Another view, which shows the plaster in all its glory:

Note the erect limb posture, on a mount from 1908! And please ignore the pronated hands. This specimen needed them to hold its little grandma-style bag

Brian Switek posted a nice description of the story of this mount a while ago, with some info on the poor “Brontosaurus” under it. Go read it

The other AMNH Allosaurus mount (a complete cast, but of very good quality) featured on dinosaurpalaeo before. I’ll throw in another picture – your task, should you choose to accept it, is to spot the German sauropod researcher in it.

and a last one, this one without any funny Europeans in it.

I like how agile the animal is posed, although the feeding scene from 1908 has its own charm.

Warning, this is a noisy blog, you  might need earplugs, because……….

RAAAARRRGGGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!

This post is about whopping great big dinosaurs that make the ground shake when they thud around their prehistoric environment.  They’re BIG, they’re BOSSY, they’re SCARY, they could even BITE you on the bum.

The Battle of the Chocolate Biscuit – T Rex demands dinner!

Sausage loves his pet dinosaurs, and although they are normally REALLY HUGE and BITEY, they sit tamely in his pink plastic tub as I type.  Schleich have minaturised them, how clever are they!

Aw….ickle….wickly….cutsey…..wutesy dinos! All curled up after a busy day.

These are typical of Schleich toys, detailed, durable, accurate representations of the creatures they portray.  They’re perfect for children aged between 4 – 10, and are an ideal size for a child to play with.  Sausage adores his pink tub of dinosaurs and has played with them regularly ever since they stomped into our living room.

Here we have three nestled in their very own dinosaur nest (maybe not historically accurate surroundings).  My kids want a pet dog, it’s not happening any time soon, this will have to do for the moment.  This is as cute as ferocious dinosaurs get don’t you think?

Jurassic Park is set to be re-released in eye-popping 3D, so dinosaurs will no doubt be very popular this year.   With Schleich’s new dinosaur collection your child can happily re-enact prehistoric worlds and adventures in their very own living room, and in their very own plastic tub, or bucket, or fish tank, or whatever you have to hand – they’re not fussy.  Tyrannosaurus Rex will be quite content to roam the sofa eating biscuit crumbs.  I say yay for mini dinosaurs!  Hopefully the kids will stop hassling me for hamsters and dogs and stick insects for a while and be content with these fantastic beasties instead.  I can but hope!

Swooping over the Basil rainforest!

If you would like more information about the new Schleich Dinosaur collection, please click HERE for further information on their products.  Evolution PR sent me some dinosaurs to review, no other financial reward was given.

Just a casual hint….don’t feed them after midnight.  ;O)

Also, I realised that I haven’t posted a picture of one of my favourite models to make.  It’s so simple to make (only valley folds, even though there are a lot of them).  It’s nice to see the flat paper twisting and becoming 3D as you reinforce all the creases.  A bit like making a curve using only straight lines.  Plus, I really like maths, so this appeals to me.

So, anyway, this is a hyperbolic paraboloid (cool name huh?):

Sometime ago, while drifting through countless blogs, I found myself on Mars Will Send No More and I was stoked to see such a large amount of like-minded awesome-ness. We want to thank the minds behind that great blog for turning us onto Ricardo Delgado’s amazing dinosaur comic-book:

Age of Reptiles.

Spanning over 15 years, Delgado has managed to showcase stories of amazing Prehistoric struggles and bloodshed and yet somehow has done so without the use of dialogue or captions… That’s right… No words whatsoever. He tells his tales exclusively with stunning art.

Art like this:

Originally published by Dark Horse in 1993, Age of Reptiles: Tribal Warfare was the story of a pack of Deinonychus and a lone Tyrannosaur battling over a stolen egg. In 1997 he followed with The Hunt. The powerful story of an Allosaurus on a life-long revenge quest with a group of Ceratosaurs. In 2009 /2010 the saga was expanded with another epic installment titled The Journey. Following a diverse group of herbivorous migrating through deadly environments inhabited by hungry predators of all kinds.

We picked up the recently released Age of Reptiles: Omnibus. A 400 page collection of all 3 stories, essays and original sketch art and couldn’t put it down! I strongly encourage everyone to pick it up and enjoy for yourself. Buy it here for $25!

