Minoriteeburg
22-05-2006, 18:05
this is just stupid.....downright silly
----------------------------
New dino gets name fit for a 'Potter' dragon
Children's Museum will celebrate designation, which J.K. Rowling endorses
Move over Tyrannosaurus rex, here comes Dracorex hogwartsia
With a green light from scientists and "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling, The Children's Museum's 66-million-year-old dinosaur skull with dragonlike features finally has a name.
The museum will celebrate the naming of the recently discovered dinosaur species today with an unveiling of the artifact, which museum officials have spent the past two years cleaning and reassembling.
Dracorex hogwartsia, a member of the pachycephalosaur family, honors Rowling's use of dragons in her wildly popular children's book series. The name comes from the Latin words draco (dragon), rex (king), and hogwartsia (after the fictional Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry in "Harry Potter").
Rowling cited her children's love of dinosaurs in endorsing the name.
"The naming . . . is easily the most unexpected honour to have come my way since the publication of the Harry Potter books," she said in a written statement.
The dinosaur's skull mixes spiky horns, bumps and a long muzzle. But unlike other "pachys," which have domed foreheads, this one is flat-headed. That makes it a new species.
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060522/NEWS01/605220411
Minoriteeburg
22-05-2006, 18:54
Fuck Harry Potter. Geek.
I mean, there's nothing wrong with geeks.. Just him.
the movies are ok, havent taken the time for the books (and probably wont), but i just don't think it's as good as everyone is saying of it.
Peisandros
22-05-2006, 19:02
the movies are ok, havent taken the time for the books (and probably wont), but i just don't think it's as good as everyone is saying of it.
I hate the movies. Seen the first 2. I've read 4 of the books. Lame, boring and stupid.
Grave_n_idle
22-05-2006, 19:02
this is just stupid.....downright silly
----------------------------
New dino gets name fit for a 'Potter' dragon
Children's Museum will celebrate designation, which J.K. Rowling endorses
Move over Tyrannosaurus rex, here comes Dracorex hogwartsia
With a green light from scientists and "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling, The Children's Museum's 66-million-year-old dinosaur skull with dragonlike features finally has a name.
The museum will celebrate the naming of the recently discovered dinosaur species today with an unveiling of the artifact, which museum officials have spent the past two years cleaning and reassembling.
Dracorex hogwartsia, a member of the pachycephalosaur family, honors Rowling's use of dragons in her wildly popular children's book series. The name comes from the Latin words draco (dragon), rex (king), and hogwartsia (after the fictional Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry in "Harry Potter").
Rowling cited her children's love of dinosaurs in endorsing the name.
"The naming . . . is easily the most unexpected honour to have come my way since the publication of the Harry Potter books," she said in a written statement.
The dinosaur's skull mixes spiky horns, bumps and a long muzzle. But unlike other "pachys," which have domed foreheads, this one is flat-headed. That makes it a new species.
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060522/NEWS01/605220411
If it get's kids into learning, I don't see it as negative...
Dobbsworld
22-05-2006, 19:06
I saw the first two films, but I gave up on 3 and 4 halfway through. When I finally leafed through one of the books, I was surprised by just how poorly-written it actually was.
It's thoroughly 'meh'-making fare, guys.
Kiwi-kiwi
22-05-2006, 19:19
its worth the watch at least if you hate them afterwards you can rightfully say they all suck....:D
i hear the books arent written well, but then again it is for kids right?
The books are very average. The plot isn't all that original, the world is seriously underdeveloped, characters are often fairly two-dimensional, and it never seems to be able to stray from rigid boundaries of good and evil, light and dark.
Despite this, they can be enjoyable to read, though I must admit that the fifth book... kinda sucked. It had moments, but mostly it was boring and drawn out.
Minoriteeburg
22-05-2006, 19:22
The books are very average. The plot isn't all that original, the world is seriously underdeveloped, characters are often fairly two-dimensional, and it never seems to be able to stray from rigid boundaries of good and evil, light and dark.
Despite this, they can be enjoyable to read, though I must admit that the fifth book... kinda sucked. It had moments, but mostly it was bored and drawn out.
yeah i was told by some harry potter luvin friends of mine that the 5th book sucked, hopefully the movie will be alright.
Intangelon
22-05-2006, 19:34
Relax. Giving species names is the prerogative of the discoverer, and there's nothing new about coiners of names choosing influential or favorite people and/or works as inspiration.
