Octopus & Propaganda

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! :yuck: 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 :smile: ), 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.

:roflmao: ....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 :yinyang:
 
TaningiaDanae said:
But why the heck would anyone want to eat a lobster? I mean, the things look like big cockroaches -- ugh!"

This is so true... even if I didn't avoid them on conservation grounds (reaching minimum market size only after 5-7 years, reaching ages of 100+ if left alone, females being scrubbed of their eggs because berried females can't be sold, etc) I'm afraid I know just a little too much about what they eat (think marine dung beetles) to ever want to put one near my mouth.

Plus, they're cute.
 
Tintenfisch said:
Plus, they're cute.

Yes, and that makes them all the more tasty.

Full Disclosure: Clem is living on Cape Cod, where many earn their living by trapping and selling lobsters. This has been an especially difficult year for lobstering, with diminished stocks, steep prices and widespread poaching contributing to a generally gloomy outlook. Clem neither supports nor refutes the notion that lobsters are the marine equivalent of dung-beetles.

:roll:
 
Clem said:
Tintenfisch said:
Plus, they're cute.

Yes, and that makes them all the more tasty.

Full Disclosure: Clem is living on Cape Cod, where many earn their living by trapping and selling lobsters. This has been an especially difficult year for lobstering, with diminished stocks, steep prices and widespread poaching contributing to a generally gloomy outlook. Clem neither supports nor refutes the notion that lobsters are the marine equivalent of dung-beetles.

I'm on the fence about this -- I still don't think lobsters are cute, but they definitely look "cthuul" :cthulhu:. Being financially challenged all my life, I rarely eat lobster more than once or twice a year, so hopefully I am not significantly contributing to the depletion of the species. And I wouldn't eat a very large lobster because I know that would indicate it had lived a long time, and therefore was a "grand old man (or woman)" who had earned survivor's rights to a peaceful retirement. (Yes, this sounds very subjective, but I think people who are neither vegetarians nor observers of religious dietary laws, tend to create their own rules about what to eat anyway.)

With all my medically-prescribed dietary restrictions -- low fat, low cholesterol, low calorie, low alcohol, high fiber -- it's refreshing to take a break every few months and permit myself a lobster dinner with a glass of White Sangría (or a sirloin steak with an extra-spicy Bloody Mary :smile: ).

Hey, is this chat time? Let's see if I can get a connection....

Me
 
Clem said:
This has been an especially difficult year for lobstering, with diminished stocks, steep prices and widespread poaching contributing to a generally gloomy outlook.

Mmmm... yep... ringing any alarm bells? :alarm:
 
o.vulgaris said:
ummm... having trouble keeping up with the story line, is this the climax of the story, where's the rising action???

O.,

A small topical digression stalled over the thread, I'm afraid. It's my fault, I never should have mentioned food.

I'm trying to find one of the more famous octopus in propaganda, a WWII poster depicting Imperial Japan as an enormous cephalopod taking in Southeast Asia and reaching for Australia. Sound familiar?

:?:

Clem
 
'fraid not Clem, but it sure sounds interesting. Should you find it then a copy online (copyright?) would be interesting.

Food ... now there's a thought. Off to the golden arches.
 
Steve O'Shea said:
'fraid not Clem, but it sure sounds interesting. Should you find it then a copy online (copyright?) would be interesting.

Food ... now there's a thought. Off to the golden arches.

Excellent idea, mate, and while you're there please have a Kiwi Burger for me. (We can't get them here, you know.... :cry: )
 
o.vulgaris said:
ummm... having trouble keeping up with the story line, is this the climax of the story....

Nah, that was just the entrée -- the climax is dessert, for which you have a choice of chocolate mousse, mango sorbet, or tiramisú. Kindly inform your waiter, Stephen, of your selection, and don't forget to leave him a generous tip -- he's saving up for a Neil Diamond t-shirt.

:biggrin2:
 
Clem said:
I'm trying to find one of the more famous octopus in propaganda, a WWII poster depicting Imperial Japan as an enormous cephalopod taking in Southeast Asia and reaching for Australia. Sound familiar?

:?:

Clem
Clem, I recall seeing a poster similar to the one you describe but i'm no sure, you could give the link to the pic, that won't violate any copyright issues...Will it?
 
O.,

Yikes. That "Feathered Octopus" illustration is really something; the old pulp fiction magazines had some terrific illustrators. As for the Satanic octopus, well, some octopus are red, and their arms have occasionally been described as "horns" in pre-modern texts. Fishermen in the Sea of Cortez call Dosidicus gigas, the Humboldt squid, "The Red Devil," and cephs have long been lumped together under the "devilfish" name (along with large rays).

Clem
 
o.vulgaris said:
I seriouslly took the time to read this article, was interesting, might be a bit boring but since when is the octopus satan????
clearly to christian's their share a similarity, weird.

Not so, o.v. First of all, the language in the article comparing the Octo to an evil force was purely metaphorical. It simply referred to the multiplicity and flexibility of arms (I've heard the metaphor also used to describe political movements and business monopolies). Secondly, I have a netpal who is a hard-line Traditionalist Catholic, and while we may disagree on how Archis got here (creation ex nihilo vs. creation via evolution), we both think they are some of God's most beautiful, extraordinary, and majestic creations.

:rainbow:
Peace and blessings,
Tani
 

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