Happiness is . . . Dinosaurs

I should clarify saying that I love dinosaurs in a few different ways. Would I want to be chased to my death by a tyrannosaurus rex or an allosaurus and then have my torso left on the ground. NO! Would I want to smell the smell of dino poop. NO! Would I want to walk over monstrous carcasses. NO! I don't want any of it. But I love the fact that dinosaurs did exist. And, at that, that they existed for almost 180 million years. As Joe Biden would say, let me repeat that. 180 million years. That freaks me out and it's fascinating.

For one thing I love the way dinosaurs looked. I love the fact that they were often monstrously huge, sometimes spiky, sometimes armor-covered. Best of all I love the fact that we still can discover dino bones in so many strange places. I'm certainly not versed in the biology or history of dinosaurs but I do know that our perception of dinosaurs through research is changing. I'm most captivated by images of dinosaurs and by what they represent. It's hard to believe that dinosaurs were a part of Earth's history in a world more akin to "Land of the Lost" (well, take that with a grain of salt . . . I think you know what I'm getting at) than our modern world. They represent anything we want. They can be primative , frightening, beautiful, magical. All of these things can be true at the same time.

What you see in these photos are a few of the dino-related things I have. I love my View Master and I have a number of discs about dinosaurs, including "Walking with Prehistoric Beasts." I can't lie. Sometimes when I look at the dinosaurs through my View Master I get a startle, especially if it appears that the dinosaur is coming straight for me. The very top photo features a dinosaur from the pop-up book Encyclopedia Prehistorica: Dinosaurs by Robert Sabuda and Matthew Reinhart. If you can get a copy of this book, do it. It's fantastic. In that same photo is a copy of "Chased By Dinosaurs". What I'm most excited about is that the DVD includes the three episodes of "Chased by Sea Monsters."The main character in the "Monsters" episodes is a headstrong, harried, and strange time traveler who locates the most fearsome prehistoric sea monster in each era. He becomes so frustrated in one part that he cusses, which is great. The time travelers adventures are relayed to us in the form of a documentary. All right. A documentary. I know it sounds bizarre and stupid, but "Chased by Sea Monsters" has some of the best CG I've ever seen and is just plain fun. Watch these episodes with your family, your friends, or your cat. Before I purchased the DVD, I saw one or two of the "Monsters" episodes on tv and about scared myself to death. Maybe having the lights off didn't help.

Watch for more posts about DINOSAURS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!