Sunday, August 07, 2005

I woke up to find this praying mantis clinging to my screen.









Mantises are creepy and beautiful: pure lethal functionality translated into green chitin, yet delicate as origami.

8 comments:

sauceruney said...

which reminds me... have I told you of my idea to cover the shuttle's foam insulation with a coating of chitin? It may possibly be eliminated entirely.

Mac said...

*Awesome* idea! That's true-blue ribofunk you're talking.

razorsmile said...

Like we don't have enough insect-related material here already?

:p

W.M. Bear said...

Maybe the PM twofer is like, you know, a sign. Watch out for females who are looking to bite your head off!

Ken said...

Oh, ya shoulda seen the one that ate L.A. Man, it was mean! Would eat ya from the head down, which is quick enough, I suppose, but sometimes it would eat ya from the feet up. Kickin' over boxcars, stomping police cars, bustin' churches - man, it was mean! Meaner than the Giant Tarantula. Which was napalmed.

But, if the giant Mantis fought the giant Tarantula 'way out in the desert, mayhap all would turn out well.

Best get used to insects: dominant planetary life form. Collectively, they can be shockingly intelligent. And be glad you're not living Inside, which is what we call interior Alaska. Hornet hatches, Black Fly hatches, Noseeums (midge swarms), and mosquitoes. B52s that lumber in, P38s that zoom by too fast to hit, and those goddamned Kamikazes - THEY don't stop fer nuthin'!

But ah, the South. Flying cockroaches that hurt like thrown pebbles. Lucky you.

Gerald T said...

William Burroughs The Western Lands ;…We all thought we were interplanetary agents involved in a deadly struggle We were promised transport out of Time and into Space…This transport never materialized…So here I am in Kansas with my cats, like the honorary agent for a planet that went out light-years ago. Maybe I am. Who will ever know?

Kansas? Cats? Ha! Mac! Your secret is out, missed the bus, did you?

Mac said...

I'm in Missouri, but Burroughs' old house in Kansas is only a couple hours away. Jason (http://busybusybusy.blogspot.com) lives in Lawrence.

Mac said...

BTW, "The Western Lands" is one of my favorite WSB books.