ROAR #3 ~ environmental damage

Today, October 15th, bloggers around the web will unite to focus attention on one single issue: our damaged environment. Bloggers everywhere will post about the environment in their own way and, for me, that means another ROAR. The idea is to get all of us talking about a better future. If you want to know more about what others are doing, click on THIS LINK.

Let me share a couple of quotes from Daniel Quinn's book The Tales of Adam:

(1)
When the gods set out to make the universe, they said to themselves, "Let us make of it a manifestation of our unending abundance and a sign to be read by those who shall have eyes to read. Let us lavish care without stint on every thing: no less upon the most fragile blade of grass than upon the mightiest of stars, no less upon the gnat that sings for an hour than upon the mountain that stands for a millennium, no less upon a flake of mica than upon a river of gold. Let us make no two leaves the same from one branch to the next, no two branches the same from one tree to the next, no two trees the same from one land to the next, no two lands the same from one world to the next, no two worlds the same from one star to the next. In this way, the Law of Life will be plain to all who shall have eyes to read: the rabbit that creeps out to feed, the fox that lies in wait, the eagle that circles above, and the man who bends his bow to the sky."
And this was how it was done from first to last, no two things alike in all the mighty universe, no single thing made with less care than any other thing throughout generations of species more numerous than the stars. And those who had eyes to see read the sign and followed the Law of Life.

(2)
God is life in abundance wherever life is found, but not for all in every season. When the locusts thrive, the birds feast and the bison and the deer go hungry; still that place is as full of life as it was before and as full of life as it can be. No place where there is life is a desert, except to man.

I hope you humans wake up soon because you are ruining everything for us animals as well as yourselves. (I hope, I really hope, I'm not just roaring to myself here.)

ROAR #2 ~ torture

TORTURING ANY LIVING THING IS WRONG !!! It's WRONG. Wrong, wrong, wrong, and wrong-headed!!! ROARRRRRrrrrrrrrRRRRRRR!!

I don't know why it's so hard for humans to understand that torture is just plain WRONG. You torture animals, you torture other humans ... what is wrong with you that you would do such a thing?

Although I have been in the United States only a few months, I have been an informed citizen of the world for a very long time. I am distressed about the way humans treat each other. Oh, I know what you're thinking, that lions kill all the time. It's true that we kill to eat, but we don't torture each other. Okay, you over there, I heard you whisper something about cats toying with small animals they catch. Don't try to change the subject! ROAR-R-R-R-R-R-R-RRrrrrrrRRRRRR !!!!!

And Jimmy Carter, former president of the United States, says the U.S. tortures prisoners. That's according to the Associated Press on Wednesday evening. Here's the article I read:

WASHINGTON - The U.S. tortures prisoners in violation of international law, former President Jimmy Carter said Wednesday, adding that President Bush makes up his own definition of torture.

"Our country for the first time in my life time has abandoned the basic principle of human rights," Carter said on CNN. "We've said that the Geneva Conventions do not apply to those people in Abu Ghraib prison and Guantanamo, and we've said we can torture prisoners and deprive them of an accusation of a crime."

Bush, responding to an Oct. 4 report by The New York Times on secret Justice Department memorandums supporting the use of "harsh interrogation techniques," defended the techniques Friday by proclaiming: "This government does not torture people."

Carter said the interrogation methods cited by the Times, including "head-slapping, simulated drowning and frigid temperatures," constitute torture "if you use the international norms of torture as has always been honored -- certainly in the last 60 years since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was promulgated.

"But you can make your own definition of human rights and say we don't violate them, and you can make your own definition of torture and say we don't violate them," Carter said.

In an interview that aired Wednesday on BBC, Carter ripped Vice President Dick Cheney as "a militant who avoided any service of his own in the military."

Carter went on to say Cheney has been "a disaster for our country. I think he's been overly persuasive on President George Bush."

Cheney spokeswoman Megan Mitchell declined to speak to Carter's allegations.

"We're not going to engage in this kind of rhetoric," she said.

In the CNN interview, the Democratic former president disparaged the field of Republican presidential candidates.

"They all seem to be outdoing each other in who wants to go to war first with Iran, who wants to keep Guantanamo open longer and expand its capacity -- things of that kind," Carter said.

