The Dodo Bird

Well, as you can see, the first month of the new year is already coming to a close. Can you believe it? It seems like it just got here! You know what's interesting, I've mainly been using this website for countdowns to holidays, movie updates, and an education article written by either myself or my coauthor and I recently realized that I haven't given much time to actually explain what my family and I have been up to. Frankly, the reason for that is that there wasn't really much to say because there wasn't much going on! So today, I'd like to give a little update about yours truly before we get to today's “usuals”:

Great things are about to get started concerning the church my family goes to. We recently started Sunday School for grades 7-12 (taught by my Dad), and we're going to be producing the play “The King on a Cross” once again for Easter! I can't wait! The only problem is, that most of the people who've signed up so far are female (that leaves three guys, including my dad and I). We're going to definitely need some more men to be in this production!

Now let's get moving along with our “Days Till” section.

Days Till

It is: 3 days till Groundhog Day

It is: 13 days till Abraham Lincoln's Birthday

It is: 15 days till Valentine's Day.

As you can see above, Groundhog Day is only three days away! Can you believe it? It's going to be time for the legendary groundhog, known as Punxsutawney Phil to come out and determine how long it's going to be till winter is finally over! As everyone knows, if the groundhog sees his shadow, then it's six more weeks of winter. But if he doesn't . . . spring is on its way!

Of course, this rodent can't really tell us when winter's going to end, but it's all great fun to see what the Phil the groundhog has to “say”. I personally think that it's going to be a long winter. Come back next week to see what the results are!

In the Spotlight

OK, normally I use this section to talk about updates for the movie's I've been following. But this week, something else really cool is happening! Bill Nye – the host of the famous children's show “Bill Nye The Science Guy” and anti-creationist – is going head-to-head with president of the creation-based Answers in Genesis, Ken Ham on a live debate over the creation/evolution controversy! I'm really excited about this! This event can be seen live on debatelive.org on February 4, 2014.

Of course, many atheists aren't too happy about this debate; some claim that it's a waste of time giving creationism this much attention. But my theory is that they really just don't want to admit that really, evolution holds no water whatsoever. (Please don't get me wrong, I have absolutely nothing against Bill Nye and other atheists other than their disbelief in God and creation). I can't wait to see how this debate goes!

Topic of the Week by Christian Ryan

Dodo birds – despite having been extinct since 1681 – are quite famous among the general public – they're known as being incredibly obese, turkey-like birds with tiny brains and they are often thought of as clumsy; many believe that dodos were so dimwitted, that they weren't smart enough to survive, and therefore represent a perfect example of a poorly evolved creature. But how much of this is true? As with any famous thing, speculation of a time can turn into common knowledge and be considered fact as time goes on, without many people actually stopping to see if the common knowledge is actually true. In fact, new studies of the dodo bird have been recently conducted and have revealed many things about these extinct creatures that we never knew before. Dodos are actually interesting and amazing birds to learn about; in today's article, I intend to reveal the truth about this commonly misunderstood creature known as the dodo bird, and you will learn that, instead of being a poorly evolved dimwit, this creature is actually a beautiful example of God's amazing handiwork when He created animals.

In this photo, we see a dodo skeleton (left) next to an accurate model of the dodo bird.

Discovered in 1507 by the Portuguese, Raphus cucullatus, or dodo bird is a large flightless relative of the modern pigeon and dove and lived on the island of Mauritius, off the coast of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. The island itself was the perfect home for the creatures – at around 809 square miles across, Mauritius. The dodo's ancestors must have reached the island via flight, as they're poor swimmers, and over the years, natural selection made them flightless. They didn't need the power of flight! In fact, when the dodo's ancestors arrived on Mauritius, there were no predators, so the animal flourished.

The island of Mauritius lies between Madagascar and Australia.

The dodo bird stood around three feet tall and weighed, on average, around 22 pounds in the wild. Even though it looked a great deal like a turkey, the two share no relation whatsoever. It was covered in mostly gray plumage and is known for its characteristic large beak and the plume of feathers on its short tail. The reason we know a good bit about the dodo bird's appearance is thanks to early settlers to the island who actually went to Mauritius after discovering the creatures; these people often wrote down or drew (or painted) descriptions of the birds.

This dodo portrait is from the 17th century.

