Friday, September 3, 2010

Sparklebean in Action

This week, Charlene Butterbean has been wearing a little video camera around her collar for Friskies cat food. She's part of a group of 25 cat "repurrtors" from across the country who are collecting data to be later analyzed by a cat psychology expert.

As I was sifting through yesterday's footage, I found this little gem. In this movie, Charlene is walking along and discovers one of her beloved sparkle balls on the floor. She pauses and plays with it, picks it up and walks over to the bed and batts it around again. You can hear her squeal in glee (it's a little distorted because the mic is right against her neck) as she plays with the ball. In the end, in all her excitement, she knocks the camera off her collar and all goes black.

I know it's not the greatest cinematography in the world, but I enjoyed watching it. We always find the sparkle balls all over the house. She'll leave them on our pillows, next to her food bowl, on the steps,, but never really see her play with them on her own. I'm glad she was able to catch herself on camera.


55 comments:

  1. Awww... this is great cinematography! I love that she was able to catch some sparkle ball fun on camera. Kind of makes me wish I was a cat. :)

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  2. Sweet happy little sparkleBean!

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  3. Our cat Spikie makes the same noise when he plays with his sparkle ball! He brings it to us as a gift - when I get home from work it's often lying on my bed pillow. Or if I'm sad or upset he'll run and get it and bring it to me. LOL!

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  4. I love Charlene's little prrts and squeals and her paws batting at the sparkle ball.

    Just made me melt and wish I were at home with my kitties playing instead of in the office.

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  5. Love the Charlene cam. Can she wear it all the time? I love the idea of watching cat antics. Thanks Laurie.

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  6. That was adorable! I agree with Your Daily Cute that the cinematography is great! It's neat to see the world through the eyes of The Bean! :)

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  7. Lulu,,, I don't think I could live with at cat wearing a camera ALL the time. Oh, the pressure to keep the house clean! You don't realize how dirty your floors are until you put a camera on your cat.

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  8. I can't wait to hear what the cat psychologist will make out of the beloved Bean. :)

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  9. SO CUTE!

    My little cat Newt carries little pipe cleaner 'bugs' around the house and likes to drop them in the water bowl. Cats are the best!

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  10. The noises just killed me. I love her little happy sounds!!!

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  11. That was like the "Blair Witch Project" of sparkle balls. So cute and hilarious, thanks for sharing!

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  12. OMG!!! We can hear the Bean's voice!!! Laurie, this is fantastic! I love your comments about where you find the sparkle balls. We occasionally find kitty toys in all those places and more, including the water dish.

    Also, I noticed that only 25 cats are wearing video collars, while there were 50 in the original study wearing cameras. Guess our Sparklebean's talent is shone through. :)

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  13. I love this! The BeanCam last year was fun but this is ten times better. I love the POV of The Bean and the occasional whisker cameo is hilarious. So glad you are posting these!

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  14. Katie makes the same noise (but louder!) when she's carrying her stuffed birdie around. Mind you, her stuffed birdie is as big as her head, and she has a mouth full of plush when she does it!

    Way to go Bean, for catching some sparkle ball action for us!

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  15. Cool. I'm a little dizzy, but that should clear up in a second. My Andy likes to play with his "soccer balls" all over the house. (They are either waffle golf balls or caps to soda bottles). He has a distinctive meow that goes with it. So cute to see him so excited.

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  16. My girls love the sparkle balls too. Phoebe will pick them up and carry them around the house, chirping for someone to come play with her. Reminds me to go on a sparkle ball hunt tonight at home.

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  17. When I hear that sound in my house, I know that Daltrey is on the "hunt". Usually I hear it from another room, and she walks to wherever I am, and she drops the mouse/fuzzy toy on the floor.

    My boyfriend and I have learned her to thank her earnestly for sharing her catch. I'd swear that she looks very proud of herself afterwards!

    What can I say, she's a great provider!

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  18. Oh man, this was fantastic. That little white paw tuft! Sparkly ball pats! PRRRTS!
    Great work, Laurie and The Bean!

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  19. OMG!!! Squeee, splort, my head jus asploded from the cuteness. That is absolutely priceless. Charlene Butterbean is pawesome.

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  20. Love the toe-hawks as they flash by in the midst of the action!

    Way cooler than the still pix!

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  21. What do you mean, "it's not the greatest cinematography in the world"?
    I love the occasional whiskers going by!

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  22. OMG, Beanie-coos and Beanie-pawsies in action! What could be better?

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  23. The Academy Award for Best Cinematography goes to ....... Charlene Butterbean! Awesome Miss Bean! Thank you for sharing a special sparkle ball moment. Love love love the sounds of joy.

    When will you be releasing the sequel?

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  24. Oh my gosh, the little paws darting into frame. brbdying...

