An Embarrassing Christmas Eve Dinner!

Belated Merry Christmas everybody! I hope your Christmas was as great as mine was. Alas, it is time to leave Christmas and continue on to the New Year: 2013! A lot has happened since I last posted, so I'll give a few updates.

We are still waiting to see if the Easter play I wrote, "The King on a Cross" will happen or not. So nothing new happening with that. If you would like more information on this play, please send me an email at animaladventures@aol.com.

This Christmas Eve, we went to the Candlelight Service at our church (this was a treat for us because when we were living in Vermont, we had to literally search for a church with a Christmas Eve service). That night, my Mom and Dad sang a special called, "Mary Did You Know?" and we had a live nativity to help the listeners visualize the scene. We had shepherds, Mary, Joseph and of course, Baby Jesus (but we used a baby doll for Jesus). Yours truly was portraying Joseph. That was a fun service! To finish off Christmas Eve, we had an interesting event at dinner . . . I'll get to that in a minute!

Of course, next up after Christmas Eve is Christmas Day! What a day that was! I thoroughly enjoyed it. I got quite a few things this year, but some of my favorites were no doubt animal models. Here they are for you to see:

(My sister gave me this one) Stegosaurus

(My Mom gave me this one) Guanlong

Inostrancevia

Scutosaurus

Dracorex

Baby Parasaurolophus

Be sure to get familiar with these faces, because there's a good chance you'll be seeing many of them soon in the upcoming stop-motion films! J

Now it's time to share a very . . . "interesting" time we had at dinner on Christmas Eve. Normally, this is where I will go and explain something educational, but today I'll just share this funny story, so here it goes:

My parents had asked where I'd want to go for dinner on Christmas Eve and I said a few puns involving Denny's because of a particular scene in the movie "The Santa Clause". Here's the scene I was referring to:

Well, I was sure we definitely wouldn't be going to Denny's for dinner because we rarely ever go to restaurants like that. Well, where do you think we went? You guessed it, Denny's! We went to Denny's because "it's always open" (the same reason Charlie and Scott go in the movie!). Now Dad has a terrible habit of embarrassing us out in public. So when we went to Denny's that night, he actually asked the waiter if her name was Judy! Then we had a little "comedy act" with the waitress, where Dad actually asked if they had eggnog, and just like the movie, they were out. Go figure! Next he asked if they had hot pie, and guess what? They didn't have that either! Talk about "like movie, like life".

That was pretty embarrassing! Then throughout the rest of the time we were there, Dad actually did stuff like point out a Japanese (at least, he looked Japanese)  man who he said was Hatsutashi from the movie! (He didn't mention it quietly either!) So as you can see, our Dad likes to embarrass us out in public . . . a lot! Talk about an interesting Denny's visit!

After my main "topic of the week", you may also recall that lately I've been showing another show from my stop-motion movie series "Animal Face-Off". (Please see my video page if you missed the previous videos in the series) Well, since it's Christmas time, I sort of slacked off. However next week I will show the grand finale in the series: "Battle at Kruger" (Lord willing, of course)

So that's the buzz of what's going on around here. Be sure to come back next week to see my latest stop-motion film and some of the normal stuff I post weekly. Since this is the last time I'll be posting in 2012, I'll see you in 2013! Happy NEW YEAR!

PS: To post a comment (this is highly encouraged), please simply click the post you wish to comment on, scroll to the bottom of the page and put what you wish to say or ask in the comment box. Then in the box below the comment box choose who you’re going to comment as. And then click preview or publish. If you aren’t signed into Google, you’ll be asked to type in a word and a number in the space provided. Type the word, put a space and then put the number. Then your comment is on the blog!

PS 2: Have a puzzling question about animals (including dinosaurs), myself, my latest book, my stop-motion movies, Creation or etc? Please post your question as a comment or send me an email at animaladventures@aol.com.

PS 3: What’s the latest scoop? Check it out at SMILEY’S NEWS.

PS 4: Be sure to comment on the latest stop-motion movies too, this will help me improve them.

PS 5: Please help us expand EXPLORATION BOOKS PEDIA. It’s F-R-E-E!

Fix'n the Nativity!

Merry Christmas everyone! And Christmas isn’t far off since it’s only: 5 little days away! This is my last post before Christmas, so I’m going to make this one as Christmassy as possible! Let’s get jingling!

I’d say at this festive time of year, we break out some more dino-Christmas music! I hope you’re enjoying these songs as much as I am! I’m having a blast! Alright, let’s start with this one: “Theropods ‘round the Christmas Tree”. Now unlike the songs from last week and the week before, which are from a book called, “The Dinosaurs’ Night Before Christmas”, this song I wrote myself. I hope you like it! Let’s sing:

Theropods ‘round the Christmas Tree (sung to Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree)

Chorus:

Ther’pods gather ‘round, the Christmas tree

At the Christmas dino-pop.

Dinner bells rung everywhere you see

Every raptor tries to stop.

Ther’pods gather ‘round, the Christmas tree

Come hungry this holiday.

Later we’ll have to Triceratops pie and ye do some fair hunt-in!

Tyrann’saurus will get a hungry, hungry feeling when he hears,

Voices roaring bring dinner out quick,

Before T. rex gets impatiently angry!

Ther’pods gather ‘round, the Christmas tree

Come hungry this holiday.

