Maru places bag on head, loves it

by Meg on March 29, 2009

NTMTOM brought us this latest installment of Maru…

{ 140 comments }

1 scoobie 03.29.09 at 1:53 am

I think this cat is quite smart and just a bit bored so he’s making up his own entertainment, like him getting into a bin here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxPXPv3oNY4&feature=related

2 CoffeeCup 03.29.09 at 1:56 am

YES! MARU!

I love Maru!

3 nads 03.29.09 at 2:04 am

Maru is huge!

4 Jess 03.29.09 at 2:08 am

I love how he strolls by the door with the bag STILL on his head. This cat is great and seems very smart.

5 Danushka 03.29.09 at 2:13 am

Whatever medication this cat’s on, I’d gladly take some.

6 auntyb 03.29.09 at 2:16 am

I strut right by with a bag on my head..(sang to stray cat strut)

7 Kimski 03.29.09 at 2:19 am

That cat is the funniest cat ever.

I love him.

8 David (the first one) 03.29.09 at 2:21 am

Oh Maru, does your physical skills know no limits?! Honestly, he’s like one of those chubby but super agile ninja raccoons that occupy Central Park. I know there’s a small hole on the bottom of the bag, but still… What is he going to do next, escape from a straitjacket in a water tank?

/What is Maru, a regular tabby?

9 Andrew 03.29.09 at 2:22 am

Glad Maru got another post

He totally deserves it :D

10 David (the first one) 03.29.09 at 2:26 am

Oh, just found out via Boingboing that Maru is a Scottish Fold. Are there even other types of cats in Japan?!

11 jenocide 03.29.09 at 2:33 am

I cracked up super hard at this video. He looks so regal walking around with that bag on his head!

12 Redbone 03.29.09 at 2:37 am

Just agreeing with the others; he seems quite bright to do that, then test his memory by wandering around a bit. It’s like something a small kid would do to pass the time on a rainy day. Except Maru doesn’t knock stuff over.

13 Caitlin 03.29.09 at 2:40 am

Ahhh Maru, we love you :D

also I think this apartment would make an excellent location for one of them little room escape games. Yes?

14 Nana 03.29.09 at 2:41 am

He’s like, okay, I’m blind. This is a cool experience. Can I find my way around the house? Oh, yeah.

15 Ermine 03.29.09 at 2:43 am

Love it so much! Too funny. Oh Maru, how I would love to squeeze you.

16 thicktortiethintabby 03.29.09 at 2:44 am

The Unknown Kitteh?

17 the bug man 03.29.09 at 2:51 am

I am incognito.

Shh!

18 David (the first one) 03.29.09 at 3:01 am

@Nana – it’s like he just saw Bourne Supremacy – “okay Mr. Matt Damon, you’re free-running in a strange city at top speed with no map, no help, and not a moment of hesitation. I think I can top that. Look, I’m putting a paper bag over my head. It’s small, not even I can dive through it. No eyes, no ears, no whiskers – no problem. How do you like them apples?”

19 kibblenibble 03.29.09 at 3:06 am

Awwwwwww! Whatta beeg cuddly boy! And soooo seeelly!

20 winnie 03.29.09 at 3:10 am

hhmmm… never seen a cat with thighs before…

I’m sure he knows exactly what he is doing, must be some odd hobby… who knows?

21 lucy's mommeh 03.29.09 at 3:15 am

It says on the right that there is a small hole that Maru can see through.
My husband chuckled with me when he watched it. Funny pusskins…:)

22 lucy's mommeh 03.29.09 at 3:15 am

It says on the right that there is a small hole that Maru can see through.
My husband chuckled with me when he watched it. Funny pusskins…:)

23 P.Erasmus 03.29.09 at 3:17 am

Imagine the ?!WTF!? moment you would have if you came by to visit this person at their apartment, and sat down on the couch exactly at this moment 01:20 in the video –>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofrSio_jZO0#t=1m20s

24 temperance 03.29.09 at 3:24 am

do you think maru was an orphaned kitten raised by hedgehogs?

