Mesonychoteuthis humour!

[Phil]

Don't ask me to explain this. I just found it and it made me laugh!

http://www.squid.poormojo.org/cgi-bin/gennie.pl?Squid

Our very own Dr Steve has a starring mention.



Phil

PS Before you mention it, I come from Britain. That's why I spelt 'humor' wrongly. We are traditionalists, you know.

 

[tomossan]

LOL

poor GS.....

 

[Clem]

I sent GS a note last week, asking him if he'd previously gone by the name "Midgard Serpent." No response. He's probably self-medicating with White Teuthids (4oz. aquavit, 4oz. Lysol, strained through crushed ice with an Orange Roughy garnish).



Clem

 

[Tintenfisch]

Oh my... too bad they based to much of it on that totally inaccurate infographic though... we tried to get them to fix that but apparently the damage has been done. :?

 

[tomossan]

you mean its not twice the size as a sperm whale?!?!

i am shocked and disheartened.

When will the fat cats at BBC learn that scientific accuracy is far more important than ratings.

this is a day of shame for Britain

only joking, but the graphic was cool; i did however think they reduced the GS's size and posture on purpose to make the Meso look more menacing.

Take care,

 

[Clem]

It's comforting to see that the double-decker bus remains one of Britain's standard unit of measure. If they were to be phased out, popular science would suffer a grievous loss.



Clem

 

[tomossan]

dont even think about that clem.

its not worth upsetting yourself, and us over something that WILL NEVER HAPPEN!

and if it does, i think will have something to say about it. Its not evryday u get measured up agianst a double decker bus =P

 

[Clem]

Tomossan,

You're right, of course. The double-decker bus is as much an eternal symbol of Britain as the Concorde.



Clem

 

[GeoffC]

It's comforting to see that the double-decker bus remains one of Britain's standard unit of measure.

And elephants... If you ever read a kids science book in the 70's. All dinosaurs, whales, monsters mythical or otherwise were measured in bus-lengths and elephant weights (usually bull elephants, as I believe the SI unit is called)

Hope that clarifies things?

 

[WhiteKiboko]

what about cows? how many times have i heard about something (or things - usually pirahnas) being able to eat a cow in X mins.

 

[Clem]

The poor cows. Perhaps that's the amazonian equivalent of "cow-tipping."

"Hey, I'm buzzed. Let's go push a yanqui cow in the river."
"10 blow-darts says it'll be eaten to the bone in two minutes."
"You're out of your mind. One minute, and I'll raise you two doses of anaconda."
"You're on. Waitaminnit. You don't have any anaconda."
"I will. Look behind you."
"Dang, that's a big one. How big would you guess that is?"
"Ohhh, lessee, maybe one, two double-decker buses, plus a bull elephant."
"What's an elephant?"
"What's a double-decker bus?"

(silence.)

"I'm hungry."

 

[GeoffC]

But you seem to be mixing your units, Length is measured in Busses, Weight in Elephants. However I don't know what half units or multiples are called...

For further information I refer the honourable gentlemen to the same site that started this thread:

http://www.poormojo.org/cgi-bin/gennie.pl?Squid+127

"Notes From The Giant Squid: On the James Madison System of Weights and Measures (An Almanac Item)"

 

[Clem]

My units are distinct and un-mixed, thank you. It's the buzzing, prankish Yanomanis who conflated length and weight. I'm sure they'd appreciate the correction.

"Who was that guy?"
"Some yanqui. Apparently, we conflated different standards of measure."
"Is that like mixing metaphors?"
"What's a metaphor?"

(silence)

"You think he could outfight an adolescent Mesonychoteuthis?"
"No, but fifteen Capybara pelts says he doesn't last one minute in the candiru pool."
"You're on."



Clem

 

[Phil]

Thanks for that link Geoff. It was very funny, whatever reality it comes from.

I hope Tani reads it!

Geoff, I totally agree with you about the use of a bull elephant as a 'norm' in kids science books of the seventies. It became a sort of 'British Gold Pachystandard' of its time. We used to be set complex maths problems at school such as:

'If an average sized Cockney Pearly King and Queen expand at a rate of one Imperial inch per week after eating X amounts of jellied eels, how many Pearly Kings and Queens could one place in a red double decker bus after Y weeks. And how many bowler hats could one fill up the rest of the space with? Please also calculate the drag co-efficient on the fully laiden bus and time taken to drive from Big Ben to Buckingham Palace'.

Capital, old chap.

Oh sorry, here's a squid!

 

[Clem]

Phil,

African or European jellied eels?

Clem