Book Review: The search for the Giant Squid

 The search for the Giant Squid

The biology and mythology of the worlds most elusive sea creature 

 

 

Editor:                            Richard Ellis

Publisher:                      Penguin Books

Type:                              Soft Cover

Pages:                             250

Genre:                            non-fiction

Published:                     1998

ISBN:                             9780140286762

The book itself is well made as should be expected from a major publisher. It has many black and white drawings and photographs. Sadly this work does have photos of deceased Cephalopods. The text is a little on the small side for my ageing eyes. The book has on page notes that are very helpful.

Full disclosure; I love Cephalopods they are my favorite animal on earth, and that includes humans,and i am very interested in Cryptozoology. So i really wanted to love this book. 

  At the beginning of the book (page 4) the author states that the Okapi was not suspected to exist until a full specimen was found. This was very worrisome for everything i read afterwords as i believed this statement to be untrue. I went to a trusted resource Cryptozoology A to Z by Loren Coleman and Jerome Clark and indeed i was correct. Now i thought that perhaps the author was simply unfamiliar with Cryptozology but he does mention it a few times and it would be impossible to study the giant squid without studying cryptozoology. So i don't know how this error occurred, but when reading a book and knowing that such errors exist within it it does bring into question everything else in the book.

The book begins with an examination of what the giant squid is. The author seems to dispute the larger sized encounters because i think, the creature was not captured for study.  I would have preferred a more skeptical scientific view, but this is a minor gripe as long as the encounters are not dissed out of hand.
 So this problem was mine and not the books. The author took issue with the fictional descriptions of the giant squid a few times and it struck me as an odd thing to do. Upon consideration i can understand his stance, in that it puts misinformation into the public arena, by those who can not differentiate between fact and fiction. In fact later a whole chapter is devoted to giant squid in fiction. Maybe i would have dealt with the parts about fictional squid in that chapter alone.
The book then looks at various sea creature sightings and tries to see if those sightings were actually not of serpents or other beasts but were misidentified giant squid. the author is reasonably convincing in this endeavor. And it is good to see him admitting that some sea monsters just do not fit the squid at all. It really does bring more credibility to a theory when you can see that your idea doesn't fit every example.

The book examines what we know about cephalopods and what can be extrapolated from this knowledge and applied to the giant squid. We then see the different names and classifications the giant squid has had through history.
  A lot of attention is given to the interaction between whale and squid. And a chapter is devoted to models of the giant squid, which is something i wasn't expecting.

 In the conclusion the author does consider if he has been too eager to dismiss many reports of the giant squid, which is good to see. The back of the book does have a list of "authenticated" giant squid sightings and standings, an extensive reference section, all illustration credits, and the all important index.

 I am really conflicted by this book. Reading it seemed very disjointed and while looking for the ISBN to write this review i noticed that portions of the book had been previously published. I am not really sure if that is what i was picking up or not. It could be the inclusion of fiction, or even the chapter on the models?
 Perhaps in a book about a major cryptozoological success story i had expected the field of cryptozoology to be held up to a higher regard. Trying to give this book a rating is hurting my head. I appreciate it, i think i would have enjoyed it more if i wasn't so interested in cryptozology which is a weird thing t say i know.
 Perhaps despite my love of cephalopods, cryptozology, history, and monster fiction i am not the target reader, but then i am not sure who is. I feel like the book tried to be or do to many things perhaps.  

 I also feel like i am sounding harsher than i actually feel. I would still recommend this book to someone interested in the subjects mentioned, but i definitely would also advice looking into those subjects in separate dedicated works as well.

Book Review: The soul of an Octopus

The Soul of an Octopus 

A surprising exploration into the wonder of consciousness

 

Author:                         Sy Montgomery

Publisher:                      ATRIA

Type:                              Hard Cover

Pages:                             241

Genre:                            Non-Fiction

Published:                      2015

ISBN:                              9781451697711

This book is a nice hardcover and underneath its colourfull dust cover the book is elegant with black cover and silver writing.
 As a cute added bonus the corner of each page has a little octopus in it, if you flick the pages the octopus moves. There are also eight full color pages of photographs.

