mine! mine! mine! animals, gotta love'em. what's not to like? inferior beings put on this planet to protect, transport, feed, clothe, accompany us. i was just kidding about the inferior bit. animals aren't inferior, they are just quieter. some of them. anyway. i admire those people who care so much about animals and the environment that they are willing to make a statement with their lifestyles. i was vegetarian once. it stemmed from admiration and care for animals, but it wasn't really about all that. i was supposed to go veggie for a month just to try it but i found myself staying vegetarian for two years. as greg liked to make me say, my reason for being vegetarian was: "...my girlfriend's a vegetarian. which more or less makes me a vegetarian, but i sure love the taste of a good burger." love that movie.



for awhile i avoided any leather clothing. belts, shoes, jackets, wife beaters. and i wouldn't eat anything that had touched a meat item. i was very strict about it for really no good reason other than trying to stay true to my cause. people used to try to sneak meat pieces into my food. people who do such things, who did such things (i know who you are), are on the fast track to hell so i feel pretty good about reaping what you sow. i am a just human being after all. see you in hell buddy, hope it's filled with large vegetables disguised cunningly as meat. anyway. i wasn't quite vegetarian for the health reaons or the animals, but just because i wanted to be one. and i've tinkered with the idea of going veggie again but i don't think i could give up sushi. plus, with my physique it's probably not a good idea to cut protein out of my diet. and i don't eat correctly enough to make up for the lack of meat. but being vegetarian is great, makes you smell better. very key.



twenty, twenty, twenty four hours to go, i wanna be sedated! nothing to do, nowhere to go, i wanna be sedated!



and this whole finding nemo thing, great movie, ironic consequences. little, and big, kids everywhere are clamoring for clown fish pets, their own little "nemo" for the home. this means there will be a higher demand for clown fish (already the most popular tropical fish) and more little nemos will be snatched up from the wild. unless of course all the demand will be fulfilled by tank raised clown fish, which seems doubtful since only two percent of all fish sold in pet stores are bred in captivity. either way, the whole point of the movie, of a wild water rescue to escape the aquariums of man, will translate into more fish stuck in little bowls and rectangular prisons.



we went to the fish store a few days after the initial release of the movie and it was crowded. and i could just imagine all the people wanting to set up a tank and buy some tropical fish and get their very own dorys and nemos. in fact, one of my fellow fish store go-ers expressed the very same sentiment. and the other one already has a dory, a nemo, a french cleaning shrimp and pretty much all the other fish from the movie. but i'm not worried about my friends wanting these fish, because they are responsible ahem adults and will take the time out of their lives to ensure the safety of their pets.



but vat about the children? clown fish are not hardy betas or bulbous goldfish, they need a carefully orchestrated salt water tank in order to survive. the days of dropping a random fish into a simple bowl are over. tropical fish tanks need protein skimmers, synthetic salt, calcium supplements, the list goes on and on. it takes dedication and knowledge to raise tropical fish. i can forsee the death of many a fine clown fish in the upcoming months. and i'll bet some kids even want a little deformed clown fish because in actuality, that's what nemo was, a little deformed fish who by the laws of natural selection should have died died died because he was weak and a poor swimmer. but that probably would not have made for a very good movie. not to mention it's not a very disney-esque message. "there are 3.7 trillion fish in the ocean, there used to be more. come watch nemo swim in circles and die."



did you know that coral reefs represent only one percent of the ocean, yet twenty five percent of all marine species rely on them for some element of their life span? we're killing fish yo. and isn't it weird that nemo's dad is named marlin? a fish named after another fish. is that not weird?



so the question comes down to, in all matters of conservation, where is the line drawn between appreciating something and just leaving it alone? i mean, i love zoos and aquariums because i like to see the animals. and that naturally leads to owning your own animal, specifically fish. but by buying fish for your home, you're killing the fish in the ocean (ignore the fact that i love eating raw fish for a second, i'm still struggling with some personal hypocrisies. actually, my entire life is about personal hypocrisies but we don't have the space to deal with it here). eventually we will end up with lots of endangered fish in the sea --where indeed the seaweed is always greener-- and some really colorful home ornaments. i believe that by exposing people to exotic animals, we are raising awareness of their plight and also allowing for first hand appreciation of their beauty. and that is the main function of zoos, so even though it might be "sad" to see an animal all caged up, it's a small sacrifice for the bigger picture. so to all you zoo haters, i hate you! just kidding, it's not that deep. the hating you part.



the problem itself is deep however. and i've run out of things to say about it. or rather i have too much to say about it but not enough coherence to put it all down. so till next time. keep your mind on your money and your hands off my sushi.



we're going to sea world soon, anyone want in?