He said he also disagreed with positions taken by Democratic Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, who have declined to promise to withdraw all U.S. troops from Iraq over the following four years if elected president next year.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

If only some of you humans would get as enraged as I am about this issue, maybe you could stop some of the torture. Do you know about the pain an animal goes through testing whether a cosmetic will be painful to you? Probably not, but we feel pain too, you know. Why do you wear that stuff anyway? We lions, we ANIMALS, think we look just fine as we are. So why do you think you aren't good enough the way you are? Is it because you lost all your fur? You DO look a little naked when you aren't wearing pieces of cloth to cover yourselves, but I don't understand why you paint and cover the little bits of yourself that show, like your faces. Oh, well, that's not my point. If you MUST wear cosmetics, try the stuff out on yourselves and leave the rabbits alone! Quit torturing them!

And quit torturing each other. If you don't understand what torture is, let me put it in simple words: QUIT HURTING EACH OTHER. It's that simple. It's what you teach your children, but you don't listen to yourself. Don't hurt anyone. Don't hurt any living thing. ROARRRrrrrrrrrrrrrRRRRRR!!

Wiener Dawg Race

A three-legged dachshund named Longfellow runs to the finish line to win a race at the Annual Savannah Wiener Dawg Races Saturday, Oct. 6, 2007, in Savannah, GA. Longfellow missed last year's races after being hit by a car and losing one of his hind legs. After recovering for the year, Longfellow joined more than 175 dachshunds from around the South to compete for prizes during races at the Oktoberfest Festival on the Historic River Street Waterfront. (AP Photo/Photo Stephen Morton)

Bonobo baby

In this photo released by the Zoological Society of San Diego, a 1-month old, endangered bonobo is fed by her caretakers at the San Diego Zoo, Oct. 9, 2007. Mali, which translates to 'something valuable' in Swahili, was born on Sept. 4. Her mother experienced a very difficult birth and Zoo veterinarians and keepers had to quickly intervene to ensure the baby's survival. Although she was in critical condition the first couple weeks, keepers report she is progressing nicely. (AP Photo/Zoological Society of San Diego, Ken Bohn)

How baboons think (yes, think)

Royal is a cantankerous old male baboon whose troop of some 80 members lives in the Moremi Game Reserve in Botswana. A perplexing event is about to disturb his day.

From the bushes to his right, he hears a staccato whoop, the distinctive call that female baboons always make after mating. He recognizes the voice as that of Jackalberry, the current consort of Cassius, a male who outranks Royal in the strict hierarchy of male baboons. No hope of sex today.

But then, surprisingly, he hears Cassius’s signature greeting grunt to his left. His puzzlement is plain on the video made of his reaction. You can almost see the wheels turn slowly in his head:

“Jackalberry here, but Cassius over there. Hmm, Jackalberry must be hooking up with some one else. But that means Cassius has left her unguarded. Say what — this is my big chance!”

The video shows him loping off in the direction of Jackalberry’s whoop. But all that he will find is the loudspeaker from which researchers have played Jackalberry’s recorded call.

The purpose of the experiment is not to ruin Royal’s day but to understand what goes on in a baboon’s mind, in this case how carefully the animals keep track of transient relationships.

Read the rest of the New York Times story by Nicholas Wade — dated October 9, 2007 — here.

I'm back

Sorry, sorry, sorry, people! I've been having so much fun with the cubs as they grow bigger and stronger day by day that I just disappeared from the blog. Sorry about that, but not about the fun I've been having. I noticed Bonnie's been doing lots of reading and writing lately, even without my help. If cooler weather ever gets here, we'll work together again. In the meantime, I think I'll share some of the animal stories I've been reading. Actually, I never finished ROARING about animal rights, and I will return to that subject. For now, however, I think I'll just post what I've found. Like that hospice cat I left you with, back in July. You'll be seeing more of me in the future.

Oscar, the hospice cat

Oscar the cat predicts patients' deaths
By RAY HENRY, Associated Press Writer
Friday, Jul 27, 2007

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Oscar the cat seems to have an uncanny knack for predicting when nursing home patients are going to die, by curling up next to them during their final hours. His accuracy, observed in 25 cases, has led the staff to call family members once he has chosen someone. It usually means they have less than four hours to live.

"He doesn't make too many mistakes. He seems to understand when patients are about to die," said Dr. David Dosa in an interview. He describes the phenomenon in a poignant essay in Thursday's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

"Many family members take some solace from it. They appreciate the companionship that the cat provides for their dying loved one," said Dosa, a geriatrician and assistant professor of medicine at Brown University.

