SVP

Well, now that exams are over, I have time to update my site. Last week was the infamous meeting for the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. In addition to much frivolity there were some very interesting talks and posters presented. Several come to mind right off the bat. One of the more interesting talks was given by Nick Longrich, a fellow that I was privilaged enough to discuss problems in paleontology with over the summer while both of us were at the Royal Tyrrell Museum. His talk "Archaeopteryx: two wings or four?" discussed his observations that archaeoptery posessed a set of flight aiding feathers on its hind limbs. Much of his observations came from the berlin specimen and its counterblock which also preserved many excellent feather impressions. While these leg feathers were not as extensive as those of the forelimb which have been classically recognised, it does show that the four wing design is basal to all birds, even if not as expressed as in microraptor. Other observations on hip structure have also shown that it was infact more possible for birds to glide with the limbs in a splayed position than previously thought.
Another excellent talk was on the changing views on evolution and paleontology in the works of Mark Twain. There were also several excellent talks on ceratosaurs, and on new species of Allosaurs, as well as a jouvenille allosaur specimen preserving most of the skull. An intreguing poster demonstrated that the gorgosaur skull at the Childrens Museum of Pitsburg shows what appears to be a tumor within its brain case.
The theme of this years dinosaur talks however seemed to be CT scanning. Nearly everybody is trying to CT scan all of their fossils. While this is very interesting technology, I question the necessity of such expensive techniques. dozens of people made references to how they used extremely expensive software, normally reserved for the movie industry, to make their 3-D models. The set up costs alone are astronomical. A couple of guys made 3-D models of a dynonychus arm so that they could demonstrate how it moved. The didn't however have time to measure the accuracy of their techniques by reproducing the methods with other extant animals. Therefore, their results may be accurate, but we can't be sure. Despite all of this, dozens of people flocked to ask them questions simply because of the cool factor inherent in their work. While I commend dinosaur science for being the first to use such techniques, I think that hte paleontologyical comunity should realize that computing power should not limit the quality of research being done, particularly if the computing is done at the expence of more inclusive research methods.

Kill Bill

Quintin Tarantino's 4th movie, "Kill Bill" is absolutely spectacular. The Village Voice called it the most violent american movie ever made, and while I don't necessarily agree with that distinction, it is at least one of the most violent. Limbs, heads, scalps, eyes and massive quantities of squirting blood were all removed from bodies. I find this somewhat amusing because it's a Miramax movie which means that it was in fact made by the Disney corporation. As if Disney didn't have enough problems as it is. Noticably lacking from the movie however were numerous drug references (disney influence, i don't know?). But even without the heroin flowing as freely as the blood, Kill Bill is an incredible black comedy. Where other movies would have some kind of sharp quib towards an offender of a main character, Kill Bill had a sharp blade in the process of dismemberment. I highly recomend this movie to anyone with a morbid sense of humour. If you think death is funny, go see Kill Bill. Then go out immediately afterwards and buy the sound track. Allan did, I copied it and we both think that the sound track is awesome.

SVP

Beginning wednesday morning the this year's meeting for the society of vertebrate paleontology. This will be my second such conference. This year's meeting is in St. Paul Minisota. Unfortunately I'm not quite ready to present a talk or even a poster at the conference, unlike several of my peers who are a year ahead of me. A group of five undergrad students from the U of A are going. We're all flying from Edmonton International to some airport in Winnepeg, Manitoba. If all goes correctly, there will be a car waiting for us there and we'll drive through the night and arive in St. Paul hopefully by 7:30 so that we can register and get a good seat for some of the first talks. My Advisor, Dr. Caldwell, who I have never had any intention of stabbing, should be giving a talk that morning.
In all honesty, a conference is just an excuse for over a thousand scientists to spend practically a whole week getting drunk in the eavening, then shmoozing and dropping names all day. At least that's the plan. Mostly I'll be trying to get my name out there and try to get some friendly contacts who wouldn't mind sending me some reprints of theirs. I am particularly interested in talking to Gregory S. Paul, who has yet to respond to the letter that I sent him.

Help TV

A couple of weeks ago, Allan, Joel and I were quite bored and happened to be watching a program called Help TV, in which people call or write in for advice. Every once in a while, an e-mail address would come up for people to write in to. Well, Allan thought it would be funny to write in something along the lines of "I'm a chronic masterbater, what should I do?" and sent it in. I jokingly remarked "I think that my prof is steeling my research, should I just stab him?" which Allan, unbeknownst to me, wrote in with my e-mail address for reply. The following is the reply that I received just the other day:

From: "Lindsay Elleker"
Subject: Help!TV Reply to your Question
Urgent New
Will, Please don't "stab him"!
Instead, set an appointment time with him (that's good for both of you
with no distractions or interruptions). Rather than "confronting" him
maybe just ask him his thoughts: re: your research project and how
credit for the project's results is to work in the future. Do this in a
non-threatening yet collaborative way (Read "Getting to Yes" by Ury &
Fischer). Be sure to remain open-hearted, non-defensive and curious. DO NOT ACCUSE HIM AND NO THREATS! Explore all options - his and
yours!!
From, Nancy Hack
Chartered Mediator
Help!TV

Since this reply was several weeks after it was initially sent in, I was very tempted to reply:
Sorry, too late.

P.S. Once more for clarification, I did not acutally write the original e-mail, not have I ever or will I ever commit or conspire to commit murder.

jokes

What do fat people do in the summer?

Stink


What is brown and white and has no mother?


Bambi!!!


Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things.
---
One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor.....
---
Atheism is a non-prophet organization.

The main reason Santa is so jolly is because he knows where all the
bad girls live.
---
I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman,"Where's the
self-help section?" She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.
---
What if there were no hypothetical questions?

Where do forest rangers go to "get away from it all?"
---
What do you do when you see an endangered animal eating an
endangered plant?
Why do they lock gas station bathrooms? Are they afraid someone
will clean them?

Why do they put Braille on the drive-through bank machines?
---
What was the best thing before sliced bread?

Do infants enjoy infancy as much as adults enjoy adultery?
---
Whose cruel idea was it for the word "Lisp" to have "S" in it?
---
Why is it called tourist season if we can't shoot at them?