Archive for the ‘Squid’ Category

Go Pods!

Thursday, October 31st, 2013

I was looking at my “Squid” tag the other day (no, really, I am not making this up) and thinking “I don’t use this tag nearly enough”.

Well, the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI for short) has their own YouTube channel. And they have a tradition of posting themed videos for Halloween.

This year’s video is “Spooky Eyes”, and it is chock-full of squidly goodness. (There are also some non-squid creatures in it.)

I also kind of like the music in this video. It sounds a little like a toy piano or maybe a child’s keyboard. The title of the piece is “Halloween Sputnik” by Richard Desilets, in case it catches your ear as well.

There’s a playlist of MBARI’s other Halloween themed videos, including “Big Teeth” and “Predators and Scavengers”.

And if you don’t want to watch the video, the LAT has a slideshow based on it.

Posted in Clippings, Geek, Squid | 2 Comments »

Random notes: January 15, 2013.

Tuesday, January 15th, 2013

Well. It is starting to look like I was…wrong, wrong, wrongity wrong! Sorry, folks. I need some more time to process this, and may have more to say after Thursday.

The HouChron has totally lost their stuff over the existence of Houston Armory. Houston Armory, which is actually located in Stafford, advertises itself as the largest Class 3 dealer in Texas, and sells things like twin .50 caliber machine guns for a mere $75,000, or a fully-automatic 12 gauge shotgun for $150,000.

Requirements are about the same as buying a regular gun. Owners generally cannot be felons, must be a U.S. citizen or legally residing in the United States and must promise to keep the gun properly secured.

The HouChron is lying here, and they know they’re lying. The $200 transfer tax was mentioned previously in the article; in the following two paragraphs, they also mention the “six month waiting period” for the application to be processed, and the requirement for a signature from the “chief law enforcement officer” of the owner’s locality. The HouChron totally omits the requirement for a photograph and fingerprints of the owner. So much for “about the same as a regular gun”.

Authorities have witnessed the wrath of machine guns in the wrong hands. In an especially infamous 1997 attempt to rob a bank in North Hollywood, Calif., two men in full body armor sprayed bullets at police while using illegal machine guns.

Note the phrase “illegal machine guns”. Specifically, note the word “illegal“. Previously in the same article:

Despite the discomfort some might have over private citizens owning guns that were made for soldiers, law enforcement authorities say they can’t point to a specific instance in which a legally registered machine gun was used by a private citizen to commit a violent crime. [Emphasis added – DB]

Another tag I don’t get to use as much as I would like: the Humboldt squid are swarming in California.

One night last week, about 15 anglers reeled in about 340 squid within about an hour near Dana Point, said Rob Armes of Davey’s Locker Sportfishing and Whale Watching.
The only reason they didn’t catch more was that they didn’t have enough anglers.
“If we’d had 40 or 50 people, we’d have gotten 800 to 900 squid,” Armes said. “They were floating all around the boat. They were jumping. They were everywhere.”

There’s no specific bag limit for the Humboldt squid, but apparently California has a “general invertebrate bag limit of 35”.

Posted in Clippings, Guns, Sports, Squid | Comments Closed

What could possibly be better…

Tuesday, September 11th, 2012

…than insurrectionist music and cheesy ’80s videos?

“If you’ve got a crush, don’t need an octopus”?

Posted in Music, Squid | Comments Closed

Wow.

Monday, August 13th, 2012

I have not been paying much attention to the Olympics, but some of the images from the closing ceremony in this photo gallery are stunning.

In particular, the ballerina cum phoenix, translucent octopus bus, and pretty much all the fireworks related images knocked me off my feet. I wish someone could explain the Pet Shop Boys to me, though.

Posted in Clippings, Photography, Sports, Squid | Comments Closed

Science!

Tuesday, February 15th, 2011

Three quick links that appeal to my somewhat geeky side. The first two are from Derek Lowe:

A recent case of thallium poisoning in Jersey.

Top 200 drugs (by various measures), in poster form from the University of Arizona. Including chemical structures (at least, for those “drugs” that have chemical structures: check out numbers #130 and #187 on this chart for examples of “drugs” that don’t): some of these structures, like Sevorane, are fascinating, while others like Xolair and Novoseven make you go “What the heck is that?”

Remember the berserk squid? LabRat over at the Atomic Nerds site picked up on that post, and offers an excellent dissection of the article, including some possible directions for additional research. Thanks, LabRat!

Posted in Clippings, Geek, Squid | Comments Closed

This is just what we needed.

Friday, February 11th, 2011

CSM headline: “Scientists discover how to make squids go completely berserk“.

We still have no cure for cancer, or ALS, but we’ve figured out how to drive (some) cephalopods crazy. Go science. I’m sure this will come in handy next time the SyFy channel wants to make a movie.

To be honest, I’m more than a little skeptical about this article. I’m hoping someone with a stronger biology background (like LabRat) picks up on this.

(Hattip: Dinosaur Comics, the go-to comic for biological news.)

Posted in Clippings, Geek, Squid | 1 Comment »

“I see it– coming here– hell-wind– titan-blur– black wings– Yog-Sothoth save me– the three-lobed burning eye…”

Thursday, September 23rd, 2010

Giant squid are roaming the Pacific, and they’re not just wiping out fish stocks; they’re eating fishermen.

A single female is believed to be able to lay 30 million eggs, each one capable of becoming a giant killing machine.

Honestly, I take this entire article with a grain of salt. However, any time I have a chance to link to a story about giant man-eating squid, I can’t pass it up.

(Hattip: Dinosaur Comics. Really.)

Posted in Clippings, Food, Geek, Hysteria, Squid | 1 Comment »