Hitler Was Inspired by Christianity?

There's a lot of talk on blogs about this, but I find it surprising that no one has seen the direct connection one can make from Hitler's attitudes towards the Jews and Martin Luther, the person who inspired the Protestant Reformation.

It is quite explicit, clear-cut, and obvious. Christians who pretend Hitler had no religious influence are little more than pretend Christians.

_Stegosaurus_ Sketch

For no reason, really.

Would You Like to Take a _Survay_?

Open question (which participants in the upcoming art show of doom the Archosauria are exempt from answering):

Who wants she-tirts?

See, it occurs to me that maybe this design have some sort of monetary value, and, since I and one other artist would like to go to SVP, it occurs to me that enough demand might be generated to sell enough shirts to go to an event which is otherwise likely out of my financial reach.

Getting an idea of how many people want shirts will help determine the price. The more people that want them, the lower the price. The lower the price, maybe enough people will want them to help propel us to SVP.

So, if you're interested, leave a shirt size and how many and what color and anything else you can think of!

My final word on _Euparkeria_

Next: a suitable nest, a suitable synapsid, suitable vegetation, and suiting up for painting.

Be There or Be Tessellated

This Thursday, there will be a gathering and hootenany of science fans and actual scientists here in Anchorage. Details!

I intend to be there. There may be sketching. I'm just saying this as a warning: there may even be sketching of dinosaurs (or other. In my case, probably other).

Less Than 13 Jupiter Masses

Last night I attended the Exoplanet talk that was held by the Blue Collar Scientist, Jeff Medkeff, at the Campbell Creek Science Center. This was the last talk being held this winter, so anyone not there missed out, at least until November (next winter).

Our hosts prepared well for this event--there were very few leftover seats. With good reason, the discovery of other planets around stars both distant and near is something that generates a full house.

I do have to report that a 60 mm Macro lens does not make a good general-purpose lens--something I aim to rectify for the future, but for now it means my photos turned out pretty blurry. I'm not often good at photographing in conditions where I have no control over lighting, or, even, to be frank, just to cram as many commas in here as possible, if the subject happens to actually move on its own accord.

Anyway, the talk covered a bit of history, a bit of how these planets are discovered, and covered lots of examples, as well as addressing the issue of whether there is life elsewhere in the universe.

(And is there? Oh, my yes. The odds are firmly against it being otherwise. You might even say... astronomical.)

_Euparkeria_ Head Study

Why only a head? It's virtually the only portion of this drawing which I can use.



The body isn't wrong, but I am deeply dissatisfied with it. Back to the sketchbook...

Public Sightings!

An excellent chance to see a Blue Collared Scientist in one of his natural habitats (public speaking) will occur this Thursday 13 March 2007. Mark your calendars (or scribble in your PDAs, push buttons on your Blueberries, mark on your iPhones with a grease marker or whatever)! I intend being there, because the topic is of immediate interest to me (distant planets!).

There will be a great and lovely gathering of fans of science, skepticists, and probably a vast mass imbibing of caffeine.

End of an Era

Gary Gygax is dead at 69. (Vector.)

I grew up reading the man's work from the red Erol Otus cover Basic and Expert sets through AD&D, and Dragon Magazine in the 1980s (back when it was relevant). Although I haven't honestly played in years, I may exhume some old gaming materials from a shelf tonight, and commiserate with a friend.