Comments on: The Bear Lake Monster

By: mystery_man

mystery_man — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 05:49:07 +0000

Yeah, I suppose posters such as jum1801 and jerrywayne are right. This has to be a practical joke. It’s sad that cryptozoology is increasingly the butt of some of these things.

Hoytshooter- Nope, babel fish is still laughable. As someone who has done his fair share of translating myself (Japanese/English), I can honestly tell you that babel fish is pretty awful (at least with Japanese). The only time I have ever used it was to get a laugh out of some of the inane translations it spews out. In my opinion, it is to be used to gain only the vaguest idea of a foreign text and not a tool for those who are serious about translating or understanding the fine points of what has been translated. I suppose some people have no other choice but to use it or a program like it, but I’d say steer clear if you can at all help it.

By: jum1801

jum1801 — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 01:21:44 +0000

I think most of you are missing the point: it’s intentionally bad because it’s satire. The problem with it, and this is a shame, is that so many absolutely serious media releases or media conferences announcing some supposed cryptoid event are so embarrassingly written or managed, that they simply cannot be parodied (e.g., the Georgia Sasquatch Fiasco, more commonly known to the public as the “Those Two In-Bred Good Ol’ Boys Who Put An Ape Suit And Some Pig Guts In The Freezer And Pulled A $50,000 Scam”).

But whether this one was intended by its creators to be a straight bit of satire, or if it was always meant to be a “gotcha” piece about those “loony Bigfooters and Nessie hunters”; it’s going to turn out as another black eye for cryptozoology in general. In a couple of days people like Jon Stewart, David Letterman, etc., are going to run this “press release”…and then show how many “legit” cryptos bought it hook, line and sinker.

***sigh***

By: Rogutaan

Rogutaan — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:18:36 +0000

Oh my God… Just wow. I’m somewhat of a grammar Nazi, but this is just beyond words. My head hurts from reading it.

By: jerrywayne

jerrywayne — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:36:41 +0000

To be technical, “shotgunning” beer is the act of turning an unopened can of beer upside down, making a hole in the bottom for venting, then holding the beer can (still upside down) above your mouth (head tilted back)and “popping” the tab. This will cause the beer to rush out almost all at once, and you try to drink the entire can of beer with a few gulps.
Juvenile, yes? (Kids, don’t ever try this at home, or anywhere else!)

Although I am unable to view the video, the first “news” article still looks very much like a parody to me. “Uncle Marty”? “Shotgunning” cheap beer? Obviously mismatched photo and inset? (The scenario played is the stereotypical scoffer’s “lake monster sighting” explanation, a red flag indeed, as well as the ancient map likeness of said sea serpent). Come on guys, this is satirical!

I mention this because it does cryptozoology no good to have adherents unable to discern a “punking” or practical joke.

By: zogstar67

zogstar67 — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:10:20 +0000

Keystone Lite is a brand of cheap beer and shotgunning is something rednecks and frat guys would do, that and the character’s name lead me to strongly suspect that this was originally written as a parody. Not well-written, mind you, but I doubt the author intended anyone to take this seriously.

By: Mnynames

Mnynames — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 22:10:28 +0000

As soon as I saw Loren talking about relics from the last Ice Age, I knew he was referring to a Giant Beaver rather than the old hack of a Plesiosaur. There probably is no way you can say something intelligible on tape that someone, somewhere can’t take out of context and spin a different way. ::sigh::

By: loopstheloop

loopstheloop — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 21:00:03 +0000

We need more lake monsters that feast on the illiterate frauds in this field.

By: Hoytshooter

Hoytshooter — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 20:12:06 +0000

The way this so-called “press release” is written almost sounds like a very poor babel fish translation from some other language. I haven’t had anything translated with babel fish for a long time so I don’t know if it has improved any since my last use. I have to agree with every one that this definitely leaves a lot to be desired.

By: cryptidsrus

cryptidsrus — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 18:54:26 +0000

Shoddy writing, indeed.

The fact that I’m an English Major just adds to the discomfort.

Like Jerrywayne, I actually thought for a second this was some sort of “ONION” -type parody here. I guess not. Like Mystery_Man so aptly put it: FAIL.

By: geekomancer

geekomancer — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 15:23:33 +0000

Odd… I recognized one of the images from the video as the so-called “Daedelus Sea Monster.” I had a book on sea monsters from the 80s that had the drawing in it.