The long-awaited 4th installment was printed last September in Dark Horse Presents #4. Here is a Good article from Dark Horse about the release.

Here are just a few amazing covers and interior artwork from the Age of Reptiles series.

This last one is my favorite. He tells so much with 3 panels… The kill. The satisfaction. The end. Amazing.

Matt Paxton – “Harbour Town” [Listen]
I’ll try and I’ll try and I hope to someday escape
These ghosts that remind me of those moves you once made
‘Cause all I really wish to do
Is be happy when I’m thinking of you
This is Matt Paxton’s second appearance on one of my Playlists, and rightfully so! I had been listening to How the Land Lies, which features this song, but it wasn’t until recently that the song just hit me. The power of songwriting is an amazing thing, when we’re able to relate to a song that began with whatever prompted the songwriter to create it. I got to meet and see Matt play at the beginning of the month and look forward to future shows of his. He is a special talent on the Hamilton music scene that more people need to know about.

Lindsey Pavao – “Skinny Love” (Bon Iver cover) [Listen]
And I told you to be patient
And I told you to be fine
And I told you to be balanced
And I told you to be kind
Say what you want about reality singing competitions, but The Voice wipes the floor with all of them. In its second season, the talent was undeniable. I loved the diversity of the contestants, the coaches, and, of course, Cee Lo’s cat is reason enough to watch. Really. On Team Christina, Lindsey Pavao was one of my favourites, and this Bon Iver cover was her last performance on the show before being eliminated in the semi-final rounds. I’m fairly new to Bon Iver (I giggle every time, saying Bonny Bear in my head) and I did not know this song before the show. It grabbed me immediately and I absolutely love Lindsey’s voice on it. The track has been on repeat for quite some time!

The Carps – “Bo Jackson” [Listen]
I’m the best thing you ever had
If only I had this blog when I first discovered The Carps back in 2007 – I would have championed them to even greater heights than I did! Having the privilege of seeing them live a bunch of times and getting to know they guys, they are truly something special and still remain one of my favourite bands I’ve come across in recent years. On an indefinite break right now as members Jahmal and Neil have jet-setted to different parts of the globe – this track is one of their most recent releases when they put out a few singles last year. This song does it for me every time! Jahmal’s vocals just cut right through to you. Shout outs to J and Neil!

Wildlife – “Stand in the Water” [Listen]
I can be a good friend
And I can be a good lover
I can be a good lover
But I can’t do both of them
No I can’t do both
Another band I was happy to be introduced to on our Tour, I caught Wildlife in April, on what was already a stacked bill. The Toronto band tore up the stage – I was so impressed! They have a hard-hitting sound but also very melodic, which always grabs me. The band name suits them perfectly – simple, yet totally sums them up and their sound. They are a party!

Christian Hansen – “Jessica” [Listen]
I’m feeling guilty ’cause I’m pretty sure I ruined your life
Formerly Christian Hansen and the Autistics, this song was on constant play when I first checked them out. This month I went to see Illitry play at Homegrown Hamilton, and who happened to be opening? Christian Hansen! I was pleasantly surprised to hear they were on the bill and so happy to have heard this top-tapper of a jam live. They were so much fun to watch. Oooh bop bop, bop bop!

Glee Cast – “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” (Whitney Houston cover) [Listen]
So when the night falls
My lonely heart calls
Oh, Brittana. How I love you. With Glee finishing up its third season this month, perhaps I’ll ease up on the Glee in future Playlists. Maybe. Don’t count on it. In an 80s-style video, inspired by the actual video, this number was a fun one during Glee’s Whitney Houston tribute episode. Heather Morris and Naya Rivera are always so much fun to watch and are two of my favourites on the show. But who are we kidding; I love them all!

Young Rival. Photo by me, February 11, 2012 at Casbah.

