I've seen seals in the Galapagos play with puffer fish like balls, and it was cute. However, when I see this douchenozzle, it makes me think he deserves a face full of Humboldt squid.

I've read so many great books that it's really hard for me to whittle it down to five that I think are the best, so I'm going to go with the first five that come into my head. I'm guessing that the first five must have made the greatest impression on me, so it's a reasonable place to start a favorites list.

1. Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut. Vonnegut is probably the single most influential author to me. His protagonists and story lines always clicked with me. It was like he was writing them just for me.

2. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller. Everyone's heard of this one, and it's considered by many to be one of the best novels of the 20th century. If you haven't read it yet, put it next on your to-read list. Notice my first two novels are both set in World War II. I don't know if that means anything or not.

3. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay - Michael Chabon. Considered by many to be Chabon's greatest work. I noticed you read one of his book's, dag. I think you owe it to yourself to read this one. I plan on reading The Yiddish Policemen's Union soon, because I've heard good things about it too.

4. The Trial - Franz Kafka. A dark novel, to say the least. To me it's about the absurdity of life and accepting fate. I don't believe in fate, but I sometimes wonder about the futility of existence. Can't help it.

5. The Foundation series - Isaac Asimov. Read the series when I was a teenager. The idea of being able to use science to not only predict but also control future events fascinated me, and that it was set in the future, complete with space travel, made it even more interesting. I liked how Asimov later was able to merge the Foundation series with the Robot series.

Other novels worthy of mention:

- Tropic Of Cancer - Henry Miller - Almost made the Top 5
- Life of Pi - Yann Martel
- Galapagos - Kurt Vonnegut
- Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Breakfast Of Champions - Kurt Vonnegut
- 1984 - George Orwell
- Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert A. Heinlein
- God Knows - Joseph Heller
- Something Happened - Joseph Heller
- Ringworld - Larry Niven
- The Outsiders - S.E. Hinton

Definitely sea lions and dolphins in mexico...time for a change of the ol' avatar. Maybe the coolest was a seahorse, but I didn't have a camera and no one felt like responding to my flailing limbs to come see...

In reply to this comment by Octopussy:
I saw a few of them (we were really lucky) last year at the Galapagos and they're indeed incredible (like a bus going by u/w).

Btw, don't tell anybody, but -- so far -- I've never managed to get a crab drunk, so my avatar is not my own pic either.

So what is the coolest creature you did have a close encounter with (and do you have pics)?

In reply to this comment by sharkie:
It's actually not my pic, sadly. As a diver I have seen a lot of cool creatures, but I am absolutely dying to see one of these myself!

In reply to this comment by Octopussy:
Is that avatar your own pic? If so, it's mighty impressive: where did you take it? If not, why did you choose a whale shark (asks Octopussy who has the lamest avatar evar)?

I saw a few of them (we were really lucky) last year at the Galapagos and they're indeed incredible (like a bus going by u/w).

Btw, don't tell anybody, but -- so far -- I've never managed to get a crab drunk, so my avatar is not my own pic either.

So what is the coolest creature you did have a close encounter with (and do you have pics)?

In reply to this comment by sharkie:
It's actually not my pic, sadly. As a diver I have seen a lot of cool creatures, but I am absolutely dying to see one of these myself!

In reply to this comment by Octopussy:
Is that avatar your own pic? If so, it's mighty impressive: where did you take it? If not, why did you choose a whale shark (asks Octopussy who has the lamest avatar evar)?

OMFG this is some unbelievable footage... I can't imagine actually being there to experience that in person. Wow.

(Btw, lots more comments at this dupe: http://www.videosift.com/video/Breathtaking-footage-of-the-Galapagos)

Sorry, SSIops, but it is in fact a *dupeof=http://www.videosift.com/video/HD-footage-underwater-at-Galapagos

*discard

It's a dup: http://www.videosift.com/video/HD-footage-underwater-at-Galapagos

Dito. Dramatic indeed. My folks are off the the Galapagos next week... I'm really quite jealous.

