tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-389022502024-03-13T06:26:51.512-07:00When Pigs Fly ReturnsWhen Pigs Fly Returns is a paleo-themed blog featuring original art and occassional rants.Zachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08692080707969333711noreply@blogger.comBlogger601125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38902250.post-5426356296121367252012-06-24T17:11:00.000-07:002012-06-24T17:12:20.333-07:00Still Alive! I Promise!So I'm still not dead.
But I am posting far less often, as you can probably notice. The good news first, though: I am "stable" in terms of health. I'm still on a full-time PICC line IV, though. Ironically, I actually don't have one right now. However, that's because I had it pulled on Wednesday (it broke) and I'm getting a replacement tomorrow morning. So I'm still on an antibiotic and there's no end-date. So that kind of sucks, but you know what? The PICC line isn't really a hassle. Seriously, I just "plug in" to my meds every eight hours and I don't even give it a second though. I had one from August 2011 to December, and then January until Wednesday, so I assume this next one will last six months, too. If we all cross our fingers, maybe I'll be rid of this damn <i>Mycobacterium abscessus</i> by then.
By the way, how hilarious is it that the <i>Mycobacterium</i> species I have has the same name as the medical condition that got me to this point in the first place?<br />
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Oh, you have to laugh at these things.<br />
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I was also able to go to E3 this year. That was...you know, stressful. I lost some weight but none of meds were interrupted (miraculously). You can read all about E3, including several articles from me, over at Nintendo World Report. Now then, the bad news.
I'm about a year out from completely recovering from my brain abscess. At that time, I had concerns because my desire to draw and write had both taken a nose dive. But my brain surgeon was reasonably confident that my creative tendencies would come back. They really haven't. Hell, I barely even play video games anymore if they're on a handheld. Isn't that weird? I think it's weird. However, I have taken up podcasting more seriously. I've been on NWR's Newscast/Connectivity podcast for about three years now, but I started up my own show, the Frozen North Dinnercast, over at www.crosstawk.com and it's great fun.<br />
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And I'm forcing myself to write again. Hence this post. Sure, I'm doing writing for NWR, but it's not creative. It's not about science or dinosaurs. I may quit this particular blog entirely and start a new one, I haven't decided yet. It won't be on Blogger. I didn't like the format before and now they've changed it and I HATE it. I already have a Wordpress blog (Dirty Little Figures) that I just posted two articles on, so the next iteration of When Pigs Fly will probably end up there.<br />
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So that's the update. Don't know if the drawing bug will come back, but the writing bug is coming around. I have a post written and ready to publish, but I just need to draw some crayon drawings. It should be pretty good, as I'm in full-on condescending snark mode--my favorite mode. Stay tuned!Zachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08692080707969333711noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38902250.post-37867894332474942912012-03-31T20:46:00.004-07:002012-03-31T20:52:51.552-07:00Two New Leptoceratopsids Push the Boundaries of Artistic Inferrence<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3tc-O_FbkZ0/T3fPrqAWU4I/AAAAAAAACUk/zPbMe7B6etU/s1600/Leptos.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; height: 248px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5726273800141951874" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3tc-O_FbkZ0/T3fPrqAWU4I/AAAAAAAACUk/zPbMe7B6etU/s320/Leptos.jpg" /></a><br />Have you heard? Two new basal neoceratopsids were discovered in Canada. Their names? <em>Unescoceratops koppelhusae</em> and <em>Grphyoceratops morrisonii</em>. They’re leptoceratopsids, a somewhat hazy-but-currently-monophyletic group of small-bodied, small-frill horned dinosaurs from (mostly) North America. <em>Unescoceratops</em> was named based on a fragment of the left mandible. Originally regaled into the genus <em>Leptoceratops</em>, Michael Ryan realized it was unique. <em>Gryphoceratops</em> is known from a piece of lower right mandible. Among its interesting features is size: an adult would not have grown two feet long, making it one of the smallest—if not the smallest—adult dinosaur known.<br /><br />This is all well and good. It increases the diversity of the group and gives us information about the initial dispersal into North America. It’s also nice to find small dinosaurs, period: fossils of anything smaller than, say, a troodontid, is pretty hard to come by. Tiny things just don’t fossilize very well. Here are the mandibular fragments from both taxa!<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1X-6NcS6vME/T3fQRZhi8EI/AAAAAAAACUw/Ll06cF31iSA/s1600/Lepto%2BFossils.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 282px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1X-6NcS6vME/T3fQRZhi8EI/AAAAAAAACUw/Ll06cF31iSA/s320/Lepto%2BFossils.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5726274448552816706" /></a><br /><br />Wow, there's just not a whole lot there, but it hasn't stopped Julius Csotonyi from painting that beautiful life reconstruction of both animals (above)!<br /><br />Gorgeous thought it might be (and it is), one wonders what the utility of such a painting is, given that these two animals are known from...say it with me...<em>fragments of the mandible</em> in both cases. This painting is begging to be invalidated down the road. Oh, sure, phylogenetic inference can tell you something about the general form of these animals, but nothing specific: there's considerable morphological distance between, say, <em>Udanoceratops</em> and <em>Cerasinops</em>. It's a beautiful picture, but I have a hard time with the idea of painting an entire animal based on the most fragmentary of material.<br /><div></div>Zachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08692080707969333711noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38902250.post-73476458799555131732012-03-06T19:10:00.006-08:002012-03-06T21:02:41.651-08:00Toroceratops: Revengeance<strong>WARNING:</strong><br /><p>The following blog post is about "Toroceratops." I've taken heat for my views on "Toroceratops" in the past, and I expect this time to be no different. You should know that it is EXTREMELY ranty and, at times, kind of pissed off. I am FULLY aware that my frothing guile may have caused me to misunderstand or misconstrue certain things. If that's the case, please correct me in the comments. This rant is not so much an actual, serious rebuttal of "Toroceratops" as much as it is my personal problems with how the discussion is being carried out. </p><p><strong>THAT SAID, please continue.</strong><br /><br />As Quilong said over on <a href="http://qilong.wordpress.com/2012/03/02/the-thing-i-like-about-toroceratops/" target="_blank">his blog</a>, the "Toroceratops" controversy continues, but in an excellent way: each new paper that comes out not only attempts to rebut the previous one, but also provides priceless new information on <em>Triceratops</em> and <em>Torosauru</em>s in the meantime. Perhaps the best part is that this back-and-forth is available (mostly) freely to the public thanks to that bastion of our Shiny Digital Future, PLoS One:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0032623" target="_blank">The initial paper</a>, unfortunately published in JVP;<br />Andrew Farke's <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0016196" target="_blank">redescription of <em>Nedoceratops</em></a>;<br />Scannella & Horner's reassertion that <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0028705" target="_blank"><em>Nedoceratops</em></a> is a transitional Trike;<br /><a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0032623" target="_blank">Longrich & Field's attempt to suss out age based on skull suture fusion</a>.<br /></p>But here's what bugs me: In both rebuttals to "Toroceratops" (by Farke and now Longrich & Field), Scannella and/or Horner come back and basically say "those variables you tested scientifically in an attempt to create some kind of growth rubrik for <em>Triceratops</em>? That shit's way too variable, yo. Can't be used. Not phylogenetically significant."<br /><br />"Epioccipitals? Please. We've found Trike skulls with <em>asymmetrical </em>numbers of epioccipitals. There is an <em>insane</em> amount of variation there. Orbital horn core angle? Dude, are you kidding me? Nasal horn size? Well, <em>Nedoceratops</em> might be clear at one end of the spectrum, but let me tell you--there's a <em>spectrum</em>. I've seen it!<br /><br />"Skull suture fusion? Allow me to break up the party: we've got <em>Triceratops</em> skulls that are from big adults who don't have all their skull bones fused up. And the opposite, too: small <em>Triceratops</em> skulls with fused skull sutures! See what I did there? I blew your effing mind. <em>Tatankaceratops</em>, baby. Think about it."<br /><br />Now, look: I am fully ready to accept that there are some freaking wierdos out there, but you haven't shown your work. You have given me one transitional morph: <em>Nedoceratops</em>--one of the most controversial ceratopsid skulls in history. It has <em>three names</em>. Out of hundreds of <em>Triceratops</em> skulls, this is the only one you can point to that has parietal fenestrae? And even then, these particular fenestrae are in wierd places that don't match up with <em>Torosaurus</em> really at all. And it's got that irritating squamosal fenestra that just doesn't look healthy.<br /><br />Please dig through your massive collection of <em>Triceratops</em> skulls (over 100, apparently, in Montana alone!) and pull out another contender. I know you've got one. Don't hold out on us.<br /><br />Oh, and the epioccipital thing? You'd like to think that the reason <em>Torosaurus</em> has more epioccipitals than <em>Triceratops</em> is due to two factors: epioccipital count is apparently extremely variable in that basement full of <em>Triceratops</em> skulls you have (thus influencing how many the eventual <em>Torosaurus</em> morph would have); <em>maybe</em>--now work with me here--the epioccipitals in <em>Triceratops</em> split, like an amoeba, into two distinct epioccipitals. As evidence, you're point me toward...<br /><br />The episquamosal of MOR 2975. The point has been worn down, which you folks suggest is because of "splitting." Yes, good. That's the <em>most likely</em> answer. Has epiocciptal splitting been demonstrated in <em>any other ceratopsid</em>? Hell, the fact that you can't find more than one potential example of epioccipital splitting--what with your baseball stadium filled with <em>Triceratops</em> skulls--is just a hair troubling.<br /><br />In fact, remind me which ceratopsid currently known from a good growth series (like <em>Pachyrhinosaurus</em>, <em>Centrosaurus</em>, or <em>Ajugaceratops</em>) demonstrates such a spectacular morphological change <em>late in life</em>. Now <em>Pachyrhinosaurus, </em>man, he goes through one helluva puberty phase. But it happens surprisingly early, and at a constant rate. And it seems like lil' <em>Ajugaceratops</em> provides a damn good basis for adult <em>Ajugaceratops.