Now that JFC has premiered its first three episodes, I thought I would take some time to talk about some of the things I experienced and learned while making the show.
The Reviews
The Good: I am very happy to say that the overwhelming majority of reviews were very positive. I personally had some very good reviews for my part. Critics from around the world were very complimentary of my performance. It is really rewarding to see some positive comments after working so hard on this show.
The Bad: I got several, less flattering, reviews from some bloggers who are a part of the paleo and scientific community. But in fairness, all of these folks had reasonable and well thought out comments based on their disagreement with some of my ideas, opinions and theories. But this is the very essence of paleontology! If we all thought the same way, then there would be no science…just propaganda. Those who disagreed laid out their opinions very clearly and attacked my theories, but not my character or persona. To those folks, I completely respect their points of view and appreciate their fair and balanced comments.
The Ugly: There is a very, VERY small group of people within the paleontology community who feel that their science should be treated like a private club, where no one outside of their tiny group of likeminded buddies can participate. One guy in particular attacked my 30 years of study simply based on my not having a degree. In fact, this person referred to me as “fan boy” on his blog because I claimed to be a “fan” of paleontology. It is very clear that people like him have convinced themselves that anything to do with dinosaurs should be approved and consulted through them. And if the show is not about pure science and nothing else, then it has no merit and should be attacked on a personal level. I can take any criticism for my ideas, theories and statements if someone disagrees, or if I am completely wrong in my facts. But people like the one who called me “fanboy” who simply dismissed me and the entire show because I didn’t fit into his warped sense of HIS science should simply be ignored. Jealousy, discourteousness and rudeness always seem to go hand in hand with certain people.
Consulting Experts: We tried to rely on as many expert opinions and consultations as possible, but I quickly discovered that “No Two Paleontologists Think Alike”! I had to laugh the day after our first show aired and I heard from two Paleontologists who offered their expertise to help us get the facts right. They completely contradicted the other when speaking about the exact some part of the show. Then I had three geologists write to me about my comment that “The Island of Madagascar was moving away from Africa.” One told me that Madagascar is actually moving towards Africa; one told me that it has never stopped moving away; and the last told me that it had stopped moving away prior to the late Cretaceous. The main thing that makes working with experts so difficult is that they are unable, or unwilling to make a clear statement, and I completely understand their positions. We are asking them to answer questions about things that occurred hundreds of millions of years in the past. They can’t do that with any real certainty so they use phrases like “maybe, possibly, perhaps, and might” in all of their answers. Trying to remain scientifically accurate is the right thing to do, but because there are so many unanswered questions, each paleontologist uses his or her own opinions to answer questions and then we end up right back where we started…“No Two Paleontologists Think Alike”!
The Network: One of the challenges in making a show for network TV is the need to make it interesting enough for the average viewer to want to watch, while still staying true to the scientific facts. But when you are making a making a show about prehistoric life, you have very few facts to work with, so it is a very fine line we walk. When writing Jurassic Fight Club we tried to use as many facts as possible, and to rely on modern animal behaviors to “fill in the blanks” left open by the lack of evidence. Although fossilized bones do give us some details about an individual dinosaur, they do not tell us with any certainty how it died, how it behaved, how old it was, what color it was, what it sounded like, or how it interacted with other dinosaurs within its environment. But networks cannot make a show about a bunch of bones and what they CAN’T tell us. So in order to get it on the air, we have to step beyond the limited clues we have and be willing to speculate on those things that we don’t have. I was very careful not to put any of our experts into situations where they were made to look like they supported a theory that I knew they were opposed to. I made sure that I took on the role of speculating how the fights could have occurred, because they were based solely on modern animal behaviors and not any real fossil evidence. Since most of our experts owe their careers to the scientific community, they have the deal with their peers and those that they answer to. So to insulate them from being attacked by those within their industry, I made sure to keep them out of the fight scenes and instead used them to support the factually based stuff earlier on in the show.
The Animators: The animation team that created the CG for Jurassic Fight Club is the crew from 1080 Inc. These are THE most remarkable people on earth. You cannot even begin to imagine the work that goes into the creation of these animated dinosaurs. I got to work very closely with them to help design each creature. Then I worked with them to insure that the motion and movements were accurate. But once I gave them some direction and input, they took over from there! These people spent countless hours studying modern animal movements and then mirroring them into our creatures. Animators look at their work through a different set of eyes than other humans. Our senior animator, Jeff, would bring me into his office to review something they had done. After watching it with amazement I would say...”Jeff; that is perfect!” And then he would reply, “Yeah, but what about the way the skin giggles on the dinosaurs' left shoulder? Don’t you think it should move right to left instead of left to right?
