Weirdness
pharyngula | November 17, 2006Look at this card a reader wrote me about. It's a sweet, cute, innocent card, perfect for Cephalopodmas.
On the other hand—O Great Old Ones, this is so horrid I shudder to mention it—another reader sent me an ad. An ad so ghastly, I won't put it on the front page here…you'll have to click through to see it. If you're squeamish or delicate of constitution, do not read the rest of this post. The War on Cephalopodmas is on.
Yikes! See the look of shock and pain in the poor octopus's eyes, as the drunk Scot loaded down with all the wet wool skewers him? Dewar's is definitely not the drink we'll…
pharyngula | November 16, 2006After South Park made such a botch of its portrayal, this might be some vindication: Salon names Richard Dawkins as one of the sexiest men living. It's a bit gushy, I'm afraid.
Wonder is sexy. Knowledge is sexy. And embodying both as much as any man in the world today is a man in a tweed jacket riding his bike around the Oxford University campuses, the damp English breeze sweeping a curtain of silver hair from the delicate bones of his face. Yes, those cheekbones, those piercing eyes, that pursed bow of a mouth -- but that brain, oh that brain, oh, god, that brain -- is what makes Richard…
jlynch | November 15, 2006
Birdwatchers rushed excitedly to see a swallow that hasn't been seen in Britain for 20 years - then got a nasty surprise when eaten by a hawk in front of their eyes.
The twitchers had been watching the red-rumped swallow for 20 minutes when it stopped to rest on a TV aerial.
It was then that the sparrowhawk swooped, near Montrose in Scotland.
Group member Mike Sawyer said: 'We were horrified. We had just called other birdwatchers to tell them the news, and then had to call back to say it had been eaten.'
The red-rumped swallow isn't normally found any further north than Greece.
A RSPB…
pharyngula | November 15, 2006Well, if they can have Mother Teresa in a bun, or Jesus in a tortilla, we can have an image of Charles Darwin in a tree.
I fear it might be a case of mistaken identity, though—it looks more like Karl Marx to me.
pharyngula | November 15, 2006
Japanese researchers prepare the first enlistee in the robot cephalopod legion. If we could only bring together robot cuttlefish and zombie cyborg squid, we could rule the world! Prepare to be subjugated, flimsy, limb-deficient hu-mans.
pharyngula | November 14, 2006This could be a lively free-for-all: we've got one commenter who was visited by Steve Irwin's ghost, another who believes in astral projection, and now Deepak Chopra claims to have 'proof' of an afterlife. I think that, by the mystic Rule of Threes, that requires that I respond, so let's take a look at Chopra's seven pieces of evidence for an afterlife.
1. Near-death experiences. Thousands of patients have died, almost always from heart attacks, and then been resuscitated who experience some aspect of the afterlife. One Dutch study put the percentage at around 20% of all such cases. Amazingly…
pharyngula | November 13, 2006Cody visited the creation science "museum" near Glenrose, Texas, and came back with a photo of the mural portraying Adam and Eve. Adam looks…familiar.
I knew he was old, but that old?
I'm not sure who Eve resembles. Anita Bryant? Skeletor?
pharyngula | November 13, 2006Mark your calendars—Cephalopodmas is on the 22nd day of December, and you need to start rehearsing those Cephalopodmas carols.
I have to say, though, that the continuing neglect of this important holiday by the media is another sign of the War on Cephalopodmas. Don't believe me? Walk into your local Wal-Mart, and I promise you that the greeter won't say "Merry Cephalopodmas!" to you. You won't see any civic displays draped with tentacles. The school pageants won't be full of songs about squid. The smell of kelp won't be in the air, nor will you be hearing the mournful, melodious tones of the…
pharyngula | November 13, 2006Here's a useful tip: if ever you are attacked by giant monsters, you want to call a Minnesotan for help. I think it's the summertime practice in fighting off insectoid swarms that helps.
pharyngula | November 12, 2006Check out the Sandwalk: Strolling with a skeptical biochemist. I'm dismayed that it's been up for a whole week before I noticed.
