WEBVTT - STBYM Listener Mail: Cave of the Crabs 0:00:03.000 --> 0:00:06.040 Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio. 0:00:10.560 --> 0:00:13.360 Hey you, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind listener Mail. 0:00:13.520 --> 0:00:16.960 My name is Robert Lamb and I am Joe McCormick, 0:00:17.120 --> 0:00:19.360 and every so often on the Stuff to Blow Your 0:00:19.400 --> 0:00:22.760 Mind podcast we do an episode like this where we 0:00:22.800 --> 0:00:25.960 read back messages from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind 0:00:26.079 --> 0:00:28.159 email address. We usually give it at the end of 0:00:28.200 --> 0:00:30.000 every episode, but we'll give it at the top of 0:00:30.040 --> 0:00:32.720 this one. If you have never gotten in touch before, 0:00:32.880 --> 0:00:35.880 you should give it a try. It's contact at stuff 0:00:35.920 --> 0:00:39.000 to Blow your Mind dot com. All types of messages 0:00:39.040 --> 0:00:42.600 are welcome. Of course, we always appreciate feedback to recent 0:00:42.640 --> 0:00:45.839 episodes or older episodes if you want so. If you've 0:00:45.880 --> 0:00:48.480 got a correction that you need to give on something 0:00:48.520 --> 0:00:51.080 we said in an episode, obviously please send it our way. 0:00:51.159 --> 0:00:53.400 We always want to make sure we're getting all the 0:00:53.440 --> 0:00:56.600 facts right. But if you have something interesting to add 0:00:56.640 --> 0:00:58.520 to a topic we've talked about, something we did not 0:00:58.720 --> 0:01:01.840 get into in an episode series that would add to 0:01:01.960 --> 0:01:05.800 the subject, that's bullseye. That's exactly what we want kind 0:01:05.800 --> 0:01:08.319 of build on what we've done here in our listener 0:01:08.360 --> 0:01:11.319 mail episodes. Also, just any general feedback. If you want 0:01:11.360 --> 0:01:14.160 to suggest a topic for the future, suggest a movie 0:01:14.160 --> 0:01:16.480 for Weird House Cinema, or just say hi, tell us 0:01:16.520 --> 0:01:20.440 an interesting story, whatever suits you. Contact at stuff to 0:01:20.520 --> 0:01:22.400 Blow your Mind dot com. 0:01:22.480 --> 0:01:25.600 You can also email us at that address and ask 0:01:25.800 --> 0:01:29.640 for the invite link for our discord server, which is 0:01:29.959 --> 0:01:32.960 intentionally kept kind of like tight knit. But if you 0:01:33.080 --> 0:01:35.080 just email us and ask for the invite code, we'll 0:01:35.080 --> 0:01:36.800 send it your way and you can give it a shot. 0:01:37.480 --> 0:01:39.480 So let's see, Rob, are you good? If we kick 0:01:39.520 --> 0:01:42.640 things off with responses to our crab bag series. 0:01:42.400 --> 0:01:44.600 We absolutely should kick off with craps. 0:01:45.240 --> 0:01:47.440 So this was a recent roundup we did of all 0:01:47.560 --> 0:01:54.440 kinds of topics related to crabs, crab stuff, biological, behavioral, technological, metaphorical, 0:01:54.520 --> 0:01:59.520 and spiritual. And this series was in part requested by 0:01:59.600 --> 0:02:02.720 a listen our listener, Hannah, who did get in touch 0:02:02.760 --> 0:02:06.480 after we started the series with an email subject line 0:02:06.560 --> 0:02:09.880 OMG OMG OMG crabs and then the body just said 0:02:09.919 --> 0:02:13.680 thank you, So you're welcome, Hannah. But I figure I'm 0:02:13.680 --> 0:02:16.960 going to kick things off after this with a message 0:02:17.000 --> 0:02:22.520 from Hugh and this is responding to our story about 0:02:22.520 --> 0:02:26.880 the miracle crab of Saint Francis Xavier, which, according to legend, 0:02:27.360 --> 0:02:30.120 took hold of a crucifix that had been lost in 0:02:30.160 --> 0:02:33.680 a storm at sea, and then brought that crucifix, raised 0:02:33.720 --> 0:02:36.560 in its claws, back to its owner, Saint Francis, once 0:02:36.600 --> 0:02:44.960 he had landed on shore. So, Hugh says, dear Robert, 0:02:45.040 --> 0:02:48.240 Joe and JJ, do you think Xavier's crab booked it 0:02:48.320 --> 0:02:53.880 that entire way or was maybe a relay situation. Yeah, 0:02:54.120 --> 0:02:56.200 I didn't think about that. The crabs are working together. 