In Memory of Mr."Black Licorice" Murzik, 1991 - 2006

When this site was created in 1999 Mr.Murzik was relatively young 8 years old cat, full of life and energy, ready to announce to the world his newly discovered fascination with the power trio from Flint, Michigan - Grand Funk Railroad. Grand Funk itself was celebrating 30 Years of Funk that time - yes so many years ago Grand Funk became a world sensation at Atlanta Pop Festival in summer of 1969. Mr.Murzik quickly became an internet legend - many GFR fans (and especially Roadkill club members) visited his website and admired him. He was one and only one rock-n-roll cat and feline GFR fan in the world. But time passes fast. Last year Mr.Murzik passed away - he was 15 years old. He lived happy and long life. He always had fresh fish and meat in his bowl and Grand Funk Railroad on CD player. I decided to keep this site as it was originally created in 1999 in memory of Mr.Murzik so we can occasionally come here to remember Mr.Murzik - the cat, GFR fan, and friend.

Oktay Rasizade, July 2007


Hi, my name is Mr. Murzik, also known as "Black Licorice" Murzik among Funk fans. I'm 8 years old tomcat born November 1st, 1991. My most favorite things in life are fresh fish, fresh meat and Grand Funk Railroad! I got into funk more than  year ago in May 1998 when I heard for the first time Are You Ready from On Time CD just reissued by Capitol digitally remastered. And boy was it cool! The whole album rocks big time and needless to say it is my most favorite one. I don't like Live Album so much though, and some other albums, except Survival probably. I find them too noisy for cat like me. Friends, my way of life is very simple - I eat, I sleep, I hunt, I listen Grand Funk Railroad!


SOME FACTS

My breed: Siberian Rock-n-Roll Cat. Siberian cats are big and furry, just like me. We have to survive harsh Siberian winters. So we boogie to stay warm. That's why people call us rock'n'roll cats.

My weight: 5,5 kg or 11 pounds.

My favorite food: Friskies (dry), Kitekat (canned).

My favorite songs: Are Your Ready, I Can Feel Him In The Morning, Loneliness, Whiskas Drinking Woman.

On the watch:"Don't let'em take your gun "!
CAT QUOTES

"Managing senior programmers is like herding cats." -- Dave Plattn

"There is no snooze button on a cat who wants breakfast."-- Unknown

"Cats are smarter than dogs.  You can't get eight cats to pull a sled through snow." -- Jeff Valdez

"In a cat's eye, all things belong to cats." -- English proverb

"As every cat owner knows, nobody owns a cat." -- Ellen Perry Berkeley

"One cat just leads to another." -- Ernest Hemingway

"Dogs come when they're called; cats take a message and get back to you later." -- Mary Bly

"Cats are rather delicate creatures and they are subject to a good many ailments, but I never heard of one who suffered from insomnia."-- Joseph Wood Krutch

"People who hate cats, will come back as mice in their next life."-- Faith Resnick

"There are many intelligent species in the universe.  They are all owned by cats." -- Anonymous

"I have studied many philosophers and many cats.  The wisdom of cats is infinitely superior." -- Hippolyte Taine

"There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life:  music and cats."-- Albert Schweitzer

"The cat has too much spirit to have no heart." -- Ernest Menaul

"Dogs believe they are human.  Cats believe they are God."-- Colette

"Cats seem to go on the principle that it never does any harm to ask for what you want." -- Joseph Wood Krutch

"Cats aren't clean, they're just covered with cat spit."-- Anonymous

Contributed by Kevin Hall

Watching VCR: "Wow, in concert they rock!"
USEFUL TIPS

Doors: Do not allow closed doors in any room. To get door opened, stand on hind legs and hammer with forepaws. Once door is opened, it is not necessary to use. After you have ordered an "outside" door opened, stand halfway in and out and think about several things. This is particularly important during very cold weather, rain, snow, or mosquito season. Swinging doors are to be avoided at all costs.

Chairs and Rugs: If you have to throw up, get to a chair quickly. If you cannot manage in time, get to an oriental rug. If there is no Oriental rug, shag is good. When throwing up on the carpet, make sure you back up so that it is as long as the human's bare foot.

Bathrooms: Always accompany guests to the bathroom. It is not necessary to do anything just sit there and stare.

