tmazanec1
Randall's Head Servant (300-799)
Posts: 463
|
Post by tmazanec1 on Mar 14, 2009 19:59:53 GMT -5
The GEICO gecko (love their caveman too).
|
|
Bampot
Randall's Friend (800-1999)
<3
Posts: 1,204
|
Post by Bampot on Mar 14, 2009 20:17:41 GMT -5
I hate the money I could be saving with them D:< But, yea, that gecko is adorable.
|
|
|
|
Post by lizardgirl on Mar 19, 2009 13:38:37 GMT -5
I'm not sure if he is now, but the GEICO Gecko was voiced by a guy I absolutely adore. Does he still have a richardney accent? If so, that's him. His name's Jake Wood. He's a character in a British soap called EastEnders, and I absolutely I adore him. I even wrote to him and got an autograph back! Then, to my surprise, I later found out that he was the voice of the GEICO Gecko! (Not that I'd heard of GEICO before, though I've seen some of the adverts on YouTube). The mere association with a lizard just made me happy.  |
|
|
|
Post by pitbulllady on Mar 19, 2009 16:20:55 GMT -5
I'm not sure if he is now, but the GEICO Gecko was voiced by a guy I absolutely adore. Does he still have a richardney accent? If so, that's him. His name's Jake Wood. He's a character in a British soap called EastEnders, and I absolutely I adore him. I even wrote to him and got an autograph back! Then, to my surprise, I later found out that he was the voice of the GEICO Gecko! (Not that I'd heard of GEICO before, though I've seen some of the adverts on YouTube). The mere association with a lizard just made me happy. The Gecko is still voiced by a British actor, but it's no longer Jake Wood. He's still very British, but more formal and less of what we Yanks would call "C o c kney"(I had to put the spaces so the darn censor wouldn't think I'd typed a nasty word, by the way). Speaking of reptiles, or scaly, sentient beings that are not associated with evil in Judeo-Christian beliefs, did you know that the highest-ranking of the Angels, the Seraphim, were serpent-like, scaly creatures, possibly synonymous with dragons? I didn't know that myself until I read it in one of our Sunday school lessons at church recently, so I checked the internet, and sure enough, it's true! The very word "Seraph"(plural: Seraphim)means "firey serpent", and of course, "serpent" in the Biblical sense does NOT mean "snake"; snakes in the Bible are referred to as SNAKES, or by their specific type, like Cobras or Asps( Cerastes cerastes,, the Desert Horned Viper), for example. Unfortunately, because one of the Seraphim, Lucifer/Satan, rebelled and was cast out of Heaven, and would eventually tempt Eve, all real snakes and lizards have paid a heavy price from the ignorant among our own species, who fail to realize that the Archangel Gabriel, who delivered to Mary the news of her impending pregnancy and Holy childbirth, was also one of these scaly Heavenly beings, and in many chapters of the Bible, in both the Old and New Testaments, scaly, reptilian creatures and other beings that could only be considered monsters by our definitions are mentioned sitting before the throne of the Almighty in Heaven itself, occupying an obviously-special place among the denizens of Paradise-a far cry from the popular notion of monsters and reptiles as "evil" or disgusting. The also-popular notion of Angels as beautiful winged humans(especially winged women), or the souls of the deceased who lived good lives, is simply not supported by traditional Hebrew concepts of Angels, which were created before humans were. They not only aren't and never were human, they weren't even supposed to LOOK like us, unless they had to take on human form(some were shape-shifters, apparently)to blend in with us. pitbulllady |
|
|
|
Post by RandallBoggs on Mar 19, 2009 18:53:35 GMT -5
People say that God created man in his own image. Discussion of this aside it's designated in GOD'S image...NOT the angels. Meaning more benefit that the deciples of Heaven were actually intelligent, holy serpants.
As for the "firey serpant"...I do recall swords of flame (flame of justice I think) being related to angels.