One thing we can't be very sure about is the behavior of the dodo, which is a lot harder to figure out than its appearance. Fortunately, those early settlers also wrote down descriptions of their behavior, so we can know a little. Based old descriptions, dodo birds are believed to have liked living in woods in the drier, coastal areas of south and western Mauritius. When settlers first arrived to the island, Mauritius was covered in forest, perfect for dodo birds and countless other animals that made their homes here. Dodo birds were mainly fruitivores, eating fruit that had fallen out of trees. But they also liked eating bulbs, seeds, nuts and roots. Some have even made the suggestion that they occasionally went for crabs and shellfish. Lacking teeth to chew up their food, dodo birds employed a trick used by many modern bird species: they swallowed stones. These stones – known as gizzard stones – are consumed by many species of birds to grind up the food in their guts.

These are gizzard stones (or gastroliths) from a plesiosaur, a dinosaur-like marine reptile.

It is thought that dodo birds laid only one egg at a time and nested on the ground, since there were no predators on Mauritius, and this chick was cared for by either one or both parents, just like their modern relatives.

A trio of dodo birds feeds in this picture.

The dodo bird was an incredible creature and would have been fascinating for modern scientists to study, but unfortunately, early settlers didn't seem to think so. Instead, they had another intention for the birds. Dodo birds, not knowing fear from predators, were not scared of humans when they came close, and considering the settlers were probably hungry from being out at sea for so long, so what do you think they did? That's right! They began killing the dodo birds en mass. The only weapon the birds had was their sharp beaks, but this wasn't enough to keep them from getting killed. Now the killing and slaughtering of these animals wasn't because of their delicious, exotic taste; in fact, they were actually considered quite bitter in taste! The reason why they were killed was probably because the birds were so easy to catch and because the sailors must have longed for meat, something they didn't have readily in the days before refrigerators and freezers.

This picture portrays early settlers capturing and killing various animals on Mauritius: Dodo birds (inaccurately portrayed as penguin-like) are in the middle image on the left.

And as if this wasn't enough, settlers brought animals to Mauritius with them from Europe, including pigs, dogs, cats, rats and monkeys, and these animals either found the eggs of the dodos good for food, and they competed for food resources. And as if this wasn't bad enough, humans began to civilize the island; they cut down trees and destroyed the dodo's prime habitat. Pretty soon, after rapidly losing their numbers due to human predation, their nests due to non-native animals, and their habitats, the dodos . . . well, they went “the way of the dodos”; they become “dead as dodos”; in other words, they become extinct. Now granted, a few dodos were transported from the island and into zoos in America and in Europe, but people didn't try to breed the creatures in captivity. In no more than 174 years after the species discovery, the last dodo was gone.

Animals not native to Mauritius that were introduced by the early settlers often destroyed the dodos' nests and eggs.

Soon after their extinction, myths about dodo birds came about. So how did the myth of the obese dodo come about? Well, this is to many artists who depicted them. Many artists, who had never even seen a real, living dodo in the wild, depicted them as overweight birds – birds that were so fat, not only could they not fly, but they couldn't even run! Perhaps these artists were also inspired by badly stuffed dodo specimens.

Dodo birds were often incorrectly portrayed as fat, ungainly and dimwitted birds by later artists. In this portrait, a man is painting his dodo bird model.

This wasn't changed until recent study on dodo specimens. Scientists decided to try and find out the weight estimate for the birds by closely examining the creature's bones. Guess what they found out? They soon learned that the dodo bird's skeleton would have in fact, not been able to even lift the body off the ground if it was as large as was commonly depicted. The bird actually weighed around 22 pounds in the wild. Though it is true that wild dodos underwent weight changes during Mauritius' wet and dry seasons, the changes in the birds' weight was never as extreme as the ones that were commonly depicted. And that's not all: it was recently discovered that only later artists depicted fat dodos; dodos depicted in earlier drawings, sketches and paintings (some of which not even published), portrayed much slimmer birds. Also, accounts from people who actually saw the dodos state that the birds were plenty capable of running! So much for those later artists! Compare the two:

This more accurate dodo bird was sketched by an earlier artist.

This grossly fat dodo bird was painted by later artists.

The myth of the dimwitted dodo bird must also be dispelled. Instead of being too dumb to run away from those early settlers, the dodos actually lacked fear of them because they hadn't known predators since they arrived on the island! So really, the birds were just too trusting of the settlers.

Here is a clip from one of my favorite television series Primeval, featuring a flock of dodo birds, which accurately portrays them as being relatively slim and able to run. Please enjoy:

 

The dodo bird was incorrectly depicted as a grossly overweight, greedy, brainless, lazy and slow animal for 350 years until new studies made the truth come into light. These birds, just like all the other creatures God created, were beautifully designed to thrive in their environment as He intended. So now that we know the truth, should we call this animal the “psuedo-dodo bird”?

