The Scorpion King..

Actually it's name means Scorpion Hunter. Skorpiovenator was one of those freaky Abelisaurs. Here's an interesting article on the find. That way I don't have to type stuff and try to eat at the same time;)

I know they look freaky.... but I like it!

And Baron, it's NOT a harpy;)

Best,

Brett

Torvosaurus Rex?

This is the standard restoration of Torvosaurus, found in the Midwest of the US, it was a 30 to 40 foot long theropod. Unlike Allosaurus, this guy had a big head with larger teeth. Sort of like an early version of T.rex, it hunted the large sauropods like Diplodocus and Camerasaurus. Being so large Allosaurus was it's only real competition.









This is the skeleton of Torvosaurus gotten from the web, I can't remember the site, sorry about that, but it might have been 2 Guys Fossils. Notice the long head an big teeth.












Now this summer a new specimen was found in Europe, it was claimed to also be a a Torvosaurus since at this time Pangea was still together (all the continents were one smushed together land mass) so dinosaurs from N. America could go any were. Cool. But the thing is if you look at this restoration draw from the new skull presented, you'll notice the skulls are pretty different.









Notice how short the new skull (below) is, notice the bosses and nasal ridge are different from the N. American specimen. It actually looks like a new species. But here's the kicker, the new skull is based off of a fragmented partial skull consisting mainly of the maxilla. The part behind the nasal opening and in front of the eye. If you compare the two skulls the part is pretty much the same, so why is the rest of the skull so different?













It looks to me like they were a little to influenced by Tyrannosaurus rex (shown below.) It might just be an accident but the new skull restoration looks an awful lot like Sue. Maybe they wanted to crown a new king in Europe were the fossil record is spotty at best.

That's all for now, a new Abelisaur, a new Dromeosaur and another Spinosaurus later:)

Best,

Brett

New project teaser

I just got the final approval on this, so here is the left half of the first promo piece. Monsters!

Baron, I know that DB is planning on doing a very similar marketing strategy for this project as they did for Anita Blake.

Erin, I got the dinos scanned. So I should be doing some posts about it this week... or rather this week end;)

Computer Graphics Mark, could you send me a link to your blog? Jess changed the comments and now the names don't link to the profiles so I can't find it. My brother (also a CG guy) wanted to see:)

And they did wind up putting in a Festivus Pole in Washington:)

Best,

Brett

Happy Holidays to All Our Readers

Click to embiggen.

Eustreptospondylus

Another one I found on the computer that I didn't upload. From merry old Briton;) I'll call him Arthur.

Apparently it's now thought to be an early spinosaur, you know before the funky heads. He's managed to capture a little plesiosaur and is letting everyone know about it. Mid Jurassic I believe:)

Best,

Brett

Blog Hits

We usually get a lot of hits on the blog from Brett's entry on Wikipedia. Lately the Biden post got a lot of hits, and the Tamiflu post gets hits in cycles; there will be four or five a day for a week and then nothing for a while. The Dinosaurs are also very popular.

Today we got one from Tuscon, Arizona, searching for "brett booth Jess Ruffner-Booth address tx." Stalkers? Or maybe they just want to send us a Xmas card?

A quicky sketch

I drew this in February, since I haven't put up any new dinosaur stuff I thought I'd stick it up. A hypothetical baby Spinosaurus eating a bug.

Best,

Brett

If You Have Ever Done Anything Totally Pointless...

...just because you can, this video is for you. HT Effective Measure.

A Little Xmas Music

The local radio stations have been playing Xmas music since Thanksgiving, having added five or six holiday songs into their regular daily rotation of about twenty songs. So yay! We get to hear the same thing over and over again. Like usual, only now with added Xmas! Here's two songs I like that I haven't heard yet this year.

Thou Shall NOT be a Hypocrite!

An Atheist sign was stolen from the capitol building of Illinois. This is not the first time this has happened this year, it also happened in the capitol of Washington. Both states have been getting complaints from who, you guessed it the Christians. In Washington the Christians sued the State last year to get a nativity scene put up. The State settled and in the settlement they now allow ANYONE to put up a display, this year an Atheist groups did just that. But I have to wonder, if we are supposed to get our morals from on high and these Christians are really so holy, why they can't reist the urge to steal. I mean this should be an easy one, but I guess their morals apply only to their way of thinking, not to any one elses. You fight for the right to display your religion on government property but pitch a hissy and actually steal from someone else trying to do the same thing. Nice, how very religious of you.

Now I think the sign the Atheists put up is a bit inflammatory, but I think that's the point. To get all to see that maybe the government should keep neutral on this as it is supposed to. No religious (or non religious) displays on state property. The sign might be a bit over the top, but you don't see the Atheists steeling things from the nativity displays. (On a side note, someone wants to stick up a Festivus Pole as well. I think THAT would be funny and everyone would like it... well everyone except the Catholic League and Poppa Bear.)