WHAT!!!!!!!!!! I see, what appears to be, a living breathing dinosaur….and he sees a skin giggle that no human in the history of earth would see!!! But then it hits me…this is why the animals in Jurassic Fight Club look as real as they do. Because our animators are the best in the business and they DO care about details.
The Interviews: We had so many experts in this series; it would be hard to mention them all. But here are a few comments about some of them…
Dr. Tom Holtz – The walking sound bite. This guy bleeds enthusiasm for what he does.
Dr. Phil Currie – One of my heroes. Meeting and interviewing him was incredible.
Dr. Larry Martin - What a sense of humor! He is a very clever man and I really like him.
Pete Larson – He is still a kid when it comes to dinosaurs. Very nice and fun to know.
Dr. Lawrence Witmer – THE most spectacular guy I met. What a mind.
Scott Hartman – The fastest talking dinosaur expert on earth!
Robert Gaston – Soft spoken and as nice as they come.
Jim Madsen – A friend for more than 8 years and a true class act! One of the best.
Dr. Mark Norell – I regret that I did not get to meet and interview him personally.
Dr. Lawrence Barnes – He treated us like family. He is truly brilliant.
Dr. Blaine Schubert – Funny, intelligent and a good friend. One of the best!
Dr, Mike Gottfried – This man knows his stuff. Enjoyed interviewing him.
Chris Shaw – Hidden under that quiet façade lies the heart of a comedian.
Dr. Wann Langston – What a true gentleman.
Dr. Bret Kent – He is so nice, and a great guy to interview!
Dr. Jim Kirkland – This is the kind of guy you would want to go digging with!
Mark Loewen – Funny and very interesting. He is really well spoken.
Dr. John Foster – Very quiet, but a great sense of humor. He knows his stuff.
Dr. Brooks Britt – Talk about energy! Holy cow, he is more enthusiastic than me.
Dr. William Bottke – As brilliant as he is nice.
Dr. Dan Durda – I could have spent a year interviewing this man.
The Fans: If this show has given me one thing, it has been the incredible fan base. Man oh man have I received a lot of emails since this show aired. So many people saying so many good comments is just infectious. My personal website has gone through the roof with new visitors. Back in 1997 I walked away from a very high paying career because I wanted to dedicate my life to teaching adults and children about paleontology. (I guess that makes me a fan boy, right?) whahahaha
Anyway, over the past 10 years I have lectured to well over 1 million people and have appeared in more than 1000 schools, museums, colleges and public events. So I have always had a good fan base of people who have enjoyed my performances. Every week I get emails from people who have seen me, but nothing compares to sheer volume of emails I am getting now. For those of you who have been so complimentary, I thank you. For those of you who have had legitimate concerns, I appreciate your honesty. For those of you who are sending nasty remarks….stop playing with your parents’ computers and go mow the grass, like your mom asked you. :)
The Travel: I have never enjoyed eating out at restaurants every day or sleeping in a different hotel every night, but fortunately for me and the crew, we had Gary Groth as our Producer. Good grief that guy is a professional. Gary sets up and handles every aspect of travel. All I have to do is show up and he has everything planned from start to finish. Not only does he handle the travel arrangements, but he also sets up the interviews, coordinates the museum shoots and everything in between. He made travel fun.
The Near Death Experience: Ok, so I nearly died falling off the loading dock at a University. To everyone who witnessed it, ha...ha. Very funny. I’m glad you all got a laugh. Thanks heavens no one had a camera rolling!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Reviews
The Good: I am very happy to say that the overwhelming majority of reviews were very positive. I personally had some very good reviews for my part. Critics from around the world were very complimentary of my performance. It is really rewarding to see some positive comments after working so hard on this show.
The Bad: I got several, less flattering, reviews from some bloggers who are a part of the paleo and scientific community. But in fairness, all of these folks had reasonable and well thought out comments based on their disagreement with some of my ideas, opinions and theories. But this is the very essence of paleontology! If we all thought the same way, then there would be no science…just propaganda. Those who disagreed laid out their opinions very clearly and attacked my theories, but not my character or persona. To those folks, I completely respect their points of view and appreciate their fair and balanced comments.
