Inertiasaurus rex

[Danvarner@aol.com]

       After reading half of yesterday's posts at the archives today (since 
they were relegated to AOHELL Limbo for me and others), I stumbled into the 
living room where my lovely spouse was eating lunch while watching 
television. The program playing was "When Dinosaurs Roamed North America". I 
walked in during the Hell Creek sequence with Tyrannosaurus chasing 
Edmontosaurus (or Anatotitan). After the discussions here during the last day 
or so regarding the new paper this stuff was absolutely hilarious. The 
dinosaurs were running at warp speed. They should have had cartoon dust 
clouds or jet contrails behind them. Closeups of their heads had blurred 
landscapes flying by them, for crying out loud. It came very close to 
watching a Roadrunner cartoon (RIP, Chuck).
       All this made me appreciate all the more the work of Phil Tippett and 
Randy Dutra and company on the original "Jurassic Park" and before that 
"Prehistoric Beast" which became the CBS program "Dinosaur!" with Christopher 
Reeve. They understood the mass of the creature. The "roadside attack" 
sequence in "Jurassic Park" clearly shows that the tyrannosaur's head weighs 
as much as a refrigerator. The sequence of the Tyrannosaur biting the 
vehicle's tire is most extraordinary of all, I think (I wish it would have 
been a Triceratops corpse). In light of the Hutchinson/Garcia paper I'm sure 
you'll find the Tyrannosaur's walk in front of the headlights in JP very 
authentic. Those folks deserve a pat on the back. That was almost 10 years 
ago?! DV