The Black Isle

THE HISTORIE OF NATVRE,

WRITTEN BY C. PLINIVS

SECVNDVS. 

CHAP. IIII.

The clemencie of Elephants: their foresight and knowledge of their owne dangers: also the fell fiercenesse of the Tygre.

A WONDER it is in many of these creatures, that they should thus know wherefore they are hunted, and withall take heed and beware of all their dangers. It is said, that if an Elephant chaunce to meet with a man wandering simply out of his way in the wildernesse, hee will mildly and gently set him into the right way againe. But if he perceive a mans fresh footing, before he espie the man, he will quake and tremble for feare of being forelaied and surprised: he will stay from farther following the sent, looke about him every way, snuffe and puffe for very anger. Neither will he tread upon the tract of a mans foot, but dig it out of the earth, and give it to the next Elephant unto him, and he againe to him that followeth, and so from one to another passeth this intelligence and message as it were, to the utmost ranke behind. Then the whole heard makes a stand, and cast round about to returne backward, and withall put themselves in battell array: so long continueth that strong virulent smell of mens feet, and runneth through them all, notwithstanding for the most part they be not bare, but shod. Semblably, the Tigresse also, how fierce and cruell she be to other wild beasts, and careth not a whit for a very Elephant; if she happen to have a sight of a mans footing, presently, by report, conveigheth away her young whelpes, and is gone. But how cometh she to this knowledge of a man? where saw she him ever before, whom thus she feareth? For surely such wild woods and forests are not much travelled & frequented by men. Set case that they may well wonder at the straunge sight and noveltie of their tracts, which are so seldome seene, how know they that they are to bee feared? Nay, what should bee the reason, that they dread to see a man indeed, being as they are, farre bigger, much stronger, and swifter by many degrees than a man? Certes, herein is to bee seene the wonderfull worke of Nature, and her mightie power; that the greatest, the most fell and savage beasts that be, having never seene that which they ought to feare, should incontinently have the sence and conceit, why the same is to be feared.

“INVISIBLE SETTLEMENTS - and their loyal subjects, a yuletide pastiche (not even a triptych!)”: Drawing I made for my old friends Gretchen and Barry Mazur in Cambridge, Mass., tail end of 1993.

“TACKLE TANGO - Or, On a small scale everything lasts longer!”: Drawing made for Gretchen and Barry in April 1994.

The Velaslavasay Panorama at 1122 West 24th St., Los Angeles, is charmingly low-tech. I reckon the venue might find a happier life as the West Coast headquarters of the Guy Maddin Appreciation Society, which is not to say I don’t appreciate the efforts of the current Panoramists (Panoramites?). I love that a place like this exists, especially in a neighborhood of 99c stores and working man bars. Another Museum of Jurassic Technology might seem a little arch in this location.

Here are photos of the current Panorama on view — Effulgence of the North — a black box simulation of an Arctic expedition, as seen perhaps in a three-Tylenol fever dream. “It has a gentle light and sound element,” added the kind gal at the box office.

Sans camera flash:

Exterior of the Union Theatre building (in which the Panorama is housed):

They are accepting patrons and Enthusiasts. They also desperately need a gardener to tend to their Garden of Sinister Plants (which were so unsinister I decided it would be a kindness to not post any pics). Enquire at their website, please.

Best blog in the known universe? I think so.

Gérard de Grandville’s “Les Fleurs Animees” (1850). A new old fascination.

Hawthorne

Narcissus

Frontispiece

Disney’s “The Flowers and the Trees” (1932), a Silly Symphonies toon:

A cel:

The way I talk about movies now is like not talking about movies at all. What I wrote to a friend who was asking about Lou Ye’s Summer Palace and Jia Zhangke’s documentary Useless:

I’ve seen both films and am surprised that they even opened here. (Try the revamped Silent Movie Theater for a rerun?) I’m in the v. small minority that absolutely loved Summer Palace (slightly indulgent mad college girl movie, but unique in that she’s a college girl in Beijing in the 80s, right around Tiananmen); as for Useless (the Jia Zhangke about fashion and sewing, somewhat in that order), it’s really super also, delicately observational and ironic in his usual way but less flaccid than (I think) The World because these characters are real people, and those toothless smiles are real (and not in some pukesome Tony Gatlif way either). Makes you want to go into deepest China to hunt down real people and real stories, it does, but this one won’t be terrible if you waited for the Netflix DVD or bought one off eBay. (It’s shot on video anyway.)

Histoire Naturelle. Buffon, 1850.

The less well-known dangling-beast portraits of ornithological artist Edouard Travies (1809-1871):  

La Perdrix Grise (Grey Partridge)

Le Faisan Commun (Pheasant)

La Bécasse (Woodcock)

La Bécassine (Snipe)

La Lièvre (Hare)

Dining table amusement on a Sunday night: 

Heartfelt drawing by my cousin Yao (of the mosquito book fame — will scan that again later) when he was around 10 (?). He was a stickler for realism.