Catch Up To Media

Hi, guys! I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! It's December, and while I have successfully reached 50,000 words for my Nanowrimo novel so far, the novel itself is not complete. So while I work on that, I obviously cannot write new blog articles like I normally do if I want to finish it before January, which is my goal. So today, I decided to focus on the media, because some cool stuff has actually come to my attention over the past week or two that's really interesting. So let's start with:

Days till:
It is: 20 days till Winter Solstice
It is: 23 days till Christmas
It is: 30 days till 2016
It is: 34 days till My Birthday
It is: 47 days till Martin Luther King Jr. Day

In the Spotlight:
So, first off, we were at the theater buying tickets for The Good Dinosaur, when we saw this trailer playing:

It's awesome! Am I right? I love the original Jungle Book film (I have yet to read the book), so it is nice to see a proper remake. If you spotted the giant ape King Louis in this trailer, you might think that it is an over-sized orangutan. Nope! It is actually Gigantopithecus, a now-extinct species of ape larger than the modern gorilla. It was the biggest ape that ever existed, and if it were to stand on two legs, it would stand ten feet tall! Needless to say, I love when movies slip in little-known extinct species like this. The only other time I have seen Gigantopithecus in a movie was in Ice Age: Continental Drift; Captain Gutt belonged to the Gigantopithecus genus. Also, I can't help but say that I love the special effects for this film. I cannot wait for it to come out!

Dakotaraptor was a walking nightmare!

Also, during the month of November, the discovery of a brand new species of dromaeosaur (raptor) was announced. Hailing from South Dakota's Hell Creek Formation, the creature has been aptly-named Dakotaraptor. This raptor's discovery is really awesome because it is only the second raptor to have been found in the Hell Creek Formation, and it is huge compared to most of its kin. Dakotaraptor was approximately 16 feet long, six feet tall and weighed 500 lbs, making it about the size of the genetically-altered Velociraptors of Jurassic Park/World fame. It also was endowed with a nine-inch sickle-shaped claw that was perfect for disemboweling prey! Expect an article on this raptor very soon!

That's all for now, folks! Enjoy this Christmas season that has just begun!

Disclaimer: Many (or in some cases all) of the photographs and images above are not mine. If you own one or more of them and would like them to be removed, politely let me know via my email address.