Friday, November 06, 2009

Leopard and mouse

Despite the title, this post is not about Apple's OS and their new pointing device, it's about their flesh/blood namesakes.

19 comments:

Pascal [P-04referent] said...

"Danger Mouse...
Danger Mouse...
DANGER MOUUUUUSE!
He's the strongest he's the quickest he's the best!"

Anna said...

Everything is in the attitude ! :-)

If you're afraid, you present yourself as the prey. If you're not afraid, means you're not the prey.

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

Quite true.

Writers know this instinctively. If you see an action movie, and one of the characters shows fear or doubt, you know he'll be dead within five minutes.

Anna said...

A friend once told me a thing he's read, but I forgot where he read it. (Should probably ask... I'll try not to forget. :-) But maybe you have met this. Anyway, this picture is a great illustration of that thought.

Life feeds on life. Life needs to eat itself to go on. So living beings feed on other living beings to stay alive. But as all is life, how does life decide which side should live and which perish ? Actually fear is what shows what should perish. Fear is what shows who the prey is.

/ It was said more or less like this. /

I remember I found this thought fascinating, and in human life, as I am lucky to encounter situations where people eat each other only symbolically, this thought is quite useful.

The power of conviction.

This picture is quite a fascinating illustration. Thanks for sharing it ! :-)

Pascal [P-04referent] said...

I'm surprised that mouse can walk at all. I mean, it must have testicles the size of raisins! ;-)

What should you do when confronted with a bear that seems aggressive?
Drop dead. Literally. Well, OK, not literally, but make it look good. PLAY dead, and DON'T move. Odds are very high that the bear will, at worst, turn you around a bit to sniff you, before losing all interest and moving along. DON'T PANIC
Why? Because bears are omnivores with a wide regime range, but they *do not* eat carrions. A dead "beastie" to them is like a rotten egg. Even if it doesn't smell yet. (Or if it only smells like it just did in its pants. ;-)

Same when you encounter a lion or tiger and the situation is uncertain. DON'T. RUN. Try to walk away SLOWLY, sideways, while maintaining eye contact.
The second you run, you signal yourself as a prey by your reaction, and you trigger the hunting reflex. Can YOU outrun a lion? Or better yet, a tiger?

It seems that tigers, by deepest intrinsic nature, don't ever attack a prey from the front. If it flees, it's prey. If it faces you, it can fight, so better be cautious. Animals are intrinsically wise: most of the time, they will avoid a needless combat. If you get wounded, even if you triumph, you compromise your optimal health status which is so precious for hunting and survival; you might be weakened when another, unavoidable combat presents itself.
This is why, in tiger country in India, people wear a mask IN REVERSE. When working in the jungle, to avoid getting jumped on by "the tiger" (like the leopard, if you hear a tiger, then it's already too late, its ambush approach is completed), people wear a crude mask on the back of their heads, representing the main lines of a human face, especially the eyes. To the tiger's vision, when it approaches from behind, it appears as if it's already been spotted and watched, so a surprise attack suddenly seems like an uncautious idea.
Besides, those humans can be very dangerous when NOT caught unaware. They have boom-sticks, and can command the Red Flower, fire.

Then again, I would strongly advise AGAINST trying such a stunt with my cat. He's a veteran rodent hunter. If you even try to pick up by the tail a prey he's brought to proudly show you, better watch your pinkies, because he'll claw it back mid-air faster than you can blink.

(sigh) My previous cat was such an enthusiastic hunter, we called him "the insecticide". No more need to worry about houseflies or moths, they didn't have the ghost of a chance when Mimi Siku spotted something flying within leaping reach.
Same with snakes. And tarantulas.
I'm glad my cats don't view me as an enemy!!! ;-)

Weell, that eez all for todays, señores y señoritas y pussy gatos. I must go now. YEEEEEBAH! ARRIBA, ANDALE, EPPA!

P.S.: it's somehow different with canines. You shouldn't run either if you meet wild dogs or a wolf pack, but the right attitude is to rely on intimidation. Wolves don't attack a standing man, because it looks so tall and therefore impressive. Wild dogs are more dangerous, because during domestication they've lost some of their instinctive fear of humans and reluctance for avoidable combat. I'd rather deal with potentially hostile wolves any day.
Canines are all about group status. Ideally, show that you don't want to attack, but that you're not afraid to dispense the hurt if bothered or challenged. "Leave me in peace, OR ELSE." And show it to the biggest, meanest looking one, the others will get the message faster than you can say "forward chain letter"!

In other words, DON'T act like the typical Lebanese, provocation fueled by blatant abject fear of nearly any animal, "I'll make it afraid to make it seem that I'm not at all afraid". The sight of a typical Lebanese meeting a peaceful unknown dog is something quite embarrassing for me.
I've never seen a Lebanese animal trainer. It's not in our culture...
Man master of Nature, man kill, man flaunt. Oogah-oogah!