The Ugly: There is a very, VERY small group of people within the paleontology community who feel that their science should be treated like a private club, where no one outside of their tiny group of likeminded buddies can participate. One guy in particular attacked my 30 years of study simply based on my not having a degree. In fact, this person referred to me as “fan boy” on his blog because I claimed to be a “fan” of paleontology. It is very clear that people like him have convinced themselves that anything to do with dinosaurs should be approved and consulted through them. And if the show is not about pure science and nothing else, then it has no merit and should be attacked on a personal level. I can take any criticism for my ideas, theories and statements if someone disagrees, or if I am completely wrong in my facts. But people like the one who called me “fanboy” who simply dismissed me and the entire show because I didn’t fit into his warped sense of HIS science should simply be ignored. Jealousy, discourteousness and rudeness always seem to go hand in hand with certain people.
Consulting Experts: We tried to rely on as many expert opinions and consultations as possible, but I quickly discovered that “No Two Paleontologists Think Alike”! I had to laugh the day after our first show aired and I heard from two Paleontologists who offered their expertise to help us get the facts right. They completely contradicted the other when speaking about the exact some part of the show. Then I had three geologists write to me about my comment that “The Island of Madagascar was moving away from Africa.” One told me that Madagascar is actually moving towards Africa; one told me that it has never stopped moving away; and the last told me that it had stopped moving away prior to the late Cretaceous. The main thing that makes working with experts so difficult is that they are unable, or unwilling to make a clear statement, and I completely understand their positions. We are asking them to answer questions about things that occurred hundreds of millions of years in the past. They can’t do that with any real certainty so they use phrases like “maybe, possibly, perhaps, and might” in all of their answers. Trying to remain scientifically accurate is the right thing to do, but because there are so many unanswered questions, each paleontologist uses his or her own opinions to answer questions and then we end up right back where we started…“No Two Paleontologists Think Alike”!
The Network: One of the challenges in making a show for network TV is the need to make it interesting enough for the average viewer to want to watch, while still staying true to the scientific facts. But when you are making a making a show about prehistoric life, you have very few facts to work with, so it is a very fine line we walk. When writing Jurassic Fight Club we tried to use as many facts as possible, and to rely on modern animal behaviors to “fill in the blanks” left open by the lack of evidence. Although fossilized bones do give us some details about an individual dinosaur, they do not tell us with any certainty how it died, how it behaved, how old it was, what color it was, what it sounded like, or how it interacted with other dinosaurs within its environment. But networks cannot make a show about a bunch of bones and what they CAN’T tell us. So in order to get it on the air, we have to step beyond the limited clues we have and be willing to speculate on those things that we don’t have. I was very careful not to put any of our experts into situations where they were made to look like they supported a theory that I knew they were opposed to. I made sure that I took on the role of speculating how the fights could have occurred, because they were based solely on modern animal behaviors and not any real fossil evidence. Since most of our experts owe their careers to the scientific community, they have the deal with their peers and those that they answer to. So to insulate them from being attacked by those within their industry, I made sure to keep them out of the fight scenes and instead used them to support the factually based stuff earlier on in the show.
The Animators: The animation team that created the CG for Jurassic Fight Club is the crew from 1080 Inc. These are THE most remarkable people on earth. You cannot even begin to imagine the work that goes into the creation of these animated dinosaurs. I got to work very closely with them to help design each creature. Then I worked with them to insure that the motion and movements were accurate. But once I gave them some direction and input, they took over from there! These people spent countless hours studying modern animal movements and then mirroring them into our creatures. Animators look at their work through a different set of eyes than other humans. Our senior animator, Jeff, would bring me into his office to review something they had done. After watching it with amazement I would say...”Jeff; that is perfect!” And then he would reply, “Yeah, but what about the way the skin giggles on the dinosaurs' left shoulder? Don’t you think it should move right to left instead of left to right?
WHAT!!!!!!!!!! I see, what appears to be, a living breathing dinosaur….and he sees a skin giggle that no human in the history of earth would see!!! But then it hits me…this is why the animals in Jurassic Fight Club look as real as they do. Because our animators are the best in the business and they DO care about details.
The Interviews: We had so many experts in this series; it would be hard to mention them all. But here are a few comments about some of them…
Dr. Tom Holtz – The walking sound bite. This guy bleeds enthusiasm for what he does.
