- Joined
- Nov 20, 2002
- Messages
- 1,073
Clem said:Taningia,
.... Mesonychoteuthis would surely qualify as a filthy animal: it's mantle cavity lining is black and the animal appears to defecate directly onto its own gills.
Eeeeeuuuuw! Well, that would certainly tear it for me (though I imagine the meat would be as tough as boot leather anyway).
Along the same lines (and those of Kashruth, etc.), visual perception -- and upbringing -- definitely play a large part in dietary preferences. Case in point: I was brought up in a very ethnic, but not very religious, Jewish family. I attended once-a-week Hebrew School, but we only went to synagogue on the High Holy Days. We were not Sabbath observers, and didn't keep a Kosher home (though we did fast on Yom Kippur). As such, I was used to having meat with dairy and eating bacon at home, and when we went to Chinese restaurants we often had shrimp or pork. Lobster was an expensive delicacy, as it is now, but when we could afford the dish we considered it a real treat.
Anyway, when I was 17 I was dating an Orthodox Jewish boy (he would nowadays be considered modern Orthodox, as opposed to ultra-Orthodox or Chassidic). Of course, we always went out either on Sundays or on Saturday nights after dark, and we only ate at Kosher restaurants. Once when we were discussing food and religion (two of my all-time favorite subjects ), he said to me, "I guess I can see the appeal of eating pork -- I have to admit it looks delicious and smells wonderful. But why the heck would anyone want to eat a lobster? I mean, the things look like big cockroaches -- ugh!"
That made me ponder -- I have to admit that if I were raised to regard lobster as a no-no, it would look positively gross to me and I'd have no incentive to try it (though, like that Orthodox boy, I'd still be sorely tempted by bacon). Even though I didn't observe Kashruth, I had no incentive to try Calamari until, as an adult, a more sophisticated friend persuaded me to have some. Why? Objectively speaking, lobster doesn't look any less icky, yet I always loved the stuff. I think the difference was that Ceph-eating was never part of my upbringing. If I'd been Italian, Greek, Hispanic, or East Asian, a Squid dinner would have been no big deal for me. De gustibus non disputandum est -- diff'r'nt strokes for diff'r'nt folks.
Clem said:.... the heads bear a slightly-more-than-passing resemblance to the residents of Springfield.
....specifically, after Kang and Kodos had taken over their bodies.
BTW, when I used the quote mechanism on the board, I discovered the wonderful secret of how to incorporate an image in one's post! So, thanks for inadvertently opening up this new TONMO mystery to me. (Now I just need Tony to tell me the legal niceties of incorporating an image from another site that might be copyrighted!)
Tao Ninja DNA