0:02:56.360 --> 0:02:59.480 That did come up later, and actually later in the 0:02:59.480 --> 0:03:02.880 first episod, right, the question of whether crabs are ever 0:03:02.960 --> 0:03:06.239 cooperative or whether it's always just one crab for themselves. 0:03:06.440 --> 0:03:08.280 Yeah, I don't know. I guess this comes into the 0:03:08.320 --> 0:03:13.760 imagined religious views of crabs. Are the crabs of the ocean? 0:03:13.800 --> 0:03:19.040 Are they one body of Christ? Are they one people 0:03:19.120 --> 0:03:22.120 who would do this? Or is this one crab an outlier? 0:03:22.160 --> 0:03:24.760 Are the rest of the crabs like atheist crabs? And 0:03:24.800 --> 0:03:29.720 this one crab has become faithful and participates in this miracle. 0:03:29.880 --> 0:03:32.000 That one Catholic crab the one that will go and 0:03:32.000 --> 0:03:35.640 preach to the nations of crabs. Yeah. Oh, and I 0:03:35.840 --> 0:03:38.839 forgot to set this up. But in this email, Hugh 0:03:38.880 --> 0:03:43.360 also makes reference to something where in this classic Renaissance 0:03:43.360 --> 0:03:47.160 painting of this miracle story where the crab is coming 0:03:47.160 --> 0:03:50.400 on shore, the crab is holding the crucifix up in 0:03:50.440 --> 0:03:53.160 the air above its body. And I was looking at 0:03:53.200 --> 0:03:55.040 this painting and I was like, why does this look 0:03:55.080 --> 0:03:58.240 so familiar? And I realized it looks exactly like the 0:03:58.280 --> 0:04:03.440 original theatrical release poster for Star Wars that has an illustrated, 0:04:03.600 --> 0:04:07.000 very muscly rendition of Mark Hamill holding the lightsaber up 0:04:07.040 --> 0:04:10.680 above his head. It's uncanny the resemblance, very very similar. 0:04:10.920 --> 0:04:13.920 Tom Young, the artist who did the famous poster, by 0:04:13.920 --> 0:04:18.960 the way, a pretty accomplished Chinese American post poster art artist. 0:04:19.480 --> 0:04:20.320 Pretty great stuff. 0:04:20.400 --> 0:04:22.880 It's a classic, even if it does give a different 0:04:22.960 --> 0:04:24.760 kind of vibe than the movie, like it may it 0:04:24.800 --> 0:04:28.240 makes it makes Luke Skywalker look like Conan the Barbaria 0:04:28.480 --> 0:04:30.320 instead of like, you know, you're supposed to be kind 0:04:30.320 --> 0:04:34.080 of a kid who's just looking for adventure. Yeah, But anyway, 0:04:34.520 --> 0:04:37.960 Hugh makes reference to that part of the episode, saying, also, 0:04:38.120 --> 0:04:40.440 I had always seen that Star Wars poster as an 0:04:40.440 --> 0:04:44.520 homage to Frank Frazetta. Maybe Frank got the idea from 0:04:44.560 --> 0:04:49.160 the painting you referenced. Congratulations on the Netflix gig. Thanks, huh, 0:04:49.200 --> 0:04:52.800 You're all doing a great job, Hugh. So, I actually 0:04:52.839 --> 0:04:55.719 did not know Frank Frazetta, at least my name, well 0:04:55.960 --> 0:04:58.120 not my name. Once I looked it up, I was like, oh, 0:04:58.120 --> 0:05:03.120 I recognize this style. So it is the classic paperback 0:05:03.240 --> 0:05:07.159 fantasy book cover style where you got hot barbarians and 0:05:07.279 --> 0:05:11.320 loincloth and metal bikinis, and you get weird monsters and 0:05:11.400 --> 0:05:15.640 beasts bristling, a lot of muscles and gleaming weapons and 0:05:15.720 --> 0:05:20.800 just bodies. And the figures in these in these illustrations 0:05:21.160 --> 0:05:23.200 have a lot of I was trying to think what 0:05:23.279 --> 0:05:25.640 to call this. They just have a lot of poise. 0:05:25.839 --> 0:05:30.359 They're like they they look like like statues in motion 0:05:30.640 --> 0:05:33.640 kind of. They're radiating strength and victory. 