Pascal [P-04referent] said...

"Actually fear is what shows what should perish."
I'd go even further, Anna: "Fear is what causes it that someone will have to perish". At least in the big picture of humankind. Like the arabian saying goes, "the blow from he who is afraid is a nasty one".
Last night I watched the Devilman movie. (Didn't know the series.) Like seemingly the majority of its fans, I didn't like it. Too dark, pessimistic, weird plot and pace and all... The "No Future" mantra seeming to be announced from the very start. Like a dadaist philosophical lesson in absurdity, japanese style. With admittedly some friggin' kick-ass visuals!
But one thing was very interesting in it: Satan has failed many times to conquer Earth because "humans are too resilient", and he finally suceeds in bringing Apocalypse thanks to only one thing: humans themselves. Through their paranoia of Demons lurking among them, they quickly dive into their lowest instincts: false denunciation, lynch mobs, riots, which soon evolve into a blend of abject anarchy and totalitarism, and ultimately WW3. Predicted ugliness. Satan could not exterminate us, but *we* could. Because of fear making us stupid, and ultimately worse than Demons.
What is it Darth Maul said about fear?...

Marjane Satrapi also insisted on this point: tyrants ALWAYS spread fear in various ways (intimidation and lies), as the best existing tool for controlling us. Fear smothers the intelligence, bringing needless death and suffering. Fear is the perfect weapon of mass destruction. And distraction. ):-P
The masses get distracted and start destroying...

Therefore fear makes it so that some will perish.

Of course, I wasn't talking here about the food chain! :-)

Anna said...

Nice post, Pascal !
For once, I could read it to the end without effort !
:-)
( How mean I am... Sorry... :-)

No, really, very nice.

Then the next question: how to control your fear ? And the answer: life-long training and wisdom...

Pascal [P-04referent] said...

Hey, just consider me as your daily "reading workout".

You big meanie. :-)

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

I wonder if the leopard and the mouse are too different in size to see each other as prey/hunter. The Leopard would probably just get mouse bones stuck in his teeth, and no nourishment.

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

Have you seen "Darkman"? Worst superhero movie ever. When I saw it in the cinema many years ago, the audience was laughing out loud at its ineptness.
And it even has a sequel!

neeraj said...

@Anna

A friend once told me a thing he's read, but I forgot where he read it.

You'll find it in many books ...

Life feeds on life. Life needs to eat itself to go on.

This is true in so many ways, that I can't mention all aspects here. Just a few short comments:

- A very old symbol of that is the "Ouroboros" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ouroboros), shown as a serpent swallowing its own tail. You'll find it all over ancient cultures worldwide. (Also the serpent, often a symbol of life energy, kundalini ... and also wisdom, contrary to the Christian interpretation.)

- In modern biophysics every living being is seen as a steady state, a thermodynamically open system and a dissipative structure, its stability and growing depending on an input of 'information on a high level' and an output of 'information on a lower level', see e.g the work of Ilya Prigogine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilya_Prigogine) in the field of synergetics. In a way we eat coherent information, and we are information, more and more complex in the long run (or you may say consciousness in the final consequence), as well as every living being. And this is not a linear thing, but a closed circle of the whole universe. At least the plants get their energy from the sun light. (So, modern science is meeting more and more old spiritual wisdom.)

This can be seen not only in the food chain, but also on the level of life energy: Female and male energy eat and nourish at the same time each other (the Ouroboros is also a kind of Yin-Yang symbol, which shows the same). That's the reason why lovers can literally 'live from air and love' (it's the translation of a German saying, but I'm sure this exists similarly also in other languages). At least in Tantra this is well known since long time. In the same direction points the saying of Eolake "Knowledge is the food of the spirit, and beauty is the drink."

BTW there are people who are living only from 'cosmic energy' or 'light energy', whatever this exactly could be, except drinking sometimes water. That's not esoteric bullshit, I know people doing this since years. My own experience is not that extreme, but my weight remains nearly constant, whether I'm eating sometimes very much over weeks or I'm fasting over weeks, only drinking water. Strange.

In a way love is the 'glue' as well as the driving force of the universe (maybe the old Greek term 'Agape' is more appropriate, but 'love' is what we can understand from it.)

BTW the contrary of love is not hate, but fear ...

Then the next question: how to control your fear? And the answer: life-long training and wisdom...

I think trying to CONTROL the fear leads to double-fear => you MUST relax ;-)

My short answer: Meditation.


Not to forget: The pictures are awesome.

Pascal [P-04referent] said...

"I wonder if the leopard and the mouse are too different in size to see each other as prey/hunter."
Tell it to this aardvark. ;-)
Ever heard of ratter dogs?