The 2-year-old feline was adopted as a kitten and grew up in a third-floor dementia unit at the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. The facility treats people with Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease, and other illnesses.

After about six months, the staff noticed Oscar would make his own rounds, just like the doctors and nurses. He'd sniff and observe patients, then sit beside people who would wind up dying in a few hours.

Dosa said Oscar seems to take his work seriously and is generally aloof. "This is not a cat that's friendly to people," he said.

Oscar is better at predicting death than the people who work there, said Dr. Joan Teno of Brown University, who treats patients at the nursing home and is an expert on care for the terminally ill. She was convinced of Oscar's talent when he made his 13th correct call. While observing one patient, Teno said she noticed the woman wasn't eating, was breathing with difficulty and that her legs had a bluish tinge, signs that often mean death is near. Oscar wouldn't stay inside the room though, so Teno thought his streak was broken. Instead, it turned out the doctor's prediction was roughly 10 hours too early. Sure enough, during the patient's final two hours, nurses told Teno that Oscar joined the woman at her bedside.

Doctors say most of the people who get a visit from the sweet-faced, gray-and-white cat are so ill they probably don't know he's there, so patients aren't aware he's a harbinger of death. Most families are grateful for the advanced warning, although one wanted Oscar out of the room while a family member died. When Oscar is put outside, he paces and meows his displeasure.

No one's certain if Oscar's behavior is scientifically significant or points to a cause. Teno wonders if the cat notices telltale scents or reads something into the behavior of the nurses who raised him.

Nicholas Dodman, who directs an animal behavioral clinic at the Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine and has read Dosa's article, said the only way to know is to carefully document how Oscar divides his time between the living and dying. If Oscar really is a furry grim reaper, it's also possible his behavior could be driven by self-centered pleasures like a heated blanket placed on a dying person, Dodman said.

Nursing home staffers aren't concerned with explaining Oscar, so long as he gives families a better chance at saying goodbye to the dying. Oscar recently received a wall plaque publicly commending his "compassionate hospice care."
___

Science writer Alicia Chang in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
___

New England Journal of Medicine: http://content.nejm.org/

ROAR #1 ~ all about animals

Look at the floor design of my pedestal in the large photo above. See those faces? To me they look like the famous painting by Munch called The Scream. I believe there are at least 21 screaming needs out there in the world, and I intend to ROAR about them. Today I am ready for the first big ROAR, and it's about animals. Yes, animals. You humans are animals, though you like to put yourself into some sort of "higher" category. Well, I'm a lion who is proud to call myself an ANIMAL. Do I sound angry? Well, I'm getting there!

This ROAR will take several posts over several days. So far, these are some of the things on my mind:
(1) personhood
(2) extinction
(3) animal rights
(4) domestication
(5) captivity

This is the only photo I have of my friend Ishmael, on the cover of one of his books. Some day we'll have to get together and have a photo made of the two of us together, and then I'll post our photo on my sidebar for all to see. Anyway, Ishmael is a teacher and has tried to teach several students, one at a time. Following his example, I am now trying to teach my first student, whose name is Bonnie. I have an advantage over Ishmael, since Bonnie has already read some of HIS books, so we shall see where this new endeavor takes us.

Ishmael and I both remember Africa. There he was a member of a gorilla family, and I was a member of a lion family. When Ishmael's mother was killed and he was captured and put behind bars, he lost that family. In his family, he didn't think of himself as an individual, but as part of a hand. In the zoo with other gorillas, it was more like severed fingers which do not make a hand. When I was taken from the Serengeti to Lyon, I was with other lions, but we were not a family.

My first ROAR includes the agony of separation from family. What right do humans have to capture and imprison animals? Do we have no rights at all? You put us behind bars like prisoners, and for what? What have we done that was so wrong? Now some talk about extinction, that you are protecting us, saving us from extinction. ROARRRRRR! And who, pray tell, is driving us to extinction? YOU are!