0:05:34.520 --> 0:05:37.640 Yeah. Yeah, I've never really attempted to put any of 0:05:37.680 --> 0:05:39.920 it in words concerning Frank Fazeta, but you know, I've 0:05:39.920 --> 0:05:42.320 been I've been a fan of Frank Vizzeta for ages, 0:05:42.360 --> 0:05:46.000 and I think I follow the official Frank Fazeta Instagram account, 0:05:46.040 --> 0:05:48.960 so I keep bombarding myself with images of his and 0:05:49.040 --> 0:05:52.480 sometimes ones that I've never seen before, but yeah, there's 0:05:52.520 --> 0:05:54.840 something about his work. I mean, you know, he was 0:05:54.880 --> 0:06:00.480 great at capturing the human form and admired it greatly. 0:06:00.920 --> 0:06:04.440 And sometimes those human forms are not even wearing loincloths 0:06:04.520 --> 0:06:07.880 or metal bikinis. Sometimes they are naked. But then also 0:06:07.960 --> 0:06:10.920 all of these fantasy elements and sci fi elements that 0:06:10.920 --> 0:06:13.880 were you know, you know, a part of the commercial 0:06:13.920 --> 0:06:15.880 aspect of so many of these works. And there is 0:06:15.960 --> 0:06:21.159 that sense of movement, And I don't necessarily have the 0:06:21.560 --> 0:06:25.520 artistic language in my head to describe all of this, 0:06:25.600 --> 0:06:28.920 but there is a sense of like culmination and rising 0:06:29.040 --> 0:06:33.640 and physical movement, like the muscles that you see and 0:06:33.680 --> 0:06:38.400 the bones, like they all seem to be biologically active 0:06:38.480 --> 0:06:39.440 and some rippling. 0:06:39.560 --> 0:06:45.120 Yeah yeah, yeah, so yeah, very much concerned with strength 0:06:45.240 --> 0:06:47.920 and sexiness and weirdness all coming together. 0:06:48.320 --> 0:06:51.080 Yeah, And it is a style that is so attached 0:06:51.120 --> 0:06:54.000 to a specific time, Like anytime I see Frank Fizzetta, 0:06:54.279 --> 0:06:56.320 I also want to see that work on the side 0:06:56.320 --> 0:06:59.880 of a van, some sort of a wizard van roaring 0:07:00.080 --> 0:07:01.800 down a nineteen seventies highway. 0:07:02.320 --> 0:07:04.520 Sometimes I think, like, if I had a billion dollars, 0:07:04.560 --> 0:07:06.920 what's the first thing I'd get, Like a wizard Van 0:07:07.480 --> 0:07:12.200 get that air brushed out real good. But yeah, anyways, 0:07:12.240 --> 0:07:15.240 so I h I was like, wait a minute, did 0:07:15.280 --> 0:07:17.040 Frank Frazetta ever do a crab? 0:07:17.840 --> 0:07:18.000 You know? 0:07:18.160 --> 0:07:21.960 Good question? So I googled Frank Frizzetta crab. Did not 0:07:22.160 --> 0:07:25.640 find anything that looked authentic. There were some grotesque looking, 0:07:25.800 --> 0:07:29.560 smoothed out AI imitations that I hated, but so far 0:07:29.600 --> 0:07:31.400 as I know, he never did any crab stuff. 0:07:31.600 --> 0:07:33.239 I'm going to be on the lookout now because again 0:07:33.280 --> 0:07:37.480 I regularly bombard myself with for Zetta images, So if 0:07:37.520 --> 0:07:40.680 a crab pope pops up, I will report on it 0:07:40.720 --> 0:07:43.080 here and listeners. If you know of a Frank Fazzeta 0:07:43.160 --> 0:07:46.920 crab work, send it in. Yeah. This is fun because 0:07:46.920 --> 0:07:48.400 I was just the other day. I was looking through 0:07:48.400 --> 0:07:51.640 some titles for some Clark Ashton Smith short stories and 0:07:51.720 --> 0:07:54.400 I found one that has crabs in the title and 0:07:54.440 --> 0:07:56.960 in the plot, and I've never read it before. So 0:07:57.000 --> 0:07:59.040 I'm like, okay, I'm going to cue this up. The 0:07:59.240 --> 0:08:02.800 crabs crabs await us everywhere, even in places we thought 0:08:02.800 --> 0:08:03.679 we'd fully explore. 0:08:04.000 --> 0:08:06.680 Was it called like the Magic of Crabs or Master 0:08:06.800 --> 0:08:08.480 of Crabs? Master of Crabs? 0:08:08.640 --> 0:08:11.320 So I think it's dueling wizards and crabs, but I 0:08:11.360 --> 0:08:13.640 haven't I haven't read it yet, but it's it's cue up. 0:08:13.880 --> 0:08:16.360 Dear God, it's made for me. Well, I'm going to 0:08:16.400 --> 0:08:19.800 go read it whenever I get a chance. Here, let's see, Rob, 0:08:19.840 --> 0:08:21.440 do you want to do this message from Nathan? 