</em> And in all three examples (<em>Centrosaurus</em> included), the juveniles have parietal fenestrae!<br /><br />For <em>Triceratops</em> to transition into <em>Torosaurus</em> requires some pretty heavy special pleading. I'm not comfortable with that. I need more evidence. I need people to <em>show their work</em>. You've got a boatload of <em>Triceratops</em> specimens? Great. Publish some kind of photoessay, either in a print or online journal or, hell, Ye Olde Internet, showing me and everybody else the full goddamn range of <em>Triceratops</em> variability, which as you keep saying, is insane. Prove that there is <em>not a single effing skull variable</em> that cannot be explained away as either age-related, and therefore not phylogenetically informative, or individual variation, which must be staggeringly huge. Midline epioccipital? Nope. Number of epiossifications? Sorry. Horn size/angle? No dice. Basic things like timing of age-related characters? Not gonna happen.<br /><br />Look, <em>Pachyrhinosaurus lakustai</em> displays some pretty widespread individual variation, too, but at least we know it's <em>Pachyrhinosaurus lakustai</em>! It's not like <em>Einiosaurus</em> has a mid-life crisis and transforms overnight (thus hiding all transitional evidence) into <em>Pachyrhinosaurus</em>. That's not really how this works. <em>Pachyrhinosaurus</em> is diagnosable across the spectrum of individual variation. And hey, <em>Triceratops</em> clearly is, too. The question is whether all that individual variation has anything to do with what <em>Torosaurus</em> looks like.<br /><br />I mean, it's one thing to say that <em>Triceratops</em> occupies a wide range of individual morphological variation. I can buy that. But it's tough for me when you start saying that <em>Triceratops</em> exhibits an incredibly wide range of individual <em>growth timing</em> variation. I know, I know, you've got that warehouse full of <em>Triceratops</em> specimens. One might be a big individual with little skull suture fusion, and one might be a small individual with lots of skull fusion. So, in theory, ANSP 15192 could just be a Trike that hit its growth spurt way too early, and <em>Tatankaceratops </em>is the Trike equivalent of Benjamin Button. But here's where my problem is: given that <em>Triceratops</em> apparently ages as fast as it goddamn pleases and exhibits more variation than <em>Varanus</em>, <em>how can we adequately test the "Toroceratops" hypothesis</em>?<br /><br />Is nothing sacred? What kind of rubrik can you use when <em>there is no rubrik</em>? Scannella continues to argue that bone histology and microstructure is the only real way to figure out who's who, but we've already seen that the growth dynamics of <em>Triceratops</em> are apparently not set in stone. All you can really tell is whether <em>Triceratops</em> (or <em>Torosaurus</em>) is still growing or not. Just because your <em>Triceratops</em> is still growing does NOT mean that <em>Torosaurus</em> is the obvious next step. Can we get some postcranial, long-bone histology done? If all the <em>Torosaurus</em> skeletons are older than <em>Triceratops</em> skeletons, then slap my mouth wide open--THAT is good evidence.<br /><br />Or wait, maybe it's not. After all, <em>Triceratops</em> wasn't keeping a firm growth schedule. ANSP 15192 might just be a <em>Triceratops</em> that started its transition <em>really early</em>, while the <em>Triceratops</em> individuals who appear to be older than ANSP 15192 just decided they liked having short frills. It's hard for me to believe that <em>Triceratops</em> figured out how to avoid the age-related growth dynamics that shackle the rest of us.<br /><br />You can't sit there and tell me that, out of all the ceratopsids known and studied, and in fact most animals in the world, <em>Triceratops </em>was unique in its growth timing and morphology. <em>Tyrannosaurus rex</em> has a wierd growth curve for a tyrannosaur (or, indeed, any big theropod) but guess what? It's consistent! You can age a tyrannosaur. You apparently can't age a <em>Triceratops. </em>There must be certain morphological characteristics that appear at certain age ranges. Hell, it's been demonstrated for <em>Triceratops</em> by Horner & Goodwin! Are we abandoning that research now? The full range of variability in <em>Triceratops</em> apparently wipes out the morphological characters that define each age class, so are we just fucked?<br /><br />I need consistency. I cannot abide it when Farke or Longrich & Field come up with testable cranial characteristics and they are basically brushed aside with this "that variable is too variable" comment. Meanwhile, <em>Torosaurus</em> must be <em>Triceratops</em>. Because THAT variable is <em>not</em> up for debate. It's clear as mud.<br /><em></em><br />And what about all the strange variations on <em>Triceratops</em> that have cropped up lately? <em>Tatankaceratops</em>, <em>Ojoceratops</em>, and <em>Eotriceratops</em>? Are they all just somewhere on the incredibly generous bell curve of individual variation on <em>Triceratops</em>? I mean, they probably are! Shit, you could probably find other chasmosaurine genera that fit in that range of variation. Let's get <em>Arrhinoceratops</em> in that line! Aside from the slightly squared-off frill, he doesn't look too horribly different. And there are probably plenty of <em>Triceratops</em> specimens with slightly squared-off frills.<br /><br />My point is that <em>there needs to be a testable rubrik</em> for "Toroceratops" to work or even <em>not</em> work. You can't just say "<em>Triceratops </em>is really variable, therefore <em>Torosaurus</em>." There have to be established baseline growth trajectories. I will say this: I am NOT opposed to the "Toroceratops" hypothesis. If it's true, it's intruiging and, apparently, unique among ceratopsids. But there is SO much more than needs to be done, and I don't like how the conversation is going. I don't care how much data you have if you're not sharing it with the rest of the class.<br /><br />That is all. Rant over. I have a PowerPoint to work on.Zachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08692080707969333711noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38902250.post-7638666078824406052012-02-24T19:35:00.002-08:002012-02-24T19:37:58.064-08:00Random Alvarezsaur<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MZxePkN2UwI/T0hXN0iEUPI/AAAAAAAACUY/GzHpVUCmP6Y/s1600/Shuvuuia.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; height: 186px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5712912022270922994" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MZxePkN2UwI/T0hXN0iEUPI/AAAAAAAACUY/GzHpVUCmP6Y/s320/Shuvuuia.jpg" /></a>Trying to get back into the drawing habit. This was the result. Maybe it's <em>Linhenykus</em>? It's not clear. He's cute though, right?<br /><div></div>Zachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08692080707969333711noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38902250.post-40137119273677733122012-02-16T20:06:00.000-08:002012-02-17T00:16:18.438-08:00R.I.P. Power GirlAs many of you know, I dabble in comics from time to time. With DC's New 52 launch, I've picked up a few books with the intention of long-term reading: <em>Batman</em> (excellent), <em>Catwoman</em> (on the fence), <em>Wonder Woman</em> (good until they changed creative teams), and <em>Animal Man</em> (amazing). Around the same time, IDW started publishing a reboot of <em>Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles</em>, and it is WONDERFUL. Then, even more recently, IDW started a new <em>Danger Girl</em> series. So you could say I'm down with the comics right now. But for the previous two years, the only comic I read was DC's <em>Power Girl</em> series.<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kluxzhkGI0M/Tz3TKTVWlmI/AAAAAAAACRw/Mf-2SIBBQ0w/s1600/AC%2BPeeGee.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; height: 210px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709952076517643874" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kluxzhkGI0M/Tz3TKTVWlmI/AAAAAAAACRw/Mf-2SIBBQ0w/s320/AC%2BPeeGee.jpg" /></a><br />This is PeeGee as drawn by Amanda Conner, who as far as I'm concerned is the only artist who should be allowed to do so. This picture illustrates everything I like about the character: she's brash, tough, willing to punch first and ask questions later, and she has a unique body type among all the DCU women. Power Girl is a little heavier than your average Starfire or Black Canary. Her breasts are bigger, her hips are hippier, her figure is more hourglassy. And, for the most part, she's always been portrayed like this.<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Q-RXox8H_VI/Tz3T25cK1qI/AAAAAAAACR8/BdnBDg8e5F4/s1600/Old%2BPeeGee.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; height: 282px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709952842661025442" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Q-RXox8H_VI/Tz3T25cK1qI/AAAAAAAACR8/BdnBDg8e5F4/s320/Old%2BPeeGee.jpg" /></a><br />Her costume has always been pretty consistent, aside from some bizarre and ill-advised changes, like this one:<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZipAfwyQXKo/Tz3UGJIN0UI/AAAAAAAACSI/WUg3A18Mb40/s1600/Blue%2BPeeGee.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 116px; height: 320px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709953104570339650" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZipAfwyQXKo/Tz3UGJIN0UI/AAAAAAAACSI/WUg3A18Mb40/s320/Blue%2BPeeGee.jpg" /></a><br />That is HORRIBLE. I cannot unsee it, and there's a similarly terrible costume that's white and gold and it's a full body suit and I'd rather not talk about it. I blame the 90's. But the traditional Power Girl costume has been a white one-piece bikini, blue boots, blue gloves, a gold shoulderpad, and a red cape.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rY8cwJoCtII/Tz3UbfWrMTI/AAAAAAAACSU/Y8rjaLRKOWE/s1600/PeeGee%2BSmaller.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 231px; height: 320px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709953471313817906" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rY8cwJoCtII/Tz3UbfWrMTI/AAAAAAAACSU/Y8rjaLRKOWE/s320/PeeGee%2BSmaller.jpg" /></a><br />Oh, and a "boob window." Although she hasn't always had it (scroll up a bit), Power Girl's costume usually includes a hole where Superman's symbol would be, displaying her not-inadequate cleavage. I certainly don't mind this, and most readers probably don't, but unfortunately, Power Girl has come to be defined by this "boob window" almost as much as her short blonde hair and color scheme. And it's been the source of some amount of scorn: Power Girl's cleavage gets an undue amount of hate, especially in the face of characters like Starfire:<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Au2uWf8iTUM/Tz3V-mKe3UI/AAAAAAAACSg/WKWDzRYEx7g/s1600/Starfire.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 208px; height: 320px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709955173948775746" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Au2uWf8iTUM/Tz3V-mKe3UI/AAAAAAAACSg/WKWDzRYEx7g/s320/Starfire.jpg" /></a><br />And Catwoman:<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PVLW8L9z2qg/Tz3WbZmTalI/AAAAAAAACSs/RPvZ6JmwfXw/s1600/catwoman-0IMG_00192.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; height: 311px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709955668792011346" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PVLW8L9z2qg/Tz3WbZmTalI/AAAAAAAACSs/RPvZ6JmwfXw/s320/catwoman-0IMG_00192.jpg" /></a><br />Power Girl's suit seems downright conservative by comparison, but her rack is bigger, she's bigger, she gets an undue amount of hate.