Here's an nice article about an exciting find:
Giant Bones of a Monster!
And included is this interesting bit of science writing:
"Such pliosaurs are known from remains in countries including Britain and Argentina but no complete skeleton has been found, he said. The skull of the pliosaur -- perhaps a distant relative to Scotland's mythical Loch Ness monster-- was among the biggest on record."
Hmm. The writer is saying that the pliosaur, whose previous existence is not in doubt, may be the cousin of Nessie, whom the writer says is a myth. Oops! Perhaps he was speaking of them being conceptual cousins. The jawas of Tatooine are the cousins of both the family of little people who lived next door to George Lucas as a child, and the shaggy smog spirits that Lucas imagined as haunting the volcanic wilderness of his grandmother's native Iceland. Sez me.
Today as I was driving along I saw the profile of a very large iguana protruding from the grass along the side of the road. "That reptilian profile is iconic," I said to myself (and to the baby in the back seat) "but iconic of what, exactly?"
ReplyDeleteAt the next intersection, I realized that the reptile profile had reminded me of the Nessie photograph from the 1930's, featured so heavily on "In Search Of."
BTW, the Discovery Channel had an updated "In Search Of" program on not long ago in which an descendant of the photographer explained how the hoax behind that photo was carried out. Didn't change my mind, of course: Nessie's as real to me as any jawa you'd care to name.
Whoa. I'm relieved. Someone told me that you had said to Leah, "That reptilian profile is iconic," and I thought they meant that you were speaking about Leah.
ReplyDeleteThat first paragraph of your comment should be the opening lines of a Syd Barret song.