John Conway's Log

And here’s the counterpart to Smoove, the less smooth...

Tue, 14 May 2013 18:59:00 +0100

And here’s the counterpart to Smoove, the less smooth Strung.

Since am busy on the next (top secret!) book, I haven’t...

Tue, 14 May 2013 18:50:09 +0100

Since am busy on the next (top secret!) book, I haven’t had time for new stuff. So I thought I would subject you all to my pretence at music - stuff I have pasted together in Garageband. Oh man I bet you are all so damn excited.

This one is from 2004, and I call it Smoove.

Episode 5: You Sexy Thing

Fri, 03 May 2013 12:46:40 +0100

Episode 5: You Sexy Thing:

Darren and John discuss sexual selection in dinosaurs , the morality of The Thing and the perpetual debate on what is canon . Live Twitter (hashtag #tetrapodcats, typo deliberate) questions include a very serious question from Mark Witton and invasive species during the Cretaceous. Thanks to all those who donated, and put the podcast in profit, we’re going to Vegas! (No, we’re not.)

“Ain’t got no car? He’ll get you one” A...

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 17:30:19 +0100

“Ain’t got no car? He’ll get you one”

A painting of the song Red Right Hand by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.

A good old Photoshop painting.

So much sense I am making. That’s a snazzy suit -...

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 13:48:00 +0100

So much sense I am making. That’s a snazzy suit - he’s like the Don Draper of brachiosaurs.

The entirety of my sauropod herd speed-painting set. What...

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 16:30:29 +0100

The entirety of my sauropod herd speed-painting set. What handsome critters they were. If you have enjoyed this series, please consider buying a print on my website.

The final sauropod herd painting (well of this batch anyway),...

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 14:28:00 +0100

The final sauropod herd painting (well of this batch anyway), the grand, if ugly, Camarasaurus lentus. Based on this great photo of an elephant herd by Fred Hoogervorst. You can buy a print of this work, with the other sauropod herds series, here.

Hay, it’s the grumpy Hypsilophodon is grumpy meme! The...

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 19:29:00 +0100

Hay, it’s the grumpy Hypsilophodon is grumpy meme! The first one’s a blank for all you kids to have at. So please, have at.

Tetrapod Zoology Podcast Episode 4: Tetrapodcats Jurassic Snark

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 11:57:00 +0100

Tetrapod Zoology Podcast Episode 4: Tetrapodcats Jurassic Snark:

Darren and I make a podcast, don’t you know. Sometimes we talk all sciencey and sensible-like about tetrapods, and sometimes we don’t. In this episode, we don’t. You should subscribe, because that would make us feel good.

The eighth in my sauropod herds series: Europasaurus was a...

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 19:08:24 +0100

The eighth in my sauropod herds series: Europasaurus was a sauropod from the Late Jurassic of Germany. Weighing in at titchy tonne or so, it is thought to be an example of island dwarfism.

If you’re thinking of painting an old-timey full-rigged ship sailing through the night sky,...

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 18:21:40 +0100

If you’re thinking of painting an old-timey full-rigged ship sailing through the night sky, stop. Just stahp. And then ask yourself, “am I going to do this so much better than the 682,923,921 artists that have done this before me?”

Just look at that beautiful sideways foot with no toes. Marvel...

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 21:14:13 +0100

Just look at that beautiful sideways foot with no toes. Marvel at the sculptural feeling of mass in the shading, the lovely storybook feeling to the painting. Wonder at how someone so talented could give birth to such an abomination.

Masiakasaurus knopfleri wishes it was on the MTV, where you get...

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 12:47:00 +0100

Masiakasaurus knopfleri wishes it was on the MTV, where you get your lizards for nothing and your chicks for free.

The heroic Triceratops horridus. Never Forget.

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 13:32:58 +0100

The heroic Triceratops horridus. Never Forget.

Tyrannosaurus rex might have been just a little bit frightening.

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 12:39:00 +0100

Tyrannosaurus rex might have been just a little bit frightening.

Sinovenator changii was a little troodontid theropod from the...

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 16:47:00 +0100

Sinovenator changii was a little troodontid theropod from the Early Cretaceous of China. This very owly painting of it is totally not copied from this 1856 painting by William James Webbe.

