Many months ago we added two tiny blue botias to our glorious fish tank. Our concern at the time was that the other fish -- namely three fairly large parrots -- would eat them whole and be happy about it. Instead, the botias adapted, killed our dolphin whale and ultimately turned on each other, with the larger of the two killing the smaller. The remaining botia grew to about the same size of the parrots, and has just been bugging the holy fuck out of them on a daily basis lately. Finally, last night while we had company here, we had to end the night early after catching the little bastard trying to knock the parrots right out of the tank. Today, we brought it to Petland and said "do what you must." Nature is nature, but c'mon, the botia wasn't cute enough to get away with that. My Geophagus -- best fish on the planet -- has a dime-sized scar on his face from the thing. At least, in retrospect, I'm pretty sure it was the botia's work.
REPLIES: 35 comments
First comment? Yay.. I guess. Nature? Awesome!
Chestnuts roasted by Brian Hammons @ 12/18/2004 10:14 PM EST
Couldn't you cook and eat the evil fish?
And maybe write an article about it, "50 ways to cook botia" or something...
Chestnuts roasted by Namtab @ 12/18/2004 10:15 PM EST
Megamare! Ooh, the plot thickens. I love Claire, though. If I were evil, she would totally be my hero.
Chestnuts roasted by Kay @ 12/18/2004 10:15 PM EST
MegaMare. Did anyone get a "Spaceballs" flashback when they read that. "Spaceballs 1 has now become...Mega Maid." Maybe I'm just still pooped from my marathon shopping trip yesterday. Anyway, it just gets more and more brilliant, Matt. Mare's new buddy could probably sit on the entire crowd, including the Stormtroopers. Lets' see how Claire handles THIS one.
Chestnuts roasted by starwenn @ 12/18/2004 10:25 PM EST
The circle of life is now complete...I've had to do the same. I know its in their nature to fight for resources, but I think home fish tanks should be refuges of peace. So if one of my fish gets out of line, I flush that sucker.
Chestnuts roasted by Shelby @ 12/18/2004 11:30 PM EST
Damn...poor fishes.
Good job on this whole Christmas thing.
Chestnuts roasted by Warx @ 12/19/2004 12:30 AM EST
Megamare has BALLS! Maybe Random Jim's tennis skills will finally come into play?
Chestnuts roasted by Invader Norbert @ 12/19/2004 12:37 AM EST
I love Mecha-Mare! She's probably a gentle giant, like me...and a vegan like me. Yay!
Chestnuts roasted by Emily @ 12/19/2004 01:33 AM EST
As I looked at the last picture there (the one with Mare, the stormtroopers, and Mega), the "stage selected" theme from Megaman 2 started playing in my head (y'know, the one after you pick your foe but before the stage starts...)
Chestnuts roasted by Monster Dog @ 12/19/2004 01:36 AM EST
The TRU robot ad is duh bomb and I think they could rebound in sales if they brought the robot back--it's too bad the reception wasn't coming in too well on the date it was recorded. And that was one loooong extra verse.
Heh, this calendar is getting good, and it explains what that "evil mother" image was on the front logo. You gave a little spoiler there, Matt...
Chestnuts roasted by Mars @ 12/19/2004 03:25 AM EST
Mr. T has infiltrated the Advent calender! In the form of MegaMare! He/She is "bringing the pain" in a most Mr. T-like form. can anything save Playmobil Land now?
MURRRRR...
Chestnuts roasted by trajeal @ 12/19/2004 08:21 AM EST
I remember the first part of that TRU ad but it was part of a montage of adults singing about toys.
These downloads made me quite the hero with my students. Right before the bell would ring, I would play one or two and the holiday magic keeps them quiet for that crucial final 30 seconds. THANKS MATT!!!!!
Chestnuts roasted by manimal789 @ 12/19/2004 08:34 AM EST
Any chance that somehow, somewhere a certain Chia pet is going to be involved in all of this?
Chestnuts roasted by Joe in OH @ 12/19/2004 09:08 AM EST
Starwenn- I also totally did the "Spaceballs" Mega Maid quote in my head when I saw Megamare. Man, the advent calendar is great and keeps getting better. I never imagined there would be a Mare, a Claire and a MEGAMARE. Great stuff.
I hate mean fish- you just want them to swim around and look nice, not actually be REAL animals or anything. You did the right thing, Matt.
Chestnuts roasted by Muppet Baby @ 12/19/2004 09:58 AM EST
Wait...Was the gift really a CAT??? Another one??? WTF??? How cheap is that?
What's with the cat theme? What about Dogs?
Well Regardless: Matt, your creativity never ceases to amaze me....
Chestnuts roasted by Cameron T. @ 12/19/2004 10:22 AM EST
Links to the various Transformers commercials/fan videos all in one spot:
http://www.comics2film.com/movies/findMovie.php?groupFilter=Transformers
Chestnuts roasted by ME @ 12/19/2004 11:10 AM EST
I got more of a "Mega Man" connection from Megamare's name, but I just came from reading Bob & George.
I don't know if this was brought up, but "A Charlie Brown Christmas" used to be a CBS tradition for years, well through my childhood. While they kept "Rudolph" and Frosty (based on a song that if you think about it is more about Winter than Christmas), ABC somehow picked up the Peanuts specials.