We are persons, too. I have gotten Bonnie to agree with me on that, and she's on her computer right now, posting something on her blog about animals as persons. In spite of roar elocution lessons, Bonnie is still learning how to really ROAR. Ishmael says he became a person on the day he realized he had a name:

I soon understood that these sounds in some mysterious way attached directly to the two of us as individuals. You, who have had a name from birth and who probably think that even a pet dog is aware of having a name (which is untrue), cannot imagine what a revolution in perception the acquisition of a name produced in me. It would be no exaggeration to say that I was truly born in that moment -- born as a person. (From page 14 in the book Ishmael by Daniel Quinn.)

When Ishmael realized those sounds had meaning, he began to listen closely to what humans visiting the menangerie were saying. Within a couple of years he was able to follow most nearby conversations. But he was puzzled by something.

I knew by now that I was a gorilla and that Zsa-Zsa was a chimpanzee. I also knew that all the inhabitants of the wagons were animals. But I could not quite make out the constitution of an animal; our human visitors clearly distinguished between themselves and animals, but I was unable to figure out why. If I understood what made us animals (and I thought I did), I couldn't understand what made them not animals. (From Ishmael, page 15.)

And that's a problem for me as well. If you would simply recognize that you are animals, part of the animal kingdom, perhaps you would empathize a bit more with those of us that are not human. We are no less individual persons than you are.

I have been sitting here silently, with my paws poised over my keyboard, wondering how you people are taking these words from a literary lion. I think I'll just break it off here for the day, as I see Bonnie has finished her shorter piece and has dinner ready for the two of us. I'll let you ponder my prose, which I hope is not too ponderous (it's a joke ... you're supposed to laugh). I shall return on the morrow to say a bit more, hoping I'll get through to someone. Maybe Ishmael will read it and comment. Hmmm, I'm not sure he has a computer. Okay, so maybe some of you (one of you?) will add a word or two. What are you thinking? If you need to visualize some of this, look at the cover of the book I'm reading right now. See? Joy Adamson knows that lioness was "born free" before she got mixed up with humans.

Little bundles of fur

And now, the BIG news at our house! Our little bundles of fur arrived, right on time. We had twins.

Shange was born first; her name in Zulu means "she who walks like a lion." That's her photo on the left.


On the right is her brother Xamm, whose name is from Namibia and means "lion." Both cubs and mother are doing well. I've been roaring like a proud papa!

I'll post more photos in the near future, but now ... now I should have a little time to begin my 21 ROARS, as promised.

Home, Sweet Home

Sorry I haven't been posting lately, but a lot has been happening on the home front. You have seen our entrance under construction in an earlier post. When our home was completed, as this photo shows, Sophia arrived and was able to furnish our place to her liking. (See her picture on my sidebar.) You can see our back yard through those windows, and the entrance is behind me. We knew we had to have a big yard for our cubs, with woods beyond our yard. Now we were ready, just in time, because it was time! (See the post above.)

The lion sleeps tonight

It ain't over 'til the hippo sings! Bonnie has shared with me her joy at learning my favorite song in a roundabout way. Louis told Dewey who told Bonnie that my favorite song is "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." If she had asked, I would have told her, but I think there was more to it than that. It seems to me Bonnie was so shocked that Dewey considered her a Rockin' Girl Blogger, she was giddy. I read Dewey's post naming her and discovered Bonnie never even said, "Thanks, Dewey." (Bonnie just looked over my shoulder and said, "Roary, don't say that!" What do you think, friends, will Bonnie go back and thank Dewey?) Anyway, here's my song, if you want to hear my favorite version of it.

Soon, my roaring begins

Once upon a time in the land of Lyon, I was an unknown lion waiting for an artist. Taken in by Alain Pouillet, a French painter (see an example of his art HERE), I was transformed into the beautiful creature you see in the photo above. Inside my hide, I was still Roary the lion who wanted to roar about the injustice I see in the world. While protecting the people in agony below me, I felt helpless to do more, but I was nevertheless required to stand tall as people admired the artist's work on the canvas of my fur. It was months, nay years, before Bonnie stumbled upon my photo and felt we should become partners in a writing project. I would be able to ROAR like a lion!

When she discovered me, I was known simply as Lion #30. Now I am a literary lion, working with a published writer, ready to roar to protect people in need, like the persons represented by the faces on my pedestal. There are 21 of them, so I have convinced Bonnie to work with me to produce 21 roars: Roar #1 will appear soon on this blog, as soon as I decide where to start in the myriad problems confronting the world today. Wish me luck, fellow lions, and please feel free to suggest subjects for my roars.