The Oviraptors are dancing merrily

In that ancient pre-flood fashioned way!

Tyrann’saurus will get a hungry, hungry feeling when he hears,

Voices roaring bring dinner out quick,

Before T. rex gets impatiently angry!

Ther’pods gather ‘round, the Christmas tree

Come hungry this holiday.

The Oviraptors are dancing merrily

In that ancient pre-flood fashioned way!

I don’t know about you, but I kind of like that song. It has a nice ring to it (if I do say so myself!). There is another song to sing, but this time, I’ll save it till we are at the end of this post.

We finally got around to the serious decorating this year! My sister, Halle, my Mom and I just decorated what most people would call a “Christmas tree”. Well, my Mom can have some pretty strange ideas, and while we plan to decorate an actual tree this year, Mom helped us decorate this:

Yes, that is a ladder. We call it the “Christmas ladder”. When we get our tree, Mom wanted to decorate it with Christmas balls and other stuff that “didn’t flow with our other ornaments.” So that’s how we got to a Christmas ladder. How weird (but cool) is that!?! Here are some close ups of the stuff on the ladder:

We didn’t have room for other ornaments that I like, so here are some other favorite ornaments:

And here are some pictures from the window scene. I already showed a few on this site, but these are different because I took them at night when the lights are shining. So here they are for you to enjoy:

So what are YOU doing for Christmas? Please, post what you’re doing as a comment!

The true meaning of Christmas isn’t about getting stuff, or about Santa Claus, or about family and definitely not about eating! Those things aren’t bad, but they’re just the icing on the cake. The true meaning of Christmas is really about Jesus’s humble entrance into the world as a tiny baby. We all know the typical nativity story told in Sunday Schools and other church related events all around the world: “Mary and Joseph travel to Bethlehem to register in a census and while traveling, Mary’s Child was almost ready to be born. After they reached Bethlehem, Mary’s Child was ready to be born but the nasty innkeeper turned them away because there wasn’t any room in his (or her) inn. The only place available was a small stable. So she and Joseph went there and Mary gave birth to Jesus Christ. Then shepherds from the fields, who had been told by angels of the Child’s birth, came to the stable to see the Baby. They were followed by three kings from the east who had followed a star and they gave gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to Jesus.” That is the typical story that people know around the world.

But you know, it’s been almost 2,000 years since the nativity took place, and since then, a lot of the story has been changed to make it “cuter”. The only 100% accurate account is found in the Bible. So let’s take a quiz to see how much you really know about the nativity:

• What did the stable look like?
• What time of year was the Nativity?
• What animal did Mary ride to Bethlehem?
• How many kings were there?
• What animal did the wise men ride?
• How old was Jesus when the wise men visited him?

Now, I want you to read Luke 2:1-20. Then read Matthew 2:1-18 and take the quiz again. Did you answers change any?

As you can see, much of the story has been changed over the years. So how much of this story really happened? Let’s delve into history to find out!

The scene was set 2,000 years ago, in Nazareth. A young teenage girl named Mary was expected to be married to an older man named Joseph. Back at the time, it was customary for a girl her age to be married to an older man, maybe in his 20’s. The Bible doesn’t say how old she was, but it’s possible she was anywhere between the ages of 16 to as low as 13. Anyway, she was minding her own business when suddenly, an angel named Gabriel appeared to her and told her that she was going to have a Baby. The Baby, who would be named Jesus, was to come thanks to the Holy Spirit (because she wasn’t married to Joseph yet). Now there are critics who would say it’s impossible for a virgin to give birth, but that’s not true. (I could go into this lengthy topic, but I’d like to not do that today!) Mary was willing to take on the responsibility. Her husband-to-be, Joseph, was going to dismiss her quietly when he found out she was pregnant, until an angel told him that it was ok to go marry Mary because her Child was coming because of the Holy Spirit.

Not long after that, Caesar Augustus issued a decree that all of the Roman world should be taxed. So that meant literally everyone, including Mary and Joseph, and to leave for Bethlehem because they had to pay the tax in Joseph’s home town, the town of David. Now, the Bible doesn’t say what Mary rode to Bethlehem, does it? I’m saying it’s wrong to think she could have ridden a donkey. It is possible, but I am merely saying we simply don’t know for sure if Mary rode anything at all to Bethlehem. Considering she was pregnant, it would make a lot of sense!

After they reached Bethlehem, Mary’s Child was ready to be born. The Bible doesn’t say exactly when she gave birth – whether it was as soon as they reached Bethlehem or if it was a little while after they got there. Like I said with the donkey thing, it isn’t wrong to think she could have given birth as soon as they got there, but we don’t know for sure. As the Bible says, there was no room in the inn for Mary and Joseph so Mary had to give birth in a small stable. Many stables in Bible Times were actually more like caves, kind of like what was seen in the movie Nativity Story. Perhaps though, one of the more likely places Jesus was born in was at one of Joseph's relations' houses in the area where the animals are kept. So Mary gave birth to Jesus and placed Him in a manger. Why was He born like this?

You might wonder why Jesus was born in this way. After all, He was really God in flesh! Well, have you ever heard of Jesus being called the Lamb of God? When ewes are pregnant, shepherds at Jesus’ time pulled the lamb out and wrapped it in cloths and laid it in a manger to calm it down (sound familiar?). Now you know why He was born this way!

