It’s Cthulhu Day today! There’s a list of activities you should do today, but I’ve got my own ideas, and prefer not to tell you what they are, instead leaving you with a sense of inchoate unfolding dread.
Pharyngula
Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
I’ll never miss it again – I’ve added all three days to my calendar!
How very eldritch of you.
Canned pasta for supper it is, thank goodness.
Glad to know that the unfolding dread I experienced during, and in the wake of, my exam on Psychometric Theory and Methods today was well founded!
*dons party hat*
*howls in plastic Cyclopean horror*
No kings,
Robert
…like preparing some calamari? mmmmmm…
Ia ia, everybody; Ia ia!!
Cthulu does not inform us as to when he celebrates, however, as it makes his feast preparations somewhat more difficult.
But those who celebrate his day are eaten toward the end. Well, maybe, but it’s worth a try.
glen D
http://tinyurl.com/6mb592
Isn’t that for FSM day?
Nobody told me there’d be Cthulhu days, like these… strange days indeed …
Strike that–reverse it. The favored are eaten first. Less inchoate dread that way.
Iä!
Oh Cthulhu!
Ph’nglui wgah’nagl fhtagn…
Oh Cthulhu!
Oh Cthulhu!
Oh Cthulhu!
Oh Cthulhu!
“Hooked on Chthonics” worked for me!
Hmmm. So what does the great tentacled tyrant require for a sacrifice then, I wonder?
We shall all sing along with Eben Brooks who has produced a lovely song (originally called “Hey Delilah”) and revised it into a much more delicate love song to Cthulhu.
Iä! Iä!
“So what does the great tentacled tyrant require for a sacrifice then, I wonder?”
i can’t say i’ve ever heard PZ demand a sacrifice. sure, he once asked people to send him some crackers and that caused no end of trouble, but that wasn’t a “sacrifice” …
*whisper, whisper*
what? wrong tentacled tyrant? never mind
I swear I didn’t know about Cthulhu Day when I posted this this morning: http://jesusinahammock.wordpress.com/2009/04/02/praise-cthulhu/
And now I shall grovel before my little bust of Cthulhu (pays to have artistic friends) and then commit seppuku for the shameless linking.
Lord Cthulu does not favor sending condoms to Africa, and favors an abstinence-only program instead.
We could try getting the pope to say the name of the great king in yellow and good riddance.
I would celebrate the day, but it is already too late. To quote, in Finland I feel I am not far from the fixt mass whose sides the time zones are.
Here’s some occasion-related symphonic black metal for your celebrations: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j893OnQrd6w
Unless you were one of those eaten, it doesn’t really apply to you anyway.
Kinda like the Rapture, I suppose.
“Ph’nglooee mglv’neffh Cthoolhoo R’lyeh vgeh’negl fhtegn, bork, bork, bork”
Wait, not that Chef?
Does that mean the previous article should be
“The creeping fungus of Yuggoth
religionin government”?So that is why I had such an urge to wash the kitchen floor.
(slaps forehead)
Seems to me, especially from the plush toy picture, but also on having been a Cthulhu fan since the 1970s, that Cthulhu is clearly a cephalopod. As such, I now see why PZ has a Friday cephalopod picture. It’s the old-ones’ observance day, and PZ is clearly actually a priest of that ancient order, and this whole atheist thing has been a really good cover…..until now ;-)
Paul
I think it’s time to admit that I got a C- in Non-Euclidean Geometry in high school.
Thats so cool! My birthday (dec. 2) is on a Cthulhu day! I’ve been praising him without knowing it!
LOL at “Hooked on Chthonics”.
I’m going to have to steal that one.
Gadzooks!! Today is MY birthday. To celebrate the celebratory convergence we drove to Malama Market in Ocean View, HI and bought four containers of Blue Bunny Coffee Break Ice Cream (the one with three, count ’em, THREE flavors of coffee ice cream in one container – Light, medium and dark roast!!!) Yum.
YAY ME!
Zarquon @ #22 said:
I tip my Swedish Chef hat to you Sir/Madam.
Is One Man’s Faith Another’s Superstition?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123811509991753625.html
David Gibson says the two are not equivalent. The argument is flawed in that it rests on comparing the tamer forms of religion with the worst of superstition, and on the belief that witchcraft is not a type of religion.