On March 15, 1989, Gary Larson received the prestigious accolade of having a newly-discovered species named after him by Dale H. Clayton, head of the Committee of Evolutionary Biology at the University of Chicago. The Strigiphilus garylarsoni is a biting louse of a genus only found on owls. Larson has since said: "I considered this an extreme honor. Besides, I knew no one was going to write and ask to name a new species of swan after me. You have to grab these opportunities when they come along."
A new species of wooly lemur has been named in honour of John Cleese in recognition of his work to protect lemurs in general. According to the article, the lemurs don't walk, per se, but have known to do some very silly walks. Good show." From the article: "The avahi cleesei, which weights less than two pounds and eats leaves, was discovered in Western Madagascar in 1990 by a team led by anthropologist Urs Thalmann and his colleague Thomas Geissman of Zurich University.
From http://home.earthlink.net/~misaak/taxonomy/taxEtym.html
Named After People
Sports Figures
Bufonaria borisbeckeri Parth, 1996 (bursid sea snail) Etymology: "Ich widme die neue Art Boris Becker, dem meines Erachtens größten deutschen Einzelsportler aller Zeiten." [Spixiana 19(1): 129]
Mastagophora dizzydeani Eberhard, 1984 (spider) Named after a baseball player. The spider uses a sticky ball on the end of a thread to catch its prey.
Comedians and Cartoonists
Campsicnemius charliechaplini Evenhuis, 1996 (dolichopodid fly) "Etymology: This species is named in honor of the great silent movie comedian, Charlie Chaplin, because of the curious tendency of this fly to die with its midlegs in a bandy-legged position." [Bishop Mus. Occ. Pap. 0(45):54]
Baeturia laureli and B. hardyi de Boer, 1996 (cicadas)
Garylarsonus (beetle)
Strigiphilus garylarsoni Clayton, ~1989 (owl louse) "I considered this an extreme honor. Besides, I knew no one was going to write and ask to name a new species of swan after me. You have to grab these opportunities when they come along." - Gary Larson
Montypythonoides riversleighensis Smith & Plane, 1985 (fossil snake) The genus is no longer valid; this species is now called Morelia riversleighensis.
Sula abbotti costelloi Steadman, Schubel & Pahlavan, 1988 (a subspecies of Abbot's booby, recently extinct)
Artists
Microchilo elgrecoi Bleszynski, 1966 (crambid moth) After the Spanish painter El Greco. [Acta Zool. Cracoviensia 11: 451]
Microchilo murilloi Bleszynski, 1966 (crambid moth) After the Mexican painter Murillo (Dr. Atl). [Acta Zool. Cracoviensia 11: 451]
Pseudoparamys cezannei Hartenberger, 1987 (Ischyromyidae, extinct rodent)
Raphaelana Girault (wasp)
Pseudocatharylla gioconda Bleszynski, 1964 (crambid moth) "Described from a unique female" and "very distinctive." [Acta Zool. Cracoviensia 11: 683]
Writers
Aesopichthys Poplin & Lund, 2000 (fossil actinopterygian fish) Named for Aesop.
Aligheria Girault (wasp) named for Dante Aligheri.
Serendipaceratops arthurcclarkei Rich & Vickers-Rich, 2003 (Cretaceous ceratopsian dinosaur from Australia). Named for sci-fi author Arthur C. Clark.
Arthurdactylus conandoylensis Frey & Martill, 1994 (Brazilian pterosaur) Named after Arthur Conan Doyle in honor of his story The Lost World, which is set in jungle similar to where the fossil was found, and in which a living pterosaur is brought back to London.
Draculoides bramstokeri Harvey & Humphreys, 1995 (spider) Bram Stoker was the author of Dracula.
Carlyleia Girault, 1916 (eulophid wasp) named for Thomas Carlyle.
Bienosaurus crichtonii, 2000 [nomen nudum] (small biped dinosaur) Named after Jurassic Park author Michael Crichton, but not published with a description. Reassigned to B. lufengensis Dong, 2001.
Emersonella Girault, 1916 (eulophid wasp) named for Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Goethaeana shakespearei Girault, 1920 (eulophid wasp) named for Johann Goethe. One species is G. shakespearei.
Podocyrtis goetheana (Haeckel), Riedel and Sanfilippo, 1970 (Eocene diatom)
Keatsia Girault (wasp) named for poet John Keats.
Idiomacromerus longfellowi Girault, 1917 (torymid wasp) Named after Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
Ablerus longfellowi (wasp)
Plato Coddington, 1986 (spider)
Plutarchia Girault, 1925 (eurytomid wasp) named for classical biographer Plutarch.
