Well, Fancy That! # 3

I guess there are plenty of things I could choose to ruminate on today. I could, for example, air my views on the sadly predictable North Carolinian Amendment One vote yesterday, effectively deeming gay and lesbian people in the state second class citizens by banning same-sex marriage and civil unions. I could even talk about President Obama's too-little-too-late response today in coming out in support of the general legalization of same-sex marriage. At least he's had the guts to do, I guess, but - as a gay friend of mine in North Carolina predicts - it's a proclamation that will probably ultimately cost him the presidency.

Anyway, no, I'm not going to talk about this, or any one of a number of equally depressing topics I could have riffed upon. I am instead going to talk about the 'thing' in the video above. This extraordinary clip of film was released to the world today and like millions of others around the globe I find myself fascinated by it. The mysteries of the deep are always intriguing, but every now and again something like this weird entity reveals itself to us, yet offers no answers. Whether in the oceans or on terra firma it is always a thrill when a new species is discovered, but as this oddity lacks consistency with any known species, or even theories, it is proving a genuine head-scratcher. If only it knew what a fuss is being made about it!

No one knows what this creature is, if in fact it is actually a creature at all. Guesses range from a discarded whale placenta to some kind of super-rare jellyfish to, would you believe, a fishing net. I have my own theory, being that it is actually quite simply a typical North Carolinian pro-Amendment One voter out for a swim. I'm not sure my idea holds water, though. Not that it's easy to tell, but this beast doesn't seem to be overtly displaying the requisite levels of bigotry, stupidity and Draconian worldview, so I could be wrong. What is consistent, however, is the lack of backbone, so maybe I do have a point...? The debate will rage on, I suppose.