Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Am I the Only Person Who Thinks About This Stuff?



Genetic paleontologists believe that birds are modern day dinosaurs. In fact, chickens are the closest genetic descendants of Tyrannosaurus Rex. Can you wrap your mind around that without laughing? Wow.

What I've been wondering is whether anyone has tried to figure out if dinosaurs chirped. What would "tweet tweet" sound like, a couple of octaves deeper than what we're used to, and really loud?

How about big ole T-Rex? What does "cluck cluck" or "cock-a-doodle-doo" sound like coming out of a mouth that's five feet long?

17 comments:

tut-tut said...

Did you capture yourself in that top photo? mysterious . . .

That feeder is cheerful.

Steve Reed said...

Or conversely...are birds roaring?

Reya Mellicker said...

The top pic is of one of the faery balls stuffed into the hedge behind the Smithsonian castle. I can see my camera, but not my face ... which was intentional.

I've tried a lot of times to take a good pic of a faery ball. This is the first one I've liked.

Yeah ... are birds roaring? Cool to think about!! I bet to insects that "tweet tweet" sounds fairly ominous!

Reya Mellicker said...

I think you can see my friend Laura's legs in the faery ball, over on the right side. Or ... it might be the legs of her husband. Everything goes topsy turvy in Faeryland don't you know!

tut-tut said...

Oh, no; there's definitely a face in there . . . even on second look and reading the comments.

ArtSparker said...

The top photo reminds me of that old woodcut with the man climbing through an arch into another reality.

Reya Mellicker said...

Wow! Tut you're so good. I do see the face. It's not my face because there aren't any glasses, and I can tell you for sure that neither Laura or her husband were standing behind me or anywhere close to where I was.

A faery face! Captured digitally. VERY COOL!!

lettuce said...

hahaha, this is funny
chickens are funny creatures indeed

penguins always seem rather prehistoric to me. and they also make rather amusing sounds...

and i love sparrows

tam said...

A long time ago I took my little cousin Charlie to a museum to see the life-size dinosaur exhibits. He was crazy about dinosaurs, and reptiles - always had a little pet lizard in his pockets, loved snakes. When he saw the huge dinosaurs he freaked out completely and couldn't stop crying. I only figured out then that he had thought dinosaurs were small cute pockets sized creatures. I feel a bit like that now, except in reverse. Tyrannosaurus chickens? I am disillusioned indeed. I always thought they were silent creatures, like crocs. Maybe the occasional hiss. Squawking dinosaurs? Oh man, this is gary larson territory.

Val said...

I like the faery ball pic - will have to study it in depth...
wow chickens hey? do you think they had exotic coloured feathers too? and the sound - we should record a chicken and slow it down - see how it sounds. Apparently if you slow down a domestic cat call it sounds like a lion... I havent tested it though.
Well now you can safely say you are not theonly one who thinks about this - you have planted it in my mind too :-)
xxV

Moonroot said...

Oh, I love the images conjured by this!

I have tagged you for a meme - details on my blog.

Lynne said...

Love the faery ball! I tried but didn't see a face. Now I have to go back and study it. My first impression without reading first was of a skewed reality.

It's hard to believe that birds are related to dinosaurs. I know they say they are, but still. Maybe the raptors of the bird world come the closest. I find them fascinating.

We did go to see "Walking with the Dinosaurs" when it was at Madison Square Garden. They finale of the show (and the highlight) was the life-sized T-rex that when it roared shook the whole building. To see that thing "walking" around was truly frightening. All the little kids that couldn't wait to see the T-rex where wailing in fear! Many had to be taken out by their parents—screaming. Such a sight.

Reya Mellicker said...

How great of the BBC to dance in shamanic alignment with my post. Here's an article about a feathered dinosaur just discovered in China.

Poor Charlie - he thought dinos were cute and little? Well ... some of them were, in fact, most of them were.

The faery face is just above the center of the photo, to the far left. If you can see the reflection of my camera, look directly above and to the right. The face is looking out of the ball, defined by the reflection of the tree foliage behind it.

I can only see it sometimes, not every time I look at the pic. It's very magical and I salute my friend tut for finding it!

Nao said...

You are not alone!

The things I find myself wondering...

Love your blog by the way!

Artsparker sent me over here, I have a golden puppy too, well, he's actually two, but I still call him a puppy.

Pod said...

i often think on such matters
i'm pretty sure if, could actually understand birds, that they swear a lot

Reya Mellicker said...

Pod! You're such a genius! I'm sure they swear, especially right before it starts raining when they're all going nuts. Oh yeah.

Dan Gurney said...

You're not! My brother has spent his whole lifetime thinking about dinosaurs. He wrote Dinotopia. His pet? Not a dog. A budgie.