#i'm not saying they look much alike in their appearances but the vibes in interactions are soooo them in my mind! | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

gerogerigaogaigar · 1 year

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The Roots - Things Fall Apart

The early 00s would see lightning quick evolution in hip hop and this album represents both the foundation on which those changes would take place and the last hurrah of 90s alt hip hop scene. And what a cast of features! Common, Most Def, Erykah Badu, J Dilla, and what I believe is Beanie Sigel's first appearance ever. Almost all up and comers who were hitting the turning point in their career and are now legends. All of this glosses over how well constructed Questlove's beats are and how well Black Thought and Malik B interact with them.

The Meters - Look-Ka Py Py

A great collection of funk grooves from the inventors of the groove. The influence on 70s funk is obvious but I tend to think of The Meters as the sample pack from which the golden age of hip hop is crafted. Taking these songs on their own merit isn't difficult though. Smooth organs, extremely tight punchy drums, and crisp choppy guitar. This album is the essence of funk. The platonic ideal of funkiness.

CHIC - Risqué

Disco is an unfairly maligned genre. The hate was manufactured by racist homophobes who had too much stock tied up in both rock radio as an industry and as an outlet for toxic masculinity. But the meme lives on. Twisted and malformed as only a meme can be. Leave your preconceptions behind and listen with an open mind. You may find that the link between this album and hip hop run deeper than just the bassline from Good Times. You might find that even disregarding the influence on future 'cooler' genres this is just extraordinarily good music. Risqué in particular finds just the right balance of bass and string swells to make the songs engaging to at home listeners and club goers alike.

Credence Clearwater Revival - Cosmo's Factory

A little bit country, a little bit rock and roll, a dash of psychedelia, and various other herbs and spices and you've got CCR brewing. Fogerty's raspy voice is the perfect compliment to the down home bayou vibe. Although this album is the most polished of their output the production values don't get in the way of the raw soul and heart. In fact it might be one of the best production jobs in rock music. And of course, it must be said, if you have not heard their epic 11 minute cover of I Heard It Through The Grapevine then you haven't heard one of the best songs ever recorded.

Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - Going To A Go-Go

Have I mentioned that I really love Motown yet? This is a really solid collection of Smokey Robinson's soulful songwriting. Really anything I've said about the Motown sound goes here as well so I won't be repetitive. This album is made up of song after song that could have been another artist's biggest hit.

Bob Dylan - Love and Theft

Y'know 500 isn't actually that many albums. And Bob Dylan has, like other albums. Better and more important ones. I'm not saying Love and Theft is bad, but is it really one of the 500 greatest albums of all time? How uh many Dylan albums did you put on here guys? Didya get Nashville Skyline, Desire, Before the Flood, John Wesley Harding, Planet Waves, Another Side? All better albums from the deeper recesses of his discography.

The Beach Boys - Wild Honey

W-what? really? I don't... Uh... I mean it's not a bad album at all. It's just. It's like. If there's a Beach Boys album that I forget exists it's this one. Um okay I'll review it for real though. So after the collapse of the Smile project the Beach Boys were left in a weird place. Brian Wilson had become even more reclusive and tension was high. The end result was Wild Honey, an album that clocks in at only 24 minutes and sounds more like bedroom pop than any Beach Boys record before it. It kinda works though, it feels hazy and tired and constricted. It feels warm but unlike previous records this isn't the warmth of the sun on a beach, it's the stuffy heat of a too small apartment with only one window in the summer.

The Grateful Dead - Workingman's Dead

In under a year The Grateful Dead went from twenty minutes psychedelic jam sessions to three minutes country rock songs. This was their first album in that country style and it's unbelievable how natural they sound. You would never guess that 69s Live/Dead and 70s Workingman's Dead could ever be the same band. Although I think it's overshadowed by American Beauty which they released only five months later this still marks the biggest turning point in their career.

