Stubford directs & navigates, Silk operates the stick, Octopus Prime steers, and Oct & Kick work the pedals.
(This picture edited with the Pen of Miscellany)
Front stack: Inky and Tenty.
Back stack: Squirt, unregistered octopode, Darwin, Octopus Prime, Octobert
97
Three pounds, two artifacts, one sidekick, & one octopus chef.
(shows the 3 pound marking)
Team sunglases vs team chef. Squirt is judging & one of Oct's sidekick's is acting as ballboy.
Here he is hidden with his family in a comfy spot
Here they are revealed, since they're so hard to see in the first photo
Tako shows off his weightlifting skills, octopode-style, balancing on his head while holding up a nicely scaled heavy iron dumbell. It is marked 3 lbs, which number is even more impressive considering that Tako himself only weighs 1.85oz (see additional photo.) So that's almost 26 times his weight!
Neither particularly safe nor particularly death-defying, Tako is willing to see what the judges think of his ballistic trajectory in both splits of the ballistic event. Tako got into the athletic spirit after his relay race with Tudo Azul was over, and decided to score a goal, too.
Safe split: he was going to land on either grass, or on that soft padded rubber track material, neither of which would hurt much for a stuffed octopode.
In both cases, he traveled 28 ft 7" from the point where he was launched to the point where he landed, measuring with a measuring tape.
Tako Yaki and Tudo Azul run a relay together, and beat a team of penguins tothe finish line. (As octopode entrants, they are running in lane 8, of course.)
There's a juicy apple in this tree.
And a serpent. (And oh yeah, that was the tree we weren't supposed to eat anything from.)
"Hey Eve, want to taste the apple?"
"Well, I wasn't supposed to." ... "Sure, Yum!"
"Adam, you should have some too!"
Oops, now we know about Good. And Evil. (Like that Evil Vizier!) Time to get out of the garden!
Tako Yaki (at the starting mark) and Tudo Azul (in friendly human's arms, at the finish line) stand 100m apart in the same photo. (If you zoom in on the human you will see Tudo in his arms.)
The 2nd photo just shows that the finish line (100 m away from the 100m starting mark) is in fact where they're standing.
After an unfortunate accident, Tako Yaki shows Tudo Azul how to (re)assemble an Apple Puzzle.
"The first rule of intelligent tinkering is to save all the pieces. The second rule is to *find* all the pieces. Good thing we octopodes know a thing or two about camouflage..."
Toodles bears the weight of a Stoneware Mug Bigger Than Your Head on his head.
Handlebars? Bell? Steering? ...?
Balance? Squished? Tall? ...?
Grasping?
Light? Shadow? [Tudo Azul nods encouragingly at "Light." Tako Yaki looks back at the other pictures] ah, Headlight!
Tako Yaki guesses
Argonautia is helping his good friend Levi repair one of his bikes.
Argonautia is also pictured hanging out on Levi's Olympic bikes. He has been invited to go to Beijing to help give massage therapy to the athletes, but is not sure whether he can accept this great opportunity as it may make it harder to compete in some of the more local contests...
The Octopod of Allergen Doom was greatly distressed to hear how his campaign poster traumatized the wise but frail judge. In keeping with his policy of kindness to all creatures, he has revised his entry.
Nine thumbs up for Sneezy!
This stunt kite makes scary whooshing noises when it dive bombs the crowd. Also, it was very exciting when a string broke and the kite wrapped itself around a flag pole. Perhaps duct taping an octopod to the stunt kite was outside of its safety parameters.
Sneezy organized an Octopus Toss for his human-pet's 40th birthday. Several different tossing techniques were tried, culminating in Ian's 90' 5.5" toss; for this toss, Sneezy threaded his legs through the strings of a small racket.
During this event Sneezy was imperilled by sand, seaweed, seashells, crabs, minnows, wild roses, and poison ivy.
Steve Balzac is the founder of the MIT Assassins' Guild and the Society for Interactive Literature, two of the first live action roleplaying organizations. Also he's done some other stuff.
The Sydney opera house is a wonder of architectural innovation and achievement. It pioneered a new method of building and remains one of the most distinctive buildings in the world. It was ranked in the top 20 finalists for the Seven Wonders of the World competition in 2007, thus proving that it is at the very least better than all but 19 other things. Plus, it draws its inspiration from the design of a series of interlaced seashells, with a roof that gleams and shines like the inside of a particularly beautiful oyster shell (see supporting photo). This homage to the sea tugs at the heart of all creatures that make the sea their home.
Not to mention, it is especially beautiful in the early morning sun, as seen across the harbor.
In the Sydney Zoo, there are giraffes. Now, I know giraffes aren't Australian, but there aren't that many large Australian animals. Apparently there used to be some giant wombats, but not anymore.