Dr. Phil Currie – One of my heroes. Meeting and interviewing him was incredible.
Dr. Larry Martin - What a sense of humor! He is a very clever man and I really like him.
Pete Larson – He is still a kid when it comes to dinosaurs. Very nice and fun to know.
Dr. Lawrence Witmer – THE most spectacular guy I met. What a mind.
Scott Hartman – The fastest talking dinosaur expert on earth!
Robert Gaston – Soft spoken and as nice as they come.
Jim Madsen – A friend for more than 8 years and a true class act! One of the best.
Dr. Mark Norell – I regret that I did not get to meet and interview him personally.
Dr. Lawrence Barnes – He treated us like family. He is truly brilliant.
Dr. Blaine Schubert – Funny, intelligent and a good friend. One of the best!
Dr, Mike Gottfried – This man knows his stuff. Enjoyed interviewing him.
Chris Shaw – Hidden under that quiet façade lies the heart of a comedian.
Dr. Wann Langston – What a true gentleman.
Dr. Bret Kent – He is so nice, and a great guy to interview!
Dr. Jim Kirkland – This is the kind of guy you would want to go digging with!
Mark Loewen – Funny and very interesting. He is really well spoken.
Dr. John Foster – Very quiet, but a great sense of humor. He knows his stuff.
Dr. Brooks Britt – Talk about energy! Holy cow, he is more enthusiastic than me.
Dr. William Bottke – As brilliant as he is nice.
Dr. Dan Durda – I could have spent a year interviewing this man.
The Fans: If this show has given me one thing, it has been the incredible fan base. Man oh man have I received a lot of emails since this show aired. So many people saying so many good comments is just infectious. My personal website has gone through the roof with new visitors. Back in 1997 I walked away from a very high paying career because I wanted to dedicate my life to teaching adults and children about paleontology. (I guess that makes me a fan boy, right?) whahahaha
Anyway, over the past 10 years I have lectured to well over 1 million people and have appeared in more than 1000 schools, museums, colleges and public events. So I have always had a good fan base of people who have enjoyed my performances. Every week I get emails from people who have seen me, but nothing compares to sheer volume of emails I am getting now. For those of you who have been so complimentary, I thank you. For those of you who have had legitimate concerns, I appreciate your honesty. For those of you who are sending nasty remarks….stop playing with your parents’ computers and go mow the grass, like your mom asked you. :)
The Travel: I have never enjoyed eating out at restaurants every day or sleeping in a different hotel every night, but fortunately for me and the crew, we had Gary Groth as our Producer. Good grief that guy is a professional. Gary sets up and handles every aspect of travel. All I have to do is show up and he has everything planned from start to finish. Not only does he handle the travel arrangements, but he also sets up the interviews, coordinates the museum shoots and everything in between. He made travel fun.
The Near Death Experience: Ok, so I nearly died falling off the loading dock at a University. To everyone who witnessed it, ha...ha. Very funny. I’m glad you all got a laugh. Thanks heavens no one had a camera rolling!!!!!!!!!!!!!
35 comments:
Thanks for shedding light on some of the production process. I thought having various experts set up the context and limiting the "fight" to one speaker was a nice format, but now I see there was a reason for that. It works well, as your "style" is much more engaging than the other experts -- no offense to them. ;) I'm not surprised you personally received positive reviews.
For me, JFC has so far been one of the more entertaining entries in the CG dino documentary genre. I doubt many dino experts, degreed or not, have managed to both entertain and educate to this level. So, kudos!
Thanks Stephen,
My biggest concern was protecting the experts. I have not had any of them complain to me, so I'm hoping that they are satisfied...so far!
I too have had many problems with the "fanboy" label. Though personally I've taken most of this abuse from people who by all their own criteria would count as "fanboys" themselves other than "they read and GET the literature"... unlike me cause I use a puppet and write in kid friendly language.
I sympathize. Its really sad to hear about a real worker in the field attacking a promoter of his work.
I personally really liked the first episode (which I got in the press kit). Sadly I haven't seen anymore as it isn't being aired in New Zealand at the moment.
From what I've seen and read about the second episode I do have to say I'm not keen on the idea of Nanotyranus hunting T-Rex babies, but at the same time as you said we really don't know! Besides its got me thinking about it, which as a teacher I know is more important than facts anyways.
As you say Palaeo is fluidic, and the experts never do agree (heck working with Phil Currie he'd disagree with himself sometimes...).