 The book is a personal journey of the authors interactions with various octopus. It is a fascinating journey and we grow to know her and her friends which does come to include some cephalopods. 

It looks briefly at some octopus legends. It again draws attention to the science establishment and its attempts to minimise the fact that animals show emotion. It brings up some interesting questions about consciousness.   

 There are a lot of facts scattered throughout the personal story, and the knowledge bombs are dropped smoothly. There is even a little about Na Kika the Octopus God of Gilbert Island.

 I recommend this book for anyone interested in animals, consciousness, psychology, octopus, squid, nautiliod, and especially anyone who eats cephalopods. I should point out, the book isn't preachy, that's all me.

Do you care about animals? Then you really shouldn't eat octopus.

A Koalas Tale: The Annoying Old Man

This is a true story it really happened to me. If you want an audio version click here.

 I had an older dog and every morning we would go for a walk around the neighboring block. I took her to the neighboring block because it was made up of mostly sports fields and vacant grassland. We could walk uninterrupted by other dogs guarding their houses and cars pulling in and out of driveways.

 She loved to go for walks and even looked forward to it despite the aches and pains of her old legs. We took it slow with lots of breaks for her to sniff the grass, and recover her strength. It was a square block so if she got too tired we could cut across or simply turn around and walk back, whichever was shorter. 

 Now one of the pathways had a small footbridge that she liked to cross. I don't remember when it happened exactly but a few times near the foot bridge i was greeted by an old man. There isn't anything unusual about that, when you walk a dog people tend to be polite. 

 It got to be a regular thing and before i realised it i was running into him walking slowly near the foot bridge almost every day. Now again this was not too unusual, there were regulars along our walk, people move in patterns and i often shared passing greeting with people that walked the same paths around the same times going about their early morning business. 

 Now he was a talker, many people just gave a smile and a nod, some greeted a good morning, some would want to stop and exchange a meaningless sentence or two, others like this old man wanted a full conversation.

 My dog didn't mind, she liked people and would just sniff around and would actually start walking off when she was ready to go, which was nice because it gave me a nice escape. He always laughed at it when she would just start up walking again, pulling on the lead and looking back expectantly. He would say the same "who is walking who" almost every time.

 So this was mildly annoying but when i noticed he was waiting for me on the footbridge every morning, that when it became a little bit much.  
 Sometimes i would take a slightly different rout and see him walk to the footbridge, he would remain there until his interaction with me and then usually leave when i did,or not long after.

 So that's how it went, every morning i he would be there waiting to talk to me and i would at the very least give him a polite good morning, it seemed the more i spoke the harder it was to get away and the longer he wanted to converse.

 I tried some different routs but they were ether heavily populated or had hills that were too much for my elderly dog. So i just kind of endured it, it wasn't horrible just a meaningless waste of time.

 It got to near xmas and here in Australia that means summer. Due to climate change the weather had been unseasonably warm, i mean it was over 30 c (86 f) degrees before nine o'clock in the morning. So i had been walking my dog during the evening when, even if it hadn't cooled down much, the sun wasn't melting the road or turning the footpath into a hotplate. After a few days of doing this i had a evening thing with my boyfriends family so i took my dog on a quick walk in the morning. 

 I noticed the old annoying man standing on the footbridge as i neared, i was kind of pissed off, i had a lot to do that day and really didn't have time for his inane rambling. As i neared he saw me and i saw his eyes light up and a huge smile come over his face. He was ecstatic to see me, he said he was a bit worried that something had happened or that he had annoyed me and i had started walking my dog elsewhere. 

 I felt like a bit of an ass so i stopped and chatted, explaining about the heat, and expressing my very real concern that no one should be out walking in it. Early in the chat i asked if he had family visiting for xmas. He looked forlorn, there were tears welling in his eyes as he said "Most of my friends they've passed an i don't really see my family much anymore, their busy living there lives i suppose."