Chestnuts roasted by ShadowWing the Technorganic Reindeer @ 12/19/2004 01:49 PM EST
No! The Dolphin Whale! He was awesome!
This is almost as sad as the fate of the chinchilla. 
Chestnuts roasted by Evin @ 12/19/2004 03:37 PM EST
There's a parrot fish?
I don't know if I'm the only one that has noticed this, but lately, Halloween and Christmas has been crossing over for horror films. There's the Jack Frost movies, IFC is having a Freddy Krugger marathon on Christmas, there's something called "Santa's Slay"or something being made with Goldberg, and last night on SCI-FI, "Puppetmaster vs. Demoic Toys" with Corey Feldman debut with a Christmas theme. Very funny and cheesy.
Chestnuts roasted by JLAJRC @ 12/19/2004 04:09 PM EST
ME, that was awesome!! There were a couple that I had not yet seen, and I thank you!
Megamare totally reminded me of Megamaid, not Megaman. Scary stuff! I hope the new puppetmaster film was good, but with Corey Feldman, how could it not be?
Sorry about the fish trouble Matt. Pets are hard enough, why have kids.
Chestnuts roasted by kidneyboy @ 12/19/2004 04:55 PM EST
JLAJRC: Don't forget Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas.
Chestnuts roasted by Cameron T. @ 12/19/2004 06:03 PM EST
Remember tonight (or the rerun Thursday) is The Venture Bros. - A Very Venture Christmas at 11:45pm on Cartoon Network.
If you missed the first (and possibly the only) season, then here are some video clip links to help give you a little background on the characters:
http://larryhovis.net/venturecompound/cliparchive.htm
Venture Bros full trailer (3:45, 55 mb)
Chestnuts roasted by ME @ 12/19/2004 06:30 PM EST
I like Random Jim's "word salad"
Chestnuts roasted by Shelby @ 12/19/2004 06:42 PM EST
Didn't they get a bigger, black cat earlier in the calender, that Claire thought was no good to kill anyone w/, or am I just remembering a very vivid dream? Now I'll have to scroll back and see...
Chestnuts roasted by trajeal @ 12/19/2004 07:07 PM EST
Yup, December 12th. Is that Momma Kitty in statue form?
Is it snowing anywhere else out there? We're supposed to get a few inches by tomorrow, w/ a high of only 28 degrees. It's now negative 1 here. Brr! Glad Mr. Traj is the one stuck out running errands tonight. Sucks to be him!
Chestnuts roasted by trajeal @ 12/19/2004 07:12 PM EST
Well its 12* in Rochester rite now...
I'm glad someone mentioned a chia pet growing in the later episodes, saved me the trouble.
Chestnuts roasted by ANdrew @ 12/19/2004 07:55 PM EST
We're supposed to get a dusting here in Southern New Jersey. It was just raining when I got home around 5PM, but I haven't looked outside since.
Poor Waiterbot. I feel sorry for him - he lost his body AND his kitty (even if the MegaMare/Waiterbot fight was awesome). I have the feeling his little lost friend may have a very BIG surprise for him, though. And Random Jim is now living up to his name. Hope Mare and the Stormtrooper club can help unscramble his mind.
Chestnuts roasted by starwenn @ 12/19/2004 09:21 PM EST
The fates of Waiterbot and the botia make me sad. What we need is a Christmas miracle.
Off-topic but totally cool: First look at The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe
Chestnuts roasted by squee4242 @ 12/19/2004 09:43 PM EST
Megamare?! A combination of the best parts of what we may or may not know as x-entertainment! ...I laughed and laughed and laughed!
Chestnuts roasted by Kate @ 12/19/2004 09:43 PM EST
Cameron-I don't really care for Nightmare Before Christmas. Found it boring.
Of course, Tales From The Crypt did the killer Santa thing. Plus, there's the Silent Night, Deadly Night movies.
Chestnuts roasted by JLAJRC @ 12/19/2004 10:44 PM EST
Hi Matt.
I'm still around, but with classes and a kid and such, I don't get much time to post. I have to admit, I thought that might happen--those botias can be really tough. Admittedly, I've never heard of them going after cichlids, but not surprised.
Did you get the email I sent you? I can't honestly say that I remember what I wrote, or when, but I have trouble with the email server sometimes, and people don't get my messages.
Chestnuts roasted by Sean @ 12/20/2004 12:17 AM EST
Weather on the prairie is totally weird. It's always windy, but normally tolerable with 70* highs and blinding sun, up until a couple of weeks ago. Now we're lucky if it gets up to 30* during the day, and it's STILL sunny...which I think is just cheating. The night sky is one good thing about this area of the country--it's utterly crisp and clear. Or maybe that's just the frozen tears in my eyes.
Chestnuts roasted by Emily @ 12/20/2004 03:04 AM EST
Im down in Texas, and winter here is a joke. It will be 70 degrees and sunny here today. Man i wish we had real seasons... :/
Chestnuts roasted by KillaHill @ 12/20/2004 10:00 AM EST
I beleive that Random Jim will someday write the Great American Novel.
Chestnuts roasted by kingklash @ 12/20/2004 12:02 PM EST
Hey Sean -- thanks -- glad to see you're still around.
Chestnuts roasted by Matt @ 12/21/2004 08:06 PM EST