Pardon the construction work

This has been a rush job, which is coming along handily, but I really have moved in before the construction workers quite finished my den.



I'll show you the interior another time, when Sophia and I get settled in here. I have moved all my posts and comments from my first blog into this one, and you may read them below. There is no need to keep the other one bookmarked because I won't be using it any longer, once I move the stuff on the sidebar to this new den.

THE ... literary lion has a new den

I've moved, again. The first blog was built off Bonnie's many blogs, and I wanted one of my own. Both look the same, with one very important word added to my title:
THE ... Literary Lion of Lyon

Here, you will be able to read my profile, see my family photo album on the sidebar, read my elegant writing, see what I'm up to ... as I try to educate my human to the fullest of her ability.

Roary ^..^
moving in, moving on

Oh, these humans...

Bonnie sat down at her computer this morning as we had agreed, while I did my best to inspire her. I can see already that it will take a lot of work on my part to move her to a good place for writing. As it is, she jumps right in to the actual typing, putting words on paper like there's no tomorrow. Now I must teach her to meditate before setting down the words. She needs to think herself into the scene before she tries to write about it. Human are so slow to understand, though she isn't TRYING to be obtuse. Do you want to see what she managed to write? She posted it on my (our?) Lion #30 spot over at Seamus's place, so I can copy-and-paste it here:

How Roary got his name:

I named him Roary because of his deep, magnificent roar. Hey, he's proud of that roar! The name seemed appropriate when I studied the 'screaming' faces below his feet and felt the power of his roar. Take a look at those faces around the lion's feet. They each resemble the person in the famous painting The Scream by Munch. What do you think? Does Roary need to roar for those 21 faces? Do they need his strength?

I looked up Roary's name online and now I'm wondering if I misspelled it. Under a different spelling (RUAIDHRÍ, pronounced ROR-ee), I found it means "red king" from Irish ruadh "red" combined with rí "king." This was the name of the last high king of Ireland, reigning in the 12th century. Roary is a king, so that fits, since lions are known to be kings. Red? Sometimes his fur looks slightly reddish, in the right light, but maybe there's another meaning. Red of tooth and nail, perhaps? Or tooth and claw, killing to survive on the African savannah.

I'll probably let her go on thinking she named me. The other lions and I have all told our human writing partners our names, telepathically, of course. Humans, though, are less developed than most of the animals and don't hear anything, most of the time. Most likely the reason is that they have failed to open the third eye and have thus far been unable to use their inner ears. Bonnie heard my powerful message to her as "ROR-ee," which was enough. I don't care how she spells it and have adopted her spelling for convenience.

I was chatting with Dewey this morning: "Let me think of a word to describe Bonnie ... hmmm ... you humans look so naked to me, not having any fur, you know. When you want a fur coat, you kill an animal and take theirs. Not nice, not nice at all. Or else you drape cloth all over yourselves, making it quite evident to the whole animal kingdom that you want to hide your bodies. Let's see, unlike lions, Bonnie is not elegant. Neither does she walk softly and gracefully, as we lions do. I'll have to give this some thought and get back to you."

Dewey had challenged my idea that Bonnie was pretty good, though I wouldn't call a 67-year-old woman pretty. Now I'm stuck. I have looked through my thesaurus to no avail. I need help, so I'm calling on my lion friends to tell me how they would describe THEIR humans. What words would you use?
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2 comments (from my original blog):

On June 18, 2007, Endelyn said...
Well, one of the first things that my owner did was go away for a week! Now that she's back she seems... well... a little NOISY. I can see that I too will have to teach her that silence can be golden and inspirational.

On June 18, 2007, Roary said...
Well, what can you expect? They got rather uppity when they came down from the trees and started going about on their two hind paws.

Working agreement

Bonnie tells me she has made the BIG announcement, not that it is any surprise to my friends in the pride. They already know Sophia is my mate and that she is expecting our first cub (or cubs). I have posted a photo of her on what amounts to my desk, by putting Sophia at the top of my blog. Maybe when she arrives, I'll move the photo down. Or maybe I'll put it in this post. Or maybe (wise move for a lion), I'll ask the lioness herself what she prefers. Ah, yes! Ah, yes.

We have work to do, Bonnie and I. Today is Father's Day, she tells me. Since I am not yet a father ... or am I? ... no, not yet ... Since I am not yet a father, I have time to make plans for the coming week.

