Something vivid and sweet for Friday:
Liz Wolfe takes beautiful photographs.
Cool Hunting interviews Liz.
posted by isopraxis on Oct 23, 2009 - 30 comments

Vulgar Army: Octoprop to Octopop is "an informal study into the representation of the Octopus in propaganda and political cartoons, and influence on, or co-option of, popular culture." [more inside]
posted by ollyollyoxenfree on Oct 10, 2009 - 10 comments

Angry Octopus Comics is a webcomic collaboration between Mikepop and his daughter, updated twice-weekly. Created with mixed media and compiled in Photoshop, the premise is simple: the octopus always ends up angry. [via mefi projects]
posted by filthy light thief on Jul 9, 2009 - 29 comments

By popular demand, your new resident marine biology nerd has compiled some cool information about the Giant Pacific Octopus.The Giant Pacific Octopus (Octopus dofleini) is one of the strangest animals in the sea- and one of the smartest. Though it is commonly believed that vertebrates are always "smarter" than invertebrates, these guys defy that convention. As this video shows, they are able to easily open jars and retrieve food from inside. They are also, as the "Giant" implies, enormous- the biggest one on record was 30 feet across (according to National Geographic) [more inside]
posted by WhySharksMatter on Jul 6, 2009 - 140 comments

From the greats of the silent era to the modern masterpieces of the 21st century, the medium of film has never truly achieved artistic perfection. Until today.
posted by Lord_Pall on May 12, 2009 - 90 comments

"Throwing the octopus is easy. More difficult is concealing the eight-legged creature until the toss is at hand, a skill that requires determination, luck and the ability to walk normally with 4 pounds of slimy cephalopod stuffed down your pants." [more inside]
posted by ocherdraco on Apr 22, 2009 - 99 comments

Octopus chaos. The Santa Monica Pier Aquarium's gregarious and curious two-spotted octopus plays with tank filter resulting in the release of hundreds of gallons of seawater flooding the facility. FLICK pix here.
posted by azul on Feb 26, 2009 - 72 comments

Kure Kure Takora was a Toho produced, short form children's television show from the Japan in the early 1970's. Meet the Cast: Kure Kure Takora, aka Gimme Gimme Octopus; his closest friend, the coin vomiting squash Chonbo; jellyfish bully Tororo; Monro, the sexy walrus who gets around; Debura,the grizzled and world-weary badger; Biragon, lazy trust-fund iguana; and last but not least, the picked on, Sea Cucumber Gang. An exhaustive listing of videos for all 220 episodes, most with plot breakdowns. [more inside]
posted by Lord_Pall on Jan 5, 2009 - 18 comments

WFMU-TV; That's Irritainment (Heino, Shatner): Baby Octopus: Love Onion: Hisao Shinagawa: Organisation- Ruckzuck (Kraftwerk): You Must Choose!: FAUST.
posted by vronsky on Nov 29, 2008 - 31 comments

The beautiful and amazing caped crusader, Tremoctopus. Amazing Cephalopods, that can moonwalk, run, cleverly open a variety of jars and shapeshift. Masters of illusion. Giant octopus encounter. Shark vs. Octopus. [more inside]
posted by nickyskye on Nov 9, 2008 - 60 comments

Oktapodi is a nice short from Les Gobelins, (last covered here). The 'Making-Of' is fun too.
posted by of strange foe on Sep 13, 2008 - 14 comments

How Smart Is the Octopus? [Via Pharyngula]
posted by homunculus on Jun 24, 2008 - 60 comments

Ever want to watch a comics page get drawn at ridiculous speed? I've been reading Mer's comics since day one, but seeing an entire strip drawn and inked as a movie is almost better than watching an animated cartoon. [more inside]
posted by clango on Mar 13, 2008 - 45 comments

Way back in 2003, I posted a link to a video that showed an octopus transforming itself to look like its surroundings. If you read the thread, there was some doubt about it and I think we all wished that web video was better at the time. Well, a friend posted a link to a TED talk recently that shows this same octopus at a much higher resolution. The relevant footage appears near the end of the talk. [more inside]
posted by stefnet on Jan 30, 2008 - 30 comments