This model correctly portrays the dodo bird as being much slimmer than commonly believed just as it was in life.

PS 1: 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 new in the news? Check it out at SMILEY’S NEWS.

The Wonders of Snow

Hello everyone! I hope you all have had a good week. Let's start off with our "usuals" before going into our topic of the week.

Days Till

It is: 10 days till Groundhog Day

It is: 20 days till Abraham Lincoln's Birthday

It is: 22 days till Valentine's Day

In the Spotlight

Dolphin Tale 2 has just wrapped up filming! The film will be released September 23, 2014.

Topic of the Week

It's used to build snowmen out of, it's used in snowball fights, we shovel it from our sidewalks and driveways, and causes many car-related accidents each year. I'm talking about snow! It's quite literally everywhere in the more northern parts of the northern hemisphere during the winter months. But even though we all know what snow is, many don't know and haven't even thought about how it forms, why it falls, the conditions in which snow falls and many other things. So today, since it's still very snowy in many parts of the world during this time of year, these are just some of the things we're going to learn about.

Snowmen is one of the most common uses for snow.

So what exactly is snow? Well, your typical answer would be something like “that white, fluffy stuff on the ground that falls from the sky during winter time”, and your typical school kid's answer would be something like “that white, fluffy stuff on the ground that falls from the sky that delivers us from the bondage of school!” In all seriousness though, snow is actually precipitation in the form of crystalline iced water. Snow's origins (there's a topic you don't hear everyday!) are not known to well; we have no idea if snow ever was present in the world before the Genesis Flood around 4,350 years ago, but based on geological finds, we believe that if it ever did fall, it wasn't very often and the temperature of the pre-Flood world wasn't all that cold. What sorts of geological finds am I talking about? Well, one prime example is the findings of fossilized trees in what are today known as the polar regions. These trees are not only the ones you'd find in the tropics today, but they also lack frost rings, meaning if it did ever get freezing, it wasn't often, if ever.

Snow started falling in great bunches after the climax of the Genesis Flood. Thanks to the warm temperature of the oceans (which were made warm by the volcanic activity during the Flood), much water was evaporated and clouds formed. It is important to know that the land after the Flood was relatively cold in many places, so when it was time for the clouds to drop their loads, it fell down as snow in some places . . . lots of snow! The snow built up so much after several hundred years had past, the snow had turned to ice that covered much of the Northern hemisphere in great sheets known as glaciers. We call this period of time following the Flood “the Ice Age”. The glaciers eventually disappeared at the end of the Ice Age, about 700 years following the Flood.

How exactly is snow formed? Contrary to popular belief, snow isn't merely frozen water – that's ice. The actual formation of snow takes place when a drop of really cold water (and I do mean really cold!) freezes onto a tiny particle of dust or pollen and crystallizes. This “ice crystal” then proceeds to fall to the ground from the clouds and water vapor freezes to the primary crystal, causing it to reshape itself into the six-armed snowflakes we all know and love. (Keep that in mind the next time you try to catch snowflakes on your tongue).

Snowflakes are so beautiful! Did you know that no two snowflakes look alike?

So now that we now how it's caused, what needs to take place in order for snowfall to take place? The most obvious thing is that it needs to be cold, otherwise when the “snow” falls, it will quickly melt into water and the water vapor crystal can't freeze to the original ice crystal. The temperature But there's another key thing: the ice crystals have to be heavy enough to drop from the clouds. Once heavy enough, gravity does its job of pulling the snowflake down to earth where bunches of little snowflakes add up . . . often times very fast!

Even though snow causes many fatal vehicle accidents each year, there are some positive things that snow does for us. First of all, many people have fun sledding, snowboarding and skiing when there's enough snow on the ground. Sleighs and sleds pulled by horses, dogs or other animals are also a fun winter activity that many enjoy. Snow is also used in other outdoor activities such as building snowmen, having snowball fights and making snow angels.

Did you know that snow can also be beneficial to agriculture? Did you ever notice when it's snowing how it seems warmer out during winter? That's because when a layer of snow falls, it can keep the heat of the earth and protect precious crops from freezing cold winter chills. And when the snow melts and refreezes on sensitive crops such as oranges, it can protect them from those colder days during the winter. There's also another added bonus when snow melts: the water released from melting snow waters the crops.

Now you know all about snow – it's formation, the conditions in which it needs to fall and even a little bit about how important it can be to agriculture! Let's thank God for allowing us to enjoy this wonder of nature that He's allowed to happen for our enjoyment!

