Re: Dinofest Data Points

["Allan Edels" <edels@email.msn.com>]

Mary, etc:

Extra Notes:

    The _Sinosauropteryx_ photo and the counter slab were undoubtedly the
most shown images at Dinofest.   - - DEFINITELY!!!!

    Larry Martin (who had argued - tersely, but politely - with Greg Paul -
during the theropod lung discussion on Friday) showed the _Sinosauropteryx_
photo and said that it didn't show avian lung sacs like Greg Paul says it
does.  This was uncalled for (regardless of which side of the argument you
are on) - considering that his talk was about how you can use the presence
of bacteria traces and fungi traces to determine what structures had been
eaten by the bacteria, etc.  (Also, he was the chairman of that particular
session - and could control who could speak).  Greg showed a great deal of
constraint - admirable.

    Mary - do you want to talk about the late night photo session
negotiations, or should I?....

    My view of Stephen Jay Gould's speech was that bacteria are more
important to the history of the ecosystem (and current ecosystem) than
people, or dinosaurs, or other vertebrates.  (He's said similar things in
other speeches and articles before).

    DinoFeast was fun (I wasn't orginally going, but I changed my mind).  I
asked all the servers what thXey were giving me - That way I knew that the
little puff pastries with the small hole at the top.

    I had a blast, even though other things kept me from Bob & Tess's party,
and even though the Dino List members did not (as a group) go out and do
something (except for Mary, Judy, etc).

    I met a few of the paleotologists who I had not met before (John Ostrom,
Jack McIntosh, Bob Bakker) and renewed acquantances with several others whom
I had not seen in several years (Tony Fiorillo, Bill Altimari, ...).

    I also met Dong Zhiming.  He gave me a copy of his Sino-Japanese Silk
Road Dinosaur expedition, and signed it in English and Chinese.  He seems to
have taken an instant liking to me, and has informally invited me to visit
Bejing and go out to the Gobi with his Chinese/Japanese/Mongolian financed
mission over the next 5 years.  He also wants me to help write some
specialized software

    More later


        Allan Edels