I've already learned something important: Tim Horton is the god-equivalent in Canada. If coffee and donuts inspire similar levels of sexual obsession and freaky legislation in Canada as does religion in the USA, I don't think I want to hear about it. Too, too kinky.
pharyngula | November 9, 2006Synergy! Ooblog leads me to a spectacular painting of carnotaurs mating (did they always get a flight of pterosaurs at the climax?), and then by way of The Two Percent Company, I found this enlightening poster of mammals mating (hey, how many of the first 20 have you done?)…with the unfortunate consequence of death by STD. Put two and two together, and what conclusion do we arrive at?
Dinosaurs didn't use condoms.
pharyngula | November 9, 2006Diversity is good, but these are cultures I wouldn't mind seeing go extinct.
Amanda thinks she needs to boil her computer after watching this video promoting "purity balls". I don't think it's enough. Incineration may be necessary.
You may have heard of this movie, Jesus Camp, about the indoctrination carried out in a church camp (I haven't seen it; the clips and trailer are scary enough). Interesting news—the camp filmed in the movie has been shut down.
pharyngula | November 7, 2006Here's an annoying case of political correctness run amuck.
…the Human Genome Organisation (HUGO) Gene Nomenclature Committee…is renaming a number of genes that have potentially offensive or embarrassing names.
The shortlist of 10 genes -Â including radical fringe, lunatic fringe and, bizarrely, Indian hedgehog -Â was compiled in response to physicians’ worries about “inappropriate, demeaning and pejorative” names.
The problem arose because most of the genes were initially discovered in fruitflies, and their names were then transferred to the human versions of the genes, which were discovered…
pharyngula | November 7, 2006Really. We Minnesotans are so uncivil that we never read Lileks, we leave that to foreigners with more tolerance for twee jingo. Out here, we see that face in the Star Tribune and we say "Gah, #%$$&!" (or other such un-mild, un-Minnesotan phrases), and turn the page to the comics section…where we mutter other unholy terms of exasperation at Mallard Fillmore. (How the hell did that mindless, unfunny loon* end up in our newspaper?)
*Whether I'm referring to Lileks or the cartoon duck is left as an exercise for the reader.)
pharyngula | November 3, 2006Brian Flemming points out that Ted Haggard insists the biblical word on homosexuality is simple, and that the Bible says "They must be put to death."
I'm not really into throwing rocks at people, but maybe I'd be willing to run the fried foods onna stick concession.
Slacktivist offers a rather more realistic prediction of what to expect.
All that language -- forgiveness, deliverance, confession, repentance -- really means here only that Haggard needs to go back to living a lie. If he agrees to live that lie, and with clenched teeth to continue proclaiming that others must join in living that…
pharyngula | November 3, 2006You may have noticed that it was Halloween earlier this week, and I've got a few pictures of the cutest little squid dressed up as humans and cadging candy from people. Cephalopods are so clever!
Who could resist hugging a cephalopod as cute as that? And then when you're in close, the arms wrap around you, the beak opens, and…
Look at that: octopus vs. shark. We know who wins that one. There's a whole photo series of this omnivorous beastie at the link.
And they say my Friday cephalopod series can't compete with Cute Overload...
This octopus has everyone fooled—they think he's a high school…
pharyngula | November 2, 2006Eh, I don't think I really believe this, but since South Park thinks its funny to portray Richard Dawkins as a tasteless sodomite, it seems only fair to mention that the joke might have stung more if it had been applied to Ted Haggard.
A gay man and admitted male escort claims he has had an ongoing sexual relationship with a well-known Evangelical pastor from Colorado Springs.
So far, it's nothing but innuendo and accusation, though. I have to say that even if it were true, it would not be a reason to oppose Haggard, and I'd actually be rather disappointed—it would immediately move the…
pharyngula | October 31, 2006It belongs to The Poor Man Institute, dressed up as Powerline. It's terrifyingly detailed and accurate.