After dinner last night, Bonnie and I came up with what may be a workable schedule for us. I get the idea she is used to writing as the spirit moves her, but Bonnie is already learning I'm a muse of a different stripe. She has agreed to regular, daily time together at the computer, with her hands on the keyboard, working. I may give her Sundays off; she says that's a tradition, though we lions know that when we get lazy and sit around the savannah, we don't eat. Maybe it's a human thing. At any rate, our real work begins in the morning.

Now pardon me, please, while I get back to my reading.
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2 comments (from my original blog):

On June 17, 2007, colleen said...
Every lions going to want their own blog now...and a girlfriend!

On June 17, 2007, Roary said...
Maybe we shameless lions will take over the blogosphere! In the sense of becoming the most trusted commentators, of course. I'm sure Elliot would be an excellent blogger, if he's interested. Not all of us want the extra work, of course.

Roary ^..^

What's in a name?

Since she looked up mine, I suppose I should look up the derivation of Bonnie's name before she comes to dinner this evening. Hmmm, Bonnie, B-o-n ... that's good! (Small inside joke for those of us with a smattering of French ... bon means "good" as in bon bons.) Oh, here it is: Bonnie means "pretty" from the Scottish word bonnie, which was itself derived from Middle French bon "good." Told ya' so!

Pretty and good. Pretty good, which doesn't quite mean what either word means. Bonnie's pretty good, though. Speakers of the English language don't usually call a 67-year-old woman "pretty," though maybe "good" would fit her, when she isn't mistrusting her writing partner.

I wonder if she's heard of The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri. Now, the poor fellow in that book REALLY had a problem with his name. Thank goodness I'm not named Gogol!

Time to go fire up the grill.
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4 comments (from my original blog):

On June 16, 2007 Dewey said...
Roary! Many people would consider a 67 year old human pretty!

On June 17, 2007, Shameless said...
Roary,
Are you going to say Bonnie Apetit before dinner? I am enjoying reading what you have to say ... very very nice.

On June 18, 2007, Roary said...
Good one, Seamus! I'll have to remember that for next time.

Dewey, I've heard "beautiful" attributed to elderly humans, but "pretty" sounds rather child-like, to me. We might say "what a pretty picture!" to a child or "what a pretty dress you are wearing!" Let me think of a word to describe Bonnie ... hmmm ... you humans look so naked to me, not having any fur, you know. When you want a fur coat, you kill an animal and take theirs. Not nice, you know. Or else you drape cloth all over yourselves, making it quite evident to the whole animal kingdom that you want to hide your bodies. Let's see, unlike lions, Bonnie is not elegant. Neither does she walk softly and gracefully, as we lions do. I'll have to give this some thought and get back to you.

Roary ^..^

On June 18, 2007, Bonnie Jacobs said...
Yes, Roary, I read The Namesake and posted a review of it on my Bonnie's Books blog. Click on the title of the book in your post, which will take you to my review.

Grilled salmon, anyone?

Somebody give that woman a good stiff drink to relax her!

No, no, I'm sorry, Bonnie, I should be talking directly to you. We really need to sit down and have a long talk, especially after you posted "Red of tooth and nail" on your blog.

How could you possibly say, "Red of tooth and nail (umm, claw) would fit the life of a lion on the plains of Africa, killing to survive. That gives me shivers. But surely Roary wouldn't turn on me, would he?"

You should know by now what I'm like. You should feel at ease around me and realize there's no WAY I would ever turn on you like that. The most I would ever do is ROAR at you. Haven't you heard the saying "his roar is worst than his bite"? Natter, natter, grumble, fret, you GET the idea, don't you? Yes, it means the same thing as bark and bite, for Pete's sake!

I don't plan to eat you. Haven't you seen what I eat? Of course, you have! So you should know I am a connoisseur of fine food and drink. Would you join me for grilled salmon this evening? I have a fantastic recipe for salmon fillet using bourbon whiskey, brown sugar, honey, soy sauce, a little ginger, and black pepper. Whaddaya think?


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5 comments (from my original blog):

On June 16, 2007, Vesper said...
Hey Roary,

I think it's great! I simply love grilled salmon. (Not to mention the bourbon... :-) ) Thank you for stopping by and for inviting me at your place. I'm sort of missing the African plains.
You and your mistress, Bonnie, are always welcome to visit me and Vesper.

