Cephalopodmas Contest!

You've only got a few days left to enter: Everything Octopus is giving away a cephalopod tree ornament, and all you have to do is subscribe to the site and leave a comment. Easy!

I already own this very same ornament, and will be putting up our family christmas tree this weekend. I've received a lot of 'pod gear from readers over the last few years, and I'm planning to decorate the tree with lots of it (I'll put up a photo when it's done). If you won this ornament, you'll be on the path to outdoing the awesomeness of my tree. It's something to dream of, you know.

More like this

So, remember back in December, I wrote a post about a Cantor crank who had a Knol page supposedly refuting Cantor's diagonalization? This week, I foolishly let myself get drawn into an extended conversation with him in comments. Since it's a comment thread on an old post that had been inactive…
This is one of those "what I had for lunch web log entries." Old fashioned style, and I'm not talking about the drink. Probably. You'll notice that I've not blogged for half a month. For the last three months, Amanda, Huxley, and I have been engaged in a very time consuming operation. We fixed…
This is a repost of a review that is timely, given this week's focus on setting up your Linux server and changing all your computers over to Linux and so on. I started this discussion a while back, and now it is time to continue it. The Bourne Again Shell, bash, is the default command-line shell…
"The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires." -William Arthur Ward Every so often, people get up-in-arms about teaching and education in college. New studies come out, new methods are touted and tried, curricula get revised,…

Can it truly be reverent to place a replica of a holy cephalopod onto a dry spiky green bit of vegetation, when heaven is a hole underwater?

If only we had a holy book to tell us what is right where cephalopods are involved...

Glen D
http://tinyurl.com/mxaa3p

By Glen Davidson (not verified) on 11 Dec 2009 #permalink

You have a Christmas tree, PZ?

Of course. Why wouldn't I? It's not as if it were a religious or specifically christian tradition, you know.

That's a very lovely ornament.

I made some cephalopodmas decorations the other year - one set for myself and another set divided into individual gifts for a few special friends and family members. One of those kept the decoration on display all year in the end!

It's not as if it were a religious or specifically christian tradition, you know.

That is true. It started off as a Germanic pagan tradition and was adapted as they converted to Christianity. Nowadays, you can void it of both its pagan or Christian meaning and just make a pretty object to have around the house or keep it as a symbol of plenty and prosperity.

By Apolipoprotein E (not verified) on 11 Dec 2009 #permalink

It's not as if it were a religious or specifically christian tradition, you know.

I've begun referring to my tree as the "non-religious family holiday and gift giving occasion tree."

Has a nice ring to it, don't you agree?

By OurDeadSelves (not verified) on 12 Dec 2009 #permalink

Speaking of things squiddy and Xmassy, these 'Christmas Cards of Truth' are at b3ta.com. They're not real cards and not for sale. (In case your mental spam alarm is going off.) Besides, there's a cool mutant squid thingy, the FSM and a dig at creationists, so I felt obliged to share.

Merry Squidmouse

Merry Creationist Christmas

Merry FSMas

By Occam's Machete (not verified) on 13 Dec 2009 #permalink