look around outside before running back in.

"I think I was just as worried as him, " admits James. "I thought he might run onto the main road and get run over but he seems to have worked out where is safe and where isn't. I also worry about losing him as he like to get into people's cars, although he hates them when they're moving. If I'm washing the car he'll climb in and curl up on the seat which is OK but the other day some guests were leaving a neighbour's house and he snuck into their car and nearly ended up in Leicester."

Soul Mates. While at times their relationship may be rather rocky, James does confess that he wouldn't be without 13 month-old Fusker.

"He's always biting me and having a go at me and is definitely not a lap cat but he's also quite comical. He looks thick because his eyes are quite close together but I'm besotted with him. I feel like I live in his house. When he wants feeding he biffs me with his head, or picks a fight or even sits on my shoulders but once I've fed him he'll bugger off. He seems to want to be with me but most of the time he keeps at arm's length. He also like to be with me when I'm playing the piano and he sits on it or under the still and if I play with the lid up he jumps inside and lies on the dumpers. Trouble is I don't realise until the notes stop working and then I have to fish him out.

"All in all he's not very loyal, he's a ruffian, he's not very bright or well-bred and he's not a very useful cat. However, he has the soul of a lion and I love him.

[lindenchase]

And you might like to read his DT column from May last year.

[theplaguerat]

Thank you! ;D

[wildcathammondette]

Fusker sounds like a fab cat! We got 6 of em at home so yeah!

[Eclair]

Thanks Linden for supplying the excellent info and link!


My avatar is a pic from the photos that accompanied that article in "My Cat"...at least I am pretty sure it is.

Also James and Fusker are in "Essential Cattitude"...a lovely book I purchased from the Feline Advisory Bureau (FAB). Mainly consists of a lovely pic of Fusker that James took of him.

[lindenchase]

Sept 13, 2008 10:58:14 GMT Eclair said:

Also James and Fusker are in "Essential Cattitude"...a lovely book I purchased from the Feline Advisory Bureau (FAB). Mainly consists of a lovely pic of Fusker that James took of him.

You wouldn't happen to have a scanner as well?

[nobody]

I love the fact his cats gets to the pub before James.

[theplaguerat]

Sept 13, 2008 7:44:14 GMT lindenchase said:

And you might like to read his DT column from May last year.

The ending really cracked me up! ;D

[maureen]

Thanks, Linden! You're the greatest. This is an even more indepth story than some of the others I've read about him and his cat. Very enjoyable. I also remember that DT column. That one made me think of our dog, Timmy, who never liked taking his worm pill and always escaping our backyard.

[stigalicious]

"Fusker" is a Danish word - from the Danish English dictionarý

fusker sb. (en, -e)
1. dabbler
2. bungler
3. moonlighter

Anybody know if this is true?

[lindenchase]

Could be true, I don't speak Danish. But as James mentions in the article Fusker's name orginates from quite another source. ;D
Fusker also means something technical: to hotlink images or videos and steal the sites bandwidth.

[Eclair]

Sept 13, 2008 11:10:55 GMT lindenchase said:

Sept 13, 2008 10:58:14 GMT Eclair said:

Also James and Fusker are in "Essential Cattitude"...a lovely book I purchased from the Feline Advisory Bureau (FAB). Mainly consists of a lovely pic of Fusker that James took of him.

You wouldn't happen to have a scanner as well?

Am sorry I don't have one . Will look into it at work

[TheDaisy]

Fusker is a type of website or utility that extracts images from a web page, typically from free hosted galleries. Fusker software allows users to identify a sequence of images with a single pattern, for example

From Wiki.

[stigalicious]

Sept 14, 2008 11:15:33 GMT lindenchase said:

Could be true, I don't speak Danish. But as James mentions in the article Fusker's name orginates from quite another source. ;D

James has always maintained he got it from a mate and I am thinking the latter explanation is more likely than the net one, just because it sounds like the cat!!!!

[gr8etdane]

Sept 14, 2008 10:52:43 GMT @stigalicious said:

"Fusker" is a Danish word - from the Danish English dictionarý

fusker sb. (en, -e)
1. dabbler
2. bungler
3. moonlighter

Anybody know if this is true?

No that is not true I'am from Denmark so I shoot know....
There is a danish word call Fusker (fu-sk-er), but that is slang fore a person that cheats people....so I don't thing that he has the name frome Denmark....But you never know
Hop it helps

[Deleted]

Fusker originates, in this case, from a friend's father who used to call a nusiance cat 'fuskers' instead of f**kers. Keeping it clean for the children. ;D

I think I remember him saying this.

Edit Ah ha it says it in the article ^^^^^^^^^

[fword]

Nov 10, 2008 23:22:56 GMT gr8etdane said:

Sept 14, 2008 10:52:43 GMT @stigalicious said:

"Fusker" is a Danish word - from the Danish English dictionarý

fusker sb. (en, -e)
1. dabbler
2. bungler
3. moonlighter

Anybody know if this is true?

No that is not true I'am from Denmark so I shoot know....
There is a danish word call Fusker (fu-sk-er), but that is slang fore a person that cheats people....so I don't thing that he has the name frome Denmark....But you never know
Hop it helps

I'm also Danish and yes, stigalicious, what you found in the dictionary is exactly what the word 'fusker' means in Danish!! I think gr8etdane may have misunderstood the English translations of the word, however she's right about the fact that it is also used as slang for 'a person who cheats people' in some way, for example someone who intentionally does work for you/sells you something which seems to be in order but is in fact faulty!