Of mice and cats

I took this picture in the Natural History Museum and I am uploading it here as it suits my topic. It was a display representingsomething like the relation between animals and men in the food chain. A stuffed cat and stuffed rats, in what was meant to be a basement or an attic, full of bags of grain. The rats eat the grain gathered by men, the cat eats the rats, thus serving men, etc. I blogged about it here. This weekend, Domino created quite a commotion by bringing a mouse home. It was not the first time he did such a thing, but this time the mouse was alive. Our cat had decided to have a play with it in the living room. Long story short, I managed to move Domi away and save the mouse. But it really freaked me out, as I hate rodents. So whatever I said then about how great cats are for getting rid of vermin, I don't have this opinion anymore, unless they have the courtesy to kill their prey.

Oiseaux empaillés

Photo prise au National History Museum, dans la section des animaux empaillés, lesquels sont parfois voire pour la plupart centenaires. Ça leur donne un certain cachet. Vous y voyez des merles, "blackbirds", si je ne me trompe pas, et c'est ironique car il y en a deux de blancs. Mais enfin bref, ils ont l'air vivant et pris sur le vif. C'est ce qui m'impressionne le plus dans les animaux empaillés, en général et ceux du NHM en particulier.

L'ancêtre des baleines

J'ai blogué il y a quatre ans en anglais sur le Mesonyx, l'ancêtre des cétacés. Quand j'ai vu il y a environ trente ans cette reproduction au Musée de l'histoire naturelle, j'avais été profondément impressionné. Un mammifère pas marin qui est l'arrière grand-père des baleines et des dauphins, ça m'a donné une idée de ce que signifiait l'évolution des espèces. Rien que de revoir cette photo, j'en suis encore tout émerveillé.

Les berceuses du hibou

Photo prise au Musée de l'Histoire naturelle, je la partage ici car elle sert mon propos. Toujours est-il que notre petit loup est en pleine régression de sommeil ces temps-ci: ça prend des heures (littéralement) à le coucher. Ce qui fait qu'on a recours à un jouet, un hibou (ou une chouette) mécanique à l'allure pas mal moins rébarbative que cette chouette empaillée, qui chante des berceuses, joue de la musique et passe des images de tit hiboux et tites chouettes coiffés de bonnets de nuit sur des lunes avec des étoiles puis toutte le kit. C'est full cute, comme dirait la fille d'un de mes amis. Même si les résultats sont mitigés, ne pas l'utiliser empire immanquablement la situation et petit loup adore le hibou chanteur et son spectacle sons et lumières. Je crois qu'il aime les hiboux et les chouettes en général, en fait. Maintenant si seulement il pouvait dormir...

Voyage au centre de la Terre

Non, je ne parle pas du roman de Jules Verne, que je n'ai d'ailleurs jamais lu (il faudra bien que je le fasse un jour: je n'ai jamais lu de Jules Verne). Je parle de la section sur la Terre, la géologie et les activités telluriques (volcans, séismes et autres) du Musée de l'Histoire Naturelle. On y entre grâce à un escalier roulant qui passe à travers un globe terrestre géant. Rien que pour ça, ma visite vaut le coup. Même si ma femme avait trouvé cette section du musée un peu ennuyeuse, moi j'étais fasciné. Il faudra que j'y retourne en famille un jour. Quand petit loup sera capable d'apprécier. Je crois aussi que d'ici là, je lirai le roman de Verne. En fait, l'un de mes objectifs littéraires cette année serait peut-être de lire un peu de son oeuvre.

A cyclops

I took this picture at the Natural History Museum, in one of the displays showing how the Ancient Greeks may have come up with their ideas for monsters and fantastical creatures observing natural phenomenons. I cannot remember what they were, all I was interested in I must confess was the statues of the mythical creatures. This one is of course a cyclops. While their Medusa was the most impressive, I found the cyclops quite cool too, because it looks so lifelike. I remember them mainly from The Odyssey, my favourite Greek story ever, and this statue is exactly like I pictured them, rustic and nasty. It was like seeing a true cyclops, directly from my imagination.

Volcanic displays

I took this picture at the National History Museum and I thought it would suit this post. I am late in the news, but I wanted to blog about it: Mount Etna has erupted recently. And? Mount Etna is one of these volcanoes that have this huge reputation and mythology about them, that every volcanic eruption brings back. There is just something about burning lava. It is kind of ironic that cold lava looks so much like mud, ugly and nonthreatening in the slightest. But looking at it, even on displays like this one, I always feel a slight shiver.