I love the idea of your show, and its been good so far. That and I'm ubber primed for the Alberta episode! I've been waiting SO long for someone to finally do justice to one of the most amazing and understood palaeo environments ever! Can you tell I'm Albertan ;)
Also have to say you've been an inspiration to me now that I know your background. I've been toying with the urge to get out there and teach palaeo (I worked at the Tyrrell for 4 years as an interpreter and fonder of their new science summer camp). Sadly I'm not quite stable enough to get out there and do it yet (student loans SUCK!), but with pioneers like you blazing a trail it shouldn't be too hard for me to follow someday!
Man, I feel your pain. It floors me that anyone would be so threatened by people who are trying to help the very industry they are in. Over the last several years, I have spoken to over 1 million students, promoting dinosaurs and paleontology. Almost every single day I get young people who contact me to ask how they can become a paleontologist, what schools I would suggest they attend, or how they can do what I do. I also get a ton of adults asking the same thing. Ultimately I have no doubt that I have had a much larger impact on paleontology than many of those who claim to “own” that industry.
I feel that you are in the same position. It is people like you who create that “spark” in people that leads, ultimately, to the support of the science.
So my suggestion is that you do what I do….ignore those who see you as a threat, and do what you love doing.
Hi George,
Trust me , you haven't really been criticized until they'd rather you were dead than put out anything new. Just remember you can't please everyone, and the dinosaur 'fans' are some of the worst to deal with. For some reason budget and time constraints never enter their minds.
I've pretty much given up talking to the dinosaur pros as a whole (although a few are quite nice and very helpful!) because as you have said, unless you have a degree you're nothing, as are your ideas.
I don't always agree with the show but then if you didn't speculate a bit it would be much less entertaining and much shorter (I quite liked the Magungasaurus battle.) I've noticed a lot of the newer dino pros are far to into the cladistic, facts only mindset. They are basically sapping the fun out of Dinosaurs (I know it's science, but science can be fun if you do it right.) They also seem to forget the public really knows very little about dinosaurs or prehistoric animals in general. This show could be a good starting point for a new generation of scientists.
So to sum up, don't take some people to seriously, keep doing what your doing and above all HAVE FUN doing it!
Best,
Brett
Brett,
You have such an incredible talent for drawing; I cannot believe that they would not be knocking down your door to get you to do work for them. But I guess to some, jealousy runs deeper than intellect. Isn’t it stunning to think that anyone would set themselves on a pedestal and refuse to speak to people who they deem “beneath” themselves? But I guess that is the case in any industry.
Your dinosaur art is, in my opinion, superior to the overwhelming majority of anything I have ever seen. And I have seen a LOT of dinosaur art. Yours is just amazing and captures the lives of these creatures. They don’t appear to be static images, but rather living moving dinosaurs. It is rare to find someone with your talents.
George
Hi George,
Thanks for all the compliments! I'll have to disagree with you on some of them but I won't protest to much;)
I just try to remember that you can't please everyone (or in this case, get all the experts to agree.) Just keep doing what your doing, your obviously having fun and your enthusiasm is contagious! I'm looking forward to Wednesdays episode!
Best,
Brett
I just wanted you to know that you've got a 'fangirl' - not bad for a guy who's 'just a fanboy' - I watch JFC just so I can see you. You've got so much enthusiasm! The show is great, and so are you :)
Nancy,
You are THE best!!!!!
Thanks for being a fan....girl.
George
What a wonderful series! I enjoy Wednesday nights now!
Just because you do not have a degree, does not mean you know nothing about the subject. A degree can mean just simply a fancy piece of paper giving some one the title "doctor". Our inner spirit is what drives us to do what we love to do! Keep up the good work. I have definitely become a fan!! I am looking forward to more of your work!
I never really paid too much attention to the undersea prehistoric creatures. I watched the JFC on the deep sea killers and was absolutely amazed!!! I am very happy there is not a megolodon alive today!! The whales were pretty neat too! They looked like such gentle creatures until they attacked that Megoladon. The Graphics are so good you would almost think they were still alive!!
I did a little more reading and did not realize you yourself created the series and did pretty much all the work for each show(as far as the research and narrating and interviewing)! You go to schools, write books and create wonderful tv shows, when do you sleep??!! I really can't say enough good things about you and the JFC series!!
