The NY Times had an article yesterday about -- ready? -- Madagascar Golden Orb Spiders harnessed to tiny silk-extracting machines. The silk is spun into golden thread, which people have then woven into beautiful and costly tapestries.
Unfortunately, when I read "spider harness" I picture a tiny warrior in a Roman chariot, being pulled by an armored war spider. This moth uprising will not stand! To war, my arachnid brothers! Maybe partly due to -- ready? -- cat armor I saw on Laini Taylor's blog. Very cool, though I imagine the martial effect might be lost when the armored cat decided to sit down, raise one armored leg behind its armored ear, and lick its po-po. (First rule of Cat Club: Always stay clean.)
It gets me worrying about the spiders, too. What if, once they realized what they could do as a group, they gave up on gallery-ready tapestries and instead spun a giant web? They're already the size of bats, so I have no doubt that a web as big as, say, a trampoline would serve to hold an entire kindergarten class. And then the golden killers would scurry across the thread, gnashing their spidery jaws and squeaking their horrible spider language.
Where was I? Oh, right. Art from spiders.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
I give. I’ll be here every day you spin something fantastic. How bizarre an article! What lengths humans will go for art, and how perfect a food for your particular imagination! Treacherous, cannibalistic beasts with hairy stiletto legs wearing miniature [cat] armor. As for me, I see spider silk garment-laden Fashionistas sticking to one another on the catwalk. Get off! No, you get off! I can’t! F**k! Not to mention Shelob angling for some hobbit snacks. The subject of spiders, all spiders, is definitely ripe for worry!
1Oh my god -- I love that story!!! There's spidersilk in my Dreamdark books, and I just LOVE that those two guys are making art out of it in Madagascar, one of the most exotic places in the world. Sounds like a story I would make up! Thanks for the link. I'm forwarding it around :-)
There's something about the word "Madagascar," isn't there? It almost sounds like some strange ingredient, a spice or dried sea urchin dust or something.
Post a Comment