Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Calamari, Anyone?

I’m currently watching a webcam of a colossal squid thawing and dissection. I have to say, this is amazing. Imagine two guys in a pool of saltwater measuring the clawed tentacles of a thousand-pound squid with eyes the size of dinner plates and a foot-long beak. Did I mention I have a phobia of invertebrates? (Please, in all seriousness, if you were to play a practical joke on me by exploiting this fear, I would very likely stop being your friend. I am not joking.) But that just makes it that much cooler for me. It’s like sitting at the top of the first big hill on a rollercoaster—you’re pretty scared and the adrenaline is pumping, but at the same time, you’re excited about the rush, too. So what would the rush be? I’m waiting for the squid corpse to revive suddenly and grab a defenseless scientist, drag him under and eat him. That would be so scary-cool. That’s why I’m afraid of those things, I think. They’re slimy and a lot like the alien in Independence Day. (Poor Data.) I think I have too active of an imagination.

Anyway, if you want to see something freaky, check out the mighty colossal squid. And the next time you're swimming a half-mile below the surface of the Antarctic Ocean, just be careful, okay?

2 comments:

Kristi said...

Good thing we're not friends, because that would be hard to pass up... except for the fact I'm a little scared myself. Plus I never think anything scary is "really" dead. I'm with you, it's totally like the alien in Independence Day.

*shudder*

Anonymous said...

Yuck. Those things are disgusting, especially the big ones. It takes me back to 9th grade biology class where we dissected mini squids. I can still smell the formaldehyde and see those beady, slimy eyes..