25 Jess 03.29.09 at 3:28 am

lol, p.Erasmus I was thinking roughly the same thing. That moment is all kinds of odd+cute+disturbing+wtf

26 Theresa 03.29.09 at 3:28 am

1)”Gosh, what could this be, and what’s inside it?”
2)”OMG, getitoff getitoff getitoff!!!”
3)”Ah, that’s better.”
4)”Gosh, what could this be, and what’s inside it?”

27 kodalai 03.29.09 at 3:30 am

“And once again the city will know the terror of… Hammerhead Cat! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

28 berthaservant 03.29.09 at 3:31 am

First of all, I love how Maru is (not) watching the WBC — it was a game w/ Korea (couldn’t tell who they were playing) so this is within the last couple weeks, FRESH MARU, peeps.

Completely, completely awesome. The section from 1:24-1:42 was just teh awesome.

29 Theresa 03.29.09 at 3:32 am

PS There’s BASEBALL on that TV!! Go Yu Darvish@

30 wolfwatcher 03.29.09 at 3:34 am

Maru was putting the bag on his head in fear of watching Korea beat Japan in the WBC! Daehun Mingok!

31 kelly 03.29.09 at 3:34 am

I like this cat.

32 wolfwatcher 03.29.09 at 3:35 am

(wow does this mean I’m **not** the only one who was following the WBC? AWESOME!!)

33 CoffeeCup 03.29.09 at 3:37 am

I KNEW Maru was a Scottish fold! I love Scottish folds. Though if you look in other videos in which his head is not entirely encapsulated by packaging products, his little ears aren’t that folded.

34 beansie 03.29.09 at 3:42 am

omg this is the weirdest cat ever.
love it. he *must* be really bored.

35 Nik 03.29.09 at 3:56 am

He is just so casual about it all. I love how he strolls around like it is perfectly normal to have a bag on his head! This cat just cracks me up.

36 cath 03.29.09 at 3:59 am

Interesting that no one quoting Maru’s thoughts above used lolcat or even Qte-speak. It seems fitting that such a smart cat would be fully fluent in English (not to mention his first language, Japanese, and at three others). Such a clever boy!

37 mocax 03.29.09 at 4:00 am

i think he gets a rush with the tunnel vision effect simulated by the hole in the bag…

“i’m in the zone…. i’m in the zone…”

38 CoffeeCup 03.29.09 at 4:12 am

Check out Maru at 1:12 in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkazguPsusc&feature=channel_page

How Mission Impossible is that?! Made me laugh.

39 Pam 03.29.09 at 4:16 am

This video made me laugh to tears. The segment where he’s just strooollling back and forth in front of the door is pure win! I daresay, Maru is just the goofiest feline ever born, and that’s saying something.

40 Lorel J 03.29.09 at 4:23 am

@thicktortiethintabbiy, loved the Gong Show reference! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xj3Q9l9Ivng

41 fish eye no miko 03.29.09 at 4:31 am

Do-do-do… don’t mind me, just walkin’ around with a bag on my head…
Heehee.

42 misscrisp 03.29.09 at 4:32 am

Temperance you’re right! If Maru could dive into a paper towel roll, you know he would. God I love this cat.

43 rabble 03.29.09 at 4:40 am

@temperence: snirk snirk. you are so bang on with that :)

as soon as my belly stops hurting from laughing i’m watching it again.

44 jackie31337 03.29.09 at 5:35 am

My 5-year-old says: “Silly little cat, you shouldn’t put your head in a bag!”

45 googlie eyes 03.29.09 at 5:42 am

You can see him being careful placing his front paws. Very conscientious.

46 bunnystew 03.29.09 at 5:56 am

HA! Maru gets his ears cleaned. His human needs to just start a web page for him already. Stop making money for youtube and start making money for more boxes, bags, cups, and q-tips for Maru.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20Q1QCr6b98&feature=channel

47 Robredyak 03.29.09 at 7:47 am

OK- I’ve gotta ask…..
Maru OR Winston???
If you were stuck in an apartment for weeks on end, which would you want to have to entertain you? I love em both! Tough one, I know! I actually cant say. Maru with the sliding box hab?…Or Winston with the redonk nomming sounds?….