For the record, the Christians took the holiday from the pagans, they had the decorated trees and yule logs long before the Christians showed up. These are symbols of the winter solstice festival. It is known that Jesus (if real) would have been born late spring, early summer. Christmas has now turned back into a secular holiday, a time to get together with friends and family, eat and exchange gifts.

So is their a war on Christmas? Nope, it's all in Poppa Bear's head. The reason people prefer Happy Holidays now is that it's pretty much all inclusive as there are a number of holidays for a number of faiths all around the same time.

Best,

Brett

Coelophysis

Ugh.. Tired today. My head is killing me so I can't work. I need to scan stuff but I have to get this promo piece done first...

Anyways, 2 new dinosaurs have been found, one in South America that sort of fits between Eoraptor and this guy Coelophysis. And then a new sauropod from the Sahara about 65 feet long.

Hopefully new dinosaur pictures this week!

I saw Wanted, it was pretty good. I don't get why everyone loves Angelina Jolee, she's way to skinny for me, she needs a sammich. I was hoping for a new Matrix, but was disappointed.

I have yet to watch the new Batman, X-Files, or Hancock. Hopefully Batman tonight as this is the season of nothing on TV.

Best,

Brett

Keep your teddy bears under close guard tonight...

...because undead plush have come back from hell to walk the earth. Buy one for your sweetie at ZombieRunner (actually a running, as in faster than jogging, store.) It's kind of cute. I wouldn't let dogs play with it, though, you'd never get the pieces back.

Merry X-Mas!

Since it's the season for religious iconography I thought I'd post this... Just kidding, honestly I'm not really sure were the idea of the Grim Reaper comes from... but this isn't him. It is in fact, a character design for my next project. Lots of demons and monsters for me to have fun with:)


Best,

Brett

It Came Upon the Midnight Clear

Still through the cloven skies they come,
With peaceful wings unfurled

From Wondermark. HT Lassie Get Help.
The rest of their cards are equally clever, check them out.

A Funny

From Flea Snobbery:

HT: Pharyngula

TV: Revenge of the Nerds

I love nerds (the preferred term in our household is 'geek.') I married two of them. (Not at the same time.) Geeks and nerds on TV or in the movies, are, for us geekophiles, a kind of private joke. You always know somebody 'just like that.' (And there are many kinds of geeks, you can see an entire subspecies of geek, the Dog Geek, in the movie Best in Show.) There is plenty of cross-over in geekdom, so one kind of geek can certainly relate to and enjoy another kind. One of Brett's favorite shows is the Big Bang Theory, which features science (physics) geeks, which are by default comic/sci fi geeks as well. Interestingly, they spend a lot of time getting the science right:
"UCLA Professor of Physics and Astronomy David Saltzberg is the science man behind the curtain, and many of the punchlines. He also writes equations on the set’s white boards. "Physicists love to nitpick, so for the 100 in the 10 million people who might watch the show, I try to get it as close to 100% accurate as I can," Saltzberg commented in an interview with USA Today."

Incidentally, I enjoy this show a lot more now that Leonard seems to have given up his pursuit of Penny. Sorry, that was a relationship doomed to failure.

Too funny!

Free Comic Book Day

A cover I was asked to do for Free Comic Book Day. Harry Dresden, some guy from the Warriors, and a super heroine. All three are in the DB free comic book.

And no, I don't know when FCBD is.

Best,

Brett

Crylophosaurus redux

I've been informed that Crylophosaurus has now been placed into the Dilophosaur group of dinosaurs. I couldn't get a strait answer if it's now thought to look more like Dilophosaurus or not (they only have a single skull that's from behind the nostril back so it's not known if it had the distinctive nasal kink of the group.) This species was found in the Antarctic area, the name means 'frozen crested lizard.'

On another note, Jess has informed me that's I've made the list of American Atheists on Wikipedia. I noted that John Byrne is also on the list. Funny world. I have no idea how to update my Wiki entry ( Steve Miller of Freaks! fame did the original) so I'll have to trick Jess into doing it;)

Best,

Brett

Keeping Warm

Some of our regular readers know, five years ago we lived in our van for about nine months. Through the winter. It wasn't fun. But we did learn some things that may be useful to help those of you living in cars, poorly insulated buildings, or tents, to keep warm this winter. This goes beyond all that 'seal things up', blah blah blah stuff you get from the electric company, which is fairly useless anyways if you don't live in a house.

(An aside to those stupid bitches that disparage the poor people who have to give up their pets because their home has gone into foreclosure, you know, the ones who insist they would 'live in their car with all their pets' before they would give them up. You, shut the fuck up. I've done it, it's NOT easy, and we had a piece of property to park our van on. You probably wouldn't last a week.)

Sorry about that, but it needed to be said. On to keeping warm.

First, heat rises. I'm sure you know this. But many people do not take advantage of it. To do so, all you need to do it lower the ceiling. Fasten a sheet or blanket a couple of feet down on the wall, to create a false ceiling. It will keep the heat down where the people are.