Young Rival – “Black Is Good”
Don’t know what to do
Still in love with you
Another one of my local favourites, I’m so excited for a new release from Young Rival this fall. This month I had the chance to visit their label, Sonic Unyon, and sit down for a chat with co-owner Tim Potocic to learn more about the label and everything they do. Tim is also behind the incredible Supercrawl, and I came away from our meeting being even more excited for the event (coming this September) than I already was! Tim was nice enough to give me a sampler of some tunes from the label, and this Young Rival exclusive had to be included on my Playlist. I remember hearing this one live when I saw them last. It has such a fun, 50s-inspired, rock’n’roll sound, and I can’t sit still when I listen to it! I can’t wait to hear more.

New Hands – “Tulips” [Listen]
Shake your head and hold my hand, say I’m still important
What better song for one of my spring Playlists than one titled “Tulips”! This is New Hands’ second feature on one of my Playlists. Definitely one of my favourite new local bands, I’m super excited for everything that is to come from these guys. I love the feel of this song – how it steadily moves along and then kicks into that chorus. It required an immediate second (and third, and fourth…) listen when I first heard it, just to take it all in; there is so much going on. Can’t get enough!

Bruce Peninsula – “In Your Light” [Listen]
What am I if not just dust, just dust?
A Canadian band that I’m so happy to have been properly introduced to – I delved into all of Bruce Peninsula’s material when I had the opportunity to interview Neil Haverty for my second Rendezvous. I then checked out their show this month and absolutely loved their live show. They have such a unique, authentic sound; I love the collective of musicians and what everyone brings to the band, including the blend of Neil’s gruff vocals and Misha’s delicate yet rich vocals interchanging throughout the track.

- Kristin

We’re on a roll lately with the fantastic shows happening in Hamilton! This lineup was amazing – Allosaurus, New Hands, Hands & Teeth, and Wildlife. I rolled into Casbah a little early, just in time for one of their craft beer tastings in the Lounge. Casbah’s owner, William “Brodie” Schwendiman has done a terrific job at stocking Casbah full of local, independent, craft beers, and while I’m not yet a beer connoisseur, I can certainly appreciate all of the varieties and what must go into crafting just the right brew.

Be sure to check out Casbah’s first “Brews N Bands” Craft Beer Festival on June 2nd. I chatted with Aron D’Alesio, singer of Young Rival, who was bartending, and joked about my inability to distinguish between beers, much less critique one’s flavour, while swishing the brew around in my cup, trying to look like I fit in at a tasting. Avishka met up with me shortly after I sampled my beer, and then it was time to head upstairs for the show.

Allosaurus

Allosaurus kicked off the night, and right away, Avishka and I looked at each other, and knew we were fans of the Hamilton band. Seeing the familiar set up of an electronic-pop music duo, which we’ve seen before (we’re realizing how awesome Hamilton’s dance/electro music scene is!), we were curious what their live show would be like. As soon as their matching blazers and pants lit up, (yes, lit up!) we were on board. We loved Brad Melle and Evan MacAlpine’s playful onstage presentation; they danced about with no inhibitions, making their set so much fun to watch. A highlight for me was their song “Emma-Lee,” which was recently featured on an episode of Degrassi. Ah, young love. Their closing track, “Hello St. Louis” was also a banger, and they pulled out all the stops for that one, dancing up a storm! Again, I always regret not having glow sticks with me. We really must remember that when checking out these electro acts!

New Hands

Avishka and I were particularly excited to meet New Hands and see them play, after hearing so much about the Hamilton band. We have heard great things about them from major music figures in the City – their producer Michael Keire (and we recently visited his studio where the band has been working away), Lou Molinario of This Ain’t Hollywood, and Mark of Dr. Disc. And now they have the official I Heart Hamilton Tour endorsement (if I may be so bold as to put ourselves in that category), as we are quite smitten with the group!

They have a unique sound that boasts a variety of influences. There are some 80s synth sounds in there (as I noted in my April Playlist, which features “This I’ve Heard”), and they have a more danceable sound than we were expecting, but they also have a darker sound to their music, too. I still can’t get over Spence Newell’s vocals; it’s like he’s channelling it from somewhere else. He even gave us a personal shout out from the stage, which meant a lot! The guys have such a fun chemistry onstage and off; you can tell how much fun they’re having and that energy is infectious. “Whichever Way You’ll Have It” was promptly stuck in my head after the show – love the breakdown in that song. Drummer Gord Bond is also a talented visual artist, having his art featured at McMaster’s Wise Up (the annual School of the Arts exhibition) and winning an award. They are currently working on their debut full length album and I can’t wait to see and hear more from these guys.