48 aimee (the first one) 03.29.09 at 8:18 am

I love this stuff, also reason why I don’t have (yet) more animales roaming my spacious abode. they’re bored out of their walnut brains. so sad and Cayute. Might get a hamster and make a 3 story story. Hm
And, gee (it’s late-I’m horny) whadda look like first david?

49 googlie eyes 03.29.09 at 8:59 am

I’m thinking it’s a good thing Maru is an indoor cat :o ).

50 justme 03.29.09 at 10:58 am

Fan-freakin-tastic.

Gotta love that look at the end, “Oh, right, like you’ve never seen a cat walking around with a bag on his head before.”

51 Alexis 03.29.09 at 11:29 am

Robredyak, I was just thinking “If I had to make a choice…” and I would have to choose Maru. Especially after watching the other posted YouTube links.

No offense meant to Winston at all! And now that I think about his shaving video… hmm…

52 Auz 03.29.09 at 11:32 am

“His human needs to just start a web page for him already.”

Maru’s blog -> http://sisinmaru.blog17.fc2.com/

[Yes indeed. Check out this entry written by Maru's poor crocheted panda toy... http://sisinmaru.blog17.fc2.com/blog-entry-146.html - Ed.]

53 LyhjeHylje 03.29.09 at 11:37 am

Maru seems like extremely curious cat, I just wonder what tricks he comes up when there is no bipedals around?

54 Jen8 03.29.09 at 12:17 pm

For a kitty on boxhab, a small bag on the head is like a nicotine patch for a quitting smoker.

55 RevWaldo 03.29.09 at 12:37 pm

“Now people will point at me and say ‘there goes the kid whose father was thrown out by a mouse’! I’m ashamed to show my face in public.”

56 katrinab 03.29.09 at 1:06 pm

awwwww! i think maru has respiratory alkalosis and is treating himself by breathing into a paper bag :)

57 Theresa 03.29.09 at 1:08 pm

@Wolfwatcher, yes, I watched the WBC. I’m a Mets fan, they had the most players in the tournament, so I had to keep an eye on all of them. Some of the other countries’ handling of pitchers (i.e. Mexico and the DR) made me very nervous. It was hard to watch USA/Puerto Rico, but it was one of the best games I’ve ever seen– so many guys were so great! I think international baseball is a lot of fun, and wish more USA-ians would get into it.

58 Theresa 03.29.09 at 1:09 pm

@RevWaldo– Junior???

59 kasia 03.29.09 at 1:10 pm

maru has got to be the weirdest cat in the universe. love him!!!

60 RevWaldo 03.29.09 at 1:27 pm

@Theresa – Yep! (I couldn’t find any videos of “Who’s Kitten Who?” on YouTube etc. to link to.)

61 Hon Glad 03.29.09 at 2:04 pm

How an indoor cat brings some variety into the day.

62 arbed 03.29.09 at 2:31 pm

hilarious!

63 catluvr 03.29.09 at 2:57 pm

This cat clearly has issues. And he sure does not seem to be bothered by them whatsoever. Give him the blue ribbon!

64 Theo 03.29.09 at 3:26 pm

I really, really need to figure out how to put hovertexts onto YouTube embedded video again. This clip just PLEADS for it.

65 katiedid 03.29.09 at 3:26 pm

Thats one big kitty.. and his head seems to fit the size of his body.. lol…

66 jujube 03.29.09 at 3:51 pm

Maru is the very definition of “cool”.

67 Ayeesha 03.29.09 at 3:56 pm

What a nutty, charming little cat, lol. I wish we could peek into her head and find out what she’s thinking when she’s doing this, hee hee.

68 Gail (the first one) 03.29.09 at 3:59 pm

@Jen8: LOL!!!!!!!!

@Theo: Yes, you really must. I keep looking for them :-)

69 Not That Mike The Other Mike 03.29.09 at 4:05 pm

@Theo: To add hovertexts to an embedded object, add a TITLE attribute to the tag, as I did in this post:

http://www.cuteoverload.com/2009/03/creepy-raccoon.html

70 soxfan 03.29.09 at 4:05 pm

I watched the WBC too, Theresa. It’s just a really cool event even though I worry about the MLB pitchers..
Korea had a guy named Bum Ho Lee on their team. That alone made it all worth it. HA!
More on topic, I laughed until I cried at Maru casually walking around like that. What a cat!!

