I can’t disagree about the photography in “Planet Earth.” It is, indeed, brilliant. I would add that the music is extraordinary too, as well as Attenborough’s exquisite commentary.

Erich, I’ll add Blue Planet to my ever-increasing Attenborough dvd wish-list (you should check out “The Private Life of Plants”). I just got a gift card for his brilliant “Planet Earth” series, shot all in HD. Best footage ever.

Halloweens at that house were always a treat; where our neighbors put out artificial ‘webs’ made of cotton or plastic, all we had to do was not brush them back from the doorway. I recall one particularly cocky teen asking ‘how did you get them so real looking’ shortly before realizing that the multiple inch long spiders he was peering at were actually alive, moving, and looking right back at him. What was even neater was the reaction of the little kids, who would stare in rapt fascination as the spiders rebuilt bits that had been pulled apart by the previous wave of trick-or-treaters.

Your description of the spiders vying for territory by “sumo” wrestling was delightful. It’s easy for me to forget that it’s always “serious” out there in the backyard for all the players. It’s always a matter of life and death for them, even though for us it’s often a chance to admire their beautiful “styles” of surviving.

The sumo description reminded me of David Attenborough’s description of fighting corals. They come out at night and fight for territory too. You can seem some incredible video of corals fighting in Attenborough’s ocean series titled “Blue Planet.”