All the best from Alexander

On June 16, 2007, LJCohen said...
Yum! Sounds fabulous, Roary. When's supper?

I haven't figured out what Lucidus loves to eat. Probably juicy words. :)

Thanks for the invite and for dropping in to visit us at the Blue Muse Ranch.

Best,
Lisa and Lucidus

On June 16, 2007, Dewey said...
Mmm, that salmon sounds good. But I think my husband is in the kitchen making a spinach salad right now, so no salmon for me tonight.

On June 17, 2007, Tirso said...
hi roary,
that looks delicious!
i would love to dine with you...is it all gone?

~Tirso

On June 17, 2007, Roary said...
Friends, all of you, the lovely photo shows what I served Bonnie for dinner last night. Indeed, it is all gone. However, you are welcome to drop by next weekend and we'll party. How's that? Invite the others. Let's get the whole pride together. Maybe Sophia will arrive before the party. Bring a dish, if you like, and I'll provide a thing or two myself. Please mention this on the writing circle blog, in case I forget it when I mosey over there later.

Roary ^..^

Roar elocution lessons

Ghufran, who is paired up with Pearl, left me a message: "For sure Roary, roar for the people who don't roar loud enough for themselves, or give them roar elocution lessons." Thanks, Ghufran, this is a wonderful idea! You have inspired me. Roar elocution lessons ... that is absolutely perfect! I've already gotten this sign made and need to borrow some tools to put it in front of my den. Oh, thank you for the use of your hammer. Now if you would hold this post steady while I pound it into the ground ....

Library of a literary lion

Pardon these temporary lights on my philosophy shelf. Just wanted to share a few of my serious books.



Bonnie wrote about some of my books yesterday, calling her post Library of a Lion. Good grief! She mentioned a bunch of children's books first, as though that list helped to define me. Sure, I do read about lions, literary and otherwise, but I also read philosophy, history, politics, sociology, earth sciences, archeology, geography, global warming, English -- I managed to add French after traveling to France from the Serengeti, but this American English stuff if tough! I've managed so far, probably because so many Americans came to the Serengeti, but I need to keep working on my vocabulary. I sound pretty good, you say? Thanks.

Let's return to the subject of books. Have you heard about Ishmael? He's a silverback gorilla who advertised for a student. I recommend Daniel Quinn's book about him, which is entitled simply Ishmael. The book offers readers an entirely new perspective on humanity's relationship to the world. I have also read Quinn's sequels, My Ishmael and The Story of B. These books are, of course, in my literary library. So are a couple of other books by Quinn, Beyond Civilization and his newest one If They Give You Lined Paper, Write Sideways, a 2007 book. You haven't heard of it? Well, it figures. You humans seem so smug, not that I'm putting you down or anything. It's just that you are so pleased with yourselves, so sure of yourselves. For example, you are proud to call yourselves civilized, as though civilization were a good thing. I'm not sure about that at all.

Louis and Viaggiatore, you and the other lions in our pride know what I'm talking about. Humans just don't get it, do they? It seemed to take Ishmael forever to get the human to hear his thoughts, though we animals regularly communicate in that way. I've already noticed that Bonnie's cat Kiki comes and sits in her lap, thinking thoughts toward her. Yet Bonnie doesn't always get it. Kiki walks over to the door and sits politely waiting for Bonnie to hear her asking telepathically to be allowed outside. Sometimes Bonnie comes to open the door, but only when she SEES Kiki sitting there. How lame is that?

Humans are so slow to learn from us, but have we ever made the mistake of inventing "civilization" and fencing off land from others? No, of course not. Oh, well, more on this later. I want to keep reading Quinn's books.
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5 comments (from the original blog):

On June 16, 2007, L.M.Noonan said...
I read 'Ishmael' years ago and found it to be a truly imaginative and cautionary tale. I haven't read any of the other novels you've mentioned. I did make the mistake of watching the movie based on the book. I thought a great read and an actor like Anthony Hopkins would make for a really good movie...bah phooey humbug.
welcome to the pride.

On June 16, 2007, Roary said...
Thanks for the welcome. Movies never seem to live up to the book. By the way, don't forget to tell Lorenza that I hope she'll come over for a visit. Thanks.