Another familiar part of the story would be the shepherds who were out in their fields with their sheep at night when angels came upon them to tell them of the Savior’s birth. A lot of people think that since Christmas as we know it is in December, the first Christmas must also have been in December. But think about it: even in the Holy Lands it can get quite cold at night where the shepherds were in the winter time. Plus it was night time, so it would have been pretty cold had the Nativity taken place in winter! Many Biblical scholars instead believe it more likely that the Nativity took place in the spring, a much better time for the shepherds to be out with their sheep!

At last, we’ve reached the part in the story where the wise men enter. Now, a lot of stories will tell you that three kings visited baby Jesus with the shepherds. But as you’ll recall, the Bible doesn’t mention kings, it mentions wise men. So how on earth do people think that they were kings? This might come from another verse in the Bible, Daniel 9:24-26 (see this link). So could they have been kings? Possibly, but it is more likely they were wise scholars who had tracked down a star moving about in the sky to find Jesus. Now, in just about every picture, movie, Christmas play and book with the Nativity in it, you will see the stable with Mary and Joseph standing (or sitting) next to the Child, the shepherds watching the Baby, and the Wise Men either watching or giving their gifts. But let’s take a closer look at Matthew 2: 1-15. Hmm, it said that they visited Jesus in the house with His mother Mary. Doesn’t say a thing about shepherds or the stable, does it? The wise men visited Jesus when he was probably one or two years old. Not the newborn that we commonly see in picture books about Christmas.

Did you notice how many wise men the Bible says visited? It doesn’t, does it? Perhaps it was three, but it could have been four, five, six, seven, eight, ten, 20, 50, 90 . . . ok, maybe I went a little over the top, but we simply don’t know how many wise men there were. People just assume it was three because three gifts were given. Which would make some sense, unless some wise men gave the same gifts. We just don’t know.

Sorry, wise men! You guys need to turn back around and come back to visit Baby Jesus in another year or two!

Wow! Popular culture really has the Nativity story all wrong doesn’t it! Now we know the truth about the Nativity. Even though the stuff we just learned might be a shock to some, it does teach us something: when we hear something about scripture, no matter who it’s coming from, we should literally check the scriptures to see if what is being said is true and not just listen to it. Because it could be wrong!

Ok, before we get to our last song, I figured we could watch our next face-off! “Tyrannosaurus vs. Spinosaurus”. But first, let’s learn a thing or two about each creature (for info on T. rex, please visit this post).

Spinosaurus

While normally T. rex gets this title, Spinosaurus really is, and was the biggest meat-eating dinosaur that ever walking the planet. It was 16 feet longer than the average T. rex at 59 feet long and weighed up to 10 tons! Its arms were longer too: they were eight feet long and bore terrible nine-inch claws. These were the main weapons of Spinosaurus, contrary to T. rex. You probably already noticed how Spinosaurus got its name: that elaborate sail. The sail stood six feet tall and was made up of the backbones. What was the sail used for? Scientists aren’t sure, but it might be used as a way to stay cool, similar to the ears of an elephant. Or maybe it was used to attract a mate. We just don’t know. While T. rex specialized in hunting other dinosaurs, Spinosaurus specialized in a peculiar diet: fish! This may seem like a weird diet for such a large creature, but the fish Spinosaurus hunted were big – over 10 feet long! In real life, Spinosaurus and T. rex could never face-off because they lived on different continents: Spinosaurus in Africa and T. rex in North America. So today this is just speculation to who might win if out of a bizarre set of circumstances met and fought.

Now, let’s see who’s the real “King of the Tyrant Lizards”! Who will win:

That was some face-off! As you just learned, this episode is the second to last one of this series. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did making it. But why stop here? I actually have finished the script for another stop-motion series that I believe is just as good, if not better than the Animal Face-Off. Below you will see a teaser trailer for the new series. Don’t judge how the series will be by this trailer though, because the only purpose of this is so that you get the feel of what the series might be like when it’s finished. So please enjoy:

I know very well that it's not Easter Time, but we are considering the Easter play I wrote a couple of years back, called "Worthy is the Lamb". The new title is "The King on a Cross", after the title of my first book. Even though it's December, this is the perfect time to start looking over the script and to plan a casting call. You may recall that our last two casting calls were a complete bust, so prayerfully, things will go better this time around! If you are interested, please send an email to animaladventures@aol.com. Below are some pictures from the very first performance. Please enjoy!:

An angel approaching Jesus while He is praying in the Garden of Gethsemane

A Roman soldier giving Jesus a drink of vinegar on a hyssop plant

Actors in the play (From left to right): Roman soldier, angel, Ben, Mary, Kim, angel, Zoey, Jesus, Mary Magdalene

Zoey (right) telling Kim (center) to look in her Bible to see where Jesus went after He was arrested, Ben (left) is the camera man

Peter during his monologue after he denied Christ three times

The chief priest (forground) confronting Pilate (background right), Kim and Zoey are standing to the left

Pilate (left) speaking to Jesus (right), the soldier is keeping an eye on Jesus

Pilate speaking to the crowd

The Roman soldiers casting lots for Jesus' clothing

Now, I’d say that since Christmas is so close, we’ll start our last dino-Christmas carol. This one is from the book I mentioned earlier:

We Wish You A Dino Holiday (sung to the tune of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas")

We Wish You A Dino Holiday;
We Wish You A Dino Holiday;
We Wish You A Dino Holiday;
And a Happy New Year!