Like squid? What about the good ol' octopus? The cuttlefish and nautilus? If you answered yes to these questions Dr. James B. Wood's Cephalopod Page is your go-to site, with information on and pictures of 25+ species of cephalopods including the aptly named (I'm sure) vampire squid from hell. The site also hosts many articles. Not sure where you stand on the coolness of cephalopods? Why don't you start by watching this video of an octopus squeezing through a one inch hole (previously on MetaFilter).
posted by Kattullus on Dec 2, 2007 - 25 comments

James Fenton writes in the Guardian that the entire "flat" collection of the British Museum is going into a searchable online index. Currently there are about 265,000 objects in the database with about 100,00 images. The article says that high quality images, suitable for print reproduction, and free to academic users, are coming soon. The search page is here. [more inside]
posted by shothotbot on Nov 18, 2007 - 12 comments

Way too much thought about tentacle porn on this page, which details the history, current usage, and 'media' coverage of what to many seems the extreme of internet porn weirdness. Also covered are Lovecraftian stories, trinkets, movies, bestiality-inspired poetry and modern pictorial porn (this is weird porn, NSFW, I'm warning you). Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to bleach my mind.
posted by Kickstart70 on Oct 16, 2007 - 41 comments

Happy International Cephalopod Awareness Day! [Via ectoplasmosis.]
posted by homunculus on Oct 8, 2007 - 33 comments

Not to be outdone by the appearance of the Octosquid (previously), other cephalopods have undearthed 900-year-old hidden treasures from the Koryo Dynasty and are taking up residence in the Monterey Bay (Bugmenot works for this last link). Squirrels are also getting in on the action.
posted by christopherious on Jul 25, 2007 - 11 comments

Octopus escaping through one inch hole. Octopus eats shark. Camouflaged octopus. Octopus attacks mini-sub. (Google videos)
posted by Turtles all the way down on Dec 4, 2006 - 44 comments

It's about the size of a golf ball. It is shockingly deadly. It has enough poison to kill 26 humans in minutes. If you see it's blue rings, it may already be too late. You will stop breathing. You will go blind. And the only way you will survive it is hours of artificial respiration and heart massage until the poison has worked its way out of your system. It is the blue-ringed octopus.
posted by Astro Zombie on Sep 3, 2006 - 45 comments

Australia is well known for having more than it's share of dangerous wildlife. However only a few examples are well known outside of the continent. The funnelweb spider might be Australia's most infamous horror. But the redback (a relative of the American black widow) and mouse spider both deserve your respect as well. Long hyped as causing severe ulceration, the reputation of the white-tailed spider might not be as deserved but is still a spider of concern. (more inside...)
posted by weretable and the undead chairs on Aug 2, 2006 - 86 comments

Gimmie Gimmie Octopus is apparently a Japanese children's television show from the 1960s.
Yes, it's YouTube, but at least there's no lip synching.
posted by klausness on Jun 18, 2006 - 13 comments

Poulpe Pulps: A gallery of pulp and comic cover art featuring octopi. Via Slate, who just commissioned a few new pulp covers for classic books.
posted by staggernation on May 25, 2006 - 6 comments

The octopi are back and they're pissed -- or, the continuing misadventures of the one-eyed suitor. [mpg here]
posted by digaman on Jan 30, 2006 - 23 comments

Join the Sasquatch Militia Forest militarization: "The Bureau of Sasquatch Affairs' mission is to enhance the quality of life, promote economic and ecological opportunity, and to carry out the responsibility to protect and improve the trust assets of Sasquatch, Sasquatch culture and Cascadian native hominoids. We will accomplish this through the delivery of quality services, maintaining government-to-Sasquatch relationships within the spirit of Sasquatch self-determination." Supporting the right to keep and bear salmon from the Republic of Cascadia.
posted by warbaby on Dec 8, 2005 - 3 comments

A giant octopus takes on a shark in a video like something from a horror movie (low-res version). Octopuses are remarkable creatures, and are much more intelligent than you may think, especially given some of the movies they've inspired.
posted by cerebus19 on Aug 8, 2005 - 80 comments

Camouflaged and Walking octopuses Octopus marginatus and Octopus (Abdopus) aculeatus, that walk along the seafloor using two alternating arms and apparently use the remaining six arms for camouflage.
posted by dov3 on Mar 30, 2005 - 23 comments

The Attack of the Giant Red Octopus.
posted by hama7 on May 20, 2004 - 9 comments

Did he who made the lamb make thee? O. vulgaris, now appearing on a sea floor near you.
posted by Hildago on Aug 8, 2003 - 12 comments