Richteria Girault, 1920 (mymarid wasp) named for German humorist and novelist Jean Richter.
Sappho Reichenbach, 1849 (hummingbird)
Shakespearia Girault, 1928 (encyrtid wasp)
Legionella shakespearei Verma et al., 1992 (bacterium)
Psephophorus terrypratchetti Köhler, 1995 (Eocene fossil turtle) Terry Pratchett wrote a series of fantasy books set on a world carried on the back of a giant turtle. [J. Royal Soc. N.Z. 25:371]
Thoreauia Girault (wasp) named for Henry David Thoreau.
Musicians
Beethovena Girault, 1932 (encyrtid wasp)
Mozartella beethoveni Girault, 1926 (encyrtid wasp)
Gnathia beethoveni Paul & Menzies, 1971 (isopod)
Bishopina mozarti Bonaduce, Masoli & Pugliese, 1978 (ostracod)
Fernandocrambus chopinellus Bleszynski, 1967 (crambid moth) [Acta Zool. Cracoviensia 12: 39]
Salinoctomys loschalchalerosorum Mares, Braun, Barquez & Díaz, 2000 (Chalchalero Viscacha rat) "named for the great Argentine folklore group, 'Los Chalchaleros,' in honor of their 52 years singing the traditional music of western Argengina, its habitats, and its history." [Mares et al., 2000. Occasional Papers, Museum of Texas Tech University 203: i+27]
Funkotriplogynium iagobadius Seeman & Walter, 1997 (mite) from Iago, "James" and badius, "brown," named after James Brown, the King of Funk.
Milesdavis Lieberman, 1994 (trilobite) [Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 0(223) 1-176].
Petula Clark, 1971 (tineid)
Mackenziurus johnnyi, M. joeyi, M. deedeei, M. ceejayi Adrian and Edgecombe, 1997 (trilobites) Named after the Ramones.
Avalanchurus simoni and A. garfunkeli Adrain & Edgecombe, 1997 (trilobites)
Avalanchurus lennoni, A. starri Edgecombe & Chatterton, 1993 (trilobites) Named for Beatles John Lennon and Ringo Starr.
Bushiella (Jugaria) beatlesi Rzhavsky, 1993 (Annelida, spirorbid)
Greeffiella beatlei Lorenzen, 1969 (nematode) Lorenzen doesn't state the etymology, but the worm's shagginess suggests a Beatles haircut.
Struszia mccartneyi Edgecombe & Chatterton, 1993 (trilobite) for Paul McCartney.
Elvisaurus Holmes, 1993 [nomen nudum] (Antarctic dinosaur) so called for it's 'pompadour-like' crest. Now Cryolophosaurus.
Preseucoila imallshookupis Buffington, 2004 (gall wasp) The genus is named after Elvis Presley, the specific name for one of his songs.
Cirolana mercuryi N. Bruce, 2004 (East African isopod) Named for Freddy Mercury, lead singer of the rock band Queen, "arguably Zanzibar's most famous popular musician and singer."
Masiakasaurus knopfleri Sampson, 2001 (theropod dinosaur) Named after Dire Straits singer/songwriter Mark Knopfler. Sampson said, "Whenever we played Dire Straits in the quarry, we found more Masiakasaurus, and when we played something else, we didn't." Knopfler replied, "The fact that it's a dinosaur is certainly apt, but I'm happy to report that I'm not in the least bit vicious." ("Masiaka" is Malagasy for "vicious.")
Metallichneumon neurospatarchus Sime and Wahl, 2002 (ichneumonid wasp) "Neurospatarchus" translates as "Master of Puppets," which is the seminal album by the thrash metal band Metallica. The name refers to the larval ichneumonid's manipulation of its host insect.
Dicrotendipes thanatogratus Epler, 1987 (chironomid) From Gk "thanatos", dead, and Latin "gratus", grateful; after the Grateful Dead.
Cryptocercus garciai Burnside, Smith and Kambhampati, 1998 (wood roach) named for Grateful Dead lead singer Jerry Garcia. [WWW J. of Biol. 4-1] (There's also an asteroid named Garcia, shortly after his death.)
Aegrotocatellus jaggeri Adrain & Edgecombe, 1995 (trilobite) for Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger. See also the genus etymology.
Anomphalus jaggerius Plas, 1972 (fossil gastropod) [J. of Paleo. 46: 249-260]
Perirehaedulus richardsi Adrain & Edgecombe, 1995 (trilobite) for Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards.
