Mesozoic Miscellany #6

Newsworthiness
Thanks to Glendon Mellow's kind invitation, I'm pleased to let you know that I'll be in on the Art and Science discussion at ScienceOnline 2011 this January. It's a small conference and registration is closed, but I imagine that there will be video available, and you can follow our hecklers on twitter.

Andy Farke at the Open Source Paleontologist wrote a very fair review of Greg Paul's Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs this week.

The Dinosaur Toy Blog took a look at the new Sideshow Collectibles Spinosaurus statue, which is stunning.

At Discovery News, Jennifer Viegas writes about a clutch of really, really, really old dinosaur eggs.

Brian Switek wrote about the fossil in the Italian Church, which more than likely is not a dinosaur skull. Still a cool little quirk of architecture, though.

Want a PDF of an academic paper? Mike Taylor at SV-POW! has a handy guide on how to do it - without annoying people.

Dave Hone featured a fine model of Compsognathus from the Oxford museum.

Twit Picks
Stuff I tweeted in the last week or so:

• Darth Vader & a bunch of dinosaurs breaking bread. I'll reveal my SW RPG history & guess they're Ssi-Ruuk aliens?
• The Geology P.A.G.E.: A Geologists House - To the Extreme
• Crazy to live in a time when actual marketing materials for commercial space travel exist.
• WitmerLab has a vajazzled computer. Secret's out!
• Cool old photo of Charles Doolittle Walcott and his children at the Burgess Shale
• Brontosaurus - Out With the Old Skull, In With the New Skull by @laelaps at Dinosaur Tracking

Tumblin'
From I Effing Love Dinosaurs:


Paleoart of the Week
Here's a typically wonderful Trish Arnold piece, a simple sketch in ballpoint pen but displaying her cartooning ability perfectly. I hope the Terra Nova people take her advice.


Outrageously Off-Topic Indulgence
Everyone, there is a show called Terriers on the FX network in the US. It is seriously awesome. Scruffy detective stories, unpredictable, heartfelt, super-terrific acting and a great theme song. Airs at 10 PM eastern time on FX, and the most recent 5 episodes are available at Hulu. Donal Logue's best work yet.