Second, cover the windows. If you need light and don't really care about seeing out, you can use double-sided tape to fasten bubble wrap to your windows. This will insulate the window. You can also buy heavy drapes, or make them. Draperies work best when they fit tightly to the side of the windows so cold air doesn't infiltrate the house. Windows in a car can be covered from the outside with a car cover or blankets, or a cover can be duct taped to the inside. Those shiny things meant to keep the sun out also work pretty well.

Third, if your walls are poorly insulated, cover them. Hang blankets or sleeping bags on the walls. You can also suspend them from the ceiling a few inches away from the wall to create an air-space between the blanket and the wall that is insulating.

The fourth one is for your pets. If you are keeping the heat down to save money this winter, please get down on the floor where your pets are and see how cold it is down there. Provide an elevated bed or thick bedding for your pets. Inexpensive sleeping bags work well to reflect the pet's body warmth back to it, and little dogs will enjoy going down inside the bag. A 'dog sweater' for a medium or large sized dog is cheap to make from a child or small adult sweatshirt; just cut off the sleeves and split it up the back, place it on the pet, and tie the two sides of the split together to snug it to the dog's body. We used sweatshirts for our Greyhounds each winter, to help keep them warm. The cut off sleeves make good sweaters for small pets, just cut two leg holes and use the cuff for the neck. Pets who have trouble keeping warm will lose weight in the winter; a little extra fat in the diet will help, if your pet tolerates it. A good dog house is a must for outdoor dogs, indoor dogs might appreciate a covered bed or pen to sleep in.

Fifth, if you actually are living in a car, tent or box, try to get a propane heater. We recommend the Mr. Buddy heaters. They have an automatic shutoff if the oxygen gets low so are safe to use indoors, and can be attached to a barbeque sized propane tank with a hose. There is another brand called Dynaglo which we do not recommend, they do not usually last the winter. If you use a heater that does NOT have an automatic shutoff, crack a window near the heater or your friends might be reading about your death from carbon monoxide. You can get a CO2 detector that runs on batteries from Walmart for about twenty-bucks; a good investment.

Sixth, cover your head. It might seem stupid to wear a hat or hood in the house, but it's useful for sleeping when it's cold, you won't lose as much of your body heat.

Seventh, hang a sheet or blanket over the opening to your outside door. It will keep warm air near the ceiling from escaping when you open the door and keep the room a lot warmer.

If anyone else has any tips, please feel free to add them in the comments.

Cameron was right!

Some pictures of a strange squid, looks like something out of The Abyss. This was sent to me by Art, he's getting the FF piece, Deadpool and a few others.

Also a new transitional turtle fossil was found, it only has the bottom part of the shell. Read the article if you're interested. And they say there are no transitional fossils;)

Happy Turkey day everyone, it's grey here, no sun, ugh.

Best,

Brett

Morality Meter

So, on the questions... how did YOU do;)

Brett

No more moral high ground

A new study shows that religious beliefs are actually BAD for society. Heres a little teaser in case you don't want to read the article:

“In general, higher rates of belief in and worship of a creator correlate with higher rates of homicide, juvenile and early adult mortality, STD infection rates, teen pregnancy and abortion in the prosperous democracies.

“The United States is almost always the most dysfunctional of the developing democracies, sometimes spectacularly so.”

Cool, but this is the best part;):

"The non-religious, proevolution democracies contradict the dictum that a society cannot enjoy good conditions unless most citizens ardently believe in a moral creator.

“The widely held fear that a Godless citizenry must experience societal disaster is therefore refuted.”

So I guess we don't need morals from on high to succeed.

Anyways here's a shot I did of Duecalion for Dean Koontz's website. I'm told it's going to be animated:)

The first 5 issue will be available in hardback on February 3rd.

Best,

Brett

Aerosteon riocoloradensis

A new Theropod I mentioned a few months ago. I finally got around to scanning it. It appears to be a late surviving Allosaur from South America. It's important for 2 reasons, Allosaurs seem to have died out around 150 mya while this guy was found in sediments only 84 million years old, and they to have mostly hollow bones. Most dinosaurs did, but not to the extremes this one has.

It was about 30 feet long and the restoration (which has only a few parts of the skull so this is pretty speculative) was based on earlier Allosaurs.

Neat!

Brett

Geekery: the Half-Blood Prince

Old Testament Exposed

Do you think the stories in the Old Testament are fairy tales? The producers of Nova do. It's a interesting article about a Nova special that premiers this week (it's on at 7 on Tuesday here, but PBS channels are funny so it might be different for your local area.) I'll be watching, sounds interesting. I won't say anything more until I actual watch the show.

Best,

Brett

Next project

I can't say what it is yet, but here are a few sketches, I've changed the file names just to make sure I don't spill the beans to soon.

More and some more commissions soon.

Brett

Deadpool

It's clobberin' time!

