Cat People

This holiday season, it's raining cats and dogs -- at least in stores around town where presents for pet lovers abound.If you've got an animal lover on your gift list, why give him or her the same old scarf or bottle of fragrance when there are ceramic vases and cotton nightshirts, papier-mache clocks and woodcarvings, books and ties that pay homage to all things canine and feline?With pets in more than half of all American homes, gifts that show off a person's fancy for four-legged critters are thoughtful ways to say happy holidays.

There are plenty of ways to divide people: haves vs. have-nots, Democrats vs. Republicans, night owls vs. larks, rap vs. rock, fried vs. broiled. The list goes on, but there are also a few things almost everyone can agree on, and one is Grand Champion Blackrock Jungle Juice RN. He's known to his people by the simpler name Mufasa and he's the Bernese mountain dog that won the Best of Breed honors at the 138th annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York City. Most dog people, and probably a lot of cat people, too, have at least a vague understanding that the Westminster Dog Show is the World Series, Super Bowl and Triple Crown of canine accomplishment.

LOOK AT you now, in the belly of the beast, and you can feel the panic rising in your gut. You are not the sort of person who attends cat shows. And yet here you are at the Mason-Dixon Cat Fanciers annual 'do, 325 cats and 167 exhibitors from all over the country spread out across the polished floor of the Essex Community College phys ed center. Three thousand miles away, the Ravens are preparing for a football holy war with the Oakland Raiders. But you, you're spending a morning with cats . . . and cat people.

JANE RANDOLPH, 93 Actress starrred in 'Cat People' Jane Randolph, who was memorably terrorized by shadow and sound in the original Cat People, died May 4 at a hospital near Gstaad, Switzerland. Ms. Randolph appeared in more than 20 films. Cat People (1942), revered by film enthusiasts for its artistry under a strained budget, brought Ms. Randolph her greatest public renown.

JANE RANDOLPH, 93 Actress starrred in 'Cat People' Jane Randolph, who was memorably terrorized by shadow and sound in the original Cat People, died May 4 at a hospital near Gstaad, Switzerland. Ms. Randolph appeared in more than 20 films. Cat People (1942), revered by film enthusiasts for its artistry under a strained budget, brought Ms. Randolph her greatest public renown.

Fiction Scorpion's Gate By Richard A. Clarke Typhoon Lover By Sujata Massey Missing Mom By Joyce Carol Oates Third Girl from the Left By Martha Southgate Everyone Worth Knowing By Lauren Weisberger Nonfiction Lennon Revealed By Larry Kane Cat People By Michael Korda and Margaret Korda 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus By Charles Mann I Can't Believe She Did That: Why Women Betray Other Women At Work By Nan Mooney ...

I HAVE HEARD from the cat people, and the cat people are not happy.Apparently, the cat people are up in arms over a recent column in which I (quite sensibly, I thought) listed the virtues of dogs over cats.I forget exactly what was said in that column, but it was something about the country going to hell in a handbasket now that more people are choosing cats as pets.I also might have taken a few shots at cats for having zero personality, all the warmth of an eggplant and a predisposition to stalk schoolchildren, claw drapes and scratch furniture.

In conjunction with its screening of "A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies," TCM has put together a slate of 19 films, including three of Scorsese's own works: 1974's "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" (3: 30 a.m. tonight), 1977's "New York, New York" (3 a.m. tomorrow night) and 1978's "The Last Waltz" (4 a.m. Wednesday night). Other highlights: Vincente Minnelli's "The Bad and the Beautiful" (1953), a tempestuous look at the art vs. commerce tug-of-war in Hollywood, with Kirk Douglas as a perfectly corruptible film producer (9: 30 p.m. tonight)

There are plenty of ways to divide people: haves vs. have-nots, Democrats vs. Republicans, night owls vs. larks, rap vs. rock, fried vs. broiled. The list goes on, but there are also a few things almost everyone can agree on, and one is Grand Champion Blackrock Jungle Juice RN. He's known to his people by the simpler name Mufasa and he's the Bernese mountain dog that won the Best of Breed honors at the 138th annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York City. Most dog people, and probably a lot of cat people, too, have at least a vague understanding that the Westminster Dog Show is the World Series, Super Bowl and Triple Crown of canine accomplishment.

Henry A. Grunwald, a Time magazine editor who led the publication's shift from conservatism to a more centrist view before becoming a United States ambassador to Austria, died of heart failure Saturday at his Manhattan home. As managing editor at Time, he began to give writers bylines and introduced new departments including Behavior, Energy, The Sexes, Economy and Dance. He ordered up Time's 1966 cover asking the question "Is God Dead?" After 11 years as managing editor, Mr. Grunwald served as editor-in-chief of all Time Inc. publications - including Fortune, Sports Illustrated, People and Money - until retirement in 1987.

