Tiny Tri Sighting

A friend of mine in Hyattsville, Maryland spotted this tiny guy in a gas station parking lot. I hope he can find his way home!

"I AM DINOSAUR!" - Thinks Local Golden Eagle

Although this item of interest may not match perfectly with this blogs intention of highlighting how dinosaurs are imagined in the modern day - it really is too cool to take a pass on.

Even the most lay-dinophiles support the theory that some dinosaurs evolved to become modern day birds, although this theory didn't gain popularity until the last couple of decades. Its hard for some people to imagine that delicate little multi-colored, weightless birds could be related to dinosaurs - who still exist in most of our imaginations as immense and formidable creatures.

 Of course, folks who only think of 10 ton beasts when they think of dinosaurs aren't remembering all our tiny feathered friends like Epidendrosaurus and Xiaotingia, but thinking about birds as being delicate and minute is wrong, too.

A camera in Russia recently caught this image of a massive eagle taking attacking a deer in the most dinosaurian of take downs.

If this doesnt cause you to start thinking about birds in a new way, I don't know what will. 

 http://strangebehaviors.wordpress.com/2013/09/23/eagle-schools-deer-on-dinosaur-ancestry/

The Traveling Dinosaur - Jay Ryan

Fancy yourself a traveler? Jay Ryan brings this beautiful guy, called "Actual Navigatosarus" to life - complete with his sleeping bag and approach pack.

Those honest eyes just shout, "Let's have an adventure!" Don't they?

View the print here at Gallery 1988. Or visit Ryan and McCarthy's blog here.

The Best Wedding Crasher Ever

Even though the arteries of the internet are clogged with musical proposals, embarrassing engagement photos and wedding flashmobs there is at least one recent wedding gimmick on the web that is fresh and hilarious.  This has got to be the most creative (and I can only imagine the most requested of wedding photographers) bridal party shot of all time. My only question is this - how'd they get that T-Rex to pose like that?

Read more about the now-famous photo here.

In Japan, the Raptor is Alive and Well

The raptor chase scenes in Jurassic Park are as terrifying today as they were in 1993 when the film first came out. Remember shaking along with Lex and Tim, huddled in the kitchen as the giant beast used highly evolved brains and natural hunting abilities to stalk them?

Can you imagine what it would feel like to see that 10 foot tall creature (which is really a Jurassic Park myth, since in real life a velociraptor was about 3 feet tall) come barreling around a corner craving your blood? 

I bet this guy can.

A Dinosaur Fundraiser

While chronicling the presence of dinosaurs in our modern world, I occasionally contribute to the trend. Aside from the dinosaur image that holds a prominent place in my apartment and the army of small figurines that swarm my cubicle at work (I'll follow up with posts documenting these), I recently performed an experiment that measured how popular our extinct friends really are.

I'm training to run the Chicago marathon this year and am raising money for the Red Cross. My original goal was $1500, and I spent a couple months repeatedly emailing my friends and family, sharing inspirational stories of the Red Cross, Facebooking and Tweeting the link to my fundraising page out across the universe. I was feeling pretty good about my efforts. In about two months of promoting my page, I raised 800 bucks (I have super nice friends). 



With three and a half months left until the big day, I felt confident that I would meet my goal.

Then, on the last Friday of July, an ex-colleague of mine who I haven't seen in 5 years messaged me that she saw my link. She said she'd be happy to donate, but in return she'd like me to draw her a dinosaur. Although I've never been much of an artist, and I think she was being sort of silly, of course I said yes. I could definitely draw a dinosaur for a donation to the Red Cross.

In fact, the more I thought about it, I wondered if it would be a good way to raise a few more bucks. I signed into Facebook and updated my status. I offered a personalized dinosaur drawing for anyone who donated to my "Do It For The Dinos" fundraising campaign which would go on for only five short days. I expected a couple more donations.

 In that five days, I received more than 30 donations, totaling $1025 (bringing me to $1825 -- 122% of my goal)

Over a thousand dollars raised in 5 days because friends, family members, and barely acquaintances wanted to get their hands on some limited edition dinosaurs drawings. Because people love dinosaurs (especially anthropomorphic ones). I have completed drawing half of those 30-something requests, and have given most of them to their new owners. The campaign is over, though I could be persuaded to do some more drawings for the right size donation.Here are some camera-phone photos documenting a few of my favorites.

All images are copyright JScribe "Do It For The Dinos" Red Cross Fundraiser