Anyway, so, Octomus made friends with a couple of fellow travelers - a pair of friendly (but hungry) giraffes visiting from Africa. You can see the Sydney skyline in the background. Giraffes are rather large vertebrates, and in fact, are the tallest vertebrates. (We were on a platform.) They can also weigh up to 3,800 lbs, though I didn't ask these how much they weighed or how heavy they were. They were eating, though, which means they were getting heavier the
Octomus is swimming over to play with some of the other fishes. (Octomus discovered that while underwater it was best to keep humans on a leash, lest they drift off in the current or accidentally run into things. Other octopodes who plan to keep their human pets long-term should keep this in mind.)
we see the the entrance to the reef hotel where Octomus stayed.
Octomus checks up on the situation back home in Somerville while vacationing in the lush Green Island, off the coast of Australia. Tudo Azul has been watching over the city while Octomus is gone. Distance: 9637 miles.
Octomus talks to Ultros and Cephy. Octomus misses its family. Distance: 7165 miles.
Octomus poses next to the iconic Ayers Rock (Uluru). Its natural beauty and stark contrasts are approximately 10,726
Octomus has never seen any rock so beautiful.
(Supporting photos: gmap pedometer calculation and photo in the Ayers Rock Resort.)
On a flight from Sydney to San Francisco, Octomus reaches 39,000 ft.
Octopus Prime is a budding cartoonist, proficient in using inks in a wide variety of colors...
Perky with a 1941 license plate from Massachusetts 258353xz
Some cuter pets (Argonautia is fostering these two kittens for the Humane Society). Argonautia hopes that Judge Jerry is judging this contest
Octobert has five 3's.
Octobert went 9263.1 miles to Kaula Lumpur, Malaysia.
The Bridge at Khazad-Dum
Octobert and Tudo Azul are twins, 3906.3 miles apart.
Argonautia's very large friends- a whole herd of African Elephants- at the PAWS (performing animal welfare society) Sanctuary. Maggie is his special buddy. She is directly behind him in the photograph. Maggie is a famous friend as well- she is well known in the animal welfare circles, due to her well publicized plight in chilly Alaska, and her recent move to CA to meet her first elephants since she was a baby.
Akira has four sevens and a ten.
Akira imbibes at the Weinfest in Kitzingen, Germany.
Akira visits Kitzingen, Germany, 5765 miles from home. We gratefully acknowledge That Wes Guy and Herr Thomas Most for tour guidance.
126,935
A self portrait inked by his own tentacle (and a chicken feather, since alas, he lost the pen of miscellany).
Here is Argonautia with a cup of his own fresh ink.
Fisher at 23520 East 78th Avenue, Denver
Fisher enjoying the view from a crystal chandelier
Fisher on the summit of Mount Evans, 14258 feet above sea level (although Wikipedia claims 14264 ft: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Evans)
Fisher makes a connection to a rainbow projection
Fisher and a friend enjoy an afternoon of paleontology
Fisher riding a starfish (the trusty aquatic steed) through a pass between two pieces of coral
Fisher with a piece of volcanic lava from Mount Vesuvius (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Vesuvius)
Fisher sitting on the Rock of Gibraltar
"O is for Octopus": Take a picture of your octopus with the largest example of the first letter of its name you can find.
According to timeanddate.com, the distance between Toronto and Paris is 6015 kilometers or 3737 miles.
Perky using her MIND CONTROL POWERS to get someone to work on an oyster float containing a thousand oysters being grown to clean the water of the Chesapeake Bay. One 3-inch oyster can filter about 50 gallons of water a day. Thus Perky's 1000 oyster friends are filtering 50000 gallons of water a day. Perky has supervised the members of the Coastal Conservation Association as they have placed 200 oyster spat into sacks and placed 5 sacks into each float. Perky drives her boat over to check the floats each day to make certain crabs do not get in and eat the oysters. She now has to check 31 floats on St Thomas creek- that is 31000 oysters which when full grown will be filtering 1,550,000 gallons of water.
Twins With Horses!
Ultros with a playground friend, Octomus! As you may recall, Octomus is famous for his imposing stature
Ultros thought this was going to be an elusive "PIZZAZZZ" in the wild and was disappointed to realize that the internet had misled him. However, since this is the not-so-strict category, perhaps the exclamation point might be worth extra points?
Ultros shares a nap with his new friend, a white tiger. "These animals can grow to a length of 5 to 9 feet long, excluding their 25 to 38 inch tail and weigh 350 to 550 pounds."[1] (Average: 7 feet + 31" tail, 450 lb)
Perky demonstrates her proficiency with ink by writing with her ink about octopus ink
Time for my daily swim!
Ah perfect temperature this evening
It feels so good to stretch these tentacles
soooooo glad my home is so close to a tidal river with oysters, crabs, striped bass, spot, blue gill, ...
Sometimes Sneezy makes his own wrapping paper using ink and rubber stamps.
Perky on an oyster float containing a thousand oysters being grown to clean the water of the Chesapeake Bay. One 3-inch oyster can filter about 50 gallons of water a day. Thus Perky's 1000 oyster friends are filtering 50000 gallons of water a day. Perky has supervised the members of the Coastal Conservation Association as they have placed 200 oyster spat into sacks and placed 5 sacks into each float. Perky drives her boat over to check the floats each day to make certain crabs do not get in and eat the oysters. She now has to check 31 floats on St Thomas creek- that is 31000 oysters which when full grown will be filtering 1,550,000 gallons of water.
