Baby squirrel

[lumberjim]

weren't you just bashing god in another thread? I don't think s/he's going to help you out here.

get all pissy if you want to, mike. this is what i think is insincere:

my natural progression of thought moved faster than the video got to the punchline

that squirrel is flying thru the air in seconds. i'm laughing at that point. monster said it very well. it is wrong. but i laughed.

you can say that your thought processes move so quickly that you didn't even smirk once....and i can reassess my opinion of how candid you are when it comes to things like this. i doubt very much that you didn't laugh at this. but whatever. if you say you didn't, then what can i say? does it matter? .......no. I don't really care.

[Flint]

If you say the squirrel was launched directly at the beginning of the video, then I have no reason to doubt you. I watched it once, hours ago, and I didn't take notes. I think I spent a short time looking for image artifacts to determine if it was real or not. Then I realized what trouble the guy must have gone through to set this up. Then I thought, what the hell is wrong with this guy? There really wasn't any room in there for me to experience whatever is supposed to be funny about this video. As I said, it was too contrived to be comedic. The scenario was distracting.

[DanaC]

I didn't say I was above it, I said my natural progression of thought moved faster than the video got to the punchline. It didn't have a chance to be funny.

That's it! That's exactly it.

[DanaC]

you can say that your thought processes move so quickly that you didn't even smirk once....and i can reassess my opinion of how candid you are when it comes to things like this. i doubt very much that you didn't laugh at this. but whatever.

I can honestly say I didn't find it funny when I watched it. I didn't even get a momentary flicker of shadenfreud. I saw it operate once, was horrorstruck that someone would do that and turned it off. The fact that, apparently, later in the video the squirrel comes back again and again, did make me chuckle. That's a funny image, the ever returning squirrel who knows what's going to happen but takes the risk. Even so I wonder at the metality of the person who did it. Because the first time they tried it they wouldn't have any idea of the potential consequences for the squirrel.

I absolutely believe that Flint is being candid when he says he didn't laugh. Even for a moment. I showed that clip to the two Js, my mum and my friend D, and they all reacted in exactly the same way as me. And indeed, apparently Flint.

[monster]

Hey, I'm just going to hell is all. But while I wait, here are a few thoughts.

Those quick thinkers who just had to see the contraption to decide it wasn't funny? What, the name didn't give it away for you? Squirrelapult. Yup that's going to be a squirrel using a catapult to fire acorns at the dog, for sure

It's probably a pretty good assumption that the vid was made by teenage boys, no? Perhaps they didn't think about the morality of potentially injuring squirrels. That's one of the last bits of maturity to be acquired. Maybe the more the clip is viewed the more hatemail they get and the lesson is hammered home? Maybe they did the squirrels a favor by scaring them away from humans? Humans with guns and the like. Yes, people shoot squirrels here. Or shoot at them. I doubt they always bother to see if they're dead or just dying slowly and painfully.

Or maybe, they don't consider squirrels important. For some people squirrels are vermin and rate similarly to mosquitos on the "how much do we care if they get hurt" scale. They chew powerlines, nest in roofs, fall off overhead powerlines onto cars, steal bird food, trash veg gardens......

A large number of the population do not consider all living things equal. Possibly even the majority. Many believe that there comes a point when some things do not have a right to live or die with dignity. Mosquitos, for example. They probably fall below most people's line. Spiders are maybe a little higher up. Mice. Many people have mice well down on their list. Your point of view is no more valid than anyone else's. The line you draw is not likely to be the same as everyone else's.

But if it makes you feel better to come over all superior about your morality and try to browbeat people into agreeing with you -have at it. I certainly won't be building a squirrelapult and didn't show the vid to my impressionable children. Count me off as a victory, you sure changed my mind, I'll never laugh at anything I know I shouldn't again..... So after that burst of responsibility, I'm off to look for clips of torturous flytraps. To report them to the appropriate authorities. Of course. No laughing will be done.

[queequeger]

Originally Posted by monster

A large number of the population do not consider all living things equal. Possibly even the majority.

Oh, and it's true. Maybe it stemmed from my pretending to be a buddhist for about 2 weeks in college, but I was that guy that would capture spiders and throw them outside rather than flushing them. Now, I kill cockroaches. Also, I kill the fleas on my dog.

I know they're just trying to live, and it's at a somewhat small cost to my dog, but to me me dog's itching is more important than their little flea lives. I actually dislike them as an creature! How weird is that? As if they have any friggin idea what's going on, but still I call them little assholes and tell them to "Get off my dog!"

[DanaC]

But if it makes you feel better to come over all superior about your morality and try to browbeat people into agreeing with you -have at it.

Wasn't superiority or browbeating. I posted my reaction. It was an honest reaction. Not my fault if other people think that I am just on my high horse. I reacted instinctively and then posted my reaction because it was genuine. Just because you chose to take it that way...well frankly, fuck you.

And yes, I understand that some people see them as vermin. And yes mosquitos and spiders are beneath my radar...doesn't mean I would find it funny if someone was pulling a spider's legs off.

[Flint]

I was simply defending my honest reaction against the response, which was that I was called a liar.

[wolf]

Songbirds are pretty, squirrels are vermin.

That's why we treat them differently, and why the squirrelapult is funny, but the toddlerapult wouldn't be. Unless the flightpath were shorter and the kid got a soft landing and it was clear that s/he enjoyed the ride. They it would be funny again. Don't people have trampolines in their back garden in Britain?

[DanaC]

Yes we have trampolines. I fail to see how that is relevant?

Unless the flightpath were shorter and the kid got a soft landing and it was clear that s/he enjoyed the ride. They it would be funny again.

And that I agree with. I already said that once it had been explained to me that had I continued watching I'd have seen said squirrel healthy and happy and back for another ride, I found that image funny.

I know squirrels are seen as vermin, but I don't find unnecessary cruelty to vermin any funnier than I find unnecessary cruelty to a more 'valued' animal. I can understand that there are reasons people may not like them, or indeed wish to eradicate them from their immediate vicinity, but that doesn't make inflicting pain or fear on them any funnier than if it was a cat.

[lumberjim]

Originally Posted by Flint

I was simply defending my honest reaction against the response, which was that I was called a liar.

i called you judgemental not a liar, ya liar. unless you count questioning your candidness....candidity?....whatever. let's never fight again. dick.

[Flint]

Originally Posted by lumberjim

...let's never fight again. dick.

But...I liked it. . . . Make-up sex?

[DanaC]

I would suggest that telling Flint he wasn't being candid, is pretty damn close to saying he was lying.

[Flint]

Originally Posted by lumberjim

ah.....honesty.

Ah...honesty. As opposed to . . . what? What is the opposite of honesty?

[lumberjim]

Honestly, when I said that, I was ONLY saying that i thought monster's post was very honest. she admitted that she laughed even though she knew it was wrong. as a kid, i remember that effect.....seeing something bad happen to people sometimes made me laugh uncontrollably. i knew it was wrong and was appalled at myself for it...but it happened. Not in instances where there was malice aforethought, mind.

I could see how you could interpret it as my calling you a liar.....but at that point it was more likely that I was seeing Dana's reactions as the comparative to monsters.

either way...i dont think either of you are liars. sorry bout that.

oh, dont forget to eat a dick, okay?