Greetings Felines and Hoomans of Steemlandia!
This evening, I want to take a moment to observe the passing of celebrity and Internet star "Grumpy Cat" overnight, at age 7.
Grumpy Cat — whose real name was "Tardar Sauce" — was certainly one of the best known and most recognizable cat celebrities in history.
Photo by Peter Kramer — NBC Newswire/Getty Images
Grumpy Cat — whose "sourpuss" look was the result of feline dwarfism and a major underbite — was featured on millions of memes, had her own books and even starred in a movie, and was possibly the world's wealthiest feline ever, amassing a fortune of more than $100 million.
The original "Can Has Cheezburger?" cat from circa 2007
Although she has now crossed the Rainbow Bridge, she will undoubtedly continue to be part of memes and stories for generations to come.
Grumpy was more than just a celebrity cat, though. She more or less pioneered the whole idea of pets as Internet Stars. Certainly, there were others before she made her Reddit debut in 2013, but she took the tiny niche previously carved out by the famous "Can Has Cheezburger?" cat in January 2007 to a whole new level!
The difference? They gray "Cheezburger" cat was the result of an anonymous post, and nobody exactly knows who the cat is, even though the meme became quite famous... and became a major part of what made (for example) #caturday a thing.
We probably will not see a phenom like Grumpy Cat again — I could be wrong, of course — because the "this is something new!" factor that help lift her to fame is... well... done, now.
There are still famous cats on the web, of course. Japanese "Maru" is quite well known for interacting with boxes and has a YouTube channel with videos that have been viewed 350+ million times. But charming, or not, Maru will never be Grumpy Cat.
And so, we mourn the passing of the world's most iconic cat.
Safe travels, Grumpy Cat! May you have marvelous adventures in the Great Beyond!
And I hope everyone here had a wonderful day... Caturday ahead!
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20190516 0230
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