|
|
|
|
Post by pitbulllady on Mar 19, 2009 21:16:47 GMT -5
People say that God created man in his own image. Discussion of this aside it's designated in GOD'S image...NOT the angels. Meaning more benefit that the deciples of Heaven were actually intelligent, holy serpants. As for the "firey serpant"...I do recall swords of flame (flame of justice I think) being related to angels. I'm not going into a religious debate, but every pastor/rabbi/priest I've ever talked to about that matter, including our current preacher, was clear that this passage means that humans were created in the SPIRITUAL image of God, rather than a physical one, given that God has no one physical form. Ancient Hebrews were adamant that to even SEE God meant certain death, so that no one could actually know what His physical appearance was like, which is why He chose to appear to the saints and prophets of old as things like a shaking, flaming mountain(a volcano?)or a burning bush-things that people could at least look upon and relate to in some fashion, when He needed to actually speak to someone directly, like Moses, for instance. On our world, at least, humans are the only living things that have demonstrated spirituality, which makes us unique and sets us apart. HOWEVER, there is a controversial line in the New Testament, John 10:16, in which Jesus mentions having "sheep, not of this fold", which he must attend to and gather, and there's been much debate over just whom those "sheep" were, and where this other "fold" was. It's been argued that He meant people on other planets, beings in other dimensions(the Rev. Dr. Billy Graham is a big proponent of these first two theories), people living in other parts of the world(like the Americas, the foundation of the beliefs of the Mormons), or just plain old Gentiles(non-Jews)living in that same part of the world, or, all of the above. IF the first two scenarios are true, for those who believe, then those "sheep" might not look much like us Homo sapiens at all! On a side note, Christmas has been mentioned in more than one official Monsters, Inc.-related publication, which indicates that like us, they have a parallel form of Christianity in their world. It would seem too much of a stretch if the name of that holiday in the Monster World was just a coincidence, and nothing more. pitbulllady |
|
|
|
Post by RandallBoggs on Mar 19, 2009 21:22:00 GMT -5
Wasn't my intention to get into a debate of something so...subtle ^_^;
Makes one wonder in those stories if God doesn't want people knowing what he looks like...
I wouldn't so much called it a Christanity as an emulation of our traditions.
Monsters DO....however...have religious followings of certain legendary creatures....
|
|
|
|
Post by Theophilus Hatta on Jul 28, 2009 21:29:20 GMT -5
Christianity? Eh, they could have just been going for the whole-pagan tree/winter holiday thing with an easy 'Santa Claws' gag. I wouldn't read much into it. (Besides, Christmas is basically Yule with an Odin expy that got absorbed by missionaries to better convert the pagans to Christianity if you wanna get technical about it)
For the topic at hand, Positive reptiles... hmmm... would you count Reptar, the story-within-a-show hero from Rugrats?
And there's Lockheed from X-Men comics, though he's more of a pet dragon thing. (Do we count dragons as reptiles?)
Lola Boa from "Brandy and Mr. Whiskers" is a very nice snake. Viper from "Kung-Fu Panda" is the most welcoming character. Kaa from the Jungle Book (the book book where he's wise and old, not the movie where he's a lackey). Crawly (later Crowley) is another good snake in the book "Good Omens"by Terry Pratchett. The Incredibly Deadly Viper, despite the name, is a normal but rather heroic snake in "A Series of Unfortunate Events".
And that's just recent stuff. The Aztec feathered serpent god Quetzalcoatl was one of the nicest gods they had- he didn't even ask for human scarifies! Of course, he is the reason they liked Cortés so much and we all know how that turned out... but, really, not Quetzalcoatl's fault for the mixup. Let's see, Egyptians believed asps were protectors and Aborigines view snakes quite positively. Don't forget that the caduceus- Hermes wand and a symbol of medicine- has two snakes curled around it.
Is it just me, or do snakes seem to be getting a pretty good rep compared to some of the other scalies?
Some good reptiles in the "Wild Thornberries" I think. Plenty of nice turtles scattered all over... hard to think of any good lizards though...
|
|
|
|
Post by RandallBoggs on Jul 29, 2009 19:27:26 GMT -5
Glad you mentioned Quetzalcoatl, aka the "feathered serpant". The Aztec god of wisdom no less, and teacher of peaceful arts and protector of the Second Sun.