It's time to smack some Christians! Well....only if they get to upity, so you in California have a job to do and you can add Mormons to the list as well! I still can't believe the intolerance last Tuesday. Thanks for forcing your religion and bigotry on others.... splitters.

So for you're viewing pleasure it's time to take a stand!



Hat tip to Stupid Evil Bastard

On another note, why don't you vote for Brian Switek over at Laelaps. Help him get a nice scholarship to finish out his schooling!

Sorry I've been off-line for a bit helping some friends move. Busy, busy, busy.

Best,

Brett

I suck again!

I happened across this today: The Annotated Anita Blake: Vampire Victim.

I read a few of the posts. These guys REALLY don't like me. It's good for laugh and I needed one:)

Best,

Brett

Thriller Revisited

I am bringing this up from Steve's comment on my Thriller overkill post because it is really quite fascinating.

François Macré - Thriller (reprise A'cappella 64 pistes)

Two More For You...

...before I stop wasting time and downloads on YouTube. Cannot tempt the evil gods of FAP.

If I Hear 'Thriller' One More Time...

...I am going to run around screaming in circles until I collapse and dogs jump all over me. (Dogs think they are being greatly helpful by jumping on you when you fall down. Trust me on this.)

How come Halloween brings out 'Thriller' by the zillions but no one plays Everyday is Halloween? A question for the ages.

Just for you, children. Happy Halloween. And before anyone asks, yes, I was a goth, once upon a time.

Why 'Chuck' is Evil

Brett has 'shows' that he watches religiously. Several of them. (That is much easier now that we have a DVR. Before, there was often shouting, rearranging of feeding schedules, and much whining.) I don't watch much tv, and if Brett is gone I don't actually turn the thing on at all. I keep maybe a third of my attention on those shows I like.

One of Brett's favorite shows is 'Chuck', a fantasy/spy sort of thing on Mondays. It's a cute show. Cute guy, cute girl, fun plots. It's also gotten very evil lately. Why evil? Some people behind the show have been putting a lot of eighties and early nineties music on. Tunes that wake up dormant memories (not always good ones) and get stuck in your head. A couple of weeks ago it was Air Supply. Last week it was Mmm-Bop. What the hell is that, the Hansons or something like that? Evil. This week...well, this week was worse. It was "The Touch." If you are about my age and were at all geeky, you will recognize it. Suddenly I was sitting in a theatre with 240 little boys and wondering if Optimus Prime was really going to die. Sad, sad, little geek girl.

Evil. Evil evil evil. I hate you, Chuck people.

(edit: Air Supply was on this week, Jess was thinking Huey Lewis and the News- Brett)

Fantastic Four

So I'm finally getting to these commissions. I have a few others done but they need to be scanned. I revamped the costumes a bit, but I think this is the best Thing I've done yet. I've never been a big FF fan but Terrax was fun to draw:)

Up next, Deadpool, more cowboys, and Pumyra from the T-cats. And some more dinos;)

On another note. we won't be moving to New Mexico. So I'm going to try to get this place winterized in the coming weeks:)


Best,

Brett

Interview for Dinosaur George

I did an interview recently for Dinosaur George.

I just happened to check his blog and it was posted:) So if you want to ask him some questions or listen to me babble incoherently on another blog go check it out;) George, is the creator of Jurassic Fight Club, which is always good for some monster action and various other DVD's he's currently doing. He goes around to schools and educates the public about.. what else Dinosaurs! Check out his website for more info:)

I'd love him to come up to El Paso but I doubt the people here would be very interested, the city has like 20 museums, but if it doesn't have anything to do with the Mexican culture (which is rich and full and on every street, they really hit you over the head with it here.) The city won't support it. They had a private dinosaur museum and they asked the city to help them built an actual Natural History museum, the city was not interested, even though they have dinosaur trackways here. A natural history museum, might not be cultural but it IS EVERYONE'S HISTORY. That's what happens when you cater to the tourists. I'm ranting incoherently again... I need to stop that;)

Best,

Brett

And God said SUE!

So a fellow comic artist and Atheist by the name of Martin Wagner, creator of the comic Hepcats, has had a lawsuit filed against him, by a creationist. And why has this happened? Well this creationist posted something on Richard Dawkin's web page about 'proof' of gods existence. Basically Martin ripped him a new one and hurt his feelings, so much so that this 'man of god' accused him of being a drug addict and a pedophile by altering Martins wiki page (I actually saw the changed page, it has since been changed back.) You can read all about it on the blog Martin made to give you all the juicy details;)

So this creationist has filed a lawsuit against Martin, and Martin is fighting back with his own suit. But lawyers cost money so if you read his story and want to help out, he's giving away a t-shirt with a $15.00 donation. I don't know him but after reading everything that happened I am happy to help him out:)

Best,

Brett

Palin as president

http://www.palinaspresident.com/

Oh very fun!

Hat tip to Pharyngula.

