Holy crap, look at that thing. We were hoping that was just a tiny trash can but, no, it's a coconut crab, which is the biggest arthropod that lives on land.
We like how they chose the innocuous name "coconut crab" to describe something that can only be killed with a flamethrower. If these things were called "Skull Crabs" or "Under Your Bed Crabs" mankind would have declared war on them long ago.
[JPX would like to add that this is one of the most horrifying things he has ever seen]
See the rest here
37 comments:
That's gotta be one of the better lists we've had in a while.
The pizza brings back bad memories of Korean cuisine. Man they just love mashing a bunch of shit together.
The pic of the tennis match, however is giving me panic attacks just looking at it. Which reminds me I've been meaning to ask our Horrothon experts: "What the deal with adult-onset acrophobia?" All of a sudden this year, I get freaked out by heights. Driving over the Mt. Hope Bridge this summer was a nightmare. I even stopped right before it and let Katina drive it one time. Sissy-time, I know.
I need quick cure, btw, as I leave for Toronto in 2 hours and I've got to cross into Canada somehow. Big bridges everywhere!
exposure is the key to beating phobias, landshark, as i can attest from personal and professional experience. put yourself into challenging situations (ideally in a regular, gradual, planned fashion) so you can re-learn (at a limbic system level) that they are sufficiently safe. often phobia onset has a cause we can identify but we'd need a lot more info; from my perspective it's more important clinically to combat the behavior than figure out the cause.
good luck with those bridges today!
jpx, your thoughts?
Yeah, that innocuous name was given to it, because the Coconut Crab can use its claws to RIP OPEN COCONUTS! You know, the things we need machetes or cleavers to open? Between that and the scary little bodybuilder, I am now disturbed way too early in the day....thanks JPX.
Landshark, may I recommend Xanax. My fear of flying, may or may not be cured, I am always too stoned to know. May interfere with the driving, but you can always stop after you cross a bridge and sleep for 36 hours....
Hmm, this may not be the answer after-all.....
jpx and i say don't be too quick to try xanax for phobias... i have a pt now but will say why later!
AC and I treat these kinds of problems all day long. Xanax is not the way to deal with a phobia. Aside from being a very addictive medication, it prevents the individual from confronting their fear because it suppresses autonomic arousal, which is harmless to begin with, and reinforces the erroneous idea that the feared stimulus is indeed dangerous and that the only way to feel better is to take a pill. Landshark, the cure for any phobia is to remain in the face of the feared stimulus long enough for the anxiety (i.e., fight/flight arousal) to run its course (20 minutes). If you remain in the feared situation once the anxiety has dissipated, you break the conditioned association you have with the feared stimulus. The worse thing you can do is to avoid it (e.g., take medication), because it reinforces your idea that the stimulus is dangerous.
Sorry, I'm trying to write this quickly between patients and it's the first time I've been able to post comments today (stupid work computer). Im certain ac can state this more elegantly.
Phobias are the easiest thing to treat and can normally be broken within 2 hours.
I thought that was pretty elegant JPX. Although I'm not sure if I trust anything coming out of Jughead's mouth as he usually has an ulterior hamburger-related motive.
Wow, teach me to be funny. I got the dual-doctor smackdown!
I'm going to go take a couple Xanax and drink until I feel better...
No miko, Xanax on beer is a very bad combination! With enough you could stop breathing. Bad miko, bad (whacking miko's nose with a newspaper and then running like hell away before he kills me).
Ac, for shame!
i know, hit my nose with a rolled-up newspaper!
miko, can you spare some xanax and beer? i need to drown my professional shame!
OK, quick story. (probably not)
Year is 2000, haven't flown in years, big interview in San Fran HQ for great job in DC. Have to fly.
Dr. prescribes xanax, says take one night before, one before flight. Miko takes one night before, than another during the night cause he doesn't sleep, then one on the drive to airport, then one upon arrival at airport, then one in the bar at airport with beer, one in jetway waiting to get on plane, door closes another xanax, feeling better, 'nother beer when we level off, turbulence another xanax. That's six, count em, six xanax so far in the past 3 hours. Plane lands, Miko gets rental car, drives to hotel, checks in at 3:30PM and wakes up at 4:30AM in time to set alarm for 7:00AM in time to make interview. Don't remember getting into room. Doh!