 That is when it hit me, i realised that my daily five to ten minute inconvenient meeting with this man may well have been his only interaction with another person all day.  

Those days i had purposely avoided him, or had not taken my dog for a walk at the regular time, he may well have had no human contact at all that day. 

 I was understandably disgusted in myself. I did however legitimately have way too much to do that day. So i explained my plans for the day (obviously leaving out the fact i am gay, sadly it becomes second nature to censor yourself for your own safety) and apologised that i did have to go.   
  
 He looked a bit sad but wished me a "merry Christmas" I'm not christian but i didn't say anything because (sadly it becomes second nature to censor yourself for your own safety and) i knew he meant well.

 As we parted i looked back and said "see you tomorrow." because i knew that from that day on i would devote that twenty minutes of my day to ensure that this person had someone to talk to. Yes i knew i could have done more, but i vowed i would not do any less than that minor thing.

 He looked back and looked overjoyed which made the whole thing that little bit sadder. But i kept to my vow, my dog got older and we couldn't do the whole block anymore but we walked the path with the footbridge. Where i met the old man and we would talk about nothing and everything; how he missed his family, the recent storms, how he was scared of growing old alone, prominent news story's, how i was dreading my dog growing old, that kind of thing. I would always leave on a positive note.  

  Eventually my dog died of old age, but i still walked that block, for exercise, and to meet the old guy on the footbridge. 

 Sadly he stopped being there, i have no idea what happened, but i never saw him again. 

 That annoying old man, turned out to be a funny guy who had lived a long and interesting life, i hope if i am ever old and lonely that someone takes a few minutes out of their day to have a chat with me.

 Now if someone on the street smiles at me, i smile back i have no idea if their smile is forced through pain, as mine often have been, i have no idea if my return smile might be the only human kindness they experience that day. 

 I learned it really doesn't take much effort to make someone else life just that little bit more bearable.

Book Review: The Resurrectionist

Book Review:

The Resurrectionist

The lost work of Dr. Spencer Black

Author:                                E.B.Hudspeth

Publisher:                            Quirk Books

Type:                                    Hard Cover

Pages:                                   191

Genre:                                  Novella / Art book

Published:                            2013

ISBN:                                   978-1-59474-616-1

 The book is well made and i didn't notice any errors. There are black and white drawings throughout, in fact the majority of the book is taken up by anatomical studies.

 The first part of the book is The Resurrectionist (pages 11-65) proper a story involves one Dr. Spencer Black and his biography. Who believed that beings from mythology were in fact real advances in human evolution.

 The second part of the book is titled The Codex Extinct Animalia, (pages 66-191) which has a short description of a 'mythological' species and a few pages of detailed anatomical drawings.

The story itself almost seems a little lovecraftian.

 The book is not a novel and is a little short on story. But i do not think that's what it was aiming for. This book is a curiosity. It would be interesting for those interested in Cryptozology, mythology or anatomy.

World Vegan Month 2015

Happy World Vegan Month

Since 1994 World Vegan Day has been celebrated and used as an opportunity to educate about Veganism.

 

 Monkey Bread - Sweet Vegan - Emily Mainquist

I am not going to go into why we should all be moving towards a vegan diet, the reasons are obvious and the excuses against are ridiculous.

 Rich Mushroom Lasagne - Easy Vegan - Sue Quinn

 

I am just going to take this opertunity to suggest that you see what your town is doing for World Vegan Month and maybe participate in some way.

 Triple Chocolate Cheescake - Sweet Vegan - Emily Mainquist

At the very least why not pick up a Vegan cook book, or search the internet for some vegan recipes. Your health, your conscience, the planet and most of all the animals will be better off you did.

 Buckwheat & Blueberry Pancakes - Easy Vegan - Sue Quinn

Why not have a vegan night at your house? If Veganism for one night a week is a bit too scary, I would recommend simply going Vegetarian and progressing from there.

Online Vegan Starter Kit 

Order a IRL Vegan Starter Kit 

A great source of information

Seriously that cheesecake is the best cheesecake i have ever had, friends and family have difficulty believing that its homemade let alone vegan.