PS 1: 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 new in the news? Check it out at SMILEY’S NEWS.

PS 4: Some or all of the photographs in this article may not my own and I do not claim ownership to them.

Joy's Keylime Pie Recipe

Welcome everyone! The last week or two have been pretty active in my home. It's been officially declared that we'll be doing our Easter presentation, "The King on a Cross" this year at our church! I'm SO excited! Over the last couple of weeks, we've had a sign-up sheet in our church for everyone interested in either acting in or helping with the play. So far, we've had quite a few people sign up. We haven't decided on a casting call date yet, but now that we have the participation, we'll be doing one pretty soon.

Anyways, let's do our "usuals" for this week!

Days Till

It is: 4 days till Martin Luther King Jr. Day

It is: 17 days till Abraham Lincoln Day

It is: 27 days till Groundhog Day

It is: 29 days till Valentine's Day

In the Spotlight

It seems as if Dr. Alan Grant won't be making a main part in Jurassic World.

This week, we finally have something new concerning the upcoming movie, Jurassic World! Though it isn't what I'd actually call "good news". It seems as if Sam Neill, who portrayed Dr. Alan Grant in both the first and third Jurassic Park movies won't be in JW. This was revealed in a recent interview with The Examiner:

"I'm sure it's going to be great," says Neill, "but they don't need me . . . I think there's a whole new cast and a whole new look at things, and I think that's great. As I said, I'd never say no, but I wish them [well]."

Does this mean Dr. Alan Grant won't be in the movie at all? In fact, Neill only said "they don't need me". This doesn't seem to rule out the possibility of a cameo appearance.

As anyone who knows anything about JW will tell you, the confirmed actors for the film so far are Bryce Dallas Howard, Ty Simpkins and Nick Robinson. There have also been numerous other rumors for other potential Jurassic World actors and actresses that have yet to be confirmed.

Well, this week, we now know another actor that will be in the new movie: Chris Pratt! This was revealed by Bryce Dallas Howard's father, Ron Howard. We don't yet know what part Pratt is playing, but we hope to know soon!

Chris Pratt is going to be in Jurassic World!

Another piece of news for the film is that we know they'll actually start filming JW. One of the locations they'll be filming in is somewhere in Louisianna, presumably New Orleans. Click here for a fuller story.

Jurassic World will be released on June 12, 2015. If this seems to long to wait, why not take a look at my version of the movie by clicking this link.

Also, the film Dolphin Tale 2 is finishing up the filming process in Florida. As with Jurassic World, there isn't much known about the film's plot, but hey, at least we know the majority of who's in it! (Unlike Jurassic World). The film is set to come out on September 19, 2014.

Topic of the Week

Now it's time for a yummy recipe for you to try at home, written by my co-author and friend, Joy Hammond:

Keylime pie is a favorite dessert of many people, no matter what age or gender.

Key Lime Pie is one of mom's favorite dessert, and mine too! Here's the recipe for an easy one that's still just as good as the more complicated pies:

You will need:

• 1 small pkg. Lime jello
• ¼ cup of boiling water
• 1 (8 oz) ctn. Yogurt
• 1 (8-oz) ctn. Cool whip (light or regular)
• 1 graham cracker crust

1. First, dissolve Jello in boiling water.
2. Second, once dissolved, add yogurt and stir until completely blended then fold in Cool Whip.
3. Next, pour into graham pie crust and let it chill for 2 hours.
4. Then bon appetite and have a good day!

Next time, I will tell you about something that pops on your screen every three seconds . . . let alone how it can affect the mind!

PS 1: 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 new in the news? Check it out at SMILEY’S NEWS.

PS 4: Some or all of the photographs in this article may not my own and I do not claim ownership to them.

What Do We Know About Jurassic World?

Hi everyone! We've got a lot to go over today, so let's get started with our usual stuff!

Days till:

It is: 11 days till Martin Luther King Jr. Day

It is: 24 days till Groundhog Day

It is: 34 days till Abraham Lincoln's Birthday
It is: 36 days till Valentine's Day

Movie Spotlight

Unfortunately, there haven't been any updates concerning the movies I've been writing about. I know it's a bummer, isn't it?

