Re: dino localities in fiction

["Jonathan R. Wagner" <znc14@TTACS.TTU.EDU>]

James Tichgelaar wrote:
>Just west of Post, the rolling hills of east Texas suddenly rise several
>hundred feet to the Llano Estacado, a large and boring elevated plain
>which contains lots of oil, cotton, dust, cattle, prairie dogs, and the
>worst drivers outside of Louisiana.
        It is also a junior objective synonym of Hell. Look, people, it is
bad enough that some of us on this list have to *live* in Lubbock, but do we
need to be constantly reminded of the horror of our daily lives?

>This area is full of rugged canyons
>and defensible cliffs with elevated positions for artillery, forming a
>good natural barrier.
        It is more like a natural barrier to Good. Good laps at the shores
of the Staked Plain in great wistful waves, roiling up through the gorgeous
Permo-Triassic exposures off to the west and up into famous Palo Duro and
Caprock canyons, only to crash against the unyielding beach of the Caprock
Caliche. There is no Good on the Southern High Plains, nor will there be for
a couple more years, until the Texas Tech Museum Dinosaur exhibit is opened
to the public. However, for those of you unfortunate enough to be passing
through this wasteland, you can catch a sneak preview in the main hall of
the Museum, where stand a cast of the big MOR _Tyrannosaurus rex_ and some
chimeric _Triceratops_, atop a very interesting simulated trackway. There, I
mentioned dinosaurs.

>       EAST Texas??  When I was going to school in Lubbock a hundred years
>ago, I could have *sworn* that Post, 40 miles from Lubbock, was not only
>the closest place you could buy beer, but it also sure looked like West
>Texas.    
        I am told that we are in NORTH Texas, and El Paso is actually WEST
Texas, but everyone around here says "west."

James Tichgelaar wrote:
>OK, some people might consider Post to be west texas, but I hate to lump
>anything with scenery into the same category as Lubbock.
        It is only scenery when you live in Lubbock (or if you like
desert-like vistas, which I do). If you want scenery, go to New Mexico. If
you want to punnish yourself for original sin, go to Lubbock. There is a
saying, one which I would someday like to inscribe over the out doors at the
Lubbock airport... "God created Lubbock to train the faithful." And, I would
add, punnish the faithless.

>And you can
>now buy beer about 2 or 3 miles outside of town, instead of driving out
>to Post.
        ...And you can pay far too much for it too. Of course, if you don't
have a car, you're restricted to buying beer at over-priced restaurants.

        Wagner


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
     Jonathan R. Wagner, Dept. of Geosciences, TTU, Lubbock, TX 79409-1053
  "Why do I sense we've picked up another pathetic lifeform?" - Obi-Wan Kenobi