Category: Holidays

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Pushing the Boundaries of Dinosaur Knowledge

Kajmeister’s calendar is ready and waiting!!!!

In honor of World Dinosaur Day, I’ve decided to inaugurate the first ever annual World Dinosaur Day post. I’ll start by reminding you, dear reader, that I have written a book all about paleontology, The A to Z Dinosaurs, full of fun little tidbits about these magnificent reptiles. With that sponsor’s message out of the way, let’s talk about some of the latest dinosaur research. I’m going to call it DRAMA, INDUSTRY, MAGIC! That is, drama among the paleontologists, industrialists helping out their scientific friends, and magical new technology uncovering hidden secrets.

World Dinosaur Day was designated as such by cartoonist Joe Wos back in 2016. Wos is a well-known illustrator who helped found a small cartoon museum in Pittsburgh, had a website, was noted as a visiting cartoonist to the Schulz museum here in Northern California–the guy does a lot of things. Lots of ideas. Lots of projects. Museum now closed; website gone; lots of 404 links. He’s available for speaking events but has not, according to his personal site, said much about dinosaurs. However, his Dinosaur Day idea caught on, and museums and educators have enjoyed pitching a tent on it, even if Joe seems to have wandered away. Thanks anyway, Joe Wos! Who wouldn’t want another excuse to celebrate dinosaurs?

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We Are Not Equidistant

I asked Google Gemini to draw me an original picture of the warring hemispheres, but the one it “created” seems to have a credit. Let’s thank Novesiom! for this one.

I was going to write a one-sentence, spring-themed message, wishing everyone a happy equinox and pointing out that Melbourne is probably experiencing roughly what we’re feeling in Northern California. Then, it turned out much of what I knew about the equinoxes was wrong.

The earth is not round.
It doesn’t move in a circle around the sun.
Day and Night are not equal to each other.
The North is not treated the same as the South.

Since I was This Old when I learned The Truth, I will share it with you, appropriately, on the northern vernal equinox, i.e. today, March 20th, 2025. There will be science, although I will not discuss the ecliptic because I have hard time visualizing it. I promise there will be no arithmetic. There will be geometry.  And you might find yourself wobbling a little, which will be in keeping with the situation.

Classic view drawn by ar.inspired.com.
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The Badgers of Imbolc

Amused Grace: For the Groundhog, Blessed of Brighid, artwork by Thalia Took

Yesterday was Groundhog Day, so in the true modern, post-1993 meaning of the phrase, I’m going to revisit it. That is, for those who have not seen the Bill Murray movie Groundhog Day, to become stuck in an endless time loop until able to sufficiently reform one’s behavior. I don’t know what behavior I should reform, perhaps getting to the point quicker? So let’s revisit Groundhog Day.

In celebrating the spirit of the season, I will ask three critical questions about Groundhog Day. Why there? Why that? and Why now? Yes, you can read this stuff on Wikipedia, but if you did, you won’t get any jokes. And since it’s 3 questions, it’s kind of magical and mystical, which is also fitting. Although I’m not sure the townspeople of Punxsutawney know this.

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