Spinosaurus marocannus

So here's the situation, there might actually be 2 species of Spinosaurus. One from Egypt (Spinosaurus aegyptiacus ,) which is all the original material that was lost in WWII, including a partial lower jaw, a few neck vertebrae and some of the back bones with the 'sail' (these were found jumbled together in a bone bed along with crocks and other animals so they might not be from the same beastie, which is why I don't always draw the sail.) And the other consisting of a partial skull or maxilla (it's the front part of the skull containing the upper teeth,) along with a crest, was found in Morocco.

It is ASSUMED they belong to the same animal by some, and others think it's 2 separate animals. As you can see the Morocco specimen, which this drawing is based on, had a MUCH more gracile head, so much so that when the original Spinosaurus lower jaw material is added it looks...well comical. We won't know the actual truth about either of these animals (or would that be the truth about THIS animal?) Until more specimens are found:)

Brett

New Spinosaurs all toned up

This is the Spinosaurus I mentioned the other day. I added a quick tone while Jess was doing the dog food.

I think I was trying to composite the new skull material with the original stuff, but the skull is a little to thick and massive on this one.

I'll have to try again:(

Horse Lubbers

We've been inundated with these Grasshoppers this year. I don't know why they are called Horse Lubbers, or even what a Horse Lubber is (sounds illegal), but evidently when there's enough rain the eggs hatch and you get great swarms of these things. This one was in a bin out by the water tank this morning. They are about two and a half inches long.


The dogs love them. They make great toys. Unfortunately, they are also 'toxic' and make the dogs sick when they eat then. We've had a couple get quite sick, with vomiting and lethargy, after eating one. For a while we would grab them up and toss them over the fence (the Grasshoppers, not the sick dogs), but they just come back, so now they get squished and tossed over the fence. Only other Horse Lubbers will eat the carcasses, the ants and other bugs don't touch them. They are supposed to taste bad, proving that dogs have no taste buds. Or perhaps the wriggly crunchy texture is too good to pass up.


They are really quite pretty, and have lovely crimson wings that they use for display. This one is a male; the females have bigger butts and smaller wings.


Here is a blog with much nicer pictures, and some pictures of their open wings.

Open mouth, insert gun...

Remember this is just MY opinion, feel free to disagree with me:)

Now I'm going to do something I don't normally do, shoot myself in the foot (hmmm on second thought I think I do this a lot!), but I grow tired of hearing how great this book is. The book I'm talking about is called: Dinosaurs: The Most Complete, Up-to-Date Encyclopedia for Dinosaur Lovers of All Ages. Written by Thomas R. Jr Dr Holtz and illustrated by Luis V. Rey. Now I have other books with Rey's art he's the guy who draws the extreme foreshortened dinosaurs, while it's interesting and dynamic sometimes the color choices bother me, but that's not important.

Why didn't I like this book? Well it was boring... very boring. I'm sorry Dr. Holtz, but I found the book dull. It had a few facts that I thought were interesting but it just didn't work for me. I think it's the 'just the facts' mantra of the new paleontologists, no speculation just facts...it sort of takes the fun out of Dinosaurs, it's like going to school to learn and you are told to read the chapter and answer the questions. You read the chapter with the dull, dulcet sounds of Ben Stein in your head, you answer the questions and then your brain dumps the info. I NEVER learned anything this way. You don't get any vivid images in your head reading this, you don't flash on what life might have been like in the mesozoic. It just a steril white lab. And while the text was boring the art was... well, please take away Mr. Rey's computer and photoshop, he should not be allowed to use them until he gets some proper training.

As I said before I have other books by Luis Rey, I'm not a big fan of his painted stuff, but I do quite like his pencil work, there's a flow and force to it. In the book A Field Guide to Dinosaurs: The Essential Handbook for Travelers in the Mesozoic by Henry Gee and Luis V. Rey, Rey's pencil stuff is my favorite, and there is a lot of it. In the Holtz book.... he tries his hand at doing the dinosaurs all on the computer, they look lumpy and squishy, they don't integrate into the background photographs he keeps placing them into, the colors are muddy and unattractive. It looks like someone trying to do a bad impression of his usual energetic art. The computer is a wonderful tool....if you know how to use it.

But the biggest thing that irks me about this book isn't the book itself, it's the other paleontologists and bloggers who keep saying how great it is. I've read some great dinosaur books, Gregory S. Paul's Predatory Dinosaurs of the World, Robert Bakker's Dinosaur Heresies. THOSE were some great books, both written and illustrated by the authors. Dinosaurs: The Most Complete, Up-to-Date Encyclopedia for Dinosaur Lovers of All Ages is not one of them. I don't understand why everyone keeps falling over this book. I can only guess that Hotlz is now considered one of the 'big boys' and no one wants to tell him the truth? He seems like a nice guy (but the 'wait for the paper' mantra of his drives me insane.) Is that it, you don't want to hurt his feelings? He's a big boy, I'm sure he can take it. And what about Rey? Why is his art so popular? Is he the Jack Kirby of paleoart? Is that why I don't like the art and everyone else does (I was never a Kirby fan, I understand what his art did I just never liked it)? Maybe I just don't 'get it'? It's entirely possible, I zero in and limit what I like and dislike quite quickly. If anyone has any other idea please let me know!

