TetZooCon 2015

There can't be many conventions that have spun off from a popular zoology-themed blog and equally popular podcast about new tapirs and charging for rambling answers to questions about bipedal combat in deer, so it was very heartening that the first TetZooCon was such a success. Successful enough, in fact, to spawn a successor event, once again host to an impressive array of speakers covering an eclectic range of topics. Only at TetZooCon will you be so well informed about legendary pygmy elephants, bizarre ichthyosaurs, condom-inflated pigeon carcasses and the right circumstances to ask to use your very wealthy friend's Rolls for promotional purposes. It was, once again, a resounding success. (All photos by Niroot unless otherwise stated.)

Révérence!

Marc intimated yesterday that there would be 'a treat' from me this evening. I'm afraid it's nothing of the kind.

I had originally asked that this drawing be appended to the end of Marc's review of Katrina van Grouw's The Unfeathered Bird, on the grounds that its indulgence qualified it poorly for a post of its own. But Marc insisted it be posted alone, presumably to absolve himself of any involvement or blame. 

Katrina van Grouw is without question one of my most admired living artists. I could never have supposed that my work could have caught her attention, never mind have her pronounce it as 'exquisite'. How then should I describe having actually met her?

Here, therefore, is an avian portrait of Marc (the magpie) and I paying obeisance to the great Katrina, who, as I've ascertained, is a cormorant. It was from this meeting that we were able to gain a few insights into the dedicated, painstaking creation of The Unfeathered Bird, and learned that the book's dedicatee, 'Amy', is indeed a dead duck.

I hope you can forgive this indulgence of a post, and I promise that the next piece of artwork from me will be a non-avian dinosaur. In the meantime, if any reader is still vacillating about whether or not to purchase this book, they shall be roundly shunned by at least half the Chasmosaurs team. So there.

N