<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7DoVGGz2jvg/Tz3W_DEuuaI/AAAAAAAACS4/q0rAB_e3vnQ/s1600/PeeGee%2BCartoony.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 219px; height: 320px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709956281220905378" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7DoVGGz2jvg/Tz3W_DEuuaI/AAAAAAAACS4/q0rAB_e3vnQ/s320/PeeGee%2BCartoony.jpg" /></a><br />Look away, kids! It's a healthy-looking woman with superpowers!<br /><br />Anyway, the point of this post is that after Power Girl's solo title disappeared after 27 issues and DC did a "soft reboot" of the DCU, Power Girl was nowhere to be seen, presumed dead. Ironically, she had survived all the previous reboots, and in fact one of her major story arcs (in <em>JSA Classified</em>) basically makes fun of all her origins and powers. But she survived through it all, and we were sad to see her supposedly go in the New 52.<br /><br />Spoke too soon.<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-16yyDs_ACSI/Tz3YC-J3IJI/AAAAAAAACTE/NS7Iu-Rhf0U/s1600/World%2527s%2BFinest.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 212px; height: 320px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709957448131354770" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-16yyDs_ACSI/Tz3YC-J3IJI/AAAAAAAACTE/NS7Iu-Rhf0U/s320/World%2527s%2BFinest.jpg" /></a><br />She's back--or rather, some version of her is back. She and Huntress will be starring in a new series out in May called <em>World's Finest</em>. That's supposed to be Power Girl on the left.<br /><br />Say it with me now: What. The. Hell.<br /><br />She suddenly looks like June Cleaver. Her entire costume has changed from the iconic colors and, yes, cleavage, to something about as generic as you can get. They've exchanged her striking blue boots and gloves for gold boots and gauntlets. I'm not sure how her cape is staying on. This is the most shabbily designed superhero outfit I've seen in a long time. Now, just to refresh your memory, this is what Power Girl has looked like for about fifty years:<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MBxdIqG3XKc/Tz3YuZUn1iI/AAAAAAAACTQ/INlYyhQ3tF4/s1600/PeeGee%2B%2526%2BHuntress.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 212px; height: 320px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709958194158622242" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MBxdIqG3XKc/Tz3YuZUn1iI/AAAAAAAACTQ/INlYyhQ3tF4/s320/PeeGee%2B%2526%2BHuntress.jpg" /></a><br />Oh my gosh, she's been with Huntress before, too. But whereas Huntress' costume and color scheme have been largely unaffected, Power Girl drew the incredibly short stick. My working hypothesis is that, in an effort to expand its readership to, I dunno, more women (?), DC decided to cover up everybody's favorite Earth-2 Supergirl, shrink her down to a more waif-like form, and halve her cup size. Oh, and give her a haircut that would look dated in 1965. And in the meantime, DC is doing this to their other superheroines:<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cJIb3WaJ4ik/Tz3Z1jwb4dI/AAAAAAAACTc/AjIsF0geZvA/s1600/Starfire%2BAgain.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; height: 267px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709959416730345938" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cJIb3WaJ4ik/Tz3Z1jwb4dI/AAAAAAAACTc/AjIsF0geZvA/s320/Starfire%2BAgain.jpg" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ygJfqRL-Ux0/Tz3aBBS_mqI/AAAAAAAACTo/zIhxQGqtiHE/s1600/Catwoman%2BAgain.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; height: 246px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709959613638482594" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ygJfqRL-Ux0/Tz3aBBS_mqI/AAAAAAAACTo/zIhxQGqtiHE/s320/Catwoman%2BAgain.jpg" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vg2hP9ZfCZM/Tz3afMNg7_I/AAAAAAAACT0/MXdA1YCa28M/s1600/Harley.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 208px; height: 320px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709960131964366834" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vg2hP9ZfCZM/Tz3afMNg7_I/AAAAAAAACT0/MXdA1YCa28M/s320/Harley.jpg" /></a><br />If you couldn't figure out who that last one is, I don't blame you: it's Harley Quinn. No, I'm NOT kidding. Figure THAT one out. Now then, what's especially vexxing is that all of these character redesigns are a part of the New 52, so three of the DCU's characters are getting really sexed up, but Power Girl, who for whatever reason got a lot of flack for having cleavage, is being scaled back WAY too much. See why I'm confused? I'm confused. Yeah, close the "boob window," but why are you changing HER ENTIRE COSTUME? It's no longer iconic--it's unbelievably generic. None of that costume says "Power Girl."<br /><br />I'm incredibly disappointed that my favorite super heroine is getting the shaft because of overcompensation on DC's part, and it's unfair to her. Power Girl is big, beautiful, and proud of it. DC is doing the character an incredible disservice, and I am very disappointed. Rest in peace, Power Girl, you deserved better.<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MRKzW4nPu5o/Tz3cO0hOKhI/AAAAAAAACUM/iLPuczapmK8/s1600/Bruce%2BTimm%2BPower%2BGirl.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 248px; height: 320px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709962049749920274" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MRKzW4nPu5o/Tz3cO0hOKhI/AAAAAAAACUM/iLPuczapmK8/s320/Bruce%2BTimm%2BPower%2BGirl.jpg" /></a><br />Sidenote: My Art Evolved (!) friends are you to give me grief if I don't list some image credits. I'm FAR too lazy to searching through comic archives to see who the illustraters were for the comic art here, but thanks to Glendon Mellow, we know the grey-background Power Girl is by DeviantArt's own <a href="http://pyrotech07.deviantart.com/" target="_blank">Pyrotech07</a>...now known as <a href="http://patthewanderer.deviantart.com/" target="_blank">Pat the Wanderer</a>. The bottom picture is my favorite picture of Power Girl EVER, and it's by the incomparable Bruce Timm.<br /><br />So credit where credit is due.Zachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08692080707969333711noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38902250.post-14955276920715107012012-01-31T20:20:00.001-08:002012-01-31T20:20:56.970-08:00Hey, I Host a PodcastYou should all give it a listen, yo. It's called the Frozen North Podcast, and it's at <a href="http://www.crosstawk.com">www.crosstawk.com</a>. Fun stuff!Zachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08692080707969333711noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38902250.post-19988105955645164182012-01-01T13:40:00.000-08:002012-01-13T19:03:27.586-08:00All Your Boss Are Belong to Us<div align="left">If you ask me (you did, didn’t you?), it’s well past the time for a new blog post. Additionally, it’s been far too long since I wrote about my favorite group of dinosaurs: the ceratopsids. This is supposed to be a paleontology-focused blog, after all. You may recall previous series on horns<br />‘n’ spikes (<a href="http://whenpigsfly-returns.blogspot.com/2009/05/horns-spikes-part-1-postorbital-horns.html" target="_blank">Part 1</a>, <a href="http://whenpigsfly-returns.blogspot.com/2009/05/horns-spikes-part-2-nasal-horns.html" target="_blank">Part 2</a>, <a href="http://whenpigsfly-returns.blogspot.com/2009/07/horns-spikes-part-3-jugal-horns.html" target="_blank">Part 3</a>, <a href="http://whenpigsfly-returns.blogspot.com/2009/07/horns-spikes-part-4-frill.html" target="_blank">Part 4</a>), my back-and-forth with Tracy Ford (<a href="http://whenpigsfly-returns.blogspot.com/2010/07/semi-aquatic-psittacosaurs.html" target="_blank">Part 1</a>, <a href="http://whenpigsfly-returns.blogspot.com/2010/07/tracy-responds.html" target="_blank">Part 2</a>), and my love-it-or-hate-it critique of the “Toroceratops” hypothesis (<a href="http://whenpigsfly-returns.blogspot.com/2010/07/toroceratops.html/" target="_blank">Part 1</a> and <a href="http://whenpigsfly-returns.blogspot.com/2010/08/torosaurus-latus-is-not-sp.html" target="_blank">Part 2</a>) (I think I’m off Denver Fowler’s Christmas card list). Let’s do something different this time: let’s just talk about the animals. So consider this post to be the beginning of series of posts about my favorite ceratopsids, period. We’ll start with my second-favorite: <em>Pachyrhinosaurus</em>.</div><div align="left"><br /> </div><div align="center"> <img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; height: 235px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5697314095588469154" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZQQkynOPZ_Y/TxDs-_lgaaI/AAAAAAAACRM/OHPRahNDNbk/s320/Pachy%2Blakustai.jpg" /></div><div align="left"><br />The partial, holotype skull of <em>Pachyrhinosaurus canadensis</em> was discovered in 1946 and named four years later by the great Charles Sternberg. He dug up a big ol’ skull that was missing the frill and rostral, and some other bits of skull from different individuals, in Alberta’s Scabby Butte formation. So different was this “thick-nosed lizard” than its horned colleagues (seeing as it lacked a horn) that Sternberg erected a new subfamily, the Pachyrhinosaurinae, to be held to the same taxonomic level as the Centrosaurinae and the Ceratopsinae (Chasmosaurinae). His life restoration, shown below, looks something like a Protoceratops with a drink coaster on its nose. More material was discovered at the nearby Little Bow River Formation, and Wann Langston, Jr. unearthed a second good skull <em>Pachyrhinosaurus</em> from Scabby Butte in 1955.<br /><br />Langston continued working on the genus through the 1970’s, and determined that it was a member of the well-established Centrosaurinae, or short-frilled ceratopsids. Though to this day, no complete frills exist for the species, the 1955 skull does preserve some proximal aspects of the frill, and an associated bit of the parietal’s outer rim. During the 1970’s, somebody (anybody out there know?) suggested that the characteristic, though bizarre, nasal boss that defined <em>Pachyrhinosaurus</em> actually represented the base of a massive, broken-off nasal horn. The idea actually gained some traction, and in fact a DinoRiders toy of a particularly well-endowed <em>Pachyrhinosaurus</em> was produced and released to an unsuspecting public. However, the hypothesis was quickly overridden by the unfortunate fact that no <em>Pachyrhinosaurus</em> skulls had anything taller than a big, molar-shaped boss (and besides, the recently-described <em>Rubeosaurus ovatus</em> fulfilled the “giant nasal horn” dream quite nicely).<br /><br />The morphology of the boss became especially clear in 1972, when Alberta school teacher Al Lakusta stumbled across a massive <em>Pachyrhinosaurus</em> bonebed in that province’s Pipestone Creek Formation. Dozens, if not hundreds, of individuals died there most likely due to an unfortunate river crossing. Plenty of skull material and postcranial remains gave paleontologists previously unthinkable clarity into the morphology and, importantly, ontogeny of this hornless horned dinosaur. Decades of work were put into the bonebed and, in 2008, Currie, Langston, Jr., and Tanke published the results: a new species of <em>Pachyrhinosaurus</em> called <em>P. lakustai</em>, named after the bonebed’s discoverer.