Pharyngula: The squidmas tree of my dreams

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PZ Myers is a biologist and associate professor at the University of Minnesota, Morris.
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« Sunday activities for the godless | Main | Expelled, coming up fast »

The squidmas tree of my dreams

Category: Cephalopods • Weirdness
Posted on: November 25, 2007 6:44 PM, by PZ Myers

Looking for decorating ideas? This photo series shows how to make a beautiful squidmas tree.

Comments

Posted by: David Marjanović, OM | November 25, 2007 7:04 PM

An ammonite! :-) :-) :-)

Posted by: the chaplain | November 25, 2007 7:15 PM

The Star Trek one is a must-have.

Posted by: noncarborundum | November 25, 2007 7:30 PM

The Star Trek one is a must-have.

One? I count three (Guardian of Forever; Borg cube; original Enterprise). I want them all.

Posted by: Nadai | November 25, 2007 8:02 PM

According to Memory Alpha, the Star Trek ones are Hallmark ornaments - the Borg cube was released in 2000, the Guardian of Forever in 2004, and the original Enterprise in either 1991 or 1995.

This year's ornaments are a TNG Enterprise and a scene from the Wrath of Khan.

I apologize in advance if my links don't work. I suck at HTML.

Posted by: Bad | November 25, 2007 8:10 PM

Some more Expelled footage is out. No PZ in this footage unfortunately, but we DO get Dawkins saying:

"As a scientist, I am pretty... hostile to, a rival doctrine..."

Something tells me we're sort of missing some key lines from the beginning and end of that thought...

Posted by: David Farley | November 25, 2007 8:18 PM

PZ liked my tree! :)

Nadai is right, but the original Enterprise is not the light-up one (which is now rare and expensive) but the pewter ornament that was part of a set with a base from 1996. I don't have the set - just the Enterprise ornament.

For those who want their own ammonite, I got it at the Fernbank Museum in Atlanta over Thanksgiving.

Posted by: Beth | November 25, 2007 9:22 PM

These pics are great! I'm always looking out for animal ornaments - I'm trying to get my Solstice tree to look like the "tree of life". Can't believe I don't have a cephalopod yet!

Posted by: Bee | November 25, 2007 9:30 PM

David, that's a lovely and opulent tree. I really like the crab, and the astronaut with (I'm guessing) Laika reposing at his feet. Oh, and all the rest, too.

Posted by: Josh | November 25, 2007 10:51 PM

Squidmas tree of your dreams? I figured such a "tree" would be decidedly more...squidlike. How about a tree skirt that looks like a mass of rubbery tentacles? There should be a pair of large, light-up "eye" ornaments, too.

#10

Posted by: Bad | November 25, 2007 10:56 PM

Every year's tree has to surpass last years Josh: you've got to give David someplace to go next year instead of just having the coolest ever right off the bat. :)

#11

Posted by: Monado | November 25, 2007 10:58 PM

Wow, that is an amazing tree! I like the critters - chicks, eagle, hammerhead shark, fish, ammonite, grasshopper, little green crab, wiggly things, and that lovely gilded octopus and armored (reticulated?) lizard. The original trees had fruit on them to remind them that they were supposed to shake off that winter nonsense and start producing again, so a "tree of life" could actually be quite traditional.

I didn't recognize the Borg cube specifically. I thought it might be a time cube.

Very neat!

#12

Posted by: David Farley | November 25, 2007 11:17 PM

Thanks everybody.

Bee, the astronaut is another Hallmark - it's supposed to be Neil Armstrong (he talks!). I have to start looking for a Laika ornament for next year.

Until I found the octopus, I thought the spider was going to be the big find for this year.

#13

Posted by: Niobe | November 26, 2007 1:53 AM

David please tell me I can get the hammerhead online. I must own it.

#14

Posted by: mayhempix | November 26, 2007 3:55 AM

My favorite part of xmas day is the home baked octo-pie.

#15

Posted by: D. Sidhe | November 26, 2007 7:35 AM

Very nice tree. I have the octopus and the shark, too, got them at the Seattle Aquarium. They've been hanging on my bedroom wall until I get my tree up. The nautilus, though, I'm going to have to be on the lookout for one of those.

#16

Posted by: ctenotrish, FCD | November 26, 2007 9:21 AM

Great stuff! I like the green crab the best - where did you find it? I'd love to have one on my tree!

#17

Posted by: David Farley | November 26, 2007 1:43 PM

I got the shark, octopus, crab and lizard at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago (not all this year, so I don't know what they actually have now). I don't know who made the crab and lizard, but the shark and octopus are from a company called December Diamonds. Here's a link to the Hammerhead Shark for Niobe.

http://www.diamondsofthesea.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=43

(Hope that works.)

#18

Posted by: ctenotrish, FCD | November 26, 2007 1:44 PM

Oh, my comment above was directed at David, who apparently HAS the green crab on his tree. :)

#19

Posted by: Niobe | November 26, 2007 2:06 PM

David you're a gem.

#20

Posted by: evan | November 26, 2007 6:39 PM

That looks suspiciously like a Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus; perhaps you should notify these people:

http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/

#21

Posted by: Caitlin | November 26, 2007 6:41 PM

Hope I'm not too late to ask a question of David!

Where did you get the lemur? All I want for Squidmas is a lemur ornament.

#22

Posted by: Sengkelat | November 26, 2007 7:22 PM

For those looking for ornaments, I suggest searching eBay.

My favorites:
Lobster
Octopus

I have several of the ornaments from that Squidmas tree, but the first image, the octopus, is great. I must have it.

#23

Posted by: David Farley | November 26, 2007 8:46 PM

Caitlin - I got the lemur last year at the Christkindlmarket at Daley Plaza in Chicago. Unfortunately, I don't know the name of the shop or who made it, except that it's German.

#24

Posted by: Caitlin | November 26, 2007 8:58 PM

Thanks! That will help!

#25

Posted by: Lucy | November 27, 2007 4:39 PM

Beautiful!

A more literary fellow here.

#26

Posted by: Monado | November 29, 2007 11:40 PM

It is lovely, but where are the STARFISH? They are natural ornaments.

#27

Posted by: Monado | November 30, 2007 9:52 PM

Lucy, I'll remember that image when someone asks, "But why do you read?"

I think the decorated plastic critters would be fairly easy to make. They look like toy-shop models that have been sprayed with thin glue, then dipped into tiny glass beads (like the ones that optometrists heat glasses in so that they can bend the earpieces), and then had a few larger rhinestones glued on for extra sparkle. Of course it's easier just to pay the $15.