0:08:22.000 --> 0:08:24.080 Yes? Uh oh this yeah, I'm going in cold on 0:08:24.120 --> 0:08:26.120 this one. I did not read this one when it 0:08:26.160 --> 0:08:29.160 came in, got lost in the shuffle. But Nathan comes 0:08:29.200 --> 0:08:31.720 at us with the subject why is a raven like 0:08:31.760 --> 0:08:35.440 a writing desk? This is a reference. I forget even 0:08:35.440 --> 0:08:36.240 how this came up. 0:08:36.679 --> 0:08:38.600 But I've actually got a note about this. 0:08:38.760 --> 0:08:41.400 Okay, good, good, Yeah, I'll start reading and then you 0:08:41.440 --> 0:08:49.679 can jump in with clarification. Okay, Dear Rob, Joe and JJ. 0:08:50.000 --> 0:08:52.760 At the end of part four of your Crab brag 0:08:53.040 --> 0:08:57.360 Bag Crab grab Bag episodes, you brought up the question 0:08:57.559 --> 0:08:59.480 why is a raven like a writing desk? As an 0:08:59.520 --> 0:09:02.160 example of a riddle with no clear answer, as if 0:09:02.160 --> 0:09:04.120 it were designed to start arguments. 0:09:04.440 --> 0:09:07.400 So I also at first couldn't remember how we got there, 0:09:07.440 --> 0:09:09.560 and I had to look it up. But this came 0:09:09.640 --> 0:09:13.720 up because you were talking about Japanese folk tales in 0:09:13.760 --> 0:09:16.880 which a crab asks riddles and then kills you if 0:09:16.920 --> 0:09:19.319 you don't answer correctly. Usually the answer to the riddle 0:09:19.360 --> 0:09:23.200 is crab, you know, like describes a creature and then 0:09:23.240 --> 0:09:25.240 you're like, what am I? And the person is supposed 0:09:25.240 --> 0:09:28.240 to guess crab, but they usually don't. And this led 0:09:28.280 --> 0:09:32.319 to us talking about whether nefarious crabs of some kind 0:09:32.520 --> 0:09:37.120 could be behind the social media strategy where people post 0:09:37.240 --> 0:09:40.720 riddles that don't actually have answers. In this case, it's 0:09:40.800 --> 0:09:43.439 to get people confused and make them waste a lot 0:09:43.440 --> 0:09:46.200 of time engaging with a post on social media or 0:09:46.240 --> 0:09:48.800 like arguing in the comments, And the purpose of this 0:09:48.960 --> 0:09:52.240 is engagement farming, trying to game the system on these 0:09:52.360 --> 0:09:57.040 you know, horrible social algorithms. But this led to Rob 0:09:57.280 --> 0:10:00.760 mentioning the riddle why is a raven like a writing desk, 0:10:00.960 --> 0:10:04.480 which obviously predates social media, but the through line was 0:10:04.520 --> 0:10:07.760 that this is also a riddle without a clear intended answer, or. 0:10:07.760 --> 0:10:10.000 At least that's the way I always thought of it. Again, 0:10:10.040 --> 0:10:13.520 this is a This just pops up in the last Unicorn, 0:10:13.600 --> 0:10:17.560 if I remember correctly, Yeah, yeah, And then Nathan goes 0:10:17.559 --> 0:10:20.600 on to clarify Rob mentioned its use in the film 0:10:20.640 --> 0:10:23.360 The Last Unicorn, but this riddle originally comes from Alice's 0:10:23.400 --> 0:10:26.720 Adventures in Wonderland, Okay, written by Lewis Carroll in eighteen 0:10:26.760 --> 0:10:29.600 sixty five. The Mad Hatter asked this of Alice during 0:10:29.600 --> 0:10:32.360 the Mad Tea party. He doesn't wait for an answer 0:10:32.400 --> 0:10:35.120 before the conversation moves on, but when Alice asks for 0:10:35.200 --> 0:10:38.560 the answer later, he replies, I haven't the slightest idea. 0:10:39.200 --> 0:10:41.360 See now, I'm wondering if it actually is in the 0:10:41.400 --> 0:10:44.839 Last Unicorn, and if I'm not misremembering something from Alice 0:10:44.840 --> 0:10:47.280 in Wonderland. Oh, Okay, who knows. I have a feeling 0:10:47.320 --> 0:10:49.640 we'll come back around to The Last Unicorn on Weird 0:10:49.679 --> 0:10:52.239 House Cinema at some point in the future, so we'll 0:10:52.240 --> 0:10:56.479 