Topic of the Week:

Jurassic Park roared into theaters June 11, 1993 and was easily one of the most successful films ever made. It grossed over $914 million worldwide and was only surpassed by Titanic four years after its release. Originally inspired by Micheal Crichton's novel, Jurassic Park, this movie has inspired millions of people who saw it and many people have childhood memories from this film. Why was this movie a success in the first place? Well, for one thing, Jurassic Park features the most authentic and realistic dinosaurs ever seen in cinema, even by today's standards.

Considering its success, it was obvious that a sequel was necessary. So Universal Pictures released The Lost World: Jurassic Park in 1997, and Jurassic Park III in 2001. I don't know about you, but I am a total fan of this movie trilogy, which is arguably one of the greatest franchises of all time! As a matter of fact, this series is so successful and popular (even to this day) that a third sequel was already in the works since the third movie was finished. Unfortunately, as all of us JP fans know, Jurassic Park IV (now called Jurassic World) wasn't and still has yet to be released for reasons unspecified; perhaps Universal didn't have a good plot and therefore postponed the movie. BUT, the good news is – as I've announced in numerous of my articles, work on the movie is up and running again and over the last few months, there's been a lot of news and updates dealing with Jurassic World; as the film's director, Colin Trevorrow has confirmed multiple times, the movie-making project is very much alive! This time, after multiple failed release attempts, we're finally getting Jurassic World on June 12, 2015!!!

Though news and updates are a great thing, there are lots of rumors and speculation mixed in with the facts. For instance, forthe longest time, Jurassic World was rumored to feature mutantdinosaurs! Thank goodness this was denied by the movie-makers. Trevorrow is aware of the numerous internet rumors concerning Jurassic World. In a recent interview, he encourages us not to believe everything we read on the internet.

Colin Trevorrow is directing Jurassic World.

Because much of the information about Jurassic World is rather “hush-hush”, no one unaffiliated with the film knows much, and that's why there are so many internet rumors. The purpose of today's article is to separate fact versus fiction in the media concerning Jurassic World. Let's get rolling:

Here are the basic facts about the history of Jurassic World:

• In 2002, Jurassic World, which at the time was called Jurassic Park IV, was going to be directed by Joe Johnston, who also directed Jurassic Park III.
• The film's initial screenwriter, William Monahan, finished the film's first draft July 2003; the film was no longer set in the jungle, which is unlike the other three films.
• Jurassic World's first release date was in the winter of 2004.
• The crew working on Jurassic World were having trouble coming up with a script because they felt that all of their script versions had either too much adventure, or too much science. In special effects wizard, Stan Winston's own words, “He felt neither of [the drafts] balanced science and adventure elements effectively. It's a tough compromise to reach, as too much science will make the movie too talky, but too much adventure will make it seem hollow.”
• In 2008, it seemed as if Jurassic World would – quite literally – become defunct, or rather extinct, as there didn't seem to be any development on this sequel.
• Finally, in 2011, interest in Jurassic World sprung up again and Steven Spielberg (the director of the first two JP movies) and writer Mark Protosevich came together to think-up some new ideas for the film and there was a possibility of it being a spin-off of the original series.
• In 2011 to 2012, the crew of Jurassic World was shifted greatly – Steven Spielberg would produce the film, Joe Johnston, Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy (the last two directed the first three films) wouldn't be involved at all, and the married couple Amanda Silver and Rick Jaffa, writers of Rise of the Planet of the Apes were hired to write the script.

Now that we've gone through Jurassic World's treacherous and, at times, “uncertain” past, let's take a look at what we know now about this movie. At this point, the characters, plot and most of the dinosaurs appearing in the movie are unknown, but we do know some members of the film's cast: Bryce Dallas Howard was recently confirmed to be in the film. Even though her character's name is unknown, we know that she's portraying a smart, corporate scientist. Child actor Nick Robinson and Ty Simpkins will also be in the movie. Once again, we have no idea who these two are portraying, but we know that they'll be brothers in the film. All other actors and actresses that are rumored to be in, or in talks concerning Jurassic World don't have official involvement. Hopefully, we'll know more about cast soon.

Bryce Dallas Howard was among the first actors/actresses confirmed to be in Jurassic World.