With New Hands (Thanks to Evan Bond for the photo)

From one “hands” band to another, Toronto’s Hands & Teeth also put on a great show. Avi and I had only heard of them through Carly, who sent her recommendation. Avi and I liked Hands & Teeth’s set up and particularly liked how much the band switched up their roles, taking on different instruments by trading them off amongst each other and by divvying up the vocal duties. It made for an interesting set to watch and offered something different from other bands. I couldn’t help but notice they have a song titled “Sound of Hamilton,” off their latest album, Hunting Season. How apropos!

Hands & Teeth

Another Toronto band, Wildlife, headlined the show. I had heard of them, but hadn’t given them a proper listen. I listened to some tracks before attending the show and really liked what I heard. Seeing a band live is always a different experience, for better or for worse, and Wildlife’s rip-roaring set was completely for the better! It made me like them even more; they played an amazing set. To continue with our love of theatrics, they had a fog machine, and, although that was not the most fun to breathe in, as we were pressed right up to the front of the stage, it worked; it added a certain mystique. I absolutely couldn’t get over drummer Dwayne Christie, who hammered it out back there like I’ve never seen. I laughed, later on, when I read New Hands’ Tweet: “Spence watching @wildlifeband’s drummer ‘He’s moving so fast I feel like I’m watching a claymation video!’ #swag”.

It was such a wicked lineup – we were very impressed!

- Kristin

Wildlife

a (slightly postero-) lateral view

I like the fairly erect posture of the supporting limb, for once a theropod is not in the perpetual “I need to go to the potty”-crouch we’ve come to be used to ever since Jurassic Park.

And Baryonyx walkeri, the famous Dorking Dinosaur. Slightly anterior view and posterolateral view.

This was hard to get good pictures of, because of the spotlights. Very atmospheric, but very much creating hard shadows, too.

The Tyrannosaurus model, again very un-crouched! Well done

And the very crouched Velociraptors Deinonychi, nearly freezing to death after having been plucked:

Very nice diversity in postures among the skeletal mounts, though! There is much good to be said about the NHM Dinosaur Hall, even if my first post on it may have sounded differently.

For the finale, here’s Gallimimus! I was very glad to see, for once, not Ornithomimus or Struthiomimus, but a different ornithimimid.

All the annoying metal bars and cables in the photos have to be there, I am sorry to say: the walkway and support for the skeletons mounted at the upper level are totally separate from the Hall’s walls! They could do with a dusting, though

T-Rex! Maaf, bukan. Yang ada di sebelah ini adalah Allosaurus. Koq mirip T-Rex? Iya, keduanya memang hampir serupa. Hanya saja Allosaurus lebih kecil dari rekannya.  Katanya sih berat Allosaurus “cuma” sekitar 2 ton. Sedangkan berat rata-rata T-Rex bisa mencapai 5 ton. Apalagi ya bedanya?Jari tangan Allosaurus ada tiga, sedangkan T-Rex cuma punya 2 jari. Kayaknya ini perbedaan yang paling mudah dilihat. Tapi apa iya, kalo sedang dikejar-kerja 2 monster ini, kita sempat-sempatin berhenti buat ngeliat jumlah jarinya? Aduh, mending cepat kabur saja.

As I said, it is a great museum! I came away dissatisfied mostly for three reasons:

• the exhibitions are cramped, especially the dinosaurs,
• the dinosaur exhibition is badly done regarding craftsmanship, and
• much in the dinosaur exhibit is plain wrong!

There are other, minor things to criticize as well, but no place can ever be perfect, and I don’t intend to bash a great museum unfairly. I’ll focus on the building/exhibition space problem first. The content of the dinosaur exhibit and the issues with it will have to wait for another day.

The NHM has a building that was purpose-built for it, but that was a long time ago. Demands have changed, the building is, for good reason, protected to the fare thee well (I’ll post about it later), and thus the museum must make do with what the building offers, without any chance to knock down walls or alter ceilings. That makes it a bit hard to plan a modern museum, a problem that the MfN Berlin also faces. In contrast to London, however, the MfN was build with double-high rooms throughout, whereas the NHM has a lot of low-ceiling-ed passages.

