Science

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166053I would have liked it more without any of the voice-work. It works as a playful, educational, and well animated dinosaur film if not for the cheesy, poorly acted, and jammed on-top-of dialogue. Granted, children might not want to sit through 90 minutes with no talking, but even taking a Milo and Otis approach with a narrator doing all the voices would have worked better, especially given the characters' mouths never move anyway. I'm a huge fan of the original Walking with Dinosaurs specials and saw the live-action stage show when it came to town, but even I can see that this is unfortunately a film trying so hard to please everyone, that it ends up not pleasing anyone.

Kudos to the filmmakers for using the most up-to-date theories on dinosaur behavior! Was cool to see Tyrannosaurids hunting in a pack/family unit. Dinos like that are almost always shown as lone hunters. Was impressed to see a primitive bird as a main character. The inclusion of early mammals in each act of the film and their role during the time period was nice to see as well. And even choosing Arctic dinosaurs as the subject helps set the film apart from others. It successfully showcases lesser known species while breaking away from the specific Jurassic Park/King Kong dinosaur imagery we're all too used to seeing from Hollywood.

I'm hoping a dialogue free version will exist in a special edition Bluray someday, as that would be an incredible film worth watching again and again.

3 Stars (out of 5)

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It's hard to predict the future and get everything right.  For all we know an asteroid could strike the planet and destroy us all on the spot.  For some reason it's easier for me to imagine a futuristic world of tomorrow, much different from our own, than it is to swallow the harsh truth of the actual reality we currently live in.  In part I feel we are living in a sort of dark age.  We are governed in this age by the opinions of loud speaking know-it-all types rather than by logic and rational thought.  I call myself a futurist in part because I spend a lot of time thinking about how technology and science could eventually solve all the terrible afflictions we currently face as a species and they are what I believe will pull us out of the modern dark age. ...continue reading →

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I was surfing Wikipedia recently when I came across the following:

Studies indicate that methylparaben applied on the skin may react with UVB leading to increased skin aging and DNA damage. [1][2]

I remember reading something a few years ago about parabens causing cancer, but no one seems to know if it's true or not.  There's a lot of conflicting information out there.  In trying to find more information on the web, I kept coming across that line above about a possible skin reaction with methylparaben when exposed to ultraviolet light.

I always try to  check the ingredients list of things I buy.  It helps me keep away from products that I'm sensitive to.  I reached for some sunblock the other day, since it was a billion degrees outside, and I decided to check the label for methylparaben.  I am after all putting this on my skin, and then going out into the sun.  Sure enough, it was in there. ...continue reading →

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Without a clear understanding of how things work, most anything could seem to be a sign from God. Early man must have pondered on how that big fiery thing in the sky could completely vanish at night. Perhaps the glowing life-giving sphere was our creator? God? Whatever helps you sleep at night, I always say. Without any learned knowledge of the universe and our role in it, things in the sky had no better explanation than being something worth worshiping.

When the signs are so clearly not from God, why treat them as if they were?  Recently some crackpot radio station owner put up a bunch of signs of his own. It was kind of funny, I know. Especially since he was wrong about his prediction and the world did not end on May 21st as he so loudly proclaimed it would, but some real damage was done.  Consequences from something not real are still real consequences. ...continue reading →

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This past Saturday, Michael and I got away to Cocoa Beach for the day. The first stop was a place named American Ingenuity that specializes in geodesic dome structures. It's a really cool concept, where you can order the parts and the plans to build your own dome house! It's sorta like a big Lego kit. I've always been fascinated by a home of the future and this is certainly it. Besides the fact that it can save you 50 to 70% on heating/cooling costs, a dome structure is also virtually impervious to strong weather (as long as you shutter the windows.) If the recent past is any indication, I'd say the home of the future should be equipped to handle anything the earth can throw at it.

Dome House ...continue reading →