<br /><br />Apart from their temporal separation, <em>P. lakustai</em> is distinct from <em>P. canadensis</em> in a number of ways. The shape and structure of the nasal boss, and that boss’ relationship to the postorbital bosses, differs considerably. While <em>P. canadensis</em> has a molar-shaped boss that rises more or less vertically from its base, <em>P. lakustai</em> has a more rounded boss that tips in back and rises up from before ending in a “spout” (in some individuals) that overhangs the rostral comb. The nasal boss is clearly separated from the postorbital bosses, even in old individuals, whereas in <em>P. canadensis</em>, the three bosses come together late in life. As in most horned dinosaurs, however, the most telling differences are in the frill. Aside from the significant differences in P3 morphology, <em>P. lakustai</em> differs from <em>P. canadensis</em> in having a large “unicorn horn” growing from the parietal bar. This does not occur in all individuals and could be a sign of age or sex.<br /><br />The growth of <em>Pachyrhinosaurus</em> is also bizarre. Juveniles start life with a narrow, though proportionately large, nasal horn, and small postorbital horns. As they grow, the postorbital horns are reabsorbed and the nasal horn’s base elongates (back-to-front). It assumes a pyramidal shape; then the weird stuff starts. In every other ceratopsid with a nasal horn, the horn grows more or less vertically. In <em>Pachyrhinosaurus</em>, that pyramidal horn grows laterally, its base becoming wider and its upper surface becoming rugose and honeycombed. With age, the boss’ structure changes further—in some individuals, it becomes concave as bone continues to be reabsorbed and remodeled. While the overall form of the parietal’s outer rim remained consistent in each example of that bone, a surprising amount of individual variation is present.<br /><br />While the authors state that almost every bone in the skeleton is represented, they do not provide a description of the post-crania (I can only assume that’s being saved for a later publication). I assume it’s similar to other related centrosaurines for whom relatively complete post-crania are known (<em>Centrosaurus</em> comes to mind). Of course, that old generalization may not be valid—-among the chasmosaurines, <em>Anchiceratops</em> has very different proportions from big bruisers like <em>Triceratops</em>.<br /><br /></div><p><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Iq6h6X8TVS8/TxDtRV_FCMI/AAAAAAAACRY/622Cctu-AJA/s1600/Pachy%2BKaren%2BCarr.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 190px; height: 320px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5697314410838952130" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Iq6h6X8TVS8/TxDtRV_FCMI/AAAAAAAACRY/622Cctu-AJA/s320/Pachy%2BKaren%2BCarr.jpg" /></a>Wonderful illustration of our new Alaskan species by Karen Carr.<br /><br />As it turns out, <em>Pachyrhinosaurus</em> is not restricted to Alberta. No, sir, this ceratopsid lived all the way up on the North Slope of Alaska. A nice, but obliquely crushed, skull was discovered up there and provisionally described for Fiorillo in 2010’s big ceratopsid volume published by Indiana University Press. There’s actually a lot more unprepared material, just sitting in field jackets, and I can’t wait for that stuff to be described. Anyway, after extensive preparation, the holotype skull was written up and awaits publication in <a href="http://www.app.pan.pl/archive/published/app56/app20110033_acc.pdf" target="_blank">Acta Palaeontologica Polonica</a> (where you can read the in-press draft). The authors of that paper have given this species a distinct name: Pachyrhinosaurus perotorum. It is the northern-most ceratopsid in the world, and also the youngest occurrence of the genus.</p><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-m_ffh21aZ0Y/TxDujFGzOGI/AAAAAAAACRk/6yS4MALSTZU/s1600/Pachy%2BComparison.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 295px; height: 320px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5697315815057209442" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-m_ffh21aZ0Y/TxDujFGzOGI/AAAAAAAACRk/6yS4MALSTZU/s320/Pachy%2BComparison.jpg" /></a><p>It differs from its more southerly cousins in not too many ways. In fact, it looks kind of like <em>P. lakustai</em>, but, again, it's the structure of the parietal that makes this guy different. The two P3 spikes are there, but this species expresses P1 spikes that grow down and overhang the parietal fenestrae, similar to the situation in <em>Centrosaurus apertus</em> and <em>Centrosaurus brinkmani</em>. This big guy would have lived in some cold temperatures in the winter--it probably got down below freezing for a few months a year, and believe it or not, the North Slope of Alaska was <em>further</em> north than it is today back in the Late Cretaceous, so that means even longer periods of darkness.</p><p>Exactly how <em>Pachyrhinosaurus</em> and its neighboring frozen north dinosaurs survived in these extreme conditions is unknown, but it certainly speaks to their hardy nature. Living alongside our boy here was a large form of <em>Troodon formosus</em>, good old <em>Dromaeosaurus</em>, <em>Edmontosaurus</em>, and one or possibly two tyrannosaurs--one of which was <em>Albertasaurus</em>.</p><p>UPDATE: I actually wrote this post a week ago, but only now found the motivation to post it. I may actually add to it later, including references. So look for that!</p>Zachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08692080707969333711noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38902250.post-3116956372274712022011-12-26T10:58:00.000-08:002011-12-26T11:02:36.517-08:00Merry Christmas! Still not dead!Can you believe I haven't blogged since September? And even that was just to check in.<br /><br />I'm changing things on this blog. Haven't decided exactly how yet, but I do intend to start blogging more regularly. I've actually got three blog posts in the "editing" stage and I want to put them up fairly quickly, after the new year. My health is more or less back to the normal. I've still got a PICCline in, but it's kind of my new routine now. My only excuse is not having any motivation at all to be creative--that might be caused by the abscess back in May (no joke). I don't really draw anymore either. It's wierd, and annoying, and a little worrying.<br /><br />I'm also forcing people to register. That blows, I know. Would comment moderation be better? Let me know. I'm so tired of getting spam comments. I'm going to go through all my posts at some point and wipe out all the spam.<br /><br />I might also just start a brand-new blog and let this one fester away. I'm so far behind in the literature it's stunning, but I need to catch up, and I need to write about this stuff. For me, for you, for my own sanity.<br /><br />What are your thoughts, dear readers? If anyone even checks this blog anymore, that is. And I don't blame you if you don't!Zachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08692080707969333711noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38902250.post-19907586738136320232011-09-17T17:46:00.000-07:002011-09-17T17:56:17.393-07:00The Summer of Illness Continues<div>Well, when last we spoke, I had just gotten my 3rd PICCline out, but was feeling like I had the flu or something. So I went back to the doctor just to be safe.<br /><br /></div><div> </div><div>Now I have a 4th PICCline. I've had it for almost a month now, and that's after another week in the hospital. These infections have been cropping up pretty continuously, and it's partially because I have a brand-new bug to contend with: <em>Mycobacteria abscessus</em>, which actually moved in and set up shop while I was recovering from my <em>brain abscess</em>. So, I guess that's...ironic?<br /><br /></div><div> </div><div><em>M. abscessus</em> is pretty tough to treat, not because it's actually tough to treat, but because so few drugs actively kill it. I'm on a drug called Cefoxitin, which is in the same family as one of my <em>Pseudomonas</em> drugs, Cephtazadine. I'm also going on a new antibiotic pill. My diabetes came back (though it'll probably go away again) and I have a new inhalent to start. Luckily, it only takes three to four minutes to do, so...that ain't bad.<br /><br /></div><div> </div><div>The bad news is that it takes potentially years to kill off all the <em>M. abscessus</em>, so after this PICCline has to be pulled, I'm getting a port, like cancer patients have. Yippee. So that's where I'm at. I haven't done any drawing, or writing, or really even game-playing. Well, that's not fair. I did but and am enjoying <em>Bloodrayne: Betrayal</em> for PSN because it's just so pretty, but it's ghoulishly difficult.<br /><br /></div><div> </div><div>More substantial posts will come in time. Consider this lengthy summer my sick leave from the blog. LOL</div>Zachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08692080707969333711noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38902250.post-67104442749318320822011-08-22T15:40:00.000-07:002011-08-22T15:51:51.393-07:00Progress Report, and Art!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m08I9x1KRkM/TlLdWdE57VI/AAAAAAAACRE/MNdCpCfWUZE/s1600/Angol%2BFear.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 275px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m08I9x1KRkM/TlLdWdE57VI/AAAAAAAACRE/MNdCpCfWUZE/s320/Angol%2BFear.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5643816660880715090" border="0" /></a>
<br />Look, kids! I'm not dead!
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<br />I got my third IV out on the 1st, started back on my normal med routine, and BAM, two weeks later and I'm already developing symptoms associated with another lung infection. I'm going into the doctor tomorrow. Hopefully it'll be nothing but a cold, but I just never know anymore. Follow me on Twitter (@zmiller1902) for updates.
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<br />But now is not the time for worry--now is the time for showing off horrible sketches! I'm again working on my "Life on Leather Wings" story. I've got a lot of the storyline worked out and the three main characters well-defined. This is a prelim sketch of one of them--Angol Fear (name taken shamelessly from the <span style="font-style: italic;">Soul Calibur IV</span> character), one of Heaven's Vanguard. She and her squad of Angels is in charge of hunting and killing soul-harvesting Succubi. She is young and brash, but determined and gets the job done. She and Lily have a tenuous truce: Angol won't go after Lily as long as Lily continues harvesting souls that are already Inferno-bound. But the second Lily goes over that line, Angol's coming after her.
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<br />I'm having a difficult time imagining the armor for Heaven's Vanguard and Angol in particular. I want it to be imposing but breathable. I don't want Angol to have a helmet, either. But her silhouette is different from Lily (or Gwendolyn): Angol's widest point is just below hips, at the top of her thighs. She has short blonde hair and, of course, those big Angel wings. This is the only drawing I've done in the last month that I've considered good enough to keep, but I'm glad I'm getting back in the groove, slow though it may be.
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<br />Ignore the "LeBouf" scribble. I forgot to erase it, and I was trying to figure out if The Beef's name really meant "the beef." Turns out it doesn't--what a shame!
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<br />Now then. To lunch!