|
|
|
|
Post by pitbulllady on Jul 29, 2009 22:33:33 GMT -5
Christianity? Eh, they could have just been going for the whole-pagan tree/winter holiday thing with an easy 'Santa Claws' gag. I wouldn't read much into it. (Besides, Christmas is basically Yule with an Odin expy that got absorbed by missionaries to better convert the pagans to Christianity if you wanna get technical about it) For the topic at hand, Positive reptiles... hmmm... would you count Reptar, the story-within-a-show hero from Rugrats? And there's Lockheed from X-Men comics, though he's more of a pet dragon thing. (Do we count dragons as reptiles?) Lola Boa from "Brandy and Mr. Whiskers" is a very nice snake. Viper from "Kung-Fu Panda" is the most welcoming character. Kaa from the Jungle Book (the book book where he's wise and old, not the movie where he's a lackey). Crawly (later Crowley) is another good snake in the book "Good Omens"by Terry Pratchett. The Incredibly Deadly Viper, despite the name, is a normal but rather heroic snake in "A Series of Unfortunate Events". And that's just recent stuff. The Aztec feathered serpent god Quetzalcoatl was one of the nicest gods they had- he didn't even ask for human scarifies! Of course, he is the reason they liked Cortés so much and we all know how that turned out... but, really, not Quetzalcoatl's fault for the mixup. Let's see, Egyptians believed asps were protectors and Aborigines view snakes quite positively. Don't forget that the caduceus- Hermes wand and a symbol of medicine- has two snakes curled around it. Is it just me, or do snakes seem to be getting a pretty good rep compared to some of the other scalies? Some good reptiles in the "Wild Thornberries" I think. Plenty of nice turtles scattered all over... hard to think of any good lizards though... Most people will only recall the "serpent" in the Garden of Eden, though, and that is what has tainted Western "Civilization's" notion of snakes, and of reptiles in general. Most do not realize that this was not a flesh-and-blood creature at all, but more likely a symbol for pagan religions of the region who worshipped the dragon god, Baal. When the Bible mentions real snakes, it calls them SNAKES. A "serpent" is something completely different, a supernatural being, but due to the Latin translation for "snake" being "serpentinum", and there being no modern language translation for the original Aramaic word, people have been on a hate campaign against snakes every since, and many reason that a lizard is hardly more than a snake with legs, so they get a bum rap, too. pitbulllady |
|
|
|
Post by Theophilus Hatta on Jul 30, 2009 11:18:29 GMT -5
See? Told you he was a nice guy! =D
I can see why snakes would be considered creepy to the Anicents. I mean, look at them- they've got no legs. Every other creature on the planet has at least one pair of legs, except for snakes and fish, but fish live in water so you don't notice their freaky no-legness as much. It's weird, therefore, feared.
Really? I always thought "serpent" meant a really big snake. Makes for sense for the Bible-writers to slip in a few subtle bashings of other religions. I suppose it has an effect similar to thinking Adam and Eve ate an apple, or that Eve was the first woman- only a look at the surface, at the common misconceptions. It's the difference between believing Anubis is out-and-out evil instead of realizing he's just the guardian the souls of the dead. Stupid Mummy movies... Why do all Gods associated with death get such a bum rap? x.x
|
|
|
|
Post by RandallBoggs on Jul 30, 2009 18:59:02 GMT -5
Yes I know, studied him a little ^_^ There's also...Vayu...can't recall the pantheon he comes from...but he has the form of a gray dragon....and then there's Snake, amply named, in some Indian lore. They mostly say that Snake's a trickester, but not overtly evil.
What about slugs? ^_^
Actually you can't believe everything in the Bible either...
Maybe it has to do with the relationship to necromancy, the altercation of death and life can be a touchy subject, unnatural. In fact, the altercations of death and life are the higher forms of godhood, so maybe that's why they are feared.
|
|
|
|
Post by Theophilus Hatta on Jul 30, 2009 21:56:09 GMT -5
We cramed the Aztecs in last second, maybe two days before the finial test, so we never got to learn a whole lot about them... which is too bad, 'cuz the way-west is fansinating pre-colonies.
Cool name... a trickester, hmm? They rock ^-^
Small and squishy. ^-^
No, but really- slugs live in mostly dark, damp places (like the underside of flowerpots) and they're are hard to see unless you are actually looking for them. Unlike snakes which can get pretty big and are common in loads of places.
To quote Rule 5 of the Pentabarf, 'A Discordian is Prohibited from Believing What he reads'. Reglion, especially the so-called organized religion, is never to be believed completely, no matter who/what you believe in. =D
Mmm, I suppose... death is such an important part of life...
|
|
|
|
Post by RandallBoggs on Jul 31, 2009 18:33:01 GMT -5
Really? A test?
Yes ^_^ One of his physical characteristics when he took human form was that his hair changed color with the multitude of colors his scales produced ^_^
Hm hm ^_^
I actually caught a slug recently once...just for a little bit...guy was curled up...though he was a rock at first...till he started moving around hehehe ^_^
I wouldn't so much call it..."important"...
|
|
|
|
Post by Theophilus Hatta on Jul 31, 2009 19:58:35 GMT -5
Yep. Don't remind me. Nine freakin' essays... NINE... x.x
At least it was the year-end exam for a favorite class- Art History ^-^ Combining the awesomeness that is Art with complex interaction that is History! ((joy))
that sounds so pretty :3
They wriggle a lot, don't they? They're so harmless... hard to believe anything would ever feel threatened by that.
You kidding? Death is the entire reason for reproduction! What could be more important than the knowledge that life is impermanent and you only have a very short time to get busy and do something worthwhile... and that your genes must be passed on to the next generation? Death's a fundamental of existence.
|
|
