Darwin Fish contest!

i-77f62196a23388c7c58deacddab259e5-design_a_fish.jpg

I’m sure you’re familiar with the ubiquitous Darwin fish (which you can buy from Ring of Fire Enterprises, by the way). Here’s your chance: now you can improve on that old design by intelligently designing your own version (or as I prefer to think of it, developing and evolving your own version by a trial-and-error process). Follow the link to find the requirements and email address for submissions — the deadline is soon, on 16 April.

The winner’s design will be manufactured and sold by Ring of Fire — wouldn’t it be thrilling to see your heretical/scientific fish proudly displayed on random car bumpers?

(By the way, I am one of the judges for the contest. I will not be swayed by bribes, so don’t even try—I want a cool new widget to slap on my car.)

My sweet lord

Bill Donohue is hopping mad again — he’s got another wild hare up his butt and is fuming over another insult to his very Catholic sensibilities:

Catholic League head Bill Donohue called it “one of the worst assaults on Christian sensibilities ever”.

i-6dba47246b306059ed140df5c23a4fa1-chocolate_jesus.jpg

The latest affront is a life-size sculpture of a naked man on a cross, made out of 200 pounds of chocolate, on display in New York just in time for Easter.

Come on, Bill, get over it. Shouldn’t Abu Ghraib have been “one of the worst assaults on Christian sensibilities ever”? How about the injustice of our war in the Iraq? What about the ongoing denial of civil rights to homosexuals? There are a lot of horrors in the world that might prompt a good Christian man to unleash his righteous fury, but a giant chocolate Jesus really isn’t one of them.

Besides, the only real dilemma here is which piece you’re going to start nibbling on first.

i-8dbaf1c23ffa9315dca7742737b6aafd-choco_jesus.jpg

Aww, somebody already ate the big bunny ears!

Cephalart

You’re all wondering where the Friday Cephalopod might be…it’s delayed. I’m spending my day in seclusion in my secret lair, hammering out some work that’s already way overdue, and I don’t have access to a scanner or my books or any technology beyond the necessities for writing. I will put it up later.

For now, you’ll have to make do with some cephalart.

[Read more…]

Classic octopus

Adam Cuerden sent me a scan of this interesting article from the 1871 Illustrated London News, and I decided I was being terribly selfish keeping it to myself, so here you go — don’t say I never share. The image that accompanies it is a wonderful example of old-time illustration; click on it for a larger version.

As the media usually does, it plays up the horrible danger of this alien creature.

i-4414f9688160ca338c8812f70255fae2-eight-armed-cuttle.jpg

[Read more…]

Utahns have something to do tomorrow night

Carel Brest van Kempen is going to be at the Hogle Zoo on Friday evening, showing off his artwork. We have fond memories of the zoo; our apartment was just down the road from it in Salt Lake City when we lived there, and when the kids were at that perfect age to be enthusiastic about it all. (Salt Lake City, despite the weird religion everywhere, is actually a wonderful place to raise kids; when we atheists take over the country, we have to remember to build zoos and big parks and lots of schools in our cities.)

Admission is free from 7-9pm. If we were living a little closer, we’d be there—if you’re in that part of Utah, you should make the trip!

Oops, not free, but still a good deal!

The Opening Reception on Friday (Feb 9) from 7-9 is for artists and invited guests only. However the show will run from Feb. 10 – April 1 and is free with paid admission to to Zoo. We have 10 of Carel Brest van Kempen’s pieces in the show as well as the poster for this year’s show he created. The poster will be available for sale for only $5!