<br />Zachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08692080707969333711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38902250.post-24232220799699155382011-07-22T18:44:00.000-07:002011-07-22T18:45:15.503-07:00Seriously, a Month?!Seriously, it's been over a month.<br /><br />I never thought I’d make it to the point where I was blogging once a freaking month. Believe me, I’ve considered blogging in the last four weeks, but I was never really motivated to. There was no paleo story that got me revved up, no gaming news that made me sweat, and here’s the other thing: I haven’t really drawn anything in just as long. So we begin today with a consideration that When Pigs Fly Returns might close up shop soon. Maybe it’s the aftermath of the brain infection, but I am just NOT feeling the writing bug anymore. I assume you have to work at it; drawing, too, but right now there is nothing I’d rather do less than sit down and type out something about <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Stegosaurus</i>. I spent two weeks—<i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">I’m not kidding</i>—writing and re-writing my Wonder Woman figure review over at Dirty Little Figures. <p class="MsoNormal">It’s a struggle. My question is whether this disinterest in the creative process is a REAL aftereffect of the brain injury, or merely a temporary setback that will edge its way back into my cranium? I really hope it’s the latter.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Second thing I want to talk about today is my progress. I am off all abscess-specific medications now, though the medications I <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">am</i> on also treat any lingering residuals of the abscess infection. Remember back in March when I had that respiratory infection and ended up with a PICCline IV that only lasted two weeks? Then a few weeks later I was in the ICU with a different PICCline in my (other) arm and that lasted well over a month? Well, funny story: while I was recovering from the abscess, the respiratory infection actually came raging back, faster than before, and now I’m on a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">third</i> PICCline (in the original arm) that we’re treating with the same antibiotics as we did in March. Hopefully this won’t last more than two weeks, although I’m kind of hoping for three—maybe we didn’t totally kill it off in March/April.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">But I definitely needed a re-do. My appetite had fallen off a cliff, I was slowly losing weight, my energy level was just above “lazy sea lion,” and best of all, my lung function tests were declining every week. So getting another IV was certainly A Good Thing. Best of all, the first respiratory infection and the brain abscess made me meet my Out of Pocket Maximum, so assuming there are no insurance kerfuffles (of course there will be), this one is basically free!</p> <p class="MsoNormal">So that’s where I’m at. Now I’m going to force myself back into drawing so that I start getting back into the creative groove. My focus? I’m going back to mythological pin-ups. Remember way back when I did the Silk Succubus? That’s the well I’m going back to. I’d had many others planned, including a Harpy, Gorgon, and Siren. I just have to re-learn how to draw…</p>Zachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08692080707969333711noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38902250.post-81098439346064267982011-06-19T13:20:00.000-07:002011-07-30T17:00:42.902-07:00Yes, it's a Raccoon<div><div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iiifsagD7rY/Tf5aMP5AKmI/AAAAAAAACN8/XvajGAX-Vl4/s1600/DSC00500.JPG"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"></span><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; height: 240px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5620028551475505762" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iiifsagD7rY/Tf5aMP5AKmI/AAAAAAAACN8/XvajGAX-Vl4/s320/DSC00500.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />It took me awhile to figure out what this guy is. After I got back from the hospital, my assistant, Ashlee, gave me a mystery skull that her parents (in California) sent to her. They found this skull on their property, and I cleaned it up as best I could. There's still some dirt and dried skin on the mandibular symphysis. The ascending processes of the dentary are broken off, and all of the teeth are cracked in half. But hey, free skull! Can you ID it? I was tipped off by a friend much smarter than me to consult the dental formula, so that's what I suggest.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tZ8f7mf_4-A/Tf5a1YrqHbI/AAAAAAAACOE/ywIx_X7AFlo/s1600/DSC00495.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; height: 240px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5620029258210090418" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tZ8f7mf_4-A/Tf5a1YrqHbI/AAAAAAAACOE/ywIx_X7AFlo/s320/DSC00495.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />It is not a large animal. The skull is a whopping 4.5" long.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8-nClDyqKag/Tf5bPt9QqdI/AAAAAAAACOM/vJxNO51iQBA/s1600/DSC00497.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 240px; height: 320px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5620029710597663186" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8-nClDyqKag/Tf5bPt9QqdI/AAAAAAAACOM/vJxNO51iQBA/s320/DSC00497.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />A little more dried skin that I'm afraid to pull off lest I break the bone. It's really on there.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VQy5-rG-BpY/Tf5bV3hHMDI/AAAAAAAACOU/iyR1Bl4DUlA/s1600/DSC00498.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; height: 240px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5620029816243171378" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VQy5-rG-BpY/Tf5bV3hHMDI/AAAAAAAACOU/iyR1Bl4DUlA/s320/DSC00498.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />Here's the lower jaw. Notice that it has the same dental formula as the skull!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JP4KiXbahao/Tf5byEbABGI/AAAAAAAACOk/ERC04t_amdY/s1600/DSC00501.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; height: 240px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5620030300743533666" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JP4KiXbahao/Tf5byEbABGI/AAAAAAAACOk/ERC04t_amdY/s320/DSC00501.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />RAWR! Actually, this animal wasn't a carnivore. I mean, it will eat meat if presented with meat. But it'll eat just about anything else, too. The wife tells me it's considered something of a pest. What is it, folks?</div></div></div>Zachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08692080707969333711noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38902250.post-81860880969544078152011-06-12T10:32:00.000-07:002011-06-16T11:05:07.043-07:00Another Health ScareIf you scroll down the page a bit, you may recall that I had a PICC line IV in March and part of April to clear up a respiratory infection that'd been nagging me ever since SVP in Bristol. That lasted two weeks and really wasn't all bad.<br /><br /><br />But then something else happened!<br /><br /><br />But on May 16th, I developed a <em>nasty</em> headache...what you might call a migraine headache. I actually wasn't super-worried about it. When I was a teenager, I got migraines on an annual basis. The problem is this one wasn't going away. It lasted three days, and in fact the pain became so intense that the wife and I went to a clinic to get it checked out on day 2. They told me (at first) that it <em>was</em> a migraine and gave me some pills and sent me home to rest with the caveat that if it was still bothering me that night, I should go back for a re-check. Which I did. At that point, I was told I had a meio-facial headache. The doctor gave me a deep-tissue massage to my neck and scalp, and they pumped me full of fluids via IV (saying I was dehydrated, which would make the pain worse). Indeed, I felt a little better after that.<br /><br /><br />But that night? I couldn't sleep because the pain ratched up to about a 9. It felt like my brain was being stabbed every time my heart beat. We actually went back to the clinic the next morning and they forwarded us to the ER. At that point, I pretty much lost consciousness.<br /><br />You all might have heard this story already if you've been following me on Twitter (@zmiller1902) or on Facebook, but a few of you readers probably aren't (you should!) so I'll go over the quick 'n' dirty version here. The ER doctors gave me a head CT scan which showed an abnormality, so they also did an MRI, which showed a blotch on my brain. Then they did a lumbar punction (spinal tap) which I'm super-happy not to have been awake for. My spinal fluid was cloudy--it should be clear--and that MRI made the neurosurgeon jump up and take notice. The man, Dr. Marshall Tolbert, was working on a gunshot victim but when he saw my test results he put that guy on ice and rolled me into the OR.<br /><br /><br />He installed a tube (maybe a "port") in my skull underneath my scalp. This tube could be used for three things: monitoring my endocranial pressure, draining spinal fluid, and (if need be) delivering antibiotics directly to my brain. I had a brain abscess, which basically means that some bacteria was sneezed onto my blood-brain barrier and slowly ate away at it until it was sitting directly on my brain. If any more time had passed before I got into the OR, there's a good chance the infection could have penetrated the brain tissue itself--and then I would've been royally screwed. A total-brain infection could have killed me or left me with lasting disabilities. Neither thing happened, so I'm extremely grateful to Dr. Tolbert and the nursing staff at Providence.<br /><br /><br />At any rate, I was pretty out of it for about two days. When I finally did get back to consciousness, I was lying in an ICU room with a tube in my head, a few temporary IV's in my arms, and lots of wires on my chest, monitoring my vitals. There was also a...uh...catheter in my <em>down there</em> parts. If I recall, that was taken out first. People came to visit me during those missing two days but I don't remember them. I don't remember my nurses from those two days, either. I guess my head was pretty messed up, too (superficially).<br /><br /><br />I spent seven days in the ICU, during which time they figured out that the bacteria to blame was simple <em>Streptococcus</em>, which lives in all of our mouths and sinuses. So my advice is to not sneeze! I was hooked up to another PICC IV and was given a powerful antibiotic called Miropenim, which attacked not just the <em>Strep</em> but also the <em>Pseudomonis</em> in my lungs. Unfortunately, it also killed my gut bacteria, so I became a raw sewage plant. Eventually my spinal fluid cleared up enough that Dr. Tolbert felt comfortable removing the tube, and at that point I was wheeled up to a lower-intensity ward. I went home two days later.<br /><br /><br />There are some lasting effects. I'm on a steroid to kep my brain from expanding. The steroid has been tough, especially at higher doses. It affects my mood and energy level, but I'm tapering off it now, and the one good side-effect is that it makes me hungry all the time. That's been great, because I lost 15 pounds at the hospital! It also really screwed up my body chemistry, so I had diabetes for about two weeks. I'm coming off that, too (insulin suuuucks). I lost a lot of leg muscle because you can't move in the ICU. It's still surprisingly hard to go down slopes and stairs. I feel like my knees give out more easily. I also haven't come off the PICC yet, and I probably won't until early July at the earliest. At least we change the antibiotic to simple penacillin, which doesn't kill my gut bacteria. Finally, I have a lot of scars and bruises that I'm unusually self-conscious about.