What to do this World Animal week.

World Animal Week

4th-10th October 2015

 

The intention of World Animal week (and World Animal Day, 4th October) is to draw attention to how every person can make the lives of animals better.

So lets celebtate by having a look at how you can make the lives of animals better with some current animal welfare issues.

 

1. Greyhound Racing. 

I discussed the issue of greyhound racing earlier.Yes, its actually still a thing that people do. The cruelty is continuing and the industry is still heavily government subsidised. In fact even more cruelty has been exposed and the industry is in even more disgrace.

If you want to do something about this issue check out the bottom of my greyhound racing post for links to petitions, adoptions and more information.

2. Wool Industry 

 Our wool industry has been shown to be rife with outrageous animal cruelty performed upon sheep, by Australia shearers. For more information or to take action on this issue please follow the link to those who exposed this cruelty.

3. Lion Killer 

Remember when that poor excuse for a man, Walter Palmer killed Cecil the lion? Did you know you can "adopt" a lion and help protect it from gun wielding tourists? Do something for Cecil.

 4. And Beyond

There are many issues that negatively effect animals. Do some research and find something you can be passionate about, do some good for out animal kin. Here are some examples; Factory farms, live export, puppy farms, hunting in national forests, circus animals, animal testing, pet adoption, the list goes on and on, but every one of these items needs a champion. Even if you are the champion for that one cat that you adopt, your still doing good.

 People for the ethical treatment of animals

Animals Australia

 

5. The easiest step.

By far the easiest thing you can do for animals is not eat them. Its simple and cruelty free. It will save you money and improve your health. At least go vegetarian for World Animal Day.

Get a free vegetarian starter kit. 

Read the PDF kit.

Get a free vegan starter kit.

 

 

The slaying of Cecil was tragic, lets do something.

A coward and a lion

If the world needed another reason for strict gun laws they got one with Walter Palmer, the American dentist who killed the Cecil the lion.

It is said that the guides Walter hired to enable him to kill a lion, dragged a carcass behind their car in order to lead Cecil out of the safety of the national park. Cecil was then shot with a bow and hounded for 40 hours before being shot dead. It didn't end there for Cecil, he was skinned and beheaded.  

Cecil was well known in the park and even wore a tracking collar as he was part of a  Wildlife Conservation Research project from Oxford University. He was relatively tame and had little fear of humans, allowing them to approach and photograph him often.

Walter Palmer  a Minnesota dentist claimed he didn't realise the "hunt" was illegal. If that is true then it is truly frightening that someone of such low perceptive ability, intelligence or common sense, could have access to firearms.

But Walter Palmer is a repeat offender, he has killed many wild animals, some of which i have used pictures of in this blog. It has been revealed that Walter Palmer illegally killed a black bear in 2009, pleaded and was let off with a slap on the wrist, and somehow was still allowed to use firearms.

The other poaches who participated in killing Cecil have been prosecuted, and i have read that Walter Palmer may face extradition. He has a lot of money though so he may be able to buy his way out of it, we have too keep an eye on this, to ensure justice is done.

Sadly due to the Death of Cecil one of his cubs has been killed by a new pride leader. We hope this death is added to Walter Palmer's charges.

On a personal note, i would like you to remember how you felt about this story, about the callous and unnecessary killing of Cecil. Because that is how some vegetarians and vegans feel about all animals. So next time you see someone vilifying, teasing, being aggressive to someone who chooses not to kill animals needlessly, please remember that we are not that much different, and stand up for them.

Vegans and vegetarians get abuse all the time, simply because we choose not to be cruel to animals, if your one of the people that do this, stop, its not funny, (we have probably heard it before) and its not going to make you feel any better about your actions.

If the tragic death of Cecil touched you, why not do something to make you feel beter;

Adopt a lion

Help get better gun laws 

Stop animal cruelty in Australia

Stop animal cruelty (International)

Go Vegetarian

Go Vegan

If you know of an Australian anti-gun violence group, or any other organisation you feel should be listed here please let me know.