71 NYVenus 03.29.09 at 4:05 pm

FRICKIN’ CUTE!! I laughed out loud. Maru rocks!

72 Not That Mike The Other Mike 03.29.09 at 4:06 pm

@Theo: To add hovertexts to an embedded object, add a TITLE attribute to the OBJECT tag, as I did in this post:

http://www.cuteoverload.com/2009/03/creepy-raccoon.html

73 Not That Mike The Other Mike 03.29.09 at 4:07 pm

Oops, the system deleted my HTML in the first version of my response.

74 Theo 03.29.09 at 4:10 pm

Mike — but no hovertext pops up on that one. That’s the recent YouTube embed code, ignoring your conscientiously-added title tag.
:(

Good news, though: I figured it out by reverse-engineering an older one.
:)

75 Theo 03.29.09 at 4:12 pm

PS — I’ll email you & Meg my HTML snippet.

76 Nik 03.29.09 at 4:38 pm

@Theo, I love the fact that a cat with a bag on its head has caused you reverse engineer a code. Ah the Power of Maru!

77 Theo 03.29.09 at 4:44 pm

I engineer’d the code
And wrote Maru an ode.
;)

78 Theo 03.29.09 at 4:47 pm

(aside: I guess I need to figure out my HTML nomenclature… so, the “title” portion is an Attribute of the tag, not the tag itself?)

79 P.Erasmus 03.29.09 at 4:53 pm

Pics of Maru with bag on head ->

http://sisinmaru.blog17.fc2.com/blog-entry-140.html

80 kibblenibble 03.29.09 at 4:53 pm

Theo: I love your ode, but careful, your geek is showing. ;o)

[I have no problem with that. Hehe... - Ed.]

81 Nik 03.29.09 at 5:10 pm

Theo broke the code
to write a Kitty Ode
Clever text with Cute Maru
Makes my head go *splode*

82 Alice Tanzer 03.29.09 at 5:14 pm

There is a video of Maru makin biscuits.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKxUDWU0Ogc

83 gravyboat 03.29.09 at 5:16 pm

That Maru is such a goof!

84 Theo 03.29.09 at 5:18 pm

Hey now. I *fixed* the code. [ahem]

85 Alice Tanzer 03.29.09 at 5:19 pm

*snort*
I love this blog entry of him trying to eat his owner’s orange.
http://sisinmaru.blog17.fc2.com/blog-entry-67.html

86 Annie 03.29.09 at 5:27 pm

LOL not sure which part of Maru’s blog is cuter Maru or what his owner writes about Maru… and it puts me in mind of that video of the cat and the owner who spoke french Badly … Remember it was very Noir.. I just loved it.

LOL Cats they are an inspiration. and a conundrum

87 Josh N 03.29.09 at 5:50 pm

I’m amazed at how clean their place is, no cat hair anywhere.

88 yubnub 03.29.09 at 5:59 pm

I LOVE THAT COUCH.

89 blair 03.29.09 at 6:14 pm

what was that on the couch at the end next to maru and the bag?

did the couch have a puppy?

was it what came in the bag?

where do i get a big round-headed adventurecat like maru?

90 skip 03.29.09 at 6:20 pm

Whoa, I think the couch is hideous but I was going to say so before I saw your post, yubnub.

Hilarious cat, however.

91 Paunchie 03.29.09 at 6:41 pm

he prolly needs some toys to entertain hisself

92 Nik 03.29.09 at 6:48 pm

@Theo–sorry, I meant “cracked” the code!

[Ahh yes OK, got it. - Ed.]

93 Diane B 03.29.09 at 7:04 pm

If I didn’t already share my home with Miss Emily, I’d have to vote for Maru as the world’s cutest cat (sorry, Winston, you have to settle for 3rd).

94 Theresa 03.29.09 at 7:22 pm

“O Cat with sock on upraised head . . .” Theo, you rock like Samuel Taylor Coleridge!