<br /><br /><br />But I'm back at work and going to a lot of follow-up appointments to make sure I'm recovering at a good clip. It's strange to think I almost, or at least could have died in the hospital. This has certainly been a wild ride, but I'm getting back to normal now. Posting should resume before long! If I can find it, I have a small dog skull to show you all, and a whale vertebrae!Zachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08692080707969333711noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38902250.post-82633141102095112592011-05-14T16:40:00.000-07:002011-07-30T17:01:14.006-07:00Lynx & Black-Tailed DeerI've been gone for awhile. I spent a weekend in Kodiak, but I've been home, just not online. But I have been working on a project: skullifying an animal head. Here's the progress so far. Let's see if you can guess what it is. I'll give hints along the way!<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-i3rTwK3sA2s/Tc8WhPCIxII/AAAAAAAACMw/hvPITgy7qoU/s1600/DSC00422.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5606724821326546050" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-i3rTwK3sA2s/Tc8WhPCIxII/AAAAAAAACMw/hvPITgy7qoU/s320/DSC00422.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />A friend at work gave me the skinned head of a [blank] that he had trapped. He wanted to see what I could do with it. Having already, years ago, did nice skullifications on wolf, deer, and pig heads, I was eager to try my hand at the hobby once more. This is where I'm at. The boiling...the stench...I'm glad it's over.<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-V5CgBHCrbRM/Tc8XbnuTRbI/AAAAAAAACM4/n5C4JTo1QsM/s1600/DSC00420.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5606725824386647474" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-V5CgBHCrbRM/Tc8XbnuTRbI/AAAAAAAACM4/n5C4JTo1QsM/s320/DSC00420.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />Obviously, it's an Alaskan animal. Not very big skull, though. There are some structures towards the back of the skull here in ventral view that are dead giveaways.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Nj9AhCEaDbQ/Tc8XozHLdyI/AAAAAAAACNA/nzttzftgTSw/s1600/DSC00421.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5606726050782082850" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Nj9AhCEaDbQ/Tc8XozHLdyI/AAAAAAAACNA/nzttzftgTSw/s320/DSC00421.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />Big goddamn fangs!<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Yx0KjfCMM-A/Tc8X-WQW0KI/AAAAAAAACNI/rNHXFW-YV7s/s1600/DSC00423.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5606726420993069218" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Yx0KjfCMM-A/Tc8X-WQW0KI/AAAAAAAACNI/rNHXFW-YV7s/s320/DSC00423.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />Here's the mandible. Again, big fangs and very reduced dentition. This critter wasn't doing a lot of chewing, but plenty of cutting and slashing. I would not want to be caught in a room with this bugger.<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HJ7BgJyzFnQ/Tc8YPuTN57I/AAAAAAAACNQ/4_2gIEIBPg4/s1600/DSC00425.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5606726719505295282" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HJ7BgJyzFnQ/Tc8YPuTN57I/AAAAAAAACNQ/4_2gIEIBPg4/s320/DSC00425.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />Here's a dorsal view of the mandible, if that helps (probably not).<br /><br />While in Kodiak last weekend, I found this beauty sitting by the road. At one point, one half was lying in the ground (you'll see) as it was covered in dirt and moss. I've managed to pick most of it off. It's in really gorgeous condition, though.<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WHyQ4xXi92Y/Tc8YphlqTRI/AAAAAAAACNY/m-bInN5DJk8/s1600/DSC00426.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5606727162769591570" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WHyQ4xXi92Y/Tc8YphlqTRI/AAAAAAAACNY/m-bInN5DJk8/s320/DSC00426.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />I know what it is. Do any of you? Again, obviously, Alaskan.<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q1yGD34IkR0/Tc8YyuCpYPI/AAAAAAAACNg/LgvTs4mrWq4/s1600/DSC00427.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5606727320731214066" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q1yGD34IkR0/Tc8YyuCpYPI/AAAAAAAACNg/LgvTs4mrWq4/s320/DSC00427.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />"Why the long face?"<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5VwLISp2wUw/Tc8Y4y6tXHI/AAAAAAAACNo/ev1Pl44NIxQ/s1600/DSC00428.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5606727425119313010" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5VwLISp2wUw/Tc8Y4y6tXHI/AAAAAAAACNo/ev1Pl44NIxQ/s320/DSC00428.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />This is the mossy side. It's greener than the other half, but otherwise in the same condition.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-N7cBqXHIVuU/Tc8ZBczVSmI/AAAAAAAACNw/X_ZeU3iJOG0/s1600/DSC00429.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5606727573801618018" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-N7cBqXHIVuU/Tc8ZBczVSmI/AAAAAAAACNw/X_ZeU3iJOG0/s320/DSC00429.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />As you can see, the only broken bone is the right "prong" process that points downward at the back of the skull. These prongs are helpful in keeping the skull standing up, so with one missing it tends to tip over.<br /><br />Can't complain too much, though--it's not every day you find a really well-preserved skull just sitting by the side of the road. After the lynx is done (gotta get the brains and sinus tissue out), I've got a big mallard duck in my freezer ready for plucking, skinning, and skeletizing!Zachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08692080707969333711noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38902250.post-1940609216381129432011-04-24T18:36:00.000-07:002011-04-24T18:39:17.772-07:00Say Hello to "Dirty Little Figures!"It's the name of my new Wordpress blog. Wordpress, I'm finding, is about a million times more flexible than Blogger, so I love it. This new blog will be specifically dealing with figure reviews and photo essays and, where I find it compelling, figure-related news.<br /><br />Go check it out! And it won't just be girls anyway (I'd quickly run out of subject matter). I intend to have photo essays about my dragons and dinosaurs, Ninja Turtles and gaming figures too.<br /><br /><a href="http://dirtylittlefigures.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Dirty Little Figures</a><br /><br />And don't worry--I'm not going to abandon this blog by any means. I just never felt comfortable using it for my figure reviews.Zachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08692080707969333711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38902250.post-67616317831524576182011-04-23T16:59:00.001-07:002011-04-23T17:07:18.052-07:00"Coming Soon"<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2MhStpIjZsU/TbNoVX_W-UI/AAAAAAAACMg/rcxRnttJ-HA/s1600/DSC00072.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5598933478177962306" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2MhStpIjZsU/TbNoVX_W-UI/AAAAAAAACMg/rcxRnttJ-HA/s320/DSC00072.JPG" /></a><br />Here's another "Coming Soon" post.<br /><br />Someday soon, perhaps as early as tomorrow, I'm going to set up a sister blog that only covers my figure reviews, and I'm going to re-review all the girls I've already covered, but with better photographs (and largely similar text). The first new review will be Velvet up there. The text isn't done, but the pictures are. Haven't decided on the name yet, but keep an eye out. Most of my writing time has been devoted to Nintendo World Report. I did two articles this week and a third is on the way. Haven't had much time for drawing, unfortunately. I did do a nice sketch of Raphael (the Ninja Turtle) as an old, retired barkeep, though. I should...post that here.<br /><br />I'm also going to re-color that <em>Velafrons</em> (below) and submit it to the Art Evolved! duckbill gallery. I'm long overdue to get back in the Art Evolved scene. As one of the original members, I feel guilty about falling completely off the map. My eternal excuse: life gets in the way. But expect some more sketches here before too long, including of newly-discovered <em>Daemonosaurus</em>, a toothy horror from New Mexico.Zachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08692080707969333711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38902250.post-979463211369635492011-04-11T19:00:00.001-07:002011-04-11T19:03:56.153-07:00Velafrons coahuilensis & IV Status<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tqyCTTyt-fc/TaOyWwuIpyI/AAAAAAAACMY/KbH_W1Vjyk8/s1600/Velafrons.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 189px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tqyCTTyt-fc/TaOyWwuIpyI/AAAAAAAACMY/KbH_W1Vjyk8/s320/Velafrons.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5594511266229561122" /></a><br />My wife didn't make a color copy of this, but here it is! I draw this for a friend. It was between <em>Velafrons</em> and <em>Coahuiluaceratops</em> and the decision was made by asking her whether she liked Duckie or Sara more in "Land Before Time." I'm also starting a new paleo-artist internet meme:<br /><br />"No Greg Paul skeletals were referenced for the production of this illustration."<br /><br />Also, I had the I.V. taken out today. Only two weeks! I'm back to full power. I'll post a picture of my mangled arm later. It's actually not mangled at all. There's a large scab over the hole in my arm and that's about it. Whatever. <em>Velafrons</em>!Zachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08692080707969333711noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38902250.post-3807264953491131322011-04-05T20:12:00.000-07:002011-04-05T20:19:54.559-07:00Charles Knight Rises From Grave; Pays Tribue to his Master<p>Charles R. Knight, history’s second-most influential paleo-artist, rose from his grave in Manhattan today and shambled toward Maryland to pay respect to Gregory S. Paul, recently named the Greatest Paleo-Artist of All Time by an intergalactic committee. Though undead, Knight seemed in good spirits as he dragged his rotting carcass south along the east coast. “I had always thought that I influenced him,” said Knight of Paul, “but it turns out this whole time he was influencing me through some kind of chronological wormhole thought interface that I don’t understand completely.”</p><br /><br /><p>Greg Paul recently attacked every working and amateur paleoartist in the world on the Dinosaur Mailing List, essentially calling them parasites who should bow down to him and rely only on his measured, hand-drawn skeletons as reference material while not being careful not to be influenced or inspired by his art. “When I look back at some of my dinosaur restorations, especially things like <em>Leaping Laelaps</em>, it’s hard not to see the GSP influence,” mused Knight while chewing thoughtfully on some poor guy’s brain. “Is this guy a creationist? His frontal lobe is all squishy.” Paul could not be reached for comment, but Metatron did give a press release regarding the event. “It’s about goddamn time,” he said, his angelic voice booming triumphantly.</p><br /><br /><p>Metatron shook hands with Knight’s fetid corpse, which instantly turned to ash, vaporized by the awesome holy light emanating from the Voice of Paul. Knight’s ashes swirling helplessly away from the podium, Metatron continued. “Mr. Paul wishes to thank Mr. Knight for making the trip to Maryland and we wish him all the best. We intend to have Mr. Knight’s <em>Allosaurus Feeding on Diplodocus</em> removed from the American Museum of Natural History and replaced by Mr. Paul’s classic and far more accurate <em>Allosaurus fragilis Skeleton in Mid-Stride in Lateral View</em>.”</p><br /><br /><p>After the press conference, Metatron ascended back to Heaven and many thought they could see a crazed, paranoid old man peeking out from the closed drapes on the second floor of Mr. Paul’s house. Witnesses also claimed to see a great many cats living in or about the premises. Scott Elyard, a noted Alaskan paleo-artist, added some scope to Mr. Paul’s attacks. “He seems to be irritated that people are using his skeletal drawings as reference material, but then goes out of his way to say that nobody should bother doing their own photographs or measurements because they won’t be nearly as good as his. He’s right, of course.” Where this leads him in his own art, Elyard merely stated, “I’ve given up dinosaurs. Nobody’s as good as His Pauliness, so I’m going into plants instead.”