When you enter the NHM you pass through an entrance area, opening into a Main Hall, a day-light flooded “cathedral”. The entrace is prolonged, so to speak, by a grand stair being built into the hall, part of which forms a kind of bridge across the entrance, which is on the hall’s midline. (Don’t get confused: there is another stair on the other side, which is the one you can see behind the skeleton.) The Main Hall is the place to exhibit dinosaur skeletons, and in fact the NHM’s Diplodocus carnegii cast is mounted there.

OK, they messed up getting the full effect out of it by having the souvenir guide stand and other stuff in the way. But when it gets busy there’s people in the way anyways, so the difference is minuscule. But – and it is a sad thing – the Diplodocus (inanely nicknamed “Dippy”!) is the only dinosaur in the entire hall! Seriously!

What the hall is used for today is basically a queuing area (ironically mainly for the dinosaur exhibit), a place for people to spill to when they come out of other parts of the museum, a thoroughfare for going from one wing to the other, a place to rest, yell a the kids, wander around with the mind blank after having seen to much natural history, and so on. There are niches along the sides with a handful of specimens strewn about, including a marvelous glyptodon, but is is a rather lackluster affair. The specimens are behind glass, so that you can’t really see them too well – remember there is a huge, light-flooded hall behind you! Taking photographs? Unless you bring a 2m by 2m black cloth on a folding frame you can forget it (slight exaggeration).

And the glass reflection problem takes us right into the dinosaur exhibit. It is one of those things set up so that you must follow a predetermined path, being herded along on a too-narrow path, so that you can never go back, and even standing still to look at something in peace or take a few photos will quickly result in impatient shuffling of feet and jostling behind you (I could turn this around and say the width is fine, it’s just that there shouldn’t be more than 50 people in the darn place simultaneously). Now, before you claim that this was only the case for me on Friday because the place was packed, let me explain that my colleague Sebastian and I were among the first 50 people to enter the museum, and headed for the dinosaurs within minutes.

OK, we went in, and were immediately confronted by a Camarasaurus (cast) mount! Cool! It could stand being dusted once in a while, but it is cool! The next thing in view is a Triceratops.

Like most other specimens, neither of the two is an especially British dinosaur, or stems from a NHM expedition. Instead, in time-honored tradition, the specimens were bought from various sources. The Sternbergs, Cutler, and many others contributed, and that’s why the NHM has a fairly diverse collection from which to choose exhibition material. In contrast, the MfN is more limited, to “only” Tendaguru, Halberstadt and a handful of other dinosaurs. But that’s not what I wanted to talk about. Rather, look at the picture again – is it up to the standards you’re used to at dinosaurpalaeo?

There are again three problems:
- too little light in the right places,
- too much light in the wrong places, and
- too much glass all over!
I had to use ISO 1600, 1/6 s, f/3,5, focal length 18 mm (the lowest my lens can do) to get a miserable picture! The room is just too friggin’ dark! I can’t afford a 2000 EUR lens, just because some people think science is best presented in a cave! And then that picture is full of reflections, because some smart person decided to have upward-directed spots all over the floor, so that many things are rather brightly lit so they mirror well in the glass. Add this to cramped conditions, and taking good photos gets very hard indeed.

Admittedly, the exhibition designers can’t be blamed for the wide, height, and length of the room, nor for the position of the windows. Furthermore, there are pillars throughout it. But I do blame them for using the available space badly, and for using a rather unfortunate lighting concept. Maybe the latter has to do with the timing of the renovation: LEDs were not available then, and what I would have done may not have been affordable back then. They did one good thing: they put up blinds covering the windows – sunlight streaming into a gallery can really make it hard to see things properly, because it causes such strong shadows.

And, as I mentioned, things are just way too cramped. To solve their problem with insufficient space, the museum installed a raised walkway down the center of the hall. As I said, it is too narrow, and it is also a blight on the eyes. Additionally, it happens to be a dark and quite massive metal structure at the right height for sauropods backs, theropod skulls and various other dinosaur body parts:

Thus, taking pictures becomes even harder, because stepping away from a mount is difficult, and if you manage you have that walkway across your view. Even if it is behind the dinosaur it is irritating and distracting from the desired subject of the photo.

