picky naval heroes

[sergebroom]

Lord Nelson refuses to eat worms.

Comments

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

That's a cute little hedgehog.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

Remember that, just because something is cute, it may not stay that way and not turn into a devourer of human flesh.

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

And *not* turn into a devourer of human flesh? OK.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

Well, hopefully it will NOT turn into a devourer of human flesh. But it might.

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

Oh, good!

[(Anonymous)]

That might be better or worse than what the hedgehog did after rejecting the worm.

I was deeply affected by the cuteness of the hedgehog; people were looking at me like I'd suddenly grown a second head, since I'm not prone to go gaga over cute things. (Watch me with an infant sometime: "Yes, very cute baby. Does it do anything yet? No? Bored now!")

Susan
http://www.rixosous.com

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

I watched the video again and I couldn't tell what Horatio did after rejecting the worm. Was it something along the lines of having to do Number One?

Also, did I hear correctly when someone suggested that you should put the worm in your hair to make it more appealing to his lordship?

[etumukutenyak.livejournal.com]

I can safely say that my son is neither Lord Nelson nor a hedgehog. How do I know this? For one thing, he's eaten at least one worm thus far in his life.

For which they called Poison Control, and then us, to let us know it was not poisonous. (Which I could have told them. But still, why ruin their fun?)

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

And how did your son take the whole thing while it was happening? Did he know there was no danger but he didn't tell them either because he too didn't want to spoil his equally twisted idea of 'fun'?

[etumukutenyak.livejournal.com]

Hm. He was busy playing. Oblivious, is what I'd say, as he usually is. ;-)

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

That reminds me of the time I overheard Phil Foglio's wife explain to their son that meal worms are not worms you eat for dinner.

[etumukutenyak.livejournal.com]

They're not?!?! Oh. ::looks over at Honey::

Er, pardon me..I'll be right back.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

Yuch. Some vet you are.

[etumukutenyak.livejournal.com]

We're ALL like that.

My classmates (and I) enjoyed a lunch of barbecued chicken while standing over our dissected chickens, discussing which parts we were eating.

When my partner exclaimed in revulsion over seeing weevils, I merely pointed out that they were, in the words of my parasitology professor, "extra protein".

Meal worms =/= meals -- unless you are a marmoset.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

Ah yes, weevils as extra protein... My father-in-law was in the Navy and mentionned that. I doubt that there were still many weevils in the sailor's ordinaire by the late 1950s, but it may have been a running gag that they keep bringing up because it's Tradition. And my understanding is the Navy is big on Tradition.

[etumukutenyak.livejournal.com]

Weevils still can be found even on dry land -- we had an infestation in our kitchen until we renovated. Even so, I suspect Navy weevils are more a Tradition than an actuality. The Navy is indeed enamoured of its traditions. Midshipmen still wear wool uniforms into the near summer months. (Just this year, the Naval Academy changed the uniform of the senior mids to the fleet's khaki.) Watch them at the Color Parade, in their woolen dress blues, and see them keel over while on the parade grounds -- great fun.

All the military branches love their traditions. I've complained to my partner about how colonels must all have to write their presentations ("briefings!") based on the same book, because they all use the same bad jokes to start.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

"...they all use the same bad jokes to start..."
But seriously, folks...

When I was visiting my in-laws not long ago, we watched a PBS show called Carrier and my father-in-law said that they now has different technology and stuff, but that deep down it's still the same Navy as what existed centuries ago.

[etumukutenyak.livejournal.com]

I've seen some of the episodes of Carrier too. It was fascinating, and yes, the current sailors echo the thoughts and deeds of sailors over the centuries. They've got better communication with home, and mostly better food, but they still do the same things.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

They've got better communication with home, and mostly better food

And... gasp... women!

they still do the same things

It makes sense. Navies evolved systems of procedures and traditions for the purpose of having a bunch of people confined and functionning within a very limited space for long periods of time without having them kill each other.

[etumukutenyak.livejournal.com]

It sure does make sense. The same things that worked in Napoleonic times, only now with faster communications and women! on board. ;-)