Our stockings are hug, our hearts
filled with glee;
We've wrapped up a Raptor for
under the tree.

We Wish You A Dino Christmas;
We Wish You A Dino Christmas;
We Wish You A Dino Christmas;
And a Happy New Year!

Eight candles we'll light this
Hanukkah night,
Dinosaur-a-Menorah will shine
clear and bright!

We Wish You A Dino Hanukkah;
We Wish You A Dino Hanukkah;
We Wish You A Dino Hanukkah;
And a Happy New Year!

Our kinara is lit, our Kuumba's increased;
We're letting the dinosaurs join
in the feast!

We Wish You A Dino Kwanzaa;
We Wish You A Dino Kwanzaa;
We Wish You A Dino Kwanzaa;
And a Happy New Year!

We Wish You A Dino Holiday;
We Wish You A Dino Holiday;
We Wish You A Dino Holiday;
And a Happy New Year!

Alright, so we’ve sung our last dino-Christmas song of the year. I don’t know about you, but I have really enjoyed this holiday season. I hope you did too! Now that we’re done, go enjoy the season with your family, sing carols (maybe even dino-carols!) re-read the Nativity story, watch a Christmas special, enjoy the real reason for the season (Jesus), but most of all . . . have a Merry, merry CHRISTMAS!!!

PS: To post a comment (this is highly encouraged), please simply click the post you wish to comment on, scroll to the bottom of the page and put what you wish to say or ask in the comment box. Then in the box below the comment box choose who you’re going to comment as. And then click preview or publish. If you aren’t signed into Google, you’ll be asked to type in a word and a number in the space provided. Type the word, put a space and then put the number. Then your comment is on the blog!

PS 2: Have a puzzling question about animals (including dinosaurs), myself, my latest book, my stop-motion movies, Creation or etc? Please post your question as a comment or send me an email at animaladventures@aol.com.

PS 3: What’s the latest scoop? Check it out at SMILEY’S NEWS.

PS 4: Be sure to comment on the latest stop-motion movies too, this will help me improve them.

PS 5: Please help us expand EXPLORATION BOOKS PEDIA. It’s F-R-E-E!

Good Old St. Nicholas

Welcome back everyone! Time is flying so fast. I mean, it’s already: 12 days (!) till Christmas! 12 days doesn’t sound like a lot, but that’s really two weeks minus two days. So everyone still has time for Christmas shopping. Time flew since last Thursday in my opinion. I can’t believe I actually managed to finish the next face-off: “Animal Face-Off: Tarantula vs. Scorpion” in time for this Thursday.

As the days get closer and closer to Christmas, I thought it would be good to pull out some more Christmas songs from the book, “The Dinosaurs’ Night Before Christmas”. Go and get your siblings, parents, friends, other family members and sing Dino-Christmas carols. Here is one more songs from the book:

Deck the Halls with Stegosaurus (sung to the tune of "Deck the Halls")

Deck the Halls with Stegosaurus,
Fa la la la la la la la la.
Jolly dinos never bore us,
Fa la la la la la la la la.
Go put on your tux or ball gown,
Fa la la la la la la la la.
Dance with Steg and rock
the hall down!
Fa la la la la la la la la!

Merry Raptors join the party,
Fa la la la la la la la la.
Appetites are big and hearty,
Fa la la la la la la la la.
Games must end in time for dinner,
Fa la la la la la la la la.
Or the T. Rex will eat the winner!
Fa la la la la la la la la!

Where's desert? The guest are
waiting!
Fa la la la la la la la la.
Eggnog is refrigerating,
Fa la la la la la la la la.
Oh, too bad, the Gobisaurus,
Fa la la la la la la la la.
At the cake - there's no more for us!
Fa la la la la la la la la!

Gather round the Songlingornis,
Fa la la la la la la la la.
Strike a merry dino chorus,
Fa la la la la la la la la.
Sing ye loudly, wake the neighbors!
Fa la la la la la la la la.
Calm them down with party favors,
Fa la la la la la la la la.

Stop the music! Stop the jumping!
Fa la la la la la la la la.
Stop the dino-tails-a-thumping!
Fa la la la la la la la la.
Party's over, dawn is breaking
Fa la la la la la la la la.
Just in time, our heads are aching!
Fa la la la la la la la la!

Wow, I enjoyed singing this one, with all the Stegosaurus, and raptors and T. rex and . . . Let’s sing another one! Here it goes:

The Allosaurus Chorus (Sung to the tune of the "Hallelujah Chorus" from Handel's Messiah)

Allosaurus! Allosaurus!
Allosaurus! Allosaurus! Allosaurus!
Allosaurus! Allosaurus!
Allosaurus! Allosaurus! Allosaurus!

For the great 'Dinosauria reigneth
Barosaurus! Carnotaurus! Hadrosaurus!
Stegosaurus!
For the great 'Dinosauria reigneth
Pachysaurus! Maiasaurus! Fabrosaurus!
Rocasaurus!

For the great 'Dinosauria reigneth
Gasosaurus! Gryposaurus! Gorgosaurus!
Gobisaurus!
Longosaurus! 'Poposaurus! Sellosaurus!
Technosaurus!
Ultrasaurus! Adasaurus! Dryosaurus!
Spinosaurus!
Allosaurus! Allosaurus!