Obviously, the intent of the walkway was good: the hall has a high ceiling, and there would be much unused air space above the heads of visitors and dinosaurs alike, but for the one-story-up passage. And so, in addition to the somewhat unusual perspectives you get of the dinosaurs mounted at ground level, there are dinosaurs mounted (mainly casts, that is!) at the upper level.

An Iguanodon (a British one!)

Massospondylus (cast)

All these and all the other dinosaurs need the be dusted, too. Aside from that they are (I have to admit) well visible, although the poses could use some work.Some, however, are well mounted, including an Allosaurus. In some cases the old building’s pillars make for weird and neat views, too.

Night at the museum or The Relict?

Once the walkway hits the end of the room it goes through an arch to the next one, where it turns into a ramp leading back to floor level. This ramp goes around an exhibit featuring a barely visible Tyrannosaurus robot life model (dark again!). To be honest, it is pretty well made. In fact, this is the best robot dinosaur I have ever seen with my own eyes.

and that’s enough ranting for now! Next time we’ll look at the lower level of the exhibit, where most of the content problems are. I promise a minimum of bitchin’ about the space and light issues.

Oh, yeah, before I forget to mention it: the NHM’s men’s WC is a health hazard! Please, please, please, can someone go and measure the noise level at a kid’s head’s height under the air-blasting hand driers? When both are operating? I am dead sure that’s way beyond any regulation limits! My hears hurt, and I walked out slightly deafened – and my ears were above, not below the nasty hurricane-creating machines! I can’t begin to imagine how a small child with much better ears will feel when exposed to the full roar and blast!

The story follows the life of an Allosaurus, “Big Al,” as reconstructed by forensic analysis of the bones of one of the most complete Allosaurus fossil skeletons ever discovered. I found the second half of the video, which deals with the actual forensic analysis, even more interesting than the fictionalized video of Al himself.

Al was certainly a “live fast and die young” dinosaur. His bones are remarkable not only for being found relatively complete, but for the number of healed injuries they show. How did he get those injuries? The main program gives possible reasons, though of course things may not have happened exactly as shown. But we know he survived broken bones that had time to heal completely and a toe infection that must have lasted for months before his death.

I would like to make two points about dinosaur DVDs in general. First, our knowledge of dinosaurs is changing so fast that is essential to know the dates at which the videos were made! Dates on the cover of DVDs made up from programs originally broadcast on television can vary widely from dates of the original broadcasts. This one’s from 2000; I’ll go back as I find the actual copyright dates on the individual programs and add them to earlier reviews.

Second, for some reason animators feel compelled to have their dinosaurs roaring (or making other sounds) at every opportunity. Now animals do make sounds, and we certainly expect dinosaurs did. But predators, in particular, make sounds at particular times for particular reasons. They may communicate with sounds. They may warn off rivals, or try to intimidate them. They may call to attract mates. They may make sounds to deliberately panic prey. They try very hard not to make a sound when they are trying to stalk prey! Certainly they do not hiss, growl, or roar while setting up an ambush!

All in all, this DVD is worth watching if you want to watch dinosaurs in action, or see what the state of dinosaur science was in the 20^th century. Just keep in mind when it was made.

This is something I decided to do after reading up about Allosaurs on Wikipedia and seeing the Denver Museum of Science and Nature display they have there. You can see it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:DMSN_dinosaurs.jpg

Tried to make it as scientifically accurate as possible, looking up Jurassic flora and all that.

Hope you enjoy!

They had full-size, moving, interactive mockups of the dinosaurs, plus several fossil skeletons:

 

Last Thursday I visited the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture in Seattle’s University District and it was great!

I had been very curious to see some fossils in person since starting work on my online comic, Dinoczars and since the Burke offers the only “on display” fossils in Washington State… A visit was essentially mandatory.

The first thing I was struck by when I walked in was a 22 million year, Brazilian old Terror Bird cast. While not technically a fossil (casts are exact copies of actual fossils) and not a dinosaur at all. The Terror Bird was imposing physically and got me into a dino state of mind.