However, it’s a reminder that even pests can be relatively beneficial if they are utilized to keep out others that are even more pestiferous.
I’m so confused.
1. What the hell is this article?
2. I’m sick of reading baffling things on the internet- that seem to be meant for a select few. Nothing pisses people off more than not being part of “inside jokes” that are broadcast to the masses.
3. It’s just not funny.
4. Stop posting nonsense. Get back to biology.
5. I’m getting kind of sick of this guy. I love biology and evolution- but it seems he has built his career out of being kicked out of a movie theater.
6. I don’t think I’ll be reading this blog anymore.
Thanks for your opinions, John! Don’t get ass-bruised on your way out!
Too late, he’s obviously already asshurt about something.
Anyone else think John is just a Godzombie trolling?
Call me a heretic, but April 2nd is a poor choice for Cthulhu Day, being a sad, solemn day:
And what of this storm of April 2nd – the date on which all dreams of the dank city ceased, and Wilcox emerged unharmed from the bondage of strange fever?
Cthulhukkah properly begins on February 28 and ends on April 2nd. I celebrated by reading Jonah Goldberg columns:
There were legends of a hidden lake unglimpsed by mortal sight, in which dwelt a huge, formless white polypous thing with luminous eyes
John Doe, a pissant, wrote:
How will we ever manage without you?
Dumbass.
No, I’m not trolling.
Have you read that article he linked to?
It is total nonsense. I don’t get these inside jokes. Chef Boyardi day? chthulhu day? what?
I just don’t get it. Is this supposed to be funny? It’s just a bunch of internet humor nonsense. I like biology. Not internet humor.
Yes, Doe, we’ve read the linked article, including the bright-red warning note at the top. For biology, scroll down the main page a bit; some cool stuff on venomous cephalopods and a particularly ancient fossil fish are waiting there just for you.
I think the problem is-
People start something that might actually be funny- but then they get so into it- they create all these websites and articles and pictures…
and then a newcome arrives and the whole thing is just baffling at a glance. The humor is lost on any newcomers who aren’t “in the know”.
I don’t get this chuthulu thing. Is it mocking religion? I just really don’t get it. And I have a feeling that once it is explained to me, I won’t think it is funny.
If anyone continued to read the rest of your comment, I doubt they are shocked.
I’d say ‘John’ has only just got the keys to the internet and is taking it for a spin for the first time.
Even my Mum knows about Cthulhu, and she was born in the late 40’s, only 60 years after the bloke who first wrote Cthulhu tales.
Come on John – this is the 21st Century, some knowledge of the 20th century is assumed at this point!
John Doe at #33:
It’s about Cthulhu, literary creation of the writer Howard Phillips Lovecraft. More about Lovecraft, and Cthulhu, here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._P._Lovecraft
My advice, stop reading things on the internet. Or in general. The printed word the world over is replete with baffling things supposedly “meant” for a select few.
A few things piss me off more than not being part of inside jokes; examples (but by no means a complete list) include: racism, theocracy, abuse of people, ignorance characterized as a virtue, chewing gum needlessly spat upon the sidewalk (among many other things).
Luckily, I’ve discovered that when I encounter something I don’t find particularly funny (but also not egregiously misanthropic), I can ignore it and thereby avoid it further troubling my thoughts.
Perhaps you missed the thread on Cephalopod Venoms posted just today: http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/04/cephalopod_venoms.php
Perhaps also you missed the understanding that this particular blog’s content is ultimately PZ’s to determine. No power in the universe dictates you must read the blog, or even every individual post.
Having reached the end of your patience for PZ and his blog, how lucky you must feel that you need no longer haunt this electronic doorstep!
Well-exercised in your right to take your reading elsewhere, sir! Bon voyage!
No kings,
Robert
@Tiska
Thankyou so much for the link to ‘Hey there Cthulu’ that was just great.
And PZ thanks for the uncyclopedia link. I laughed myself silly at
Pin the tail on the lurking fear
What did we all do for entertainment before the net arrived?