So why am I shooting myself in the foot? Well for years I tried to get into the paleoart business. With little to no success. And now I'm criticizing what others consider a great achievement. I'm just a lowly peon in the world of paleoart and I fear if Holtz or Rey actualyl read this I may very well get 'black listed'. It's happened to me before but I do believe we all have to take a few stands here and there. I've come to accept that I will never be welcomed into the paleoart community so why should I keep my mouth shut any longer? I draw dinosaurs for fun, I will not stop even if the majority of paleontologists don't like me. I don't care.

And I'm spent;)

Brett

Connecticut Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Gay Marriage

From the decision in Kerrigan v. Commissioner of Public Health (emphasis mine):

"We conclude that, in light of the history of pernicious discrimination faced by gay men and lesbians, and because the institution of marriage carries with it a status and significance that the newly created classification of civil unions does not embody, the segregation of heterosexual and homosexual couples into separate institutions constitutes a cognizable harm."

More here and here.

Brett and I are married. I don't remember for how long, I think we got married in '97. (We count the years of our relationship from our first date, not from our marriage date.) We got married for all the usual reasons: tax breaks, ability to make legal medical decisions for each other, if one of us dies the survivor will get all their stuff without any legal wrangling from the relatives. That kind of thing. For us, a piece of paper marking the legal recognition of our relationship was not important for validation of the relationship, but I can see where for some people it could be extremely important. Emotionally it could be a great lift to be able to legally marry your loved one. Especially for a group that is, in general, discriminated against, and who may still feel the need to hide their relationships from their family. Plus, we have gay friends, and if they want to get married they should be able to. Personally, it strikes me as kind of hinky to say "I love my gay friends, but they shouldn't be able to marry if that will make them happy. Marriage is only for straight people." Some friend that would be. 'Separate but equal' didn't work before, and there is no reason to believe it should be acceptable now.

On a related note Arkansas plans to drop their ban on unmarried foster parents:

"The agency [Department of Human Services] said it would end its plan to formalize the prohibition, which has been in place since an executive directive was signed in 2005. The department said it will instead propose allowing state workers to place foster children case by case."

The Arkansas Family Council, a conservative group, is backing an initiative for the November ballot that would ban unmarried people from adopting or fostering children. They admit that the initiative is aimed specifically at same sex couples, but also acknowledge that it would affect heterosexual couples as well. Talking about biting off your nose to spite your face. Or in this case, to spite the children. Nice people.

Unnamed dinosaur

They recently found 17 teeth from a carcharadontosaur in South America (they have special 'wrinkles' on their teeth so they are easy to identify) but teeth is all they found. It's not really that important they found teeth, it's were they found them, or rather when. It was thought that these carcharadontosaurs died out 20 million years before the demise of the non-avian dinosaurs. But these teeth seem to show that they (comprising, animals like Giganotosaurus, Mapusaurus, and Carcharadontosaurus) made it to the end of the Cretaceous. Cool! So I drew this a few weeks ago, it's ENTIRELY speculative since it's based on 17 teeth but I used it's close relatives to make the rest up.


In other dinosaur news another large meet eater was found in South America, Aerosteon riocoloradensis. The interesting thing about this beast, is that it appears to be a late surviving allosaur, or at least, a close relative. Allosaurus lived about 150 million years ago and this guy managed to hang on until 85 million years ago, that 65 million for the math impaired;) And it's changed very little. When you got something that works you stick with it! You will hear that this animal had air sacs and such and it's a big deal... well not really, it did have air sacs, but MOST dinosaurs had them (at least the theropods and sauropods,) even the big ones. I still need to do a drawing of it, I have one started just not finished yet. I also have another spinosaurus that I don't remember drawing, I'll post that one soon.


Best,

Brett

Just for the fun of it.

Here's the finished version of that teaser I posed awhile ago. Colors by Andrew Dalhouse:)

On a dinosaur related note, check this out, Giant 'toothed' geese!

Not an actual goose but a relative with a 5 meter wing span (that's over 16 feet for you who live in the US.)

Season 2 of Chuck starts tomorrow, just an FYI.

Brett

I Hate People

more animals

Forget morals, what we need right now is brains!

I just read this interview with Sarah Palin.

After reading this ,and a few others, I still can't believe McCain and Palin have a shot! I'm tired of people saying they want a blue collar everyman as President. Don't take offense, but most people are stupid, why would you want someone like that as President? Don't we have that already? It's obviously NOT working. 'But Palin's a soccer mom, she knows how we feel!' No she doesn't, she could care less how you feel. Stop playing dumb.