#500 album gauntlet #the roots #the meters #chic #creedence clearwater revival #smokey robinson & the miracles #bob dylan #the beach boys #the grateful dead

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dustyard · 3 years

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Do you have any tips or thoughts on how to differentiate between species that are all very similar behaviourally? I'm stuck between Amur leopards, cougars & bobcats and am having trouble narrowing them down further. Thank you!

Somehow this turned into an infodump on felid social behaviors, so... you're welcome?This may or may not be helpful, but I did get to dig up some of the pdf's I have saved on feline behavior, so tbh I'm having a good evening.

A real quick dislaimer, amur leopards are a critically endangered subspecies, and as such, a lot of our information on them is going to be flawed due to their tiny subject pool, as well as the fact that they live alongside several other subspecies (I believe it's five, currently) that also reside in the same general region and could potentially be contaminating research on them. I'm not saying this to put you off of them as a form to look into, but rather to be realistic in our understanding of them, knowing that the information we currently have could be flawed or incomplete.

Let's begin with their social differences.

Amur leopards: What do we know? When it comes to territory, all three of these big cats overlap territories to some degree. Amur leopards do it the least, with females and males overlapping territory (females moreso), as well as same-sex individuals also overlapping territories (so males overlapping with males, females overlapping with females, as well as opposite-sex overlaps, though males are far less likely to overlap with one another). However, the amount of territory overlap is smaller than with the other two cat species. There is also evidence that amur leopards will overlap territory with leopards they're related to, especially mothers with daughters. Something to keep in mind with leopards is that they tend to be heavily influenced by the prey availabilty and ecological conditions of the habitat they find themselves in; Indian leopards, for example, will live in much closer contact with one another, with greater territory overlap when there is abundant prey, and multiple leopards can feed themselves without conflict. It has been suggested through camera-traps that this characteristic is also true of amur leopards.

How we interpret this? Amur leopards are less prone to socialization than cougars or bobcats. They need more space, and they get more defensive over having their boundaries crossed. However, they are capable of tolerating others and sharing resources to a degree, and they may like having people they've bonded closely with (like family or romantic partners) close by (metaphorically or literally). Still, they tend to keep people at arm's length. I read this as amur leopards being people who can be sentimental and tolerant, but are overall pretty socially awkward, and not very socially tolerant. They aren't good at maintaining relationships, and they prefer people they can vibe with from a distance, be it emotional or physical. They aren't much for close intimacy, and tend to keep even the people they care about at a distance.

However (and this paragraph is my personal guesswork, so feel free to ignore it), it's been documented that leopards will mate with the same partners for years, spending days to weeks together, sharing kills, grooming one another, and just enjoying their company outside of copulation. There have also been documented instances of unrelated leopards sharing kills together (typically adult females with younger males). So, I personally read these cats as being mostly solitary (and usually actively avoiding other leopards), but they can and do form consistent bonds, they just usually need a good reason to actually come together. Their fondness might read as cool and detached to people not-in-the-know, but I think it likely that they still form bonds and have one or two people they care about, even if they aren't big on showing it.

Cougars: what do we know? Cougars often form territories with one male who overlaps with several females, those several females also typically overlapping (kind of like a multiple-circle venn diagram). Individuals still need large amounts of space, and are rigorous about keeping their boundaries. Cougars actually do form relationships outside of mating and family; unrelating cougars (both males and females) will make "friends" with their neighbors. They will share prey, as well as just hang out. These relationships are based heavily on reciprocity, so if cougar A shares a meal with cougar B, extending the friendship olive branch, and cougar B later refuses to share food and be polite, the relationship will likely not survive (males, however, can get away with sharing less with females than vice versa).

How do we interpret this? Cougars are definitely introverts who are defensive about boundaries and need a huge amount of space and independence, but they do like having a few close, mutually-beneficial ties. Cougars are extremely private and often shy, but they will go out of their way for the people that will do the same. However, being fundamentally selfish, cougars don't tolerate being taken advantage of. They can be extremely fickle in their relationships, as if they aren't getting what they want out of a relationship, they can and will drop it entirely. Cougars are also not especially social; outside of their couple of close ties, they do not like or want social interaction. These people will be surprisingly soft and fond of a select few, and have pretty much no time or attention for anyone else.

