Re-run Article: Rabbits and Crabs and Dragons...OH MY!

Again, I had a very uneventful week. Yawn. But on the bright side, I have some awesome news to share about, you guessed it, Jurassic World!

Days till:

It is: 3 days till Groundhog's Day
It is: 15 days till St. Valentine's Day
It is: 17 days till President's Day
It is: 46 days till St. Patrick's Day

In the Spotlight:

As promised, I have a lot to report on concerning the upcoming third sequel to Jurassic Park: Jurassic World! How exciting! First, off Lego is producing a JP game based on not only Jurassic World, but the other three movies as well. Here is their official description:

"Following the epic storylines of Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III, as well as the highly anticipated Jurassic World, LEGO Jurassic World is the first videogame where players will be able to relive and experience all four Jurassic films. The game will be available in June for the Xbox One, all-in-one games and entertainment system, the Xbox 360 games and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®4 and PlayStation®3 computer entertainment systems, PlayStation®Vita handheld entertainment system, the Wii U™ system from Nintendo, Nintendo 3DS™ hand-held system, and Windows PC."- Business Wire

You might recall that last week, I wrote an article about hybrids. Well, wouldn't you know it, we finally have some (officially revealed, this time) information on the terrifying Indominus rex hybrid from the upcoming movie! The Masrani Global Corporation website breaks the news this way:

"Today at Masrani, we have a fantastic announcement to make. Over the last three years, the brilliant minds at InGen, lead by the great visionary Dr. Henry Wu, have brought us a new attraction for Jurassic World – the likes of which have never been seen before. While I cannot reveal any important information behind its creation at this time, I can reveal the title of our finest endeavor: the Indominus Rex." - Simon Masrani

The Jurassic World viral site has even more information about this beast on its bio page. It states that currently, Indominus rex is a 40-foot, hyper-carnivore that can run up to 30 mph...in her enclosure!

As had been rumored, she is indeed a hybrid, but, get this, she isn't a hybrid between a cuttlefish, a snake, a T. rex and a Velociraptor as Joblo had led us to believe. It is actually a hybrid between four different species of theropod dinosaurs: Giganotosaurus, Carnotaurus, Majungasaurus, and Rugops, the latter three are members of the abelisauridae family. Though Indominus rex may look a little like a T. rex to some at first glance, the arms of this creature are longer, she has spines extending down her arms and neck and she bears a pair of horns on her head. Her aggression level is very high.

Behold, the long-awaited for: Indominus rex!

What the creature looks like, other than what we gathered from that leaked bunch of photos I refuse to show, is unknown. But we will be seeing more of her this summer. And don't worry, I am sure Indominus rex will be kept safely in her confinement throughout the entire movie and won't be chasing and eating people. After all, Jurassic World is 100% safe!...right?

Indominus rex, coming this summer to Jurassic World!

Topic of the Week by Joy Hammond 
I went out and searched for interesting animals on the internet, when I came across a fun and furry critter. It’s called the Angora rabbit.  They are the oldest domestic animals that came from Turkey. They were considered royal pets in France. They eat a lot of hay and their personalities are very energetic. Their playful and enjoy other rabbits. They like toys such as pinecones, stuffed socks, and rubber balls.

The French Angora is the more bunny-like of the Angora rabbits.

 There are five different types of Angora rabbits: American, French, German, giant, and satin. American Angora Rabbit is like a stuffed animal. It is gentle but needs grooming at least twice a week. French Angora rabbits look like a sheep in a way. Its fur is used for sweaters, baby clothes, and millinery. This rabbit can’t shed its fur like the rest so it has to be sheered. Giant Angora rabbits are extremely fluffy; they need to be sheered at least every 180 days to prevent hair clots that would end up causing death if not treated. A satin angora is almost like a normal rabbit, only a bit furrier.

The French Angora rabbit is definitely woolly!

Another interesting animal is a Kiwa hirsuta or the yeti crab. The crab is found in the Pacific Ocean. The yeti crab was discovered in March 2006. It is seems to be blind and a carnivore, although it eats bacteria. Its furry claws are one of the best qualities about the yeti crab. The claws detoxify poisonous minerals in the sea, where it lives. The crab was discovered by Robert Vrijenhoek and his group in the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in Monterey, California.

The Yeti crab wasn't discovered until recently because it makes its home in the depths of the ocean near volcanic vents.

One last animal is the Leafy sea dragon. It is mostly found in the coasts of Australia, one of my favorite countries/continents that I’d like to visit. The sea dragon’s skin camouflages and makes it appear like seaweed. It eats amphipods and mysid shrimp, plankton, and larval fish. Leafy sea dragons have a major threat when their first born. They are slow swimmers and sea dragons are also used in alternative medicine. Dive into the ocean this summer and see the world beneath the surface.

The leafy sea dragon uses its leaf-like fins for camouflage.

Thanks for reading today's article. Please be sure to stop by next Thursday for some more exciting information about nature and about upcoming movies! Good bye!