Upon return to DC, Dr yells at Miko, says what JPX said, Miko could have died as he slowed down respiration...yes, Miko got the job. (he was very relaxed during interview)
BTW AC, you are right, with regular exposure, I am down to one pill just before we board...better.
Jughead, you have nothing to fear, I'd let you get away with whacking me on the nose with the newspaper.
Once.
miko, i love that story! i blame your doctor for giving you that many xanax at once without warning you. glad you're down to the one before flying routine. i used to have a significant flight phobia myself but cured it by just flying more regularly, and now i like plane trips.
so miko, i know you travel a ton for work; are you mostly flying or mostly driving?
I know I'm late to the party and all...But - here's my long story:
My bridge phobia came about when desroc and I were driving home from RI to Key West right after we got married. We were driving a U-Haul cause we had inhereted a bunch of furniture and stuff from my 'rents. On the way down to the Keys there's a bridge called the 7 Mile Bridge - because that is what it is. It was night-time, raining, windy and I'm driving. White knuckled the whole way. After that I had a total bridge phobia. It did eventually work itself out because we moved back to RI and I had to go over the Mt Hope bridge a lot. So yeah, exposure worked for me.
Except for the fact that I am kind of obsessively afraid of driving off a bridge. How will I get out? Will I get out? How would I get the kids out? Things like that. So maybe I haven't worked out all the phobia - it's just manifested in a different way.
"true blog confessions: phobias!"
since jpx won't let whirly reveal anything really good, confessing our phobias is the next best thing.
whilst snorkeling off the florida keys back in the day i discovered another irrational fear, not yet cured: despite the sharks and barracuda keeping me company in the water, it was the manta rays that freaked me the fuck out. i know they don't want to hurt people but they are so damn big and eerie-looking, and they come out of nowhere! guess i need exposure therapy. snorkelthon, anyone?
I love discussing crazy; it makes me feel better....
AC, I mostly drive, but fly a couple times a year now. Like I said it isn't really an issue now, I still take a Xanax beforehand, but it is almost just part of the travel process now. I don't know if I still need it.
I'm all about snorkelthon, I have already promised the 3 1/2 y.o. I will get her Scuba certified the day the local dive shop will let me.
DCD/Landshark, yeah I guess you kinda have to overcome the bridge phobia, that one would make life a little tough.
BTW DCD, I think of those kinds of things with the kids all the time, I don't call it being paranoid, I call it "Tactically Sound".
miko, glad your 3 1/2 year old is that much braver than me! i'll stick to the surface of the water thanks very much. if i saw a 20-foot manta while underwater i would certainly drown in a panic. not good for the whole exposure therapy goal.
Ugh, I too am not a fan of jellyfish, they just ain't natural I tell ya! My main phobia would be walking barefoot in murky water, like a pond. It just freaks me the fuck out for some reason. Fortunately, it's rare that I find myself in that position. It most likely comes from getting bitten many times by crabs on Barrington beach. Come to think of it, my mother once signed me up for swimming lessons on Barrington Beach. I have this vivid memory of complaining to the instructor because the ocean was replete with jellyfish and her response was basically, "Get over it, there's nothing to be afraid of!" and she starting chucking them at me. Bitch.
I had the deleted comment, by the way. I accidentally posted under Whirlygirl's account. She's basically fearful of everything.
Oops, for some reason I thought you were talking about jellyfish, ac. Manta ray are freaky as well but not as bad as jellyfish!
I'm not fearful of everything. Geez, JPX, give me some credit. All right, I have a lot of phobias. I guess I'm what you'd call a neurotic. I'll only talk about one though, and it's what I'm most fearful of in life. It's the dreaded public speaking. Sometimes I think I'd honestly rather die. For weeks before I'll start to think about ways to get out of it, like tumbling down several flights of stairs, or maybe a car accident, or anything that will require hospitalization or mandatory bed rest. I try and tell myself that speaking in front of a group of people for a short period of time is less painful, but it is very difficult to convince myself of this.