It is a fact that Jurassic World wouldn't be part of the Jurassic Park franchise without dinosaurs! That's like making cookies or brownies without dough! The dinosaur-cast is pretty unknown to us at this point, but we do know that Tyrannosaurus rex must be in it (otherwise, why would it be in the film's logo?). Trevorrow himself even announced that interest in this carnivore. Velociraptors are also more than likely to make an appearance, as they've been in all three already-made movies and are some of everyone’s favorite Jurassic Park-dinosaurs. We also know, thanks to the film's dinosaur consultant Jack Horner, that a new scary dinosaur is going to arrive on the scene. We've yet to know what it is, but rumors persist. Many fans believe that Troodon pectinodon, from Jurassic Park: The Game will be the dinosaur Horner's been teasing us with. Other popular fan-made guesses are Carnotaurus, Giganotosaurus, Allosaurus, or perhaps the creature isn't a dinosaur at all, but a flying reptile (or pterosaur) called Jeholopterus, or maybe a marine reptile such as Tylosaurus or Liopleurodon. Until either more information is released, or the film's teaser trailer comes out, we'll be shrouded in mystery.

What dinosaurs will be appearing in Jurassic World? What is the "scary, new dinosaur" in Jurassic World? This Ceratosaurus doesn't seem to know either.

The plot is also unknown. As many fans know, a possible plot-leak came out on the internet. The potential plot features a newly built theme park on Isla Nublar, the site of Jurassic Park (the theme park, not the movie) that attracts thousands of guests yearly and not only has dinosaurs, but also marine reptiles in the Sea World-like marine section of the park. Everything at the park, according to the rumor, goes fine until a new species of dinosaur threatens the park's livelihood. This rumor has yet to be confirmed, but thanks to Trevorrow, we know the film will take place on Isla Nublar.

Will marine creatures such as Tylosaurus make an appearance in Jurassic World like the rumor mentioned above seems to suggest? We can only hope!

Are there any details I missed? Oh yes! Recently, it was confirmed by the film's visual consultant, Rick Carter, that this film will feature the “same DNA” of the first trilogy. So this means that we'll have the same movie experience that we featured with those original three movies that still captivate us to this day. Hopefully, Trevorrow and the rest of Jurassic World's cast and crew can pull this movie together and deliver us one of the greatest film's ever made! On June 12, 2015 . . . dinosaurs will roam the earth once again . . . through cinema anyway!

PS 1: 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 new in the news? Check it out at SMILEY’S NEWS.

PS 4: Unless otherwise stated, the photos in this blog post are not mine.

"So Bring Us the Figgy Pudding . . ."

Welcome back everyone! Hope you all had a splendid Christmas and New Year! Can you believe 2014 is already upon us? Let's spend it bringing glory to God!

Happy New Year! Here's a thought: let's spend 2014 learning to serve God better!

In my last post, I said that I'd "set up" the posts a little differently in 2014: everything's now categorized! There are three different sections for each of the three "topics" we focus on from week to week to make reading and navigating these blog posts a little easier. So let's get cracking!

Special Day Countdown:

It is: 18 days till Martin Luther King Jr.'s Day

It is: 31 days till Groundhog Day

It is: 41 days till Lincoln's Birthday

It is: 43 days till Valentine's Day

Movie Spotlight:

Unfortunately, there haven't been any updates on the movies I've been writing about.

Now it's time for our "Topic of the Week", written by my co-author Joy Hammond:

Topic of the Week:

Ah the classic song, "We wish you a Merry Christmas", but wait . . . what in the world is figgy pudding? This question pops into the brains of most who sing the verse, "Now, bring us some figgy pudding . . ." but not many are willing to actually pursue an answer! The answer to this age-old question is: figgy pudding is a cake-like dessert with figs, of course.

I don't know about you, but maybe we should all start a tradition of instead of just singing about it, we could actually eat figgy pudding!

This must be a really delicious treat; find out for yourself! Here's the recipe to make this yummy snack:

You will need:

• ½ cup butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup molasses
• 2 cups mission figs (but 1lb. Chop yourself)
• ½ teaspoon grated fresh lemon rind
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 ½ cups of all-purpose flour
• ½ baking baking soda
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 cups brandy
• cheesecloth 

First, preheat the oven to 325 degrees and grease a 9-inch tube pan. Beat the butter until soft and add eggs and molasses and beat until fluffy.

Second, add chopped figs (try to use good quality figs), grated lemon rind, and buttermilk.

Third, in another bowl combine the rest of the ingredients (all the dry ones). Then pour the dry ingredients into the fix mixture and stir it well.

Fourth, pour the mixture into a tube pan and cook for about an hour or until a toothpick comes out pretty clean. After about fifteen minutes, try to take out the cake and put it onto a baking rack.

Fifth, soak enough cheese cloth to go around the cake a couple of times in brandy. When cake is cool, wrap it well and soak for twenty-four hours.

Last, finally go ahead and eat! Preferable served with hard sauce.

Well that's it for now! Hope your Christmas and New Year's Eve went well!

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