Japanese Tentacle Advertisements

Things I like:

1. Advertising
2. Japan
3. Tentacles

The city of Hakodate, Japan has been producing official tourism videos unlike any you’ve ever seen before — action-packed affairs starring famous landmarks as giant robots that battle a runaway mechanical squid hijacked by vengeful aliens.

The first video begins with an interesting factoid: According to a survey of 100 aliens, Hakodate is the number one city they would most like to invade.

Via Pink Tentacle

Pretend Video Game Tentacles

I can't say I really understand this one, but the wacky video game octopuses/octopi/octopodes are *amazing. Yes, you must watch all 12 minutes. There's some good octopus action around the 3 minute mark, and plenty more where that came from.



Via Elliot. Because he's weird.

Ancient Tentacle Games

Behold the greatness that is Utagawa Kuniyoshi, who has an exhibit at the Royal Academy (in the UK). They call him "Manga master of the 19th century."


This work is entitled Octopus games, dating from 1840-42. Definitely better than Rudolph's reindeer games.

Photograph from the American Friends of the British Museum (The Arthur R Miller Collection)

Via the UK Guardian. Thanks to n8!

Baby Tentacles

Guest blogger Aaron Muszalski on Laughing Squid says it best when he writes:

American sculptor Daniel Edwards, best known for his often controversial depictions of celebrities and other figures from popular culture, has produced a sculpture inspired by Nadya Suleman, aka “OctoMom”, the California woman who recently gave birth to octuplets. The sculpture is entitled “String of Babies, holds a baby bottle upright” and depicts Ms. Suleman as a disembodied cephalopod, beatifically embracing her brood with her hot pink tentacles.


From the always-essential Laughing Squid

Beware of Tentacles

Signs warning of poisonous jellyfish, ostensibly in Australia.

Read the full article about box jellyfish at The Gladstone Observer.

How to Draw Tentacles

In case you ever wondered. Drawing lessons for the computer.

From Web Designer Wall.

Don't Touch a Tentacle

Kiss a Jellyfish and Live to Tell About It!
March 14
Monica Bryant

Oceanic adventures abound from kitesurfing and windsurfing to snorkeling and scuba diving. But nothing puts a damper on a great adventure like getting stung by a jellyfish, unless, of course, you know how to handle one. Then jellyfish can become part of your adventure! For beachgoers, the possibility of a shark sighting may be on the minds of some, but chances are pretty slim that one will be spotted. Jellyfish sightings, on the other hand, are not so rare an occurrence.

Most people equate jellyfish with warnings like “Beware!” “Don’t step on it!” and “Touch it and you’ll be in the hospital!”. Rightly so. Jellyfish may be 95% water, but they can pack a painful and dangerous sting. The average person, though, has never heard how to safely handle a jellyfish. Before working a short stint at a local aquarium, I had never heard either. In fact, a recent internet search I did on the subject turned up little. So, consider yourself in an elite group.

Now that you're overcome with curiosity, here's the "fun fact" that few beachgoers are privy to: Only the tentacles of a jellyfish sting. The dome-shaped part of the jellyfish (called the bell or hood) can actually be touched. The president of the Lebanese Union of Divers, Mohammed al-Sarji, even goes so far as to kiss them! Personally, I like to keep my face a safe distance away. Jellyfish tentacles can be extremely long and they have a way of floating all over the place. (Apparently, the largest jellyfish can reach 8ft. in diameter with tentacles as long as half the length of a football field!)

Now before you set out to make “jellyfish-handling” the next great reality t.v. show, remember to exercise caution and common sense. This tidbit of information should not to be taken lightly. Picking up a jellyfish washed up on the shore is one thing. By the time you see one in the ocean, it’s tentacles may have already reached you. If you or someone you know has the misfortune of being stung by one, experts recommend washing off any tentacles with salt water or removing the tentacles with tweezers and then treating the affected area with vinegar to neutralize the toxin.

Now you've been informed and warned... so this summer when you want to impress your friends, you can courageously demonstrate how to handle a jellyfish and live to tell the tale!

From Examiner.com.

Excellent Tentacle Taste

Via the messy web of the internet, I bring you another Octopus necklace.


On Flickr via the owner's Twitter account, as reposted by another who asked how to avoid tangled necklaces when traveling.

Tentacles: High Art and Low Art

Tentacles can be found everywhere - not merely on octopodes (the plural of octopus) and squid. We've learned that they're all over Etsy.com can be found frequently in art galleries.

The latest tentacle sitings:

ATM ad on Allen Street in the Lower East Side - the text reads "GET MONEY! GET MONEY!"



And Frank Lloyd of the Frank Lloyd Gallery in Santa Monica, CA blogs about Cindy Kolodziejski's beautiful but unsettling sculptures:

A "Favourite" Tentacle

Octopuses Given Rubik's Cubes to Find Out if They Have a Favourite Tentacle

By A Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 9:33 AM on 07th July 2008

Marine experts have given 25 octopuses a Rubik's Cube each in a study aimed at easing their stress levels in captivity.

Scientists believe the intelligent sea creatures have a preferred arm out of eight that they use to feed and investigate with.

