Wednesday, May 13

Icky Stuff

13th May
I’m quite hardened to the sort of stuff that might make some people leap up on stools and scream. This project is, in effect, an anti-squeam boot camp. Last weekend Barney came in thoroughly grumpy from a failed fishing session, he’d taken a box of maggots out of the insect fridge to use as bait, on his return he stuck the half-full box of maggots in the food fridge … and it wasn’t properly closed … and during the course of the evening the box was knocked over … I discovered this the next morning…

For the cockroaches we made a sort of Barbie Doll House set in a three-sided box, this had to look like a corner of a kitchen with tiled sides and formica base, accessorised with a chopping board, a knife and food items. Before we let any cockroaches loose we had to devise security:

A large wooden box was lined with thick black plastic and filled with water (a sort of square paddling pool), there was a platform island in the middle of it, here we placed the set and then we airlifted in the cockroaches, any actors wanting to leave the set were thus slowed down by the moat.


Cockroaches are my final frontier, I don’t like touching them if I can help it, but all the other stuff; flies, ants, snails I’ve got terribly fond of. How can you not love creatures like this?




One of the programmes we are making looks at the human desire to destroy insect life and the quantities of products on sale to that end. We can’t show real brands so we have thought up some product names Bug-R-Off, Zap'em Dead, Flies Undone, Ultimate Doom etc., then we printed out labels and used them in our shed set.


21 comments:

  1. I told you cockroaches are intrinsically disgusting.

    You could take empty bottles with real labels, fill them with water and them film them doing no harm to the bugs, thus showing how eco-friendly the products are. Or am I missing something?

    ReplyDelete
  2. I feel bad now for slinging two snails that were on my geranium leaves. Damn this guilt

    ReplyDelete
  3. Inky - I'm guessing that you're not really a Child of Nature

    Frenchie - your cakedness has gone all single - are you going to morph gradually into Cherry Bakewell or Treacle Tart?

    ReplyDelete
  4. I can't begin to tell you how many cases of "Flies Undone" I've gone through.

    ReplyDelete
  5. The human desire to kill insects, and snakes, and all other mammals, anything that might eat a human food crop (bunnies) is a source of great dismay to Topiary.

    Why can't humans realize they should share the world, not eradicate every other thing?

    Cow happy to see pretty snail picture, will refrain from picking them up though, and still wondering about the maggots in the fridge (did they go all over?) Did they get out the door?

    Cow very looking forward to seeing the film.

    Moo!

    ReplyDelete
  6. "Cockroaches are my final frontier"

    Someone seems to be on a Star Trek theme today!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'm not jumping on the bandwagon here, but I try not to kill insects.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Why can't humans realize they should share the world, not eradicate every other thing?.
    .
    Humans find it difficult to share the world with humans let alone insects and animals!
    Sx

    ReplyDelete
  9. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  10. MJ - Is 'Flies Undone' also the name of a Fine Wine by any chance?

    Mrs Cow - still wondering about the maggots in the fridge (did they go all over?) Did they get out the door?
    Maggots all made their way to the salad crisper

    XL - Someone seems to be on a Star Trek theme today!
    I live every day in a different genre - tomorrow I may do Dickens

    Emerson - Now I know that you're not an insect murderer I'll get on that cheerleader's charabanc for Burridge with Madame Defarge and Scarlet

    BB - "Flies Undone" undoes many a man

    Scarlet - Humans find it difficult to share the world with humans let alone insects and animals!
    That's why we have to leave them out on the porch!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I quite like snails and slugs so long as they're not in my garden. I do get extremely annoyed when snails try to get my attention by scraping their shells along the glass of the living room window.

    I very much draw the line at cockroaches. I have a complete "eek" moment when I see them. You have my sympathy there.

    ReplyDelete
  12. bugs? fish? maggots? i am definitely going to be back to check in on your adventures. thanks for stopping by on cheastypants!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I like to think that I try to love all living things. But I must say that I have to make an effort to over come my first instinct. That being in short, quick scream, followed by the urge to throw up. But as I said I am trying to grow and over come. So I take a deep breath and think a good thought. Then softly nudge the little creatures on their way and as I quickly go in the opposite direction. Maybe someday they and I can become true friends. Maybe.

    ReplyDelete
  14. They're some great names of insect destroying products you've chosen. How about also: Bee-Gone, He-Wasp-Asking-For-It, Ant-E-Christ.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Kev - The glistening lines criss-crossing the kitchen are a bit irritating too.

    Cheasty - Lovely to see you here, I think the gross-out theme will continue

    MS Wenham - I did have very similar feelings about a lot of bugs, I bet you will become fiends with the little creatures in the end.

    Gadj - Ant-E-Christ.
    Total genius

    ReplyDelete
  16. Im shivering at the thought of maggots loose in my fridge. My son wanted to store pinkies (dead baby mice) in mine and I insisted on double wrapping and storage in the one we use least often but it still gave me hives.

    I bet Gil Grissom from CSI is your pin up of choice :P

    ReplyDelete
  17. I am squeamish about very few creatures. But cannot do maggots. Sorry. They make me want to vomit. Otherwise, I am very Buddhist about all creatures.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Miss Cake - Does your son keep snaks by any chance?

    I'm off to check out this Grissom chap

    Ian - we all have our 'Room 101' thing.

    ReplyDelete
  19. LOL... No, I vetoed those. He has various types of frog.

    ReplyDelete
  20. PS Grissom has left CSI to follow his heart but he stars in the first seven or eight series and is gorgeous in a very enigmatic way :)

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts with Thumbnails