Figure from Cephalopods: A World Guide (amzn/b&n/abe/pwll), by Mark Norman.
All right, I like cephalopods. I admit it. So why do I find this article about hunting octopus in the Mediterranean so entertaining? I mean, the guy is diving down, stabbing the octopus between the eyes with a pointy stick, and then…
Next step: the octopus must be tenderized by slamming it against a large rock at least a hundred times or more. When its natural color changes to white, I rinse it repeatedly in sea water and drag it back and forth over a rough rock surface with a rhythmic motion. A white foam is released, and this movement must continue until all the foam disappears. When the muscle has completely relaxed, the texture of the flesh changes and the color turns to a grayish white. I grab two tentacles and pull them apart gently…the flesh should tear. Then—and only then—is the octopus ready for cooking.
What follows are recipes. Forgive me, I must be truly evil, because he had me drooling.
Those squishy softies on the non-science side of campus…they can do anything, apparently. Holbo is playing with the creation of an illustrated children’s book for adults, called Squid & Owl. Obviously, it’s got owls and squid in it, and compares them frequently, with an interesting graphic style.
I had a moment’s worry when I saw this page, though.
I thought the answer was obvious — developmental and molecular biology — and was worried that he was about to horn into my turf, but fortunately he takes another tack altogether.
That is the kind of important question we ponder all the time, and in a demonstration of the superiority of empirical data over philosophizing, here is a video to show the answer.
I just got my very own I [squid] NY shirt, which prompts a few questions. When are we going to get a squid html entity, like ♥? I’m sure it would be used heavily. How would New Yorkers interpret this shirt, anyway (I know, New Yorkers see enough weirdness that they don’t care)?
I’m going to be in NY briefly on the first of May. If I wear this shirt, will somebody mug me and steal it from me?
If your taste runs more to birds, there are some interesting chimeric jays as well.
I mean, really, giant steam-powered robotic octopods rising from the deep to take over the world? How many people fantasize about that?
Although, if it were me, I wouldn’t be focusing so much on the wicked biped with the gun trying to frustrate the steam-o-pod.