The rulers of the paleo world, is become
A kingdom of creatures both big and
bold - both big and bold,
And they shall roam for all thy years .

Dino kings
For all thy of years - Allosaurus!
No-more-us!
Mighty and strong
For all thy years - Stegosaurus!
No-more-us!

Dino kings
For all thy years - Hadrosaurus!
No-more-us!
Mighty and strong
For all thy years - Maiasaurus!
No-more-us!

Dino kings
For all thy years - Ultrasaurus!
No-more-us!
Mighty and strong - dino kings -
might and strong.

And they shall roam for all thy years.

Dino kings
For all thy years - mighty and strong
Allosaurus! No-more-us!

Their bones preserved for eons and eons and eons.
Fossil kings
For all to see.
Fossil kings
For all to see.
Their bones preserved for eons and eons.
Fossil kings
Preserved in stone.
Pachysaurus! Dryosaurus! Spinosaurus!
Allosaurus! Allosaurus!

Alright, after singing two Dino-Christmas carols, you must be pretty winded, so let’s break!

“You better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout I’m telling you why! Santa Claus is coming to Town!” Since the 1800’s, people have been singing this verse in the song Santa Claus is Coming to Town. We all know who Santa Claus is: he’s the plump guy with a big white beard and a red coat and says “ho, ho, ho”. To most people, he seems like he’s just been around forever and ever, and ever, and ever. While Santa Claus himself doesn’t do this, Santa is often blamed for distracting people from the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of our savior Jesus Christ. However, I don’t believe that Santa Claus has a distraction from Christmas’ true meaning, instead, I firmly believe that Santa Claus can be used to direct people toward Christmas’ true meaning. I think most people don’t understand how Santa Claus and Jesus Christ can be related because most people don’t know the origins of this fellow. (Yes, Santa Claus has to start somewhere too) So let’s go on a mental trip back in time, to the time when Santa Claus was young. Oh, and forget this young Santa Claus living at the North Pole, he actually started his life in Greece.

Here comes Santa Claus!

Yes, you read right! Santa started his life in Greece. But his name at the time wasn’t Santa, it was St. Nicholas (but the “St.” part comes a bit later). Nicholas was born in the last century of the third century AD. His parents were a Christian couple (imagine that!) by the names of Theophanes and Nonna. Before his birth, they desperately wanted a child, so they prayed and wept until finally, a baby boy was born. They named him Nicholas. They chose this name to honor the boy’s uncle, also named Nicholas. Nicholas’ parents were quite wealthy and yet they weren’t boastful. It is also said they had plenty to support themselves and give to the poor. Young Nicholas had definitely had a good childhood . . . that is until one day, his parents got very, very sick and . . . they died.

A little girl talking to Santa Claus

You can believe that Nicholas must have been grief-stricken! He lost his parents when he was a preteen/young teenager! They died from a great plague that swept through the town. After the death of his parents, he went to live with his uncle Nicholas at the abbot where his uncle was the abbot where his Uncle took great care of his beloved nephew and young Nicholas learned to love and serve the Lord.

After Nicholas matured, there was a man who had once been very, very rich. However, when hard times hit, he lost a great deal of money. The man had three daughters that were marriage-age. What’s so bad about that? They can just find a wealthy husband right? Not exactly . . . See, back in the 3^rd century AD, a young woman with some type of dowry was more likely to find a husband, whereas a poor woman without dowry was more likely not to find a husband and even possibly be sold into slavery, or worse! As you can see, this is much more serious than it sounds. Nicholas heard of the man’s plight and wanted to help. What was his plan? Well, let’s look at the circumstances: A poor man with three unmarried daughters and a very rich Nicholas with loads of money. The most natural thing to do in a situation like this is to give the man some money. But this next move of Nicholas was completely unselfish – he didn’t want anyone to know that he was giving the poor man some money so he went under the cover of darkness. He snuck up to the house, and through the money into an open window and it landed into a stocking that was hanging by the fireplace to dry (sound familiar?). Soon after that, the first daughter was wed. Then, a little while later, another bag of gold appeared and the second daughter was wed. The poor man was interested in who on earth would be giving his family gold, so one night, he stayed awake. When a bag of gold came flying through the window, the father leapt forward and caught the “giver” in the act. He apparently knew Nicholas, as he said, “Ah, Nicholas, it is you! You have saved my daughters from certain disaster.” Nicholas thought wasn’t interested in being known, so he said, “You must thank God alone for providing these gifts in answer to prayers for deliverance.” And as you might have guessed, this is the origins of how Santa Claus started to deliver gifts at night.

St. Nicholas sneaking gold through the window

I could go on and on about the stories of Nicholas and how he became a bishop (which is why his name is “St. Nicholas”), traveled to the Holy Lands, and many other of his deeds. But today I wish to stick to the topic of how he and Christmas became intertwined. Now where were we? Oh yes, I remember: after a while, tales of a “gift giver” coming at night covered the world. Santa Claus has some very different looks in different countries (he must have to change costumes a whole lot!). But they are all the same man: Santa Claus, Sinterklaas, St. Nicholas, and these are just a few. But how on earth did we get from St. Nicholas to Santa Claus? Well, the Dutch brought stories of St. Nicholas to many parts of the world. In Dutch, St. Nicholas was called “Sinterclaus”. Washington Irving wrote about “Sinterklaus” in a story, but he changed it to “Santa Claus”. Did you know that the original day that Santa Claus visits the houses of boys and girls all over the globe was on December 6^th? This day was called St. Nicholas Day. In parts of England they still celebrate St. Nicholas Day today, but in other parts of the world, this day was blended together with another day later in December when people commemorate Jesus’ birth. This “Holy Day” aka “Holiday” is called the “Christ-Mass”, or better known as “Christmas”.