Compsognathus longipes was a titchy little theropod dinosaur...

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 21:15:38 +0000

Compsognathus longipes was a titchy little theropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic of Europe. It was also quite the looker.

dresdencodak: I’m actually not bothered by the Jurassic Park 4...

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 18:27:10 +0000

dresdencodak:

I’m actually not bothered by the Jurassic Park 4 news because, honestly, it *would* be weird if all the dinosaurs suddenly looked differently in the 4th installment of a film series. Paleontologically updated dinosaurs look remarkably different than what was in Jurassic Park (it goes way beyond feathers), and unless it was an actual remake, such a drastic shift would be basically nonsensical.

What actually bothers me is why we all seem to think that Jurassic Park is the only way mass media is allowed to see dinosaurs. Why are we looking to a 20-year-old Spielberg film to dictate pop culture depictions of dinosaurs? There used to be movies about dinosaurs all the time, so why can’t there just be other ones? Michael Crichton didn’t invent the idea of dinosaurs in the modern day.

This dovetails nicely with my previous post - awesomebro is fine (who doesn’t like a bit of awesome every now and again?), but the fact that it has become a monoculture in the mass media depiction of dinosaurs is awful.

Jurassic Park 4: Awesomebro!

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 16:47:00 +0000

The director of Jurrasic Park 4 has tweeted that the Velociraptors will not have feathers, which has lead to quite a bit of backlash in the palaeo community. There’s not much point in rehashing the scientific in inaccuracy of this. Brian Switek’s piece will give you good rundown of the situation.

I want to take a different tack on this, and look at the broader culture this is occurring in.

Jurassic park became little more than a monster movie about halfway through the first film. I don’t think we should be at all surprised that the franchise continues on its monstrification trajectory. What I’m going to argue here is that the context in which dinosaurs are embedded in our culture makes this almost inevitable.

Most of us have come across or participated in what I’m going to call “awesomebro” culture: “dinosaurs in space with fricken’ lasers? AWESOMEBRO!”. Awesomebro culture is huge, and makes up a huge proportion of the people that buy dinosaur-themed stuff. At the really stupid end of awesomebro you have the people that complain that feathered dinosaurs look “gay”. You have less retarded grumbling as well. My problem is in how I, and many other people I agree with, have reflexively deflected these grumblings. We say something like “well, eagles look pretty awesome - watchya got to say to that, smart guy?”

The problem with this sort of defence is that it buys into the whole stupid assumption of dinosaurs belonging to awesomebro culture. What if dromaeosaurs really did look all fancy or goofy? What then? I say so what, animals often look fancy or goofy. The “awesomeness” isn’t the most sophisticated way of viewing the natural world, and one that I personally have very little interest in.

Of course, awesomebros are the prime market for the Jurassic Park movies (indeed, many of us probably started out with dinosaurs as awesomebro 13 year-olds). So we end up with the Axis of Awesome, the big money of big media, and the massive fandom of the awesomebros supporting it.

The problem with all this is that the fundamental aim of the awesomebro project is to make things ever more “awesome”, not to make things more accurate. Trying to find the “awesome” angle on the new discoveries about behaviour and appearance seems to me to be missing the whole damn point of what I’m trying to do — which is come to terms with the truth. Nearly all dinosaur documentaries struggle with this, and nearly all fail, resulting in a hodge-podge of garbled science juxtaposed with flights of awesomebro fancy (Tonight on AwesomeDinoFights: Triceratops vs. a Brick Wall). Dinosaur artists, too, play their part in this, with their screechy slobbering theropods. I think it’s a fundamentally flawed approach, but one which has too much money behind it and cultural entanglement to change from within.

So what’s to be done? I say forget JP4, the awesomebro project will continue unabated by the complaints of a few dinonerds. Instead we need to build a credible cultural alternative to awesomebro dinosaurs. It’s a big task, to be sure, but it’s why I do what I do.

Featuring the Features of Bigfoot's Feet

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 11:55:29 +0000

Featuring the Features of Bigfoot's Feet:

The 3rd episode of the Tetrapod Zoology podcast is finally out! Darren and I discuss our faded hopes for the discover of Bigfoot.

If you like the show, please consider rating it in iTunes, it’d really help us out.