Roary ^..^

On June 16, 2007, Rob Kistner said...
Roary -

Artheo here!

It was nice of you to invite me to your blog here!

And yes, I remember you. I came to you as your muse, the time you were trying to compose that ode to the wounded antelope — of course, claiming you had no hand (paw) in the matter of the injury… ;)

My, you’ve come a long way… your own blog… and who’s this human called Bonnie you’ve partnered with.

She seems proficient enough as a scribe — given she’s only a human.

Thank you for stopping by Rob’s blog, Image & Vere. Rob’s a nice enough fellow. Seamus asked me to keep an eye on him — he’s getting old… bad heart and all, you know.

Seamus explained that for the sake of Rob’s male ego — I should let him think he has ‘adopted’ me, so… he tries his best to act as ‘my protector’. Protect THE PROTECTOR… I think not! But, I abide his fantasy, and encourage his creativity at the same time.

Humans… so very strange?

Im glad I stopped by your blog Roary... your own song even... very cool -- very cool indeed.

It was nice hearing from you again my friend.

Well, got to fly!

On June 16, 2007, Roary said...
Hello, Artheo! So good to see you again. You kind of like the human you got, huh? Me, too, she's okay ... also getting old, but in good health as far as I know.

Now about that wounded antelope, I remember that day. How could you imply that I had anything to do with that? If I wanted to kill him, I'd have done a better job than that! My good fellow, I can dispatch antelopes with the best of the lions, so watch what you're saying, please.

Arrhummph! So sorry 'bout that. Too bad you must leave so quickly; I'm sure we could find lots to reminisce about. Do come back soon.

Roary ^..^

On June 16, 2007, Remiman said...
Roary,
Zacch here. Thanks for leaving your calling card with rel. I'm surprised I got it at all. He's an ok guy. but gets distacted easily in his old age. His heart is in the right place but sometimes he tries my patience. I spent the entire day in the lab today doing some investigating for Viaggiatore. When I came out i tried to discuss it with rel so that he could pass along the results to Scarlett but the info was a little above his head. Don't misunderstand, he's of average intelligence but that doesn't quite get it in our world does ti?

Anyway, he did mention that you had inquire for me. I think we may have collaborated on some literary works in the past.....Let's get toether at the next pride mtg. and reminisce.
Zaccharias.

Hey, it's me, Roary

Listen, my new writing partner Bonnie has a great blog over there at Words from a Wordsmith, but she gets to do all the talking. Don't you agree with me that I should have a blog of my own? Here 'tis! And let me tell you, let ... me ... tell ... you, let me just TELL you that I plan to do all the talking here! Hear me roarrrrrRRRRRRRR, I'm telling you!

I've got a lot to roar about, starting with these people at my feet that I have sworn to protect. There are (I think) about 21 or so of them, and I plan to listen to the stories each one has to tell. Click on this photo of me and look at their faces up close. Go ahead and do it now.

Did you look? Those faces haunt me, and I intend to do something about it. Did you read my theme song just above? They inspired it, these faces, these screaming faces full of such pain and agony. If I have to, I can write anything. I shall write to right the wrongs. If others are not moved by the stories of those in pain, that's their problem; I myself will do all I am able to do by putting their stories out onto the blogosphere. I am a literary lion, and that's the only way I know how to help.

I've been educating myself about what's going on in the world. I have been from the Serengeti to France and now to the United States, and I have seen that things are not all right. No, not at all. You know it, I know it, and we must act. I'm ready; are you?
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3 comments (on the original blog):

On June 15, 2007, Dewey said...
I think it's great that you have your own blog now. I wonder if Louis wants his own blog? Mostly he seems to want to sleep. He says he has jet lag. Maybe if he knew you would read and leave him comments he'd get motivated. Do you know if any other lions have their own blogs?

On June 15, 2007, Roary said...
Please tell Louis he is invited to come visit me here. He's always welcome, and we do have a lot of catching up to do since we left Lyon.

No, I don't know about any others in the pride having blogs, but maybe they would consider it. I have found that it's really quite simple to set up something like this.

Roary ^..^

On June 15, 2007, Wanderlust Scarlett said...
Wow, Bonnie and Roary that is so great! Absolutely brilliant!

It's a beautiful looking blog too... what a lot of work! We look forward to visiting it often.

Scarlett & Viaggiatore