Archive for the ‘scalies’ category

Lizardman Waxed!

August 31, 2010

– – Lizardman, aka Erik Sprague, walks the walk of physical transformation into his species; he’s got implants in his head, a forked tongue and fangs, and has had his body inked about 70% green, representing about 700 hours of tattoo work!

Despite his startling appearance, Erik is intelligent and highly personable, and is soon to have a wax likeness of himself displayed at Orlando’s Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! museum.  More figures of Lizardman may be made for other Ripley’s museums in the future.

Erik has been transforming himself for ten years, and in addition to multiple appearances on television and sideshow performances, he does stand-up comedy and plays in a metal band called (–what else) Lizard Skynard.

He’s remarkable and one of the few so extensively transformed, but I think I’ll be sticking to a few  tattoos, thank you!

Metal Dinos!

May 4, 2010

– – In Finland, Barney meets heavy metal in Hevisaurus, a group of long-haired costumed reptiles in leather and spiked bracelets who perform largely to  kiddie audiences.   Billed as the world’s only Jurassic metal band, the five performers wear elaborate costumes made of reindeer skin dyed to look green and treated to look scaly.

Metal music has gone mainstream in Finland, and is even played in churches...and if they meet Barney, I think he’ll be extinct…

Philosoraptor Rules!

March 30, 2010

– – An image macro and one of a number of Advice Dog variations, Philosoraptor originated on 4chan with the image starting out as a T-shirt design on Lonelydinosaur.com.  Philosoraptor challenges the reader with his deep, existential, and Paleolithic questions…in my book, he’s far cooler than Advice Dog!

The Urban Dictionary defines Philosoraptor as one who engages in aggressive moral or ethical debate tactics…you are alive (for the moment) when the Philosoraptor engages you in Socratic dialogue, so try to show a little respect or he will open your mind using eighty razor sharp teeth and two 4-inch sickle claws…

The Flatwoods Monster!

March 11, 2010

– – You can call him the Flatwoods Monster, or you can call him the Braxton County Monster, or you can call him the Phantom of Flatwoods…just don’t call him early in the morning or late for dinner, ’cause this nine or ten foot tall reptilian monster gets cranky, and just might emit some noxious fumes in your direction that could act like mustard gas, burn your respiratory tract, and ruin your whole day!

In a golden oldie incident going way back to September 12th of 1952, the Flatwoods Monster event was still cool, representing as it did a Close Encounter of the Third Kind! Back even before Elvis made it big, a large, pulsating ball of red light hovered above or rested on the ground in the town of Flatwoods in Braxton County, West Virginia.  The apparent pilot of this craft was described as being about ten feet tall but reptilian in aspect, with bulging red non-human eyes, a red face that glowed from within, and a green body clad with green, pleated skirt-like apparel that may have been a booster.   Some accounts describe the creature as having no visible arms, while others attribute short stubby arms ending in two claw-like fingers that protruded from the front of the body.  Clearly, this alien would have had a hard time finding a date on Saturday night, even in West Virginia.

When startled, the creature is reported to have emitted a series of sharp hisses and a thumping sound that emanated from within its body, ejecting for good measure a thick mist of noxious substance that irritated the eyes and noses of witnesses.   An oily residue of this substance was reportedly found on the faces of two of the witnesses after the encounter, another reportedly getting it on clothing.

Now MonsterQuest reports that other sightings of the Flatwoods Monster have occurred since ’52 and in other regions, although Flatwoods remains the epicenter.  Most recently, three such humanoid creatures were seen by a lone deer hunter who was understandably freaked out by the whole experience.  In their investigation of the sighting area, MonsterQuest investigators questioned whether a release of gases from the underground may have caused hallucinations and the reported  fireball associated with the appearance of the monster.  Their investigation found no sign of radiation or gas leaks.   Chemical investigations of a black plastic-like substance found indicated that it was a natural, organic material like wood.

In a tangent, the episode questioned whether the creature seen might have been a human-alien hybrid, and dragged out the Starchild skull, a freaky 800-some-year-old artifact that we’ve previously considered in an earlier post here.  The expert working with the Starchild skull found it to be that of a human child with modifications that were intentionally inflicted, very possibly as part of a cultural practice like cradle-boarding.

So what in the final analysis do we have?–As usual, not much of anything, but it was a fun trip, and it was good to have seen physicist Stanton Friedman again, who made a brief appearance on the episode!  It was also concluded that witnesses from the original and later sightings of the Flatwoods Monster were most likely seeing the same thing…and I’d rather meet with the grays than reptilian extraterrestrials, wouldn’t you?


Komodo Dragon Attack!

February 24, 2010

– – Here in the U.S. of A.,  you really don’t hear much about the Komodo dragon, which is a shame since they are the world’s largest lizard species.  Perhaps it’s because they are found in the wild only on the eastern Indonesian islands of Komodo, Padar, and Rinca, or maybe they just need a good publicist, or perhaps a spin doctor! They are more than deserving of our attention and respect, being capable of growing longer than ten feet and weighing 150 pounds.

