Picture (by Sara Krulwich) spotted in a New York Times article about (apparently happily) performing cats in the Moscow Cats Theatre. Yep, it was in the Theatre section of the paper and all; they're coming to perform in New York. I was pleased to read the quote:

Cats are like actors," Mr. Kuklachev [pictured below] said. "They do what they want. Sometimes a cat doesn't want one trick, so he does another.

So... good, you still can't herd cats, but:

As a cat-lover, the caption "Help Meeeeee!" is all I think when I see that picture and the expression on the cat's face (you've got to say it out loud in the squeaky voice from the original movie called "The Fly"), but from reading the article, it sounds like they are wonderfully loved and looked after, and are quite happy. There are other pictures on the Times' website, some involving bike riding, that disco ball lying there in the background, a rocking horse, and other household items... -cvj