So there you have it, the origins of Santa Claus! Now we know where his life started out, in Greece of all places. And we also know how this man devoted his life to Christ at a young age and carried on with the work his parents did before their deaths. This Christmas season, instead of thinking of Santa Claus in a negative way, let’s think of his true self – the selfless man who’s actions changed the world forever and helped to bring many people to Christ!

Wow! After reading that, you’ll never think of Santa Claus the same way again! Well, let’s move on to the moment you’ve all been waiting for: “Tarantula vs. Scorpion”! So what would be some important things to know about each of these amazing creatures?

Spiders . . . not many women like spiders! Spiders actually aren’t really all that bad once you get to know them, but that’s a whole other topic. Today, we’ll just stick with the species of spider fighting in today’s face-off - the Red-kneed Tarantula. The Red-kneed Tarantula can be found in the southwestern portion of the United States and Mexico. It grows roughly four to six inches long and it gets its name from the red bands on its hairy legs. Unlike most spiders, tarantulas don’t spin webs; instead, they used their silk to make trip lines on the outside of their burrows. This way, they can feel the vibration their prey makes as they approach. Contrary to popular belief, tarantula venom isn’t nearly as bad as the venom from other spiders (say, the black widow spider). It’s actually less potent than the venom in a bee’s sting, in humans that is! To its prey, the venom is very potent. You might think the spider is quite defenseless, and they would be if not for those hairs on the abdomen. These spiders actually have a use for their hairs: when a predator approaches the tarantula, the spider will flick these little hairs at the predator (kind of like what porcupines do in movies, however porcupines can’t do that in real life). The hairs are really irritating, as they get into the predator’s nose and eyes and you can bet the predator will never want to bother a tarantula again!

A female Red-Kneed Tarantula

The scorpion in today’s face-off is the Arizona Hairy Scorpion. Now I had a choice of multiple scorpions to use in the face-off, but in the end I chose this one. Why? Well because it’s the largest of the scorpions living in the area that the red-kneed tarantula lives in. The smaller scorpions living in the areas are more venomous, but at seven inches in length, the Arizona Hairy Scorpion makes a great combat partner for the tarantula. Scorpions and spiders are in the same group of invertabrates, called arachnids (this is the same word we derive “Arachnophobia”, the “fear of spiders” from). Other famous member of the arachnid group is the tick. If you think that at seven inches, the Arizona Hairy Scorpion is huge, think again. This little scorpion is a pipsqueak (actually, humans would be considered pipsqueaks too) compared to a prehistoric scorpion called Pterygotus (pronounced Tear-ee-goat-us). It was the size of a crocodile.

An Arizona Hairy Scorpion

Now that we’ve learned a bit about each animal, I’d say it’s time to watch the face-off: “Tarantula vs. Scorpion”! Let’s see who wins:

If I were a betting person (which I’m not), my bet would be that most people who saw this face-off were surprised about who the winner is! How did you like the video? Please! Be sure to post a comment about the video! This would be really appreciated! (Instructions on how to post comments are in a PS down near the bottom of the page).

Well, we’ve reached the end of this post. I sure hope you enjoyed today’s reading, songs and video. Please be sure to come back next week for my latest stop-motion film: “Tyrannosaurus vs. Spinosaurus” and we’ll be sure to have a fun time, as Christmas comes upon us. See you next week and God bless!

PS: To post a comment (this is highly encouraged), please simply click the post you wish to comment on, scroll to the bottom of the page and put what you wish to say or ask in the comment box. Then in the box below the comment box choose who you’re going to comment as. And then click preview or publish. If you aren’t signed into Google, you’ll be asked to type in a word and a number in the space provided. Type the word, put a space and then put the number. Then your comment is on the blog!

PS 2: Have a puzzling question about animals (including dinosaurs), myself, my latest book, my stop-motion movies, Creation or etc? Please post your question as a comment or send me an email at animaladventures@aol.com.

PS 3: What’s the latest scoop? Check it out at SMILEY’S NEWS.

PS 4: Be sure to comment on the latest stop-motion movies too, this will help me improve them.

PS 5: Please help us expand EXPLORATION BOOKS PEDIA. It’s F-R-E-E!

A Dino-Christmas!

Hi everyone! Welcome back! Not a whole lot has been going on around here over the past few days, but hey, Christmas isn’t that far away at all! As a matter of fact, it’s only: 22 days till Christmas. Not a long wait at all. Things are going to be very interesting today no doubt! We’ve got a few “creature facts”, Christmas

carols and the long waited for, sixth episode of “Animal Face-Off: Tyrannosaurus vs. Ankylosaurus”. Remember, if you’ve missed any of the previous Animal Face-Off videos, please check out the video page clicking the link at the side of the page.