figure that out then. Okay, But anyway, more answers from 0:10:56.559 --> 0:11:00.839 Nathan here he continues. According to The nit Alice by 0:11:00.880 --> 0:11:04.200 Martin Gardner, Carol wrote the riddle with no answer in mind, 0:11:04.280 --> 0:11:07.320 but that didn't stop many readers from suggesting their own. 0:11:07.960 --> 0:11:10.560 There are too many proposed solutions to list in full. 0:11:10.679 --> 0:11:13.160 But here are some better ones. Okay, here we. 0:11:13.120 --> 0:11:15.720 Go, or some better I think, better known ones. 0:11:15.880 --> 0:11:19.640 Better known ones, yes, yeah, okay, this one from Sam 0:11:19.760 --> 0:11:25.360 Lloyd because Poe wrote on both that's good. Okay, yeah, yeah, okay, 0:11:25.400 --> 0:11:26.719 that that checks out. I had to think about it 0:11:26.760 --> 0:11:32.079 for a second. Both have inky quills. Hmm yeah, okay, yeah, 0:11:32.240 --> 0:11:35.520 or maybe all right. One is a rest for pins. 0:11:35.600 --> 0:11:40.120 The other is a pest for wrens with a w Okay, 0:11:40.440 --> 0:11:43.800 that's clever. That's clever. That one does a few backflips 0:11:43.800 --> 0:11:46.320 in that one, which I like. Okay, here's one. This 0:11:46.320 --> 0:11:48.760 one comes. This one was apparently attributed to Alba Sucksley. 0:11:49.760 --> 0:11:52.880 Because there is a B in both and an inn 0:11:53.400 --> 0:11:54.040 in neither. 0:11:54.920 --> 0:11:55.560 I don't get that. 0:11:55.840 --> 0:11:58.960 I don't get anything. That's that's the way Homer. We're 0:11:58.960 --> 0:11:59.840 gonna have to think about that. 0:12:00.360 --> 0:12:03.040 There is an N in both writing desk and raven, 0:12:03.120 --> 0:12:05.200 and there is not a bee in either one. So 0:12:05.600 --> 0:12:07.960 I don't I'm not following. There's some kind of irony 0:12:08.000 --> 0:12:08.960 here that's gone past me. 0:12:09.080 --> 0:12:10.800 But there is a bee in the word both, and 0:12:10.800 --> 0:12:16.120 there's an N in the word neither. Yeah, okay, oh, 0:12:16.200 --> 0:12:18.160 this one was. Here's an answer that came there was 0:12:18.200 --> 0:12:21.480 presented in Stephen King's The Shining. This is a book 0:12:21.520 --> 0:12:24.079 I read in junior high. So it's been a long time. 0:12:24.440 --> 0:12:27.640 But this answer is the higher the fewer. Of course, 0:12:29.920 --> 0:12:31.400 the higher the fewer. 0:12:31.440 --> 0:12:34.920 Okay, that one's gone past me. 0:12:35.160 --> 0:12:37.240 Oh wait, wait, Nathan says, this is actually the answer 0:12:37.240 --> 0:12:40.120 to an entirely different nonsense riddle, when is a mouse 0:12:40.240 --> 0:12:41.920 if it spins? 0:12:42.440 --> 0:12:45.160 Okay, I still don't get it, Okay. 0:12:45.360 --> 0:12:48.080 They continue. In the preface of the eighteen ninety six 0:12:48.200 --> 0:12:51.319 edition of the book, Carroll himself finally included his own 0:12:51.360 --> 0:12:54.280 solution to the riddle, while acknowledging it was just an 0:12:54.320 --> 0:12:57.720 after that quote because it can produce a few notes, 0:12:58.080 --> 0:13:01.200 though they are very flat, and it is never put 0:13:01.480 --> 0:13:05.760 with the wrong end. First, Carol intentionally misspelled the word 0:13:05.920 --> 0:13:10.160 never as n e v a r raven spelled backwards, 0:13:10.440 --> 0:13:13.880 but later printers corrected the spelling to any v e 0:13:14.000 --> 0:13:16.679 r and so the punchline was lost in translation, or 0:13:16.760 --> 0:13:19.760 rather in transcription. Thanks as always for your delightful and 0:13:19.800 --> 0:13:24.200 insightful podcast, Nathan, Thank you, Nathan. Yeah, that's that's that's 0:13:24.600 --> 0:13:27.800 I again. I'm not entirely sure now if this poem, 0:13:28.080 --> 0:13:30.440 I mean, this riddle is reference in the Last Unicorn. 