Once I entered the actual dinosaur exhibit I saw some real treasures.

Like this Triceratops skull or the Archaeopteryx skeleton. (Note the feather wing impressions!)

The feature attraction is the Juvenal Allosaurus chasing down a Stegosaurus.

Here are two close ups of the Allosaurus skull and foot.

Obviously I wish there were more fossils to look at, but for the size of the space and the limited budgets that I’m sure most museums have to work with, I think the Burke Museum does a great job of providing the good people of Seattle with a view of our prehistoric past.

The Raptor model sits above the check out area. She’s sure to send you away thinking about your next visit!

We were supposed to have a show this coming weekend with Allosaurus – a freaking great band from Ontario – but it had kinda slipped our radar and we began freaking out…that’s the freaky part.

The glad part is that they actually cancelled on us and we forgot.  That always sucks but we are totally glad that we don’t have to pull together a show with 6 days notice.

The bummer part is that Allosaurus is a sweet band that we’re not gonna see this March…but…it looks like we’ll get them in here in June??

Allosaurus – Emma-Jane (Official Music Video) from Darkcar on Vimeo.

Nasty creature. Apparently he could jump, too.

Diplodocus “H.Q.1″ (composite) from the Howe Quarry in Wyoming.

The Sauriermuseum doesn’t only exhibit cool fossils, they museum also runs yearly digs in the Morrison Formation. Initially, museum founder, fossil and especially dinosaur enthusiast and professional fossil and mineral dealer Hans-Jakob “Kirby” Siber had the old Howe Quarry (first excavated by the AMNH’s famous Barnum Brown in the 1930s) re-opened when he realized that there was a lot of material on the old quarry maps that hadn’t been taken out. And indeed there was a lot of stuff, even if initially there were mostly isolated elements to be found, and small pieces of carcasses such as short series of vertebrae. However, there was enough material for a composite Diplodocus, and once  the original bone layer had been dug through….. there was more, in fact the entire area proved to be choke full of wonderful fossils. Allosaurus “Big Al“, back then the most complete allosaur known (Kirby soon found out that what he thought was private land where he was allowed to dig was in fact public land; that’s why “Big Al” is today not to be found in the SMA). A few years later followed “Big Al 2″, (again!) the most complete allosaur known.

Skull of Allosaurus fragilis “Big Al 2″ in left lateral view.

“Kirby” Siber had the Plexiglas screen removed for us dino nerds at the Stegosaur Meeting the SMA hosted in 2009 (more on that later), making this and many more photographs without flash reflection possible.

The stegosaur paparazzi gang throwing their attention at “Big Al 2″‘s skull. Left to right: Miriam Reichel, Matthew Mossbrucker, Katja Waskow. Kirby Siber with watchful expression on the right.

Here’s a total of the BigAl2 mount:

Yeah, that’s one of the things about the SMA and Kirby Siber that many scientists don’t expect: while the SMA is a private museum, and Kirby is a private collector and a mineral, gem and fossil dealer, the primary interest is science. AFAIK the SMA’s entrance fees and other income barely pay for the costs plus the excavations, and in some years not even that. And Kirby and the team have been very accommodating to scientists, really going out of their way to make access to specimens easy. The quarry maps of the SMA excavations are among the best and most informative I have ever seen, and having taken part in the digs one year all I can say is that – as opposed, btw, to many high and mighty “proper” research institutions, the SMA does things the right way: thorough, cautious, well-documented, well-equipped!

Also, before you ask: the important specimens are AFAIK owned by a foundation, thus a non-profit public collection comparable to, e.g., the AMNH. Yes, over all the lamenting and whining about private collectors and businessmen ruining fossils many people forget that some of the foremost research and museum institutions are, in fact, private enterprises!

That off my chest let me show you more from the SMA dinosaur collection.

Camarasaurus “E.T.”. Here are some more details shots that I did not post before.

both hands and….

the left foot.

Another sauropod find became quite famous. “Toni” is a sauropod baby, and nearly complete.

The SMA dig also yielded some ornithischians. The first good find was a stegosaur, nicknamed “Moritz”.

More on “Toni”, “Moritz” and the plethora of other dinosaurs at the SMA at a later date.