Yes, I've seen Darkman AND the sequel. Call me eccentric, but I didn't find it so catastrophic. I mostly disliked the extreme violence (seemed rather gratuitous), and the absurdity of this synthetic skin being short-lived. (I mean, isn't it supposed to be normal tissue culture? It's more likely to NOT grow than to dissolve suddenly. I've seen burn victims being grafted.)
I bet this gig has its little cult fan base now.

If you think THIS was the worst superhero movie ever, you haven't seen them all.
Ever heard of Weng-Weng? Midget James Bond from Bollywood. Really, I kid you not. Now, THAT was bad. And there's a whole series of his movies.
Even more grotesque perhaps, again from Bollywood, are the adventures of invincible kung-fu ass-kicker Karamurat. So fantastically bad, you'd think being bad is his real-life superpower! I've seen less laughable PARODIES. Picture this: the "hero" leaps (more like hops, kangaroo-like) in the air attacking ninjas, with a sound effect like a vibrating mattress spring which a cartoon wouldn't dare use. He knocks down three ninjas with the sheer force of his landing (or something), and lo, they're dead. Then, he repeats the move against two other groups of ninjas... and it's the exact same 5-second sequence, mounted three times!!!
Unvoluntary humour can be enjoyable... and even a major hit! "How could this happen? I was so careful. I picked the wrong play, the wrong director, the wrong cast. Where did I go right?" Springtime for Hitler and Germany, lalala...

lovers can literally 'live from air and love'
In French, "vivre d'amour et d'eau fraîche": live from love and fresh water.
The debate is open as to which is more poetic! :-)

"Knowledge is the food of the spirit, and beauty is the drink."
Yes quite a good aphorism. Nearly religious.

"my weight remains nearly constant"
That's because the body has a normal regulation for its weight, genetically determined, and it can be amazingly efficient. As long as you don't enter markedly abnormal eating habits.
A great many people suffer greatly and lastingly of their "being too fat" simply because their body IMAGE is not in harmony with the normal setting of their biology, and they keep believing they need to lose a few kilos. This is often complete baloney. Thank you, the media!

If you want to get slimmer, try a mice-only diet, my beloved pussy cat. ;-)
Say, why is there no mouse-flavored cat food? Another frustration plot by the Establishment, this time aimed at our pets?

"maybe the old Greek term 'Agape' is more appropriate"
"Agapes" in French is a literary term for "enjoying a fine feast".
I suppose the air will be served for desert. ;-)

"BTW the contrary of love is not hate, but fear ..."
Quite plausible.
Not to mention some lasting examples of love/hate relationships. There is no FEAR, and so they last. In some weird form of happiness.

"how to control your fear?"
Learn to become the master of your heart. Lead your emotions towards Love, and your soul towards Peace. Fear will vanish like darkness withdrawing from the dawning sun, like the nothingness that it is. Darkness is merely absence of light, cold is only absence of heat, fear is... well, you get the picture, young grasshopper. {|:-)

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

In my ill-informed opinion, all Bollywood movies are bad. If you seen just *one*, you already feel over-fed on cliches.

TC [Girl] said...

Eolake said...
"...The Leopard would probably just get mouse bones stuck in his teeth, and no nourishment."

LOL, Eolake!! Yeah...a COMPLETE waste of time and effort! Patooey!! ;-) And, just perhaps, BOTH are in a little need of companionship, and compassion in the animal kingdom. :-)

TC [Girl] said...

Neeraj said...
"In a way love is the 'glue' as well as the driving force of the universe (maybe the old Greek term 'Agape' is more appropriate, but 'love' is what we can understand from it.)"

VERY COOL what you wrote, here, Neeraj!! I believe this! Hadn't quite thought of it like that, before, but...sure seems to hold true. :-) (hm...pun quite unintended but...it works! lol!)

Pascal [P-04referent] said...

Well, I heard that one Bollywood movie got an award at the Cannes Festival a few years ago.
Probably made the news BECAUSE it's so exceptional.
Then again, Bollywood is probably the only way for most Indians to ever feel over-fed. ;-p
"Waiter, I'll have a serving of cliché au curry, s'il vous plaît"!

Anna said...

Thank you so much for your answers, Pascal and Neeraj ! I have just seen them now, very nice and heartwarming!

The young grasshopper. :-)

/ Maybe not *that* young any more... But youth is in the heart, and the willingness to learn and develop. /

neeraj said...

@Anna
Thanks ;-)

@Pascal
The debate is open as to which is more poetic!

I can't decide ... in German it is an alliteration ("Leben von Luft und Liebe"), whereas the sound of French is generally more musical ...;-)

neeraj said...

Darkness is merely absence of light, cold is only absence of heat, fear is...

Very true!

Never fight with an absence, you will fight endlessly to no avail. Just bring the positive real thing in ... a small candle, and the darkness is gone.