Althouse: "The pufferfish looks so pleased with itself as it works..."

March 29, 2017

"The pufferfish looks so pleased with itself as it works..."

"... as well it should be."

36 comments:

Original Mike said...: I was all prepared to make fun of the little fish, but damn!; 3/29/17, 9:30 PM
traditionalguy said...: Cute fish.; 3/29/17, 9:53 PM
BN said...: I never click these clickers. But today i did. How can one resist pufferfish? The word itself should be Laslo'd up and down and back and forth.

Anyway, I thought it was beautiful. And then I noticed the "Skip Ad" arrow in the corner, and I realized it was a commercial for something or druther, I don't know, I was on mute, but it was a beautiful place--I know, I don't get it either--that someone created that looked like a miniature Angora Watts, before the riots.

I don't know what to make of it, it was a silent add with pretty pictures. And I'm sorry I didn't get the chance to click on the Amazon portal or nothin' for the good Perfesser's vacation fund, I'm so sorry.

And alas, I never saw any pufferfish. Don't tell Laslo. I wanna hear his version.; 3/29/17, 10:02 PM
Big Mike said...: The things we males will do to attract the attention of a female.; 3/29/17, 10:15 PM
Bad Lieutenant said...: It's not perfect, but it's wonderful!

Don't know why the headline says itself. Obviously it's a male. Himself.; 3/29/17, 10:16 PM
Birches said...: Wow.; 3/29/17, 10:37 PM
Birches said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 3/29/17, 10:37 PM
Birches said...: Did I see this one on Althouse or somewhere else? It is also awesome.; 3/29/17, 10:43 PM
Earnest Prole said...: Anthropomorphism: An antonym for theriomorphism?; 3/29/17, 10:53 PM
fivewheels said...: YouTube comments should never be read, but I kind of liked: "yet female puffer fish want 50 percent of the landscaping jobs"; 3/29/17, 11:08 PM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: If you can't see some glimmer of an Intelligent Designer in that, then you have soul of a cinder block.; 3/29/17, 11:12 PM
Original Mike said...: "If you can't see some glimmer of an Intelligent Designer in that, then you have soul of a cinder block."

Kinda like the Jesus on toast, huh?; 3/29/17, 11:22 PM
BN said...: "then you have soul of a tinder block."

Any soul is better than none.; 3/29/17, 11:47 PM
BN said...: And a tinder one is nicer.; 3/29/17, 11:48 PM
StephenFearby said...: Best poem in the link:

my name is puf
and wen its nite
or wen the water
feels just rite
i make a pattern
so complex
the lady fish
wil give me sex

posted by drlith; 3/30/17, 1:13 AM
Clyde said...: So did he get laid?; 3/30/17, 1:30 AM
HoodlumDoodlum said...: What do you want to bet the female pufferfish picked some bad boy shark instead?; 3/30/17, 2:01 AM
buwaya said...: Also interesting is that this is a new species, only discovered in 2014, and this discovery solved the mystery of the designs.; 3/30/17, 4:12 AM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: Do the lady pufferfish comparison shop? "Well, this one's OK, but Bill's is bigger and has nicer shells."; 3/30/17, 6:39 AM
Trumpit said...: The innate artistic abilities of the Puffer is an argument for vegetarianism. Most animals except for dangerous (e.g. hunters) & ignorant humans have intrinsic value, if not extrinsic value. Few humans have as much creative talent as this "lowly" majestic fish. Puffer fish are on the menu in Japan and elsewhere. The Asians will eat anything that moves. The senseless / selfish killing of other species has gotta to stop. The worldwide pollution of the oceans has gotta stop. Trump is foolishly undoing Obama's important work on stopping global warming. Trump, a lowly puffed up, humorless dolt, has gotta be stopped as a first priority.; 3/30/17, 7:03 AM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: The Cracker Emcee said...

If you can't see some glimmer of an Intelligent Designer in that, then you have soul of a cinder block.

I can see more than a glimmer of an Intelligent Designer. I can see the Intelligent Designer swimming back and forth, moving sand with his fins, creating his design.; 3/30/17, 7:27 AM
Curious George said...: "He ploughs the sand, breaking it up into the finest of particles."

Ploughs the sand, yes. Breaks it up into the finest of particles, no.; 3/30/17, 7:49 AM
Wince said...: Reminds me of the Richard Dryfus character in Close Encounter of the Third Kind.; 3/30/17, 7:51 AM
Fernandinande said...: So a fish does something similar to what bees, wasps, ants, birds, etc. do, but apparently it's unusual because it's underwater.

The Cracker Emcee said...
If you can't see some glimmer of an Intelligent Designer in that, then you have soul of a cinder block.

You might have a gigantic ego, but I really don't think that qualifies you to judges anyone's soul. Asshole.; 3/30/17, 7:51 AM
Anonymous said...: The delicious but deadly fugu?; 3/30/17, 8:00 AM
Sebastian said...: Some animals create artwork out of sand, others use words and pictures, what we now call "blogs." Same deal though.; 3/30/17, 8:01 AM
David said...: The fish's name is Jay Gatsby.; 3/30/17, 8:10 AM
Titus said...: I saw this program on Netflix. BBC Earth is fab. Can't remember the name of the host but he is awesome. I think this episode was all the ways males try to get females because they are horny and want to fuck.

The worst were walruses. They can kill each other for pussy. Male birds are prettier and more colorful than the bland females.; 3/30/17, 8:14 AM
MathMom said...: I sent this link to my husband, as a hint. I think he should do something like this to impress me! :o); 3/30/17, 8:59 AM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: If you can't see some glimmer of an Intelligent Designer in that, then you have soul of a cinder block

That may be so, intelligent design. We will never know unless there is actually a chance to ask in the afterworld or the interim between lives. Henry Ward Beecher; "Now comes the mystery"

But....I see or think. How long, how many billion generations of fish did it take to come to this skill, strategy. How many failures along the way. What small increments of progress it must have been to get to this end result. What is next. How long will it take. Will we be around to even care?; 3/30/17, 9:02 AM
MathMom said...: This is my favorite; 3/30/17, 9:04 AM
Bill said...: Have to wonder what he's thinking, or feeling -- if anything. Is there any aesthetic pleasure involved in his task? He's not a human, but he's not a machine, either.; 3/30/17, 9:08 AM
William said...: Back in the day, I used to clean up my apartment before entertaining company. We are all pufferfish.; 3/30/17, 9:18 AM
Luke Lea said...: Well, I'll be the peacock's tail!; 3/30/17, 2:35 PM
khematite said...: "Don't bogart that puffer fish, my friend"

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/dolphins-seem-to-use-toxic-pufferfish-to-get-high-180948219/

"The dolphins were filmed gently playing with the puffer, passing it between each other for 20 to 30 minutes at a time, unlike the fish they had caught as prey which were swiftly torn apart."; 3/30/17, 6:39 PM
Be said...: In terms of compensation for self-perceived lacks, this does kind of beat going into hock for a new harley davidson / muscle car / series of guitars.; 3/31/17, 12:20 AM