The Body is on Logo now. I can't watch it.

I don't think I can ever watch that episode again. (Or, somewhat relatedly, the movie "Up.")

I don't think I can ever watch that episode again. (Or, somewhat relatedly, the movie "Up.")

Ooof, same here. "Up" was brilliant, and there are parts I would love to see again. Then there are the parts that make me tear up just thinking about them.

I think about that moment (with the sword and "me") often when I'm down. It's a go to image. I don't really know what to call the feeling it evokes - it's complex, and it changes - but it's big.

Yes.

I made the mistake of trying to watch Up this week. I had to leave the room several times.

I made the mistake of trying to watch Up this week. I had to leave the room several times.

We loaned it to a friend this week, and I am in no hurry to get it back. (He loaned us Finding Nemo, which I have never seen, and it's my understanding that I need to FF past the first scene or I will lose my shit entirely. Fortunately, Tim has seen it, so he can FF and tell me when to come back from the bathroom.)

e loaned it to a friend this week, and I am in no hurry to get it back. (He loaned us Finding Nemo, which I have never seen, and it's my understanding that I need to FF past the first scene or I will lose my shit entirely. Fortunately, Tim has seen it, so he can FF and tell me when to come back from the bathroom.)

My problem with the movie start is that clownfish familial dynamics are far more awesome than the movie makes out. Not as awesome as the deep sea angler fish, of course, who also makes an appearance in this movie.

My problem with the movie start is that clownfish familial dynamics are far more awesome than the movie makes out.

You are going to tell us all about this, right?

I would like to start this tale with the elephant seal. You see, in most species of animal, both sexes have roughly equal chances of reproducing on average, and they are likewise born in roughly equal numbers. However, while they have the same average chances, they may face different dispersions. Consider southern elephant seals. Elephant seals are strongly dimorphic - that is, males and females are physically very different. Aside from the male's resonant proboscis (which interestingly may be more important as a means to avoid moisture loss from breathing), they grow to three times the size of the females. (The females weigh around 900 kg; the bulls routinely reach 2,700 kg - the largest member of the order Carnivora on the planet.)

The reason, of course, is that this is a harem species. The dominant males, the beachmasters, control a stretch of beach with up to 50 females to call his own. His is the right to mate with all of them; but for such a prize, he has to fight. Constantly. These violent encounters can last for a quarter hour, and end through exhaustion as much as anything. Naturally (so to speak), evolution favours big, bruising males.

The sexes thus differ not only in size but in their breeding fortunes. Both males and females have the same average chances of passing on their genes; but while most females can expect to have pups, only one male in ten will get the chance to pass on their genes. Those that do, however, will father an enormous number of pups. Same on average, very different in the details.

Some animals then have an incentive to mess with the sex ratio. Enter the clownfish. Clownfish groups are led, not by a dominant male but by a dominant female. In this species the big payoff comes from being the queen bee in the anemone.

A big, strong clownfish, then, has an incentive to be a female. They're likely to reach the top and hit the reproduction jackpot. Weaker fish are better off as males. It's a less demanding existence, and you can still get some chance to reproduce. Wouldn't it be nice if you could make that choice?

Clownfish can. They can actually change sex. A family consists of the dominant female, the smaller dominant male, and any other clownfish in the group are likewise male. If the female dies, there's now a vacancy at the top, and they all move up a rung. Over a week or two, the dominant male (the largest remaining fish in the group) changes sex to take the reins. The largest juvenile male, meanwhile, steps up to take the dominant male role. It's extremely efficient. No fish expends any more energy on their sexual status than would actually be rewarded. Contrasts to the poor male elephant seal, who has to grow to three times the size of the female and still has a 90% chance of dying unharemed.

So of course, if Finding nemo were to be true to the source material, we should have seen Marlin's voice go up an octave and his pursuit of his son would look a little more like Borat's pursuit of Pamela Anderson. I think we can all agree that that would have been quite a movie to watch.

I made the mistake of trying to watch Up this week. I had to leave the room several times.

I have it on my tivo. I want to watch it, but I haven't been able to get past the beginning. I stopped watching when he was sitting on the bench outside of the courtroom.

Ahhh, you poor Uplings. It's a very different movie after the somber beginning. Quite beautiful and filled with Adventure.