My family (mainly my Mom) has started decorating the house for Christmas. (In case you’re wondering, we start watching Christmas movies very early – in October) We haven’t got our Christmas tree yet, but we’ve started decorating with our non-tree stuff. Take a look at the pictures I took of our window decorations:

During this festive time of the year, many people sing Christmas carols. Well, I for one love Christmas carols (and yet I’ve never been caroling) but, I’d say it’s time for a new one. Don’t you agree? It’s time to “edit” a few old ones. Well, a book came out a few years ago called “The Dinosaurs’ Night Before Christmas” and, you guessed it, I’m going to put the words for a few of the songs down here for you to read (I tweaked it a little bit myself). Here is one of them:

Hey Duckbills (Sung to the tune of Jungle Bells)

Chorus:

Hey, Duckbills! Hey, Duckbills!

Oh, how can we say

Why your odd-shaped craniums

Were made to look that way?

Hey, Duckbills! Hey Duckbills!

Oh, how can we say

Why your odd-shaped craniums

Were made to look that way?

Dashing looks aside,

I think that I would dread

To have all of those bony pounds

En-crested on my head!

Unless this crown would bring,

Along with sinus space,

Some fine survival advantage

To help my humble race!

(Repeat Chorus)

Hidden in your crest

Were chambers full of air.

Could these extra cavities

Increase your vocal flare?

Did they make your voice

Resound so deep and loud?

Or was your crest just fashion fluff

To make your buds feel proud?

(Repeat Chorus)

There you have it! A Christmas song featuring the very popular, duckbilled dinosaurs, also known as hadrosaurs. Here’s another carol:

Hark! The Pterodactyls Sing (Sung to the tune of Hark! The Herald Angels Sing)

Hark! The Pterodactyls Sing
Flying high on reptile wing.
Down below them in a nest
raptor chicks await breakfast.
Rays of sunshine coax rebirth
From the Mesozoic earth.
Tiny bug and giant beast
'Wake to hunt a new 'morn's feast.
Hark! The Pterodactyls sing -
Wondering what the day will bring.

Diplodocids in a band
Stroll across the misty land.
Evergreen and fern so sweet
Fuel a thunderous march of feet.
spindly neck of Seismosaurus
Reach up to the roofs of forests.
Drooping heads of Dryosaurs
Pick new moss from forest floors.
Hark! The Pterodactyls sing -
Wondering what the day will bring.

Rushing through a thicket dense,
A Tyrannosaur, immense
Chases down a hapless prey -
Just in time it gets away!
A voracious appetite
Threatens creatures still in sight.
Silently they crouch and hide
Until T. 'Rex passes by.
Hark! The Pterodactyls sing -
Wondering what the day will bring.

'Deep beneath a rolling sea
'Pliosaurs dive gracefully
Searching for a seafood meal -
Trilobite or paleo-eel.
Far below, a shadow, looming -
Suddenly to surface zooming!
Mouth agape, a Mosasaur
Makes the divers head for shore!
Hark! The Pterodactyls sing -
Wondering what the day will bring.

Mama Raptor has come back
'With a tasty morning snack
Eagerly her hungry brood
Gobble up the baby food.
Far aloft, on graceful wing
'Pterosaurs, still hang-gliding,
Herald that the rising sun
Marks another day begun.
Hark! The Pterodactyls sing -
"'Day has dawned on everything!"

Pterosaurs and hadrosaurs, what more could you ask for? Now that we’ve sung ourselves crazy, I think it’s time to settle down and learn a thing or two!

Dinosaurs and popular culture. They seem to really go together don’t they? I mean, dinosaurs are just about everywhere you look! They’re in movies, on television, in books, in video games, on advertisements, on clothing and . . . well, they’re everywhere! But I’ve noticed that normally when dinosaurs are depicted, they only consist of a few basic ones:

• Tyrannosaurus
• Triceratops
• Apatosaurus (often incorrectly called Brontosaurus)
• Stegosaurus
• Velociraptor
• Pterodactly (which is not a dinosaur at all)

Any other dinosaurs are just an added bonus. But did you know that there are over 700 other species of dinosaurs? And that scientists believe we’ve only discovered a small quarter of all of the species? (I’m talking about species, not kinds) As a matter of fact, a new species of dinosaur, on average is discovered every six or seven weeks. And that’s saying something because we’ve been digging up dinosaurs since the early 1800’s. Actually, that’s not true. The early 1800’s was when dinosaur fossils were thought of as something special. Something new to science. Before this point, most people digging up dino bones assumed they were bones of giant elephants and people, hunks of junk, and even dragon bones. In the 1800’s, people realized they were dinosaur fossils.

Being that dinosaurs are discovered every six or seven weeks, there have been a lot of dinosaurs discovered in the past year or two. So I thought today (before we check out “Tyrannosaurus vs. Ankylosaurus”) we could learn about the latest discovered dinosaurs. Here are a mere few:

Concavenator – a 20-foot long carnivore from Spain, discovered in 2010

Concavenator

Abydosaurus – a fifty-foot tall sauropod from Utah, discovered in 2010

Abydosaurus

Linheraptor – a six-foot long cousin of the more famous Velociraptor, discovered in 2010

Linheraptor

Velociraptor osmolskae – a new subspecies of Velociraptor, discovered in 2008

Brontomerus – a large sauropod that grew almost 50 feet in length and might have kicked its foes to defend itself, it was discovered in 2011

Brontomerus defending itself from a dangerous Utahraptor

Koreaceratops – a small ceratopsian (a cousin of Triceratops) that might have been simi-aquatic, it was discovered in 2011, can you guess where it was discovered?