7. I was informed there would be punch and pie!
8. What’s up with airline food, anyway? There’s like three peanuts in that packet!
9. Why do we drive on parkways, but park on driveways?
10. What’s the deal with the falling-off pants the kids wear these days? How is that supposed to be attractive?
11. Where’s our waiter? I’ve been waiting here for five minutes already!
I don’t get this chuthulu thing. Is it mocking religion? I just really don’t get it. And I have a feeling that once it is explained to me, I won’t think it is funny.
Here you go, Mr Doe. Reading this will help you get an insight into a lot of “Internet Humor”, besides giving you a good entree into the history of horror/SF&F/comix/gamer/geek culture. It was originally intended as a pulp horror story, but it’s actually pretty cheesy fun.
Or, as Sven suggested, you can read up on cephalopod venom or fossil fishes.
John Doe, look up H. P. Lovecraft in Wikipedia. I find that when I don’t understand things, it’s a good place to get a basic idea. (If any of my students are reading this, this does NOT mean you can use it for a citation, unless you like lowered grades — good place to start != font of all knowledge.)
That’s true of all humor anywhere at any time ever ever ever.
Find me a joke that doesn’t require some sort of context to be understood. Do you laugh at all the ribald humor in Shakespeare’s work? Do you find century-year-old political cartoons chuckleworthy?
If I don’t get the joke, I shrug and move on. Maybe it’ll make sense eventually, maybe it won’t. I’m not paying for the entertainment either way.
For the record, I just barely know what the joke is in this article, myself. I don’t read Lovecraft.
Chris Clarke,
I’ll add to that:
12. Tell those kids to get off my lawn!
John Doe is not aware of all internet traditions.
13. Wherfs mah dahm teeff!??
14. Dey terk our jerbs!!
Maybe JDoe is right. I mean the page views on this blog have been in the shitter lately.
PZ, stop being so goddamned entertaining, insightful, informative, educational, disruptive, poignant, and passionate with your posts. Keep ’em plain and boring so as to not offend anyone who is overly sensitive for not being in the “in” crowd (whatever that means) and doesn’t want to take the time to settle into the vibe.
I swa a bumpersticker/slogan someplace during the campaign:
Cthulu: Why Waste Your Vote On The LESSER of Two Evils???
“…and then a newcome arrives and the whole thing is just baffling at a glance. The humor is lost on any newcomers who aren’t ‘in the know’.”
Ceiling cat spies unwashed heethun who must b enlightened b4 ruffcat preacher mew-hamed can haz him.
Yup!
There’s no such thing as an ‘outside’ joke…–Woody™ (Scroll down)
Nice… you crash a guys house, complain about the furniture, and piss yourself when pass out on the couch
Great company, you must have lots of friends
um, what part of “shibbolith” is unclear?
Paulie Hands @25
Dude, Cthulhu is clearly NOT a cephalopod because he doesn’t even come from this dimension, due respect. Any resemblance is due to evolutionary convergence. That is, if evolution even EXISTS in the tenebrous nether regions outside time and space whence he came.
Iä! Iä! Cthulhu ftaghn!
I feel like Strider, when he first entered the Inn of the Prancing Pony, or Shakka, when the walls fell.
After reading the wikipedia article provided (thank you for that, by the way) I now understand what “Cthulhu” is. And as I predicted, it’s not funny. It’s not interesting, it’s not clever- it provides no social commentary or thought-provoking humor. It is a cult phenomenon, passed around the internet like Herpes. It reminds me of “ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US”. Do you get that reference? No? good. You shouldn’t. It isn’t funny either.
PS- thanks for all the personal attacks and insults, despite the fact that I never insulted a soul and merely expressed my opinion, which I’m sure is shared by many. I showed the article to six people at my school. None of them even smiled. One of them even knew about “Cthulhu” and had read H.P. Lovecraft. He confirmed it wasn’t the slightest bit amusing. Like I said, stick to biology, PZ.
A true fan, (of the scientist PZ, not the humorist) -John
(I don’t want trouble, just expressing my views. that’s what blog comment sections are for, guys.)
Do you laugh at all the ribald humor in Shakespeare’s work?
I don’t get this shakesprere thing.
Um, anybody up for poll-crashing?
http://www.usnews.com/blogs/god-and-country/
What’s this garbage about “Strider”?? What the hell is that? Is that funny? Don’t you people get it yet? Why are you so exclusionary? It’s not funny anymore. You all just need to clean up your act!
