International Cephalopod Appreciation Day : Pharyngula

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PZ Myers is a biologist and associate professor at the University of Minnesota, Morris.
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International Cephalopod Appreciation Day

Category: Cephalopods
Posted on: October 8, 2008 9:57 AM, by PZ Myers

It is the 8^th day of the 10^th month, and you all know what that means: it is International Cephalopod Appreciation Day.

There will be a Wednesday Cephalopod at some time today.

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Comments

Posted by: Carlie | October 8, 2008 10:04 AM

If it's on the 8th, why does the poster say the 10th?

Posted by: Ted Dahlberg | October 8, 2008 10:04 AM

Iä! Iä! Cthulhu fhtagn!

(Well, someone had to.)

Posted by: drew | October 8, 2008 10:05 AM

I'm confused why does the graphic say 10 october if the holiday is on the 8 october?

Posted by: Katkinkate | October 8, 2008 10:15 AM

PZ, you're 2 days ahead of yourself.

Posted by: Cthulhu | October 8, 2008 10:18 AM

@ #2
Knock it off. I'm trying to sleep and it's hard when people keep shouting at you.

Posted by: The Petey | October 8, 2008 10:32 AM

Does this mean Spongebob and Patrick need to throw Squidward a party?

Posted by: bumblebrain | October 8, 2008 10:38 AM

But even if we start celebrating it two days early, we will be able to celebrate enough? I propose we celebrate all week. Get chocolate squidies for the kids! Wear funny hats and sweaters with extra arms! Hug every octopus you come across! Remind your friendly neighborhood cuttlefish that she/he is appreciated!

Posted by: Richard Harris | October 8, 2008 10:41 AM

Should we all eat calamari or octopus that day?

Posted by: Glen Davidson | October 8, 2008 10:41 AM

I'll bring the calamari for the celbration.

Glen D
http://tinyurl.com/2kxyc7

#10

Posted by: spgreenlaw | October 8, 2008 10:53 AM

Yes, what better way to appreciate animals than to eat them! That little octopus animation is overloading my cute receptors.

#11

Posted by: zer0 | October 8, 2008 10:58 AM

I'm confused by the graphic as well. Is it on the 8th or 10th?!?!

#12

Posted by: Luke | October 8, 2008 11:06 AM

If it's the 10th, it'll coincide nicely with my first wedding anniversary. Perhaps me and the misses will celebrate by making "the beast with eight appendages".

#13

Posted by: Cuttlefish, OM | October 8, 2008 11:08 AM

The Eighth is correct
hug a cuttlefish today
you won't regret it

#14

Posted by: Moggie | October 8, 2008 11:12 AM

Nobody here reads base 8?

#15

Posted by: idahogie | October 8, 2008 11:13 AM

Shouldn't the International Cephalopod event have eight days? Sort of like Hanukkah.

#16

Posted by: llewelly | October 8, 2008 11:18 AM

The hopping purple creature looks much more like a ghost out to eat Pac-Man than it does a cephalopod.

#17

Posted by: Philippe | October 8, 2008 11:38 AM

Today, the 8th, is my b-day!

Wow. I was born on Cephalopod Day.

I AM SPECIAL!!!!

;-)

Back to your regularly scheduled programming...

#18

Posted by: Andy Allen | October 8, 2008 11:46 AM

Not quite cephalopod-related, but an interesting science tidbit from the L.A. Times:

1 Japanese, 2 Americans win Nobel chemistry prize
STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- Two Americans and a U.S.-based Japanese scientist won the Nobel Prize in chemistry on Wednesday for discovering and developing a glowing jellyfish protein that revolutionized the ability to study disease and normal development in living organisms.

Roger Tsien of the University of California, San Diego, Martin Chalfie of Columbia University and Japan's Osamu Shimomura shared the prize for their for their work on green fluorescent protein, or GFP, first found in jellyfish, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said.

Researchers worldwide now use GFP to track such processes as the development of brain cells, the growth of tumors and the spread of cancer cells. It has let them study nerve cell damage from Alzheimer's disease and see how insulin-producing beta cells arise in the pancreas of a growing embryo, for example.

Read the rest at: http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-nobel9-2008oct09,0,2238575.story

Andy

#19

Posted by: Andy Allen | October 8, 2008 12:24 PM

Never mind - while I was writing the above PZ made a main post about this. I should have expected that something like that would not get past him :) .

Back on topic: I had fun this morning with my science/biology-enthusiastic kids exploring cephalopod day. I'm looking forward to writing/drawing/building models when they get back from school later.

Andy

#20

Posted by: Greg R. | October 8, 2008 1:05 PM

Philippe said:

Today, the 8th, is my b-day!
Wow. I was born on Cephalopod Day.
I AM SPECIAL!!!!
;-)
Back to your regularly scheduled programming...

Damn, the 10th is my birthday. For a minute, I thought I was special...
:-(

#21

Posted by: David Marjanović, OM | October 8, 2008 1:40 PM

Nobody here reads base 8?

Thread over.

Wait, it says "2008"...

#22

Posted by: David Marjanović, OM | October 8, 2008 1:42 PM

Nobody here reads base 8?

Thread over.

Wait, it says "2008"...

#23

Posted by: Erik A. Kruger | October 8, 2008 1:49 PM

Happy Cephaliday, PZ!!!

#24

Posted by: Erik A. Kruger | October 8, 2008 1:50 PM

Happy Cephaliday, PZ!!!

#25

Posted by: Squidward | October 8, 2008 1:58 PM

@21 & 22

So, it's actually the year 3730...

wow...

#26

Posted by: «bønez_brigade» | October 8, 2008 2:01 PM

cephalopodcast has updated the image to read 8 October 2008:
http://flickr.com/photos/cephalopodcast/2924779932/

#27

Posted by: bad Jim | October 8, 2008 2:06 PM

There is this note at the link:

UPDATE: Thanks to everyone for pointing out I am an idiot and mixed up the date on the graphic. Fixed now more-or-less. Pardon while I wipe this embarrassment off my face.

#28

Posted by: Sili | October 8, 2008 2:10 PM

Eight days?

Why so little? (I mean what about the poor nautili?)

I propose we celebrate from August 10 to October 8. 's only fair.

#29

Posted by: Healyhatman | October 8, 2008 5:11 PM

I wish I knew before-hand, I would have gotten Cthulu a present :(

#30

Posted by: Glen Davidson | October 8, 2008 5:28 PM

How about changing the graphic (or more likely, changing out the graphic) to the right date, PZ? The linked site has done so.

Glen D
http://tinyurl.com/2kxyc7