95 gryt 03.29.09 at 7:23 pm

I can’t wrap my head around the AWESOMENESS that is this cat. Love!!

96 Paunchie 03.29.09 at 7:36 pm

love the blog. looks like he’s got an awesome kitteh perching thing

97 Annie 03.29.09 at 8:06 pm

I love that couch clean lines very nice and this is the funniest video of MAru I love how he just marches all over the house with the bag on his head. YOu can hear him thinking Doot de Doo… lets see how the halway looks in this thing… doot de doo now lets check out the bedroom LOLOL

98 mipmup 03.29.09 at 8:08 pm

@David (the first one): he is a scottish fold.

99 oni 03.29.09 at 8:11 pm

wow! no nuffs of cat mistreatment so far. yay!

100 Brenda 03.29.09 at 8:47 pm

That is hysterical! Why on earth would he like having a bag on his head?

101 Brenda 03.29.09 at 8:51 pm

I was thinking that Maru has it all over Winston-san, but he is also more entertaining than Winston.

102 Countess 03.29.09 at 9:00 pm

This may be one of the funniest posts (among many hilarious posts) yet on Cute Overload, I’ve been laughing out loud! He is so big, so silly, and yet so dignified. Look at all the posts, he needs boxhab, he needs binhab, now he needs baghab. More Maru, please!!

103 kat 03.29.09 at 9:55 pm

So funny! I love it at 1:22 when you can just see Maru walking through the background with his bag on!

104 CP 03.29.09 at 10:04 pm

1) The logo on the bag looks like a little face; that is awesome.

2) I wonder whether the cat might be “huffing” — the bag would increase CO2 concentration and poss. deprive him of oxygen, generating a cheap high.

105 Stephanie 03.29.09 at 10:06 pm

Maru channels a hedgehog

106 Janice of the Nine 03.29.09 at 10:49 pm

Okay, maybe I nuffed a bit at the preponderance of Winston-san vids), but can I now say “I want some more please?” MORE MARU!!

Maru is Action Cat. He is inventive. He is not afraid to look like fool. He is my hero. *sigh*

107 Yitzysmommie 03.29.09 at 11:16 pm

Oh Marooooooo
I love yooooooooooou!
Robredyak: No contest – I adore Maru. Winston is not my cuppa tea at all.
Maru is definitely the number 2 cat in my world following my Yitzy, who is The World’s Best Cat hands down.

108 Faith 03.29.09 at 11:52 pm

Eeekk..! That is so cute okay! Hahaha when I saw it I thought of cats who would run berserk on the thought of someone putting a bag over their head because they might think someone is trying to strangle them.

Oh sweet Maru~

109 Tractatus Blorpico-Philosophicus 03.30.09 at 12:09 am

Maru is ok, but Winston-san rules! In perpetuity!!

110 Villy 03.30.09 at 12:18 am

I didn’t read all the comments, so forgive me if I’m repeating somethig..

but..

am I the only that thinks he looks like one of the Knights who say Ni?

111 blair 03.30.09 at 12:50 am

we need maru-hab

and winston-hab

or are we already there?

ever think of that?

(puts head back in bag)

112 dawgpup 03.30.09 at 1:18 am

‘theres sometin in dis bag i know it!’

113 villy 03.30.09 at 7:53 am

Is it just me or does he look like a Knight that says Ni?

114 Barbarella 03.30.09 at 10:25 am

LOLOL! That´s got to be the silliest cat in the world. Love it. :D

115 Brenda 03.30.09 at 11:51 am

It’s like he’s looking for someone so he can show-off.

116 Bathos Q. Hauteur 03.30.09 at 12:32 pm

Arguably the filmmaker’s best work yet, “Maru and the Paper Bag” takes as its theme the oppositions of public and private, movement and immobility. Clearly informed by the works of Varda, Marker, Brakhage, and the anonymous auteur of the minimalist classic “Winston Takes a Bath,” the film’s long static shots and perfectly realized absurdist diegesis add up to a brilliant recontextualization of the latent order of space/time, and the subtextual question: Are we not all walking about with paper bags on our heads?

117 Katrina 03.30.09 at 2:23 pm

Just a puddy-tat with the gift to enchant!