0:13:30.679 --> 0:13:34.119 Maybe I was misremembering it from else Adventures in Wonderland, 0:13:34.400 --> 0:13:36.280 But at any rate, This was a lot of fun 0:13:36.320 --> 0:13:39.079 going through these supposed answers to it. 0:13:39.640 --> 0:13:41.800 My favorite is Poe wrote on both that's. 0:13:41.600 --> 0:13:44.880 Good, that's good. Yeah, Yeah, one is a pet, one 0:13:44.960 --> 0:13:46.840 is a rest for pens and the other pets for rinds. 0:13:46.920 --> 0:13:47.760 I will also. 0:13:47.520 --> 0:13:58.720 Exactly yeah, thumbs up. Yeah, okay, you want me to 0:13:58.760 --> 0:13:59.440 do this one from. 0:13:59.400 --> 0:14:00.520 Chris, Let's do it? 0:14:00.920 --> 0:14:05.080 Chris says, oh. Subject line Mysteries and Crabs Robert and 0:14:05.160 --> 0:14:09.360 Joe while enjoying the Vault, episode three of Mystery Cults, 0:14:09.400 --> 0:14:12.720 focusing in part on the experiences associated with them being 0:14:12.800 --> 0:14:16.839 less about appeasing deities but more about becoming part of 0:14:16.880 --> 0:14:21.359 the mortal's identity and possibly a combination of revelation and inspiration. 0:14:21.920 --> 0:14:24.520 I was struck by the example of the goddess Demeter's 0:14:24.600 --> 0:14:28.160 daughter Persephone and her eating food while in hades and 0:14:28.240 --> 0:14:32.600 it's binding her there. It reminded me of Hyamiyazaki's excellent 0:14:32.720 --> 0:14:35.880 Spirited Away, in which a family inadvertently travels to a 0:14:35.920 --> 0:14:39.320 spirit realm, where the parents eat at an empty restaurant 0:14:39.440 --> 0:14:44.600 and are turned into pigs by a resident for their transgression. Yeah, 0:14:44.640 --> 0:14:46.560 they eat of the food of the spirit world, and 0:14:46.600 --> 0:14:50.120 thus they are trapped there. I don't remember crabs being 0:14:50.160 --> 0:14:52.160 part of their meal, so there is no connection to 0:14:52.200 --> 0:14:56.200 the Crabbag episodes that I'm aware of. However, Crabbag episode 0:14:56.200 --> 0:14:59.360 three and your discussion of crabs as inspiration for military 0:14:59.400 --> 0:15:02.960 devices an inventor is writing directly to President Lincoln. And 0:15:03.040 --> 0:15:06.440 the mention of balloons used during the Civil War did 0:15:06.520 --> 0:15:10.800 bring to mind Jules Verne's Mysterious Island, in which balloonists 0:15:10.920 --> 0:15:14.320 blown to an island in the South Pacific did encounter 0:15:14.400 --> 0:15:17.480 a giant crab, among other things, at least in the 0:15:17.560 --> 0:15:21.920 nineteen sixty one si Infield film version. Keep out the 0:15:21.920 --> 0:15:24.440 good work, and maybe iHeart will finally give you, gentlemen, 0:15:24.480 --> 0:15:29.120 that squad of research assistants and librarians you deserve. Chris, Yes, 0:15:29.400 --> 0:15:32.040 it's a long shot. I keep requesting them. I want 0:15:32.080 --> 0:15:34.800 them to be like the Dwarves and the Phantasm movies, 0:15:34.840 --> 0:15:38.960 except they do research for us. Yeah. This is kind 0:15:38.960 --> 0:15:43.080 of a yeah, a peek into behind the scenes discussions. 0:15:43.120 --> 0:15:46.120 You know, We've talked about this before, and I feel 0:15:46.160 --> 0:15:48.720 like part of the problem is that the research process 0:15:48.800 --> 0:15:51.400 is sort of how we create the product. Like a 0:15:51.400 --> 0:15:54.280 lot of what we end up talking about is not 0:15:54.360 --> 0:15:59.600 just presenting information, but talking about the process of learning 0:15:59.600 --> 0:16:02.040 about a subject, which you only really get if you 0:16:02.120 --> 0:16:03.160 do the research yourself. 0:16:03.280 --> 0:16:08.720 So yeah, and finding the little the little research conduits 0:16:08.840 --> 0:16:12.160 that that speak to us individually. It leads us in 0:16:13.480 --> 0:16:15.720 some of our some of our favorite areas in the podcast, 0:16:15.760 --> 0:16:18.040 you know, some of our favorite discussions and uh and 0:16:18.280 --> 0:16:22.840 subtopics have been just because we've followed our own particular 0:16:22.880 --> 0:16:25.960 interests while researching. And you know, you might get that 0:16:26.040 --> 0:16:27.840 if you had a really good research You know, certainly 0:16:27.880 --> 0:16:30.760 there's plenty of podcasters out there and writers and so 0:16:30.800 --> 0:16:34.000 forth use researchers and make good use of their their talents. 