Love Carved In Stone, And Cake
President Sauli Niinisto of Finland has a dog that is more popular than him, on the internet anyway.
The Finnish leader coasted to re- election last month, but it’s Lennu that’s winning the contest online. Mr. Niinisto’s tweets usually bring a few dozen retweets, but a picture of his Boston terrier posted on Twitter was shared 50,000 times and received 150,000 likes. Gunvor Backman, the 87-year- old owner of Cafe Esplanad, a popular Helsinki destination for tourists and politicians, made a special cake in honor of Lennu. “Making the smile is the worst part,” a baker at the cafe told The Times, describing the molten chocolate and unfurled tongue of red marzipan that sit above a center of raspberry mousse.
Determined not to appear partisan, Ms. Backman did not sell the cakes during voting, which lasted a few days in January. She insisted that regardless of who came into her bakery — and Mr. Niinisto is known to stop by — she let them eat their cake in peace.
“A customer is a customer, and we are here to serve,” she said. “If our eyes meet, I might just give them a little nod.” If it were Leenu? Ms. Backman said she doesn’t allow dogs inside.
Ms. Backman is far from the first person to pay tribute to a pet, and humans found ways to do it before Instagram or other social media platforms came along. As far back as 9,000 years ago, humans were carving likenesses of their canine companions into rock, The Times reported.
Researchers examined 1,400 rock panels in the Saudi desert and discovered what they say are the earliest known examples of human- canine companionship.
“We can now say about 9,000 years ago people already controlled their dogs and had them on leashes and used them for really complex hunting strategies,” Maria Guagnin, a lead author in the study, told The Times.
Dr. Guagnin was not sure why the dogs would be leashed, but speculated that it may be because they were young and learning or the dogs were too important to be allowed to run into harm’s way.
The scenes can be gruesome, depicting dogs hunting lions, leopards and others. “This is giving us an actual window into the visceral thrill of the hunt,” said Melinda Zeder, a curator of archaeology at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. “With the rock art you’re putting flesh on the bones.”
Modern humans, like ancient man, are working to immortalize their animal friends. At the New York Cat Film Festival, which was held in December, directors went beyond the standard adorable internet GIF in search of a deeper way to celebrate their pets.
“I find that their intention is mostly to laugh at, and make fun of, the animals,” Tracie Hotchner, the event’s founder, said of online cat videos. For the festival, “the intention is to illuminate who cats are and how they fit into our world. And that illumination is not about cuteness.”
That’s not to say there isn’t at least a little cuteness to be had. One of the festival’s 12 films, “Scaredy, the Cat,” tracks a feline at Riverside Park in New York that runs away from visitors, is doted on by the park staff and lets rats eat out of its bowl.
“This whole world has developed around this feral cat,” Markie Hancock, the film’s director, told The Times. “She drew me into it, too. I’m connected to her, and now I’m connected to them. It’s a beautiful thing.”