Sorry rant over, I could go on but it will get really mean. My head hurts... Maybe she could go hunting with Cheney? We'll have to give him a bigger gun this time;)

OK, this is the last post on the election, promise;)

Best,

Brett

New Mexico

This the property we're looking at in New Mexico. There are a lot less bushes there than here.

Klingons for Jesus

Really. HT Pharyngula.

So what do you see?

I got this off Pharyngula.

So what do you see? I see Jimmy Hendrix with a long beard, Jess sees Anton LaVey in a wig with ponytails.

I've also heard Charles Manson. But let me know, I'll reveal the 'correct' answer later:)

Best,

Brett

Important safety tip!

Click on image for full size fun!

If you see an Atheist kids, run and tell an adult, they might get you! Or they might teach you evolution! Run away!

Found on god is 4 suckers.

I don't always agree with them, but this picture was funny.:)

I'm not usually that grumpy, in fact I'm usually fairly happy....

Now get off my lawn!

Brett

Deltadromeus

This guy has been passed from theropod group to theropod group. It now appears to be member of the Noasaurs (sister group to the yesasaurs.) This fella could grow up to 40+ feet long, it ran around with spinosaurus and Charcharadontosaurus. I did this one awhile ago, it's actually partially colored but then I kept getting headaches from the computer.

Very Punishery

When I was doing this page I couldn't help but think of the Punisher. I never liked that book.

Actually now that I look at it again, it reminds me of a practice page I did YEARS ago when I was in college, the movie Terminator I think.

Oh my dog...

So I just read this. Two year old starved to death

Jeez.... I can't even form a decent thought about this..... THIS is a case where and eye for an eye actually sounds good to me.

On a side, and much less enraging, note. Jurassic Fight Club will now be on Wednesdays at 10 eastern on the History Channel.

A random vampire chick.

Best,

Brett

The Sky is Falling

Clicky to embiggen.

Stuff

So Jess and I are looking at some property in New Mexico, not that far from were we are now in Texas. It's MUCH closer to a fairly large town (they have a (SuperWalmart.) It's a bit of a headache but in the long run I think a good idea. So I'm going to have to find another trailer we can live in whilst building. We're going to keep what we already have here just in case the animal rights wackaloons manage to take over New Mexico and we're forced to leave, having this place already set up will be a help;)

This is Fran, she's sort of my revamp version of the the Bride of Frankenstein.

I'm hoping to finish Frank 5 in the next 2 weeks, then off to China it goes for printing. So while the trade will be done it will take 3 months to get back to the states. Strange but true! Well back to the drawing board!

Dream project

So Frank asks 'What's my dream project?'

That's actually pretty simple, anything I own! LOL! I Don't really have a dream project outside of that. I'd really like to do a dinosaur book like Dinotopia, but without the humans. I'd like to finally get to do Primal Instinct, or Lifeless, or another project called Soul Searching or do that blasted Eden story. I've done a few 'dream projects' before but they never seem to turn out the way you want them, too many hands in the pot.

Maybe after I get my next project done I'll be able to take some time and do one of these but I'm not holding my breath! Oh wait, I'm sort of doing one now, the Dinosaur book!

In other news, I happened across this show last week called Middle Man on ABC Family. It was quit quirky and fun, so I watched it again last night. Too funny. I'm hooked. It's on Mondays at 8pm. If you like strange, funny and interesting dialog this one's for you.

Reminder: Eureka, Jurassic Fight Club and Evolve are on tonight!

Image of the Zombie Lord I did for that sketchbook we never got around to. I managed to scan some more images besides Frankenstein stuff but I'm in the pig push to get #5 done (the Trade Paper Back needs to be sent to China on the 31st of this month to make it out by the ship date so we're all stressing:))

Best,

Brett

CryoQuestions

So cryostar77 asks...

'How much do you like drawing the Thundercats, which is your favorite to draw and would you ever draw them again?'

It sort of depends. I quite liked doing the original pitch designs fro the revamp with Dreamwave. The WS one was just work, John tried to make it more fun (thus the Dogs and Dinosaurs) but since I didn't have any story input it wasn't really my cup of tea. It was a bit too light for me.

' Did you really think that the dogs should have won the Dogs of War series?'

I don't have any idea how it ended LOL! I can't remember it! But seeing as how it the Thundercats book, I guess they should have won;)

' If you had only have one type the rest of your life, big or small dogs and why?'

Well I guess my Salukis. The afghans are a ton of fun but all the hair is a bit of a pain. Plus they are just fun to watch:) I just prefer the sighthound personalities.

'Museum of Natural History is now offering a full size replica of a T Rex skeleton, how keen would it be to own that?'

Pretty cool, I'd prefer an Acrocanthosaurus or Giganotosaurus, but that's just me, I'm not a huge T.rex fan. But were to put it.... I did just get a Papo Allosaurus, not that big but still pretty cool.