0:16:34.040 --> 0:16:35.640 And I don't know, maybe we're just stubborn and we 0:16:35.640 --> 0:16:38.200 should we should give it a shot. But h but 0:16:38.440 --> 0:16:39.600 this is what we've done so far. 0:16:40.040 --> 0:16:43.160 Oh but coming back to Jules Verne and the Mysterious Island, 0:16:43.200 --> 0:16:46.160 I don't think I ever read that book. If I did, 0:16:46.200 --> 0:16:48.000 for some reason, I have a weak memory of it, 0:16:48.080 --> 0:16:50.480 but I uh don't think and I don't think i've 0:16:50.480 --> 0:16:52.280 seen the movie either. But it's one of those stories 0:16:52.280 --> 0:16:54.800 I just have a vague general awareness of. And I 0:16:54.920 --> 0:16:56.440 was thinking about a giant crab there. 0:16:56.520 --> 0:16:58.480 Yeah, Yeah, I have seen a giant crab scene because 0:16:58.480 --> 0:17:01.040 it's got a big of stop motion crabs. But yeah, 0:17:01.080 --> 0:17:02.360 I haven't seen the film in full. 0:17:03.440 --> 0:17:05.520 All right, well, Rob, you want to pick. We don't 0:17:05.560 --> 0:17:07.240 have to do these in order pick pick whatever you 0:17:07.280 --> 0:17:07.720 want for the. 0:17:07.640 --> 0:17:10.000 Next Yeah, this next one's highly visual. It's gonna be 0:17:10.040 --> 0:17:12.320 lost on nearly everyone. Even if you have video, you're 0:17:12.320 --> 0:17:14.240 not gonna see this image, I guess. But at any rate, 0:17:14.280 --> 0:17:17.480 this one comes to us from Sir Eel, subject crabstab. 0:17:23.480 --> 0:17:25.840 They write as follows. Was doodling whilst listening to the 0:17:25.840 --> 0:17:29.280 first two episodes of Crab grab Bag and the Saint 0:17:29.320 --> 0:17:33.240 Francis story. That was that was an interesting subject. Note 0:17:33.320 --> 0:17:35.920 the crab is no particular species and the crucifix is 0:17:35.960 --> 0:17:38.760 of no particular denomination. Thank you for the years of 0:17:38.800 --> 0:17:41.160 brain food and many more to come, sincerely, Sir Eel. 0:17:41.640 --> 0:17:45.920 And then we have this nice tight little sketch here 0:17:46.200 --> 0:17:54.040 of a crab species unknown holding crucifix denomination unknown that 0:17:54.160 --> 0:17:56.119 has a Christ crucified on it. 0:17:56.440 --> 0:17:56.560 Uh. 0:17:57.000 --> 0:18:01.640 This crab is holding it overhead on its side, rather 0:18:01.680 --> 0:18:05.720 than straight up as in the Xavier image imagery that 0:18:05.760 --> 0:18:06.600 we were talking about. 0:18:06.720 --> 0:18:09.000 Yeah, the painting we saw the crab is holding it 0:18:09.000 --> 0:18:11.760 straight up like the lightsaber in the Star Wars poster, 0:18:11.960 --> 0:18:15.359 so it's vertical orientation. But yeah, this makes more sense. 0:18:15.960 --> 0:18:17.880 And we also have a sort of a New York 0:18:17.920 --> 0:18:21.280 Times style caption here, keep your junk out of my yard, 0:18:21.800 --> 0:18:23.400 which I like. That's fun. 0:18:23.880 --> 0:18:26.960 Yeah. I will note that if this is supposed to 0:18:26.960 --> 0:18:30.000 be a crucifix crab, I think the crucifix crab has 0:18:30.240 --> 0:18:33.200 the little backweg legs or the swimmer legs, not the 0:18:33.240 --> 0:18:36.200 walking legs like this. I'm not trying to criticize, sir Eel. 0:18:36.240 --> 0:18:38.600 I appreciate the illustration. Thank you. 0:18:38.800 --> 0:18:40.800 It's a miracle crab. You know who knows what it's for. 0:18:40.920 --> 0:18:46.320 Miss Yeah, okay, let's see. I'll do this message from 0:18:46.480 --> 0:18:51.400 Carrie Carrie right oh, subject line bass awkward horseshoe crabs. 