Up until college I actually avoided public speaking very easily. It came up several times in high school, but I would always convince my teachers to let me do an extra assignment rather than doing presentation, and I didn't mind doing double the work if it meant I wouldn't have to think about throwing myself in front of a car for a week straight. My teachers loved me so they always said yes, and didn't think how they were enabling me. Once I got to college I was just as scared of public speaking as ever, and the double assignment deal didn't fly. Instead I would often drop a course if it required a presentation, especially if it required two or more.
Sorry Whirly, this is the one I don't get. (Probably, because this is one of the only things I am any good at...)
I especially don't get it after meeting you. Attractive, well-spoken, wicked smart, and we keep learning about new talents every third day...makes no sense. If I had your talents I would never shut the fuck up.
Was there a bad experience?
jpx, i can't say i'm a fan of jellyfish, but i'm not afraid of them. my own traumatic swimming classes were at the barrington ymca, where they made us swim even when it was cold and rainy.
whirly, i do get the public speaking phobia and it is still one of my own phobic (or neurotic, if you prefer) issues. i have had to overcome the fear to a certain point, and the exposure absolutely does pay off, but i see no reason to conquer the fear past that point (eg addressing large audiences in a formal setting). when i taught college, i would give students a writing alternative to the presentation component. i'd rather enable a student's social anxiety than have them drop the class.
(Deleted was me - posted under desroc)
And here's what I said:
I don't mind the public speaking thing at all. I did some corporate training for the Westin and found that I loved it. Probably what I should have done with my life. Oh well.
However, I absolutely dread occasions where I have to "mingle" or "network." Like go introduce yourself to someone you have never met and make small talk? Completely, completely hate it. I would rather take one of Whirly's route's. I was kind of shy as a kid and although I would definitely say I have mostly outgrown it - put me in that situation and I am a total wall flower.
Oh yeah, and JPX - I am totally with you on walking barefoot in murky H2O. Yuckers.
I just remembered a story of one time when I was visiting Octo in NYC. We were hanging out at Jordan's and stumbled across a Steve Irwin show - you know, the Crocodile Hunter. Anyway, it was early in his career, we had never seen him before. He was doing a bit and had gotten out of his boat for some reason. On returning he found that a ginormous school of jellyfish was in his way. (Imagine Australian accent here) "Crikey! I had to swim right through them!"
We laughed our asses off. Of course we were all as high as kites, but still, it was funny.
love the story dcd! frickin' hilarious.
Y'all are too much! It's threads like these that make us get to know each other better. Virtual hugs all around.
As for me, I ain't afraid of nothin'.
Actually that's not entirely true. As of 2 days ago I'm now afraid of bees. While I was biking to work a bee flew into my mouth (it was open because I was singing) and stung me on the inner lip. It hurt like a mofo and it was swollen the next day. I shouted obscenities but then worried that the chunky lesbians I passed thought I was yelling at them. Nothing like guilt on top of a pain sandwich!
AC my avatar is only temporary! I grew weary of the fat gospel singer look and decided it was time to move on. But my next one is going to blow your mind backwards!
JPX - Your fear of murky water likely stemmed from Brickyard Pond which feels like walking through slimy bacon grease.
I suppose I'm afraid of getting hit by a car when I'm riding my bike but that's a justified fear...
fine johnny sweatpants, no mug for me.
husband is afraid of bees and used to be afraid of dogs so as part of his exposure therapy i made up the "bee-dog," which is the size of a dog, looks like a bee, and of course can fly.
husband and i say "ouch" about jsp's biking bee trauma, and the fear of getting hit by car while riding a bike is totally reasonable.
more importantly, were the chunky lesbians jpx's former upstairs neighbors?
Nice avatar changes AC. That's a riot!
But enough idle chit chat... Get your Scramble on!
thanks johnny. what the hell is scramble?
Oh, Scramble is basically Boggle on Facebook. i.e. it rules. I challenged you! Actually I think I challenged every Horrorthonner on there...
got it, thanks!
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