Thank you so much for the kind words!!! I'm glad that you liked this series. Some of the upcoming shows are really cool. I especially liked the episode that involves Utahraptor and Gastonia. If you have never heard of these two dinosaurs, I'm sure you will really like them.
No, I have not heard of those. I will be sure and watch out for that episode!! Thanks for the heads up!! Thank heavens for DVR, I have all of them recorded to my TV!!!
Hello!
I know it's been ages since my brother or I saw you (I think the Schertz library event was the last time), but I was able to catch Jurassic Fight Club recently and wanted to try writing again. My brother, mom, and I used to come to Dinosaur World and followed you to most of your events after.
It was such a shock, months ago, to see commercials for Jurassic Fight Club and hear a startlingly familiar voice. I knew you had been filming something, but had no idea it would be a project on this scale. Unfortunately, the show premiered around the same time my brother and I were each moving off to grad school, so I didn't really get a chance to see it until just recently, now that things are settling down.
The show is brilliant. I love the animation and it's great to hear the enthusiasm and energy from you and the rest of the experts you interviewed. Don't let the negative responses of a few reviewers get to you. There's a few in every group. This project is just the sort of thing that gets people interested in dinosaurs. Dinosaur shows should be vibrant and exciting, not just dry facts laid out like a textbook being read to you. And I think JFC succeeds. And it's true to real science that not everyone is going to agree with every theory. That's part of the fun. :)
Anyway, just wanted to write in and let you know my brother and I are enjoying the show. It's so weird to watch it and think of the days we used to wander into the little store in a dying mall in San Antonio and spend hours staring in awe at all the fossils. Congratulations on all of your success! I hope you'll still find time to do local events now and then.
Oh, my brother's now working on his Masters in vertebrate paleontology now. You'd be proud.
Well, I just watched tonight's episode of JFC. This makes me very excited for next weeks show on Gastonia/Utahraptor!!! Getting to "meet" the Utahraptor in this episode makes me very happy that they no longer exist. They are flat out a VERY nasty piece of work. From being lighter in weight, to their speed and their ability to know what "road" their prey travel is just amazing!! Not to mention being torn to shreds with that "Killer claw", just doesn't sound like too much fun. I am VERY much looking forward to next weeks episode!!
Hey there seti-fan,
thank you so much for that incredibly nice post. It's hard to believe that so much time is transpired since the last time I saw you guys. I sure miss having the stores, but honestly I wouldn't have time to run them now if I had to. Stay in touch, and please tell your brother I said hello.
Hi!
It's been way too long. School eats up so much time lately. But, it'll all be good. I'm doing a Masters in Wildlife Ecology, most likely specializing in birds right now though mammals remain a big interest. So, looks like I may end up working with modern dinosaurs. :) John's loving his studies. You wouldn't even recognize him now that he's got his proper field scientist beard. I'll say hi for you.
As for the issue of degreed vs. non-degreed, I think a lot of it gets tied up in ego. One of the things I figured out with studying animal behavior is that the people who have the deepest understanding of how an animal behaves are those who live or work with the animal every day, degreed scientist or simply a rancher, farmer, etc. They may not know why, neurologically or evolutionarily, the animal does it, but they know subtleties that someone who's only read about the stuff in a classroom won't pick up on. Experience and personal observation are very valuable. And doing the research to get the degree is valuable too, of course. It just doesn't mean that you're automatically better than someone who got there by a different path.
Okay, ramble over. Great to talk to you again! I hope we'll continue to cross paths!
Alayne
Great review, sir. And your contribution to the series makes it all the better!
Thanks Fuzzy!!!!!!
I have just recently came across the article calling you "fan boy". He seems to be nothing more than a faceless know-it-all(or he thinks he is). I looked at the guys profile and he doesn't even appear to be anyone real "important". Just maybe trying to make himself feel that way. I wouldn't worry to much about his opinion........You know what they say about opinions.....(yeah, I probably better not go their). Anyway, There is nothing wrong with being a "fanboy". If you weren't a fan of the profession, you would probably not have dedicated your life to it. Any "professional" person would also not have used the title that he did for his article. Completely immature.
You know, you can't help but feel sorry for the guy. I'm sure that he's dedicated a lot of time to paleontology. He probably could've been a good resource. But unfortunately he seems to lack the common decency that other people have. I see this quite a bit. People like him are so jealous of people who have the ability to communicate with the general public, they just can't help but lash out on a personal level. I feel bad for the guy. Maybe someday he will feel successful and not have to degrade those he is jealous of.