12 lights and a sand dollar motif
The Octopod of Allergen Doom is a benign ruler.
Sneezy's friend Netherspite has a very nice chandelier.
Silk, unregistered octopus, and Octopus Prime
5 2s
Octopus Prime and his eight loyal knights
Paper star
Octopus prime has many rainbow connections
Submit a picture of your octopus with the best weather. Tudo Azul is Lord Of Storms.
Toodles poses with an Ancient and Honorable Manhole Cover of Prague
Full House: 9s and 8s.
So it is just 5 cards/numbers out of the 8? Argonautia roots through the zillions of ones in the egg sales cash box and comes up with a set of 4 9's with an 8, plus I think this is a straight flush (4), 5,6,7,8,9 (all in the suit of green).
This is THE BEST THING on Wikipedia :-)
Fisher hobnobbing with other royalty: Yaz, who wears the American League Triple Crown and has done so since 1967. Further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_crown_%28baseball%29#American_League_winners
Sneezy understands that 0's are high in this game but is not sure whether a straight beats a full house. Here are his two best bills:
Straight: 6, 7, 8, 9, 0
Full House: 0, 0, 0, 1, 1
Fisher and Yaz
Fisher playing baseball with his good friend Yaz
Fisher sitting on the head of famous baseball player Carl Yastrzemski.
Fisher enjoying himself by balancing on the heel of his good friend Carl Yastrzemski (aka Yaz)
Master Fisher giving batting instruction to one of the most famous Eights of all time, Yaz. He wore the number 8 for his entire 23 year Hall of Fame career, and the Red Sox have retired the number 8 in his honor
Fisher with Carl Yastrzemski, son of Polish immigrants Carl Yastrzemski, Sr. and Hattie Skonieczny, who called Yaz "Queposky" from an early age, the diminutive form of his Polish middle name, Poskovic
Fisher fighting alongside his comrade-in-arms Yaz, against the Evil Empire of the Hated Yankees.
Fisher enters himself in "Octopurposed Octopictures", the meta-contest to enter eight contests with eight different pictures of fundamentally the same thing. (Further information: http://photoshopcontest.com/view-entry/127598/giant-octopus.html)
we don't actually know how to play poker, but we do know groups of matching numbers is generally a good thing.
One of Sneezy's friends in Worchester took him to Green Hill Park. He thinks the top of the hill is almost 800 feet above sea level!
(showing the pen more clearly)
Silk as Jack the Ripper
Silky, in a stylish top hat
Far Apart: Silk and Octopus Prime across a couple of rooms. Pacing it off makes it to be 25 feet away.
Sneezy presents this small but intricate example of a queposky for the judge's perusal.
The Octopod of Allergen Doom has befriended a hefty vertebrate!
Mmm pasta for dinner. 9 eights.
Thirty-three years on the night shift stuffing envelopes all alone. I can't go on performing this tedious, boring, depressing function. I am so weary, so mired in ennui.
Even alcohol can't assuage the ennui
Otto sits on his magnificent throne
Otto hangs out with Richard Garfield, creator of Magic: The Gathering, among other things.
Tako rides in a hard-to-get-into space - 3 CD cases tall and a little more than one wide - on his way home from a fun weekend of camping.
Tako participates in making some ice cream using liquid nitrogen. Dramatic science *and* yummy ice cream in one is definitely fun.
Tako gets stuck in traffic on his way to the rainbow connection up in front of him on the Mass Pike. Fortunately, he also brings his own rainbow everywhere he goes (the rainbow colored bits around his neck.)
Tako pitched in at a large camping trip to cook enough beans for 200 hungry people, because he is good and helpful.
Now that we know the judge is partial to shiny metallic and reflective items.... we present this new true queposky. An octopus impression in shiny metallic reflective balls- AKA Exploratorium.
18 people, many double thumbs, Isabelle was grumpy and abstains. Amelia makes up for it with a double. 17 People with thumbs up.
check out the size of those finger (flipper) bones!!!
Argonautia and Little Tremo cooperate (and reminisce) in playing the rolling ball maze of their octopochildhood.
Nanapod aka "Perky" has spent a lot of time recently getting to know the birds of prey in the neighborhood- their ability to fly, talons and beaks will likely be helpful to the octopodes in any of our future plans. One of her Osprey cronies has taught her some new techniques for home building and disguise- which at this time we will call a costume.
Sneezy's connections to this rainbow flag are Purple Bungee Cords!
"Lulled into a false sense of security. The prey has no sense of her impeding doom"
"Enough meat for all winter"
"Here is some nice hay, Cody"
"Here is a nice carrot, Cody"
"As soon as he finishes his hay we can go for a walk."
About 50 people and thumbs
Ultros and Cephy enjoy tea with a human. According to Wikipedia, "the average height of an adult human is about 1.5 to 1.8 m (5 to 6 feet) tall."