Koreaceratops

Oxalaia – was 46 foot-long relation to the larger Spinosaurus and was found in Brazil, it was discovered in 2011

Titanoceratops – a large cousin of Triceratops that lived in North America, was discovered in 2011

Titanoceratops

Zhuchengtyrannus – a relation to Tyrannosaurus rex found in China, it grew about 40 feet long and was discovered in 2011

Zhuchengtyrannus (I got this picture from Smithsonianmag.com)

Yutyrannus – a thirty-foot long relative of Tyrannosaurus rex that was found in 2012

Yutyrannus (I got this picture from earthtimes.org)

Camarillasaurus – a ceratosaur that was found in Spain, it was discovered in 2012

Coronosaurus – a ceratopsian discovered in 2012

Elaltitan – a large sauropod found in Argentina in 2012

Elaltitan (I got this image from wikidino.com)

Hexing – an Chinese ornithomimid found in 2012

Gryphoceratops – a North American ceratopsian found in 2012

Gryphoceratops (I got this image from livescience.com)

Juratyrant – a tyrannosaur found in England in 2012

Juratyrant

Sauroniops – a 30-foot long carnosaur found in Northern Africa in 2012

A Sauroniops in the background eating a young Spinosaurus, two other young Spinosaurus are in the forground (I got this image from National Geographic)

Yurgovuchia – a dromaeosaur that was discovered in Utah in 2012

Yurgovuchia

So as you can see, there are a lot of new species of dinosaurs discovered all the time, and yet, with every new discovery, we can learn something new about the dinosaurs and the world they lived in.

Alright everyone, now that we’ve sung some carols, and learned about new dinosaurs species, I’d say it’s officially time to check out my latest stop-motion film: “Animal Face-Off: Tyrannosaurus vs. Ankylosaurus”. Let’s take a quick look at each of today’s fighters.

Ankylosaurus is the largest of a group of dinosaurs called ankylosaurs or “armored dinosaurs”. The ankylosaur in today’s face-off is not the same one that was in the face-off from last week. That one was called Pinacosaurus. Ankylosaurus (the ankylosaur fighting this week) is as long as a school bus and weighed roughly six tons! Much like its relative – Pinacosaurus, Ankylosaurus has armor covering its back, neck and head. It also has a tail club that can be swung at potential predators. That heavily armored head, however, doesn’t have much room for a brain inside. So as for its intelligence . . . well . . . let’s just say it’s not “the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree”! It might have had the intelligence of a cow. But should we necessarily call dinosaurs such as the Ankylosaurus “dumb”? I don’t think so. God created this animal with a diminutive brain simply because God knew it wouldn’t need a big brain to survive. So in other words, Ankylosaurus was smart enough to deal with the things it would have encountered in everyday life. It didn’t have to solve math equations!

Ankylosaurus

At the other end of the “ring”, we have everyone’s favorite dinosaur. The most famous of all dinosaurs: Tyrannosaurus rex! Now T. rex grew over 43 feet long, stood around 20 feet tall and weighed seven tons. Its jaws were awe-inspiring. They were a full four feet long and full of 13-inch dagger-like teeth. T. rex could probably run at around 25mph after prey. The arms of this creature may look weak, but they actually can hold about a ton on each arm. Scientists aren’t quite sure what they were used for, but it could be to help them get up from a nap, mating, or perhaps they were used as grappling hooks to pull food toward its mouth. While Ankylosaurus was not one of the brightest guys on the block, T. rex was . . . well, he wasn’t nearly as smart as a human (he didn’t need to be) but he was WAY smarter than Ankylosaurus. T. rex probably had the intelligence of a house cat. T. rex’s jaws can bite down with over 3,000lbs of force, so it might be able to break the Ankylosaurus’ thick hide. But the real question is: was getting close enough to bite the hard part?

Tyrannosaurus

Now that we know a bit about each animal, it’s time to watch the face-off! Let’s check it out:

Poor fellow, he didn’t stand a chance did he? How did you like the video? Please be sure to leave a comment or two. This would be GREATLY appreciated! (To learn how to post a comment, see the PS at the bottom of the page)

With that face-off out of our way, it’s time to head to the next face-off: “Tarantula vs. Scorpion”. I wonder who will win that one . . . Anyway, thanks for stopping by today. Be sure to stop by next week for more fun stuff to learn, and the next face-off in my Animal Face-Off series. See you next week and God bless you!

PS: To post a comment (this is highly encouraged), please simply click the post you wish to comment on, scroll to the bottom of the page and put what you wish to say or ask in the comment box. Then in the box below the comment box choose who you’re going to comment as. And then click preview or publish. If you aren’t signed into Google, you’ll be asked to type in a word and a number in the space provided. Type the word, put a space and then put the number. Then your comment is on the blog!

PS 2: Have a puzzling question about animals (including dinosaurs), myself, my latest book, my stop-motion movies, Creation or etc? Please post your question as a comment or send me an email at animaladventures@aol.com.

PS 3: What’s the latest scoop? Check it out at SMILEY’S NEWS.

PS 4: Be sure to comment on the latest stop-motion movies too, this will help me improve them.

PS 5: Please help us expand EXPLORATION BOOKS PEDIA. It’s F-R-E-E!