' I notice you don't do a lot of insects in your anthropomorphic sketches, what do you have against them? *cackle*'

I quite like the bugs, the problem is getting actual reference I can use of their heads. I can't draw their mandibles if I have no idea how they look;) I have several books of insects but most of the pictures just aren't good enough. We actually have this fricken huge beetle that's about 5 inches long that flies around here with giant pinchers. And I have done the praying mantis, my personal favorite bug.:)

Best,

Brett

Tch's questions

TCH asks:


' Firstly I'd like to you how you keep up to date on the paleontology. You seem to read up quite a bit so I wondered if you had subscription to some journal?'


Well, I read several blogs with dinosaur themes:

Tetrapod Zoology

Laelaps

Then there is the Dinosaur Mailing List.

I'm not on the list anymore but I read the archives, they are usually a day behind.

And then of course Yahoo news has some good stuff. I sometimes get papers but they are usually pretty hard to get through.


' Secondly, did it ever occur to you to start up some dinosaur comic, either something in the style of Raptor Red or the classic Cadillacs and Dinosaurs? '

Yep, in fact I even drew 5 pages of it, but I didn't have the time to do it. We even had this cool thing planned so that when you put your cursor over a new dinosaur a fun fact would pop up. I'm hoping to have time too do the panel to panel stuff for the dino book. I inquired about doing Raptor Red for Dabel but it didn't sell that well so Random House didn't want to do it. Maybe one day:)


'Also some dragon sketches would be interesting to see :)'

I don't have any sketches but will a Pern fan picture work? It's got a Dragon:)

Best,

Brett

Happiest Moment Question

This is a tough one from Frank. To be honest I can't think of one singular moment that's the 'best.' I'm a 'Happiness is in the little things' kinda guy. I was really happy to get to work at Wildstorm. I was happy to get Jess. I was happy to get the Anita Blake license (two of them sort of blew up in my face (I won't say which two;)) Some of the happy moments aren't suitable for the blog;) Still other's I can't talk about in public.

I know the women will be saying, 'Of course it was when I proposed or when we got married.' But I was more nervous about the proposal part and the 'wedding' part was really just a formality and a cookout. Plus, I'm a guy and we really don't think the same way, trust me, we are way to gross for you;) If we actually told you what we were thinking about you would NEVER touch us again.

So I think I'll go with finding out about the 3rd printing of Anita Blake #1. Sure I've had books sell far more than the 60,000 copies but this was a book I picked to do well years before we even got to start it.

Best,

Brett

Jurassic Fight Club on tonight!

Also, that Evolve eyes things will be on after it. Both on the History channel. On the Scifi channel, Eureka season 3 starts tonight. Woohoo! Good night for sitting and vegging!

Enjoy!

Brett

Qestion 2

Frank, Jess will answer your question, she's a better story teller than I am:)

Sorry this took so long, our power inverter died and we only had power during the generator running time. I got a new one yesterday so all is well:)

Next question:

'What do you do to get the creative mojo flowing?'

I'm assuming your talking about the art..right, nudge, nudge, wink, wink, say no more;)

It sort of depends, it might be something as simple as watching a dinosaur special on TV or just getting the urge the draw some animal people. Sometimes I just think of something I think is cool and off I go to the drawing board. Mostly they are just done when I'm in the mood to do them, the other stuff, comics and commissions... Well that's totally different.

Basically I do them because we have to eat. Some times it turns out to be fun, usually I'm just trying to get to the end of the book. To get the comics done I have to get in the 'groove' popularized in the great Disney movie 'The Emperors' New Groove' it also called the 'zone' by athletes. It sort of a frame of mind. Basically I have to NOT think about anything else, I generally just let everything else sort of fall by the wayside for a bit to get stuff done.

I have also been told that if I'm depressed I don't do anything other than the work, I stop drawing anything new and creative. It's how Jess tells my moods;)


On another note, the remnants of hurricane Dolly plowed through the area this weekend. The weather idiot guy Doppler Dave said we'd get .25 inches of rain....we got over 2. Good job!


On another note entirely a recent fossil has come to light! Yes humans and dinosaurs did walk the Earth together, the Flintstones had it right! NOT! This is so totally a fake it's not even funny.... well actually it is, since it's so bad. Go here for more info here.


Best,

Brett

Dead but Dreaming...the Cthulhu Tract

Y'all know what Chick tracts are, right? Those little religious comics with the really obvious moral lessons. Well, here's a Cthulhu tract. Enjoy.

Weirdly, the guy in the Cthulhu tract looks like my first husband.

Test I took

This was the result. It's actually fairly accurate:

My Liberal Identity:

You are a New Left Hipster, also known as a MoveOn.org liberal, a Netroots activist, or a Daily Show fanatic. You believe that if we really want to defend American values, conservatives must be exposed, mocked, and assailed for every fanatical, puritanical, warmongering, Constitution-shredding ideal for which they stand.

Take the quiz at www.FightConservatives.com

I'm still laughing, they figured me out in 7 questions!

Best,

Brett