Your costume's ready, the candy dish is full, the jack-o'-lantern's been carved. Looking for that last little push to get you in the proper Halloween mood? Time to break out the DVDs. Movie-makers have been focusing on horror at least 1896, when French filmmaker Georges Melies cast himself as the devil in the short Le Manior du diable (The Devil's Castle). The main problem for horror-movie watchers is deciding which level of fear would be appropriate. Are you looking for something suitable for the entire family?

Fiction Scorpion's Gate By Richard A. Clarke Typhoon Lover By Sujata Massey Missing Mom By Joyce Carol Oates Third Girl from the Left By Martha Southgate Everyone Worth Knowing By Lauren Weisberger Nonfiction Lennon Revealed By Larry Kane Cat People By Michael Korda and Margaret Korda 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus By Charles Mann I Can't Believe She Did That: Why Women Betray Other Women At Work By Nan Mooney ...

Hold the garlic for dogs, cats I heard that garlic could keep fleas from biting, so I put some in my dog's food for about a week. He became lethargic and couldn't even climb the lowest stairs. I thought this might be a reaction to the antibiotics I had him on to heal sores from the original flea bites. Both garlic and onions can cause anemia in dogs. Cats are even more susceptible. Always check with the vet before giving your pet any medicine or extra treats like chocolate or raisins, which are also toxic to dogs.

Henry A. Grunwald, a Time magazine editor who led the publication's shift from conservatism to a more centrist view before becoming a United States ambassador to Austria, died of heart failure Saturday at his Manhattan home. As managing editor at Time, he began to give writers bylines and introduced new departments including Behavior, Energy, The Sexes, Economy and Dance. He ordered up Time's 1966 cover asking the question "Is God Dead?" After 11 years as managing editor, Mr. Grunwald served as editor-in-chief of all Time Inc. publications - including Fortune, Sports Illustrated, People and Money - until retirement in 1987.

FIVE DAYS into the new year, and already we have a dispute in Charm City. Not the most serious of ones, mind you, but one that should concern us all. It's the great Cats as Public Menace brouhaha. Baltimore officials, to counter the danger of felines run amok, have decreed that cat owners must license their pets. And to show how kindhearted they are, those same bigwigs will allow cat lovers to get their licenses for free this month. After that, licenses will cost $10 for cats that have been spayed or neutered and $30 for those that haven't.

LOOK AT you now, in the belly of the beast, and you can feel the panic rising in your gut. You are not the sort of person who attends cat shows. And yet here you are at the Mason-Dixon Cat Fanciers annual 'do, 325 cats and 167 exhibitors from all over the country spread out across the polished floor of the Essex Community College phys ed center. Three thousand miles away, the Ravens are preparing for a football holy war with the Oakland Raiders. But you, you're spending a morning with cats . . . and cat people.

Columbia resident Missy Zane loves cats, lives with eight of them, and makes her living pet-sitting for them. She owns dozens of cat toys, wears cat T-shirts and sleeps with a cat in her arms every night.Now she's upping the ante: she's forming a Howard County cat club because she feels cats here need an "advocate." Starting next week, the club will meet the last Monday of every month."We'll tell cat stories and we'll bring cat pictures and gossip about our cats, because cat people love to do that," she said.

On a recent visit to my mother's house, I received the depressing news that she has a new cat.The new cat replaces the old cat, which apparently grew tired of annoying people and simply disappeared.The old cat's name was Choo, and he sat on the corner of the living room couch for six years and glared at everyone.When he wasn't giving you the creeps with his stare, he was scratching the hell out of the furniture or dragging dead birds and mice into the house for a little snack.Yeah, he was a bundle of laughs, Choo.

In conjunction with its screening of "A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies," TCM has put together a slate of 19 films, including three of Scorsese's own works: 1974's "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" (3: 30 a.m. tonight), 1977's "New York, New York" (3 a.m. tomorrow night) and 1978's "The Last Waltz" (4 a.m. Wednesday night). Other highlights: Vincente Minnelli's "The Bad and the Beautiful" (1953), a tempestuous look at the art vs. commerce tug-of-war in Hollywood, with Kirk Douglas as a perfectly corruptible film producer (9: 30 p.m. tonight)

Columbia resident Missy Zane loves cats, lives with eight of them, and makes her living pet-sitting for them. She owns dozens of cat toys, wears cat T-shirts and sleeps with a cat in her arms every night.Now she's upping the ante: she's forming a Howard County cat club because she feels cats here need an "advocate." Starting next week, the club will meet the last Monday of every month."We'll tell cat stories and we'll bring cat pictures and gossip about our cats, because cat people love to do that," she said.