Totally bogus. We are promised ten incontrovertible pieces of evidence that evolution is wrong, yet all of them hinge on believing the Bible is something more than a dietary guide.

The first minute is a set of testimonials (from people who don't sound very highly educated). Science isn't really the result of a plebiscite. It isn't like the law, either, where you are right until proven wrong.

The bottom line is that no self-respecting scientist would claim that evolution is the ONLY explanation of how we got here - but as far as the evidence goes, so far it is the BEST explanation. If it turns out to be wrong, then ID still has to be supported by evidence - it isn't automatically correct.

Then the narrator spends four minutes telling us we will hear the facts, and we should judge for ourselves. She claims the Bible is completely trustworthy, based on archaeological a prophetic evidence - except it is not. Sure there is some archaeological evidence, but let's see the evidence for the Garden of Eden. Parts of it are clearly historical, but parts seem to be diet restrictions, more than anything. As for prophecy, go ask the Late Great Hal Lindsey about that.

The film goes on to paint God as a rather horrible person, causing most all the suffering and tragedy on earth. This is an interesting concept in itself. The purpose seems to be to threaten you into believing their line of reasoning (NOT making up your own mind!), or incurring His wrath.

The film uses the long-disproven watch-watchmaker argument, now in terms of a creation-creatOR argument. As for the $250,000 prize that hasn't been claimed, I'll give $1 million to anyone who can offer a shred of evidence that the Bible is the word of God. But _I_ get to be the judge, and you can forget about me accepting your evidence. The fact Dr. Hoven doesn't ACCEPT the evidence doesn't mean it's not there.

When Darwin visited the Galapagos islands 150 years ago, he cataloged seven species of finches there. Now, in just a century and a half, there are thirteen species on the islands, all native - definite PROOF of new species. But, of course this is ignored by the video.

Finally, the very act of referring to the "Myth of Evolution", the film is putting conclusions into our minds, just what the first four minutes said it would NOT do - we were supposed to make up our own minds, remember?

If you want to know more about the life and works of Charles Darwin I encourage you to visit the following pages:

http://www.galapagos-islands-tourguide.com/charles-darwin-history.html

http://www.galapagos-islands-tourguide.com/charles-darwin-biography.html

Zuri

From YouTube description:

We came across this three-toed sloth struggling to cross the road between Arenal Volcano and San Jose. We formed a loose cordon to keep cars from running the guy over. He made it, slowly.
Story and photos at dolanbrau.com
Look for 'costa rica and the galapagos'.

To answer some questions in the comments:
a) it took 5-10 minutes for the sloth to cross half the road
b) it was covered in bugs and algae and had long sharp claws - no way were we going to pick that thing up

I hated it. To be honest. I got half way through and put it done. I have read the last two Magician books by Feist.

If you haven't read Galapagos I recommend you don't.

In reply to this comment by dystopianfuturetoday:
Cute pup. You've been reading Galapagos for a long time, haven't you.

Cute pup. You've been reading Galapagos for a long time, haven't you.

To pharaphrase something Richard Dawkins writes in "The Ancestor's Tale" that I'm currently reading, "Island migration" animals that, by a freak occurrence drifts across the sea to colonize islands, is such a rare event that animals evolve into new species before the next raft arrives, and thus the variation that Darwin discovered and, presumably was inspired by, on the Galapagos islands, as he puts it, such raft journeys of, say a pregnant iguana is so rare that the possibility that it will happen in a year is one to ten thousand or so, but on a million year scale (evolutionary and geological time) its unavoidable. The same applies to nuclear war: it may be statistically improbable , but it only has to happen once.

Will we be able to set aside our petty, insignificant religious and cultural differences and move on to bigger and better things before that time comes?

Naw youse guys, worry not, just got through crasckin' up, and having a milk-nose moment with beer......this is what ol' Charlie was spending all that time in Galapagos getting far away from......