Well, I would have taken part in the nude dancing around a bonfire, but it’s been raining relentlessly ALL DAY LONG! (And still is.)
Indeed, Cthulhu does not favor any form of birth control. All control should be His!
Nonsense Heretic! Abstinence is an anathema to His Dark Visage. The Tentacled One desires more humans to torture and destroy. He also enjoys the pain that childbirth brings to women, minor though it is compared to the wretched horrors He shall inflict upon his return. But until such return, He desires us to fuck and breed to bring more playthings for Him to subject to his inchoate terrors.
Ia! Ia!
No, John, you did insult people. You came to a site where people are obviously enjoying a joke, and you flaunted your “superior” evaluation of humor. “Why is everybody laughing? THIS ISN’T FUNNY!!!”
This is not an “inside joke broadcast to the masses.” Blogs are not broadcasting–people have to seek them out. If you don’t like a blog, move on. You don’t have to leave a list at every blog that details its perceived failures. That is why people think you’re a douche.
And BTW, I showed your list to seven people and they all agreed with me.
On second thought, I’m calling bullshit on John Doe. I just re-read his posts, and no one could be that lacking in self-awareness. This is a joke.
Please.
GET OFFA MY LAWN, YOU KIDS! Don’t you know the only thing a lawn is for is gettin’ mowed? QUIT SCREWING AROUND!
John Doe also wrote to me to complain that the Pharyngula chat room is full of people not talking about biology.
YOU GUYS BETTER START TALKING ABOUT BIOLOGY MORE. I think that means more lesbians and bacon, which are very biological.
4. Stop posting nonsense. Get back to biology.
5. I’m getting kind of sick of this guy. I love biology and evolution- but it seems he has built his career out of being kicked out of a movie theater.
Funny thing is, he didn’t post comments on either of the serious biology threads that were pointed out to him.
Bolded section seems to imply that he could be a DI troll.
so i go into this restaurant, and the people are eating … well, i don’t know what, but none of it LOOKS appetizing
so i try to be helpful by telling the diners how clueless they are and dumping their plates on the floor and telling them what they should have ordered, meanwhile explaining that i don’t think i’ll ever dine here again, and — get this — the ingrates just INSULT me!
John Doe. How can we take him seriously when we often see him on a slab in the morgue all cut up on the CSI shows? Just another brain dead idiot.
Nerd,
Does this mean there’s a dissection? Oh, it’s been ever so long since I’ve seen a good dissection, sir.
Check for blunt force trauma. Also, if he is a sasser, there could be damage to the jaw from a punch in the kisser.
Damn shame. No one warned him about the dangers of posting, and now he’s sleeping in a drawer.
Yog-Sothoth! Yog Sothoth!
I for one, welcome our tentacled, eldrich overlords.
Woody | April 2, 2009 7:15 PM #56
Campus Crusade for Cthulhu – “It found me!”
I wondered why the traffic was light today.
Some jokes are funny and some aren’t, depending on one’s particular sense of humor. I’ve never found the aristocrats joke in the least funny. There are people who claim it’s the funniest joke, or at least the funniest dirty joke, ever made. On the other hand I had a “Cthulhu for president, why vote for the lesser evil” bumpersticker on my car because I thought it was funny.
BTW, John Doe, I read H.P. Lovecraft when I was in high school. That was on the recommendation of my father, who read Lovecraft when he was in high school. I graduated from high school in 1966, my father graduated in 1939. Lovecraft was writing a good number of years ago.
John Doe at #63:
I refer you back to my post at #44 in which I tried to suggest ways in which you could make your experience of the internet, this post, and this blog in general, a more positive experience. To wit: don’t sweat it if the whole blog isn’t devoted, entirely and without deviation, to biology at all hours of the day.
In a roundabout way I was also trying to intimate that the diversity of content at the blog might suggest a couple of things:
1. Biologist might be just one category that describes PZ Myers (others might include daredevil winter driver, loving father and husband, professor, bearded man of mystery, Minnesota resident, admirer of things cephalopodic, corrective lens wearer, watcher of classic science fiction films, occasional video gamer, former RPGer*, and the list goes on). On occasion, PZ might be interested in diversifying the subject matter of his posts.