</p><br /><br /><p>In addition to his illustrations, Greg Paul is also known for his unique views on dinosaur taxonomy. His recent tome, <u>The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs</u>, completely revised the taxonomy of the ceratopsids, or horned dinosaurs. Where once paleontologists recognized more than half-a-dozen centrosaurine genera, Paul whittled that number down to just one: <em>Centrosaurus</em>. “Well, of course it makes perfect sense,” said Dr. Darren Tanke of the Royal Tyrell Museum of Natural History. “The differences between, say, <em>Styracosaurus</em> and <em>Pachyrhinosaurus</em> are so minor that the average non-specialist would think they were the same animal at first glance.” Asked to elucidate this point, Dr. Tanke continued: “<em>Styracosaurus</em> has a large horn on its nose, but <em>Pachyrhinosaurus</em> doesn’t. <em>Styracosaurus</em> has six elongate spikes on its frill, and <em>Pachyrhinosaurus</em> doesn’t—it only has two short spikes. One species of <em>Pachyrhinosaurus</em> has a sort of unicorn horn in the center of its frill, but <em>Styracosaurus</em> doesn’t. Additionally, <em>Pachyrhinosaurus</em> is almost twice as large as <em>Styracosaurus</em>. So it’s easy to see how the two could be mistaken for one another.”</p><br /><br /><p>Greg Paul lives in the Republic of Paulonia in Maryland.</p>Zachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08692080707969333711noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38902250.post-76074170008443429412011-04-02T15:31:00.000-07:002011-04-02T16:00:07.989-07:00Do Not Adjust Your Internets<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OxtVub29RD0/TZel_Vpx1YI/AAAAAAAACMQ/M4VT3UYt96A/s1600/DSC00181.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591119969966478722" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OxtVub29RD0/TZel_Vpx1YI/AAAAAAAACMQ/M4VT3UYt96A/s320/DSC00181.JPG" /></a>Yep, that's me, sportin' a brand-new I.V. After unsuccessfully fighting off a nasty respiratory infection with oral antibiotics for a year and a half, the doc said it's time to just kill it with chemotherapy-strength I.V. antibiotics. Today marks my first full week with my new friend. My arm is connected via medical tubing to a small rectangular pump which shoots me full of one kind of medication three times a day, and another kind of medication once a day. I assume I'll be on this for two full weeks, maybe three depending on how tolerant my arm is of having a tube in it. But I haven't missed any work and I'm definately improving, health-wise. So don't worry, kids, I won't be dead tomorrow. I should be posting some Xenopermian stuff later tonight or tomorrow. Hovasaur vs. baby Walrodont = CARNAGE! <br /><div></div>Zachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08692080707969333711noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38902250.post-32714547296793388752011-03-19T13:01:00.001-07:002011-03-19T13:03:08.001-07:00Ooh! Piece o' Arty<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pmC1x5eTGuQ/TYULwAQHzsI/AAAAAAAACMA/HtaleY5YM58/s1600/Ornithomimosaur.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 295px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585883832152215234" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pmC1x5eTGuQ/TYULwAQHzsI/AAAAAAAACMA/HtaleY5YM58/s320/Ornithomimosaur.jpg" /></a><br /><div>Here's an unusually short-bodied ornithomimosaur that I drew last night while Scott, Raven, and I all lambasted a certain egomaniacal paleoartist and had a good laugh while doing so. </div>Zachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08692080707969333711noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38902250.post-40668941120167282412011-03-18T18:21:00.000-07:002011-03-18T18:30:33.704-07:00Adrianne Palicki Plays Wonder Woman on TV<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Xyxp7WKp_qE/TYQFt42yUsI/AAAAAAAACL4/qmKEjv-VH_4/s1600/WW.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 135px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585595723760685762" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Xyxp7WKp_qE/TYQFt42yUsI/AAAAAAAACL4/qmKEjv-VH_4/s320/WW.jpg" /></a><br />Remember that <a href="http://whenpigsfly-returns.blogspot.com/2010/10/wonder-womantv-show.html" target="_blank">Wonder Woman TV show</a> I talked about awhile ago? For reasons I'm simply unsure of, the show was greenlit--it's still written by David E. Kelley--and Ms. Palicki here was cast as the titluar character. I can't decide if this looks good or looks like a Halloween costume. I think I'm okay with it, but the latex and blue pants seem odd. Adrianne looks unnaturally pushed-up, too. I'm just not sure about this show. Another aspect of it (the show) will be that Diana runs some big corporation that makes...toys?<br /><br />I just...I just don't know.Zachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08692080707969333711noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38902250.post-77205719161384663072011-03-05T16:58:00.000-08:002011-03-05T17:10:11.155-08:00Sketches & Scribbles<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-H-AJSjYAVh8/TXLdtibYtxI/AAAAAAAACLg/3U0vtGuUG5g/s1600/Stegosaurid.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 198px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5580766662670989074" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-H-AJSjYAVh8/TXLdtibYtxI/AAAAAAAACLg/3U0vtGuUG5g/s320/Stegosaurid.jpg" /></a><br />Scott sat me down and demanded that I draw something last night, so I did. And I came up with some pretty nice stuff. Above is a cute lil' diplodocid. It might not be the most accurate dinosaur, but that wasn't the point. I was just trying to give the animal some character.<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PsA6vckXCac/TXLeAMquMZI/AAAAAAAACLo/JHOWU0P2ktw/s1600/scan0002.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 185px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5580766983247245714" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PsA6vckXCac/TXLeAMquMZI/AAAAAAAACLo/JHOWU0P2ktw/s320/scan0002.jpg" /></a><br />And here's a cute little stegosaur, with massive parascapular spines. Maybe it's <em>Gigantspinosaurus</em> (awful name). I really like this drawing, especially the legs. Notice that the hands are like a sauropod--a new paper by Phil Senter suggests that stegosaurs and ankylosaurs had tubular feets.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-15Q3L9psTgo/TXLesJqv1OI/AAAAAAAACLw/dJWsfX6KXkg/s1600/Cthulhuid.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 305px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-15Q3L9psTgo/TXLesJqv1OI/AAAAAAAACLw/dJWsfX6KXkg/s320/Cthulhuid.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5580767738356290786" /></a><br />And here's another version of Cthulhu. I'll get there eventually. I gave it too many appendages here.<br /><br />I'm gonna keep up with this cartoony dinosaur thing. I like 'em.Zachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08692080707969333711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38902250.post-30782023578060207552011-02-25T19:35:00.000-08:002011-02-25T20:01:18.172-08:00Gettin' Better (IMHO)<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iJnSmnywH1M/TWh1fYeHRvI/AAAAAAAACLY/p32fCPE7g0I/s1600/Lily%2BAgain.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 233px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5577837320503510770" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iJnSmnywH1M/TWh1fYeHRvI/AAAAAAAACLY/p32fCPE7g0I/s320/Lily%2BAgain.jpg" /></a><br /><div>This is a quick sketch I did (then added "flair" with a red pen) for my friend Dan Hill in early January (?) as something to remember Alaska by before he moved to Florida. You may remember Dan by his alter-ego, <a href="http://whenpigsfly-returns.blogspot.com/2007/04/penetrator-hero-swells-within.html" target="_blank">The Penetrator</a>, a superhero who gives crime the shaft. We'll all miss him--Dan was a genuinely nice, smart guy and NONE of us blame him for leaving this cold, dark icebox of a state. Good luck down there, Dan! Try not to get eaten by an alligator.</div><br />Now then. My boy forgot to take this picture with him which is...hmmm. Marcus kept it all this time, though, so when I remembered drawing it, I wanted to scan it and post it here. There are some things I like about the picture, and others not so much. Time for some good old fashioned naval-gazing!<br /><br /><strong>Things to Like</strong><br /><br />First of all, for a sketch that I only spent maybe 45 minutes on, this ain't half bad considering my usual output. I like the costume change. I've struggled to figure out what this girl's gonna wear on her upper body that will accomodate her big ol' bat wings. This is one possibility: it's basically a bikini with a skirt. For added support, one could envision Lily modifying the costume to include an elastic strap that originates at the back of the neck loop and clips onto her skirt. This would help hold the top...up? I'm still worried about her costume. Anyway. I like the face, but not necessarily the hairstyle. I like that I forced myself to draw Lily with smaller breasts. As you may recall, Lily was originally based on Shannon Stewart's <a href="http://whenpigsfly-returns.blogspot.com/2009/09/silk-succubus.html">Playboy centerfold</a> (that's not a link to the centerfold). This is not to say that Mrs. Stewart has giant breasts or anything, but I don't think this particular picture would have benefitted from oversized mammaries.<br /><br />I like the little accessories I used to spice up the piece: the bracelets and shoes, the modified belt. I can see all of these things becoming permanent additions to Lily's evolving uniform. The wings are alright too--not too big to dominate the picture, but not small enough to not be believable. I think I struck a good balance. They're certainly smaller than in the original treatment.<br /><br /><strong>What's Not to Like</strong><br /><strong></strong><br />Most egregiously, Lily has here been Bruce Timm-ified. I have incredible respect for Bruce Timm and I wish I could draw like him, but this is not really what Lily's supposed to look like. Lily is more toward the Frank Cho end of the picture plane. I feel like I copped out here, but this is the art style I "default" to when I feel like I'm in a time crunch. As for the piece itself, the hair is pretty terrible and doesn't do her forehead any favors. The left art curves too much towards the waist. One of the goals for this character is that she uses her wings like you'd use your arms, so she can be holding something with her arms and gesture with her wings. This pose is supposed to be something like "Hey! Look at me!" Unfortunately, her posture and facial expression contradict that enthusiasm.<br /><br />But again, for 45 minutes without a reference? Could be a lot worse. I'm currently digging J. Scott Campbell's art, so you might see some crude attempts to ape his style in the coming days...involving dinosaurs. Dinosaurs! Yeah, that's what this blog's supposed to be about, right?Zachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08692080707969333711noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38902250.post-33572775662598571632011-02-20T13:27:00.000-08:002011-02-20T16:44:18.709-08:00Zach's Figure Reviews: Brandy Carter<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gkEp05MvU6Y/TWGH1_VJTMI/AAAAAAAACKI/5wLQCtVP13I/s1600/DSC00039.