That's got to be the most egotistical paragraph I've seen in awhile.
Really Nick? You need to get out more.
But thanks for reading my Blog. It's a real "ego-booster" knowing that I have you as a fan.
Yes, what I said may have been a bit harsh. It is good though that you see the "good" in everyone. Even someone who has attacked you personally like that. I don't know too many people who do that!! :)
I'm a big fan of your show, Jurassic Fight Club. I think the CGI is AMAZING, rivaling that of BBC's Walking with... Series. I haven't seen anything nearly as good as BBC's until this show came up, and I can tell that the creators pay attention to details, like one of your articles showed.
I like your enthusiasm; it adds character and tone to the show. I know that there are people out there that attack things like JFC, and on YouTube and some people suscribed to History post some bad comments about how "inaccurate" and "bad" it was(I don't want to get too in depth).
I myself am a BIG dinosaur fan(since I was young I would tie a string to make it look like I had a tail and pretend to be T. Rex). I am also a big LEGO fan. I combine my two interests to make: LEGO Dinosaurs! I use your CGI and BBC's to model my "models" after(I use the Bionicle and Technic sets, not the brick LEGOs).
Although I am really enthusiastic about prehistory, I might not pursue it as a career, but it will always be one of my top interests. So while I like this topic, I probably won't get a degree in that(I guess that makes me a "fanboy" just like you, huh?). But remember, although real professionals might make breakthroughs in the scientific community, it is always the "non-professionals" that keep the general public interested and alive.
I hope you get to comment back, as I am BY FAR the latest post, as far as I know. Thanks for creating(if it was you) this wonderful show!
Thanks man! I look at it this way...Each week I have a million viewers watch my show. And each year I speak to several hundred thousand more during my live performances. The people who spend their time making rude comments will probably never know what it is like to succeed at something, so they can only sit on the sidelines and boo the players.
What a shame to be so miserable and waste time "hating" on others.
You just keep doing what you love and don't waste your energy dealing with those who are jealous of your success!
Hey, I'm a fan boy (er...girl) of paleontology as well...and so are my many mentors, so bravo! You don't need a piece of paper telling you that you love something!!
I personally have FUN with JFC! It may be corny at points...but everyone in the paleo world knows this: Paleontologists LOVE corn!!
Grats on the show, I really mean it! You're a fun dude! I work at a museum in Morrison Colorado and we used to sell your videos until we ran out and our gift shop guy got lazy. :)
Ever the Fangirl,
Erin
Hey thanks Erin. Too many of those guys take themselves WAY to seriously. I just got an email today from Dr. Larry Witmer, one of my main experts in the show. He commented about how he had talked to several of the other JFC experts at the last Society of Vertebrate Paleontologists meeting and they all commented about how much they enjoyed being involved in the show and had hoped that we were doing a second season. That sums it up for me. When the major players liked it, then the minors guys who complain are of no consequence. So I'm glad that you are a fan-girl!!! Look forward to meeting you some day. George
Well said Katie. But give us examples, not rumors, but actual word by word examples of where I used the the words "Know" or "prove" in the series that were used to explain theories or ideas. You are implying, by the tone of your message, that I promoted theories as fact. Arguments are fine, provided that you can support them with details and innuendo. Also, I think it rather bold of you to assume that you speak for any group. You speak for those who think the way you do, but certainly not for an entire group of people.
Sir, you are one the best paleo-nerds around. I'm one myself. JFC is one of Favorite TV shows of all time!!! Paleo-nuts/nerda/fans should stick together. JFC looked like fun to make.
Thanks Raptor Lewis. The show was indeed a BLAST to make! We are really hoping for a second season. We'll have to keep our fingers crossed!!! Have a great holiday my friend.
I have watched every episode of Jurassic Fight Club, they were awsome! I have met you several times and hope to catch up with you again soon! I now live near the Arlington Archosaur site and just visited it last week. When I went to UTA they said they found a claw of a new dinosaur close to a T-Rex and a Raptor. I have thought of a name for it if I go back and find more of it's skeleton. Arlingtonasaurus Rex! It would mean the "lizard king of Arlington".
Thanks for keeping the dinosaurs alive! Michael C age 9
Hey there Michael,
So good to hear from you. Hope you like your new home! That discovery sounds amazing. Please keep me posted.
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