Things I think about when I let my mind wander:
Wouldn’t it be weird if sea creatures found a way to “breathe” on land the way humans found a way to breathe underwater?
Humans breathe air, making it impossible to spend long periods underwater. So what did they do? They built an apparatus that straps to their bodies, which allows them to breathe in water and explore and invade the sea creatures’ territory.
Wouldn’t it be creepy if sea creatures were intelligent beings and created their own apparatuses to allow them to “breathe” on land? They’d call it SCOBA gear (Self Contained Out-of-water Breathing Apparatus), and it would feed right into their gills.*
Suddenly we’d see octopi sludging around the deserts with SCOBA packs fastened to their ample arms. There would be sharks walking on fins through the city streets, looking around, studying human life. Even lobsters and crabs could strap on some SCOBA gear and be able to explore our malls and schools for days at a time.
Seriously, picture an eel slithering through the weeds like a snake with a little pack of sea water on it’s back and a tube feeding it oxygen. In order to explore land, they’ve devised these little machines to help them breathe. Just like humans did to explore the oceans.
Am I the only one who finds the whole notion odd?
*For the sake of imagination, pretend they also develop efficient ways of traveling on land.
August 25th, 2006 at 1:31 pm
Ok, first, you’re WAY too bored at work. You’re drawing in frikkin PAINT for crying out loud!
Second, I know! Isn’t that weird? I’m constantly finding myself wondering about how people just like to explore places they aren’t supposed to go to.
Like on a weekend, you see a ton of people riding around on the water in boats. ON the WATER! Get off the water you silly land-dwellers!
And would we stop there? Pssh!
We’re shooting people into space! With those same apparatuses (apparatusee’s?) that help them breath in places they just should not be in. What business do we have on the frikkin moon?
Let’s see, where else can we go? I know, let’s get in some tin foil suits and drop into a live volcano! Let’s build little boxes with wings so we can fly around! Let’s dig under a frikkin MOUNTAIN and hang up little lights, and then DIG OUT THE MOUNTAIN and make little rings out of the stuff we dug out from there.
It’s just crazy. (Sorry, no PAINT imagery here.)
August 25th, 2006 at 4:02 pm
Well… I’m more concerned about how these sea creatures could stay wet. If an octopus was in the desert, it would probably get really pissed, as all of it’s feet would be chapped and blistered from the heat and rough surfaces. Maybe if we gave them some water-filled sneakers, and a mister?
August 25th, 2006 at 8:36 pm
I was thinking a suit like Mr. Freeze from Batman. (not Arnold, the comic book, cool one, or the cartoon one even).
They have a suit that’s filled with water, and they kind of float in it. Or they have coils of tubes filled with water that go all around them and keep them cool.
August 28th, 2006 at 1:18 pm
You see… if a fish is surrounded by water, it has no surpave contact with the ground, and would therefore be unable to move. Maybe some sort of pressure sensors inside the tube, and some wheels to make it move. But at this point, you’re making an aquarium on wheels.
To really capture the feel of reverse-SCUBA, I think they need to at-most wear a drysuit (a wet cloth over their skin in whatever shape is needed).