2. Whatever else may be the case, the blog is PZs, and if he sees fit to post diverse things, that’s his prerogative. There is nothing here that compels you to read despite your lack of interest in things Lovecraftian, or the particular vagaries of your sense of humor. This is what’s so great about the situation: the power is in your hands to read, or not, as you see fit.
As to expressing your opinion about the matter, not a single person has disputed your right to do so. Nevertheless, it seems somewhat disingenuous, or at least naive, to assume that an expression of your own opinion might preclude counter-opinions from other posters.
Again, the power remains in your hands. If you’re displeased with the responses to your thoughts on the thread, no force compels you continue to read those posts. By the same token, no force compels the other posters here to refrain from making counter-posts if we so choose. More importantly, no force compels you to find offense at every turn.
As others have remarked, you may have missed recent biology-related posts, in which case it’s a simple matter to search them out. I linked to one earlier, in my post at #44, as just one example. What’s excellent about the availability of those other threads is that, were you to immerse yourself in the content therein, you might find yourself so caught up in the biology content as to hardly turn another thought to those aspects of the blog you deem somehow lesser.
Regarding rudeness, again, as with much on the internet (and, indeed, in life), one does encounter it on occasion. I hope this post has at least demonstrated that one also encounters other types of interaction, from time to time (though you might just as easily stumble upon a post in which I am rude). The medium encompasses extensive and diverse expression. What will you choose to do with those expressions? You could rage at them and then rage at the response to your raging, or you could make a different choice, such as retiring from the blog for a while, or choosing a different thread, or positing an anecdote of your own that you find funny in hopes of finding those who share the mirth, or any number of things.
Best of luck as you explore the internet. To quote a film (one you might or might not find funny, and yet, the film is there, nonetheless):
“It’s a crazy world.”
“Someone should sell tickets.”
“Hell, I’d buy one.”
–Raising Arizona
No kings,
Robert
* To any NSA agents still assigned to monitor this blog, RPGer in this case refers to a role-playing-gamer, not a wielder of rocket-propelled grenades. Thanks, and remember to stretch your legs and re-focus your eyes every hour or so. Good health starts with you!
16. Just when is starcraft 2 comin’ out anyway!?
17. or Dance with Dragons?! C’mon Martin git a move on!
18 an’ why did final 15min of BSG suck so much!?
*sigh*
Possessive apostrophe fail. PZ’s.
That’s it, I’m getting dinner, and a beer. Happy . . . no, wait, that doesn’t feel right . . . uh, how about, Magnificently Maddening Cthulhu Day, everyone!
No kings,
Robert
Well, I think this entire thread has been a big mistake. May I remind you that HP Lovecraft, who discovered Cthulhu, had a strong connection with Brown. If you follow this connection, HE will return. I find this most disturbing.
(Oh, I don’t mean Cthulhu; I mean John KWOK! aarrggghh.)
@63 John Doe
“It is a cult phenomenon, passed around the internet like Herpes.”
Wow, John Doe, what a way to fail. This is truly a way to display your ignorance of literature. You may not appreciate Lovecraft’s science-fiction-horror, but to call it “Herpes” was an uncalled-for insult upon this person’s literature.
Just for John:
“In sunken R’lyeh, Cthulhu dreams YOU!”
“Imagine a beowulf cluster of shoggoths…”
“I CAN HAZ OLD ONEZ?”
Face it, John — you’re just not cool enough to use the Internet. Perhaps you should check out AOL…
Does anyone have a spare Byakhee to send John Doe’s way? All mine are out feasting on the other clueless gits (Chris Matthews et al.) suggesting Ted Stevens is innocent of the charges brought against him. Oh yeah, and the Alaskan GOPers who’re now suggesting their senatorial elections be redone.
The joke is not the joke. The joke is the interpretation and retelling of the joke, it’s a kind of oneupmanship sometimes, but mostly a free form expression of creativity. The funniest people never tell a joke the same way twice.. they add some nuance to it.. some flavours, different subtleties.
Think of Mozart having a peer play an interpretation of one of his pieces back to him, and Wolfy is just blown away.
That said, I’ll drink a glass of red wine and say, “it’s ok” .. or “it’s really good”.
Where are they taking the hobbits?