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 one or both of the email addresses above.

Lizzy's Nutella Cheesecake Recipe

This past week has been extremely busy for me! My church's latest theatrical production: The Cheatham's: Howey's Wedding Celebration is tonight! I am so excited! As you might recall, it is a sequel to the Cheatham's drama my family and I did last year called Meet the Cheatham's, and it was about how we as Christians should act differently at Christmas time from the rest of the world and focus on Jesus Christ. This year's drama takes place one year after the first, in which Howey Cheatham (Dewey and Iotta's son and Yugotta's brother) is getting married to Brielle Hess. The play focuses on the process that Dewey, Iotta and Brielle go through to plan and coordinate the wedding. There are plenty of laughs along the way, as it is a comedy. I do not want to give away the ending if anyone of my readers is going to see it, so I won't describe the plot anymore.

I must tell you though, doing this drama is almost like planning a real wedding, because we've got flowers, a six-foot wedding cake, decorations decorated all over our church's worship center, black-tie-white-gown...etc. The whole enchilada and a partridge in a pear tree! Be sure to check out the pictures I have posted regarding the wedding decorations on my Instagram account.

Days till:

It is: 14 days till Thanksgiving

It is: 41 days till Christmas

It is: 48 days till New Years Day

It is: 210 days till Jurassic World comes out!

In the Spotlight:

There is an image that has been circulating around the internet that is related to Jurassic World. It is believed by many to be a leaked image of the film's fabled Diabolus rex. Here is the image below:

 

This dinosaur looks vaguely familiar...

The website claiming this is a leaked image from Jurassic World is MoviePilot. I have one thing to say about this image: IT IS NOT RELATED TO JURASSIC WORLD WHATSOEVER!!! Why? Well, first off, I would be very suspicious of anything relating to Jurassic World coming from MoviePilot because they have published several Jurassic World articles that either present old news as if it were hot off the press, or talking about out-of-date or simply inaccurate news. The article showing the picture above is no exception.

This picture claimed to feature Diabolus rex isn't actually even a picture from Jurassic World. It is actually from a Discovery Channel 2003 documentary mini-series called Dinosaur Planet. The specific episode this dinosaur appears in is called Pod's Adventures. In this episode, a Pyroraptor called Pod is washed out to sea by a tsunami and washes up on a beach on a nearby island. The island is full of dinosaurs he is familiar with from his homeland, except for one thing: they are smaller! Even the titanosaurs (a type of long-necked dinosaur) are only the size of ponies! One dinosaur he runs into is Tarascosaurus. Here is a picture of the Dinosaur Planet Tarascosaurus:

The "Diabolus rex" in the photo above is actually a Tarascosaurus from Discovery Channel's Dinosaur Planet.

If you still think that the "D. rex" from MoviePilot is actually a Jurassic World leak, check out the introduction to the Dinosaur Planet episode Pod's Travels, especially look at 0:48.

Like I said before, MoviePilot just isn't trustworthy with anything Jurassic World related. To see the real D. rex, we will have to wait until June 12, 2015, when Jurassic World stomps into theaters.

Topic of the Week by Lizzy the Lizard, as told to Joy Hammond

Nutella cheesecake sounds delicious right about now!

Hello Nutella fans and boy have I got a recipe for you cheesecake lovers. Oh, this is Lizzy, by the way. So I was surfing around on my Facebook page when I found this highly convenient recipe. It came from a website called Rasamalaysia.com and the recipe was titled, "Nutella Cheesecake"!

First off, you need:

1. 10oz. (280g) graham crackers
2. 5 table spoons of soft, unsalted butter
3. 1 13-oz jar of Nutella at room temperature
4. ¾ cup chopped roasted hazelnuts
5. 1 lb (450g) cream cheese at room temperature
6. ½ cup of confectioners' sugar, sifted.

First step is to break the graham crackers into the bowl of a processor. Then you add the butter and 15 ml or 1 tablespoon of Nutella, and blitz until it starts to clump. Then add 26g/3 tablespoon of the hazelnuts and continue to pulse until you have a damp, sandy mixture.

Next, tip it into a 32 cm/9-inch round springform and press into the base. You can use you're hands (just make sure to wash them of course) or the back of a spoon. Then place it in the fridge to chill.

Now you eat the cream cheese and the confectioners' sugar until it's smooth and then add the remaining cream cheese mixture and continue to beating it until it's combined.

Lastly, take the springform out of the fridge and carefully smooth the Nutella mixture over the base. Scatter the remaining chopped hazelnuts on the top to cover. Then place the tin in the fridge for at least four hours, or overnight.

Here's some other tips and facts: Serving straight from the fridge brings better results. It makes only one cake. Prep time is about twenty minutes. Bake Time? There isn't any! Just keep it refrigerated for at least four hours. Recipe source came from Nigella Lawson and the contribute is CP Choong. Well, I hope you enjoyed this convenient recipe, because I sure will.

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 one or both of the email addresses above.