Scary Bear

You can see this stuffed bear at the Natural History Museum, which has a collection of old stuffed animals like this one. Like many products of taxidermy, this bear (a grizzly?) is striking a dramatic pose, looking very threatening and downright nasty. I have to confess, I have a soft spot for such display, even though it gives bears (in this instance) a bad rep. I mean, they diet consists mainly of berries for crying out loud! It is true however that bears are not the cuddly soft toys that children (and sometimes adults) love. They can be vicious attackers when provoked, hungry or scared. So this bear may have struck such a pose in real life, but somehow I doubt it. And now he is stuck with it. Still, I love this scary bear and I love him because he is menacing. I'd give him a hug if I could.

Cétacé je me cachalot

Ce calembour atroce n'est pas de moi, mais il fallait que je le commette. Je ne sais plus où je l'ai lu la première fois, je me rappelle que c'était une bande dessinée, maisje ne crois pas que c'était la source originale du jeu de mots. Mais bon, j'ai pensé à ça aujourd'hui et ça ne me sortait pas de la tête, alors autant donner des maux aux vôtres en le partageant. La photo a été prise au Musée de l'histoire naturelle. Le cachalot pour moi, c'est Moby Dick, alors j'éprouve pour cette baleine en particulier une affection particulière. Comme c'est le temps des aventures nautiques, j'imagine que je pense aux créatures marines plus souvent.

A Volcanic Memory

I took this picture at the Natural History Museum, because it illustrates this post's topic. It is, of course, lava, as it says on the label. I am a few days late to commemorate the anniversary, but Facebook reminded me that six years ago (on the 15th of April), I was stranded in Montreal because of the volcanic eruption of Eyjafjallajökull. It is an Icelandic volcano, hence the mouthful. This is what I said on Facebook that day: "I am stranded in Montreal because of a volcanic eruption in Iceland, The existentialists were right: life is absurd." Now, looking back, I find the event just as absurd. And what I said then deserves to be a great unknown line.

Atlas holding the world

It is the Spring equinox today and I was wondering how to commemorate it on the blog with a bit of originality. So this is a statue of Atlas holding the world which you can see at the National History Museum. Now I know that seasonal changes in Greek mythology were not brought by Atlas but by the stays of Persephone in and out of Hades and her mother Demeter's sorrow/joy. But still, it is the Earth that is changing and maybe Atlas does provoke the equinox by moving the world on a slightly different angle. Or something. It is also around Springtime and Easter (which is imminent) that I started getting into Greek mythology as a child, so it makes sense that I upload this picture of Atlas to celebrate Spring coming. And I am in the mood to read Greek mythology today.

About red pandas

I took this picture of a stuffed red panda at the Natural History Museum. I don't know for you but they seem to be everywhere these days. Bill Maher even mentioned them a few months ago in his new rules, saying they are living cute plush toys. I have seen live ones since my visit at the NHM and they truly are cute and adorable looking. That said, I associate the red panda to the series of espionage graphic novels Queen & Country by Greg Rucka. Because Volume 8 is called... Operation Red Panda. There is nothing cute about this story, in fact it is bloody and violent. In a way, the red panda's fiery red fur fits the story perfectly: there is plenty of blood and fire in the graphic novel. So anyway, each time I see a red panda, I think about the series of graphic novels. And you, what do you associate red pandas with? What do you think about them?

Ai-je brûlé la photo du mois?

Je me demande si je n'ai pas fait une gaffe monumentale hier en publiant cette photo du Musée de l'histoire naturelle. Parce que la photo du mois a pour thème "le flou et la vie" et que cette image collait bien au thème: les corps sont flous et, bien que morts, embaumés par la lave du Vésuve, comme immortalisés. Donc: me suis-je fourré? J'avais comme un soupçon quand je tapais le billet, mais là je me rappelles que la date approche et j'ai vraiment pas grand-chose comme photos, rien en tout cas d'aussi bon.

Dreaming of a volcanic holiday

This picture was taken in the Natural History Museum of London. "A Londra, è vero". But it is of Italy I am thinking about. My wife and her friend (the mother of the girl who has Buffy) are planning to go on holidays and they are seriously considering Italy, maybe Naples. This is where of course Mount Vesuvius is and thus where the ruins of Pompeii are, where these remains have been taken (I think). My wife and I are planning to go on another holiday in a different place, but I have been wanting to go back to Italy in ages and I'd love to try Naples, for many reasons. Because I want to exercise my Italian and improve it, and Naples would be fitting, as I have been told at least once that I have a Neapolitan accent. But it is because of the ruins especially. Because it would be nice to go there before the Vesuvius bursts again (hey, it will happen one day). Because once in my life I want to be near a volcano. There is something beautiful about them that the aura of menace only enhances. And I think it enhances as well, or makes us more conscious of, the beauty of the place itself, of Naples and Italy itself. Even in the above picture, which my wife didn't like one bit and thought it was both scary and sad, there is something like a sinister aesthetic to it. Anyway, I'd love to spend some time near Mount Vesuvius, while it is still sleeping. So I hope they pick up another place.