I see Johnnie D has been addressed by several worthies already…however…Johnnie, buddy, ya gotta realize that the world presents stuff that you may not be interested in. Spike Channel’s multiple car crash repeats are a classic example (which is why I watched-ONCE). Maybe PZ’s got you in a headlock, forcing you to post? If you don’t want to read, don’t read, but ffs, quit posting! I’m already skipping your whiny little posts.
For the record, I’m an engineer, and don’t like all that squishy biological dissection stuff (for example), though I do appreciate the wonders of the deeps he shows us.
Also, I DO happen to appreciate PZ’s insights and general postings on politics that concern atheists. [/brownnose]
You do sound rather sheltered and dense. Maybe a site for cake recipes would be more appropriate.
In his house near Brown dead Kwok waits dreaming…
(… hey… did I mention I went to high school with Cthulhu?)
This was not a good thread to read in reverse! skyotter’s restaurant analogy was particularly nonsensical and baffling as an inside joke until I read the comments in the right order. Luckily for me there weren’t that many. Sadly for John Doe, reading up on Cthulhu might take a little more time.
Ooh! Ooh! A real LIVE Cthulhu!
http://tinyurl.com/cnlkc6
(Gotta love them polychaetes!)
John Doe,
I don’t mean to insult, but have you ever considered the possibility that you suffer from aspberger’s syndrome?
Don’t you people understand ANYTHING?????
Cthulhu is to FSM what Eastern Orthodoxy is to Rome.
Jeesh…
LOL! Yeah! For any of MY students…what she said!!
Or perhaps “I was in school with this noted King in Yellow…I don’t want to mention his name…”
Thank you for informing me, my Cthulhu hand puppet needed a reason to be toted about my school today…
“Ph’nglooee mglv’neffh Cthoolhoo R’lyeh vgeh’negl fhtegn, bork, bork, bork” Wait, not that Chef?
“Ay tank it blow purty soon purty hard!”
#62 You made me snork!
His hands wide open!
John Doe has been eaten by a Grue!
Shoop da woop! Im charginz mah lazor!
cthulhu demands curly fries with his worshipers!
Windy @64
Blockquote fail again.
Damn chimpy cooties.
You want a connection between Chthulu and biology? How about Charles Stross’ “A Colder War“: when you get to the section on the novelette called “Technology taster” you’ll find the connection between the Burgess Shale fauna and the Mythos.
Or Neil Gaiman’s “A Study in Emerald” which documents certain biological connections between European aristocracy and the Great Old Ones.
So there. Don’t expect to get eaten first…
Troglodytes typodicootius
nice… read this at work this morning, after having linguine calamari for dinner last night… Ia Ia, they’re in my head!
Is John Doe’s lack of a sense humor nature or nurture?
Newfie: “Shakka, when the walls fell”
Excellent STNG reference!
Actually, I do know the reference, the actual origin of the quote, and that it’s also a cheat code in Starcraft…
And, yes, Engrish is hilarious. That’s why there’s an entire section of the Lolcat site dedicated to horrible translations: http://engrishfunny.com/
Is there even a single one of us geeks/nerds here that doesn’t know “All your base are belong to us?”
“It is a cult phenomenon, passed around the internet like Herpes”
EPIDEMIOLOGY FAIL
to #109
Someone set us up the bomb!
it was Cthuhlu!
My older son’s favorite monster/god is Cthulhu. I got him a set of monsters when he was three and Cthulhu was in there. There is nothing a sweet as having your three year old telling you all about how “Cafooloo” rises out of the ocean and eats everyone. I didn’t even correct him when he said that the Loch Ness Monster was more than likely his pet.
I asked my son why he loves Cthulhu so much and his answer was that being destroyed is far better than being a slave so of all gods he is the nicest. Food for thought from a child. He said the face was pretty cool too. =)
I like Bacon!
Sorry, I just have to drop this reference to Hello Cthulhu.
Mirab, his sails unfurled!
@113,
I like bacon and my first wife is a lesbian.
If someone had told me that biology was bacon and lesbians, I’d have never wasted my time with astronomy.
EVERYONE likes bacon.
Those who deny it are just deluding themselves.
Cthulhu at R’lyeh.
That’s what I call “sophisticated theology.” Give that kid a hug from me.