Bathos Q. Hauteur-I’ll see your diegesis and raise you and exegesis. Silly person with a big vocabulary…your paperbag says “Target” on it.

118 Katrina 03.30.09 at 2:23 pm

“an” exegesis, sorry about that.

119 Kristabelle 03.30.09 at 2:25 pm

We are not “cat people” and both my husband and I thought this was hysterical. Maru is so blase about the whole thing.

120 Theresa 03.30.09 at 2:32 pm

Katrina, don’t get all hermeneutic on us. :)

121 Theo 03.30.09 at 2:57 pm

Yeah, those hermeneuticles freak me out.

122 mark 03.30.09 at 3:02 pm

am i the only person who finds this disturbing,my german shep,hector suffocated under similar circumstances,if this was a vid of a kid doing similar,child protection would be called in,think people!

123 Christine 03.30.09 at 3:11 pm

It is so time for bag-hab

124 Bathos Q. Hauteur 03.30.09 at 5:08 pm

@Katrina, Theresa–
;)

125 claudia 03.30.09 at 6:08 pm

LOL! “I go for patrol” (on his blog)

126 LJ 03.30.09 at 8:43 pm

Seriously! That was too funny. They way Maru kept wandering around the house so nonchalantly made me laugh out loud. He/she is a big bruiser of lovin though.

127 spb 03.30.09 at 9:04 pm

I seriously was laughing so hard my eyes were tearing up. That was absolutely hysterical!!!

128 Vanessa 03.30.09 at 10:47 pm

I agree that he is smart and finding ways to entertain himself. Very cute.
I love the tail, it is short and chubby. Weird.

129 Noelegy 03.31.09 at 12:18 am

One of my tattoos bears a great deal of resemblance to the logo on the bag!

130 Noelegy 03.31.09 at 12:21 am

Oh My Fruity Grapes, that was funny.

131 Katrina 03.31.09 at 2:16 pm

My two guys in daycare were constantly doing things that kept them from being bored. Killer’s bigger big brother waited until all of the children where in their cribs asleep and he, being outside his crib because he didn’t sleep, carefully pulled the socks off each of the five sleeping two-year olds. Nobody woke up, either! And I’m laughing my head off hearing about this and their teacher said “Truly smart children are never bored.” So, Mommies of young children and self-entertaining cats, you have very smart little critters on your hands!

132 Katrina 03.31.09 at 2:17 pm

Brenda- Why not?

133 berthaservant 03.31.09 at 7:45 pm

Bathos: I think this is kind of anti-Brakhage, really. I think there’s a bit too much “present” present for Brakhage, too involved with memory and (visual) perspective and not as much a meta-critique of cinematic form. There’s even a kind of mini-(non)-narrative. I’m reminded of some scenes in works by Jon Jost, although the low-grade aesthetic also kind of harkens to some of the work of Bruce Baillie (though this is not as impressionistic, obviously).

Or, to put it another way.

NI!

134 ebee 03.31.09 at 8:03 pm

He’d make a great research assistant. :D

135 Bathos Q. Hauteur 04.01.09 at 11:47 am

berthaservant: Well argued — I do concede many of your points. Especially “Ni.”

136 Paunchie 04.01.09 at 9:34 pm

bring us a shrubbery!

137 mcgheezer 04.02.09 at 1:53 pm

Maru seems perfectly content to accept the idea that he can walk at least a mile into this paperbag (that appears to be much larger on the inside than outside) then exit the bag only to find out that he hasn’t left kansas at all, and is only on his couch.

138 laura C. 04.05.09 at 3:13 pm

okay I don’t play “favorites” with pets…but I’m kind of thinking I love Maru’s on-screen antics more than Winston-san. He is such a character! and rediculously cute…

139 free virtual world for kids 04.16.09 at 8:07 pm

Maru literally made me a cat person! [Always been a dog person since i own a dog and have many friends who own dogs] But Maru here is just so adorable! Argh, hope to get a cat like that. I’d like a big and cuddly one. :D

140 Theo 04.16.09 at 8:36 pm

Big cuddly cats aren’t all that hard to find.
(Of course, they start small.)

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