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5575887175264324802" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gkEp05MvU6Y/TWGH1_VJTMI/AAAAAAAACKI/5wLQCtVP13I/s320/DSC00039.JPG" /></a><br />Brandy Carter is one of the main characters in my favorite (now defunct) comic strip: <a href="http://apesandbabes.com/" target="_blank">Liberty Meadows</a>. Written and drawn by Frank Cho, Liberty Meadows is funny and sweet, and Cho's art is beyond excellent. The man's seen a glut of Marvel work recently, but I hope he gets back to Brandy & Co. soon, as I miss them terribly. I've been in love with Brandy since the day I laid eyes on her back in college. I was a convert to Cho's website, which was at that time a message board, and I remember being excited about the announcement that a statue of Brandy was being sculpted by...Clayburn Moore, I want to say. Every once and awhile, he would post WIP pictures, and they were amazing. When the product finally launched, it was way too expensive for my puny wallet (like $250).<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hg6uCaOyYCo/TWGQEEMXpNI/AAAAAAAACKQ/VI_l2gfObcI/s1600/DSC00040.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5575896213180884178" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hg6uCaOyYCo/TWGQEEMXpNI/AAAAAAAACKQ/VI_l2gfObcI/s320/DSC00040.JPG" /></a><br />So imagine my surprise when, several years later in downtown Seattle, I discovered Brandy in a comic shop called Zanadu, sitting on a high shelf, for $180 bucks. I asked the shopkeep to take 'er down and open 'er up so I could see what I was getting myself into. Brandy was, as always, gorgeous. I probably should've thought about it (we weren't exactly rich back then), but I didn't, and I was rung up right there. The fella didn't even charge me sales tax 'cause I'm from Anchorage, where they don't have sale's tax. The rest of the day was spent lugging my luggage and Brandy through downtown Seattle, and even back to PAX Prime (the first and last time I went) because check-out time at my hotel was 11 a.m. and my bus to the airport didn't leave until, like, 3 p.m. So that wasn't terribly fun.<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Gh3b1laFQWE/TWGmmTymkaI/AAAAAAAACKY/5XWifSunCgY/s1600/DSC00043.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5575920990739141026" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Gh3b1laFQWE/TWGmmTymkaI/AAAAAAAACKY/5XWifSunCgY/s320/DSC00043.JPG" /></a><br />So I eventually got to the airport with my luggage, coat, and Brandy in tow. I told the woman at the gate that I can't check her because she's fragile, and she didn't have a problem with it (phew). I had a whole row to myself on the flight back (remember those days?) and I put Brandy on the seat next to me. Eventually I was told she had to go up in the overhead bin, but I was happy to see that she was snuggly secure between two other bags. I got her home and was almost immediately assaulted by my wife, who wanted to know what the hell I bought with the credit card in some store called Zanadu for $180. I proudly showed her Brandy and she immediately understood, though was still not super-happy with the price tag.<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AohzZLCqAlY/TWGoL_SMt-I/AAAAAAAACKg/zDORJ9H2f4k/s1600/DSC00044.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5575922737581176802" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AohzZLCqAlY/TWGoL_SMt-I/AAAAAAAACKg/zDORJ9H2f4k/s320/DSC00044.JPG" /></a><br />I took Brandy out of the box and was sad to see two flaws pop out: the butterfly on Brandy's middle finger had broken off, and Oscar's tail was cracked and bent. Luckily, some super glue fixed the butterfly and I just bent Oscar's tail back to where it was supposed to be. Brandy is just incredible--definately my favorite figure, although the term "statue" is better here, since she appears to be resin. The detailing on the base is particularly impressive. With its colors and woodland features, it lends a certain atmosphere to the scene, which I love.<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-c0OEELur3LI/TWGpn2asgaI/AAAAAAAACKo/lQpisxiX5pw/s1600/DSC00042.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5575924315748860322" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-c0OEELur3LI/TWGpn2asgaI/AAAAAAAACKo/lQpisxiX5pw/s320/DSC00042.JPG" /></a><br />Oscar and Truman are running along in front of Brandy. I really like the detailing on the fallen log, which has fungi growing on it. The mushrooms are a nice touch, too. I actually don't love Truman's sculpt, because you can see the seams along his shoulders. Brandy is also walking wholly on her tip-toes--on both feet--which looks uncomfortable. It's a little too exaggerated, almost as if she's wearing invisible high-heels.<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nDf91Yddzzo/TWGrn6KjRLI/AAAAAAAACKw/IIb8kl2jGQ0/s1600/DSC00049.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5575926515778143410" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nDf91Yddzzo/TWGrn6KjRLI/AAAAAAAACKw/IIb8kl2jGQ0/s320/DSC00049.JPG" /></a><br />The butterfly is nice touch, and surprisingly detailed. I like to think I flawlessly reattached it to her finger. Brandy's fingers are nicely sculpted, too, and include nicely-painted nails. What is clear upon close inspection is that Brandy appears to have been painted by hand. Wherever colors starkly change, for example the line separating her hair from her forehead, there is some color blur or overlap. You don't see this with my other figures. While many might view that as an irritation, I get a "home-grown" feeling from it. Somebody really put a lot of work into this girl, and it shows--flaws and all.<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iVSOWEZcxJ0/TWGsj1OzklI/AAAAAAAACK4/mqfk-5xQk2s/s1600/DSC00050.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5575927545245962834" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iVSOWEZcxJ0/TWGsj1OzklI/AAAAAAAACK4/mqfk-5xQk2s/s320/DSC00050.JPG" /></a><br />One of the really interesting things about Brandy that I don't see on my other figures is the paint scheme. Especially on her dress, there are often two or three tones of a given color, which I assume adds to the...shading effects? It's not really clear, but it's shockingly well done and consistent throughout. Similarly, her skin tones differ in different areas. Brandy's black hair is about 70% black and 30% dark blue--black-haired characters in comics often have blue highlights in their hair so that it's not just a flat color. It looks a little strange in 3D, but hey.<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xWhYKcMQpHY/TWGt_u0brWI/AAAAAAAACLA/2PZ1-M3zTsQ/s1600/DSC00051.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5575929124072697186" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xWhYKcMQpHY/TWGt_u0brWI/AAAAAAAACLA/2PZ1-M3zTsQ/s320/DSC00051.JPG" /></a><br />Aside from the Marvel Girls, Brandy here is the only figure (statue) that my wife approves of, because she's "the most realistic." I concur for the most part, although her torso is shockingly short and nobody with breasts that big wanders around on their tip-toes without a bra. Brandy's rack is pretty central to the entire piece, actually: her top is flying open, her nipples are apparent, and her unrestrained breasts are assuming their natural, sidewinder positions. This is just fine for me, but it's something The Missus would usually object to. I should just be thankful she doesn't!<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zANdNSxzoLM/TWGv3eElrsI/AAAAAAAACLI/6njsDVHUY00/s1600/DSC00052.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5575931181161361090" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zANdNSxzoLM/TWGv3eElrsI/AAAAAAAACLI/6njsDVHUY00/s320/DSC00052.JPG" /></a><br />Aside from Truman's arm seam, the only thing that kind of bothers me about Brandy is her face, which is totally unemotive. She doesn't look particularly happy, sad, excited, or bored. She HAS a face, and it's a beautiful face with a great pain job on her lips and eyes, but...what's going through Ms. Carter's head? She seems to be primarily concerned with not tripping over anything while on her tip-toes and simultaneous remaining still enough so that the butterfly doesn't flutter away. It's funny because the smallest alteration--maybe a smile on one side of her lips--could totally change the mood of the piece. From this angle, you can see not just the nice detail of her buttons and creases on the dress, but also the button slits on the other side of the dress. As I've said in reviews past, I really treasure little details like that.<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BuscjYXKvps/TWGxDRz-LRI/AAAAAAAACLQ/7TnNnwprFZ0/s1600/DSC00053.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5575932483540495634" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BuscjYXKvps/TWGxDRz-LRI/AAAAAAAACLQ/7TnNnwprFZ0/s320/DSC00053.JPG" /></a><br />At a tad over 12" high, Brandy is my largest figure by a good margin. She occupies a central position among my girls for that reason. Here she is standing next to Odin Sphere's Velvet for an idea of her size. Brandy received a limited release...I want to say only 1500 figures were produced, a figure verified by <a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/Liberty-Meadows-BRANDY-STATUE-Frank-Cho-691-1500-/360342103351?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item53e6102537" target="_blank">this eBay post</a>. Our girl retails for about the same price I bought her for, minus shipping, which is surprising given her rarity. Brandy is a gorgeous, wonderfully-sculpted figure who I absolutely adore. I highly recommend her if you manage to stumble across her somewhere. If nothing else, go buy some back issues of Liberty Meadows, which is a real hoot.<br /><br />Next on the docket: Velvet!<br /><br />Postscripto: We got a new camera. It's a Sony Cyber-Shot and I like it a lot, but it needs a screen protector for the massive viewing viewing window the back. The thing boasts 14.1 megapixels, which is a significant leap forward from the old camera's 4.0 megapixels. I am still experimenting with where, exactly, to take pictures of my figures. Lighting is the main concern. I'll work it out.Zachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08692080707969333711noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38902250.post-65100960399641462632011-02-18T18:57:00.000-08:002011-02-18T19:10:50.974-08:00Look out! He's got a Plasma Cutter!<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-57IjfDkXyy4/TV8y4OZpSNI/AAAAAAAACJ4/LvQwJKBzr4A/s1600/DSC00023.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-57IjfDkXyy4/TV8y4OZpSNI/AAAAAAAACJ4/LvQwJKBzr4A/s320/DSC00023.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5575230805227686098" /></a><br /><br />I got the Collector's Edition of Dead Space 2, which, <em>by the way</em> is one of the best games I've played in a long time. This box set came with a small replica (fully functional, as you can see) of Isaac Clark's ever-useful Plasma Cutter, with which our hero dismembers his Necromorph enemies with ease.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qy249MXQGAI/TV8zq1QP69I/AAAAAAAACKA/jlFnPc9yWUM/s1600/DSC00025.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qy249MXQGAI/TV8zq1QP69I/AAAAAAAACKA/jlFnPc9yWUM/s320/DSC00025.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5575231674650717138" /></a><br /><br />So where've I been lately? The answer is "work," where I've become so swamped that the company helpfully hired me an assistant. So between my usual job, training her, and double-checking her work, it's been...busy. On the other hand, I just bought an Xbox 360 from my brother yesterday, so I may yet enjoy the happiness that is <em>Super Meat Boy</em>. I haven't been too caught up on paleo papers, unfortunately. When something big comes down the pipe, like two new iguanodonts or something (that was <em>last year</em>), I try to find time to read it. I haven't drawn anything worthwhile in what seems like forever.<br /><br />I'll get back on the ball eventually. At least it's lighter now during the day, and that light lasts much longer. Two recommendations before I go: <em>Dead Space 2</em> (obviously) and "Danger Girl: The Deluxe Edition" published by IDW. It's a nice hardcover collection of that old 90's "Danger Girl" comic drawn by J. Scott Campbell. Really fantastic stuff, very bombastic and lighthearted and action-packed. More to come, I promise!Zachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08692080707969333711noreply@blogger.com0