Arcticalymene viciousi, A. rotteni, A. jonesi, A. cooki, A. matlocki Adrian and Edgecombe, 1997 (trilobites) for the Sex Pistols. [J. Paleo. 71(4)]
Hyla stingi Kaplan, 1994 (Columbian tree frog) Named after the British rock star Sting in recognition of his work for the rain forest.
Villa manillae Evenhuis, 1993 (bee fly) Inspired by Millie Vanillie. [Idesia 12:19]
Xanthosomnium froesei Sime and Wahl, 2002 (ichneumonid wasp) "Xanthosomnium" is a translation of the synth band Tangerine Dream. The species is "named after Edgar Froese, the founder and continuity behind Tangerine Dream."
Zappa (Roberts), 1989 (goby) "in honour of Frank Zappa for his articulate and sagacious defense of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution." [Rec. of Austrl. Museum suppl 11: 53] Murdy, who renamed the genus, also says, "I like his music."
Amaurotoma zappa Plas, 1972 (fossil gastropod) [J. Paleo. 46: 249-260]
Pachygnatha zappa Bosmans and Bosselaers, 1994 (orb-weaver spider) It has a black marking under its abdomen curiously reminiscent (at least to Bosmans and Bosselaers) of Frank Zappa's mustache.
Phialella zappai Boero, 1987 (jellyfish) Named as part of Ferdinando Boero's plan to get to meet Frank Zappa. "There is nothing I'd like better than having a jellyfish named after me" - Frank Zappa. (details) [J. Nat. Hist. 21: 465]
There are also asteroids named "3834 Zappafrank" and "16745 Zappa."
Actors and Filmmakers
Attenborosaurus Bakker, 1993 (plesiosaur) "in honor of the naturalist and filmmaker David Attenborough, whose childhood fascination with Liassic plesiosaurs sparked a brilliant career in scientific journalism."
Zaglossus attenboroughi Flannery and Groves 1998 (long-beaked echidna from New Guinea) Named after well-known wildlife presenter David Attenborough. It is known from only one specimen collected in 1961 and may now be extinct. [Mammalia, vol. 62]
Avahi cleesei 2005 (woolly lemur) Named for actor/comedian John Cleese, who played a lemur-happy zookeeper in the film Fierce Creatures, hosted a documentary on lemurs, and is concerned with wildlife conservation.
Baru darrowi Willis, Murray and Megirian 1990 (mid-Tertiary fossil crocodile from Australia) Named after Paul Darrow, who played Avon in the British sci-fi series "Blake's 7." [Memoirs of the Queensland Museum vol. 29]
Calponia harrisonfordi Platnick, 1993 (caponiid spider) Named after Harrison Ford in appreciation of his narrating a documentary.
Pheidole harrisonfordi Wilson, 2002 (ant) Named in recognition of Harrison Ford's involvement (as Vice Chairman) in Conservation International.
Norasaphus monroeae Fortey (trilobite) after Marilyn Monroe; it has an hourglass shaped glabella.
Orsonwelles othello, O. macbeth, O. falstaffius, O. ambersonorum Hormiga, 2002 (giant Hawaiian linyphiid spiders). These species are named after famous Orson Welles roles.
Rostropria garbo Early (diapriid wasp) Described from "a solitary female".
Utahraptor spielbergi Bonar, Lassieur, McCafferty & Voci, ~1992 [nomen nudum] (theropod dinosaur) Named after Jurassic Park director Steven Spielberg. The raptors in the movie were larger than any then known, until this raptor was announced the week the movie premiered. Apparently, it was not adequately described in the rush to name it. Reassigned to U. ostrommaysorum Kirkland, Gaston & Burge, 1993.[/quote]
So you see, not uncommon at all. In fact, occasionally very appropriate, like in the Rowling case in the OP.
You can say the books suck. But she'll be rolling (pun not intended) in cash. She's richer then the qween!
Also, she was smart. Before the 1st book came out she was 1 late bill away from being homeliss. The day after it came out, she was a millionare. Now she has movie roaltys, too.
Minoriteeburg
23-05-2006, 20:23
You can say the books suck. But she'll be rolling (pun not intended) in cash. She's richer then the qween!
Also, she was smart. Before the 1st book came out she was 1 late bill away from being homeliss. The day after it came out, she was a millionare. Now she has movie roaltys, too.
JK Rowling is a great schemeist, she knew the books would suck, yet the children would flock to them like harry potter is the greatest story ever told.