Bobcats: what do we know? Bobcats tend to overlap territories more than cougars or leopards, but are still quite defensive of their territories. Interestingly, males are surprisingly tolerant of other males overlapping their territories, which is very unusual for felids, while females tend to be less tolerant of other females on their territory. It has been suggested that bobcats don't reproduce until they've established an exclusive territory (male and female alike), and bobcats also tend to be very consistent with their territory ranges, rarely moving or shifting their boundaries. Bobcats have also exhibited polygynous behaviors, suggesting further that bobcats actually form long-term ties with their neighbors/mates. However, outside of breeding (and females raising kittens) bobcats are usually alone.

How do we interpret this? Bobcats are relatively tolerant, conflict-avoidant people who nonetheless need a lot of space and get very defensive when their boundaries are crossed. However, they have a surprising amount of fidelity to their territories and partners, which suggests that bobcats do have some close ties that they cultivate, but they don't need or want constant attention or involvement from the people/person they care about. I read them as being relatively chill people unless you get on their nerves or cross too many boundaries, and are mostly loose-bonding with one or two relationships that they're loyal to long-term, though they may appear to be rather detached to an outside observer.

So how do they all compare? I would say that amur leopards are the more detached and aloof, generally not wanting or needing close ties. Bobcats are more tolerant, socially, but they also tend to be very loose-bonding and disinterested in social interaction, though they may cultivate a special relationship or two. Cougars have a few close ties that they are quite attached to, but outside of these relationships are very asocial. I would say bobcats and amur leopards are actually the most similar. The general vibe difference that I get is that amur leopards are more stoic and cold, while bobcats are more superficially chill and even reasonably friendly (I also tend to think of bobcats as more socially confident with strangers than amur leopards or cougars). Bobcats tend to live in closer proximity to humans than either cougars or amur leopards, and I can say from experience they're pretty wily and unafraid for an animal that is really not that big. They also regularly hunt and kill deer, which are significantly bigger than them, so these guys are not afraid of a challenge. Comparatively, cougars and amur leopards are more shy and are conflict-adverse in a different way, if that makes sense. Bobcats will get into your barn and growl at you like a douche, but they don't like interpersonal conflict. Cougars and amur leopards really try to avoid people, so I would say they're less tolerant of... I want to call it interruptions of their daily life expectations.

My dæmon is actually settled as a cougar, and my two cents on the form is this: we're kind of boring, as people go. I can be pretty rigid and selfish, and unreasonably private, even with the (~3) people I have close ties to. I don't like taking unnecessary risks, and I'm kind of a social wet blanket. I'm also definitely weird about needing relationships to be reciprocal. I have dropped friends, family members, and partners from my life entirely, and immediately, because I felt taken advantage of/wasn't getting what I wanted from the relationship. It's actually like, kind of a problem. I don't really do the whole "selfless love" thing. Some suggestions if you're looking at felid forms and like cougars are also cheetahs and tigers, as they have somewhat similar social bonds despite their extreme introversion.

I don't know you, obviously, so a lot of this is going to do with your own personal introspection. These three forms are very similar, but they give off different vibes, and they do have differences. Are you more outwardly chill and maybe even playful but inwardly private type? Bobcat. Are you generally very aloof and socially awkward, even if you do have a close relationship? Amur leopard. Do you mostly fit the introvert-asocial category except for a few close relationships that tend to be very reciprocal in nature? Cougar. I would think also about they types of prey they hunt (size and difficulty can reflect risk-reward assessment, aka what types of challenges you're willing to take on in your life), more about their relationships with humans, other predators in the same ranges as them, etc. The best advice with super similar forms like these are looking at small details and specifics, as well as how they're recieved. You can also ask people who know you what they think; you'd be surprised by the observations you get.

#dæmons #bobcat #cougar #amur leopard #ask me

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