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  25. That's pretty cute, I love the white toes getting in the shot all the time. We had sparkle balls for the fosters and they absolutely tore them to shreds, we found piles of yarn and sparkles strewn all around the floor. The camera seems to be pointing lower this time, we saw a lot of carpet?

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  26. soo nice to the Charlene in action..she is so cute playing with her sparkle!!The noise she makes is so adorable..I wish I know what my kitty boy is doing with his fluffy stuffed cat toy on our bed everytime we are away...Hope you she will catch some more nice videos for us to watch...

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  27. If it's not the greatest cinematography in the world (and I'm not willing to say that), then it most assuredly IS the greatest CAT cinematography in the world.

    What a treat! Girl loves her sparkle balls whether anyone's looking or not!

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  28. What adorable little noises!!! And the white toesies! My kitty sounds more like she's in distress when she does this, but I've figured out she's bringing me a toy and just wants a bit of attention when I hear her mewing.

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  29. That was the most precious thing evar!! Love the prrrts!

    I <3 the Bean!

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  30. Oh that was awesome! So much fun to watch and vicariously see what my own fuzzies see when they're playing. hehe! Loved it!

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  31. Oh no! Wot happened to the vid? It seems to be gone! I wanna see too! *pouts* :(

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  32. catsonville,,, lots of carpet because she's looking at the ball on the floor. the camera is attached to her collar, so wherever she's looking, that's where it's pointing.

    Zippy, I don't know why you're having trouble. It's still there. Here's a link to it..

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYL_5iyZ0-s

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  33. Laurie, or no matter how much you clean....a friend comes over in black slacks and leaves a fluff of white fur! Welcome to my world! LOL

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  34. catonsvillecats, I find sparkle ball thread lying about, too. Seems that the red balls are the favorite!

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  35. That was absolutely precious! Awww Beanie, you are such a love.

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  36. I think I've watched it fifteen times. Just love the little noises and the pat, pat, pat of the little mittens. Great fun!

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  37. As much as I love love love your posts, videos (this one is spectacular) and photos, it's your fans' comments that make me laugh, make me with I were more eloquent, make me wish they were my friends.

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  38. The secret life of cats! All of her little asides are hilarious. To my ear she sounds a little like Simon's Cat.

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  39. Cassis, who has Bean's face but is a tuxedo also loves her yellow sparkle ball. Hers has a yellow feather. I read somewhere that cats can only see yellow??? LOVE the glimpse of her fabulous whiskers!

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  40. Actually all I could think was how incredibly clean your carpet looks. You should see mine, and all I have is two cats.

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  41. A collar camera - what an interesting idea. Do they make them for spouses?

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  42. Is there anything the Bean can't do? I don't think so!

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  43. This is better than most student films I've seen. I think the Bean should go to film school.

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  44. Lita and the boys in MelbourneSeptember 5, 2010 at 9:22 PM

    So very cute! I love the Sparkle Bean title and the Blair Witch comparison - hilarious! AND THEN at the end you get to select other videos to watch at thend and ta-daaaah! there's a butterbean 'Spazzing Out Part 1 & 2!' just excellent! i love the little paws moving in and out of shot.

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  45. Oh that was fun! We LOVED watching it. Great paw action.

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  46. That is fascinating; I love the paws, the whiskers and the "robot kitty" sounds!

    And the other videos are great too: there's one where Charlene is still a kitten, and there's even a couple with Drewey!

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  47. Yes, I came back to see Sparklebean again. Like everyone else, I often wonder what my cats are thinking. I think that this video is as close as I've ever come to seeing things from a cat's perspective. Very cool!

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  48. Thanks, Laurie! I'm curious (we were discussing this weekend as Ms. B talked to us about all sorts of stuff) - does she ever meow when she's alone? Or do cats just make their happy/killing noises when no one's around?

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  49. I guess there were no kittens around, or they would have made it into the video somehow .. as blurry patches, possibly. Anyhow, I heard that cats make those little purry noises with their toys as a way of saying "back off! this one's mine." If that's true, how interesting that Charlene makes noises even when no one is around! My baby used to grab her favorite toy and trot over to me while meowing with her mouth full. It was adorabuls.

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  50. Charlene, you are a woman after my own heart! I have been playing with my red sparkle ball so much that it is coming apart! ~~Junior

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  51. I can't believe that actually made me cry.. that was too precious. Makes me want to go out and get some cameras for my kitties!!

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  52. Adorable Bean! I love the shots of seeing the paws moving. Got a little motion sickness actually. Cool video!

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  53. My cat Gregory is the same way with "rattle mice." He must have 20 or so by now because they always get batted under the closet door and thus "lost." He's part Siamese so his noises are a bit louder and indignant. The best is when he brings me a "mouse" in his mouth and tries to talk about it at the same time. Love the video, love the blog!

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