Bitches Do Biology

Pmoon: In fact, so many people worry about this that Harvard did a study with octopuses and Matisse paintings to prove that normal (i.e. not colorblind) optic nerves interpret visible light in close enough to the same way as makes no difference. No, I found no comfort in this either, because how would be know???

Billytea: Are you saying that we can't trust octopuses to tell the truth?

Am-chau: Octopi are known for lying. And for never actually deciding which side to argue for. Imagine how many times an octopus can say 'on the other hand'!

Billytea: Yeah, but they have to! They're soft and tasty! What sort of survival strategy would it be to wander round the sea floor saying "I'm soft and tasty"? I don't think so. Which is why they're all "I'm actually remarkably big for my size. Or perhaps a rock."

It's forced upon them, and they have to live with this moral quandary. I doubt they enjoy it. So I just don't see any reason why we should then assume they would lie about Matisse. (Unless, of course, it was something like "He's softer and tastier than us! Eat him!")

Amchau: You've never asked one, have you? No. And you've never asked one 'what colour is this painting?', either.

And why not? Because all you'll get is, 'I'm a rock! Really! On the other hand, I could be really disgusting to eat. And on the other hand, I could be over here. And on the other hand, he's tastier than me. And on the other hand, I'm much more use as ink. And on the other hand- you're leaving already? I hope I didn't bore you!'

Steph: I like the fact that they can collapse themselves to fit through teeny tiny spaces, and therefore really befuddle aquarium staff when they go from their tank to the Rare Almost Extinct Fish tank for a midnight snack.

For the record, I only said the last paragraph. Billytea said the second-to-last paragraph, to which I was replying.

Deena: "I'm now a buffista. I know everything."

I tag now.

Teppy in Natter:

Miss Manners also probably says it's wrong for ladies to keep animals in their unmentionables.

Nutty summing up Melian the Maia, and why Thingol remained a grey elf:

there was Elwe/Thingol, who said, "Look! A hot sexy Maiar mama! Shiny!" And he sort of spaced out on leading his people west.

Lori: I used to date a guy whose last name was Man, and his dad was a professor. Calling the dad "Dr. Man" was a lot less cringeworthy than calling him "Mr. Man".

Billytea: You dated the son of Man?

Lori: Yep. He wasn't all that.

meara: Well, and no wonder she's a dyke now--if the son of Man doesn't cut it, who will?

Angus, on skipping posts, in Natter: I skip and skim like an undergraduate with an essay to write on War and Peace tomorrow morning, and have never considered myself other than a true Buffista. It's funny cause it's true, Angus.The War and Peace part, anyway.

billytea in Bitches. Context? I laugh at context.

Yeah, I've always had a trouble with the adventurous cuisine. I'm really more likely to go for your common or garden variety cannibalism.

Schmoker:

Now I really am the insane bobblehead nitpicker. I should never have left lurkerdom.

Two unrelated bits from Firefly, non-spoilery:

Madrigal:

I got the impression that one was supposed to think that space ships were being designed similarly to boats so that the crews, long used to boats, would be more comfortable on them. It was also why design varied so much between races - Borgs liked minimalist cubes, Klingons liked dark dank holes and the Federation was into replicating the look of a dermatologist's waiting room.

EpicTangent:

I see your points (most of them), but they don't glare with me. But then I am the Queen of Suspending Disbelief (Let all lesser Disbelief- Suspenders bow down before me!).