They are now testing this theory with a month-long observation project in which the octopuses will be given food and toys to play with.

Experts have launched a study at sea life centres across Europe to find out if octopuses have a favourite tentacle

They will then record whether the creatures use a specific limb to pick up the object or if they are octidextrous.

It is hoped the results of the Sea Life Centre study will shed light on 'handiness' in the animal kingdom.

Claire Little, marine expert at the Sea Life Centre in Weymouth, Dorset, said the study could eventually help to reduce stress among octopuses.

She said: 'It will be very interesting to see the results.

'Uniquely, octopuses have more than half their nerves in their arms and have even been shown to partially think with their arms.

'We hope the study will help the overall well-being of octopuses. They are very susceptible to stress so if they do have a favourite side to be fed on, it could reduce risk to them."

The octopus research will take place in the 23 branches of the Sea Life Centre attractions Britain and Europe.

A diagram of an octopus will sit alongside the tanks with the arms on the right labelled R1, R2, R3 and R4 from front to back. The left arms will be numbered in the same way but with an L instead of an R.

Items such as a ball, a jam jar and lego bricks will be dropped into the water for the octopuses to play with.

Visitors will then be asked to note down which arm was closest to the object and which arm picked it up.

If the octopus uses several arms, they must write them all down but in the order they touched it.

Staff at the centre will also do the same during feeding time.

Miss Little said: 'Visitors will be handed a form asking them to participate in our study.

'We will add the results to all of the data that has already been collected about octopuses. It will also help towards solving the mystery of handiness in the animal kingdom.'

The results will be analysed by Sea Life Centre biologists and the results will be announced in the autumn.

Via the Daily Mail. Special thanks to Suggested Donation, because sending us this sort of tentacle news DEFINES what we do here at TodayInTentacles.

Tentacle Cards

Fomato Cards not only has many nifty cards with critters on them, they organize their selection by creature. Meaning that you can skip the chaff and go straight to the tentacles!


Go straight to the octopus section at Fomato.com. Thanks Julie!

Bioluminescent Tentacles

Guess who? Heh.


Photos thanks to Jigsaw Soul, who posted them on Facebook.

Tentacle Link Dump

Periodically, I come across tentacle blogs and tentacle named - websites that either have nothing to do with tentacles or that have so much tentacle content, I can't even decide which post should appear here.

Presenting the latest and greatest -

The Cephalopodiatrist - A career out of squid? We can only hope.

The Celphalopod Tea Party - I think this blog may be doing similar things to what we do here at Today In Tentacles. I salute them!

Tentacle Studio - Amazing costume studio that made the Little Shop of Horrors Audrey II Broadway revival costume, some of the costumes for the Wicked Broadway musical, and many more.

Eff Likes to Play With Tentacles - Personal blog belonging to Eff. Slightly explicit, but nothing ridiculous. Not really tentacle related.

The Book of Tentacles - Forthcoming publication of sci fi/fantasy work.

Tentacle Escape!

Octopus floods Santa Monica Pier Aquarium The mollusk diassembles a valve at the top of her tank, flooding the place with some 200 gallons of seawater

By Bob Pool
Los Angeles Times
February 27, 2009

It's not surprising that with eight arms and inquisitive nature, the two-spotted octopus is pretty handy around its tank at the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium.


Still, those reporting for work Thursday at the popular beachfront attraction were caught by surprise when they were greeted by water lapping around the kelp forest display, the shark and ray tank and the rocky reef exhibit.

The guest of honor in the aquarium's Kids' Corner octopus tank had swum to the top of the enclosure and disassembled the recycling system's valve, flooding the place with some 200 gallons of seawater.

"It had grabbed the tube that pulls out the water and caused it to spray outside the tank," said aquarium education specialist Nick Fash. Judging by the size of the flood, Fash estimated that the water flowed for about 10 hours before the first staff member, Aaron Kind, showed up for work.

Kind issued an all-hands-on-deck call to summon co-workers to the pier with mops, water vacuums and fans. Even though the aquarium is built over the beach, it has no floor drain.

The tiny octopus, which is about the size of a human forearm when its appendages are extended, floated lazily in the water that remained in its tank.

It watched intently through glass walls and portholes as workers struggled to dry the place out in time for the day's first busload of schoolchildren to arrive on a 9:30 a.m. field trip.

Randi Parent, the aquarium's community outreach coordinator, said the only significant damage was to newly installed ecologically sensitive flooring in several offices. It consists of linseed-and-cork tiles that soaked up the seawater and squished beneath workers' feet the rest of the day.

The incident was reminiscent of a 1994 incident at San Pedro's Cabrillo Marine Aquarium in which an octopus named Octavia pulled a plastic pipe loose.

That giant Pacific octopus died when all of the water in her tank drained out.

Since octopuses are considered by many to be the most intelligent invertebrate -- and to have good memories -- Fash said he jury-rigged his octopus tank piping with clamps and tape in hopes of thwarting any further mischief by its occupant. "She would need tools," he said of his octopus, which until now had no name.

"Some people are suggesting we call her 'Flo,' " he said.

Via LA Times and the Huffington Post. Thanks to Matt for sending this story in!