Remembering the NHM (and the dodos)

A year and a day ago, I had my last visit to the National History Museum of London. I don't think the city needs to be mentioned: when you say Natural History Museum, it is implied that it is the one of London. I don't like to go to London, but I love specific places in London. This place especially. As impressive today as it was when I was a child. I didn't take many picture during my last visit, but there are still a few I did not upload on Vraie Fiction. And I thought about uploading this replica of a dodo, surrounded by real taxidermied birds. Almost at the same date last year, I wrote a post about the dodos. Sometimes I wonder what kind of birds they were. They looked like they were peaceful. Anyway, I thought about my visit to the Natural History Museum today and the dodos. I am in the mood to visit museums these days, don't know why.

Swans

I took this picture at the Natural History Museum. There are plenty of swans around here, in every pond or river you can see them. I usually don't notice them, but these ones, which have been stuffed by a taxidermist a long time ago, I found them fascinating, as I often do with stuffed animals on display in museums. Maybe because this made up scene of a swan family by a swamp or a lake, with the plants and the cygnets has a certain atmosphere. In a way, it feels more real than the reality of the swans that I can see nearby. Whatever the reason, I love this display.

L'océan (la photo du mois)

Le thème du mois, choisi par Pilisi, était "Qu'évoque pour vous l'océan?" Vaste question et pour une fois je n'étais pas à court de matériel. J'ai pleins de photos d'oiseaux marins, de bords de la mer, de plage, d'embouchures, de bateaux, de canons, etc. L'océan évoque tellement de choses en moi: les jeux de pirates étant enfant, les poissons, les monstres marins, vrais ou faux, les batailles navales, les attaques de requins, etc. Alors bon, il fallait choisir. J'ai donc décidé de prendre en photo le modèle de baileine bleue du Musée de l'Histoire naturelle à Londres. Parce que les baleines, c'est pour moi l'océan. J'ai lu Moby Dick très jeune, je l'ai relu et je compte le relire. J'ai vu le film des centaines de fois. J'ai eu enfant une fascination pour les baleines qui me suit encore. Les baleines, c'est (entre autres) l'océan pour moi.

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Rooks

This picture was taken at the Natural History Museum. It shows rooks, a member of the corvids family. Well, stuffed rooks really. I particularly like stuffed animals, I think they have some kind of old-fashioned charm. I thought about this picture this week as I saw a few crows here and there and maybe even some ravens. I used to dislike corvids as a child, but not anymore. Anyway, I do not know much about rooks, but I know that like all corvids they are smart. Anyway, I wanted to upload this picture for a while, so tonight I thought I would do it, for no particular reason.

Feline predatorism

I took this picture a few months ago during my last visit at the Natural History Museum. It is a display explaining predatorism and reports between species, showing in an attic full of grain a cat preying on rats, themselves eating the grain. There was also an owl on the display, which picture I have uploaded here. All animals were stuffed, still life models. There is nothing I find more sad than a dead cat, yet this one, for what it represented and for its educational use, I did not mind.

And I loved the display, as it showed an aspect of cats' nature I love: they are fierce predators. I have a silly, uncontrollable fear of little rodents in general and rats in particular. That cats hunt the vermin is one of their use as a species I particularly love. So in sum, I am more scared of the hunted than I will ever get scared of the hunter. And this is why I love feline predatorism.

I think I saw a bat

This is a picture I took at the Natural History Museum and this post's topic is an excuse to upload it. Anyway, so yes, the bat is a flying mammal and there are plenty of them around here, especially in the back garden. Or I think there are anyway, the bats here are, unlike this fruit bat, small and elusive. But tonight, about an hours ago, as darkness was falling down, I think I saw one flying. A small black speck, like a drop of ink flying around. I find it strange sometimes that they are associated with vampires in folklore, bats seem so shy. This one on the left looks actually friendly, more like a dog (I read on Wikipedia that megabats can be called flying foxes) than a flying rodent. It was nice to see a bat, if it was indeed a bat and not a bird.