Komodo dragon attacks on humans are rare, but they seem to be becoming more aggressive.  This month, an Indonesian park ranger escaped an attack by a Komodo dragon when his colleagues heard his cries for help and drove it off with wooden clubs. The big lizard had the right foot of the ranger clamped in its shark-like, serrated teeth, causing deep lacerations.

And yes, the Komodo dragon can and has killed people, most recently an 8-year-old boy killed on Komodo Island in 2007…

The Lizardman…

February 10, 2010

– – In the realm of body art and bodily modification, there are those who kind of press the envelope, and move in the direction of more radical transformations. One such person is Lizardman Erik Sprague…

Lizardman is quite intelligent, and at one time was a Ph.D. candidate in philosophy. He currently boasts approximately 700 hours of tattoo work dating back to 1994, leaving him with a disconcerting green, reptilian-skinned appearance. Additional bodily modifications include a split, bifurcated tongue and teeth filed to a point. For all of that, Erik, currently age 37, considers his startling transformation only about 80 percent complete.

A self-proclaimed “professional freak,” Sprague is a permanent performer whose repertoire includes sword swallowing, fire-eating, and other dangerous stunts.  He generates additional income through appearances at Ripley’s Believe It Or Not museums and other events. The Lizardman has also recently penned Once More Through the Modified Looking Glass, and is a sane, rational, and thoughtful individual…

Giant Pythons in America!

January 31, 2010

– – Ah me…as if Florida didn’t have enough to worry about, now it appears that the population of foreign snakes is increasing there!  The burmese python has been  found in Florida, and its an adaptable species that could range much further northward, at least as far to the north as Washington, D.C.

Reptiles in Washington!– -Well, we’ve heard that for some time!  Anyhow, such snakes can survive in temperatures as low as 40 degrees by wintering underground, and environmental conditions could support them northward.  MonsterQuest in their “python” episode found food for snakes in Central Park,  NYC, and a nine foot boa constrictor has been found in Central Park, presumably a pet that was released.   Snakes have come to the edge of population centers by the Florida Everglades, and elsewhere an African green mamba bit a cable TV installer !- -Watch out, Larry the Cable Guy!

King cobras  are also potentially loose in southern Florida.  Where it gets really freaky is over such snakes interbreeding, and producing a monster hybrid with all kinds of interesting capabilities; sounds like a bad Syfy Channel original movie!

MonsterQuest’s conclusion was that exotic snakes in northern areas are going to increase…snake phobics, be advised!


Iguanas Dropping From Trees!

January 9, 2010

– – How cold is it in Florida?- -Cold enough so that iguanas are dropping off the trees!

Scientists say that when temperatures drop below 40 degrees, so do the iguanas; they essentially go into hibernation in order to survive!  This fact has spawned at least one urban legend of a guy who collected some stunned iguanas and put a bunch of them in the back seat of his car, thinking them dead.  – –Well, when he ran the heat in his car, the  iguanas came back to life, probably asked to be driven to Taco Belle, and began crawling all over things, to catastrophic effect- -or at least so the story says!

Meanwhile, more than 140 Florida sea turtles have washed up on the shores within a 48-hour period, stunned by the cold.  The turtles simply become lethargic, can’t swim anymore, and wash up on shore.  The Florida Aquarium is helping some of the turtles survive…

At least we have stunned iguanas raining from trees to talk about until the new season of MonsterQuest begins!

Lizards In The Underpants…

December 10, 2009

– – I, for one, do not pack skinks in my underwear.  I’ll even resist the temptation to mine that remark for other comic possibilities, ’cause this is a semi-classy place…

A German tourist, however, was caught by airport security attempting to leave New Zealand with a total of 20 skinks and 24 geckos of various species hidden in a small box concealed amidst his underwear.- – One gecko was even rolled into a sock!  The Geico Gecko would be appalled…

Now the geckos had an estimated black market value of $35, 850; the value of the skinks was unknown.  The tourist admitted to taking the reptiles from the wild, and trading and transporting them without a permit…

Skinks have no pronounced neck, and sport relatively small legs, with several genera having no legs at all!  They usually have long, tapering tails that can be shed and regenerated.- -That’s a neat trick if you can pull it off…ROTFL!    😉

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  * *

(BTW, Happy International Animal Rights Day!–Bite the Power!!!)

–Diver Dan!

November 30, 2009

– – Kid’s shows used to have special effects that weren’t terribly special.  Take, for example, Diver Dan, a cheesy black and white show from the early 1960’s that was shot through a large fish tank with the human cast simply on the other side of the tank acting out their scenes! Diver Dan wore a clunky old-style deep sea diving suit, and talked to anthropomorphic fish-marionettes that floated by.- -Here, Diver Dan is shown with the affable Finley.

Some of the fish characters were a hoot, however, and included the evil Baron Barracuda with his sidekick, Trigger Fish, who was usually shown smoking a cigarette!  Don’t ask me how he managed to get it to stay lit underwater…they were innocent and politically incorrect times, anyhow…