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Everybody Panic! It’s COTW.

Oh, how I love Friday. The joy, the laughter, the promise of the weekend ahead, the desperate run to the grocery store to stock up on supplies to somehow make it through the snowstorm on its way . . . seriously, why do people do that? We live in the city. You’re not going to live through 12 inches of powder? Anyway.

Brief bloggy news before we proceed: I’m messing around with a new thing called Facebook Connect, which allows you to log into your Facebook account and use it to post to Skepchick. It could be cool, or it could be completely useless. I’ll be working out the kinks this weekend, so feel free to try it in the meantime when you see it pop up on the blog. It may explode. You’ve been warned.

COMMENT O’ THE WEEK TIME!

You all responded very well to my COTW post last week, in which I called you all a bunch of no-good, lazy jerks. This week, there were loads of COTW nominations! Of course that means I had more funny posts to sort through, making judging particularly difficult. I think, though, that I chose a winner we can all agree is well-deserving:

TREE LOBSTERS!

Tree lobsters were brought to our attention by Bug_Girl yesterday (via a Quickies link from Amanda) and they quickly became extremely popular here on Skepchick. In fact, Steve DeGroof discovered a whole new side of the Tree Lobsters in this comment:

Steve DeGroofNo Gravatar // Dec 18, 2008 at 12:59 pm

I’d like to see a comic called Tree Lobsters. Something along the lines of Dinosaur Comics. Just clip art lobsters sitting in trees discussing philosophy.
Tree Lobster 1: There’s a new study that says rain causes autism.
Tree Lobster 2: Sounds like a typical post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy.
Tree Lobster 1: Sure, but you still have to account for the correlation.
Tree Lobster 2: How about this? Let’s assume that autism is hereditary and that a lot of nerds are borderline autistic. Now, a rainy environment means that people don’t get much sun, which levels the dating playing field a bit for nerds, which in turn increases their chances of getting laid. Hell, the fact that Microsoft is headquartered in Redmond is probably enough alone to skew the data!
Tree Lobster 3: Hey, did you hear that Jenny McCarthy is lobbying to get umbrellas classified as medical devices?

That was amusing enough, but what really took it over the top? The joke made real:

Tree Lobsters!

I am officially a fan. More, Tree Lobsters, more!

(You may assume that Steve won this COTW, but your assumption is wrong. The Tree Lobsters win, and the prize is their continued existence. Steve loses, because he is now forced to continue producing Tree Lobster comics for our amusement.)

Happy Friday everyone! Those of you in Boston, get ready – the snow just started. DUM DUM DUMMMMMMM!

Rebecca Watson

Rebecca is a writer, speaker, YouTube personality, and unrepentant science nerd. In addition to founding and continuing to run Skepchick, she hosts Quiz-o-Tron, a monthly science-themed quiz show and podcast that pits comedians against nerds. There is an asteroid named in her honor. Twitter @rebeccawatson Mastodon mstdn.social/@rebeccawatson Instagram @actuallyrebeccawatson TikTok @actuallyrebeccawatson YouTube @rebeccawatson BlueSky @rebeccawatson.bsky.social

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35 Comments

  1. Why is there always a run on:
    * milk
    * toilet paper
    * bread
    whenever a severe snowstorm is predicted?

    It’s been that way everywhere I’ve lived, from WI to MO to the East Coast. Is everyone afraid that heavy snow will drink all the milk, destroy all the t.p. in their houses and eat all the bread?
    :-D

  2. Wait..wait..Steve gets comment of the week because he turned his comment into an online comic?

    So, wit isn’t enough now. We have to create artwork and new media to go with them.

    Thanks for blowing the curve, Steve.

  3. Snow huh?

    We have predictions of temps in the 70’s for christmas.

    Hmm, snow.

    Wonder what that looks like.

  4. @Steve DeGroof: Do one with the Tree Lobster doctor refusing to provide asprin because it violates its religous beliefs that all pain is gods punishment for sin.

  5. @Gabrielbrawley: Isn’t that what the Catholic Church used to say about women’s labor pains… that they were paying the price for giving Adam the apple? :-(

  6. @QuestionAuthority: It also says it in genisis and the taboo wasn’t broken until Queen Victoria (I used to call her Vicky and she would smile) used chlorofom when she was going into labor.

  7. @Gabrielbrawley:
    Pretty insignificant god if a metal bar can frustrate his vengance….you betcha! ;-)

  8. @Imrryr: Mysterious Ways. Like

    “Wow, we spent 300 years building this church. Over half of our fortunes are in it, many of us died, we spend day after day going into it to tell god how great he is and he just blasted it to smithereens with his lighting. I wonder if it was the wrong color?”

  9. @QuestionAuthority: Or penicillin. That has stopped severl god induced plauges. Or clean water, that has stopped more than one god started cholera epidemic. It is kind of easy to bitch slap god when he throws a tantrum. cool.

  10. Congrats, Steve!

    Not that I’m in anyway competitive, but from now on my comments are going to be submitted on an original oil painting.

  11. @QuestionAuthority:

    Why is there always a run on:
    * milk
    * toilet paper
    * bread
    whenever a severe snowstorm is predicted?

    Eggs too. Because everyone needs French toast during the snow. And the toilet paper is for.. well you know what French toast can do to the intestines, man!

    In Atlanta, everyone panics when there’s even a whiff of snow. We had a prediction of flurries a couple of years ago and I got interviewed by the TV news because I went to the grocery store the night before. I never made it on the news – I wasn’t panicky enough, I think :)

  12. @Masala Skeptic: Of course! French toast makes perfect sense. I wish it would snow here so I could have some French toast. All we’ve gotten lately is fog. I’m not sure what dish you’re supposed to serve with that.

  13. French Toasted Tree Lobsters…ummmm! :-P

    All we’re getting is rain and fog. The usual East Coast wet winter weather. It’s like living win Seattle without all the amenities…

  14. What happens if the tree lobsters are attached to the roving pea pod plants? (SGU reference!) Not only will the pea pod plants chase down the little kids who won’t eat their peas, the tree lobsters will … I can’t even think about it. The horror!

  15. @Masala Skeptic: I’ve heard tell of whole city blocks getting shut down as a result of light snow fall in those southern states.

    In michigan there was quite a bit of snow, so much so that I did the opposite of those who make runs on grocery stores and went home despite needing to go. I’m actually out of eggs, dangerously low on bread and milk and need tomatoes, which means no french toast for me. But hey, it did get me out of work early and I got to help one of the PM’s get his car unstuck and parked (sort of) when he tried to get into the parking lot in his Acura. A fellow coworker got pictures.

  16. Stocking up on tree lobsters! Hope the comic goes on for some time! :D

    BTW, both my car and boyfriend’s truck got stuck in the snow the other day and we couldn’t even get them back into the driveway. Businesses actually get shut down over here, not because it snows so badly, but because very little is done about it! If they pulled this crap in Ohio, people couldn’t live here in the winter!

    BTW again: I got some great photos of palm trees drooping under a pile of snow! Ha ha ha!

  17. OK, I’ve been busy pasting up comics. I’ve got 16 done. Six of them are published and the rest are scheduled to post (Blogger lets you post-date stuff now) every 4 days. So, the lobsters will live at least until 2/9.

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