Hampering: If one of your humans is engaged in some close activity and the other is idle, stay with the busy one. This is called "helping", otherwise known as "hampering". Following are the rules for "hampering":

a) When supervising cooking, sit just behind the left heel of the cook. You cannot be seen and thereby stand a better chance of being stepped on and then picked up and comforted.

b) For book readers, get in close under the chin, between eyes and book, unless you can lie across the book itself.

c) For knitting projects or paperwork, lie on the work in the most appropriate manner so as to obscure as much of the work or at least the most important part. Pretend to doze, but every so often, reach out and slap the pencil or knitting needles. The worker may try to distract you, ignore it. Remember, the aim is to "hamper" work. Embroidery and needlepoint projects make great hammock in spite of what the humans may tell you.

d) For people paying bills (monthly activity) or working on income tax or   Christmas cards (annual activity), keep in mind the aim.......to "hamper". First, sit on the paper being worked on. When dislodged, watch sadly from the side of the table. When activity proceeds nicely, roll around on the papers, scattering them to the best of your ability. After being removed for the second time, push pens, pencils, and erasers off the table, one at a time.

e) When a human is holding the newspaper in front of him/her, be sure to jump on the back of the paper. They love to jump.


Walking: As often as possible, dart quickly and as close as possible in front of the human, especially: on stairs, when they have something in their arms, in the dark, and when they first get up in the morning. This will help their coordination skills.

Bedtime: Always sleep on the human at night so he/she cannot move around.

Play: This is an important part of your life. Get enough sleep in the daytime so you are fresh for your nocturnal games. Below are listed several favorite cat games that you can play. It is important, though to maintain one's dignity at all times. If you should have an accident during play, such as falling off a chair, immediately, wash a part of your body as if to say " I MEANT to do that!". It fools those humans every time.


FAVORITE GAMES

Catch Mouse. The humans would have you believe that those lumps under the covers are their feet and hands. They are lying. They are actually Bed Mice, rumored to be the most delicious of all the mice in the world, though no cat has ever been able to catch one. Rumor also has it that only the most ferocious attack can stun them long enough for you to dive under the covers to get them. Maybe YOU can be the first to taste the Bed Mouse!

King of The Hill.  This game must be played with at least one other cat. The more, the merrier! One or both of the sleeping humans is Hill 303 which must be defended at all costs from the other cat(s). Anything goes. This game allows for the development of unusual tactics as one must take the unstable playing theater into account. WARNING" Playing either one of these games to excess will result in expulsion from the bed and possibly from the bedroom. Should the humans grow restless, immediately begin purring and cuddling up to them. This should buy you some time until they fall asleep again. If one happens to be on a human when this occurs, this cat wins the round of King of the Hill.

Favorite Cat Toys. Any small item is a potential toy. If a human tries to confiscate it, this means that it is a Good Toy. Run with it under the bed. Look suitably outraged when the human grabs you and takes it away. Always watch where it is put so you can steal it later. Two reliable sources of toys are dresser tops and wastebaskets. There are several types of cat toys. Bright shiny things like keys, broaches, or coins should be hidden so that the other cat(s) or humans can't play with them. They are generally good for playing hockey with on uncarpeted floors. Dangly and /or string-like things such as shoelaces, cords, gold chains, and dental floss also make excellent toys. They are favorites of humans who like to drag them across the floor for us to pounce on. When a string is dragged under a newspaper or throw rug, it magically becomes the Paper/Rug Mouse and should be killed at all costs. Take care, though. Humans are sneaky and will try to make you lose your dignity. When your humans have a party always look for the person who is allergic and get close to it, a good sit in the lap is also effective.

Contributed by Kevin Hall


MY FRIENDS FUNKCATTES


Geoff's Buddy's photo

Buddy from Hayward, Bay Area, CA. He lives with his human Geoff Wilcox. On the photo Buddy is in friendly hands of Geoff's girlfriend. He is even more black than I am and his haircut is West Coast style: they do not need too much fur. And he is the street fighter (Mark wrote song about it).

Donnie Brewer's cats.

brew_cats.jpg (2433 bytes)

Their human is the author of my nickname.

Orange from Texas. His human Kevin Hall played rock-n-roll in Bosnia for American troops

ORANGE_KevinHall.jpg (4462 bytes)
Photo of Kringer Photo of Jasmine

Power Trio of Cindy Page

Photo of Maddison

Kringer

Jasmin

Maddison

Sally of Gary and Patty Coldiron. She died 16 1/2 years old. She is the oldest GFR cat I know. Born To Die - that's the sad side of story. Named after the song from this album. 

sally.jpg (3436 bytes)
TonyTerrier_DougDorer.jpg (6580 bytes)

Tony Terrier. His human is Doug Dorer. He is not 100% cat. We call him politcorrectly - dog-funkcatte.



LINKS

My favorite band
My favorite actress
My favorite actor
My favorite film
My favorite food