This is Eva Lin, guest posting for this week!
Today I'd like to share a delicious, whale-licious experience I had this summer. I had gone to visit my Grandma, and was on the Amtrak train home when I decided I was hungry. Luckily, I had brought along some Yan Yan crackers. For those of you unfamiliar with these, I have included pictures below:
The crackers come with a chocolate sauce to dip them in:
And they often have fun, animal-related sayings printed on them:
My particular package had several animals with the same saying...
...and they were whales!!
I took a picture to share with you guys:
As you can see, the cracker is labeled "Whale" "Biggesy Mammal". While the grammar is questionable (is biggesy a word??), the awesomeness is without a doubt.
Have a lovely week, and if you happen to go to a supermarket, be sure to pick up some delicious whale snacks!!
This guest post is written by Eva Lin, Whale rights activist.
Dear Whale Hailers,
I am so thrilled to be posting on this blog, which I consider one of the few safe havens for whales on the internet. Today I would like to educate you an a serious issue- whales in the media. The media constantly surrounds us, penetrating our social interactions, day-to-day life, and even our thought process. This has cultivated, in some cases, a negative attitude not only toward whales, but toward those who love them. This sociology paper suggests that the media is representing whales in a way which leads to fan communities that fail to truly understand whales, and accuses us fans of elevating the whale to mythical platforms which are based on imagined ideals rather than fact. Whale lovers are seen as simpletons who take their obsessions to the extreme.
Take, for example, the Animal Planet show Whale Wars, in which the host is shown harassing whalers. In this clip, they track a Japanese whaling ship and provoke the captain, ignoring warnings and attacking until the whalers strike back.
Whaling is absolutely not right, but this way of opposing it makes the whale support community seem immature and rude.
But it is not just the whale support community that is mocked, it is the whales themselves. By far the most prominent example of this is the "fail whale", an image of a whale that appears when Twitter is too overloaded for users to tweet. Rather than express outrage at the association of website errors with whales, Twitter users have instead chosen to support this horrible injustice by joining the Fail Whale Fan Club. They create numerous offensive reproductions of this whale, below:
What is so offensive about a sand whale, you ask? Firstly, the Fail Whale design itself, which suggests that whales are lazy and need to be supported by flocks of birds. Secondly, the tide will eventually come in and wash this whale away, suggesting that whales are fleeting and weak.
This whale cupcake encourages the consumption of whales, a disgusting and barbaric ideal.
Finally, have you ever heard a fat person referred to as a "whale"? Urban Dictionary certainly has. A search for "whale" leads to suggested definitions "fat", "fatty", and "obese". This use of whales as negative slang must stop. To combat this injustice I have created the "It's great to be a whale" support badge, which you can print out and tape to notebooks, t-shirts, your best friend, etc.
For too long we have sat in silence, accepting these injustices. For too long we have allowed the media to insult and mock us and our beloved whales. Today I say to you, Whale Hailers, no more! Today, we stand up for what is right! Today, we stand for what we believe! And Today, we stand for justice, JUSTICE! We take a stand against whale-hate in the fervent hope that our children and our children's children can live in a world where whales are understood and loved, a world where no man, woman, or child feels isolated or laughed at because of his or her love of these noble creatures.
okay, so I FINALLY got to indiana at 2:00 am this morning! But now I'm stuck with with barely any spotty internet connection. Sorry this is very late, but I've basically been rowing the whole day. Luckily, I won't be responsible for trying to post tomorrow. Instead, you will be graced with an incredible guest post by Evelyn herself! Wow, I don't have to post on hail whales tomorrow, what am I going to do with myself?!!? oh that's right, ROW!
Anyway, I am getting very excited to share the photos of the whale crackers with you, but unfortunately, I still don't have the cables to download them from my camera. I decided to search delta whale crackers but no pictures of them came up (however at the bottom of the first page are a few images from hail whales! I felt SO popular!)
I think the cuteness of these plush narwhal will make up for the lateness of my post:
check out all the other colors and sizes and hybrids (incliding a bunny-narwhal hybrid) at this online shop (<-- click for link). For some reason the shop name is "ostrich farm" and it only sells plush narwhals. I have no idea what the two have to do with eachother, but you can't argue with the cuteness of these narwhals!
see you in two days,
Whale Hailer!
P.S. the competition is really heating up between the blue whale and beluga whale in our poll. only a few days left to vote.....WHAT WHALE WILL WIN?!?!?! (talk about alliteration!)
. . . by voting in our newest poll about the "about me questions" page!!
Also, get ready forGUEST BLOGGING WEDNESDAYS!!!This wednesday, Evelyn will enlighten us on the negative portrayal of whales in the media and then next wednesday, Sarah will be out guest poster. Make sure to post in our facebook group if you are interested in being the next guest blogger
Toodles,