0:18:52.440 --> 0:18:54.800 This message is about the story we talked about in 0:18:54.840 --> 0:18:58.359 Crabbag Part three, where a guy known only by the 0:18:58.359 --> 0:19:02.760 initial C. D K wrote a marvelous letter to the 0:19:02.880 --> 0:19:06.879 Scientific American. This was during the Civil War, and the 0:19:06.960 --> 0:19:11.160 letter advocated that the Union Navy construct a giant steam 0:19:11.280 --> 0:19:15.320 powered horseshoe crab called the King Crab Warship, which would 0:19:15.320 --> 0:19:19.080 be invincible would be the ultimate naval technology, though there 0:19:19.160 --> 0:19:22.760 were some details of both biology and technology in this 0:19:22.880 --> 0:19:27.800 letter that seemed a little fuzzy, and CDK writes not 0:19:27.880 --> 0:19:33.480 CDK sorry, Carry rights, Rob and Joe. Hearing cdk's description 0:19:33.720 --> 0:19:36.879 of his idea contained in the Scientific American of a 0:19:37.000 --> 0:19:40.359 ramming weapon modeled on the horseshoe crab, I get the 0:19:40.400 --> 0:19:42.879 feeling that he never actually saw the animal in life. 0:19:43.240 --> 0:19:48.639 That's the possibility. His description of the pointed prow, the 0:19:48.680 --> 0:19:52.600 back being wedge shaped, the bow armored with a row 0:19:52.680 --> 0:19:56.040 of smaller spikes, and the ability to raise and lower 0:19:56.080 --> 0:19:59.080 its front makes me think that he was confused and 0:19:59.200 --> 0:20:02.000 thought that the back end of the crab was actually 0:20:02.040 --> 0:20:04.080 the front end. Yeah, we sort of came to the 0:20:04.080 --> 0:20:07.440 same conclusion, and that's what it sounded like, Carrie says, 0:20:07.480 --> 0:20:09.399 when you look at a horseshoe crab this way, his 0:20:09.520 --> 0:20:13.120 description makes sense. The crab's rear end is pointed, its 0:20:13.200 --> 0:20:16.359 actual head is wedge shaped, there is a row of 0:20:16.440 --> 0:20:20.680 backwards pointing spikes, and the telson can lift the backside. 0:20:21.080 --> 0:20:24.879 Just an observation. I thought, I chair take care, Carrie, carry. 0:20:24.920 --> 0:20:26.680 I think you're I think you're dead. On on that 0:20:26.680 --> 0:20:28.240 that that was my reading as well. 0:20:28.600 --> 0:20:35.880 Yeah, so like inverted biommicry, here you venture into your 0:20:35.920 --> 0:20:39.200 design using backwards understanding of the organism. 0:20:39.600 --> 0:20:43.159 Though. I do love this as like a you know, 0:20:43.440 --> 0:20:45.520 an idea that aliens come to Earth and look at 0:20:45.520 --> 0:20:47.960 all these quadrupedal mammals and they all think that the 0:20:48.040 --> 0:20:50.399 tails are a like spike coming out of the face, 0:20:51.160 --> 0:20:53.560 and they're like, wow, they have all of these sensory 0:20:53.720 --> 0:20:55.840 organs on their butts. That's so interesting. 0:20:58.400 --> 0:21:00.359 All right, let's been shrew on to an other one. 0:21:00.400 --> 0:21:04.720 This one's really good. It concerns lily Putian hallucinations, so 0:21:04.800 --> 0:21:08.680 this doesn't really concern crabs. I don't as possible crabs 0:21:08.720 --> 0:21:11.400 will come up in the comment, but I don't think 0:21:11.440 --> 0:21:16.280 they will. This one comes to us from a repeat correspondent, Renata, 0:21:17.040 --> 0:21:25.840 and it goes as follows, Hi, Robin Joe. When I 0:21:25.880 --> 0:21:28.520 saw there was an episode on lily Putian hallucinations, I 0:21:28.520 --> 0:21:30.600 got confused and thought it was going to be about 0:21:30.600 --> 0:21:34.520 something else called Alice in Wonderland syndrome. This, by the way, 0:21:34.560 --> 0:21:39.159 is also discussed in Oliver Sack's book. Anyway, they continued, 0:21:39.160 --> 0:21:41.359 thank you for the great episode. Lily Putian hallucinations are 0:21:41.359 --> 0:21:44.840 equally fascinating, and I have a bit of secondhand experience 0:21:44.880 --> 0:21:49.120 with that. More on that later. Alice in Wonderland syndrome 0:21:49.200 --> 0:21:53.119 involves distorted perceptions of the size of yourself relative to 0:21:53.240 --> 0:21:55.719 other objects, and even the size of one of your 0:21:55.720 --> 0:21:59.720