Friday, August 29, 2014

Lizzy and Lily's Shrimp Scampi Recipe

Shrimp scampi! This looks delicious! Keep reading to learn how to make your own!
“Hello folks, Lizzy here!” I yell, “I'm making a new dish that I've never actually tried before!”
“I'm Lily,” stated the other lizard. “Lizzy, always forgetting to introduce me.”
Lily rolls her eyes and grabs out the cookbook.
“Anyway, today we're cooking up a tasty dish, Shrimp Scampi!” I exclaim.
“Uh . . . how would you know that it's tasty . . . you've never had it!” Lily stated. “Okay, now let's get cooking! First we'll need 2 Tablespoons of butter, 2 Tablespoons of olive oil, 2 to 3 cloves of garlic, minced...”
“What does minced mean?” I asked.
“Ugh! You're such a Rookie! 'Minced' means to really finely chop,” Lily informed. “Now the other ingredients we need are one small onion, chopped. 1 lb. lg. shrimp, peeled and deveined . . .”
“What does deveined mean?” I asked, while grabbing the ingredients out of the fridge.
Lily smacks her forehead.
“Deveined . . . it's exactly what it sounds like . . . take out the dorsal vein of the shrimp,” she announced. “Back to the ingredients, we also need salt and pepper for tasting, ½ cup of chicken bouillon, paprika, and cooked pasta or rice.”
“Okay then, the first step says to melt the butter in a heavy saucepan and add the olive oil,” I read. “What temperature should we put the stove on?”
“To be safe, I think I'll turn it on to three,” Lily answered.
“Next, saute the minced garlic and chopped-in butter/oil.” I stated. “Lily, what does saute mean?”
“Saute means to well . . . it's easier to explain,” Lily added.
Lily put the minced garlic and chopped-in butter into the heavy saucepan. She began to stir the ingredient carefully and slowly until the garlic was nicely cooked.
“Oh . . . okay,” I dismiss. “Next, add the shrimp, some salt and pepper, and cook it for four to five minutes until the shrimp turns pink. Now add the chicken bouillon to the pan and heat thoroughly.”
Lily did as the recipe told and soon the kitchen smelled of a delicious aroma.
“Last step, sprinkle paprika over the shrimp and serve over pasta or rice,” I exclaim. “You did prepare the pasta . . . right?”
Lily paused, “No, that was you're job.”
“Oh . . .”
I hurry and fix up the pasta and soon enough the table was set. We dived into the meal and smiled. It was delicious.
“It's an oriental dish right?” I asked, licking my lips.
Lily smacks her forehead.
“No, Lizzy. It's an American dish.”

Written by: Lizzy the Lizard
Photographer: Daniel P. Smithwater
Edited by: Christian Ryan, Joy Hammond and Mr. Smiley.

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Next Issue: The Great Dolphin Rescue

Friday, August 22, 2014

Smiley's New's Birthday Bash!

(Photo will be uploaded as soon as possible)

Howdy everyone! It's me, Mr. Smiley! As you might already know, we celebrated Smiley's News' second birthday! I can't believe that the time has gone so fast. It seems like just yesterday I published the first, humble Smiley's News article. It wasn't much, but it was a start.

Last Friday, we here at Animal Adventures Inc. threw a huge party to celebrate this momentous occasion! It was a blast! We started early in the morning, planning the party. I got with my boss and CEO of AAI., Nigel Milligan and his older brother, Mr. Gregor, to discuss how the main building and cafeteria should be decorated. We had a bit of a disagreement about a few things, but we took care of it fairly quickly.

As Guy and Stan Milligan (Nigel and Mr. Gregor's younger twin brothers), Gordo the spider monkey, Jack the jackrabbit (our intern), Mango the Orangutan and Adam Johnson the janitor and his brothers all quickly got to work on the decorations. One of our resident ducks, Ducky (his mother wasn't too creative with names), tried to help. Let me be the first to tell you, that duck is really annoying! All he did all day long was talk and talk and talk about pretty much nothing. So Dr. Arizona Stevenson (our resident zoologist) told him to get some Boston Cream Pies all the way from Timbuktu. Ducky asked how to get there, so Arizona told him to, “Go off the AAI. property, walk 12 blocks down the street, find the nearest bus stop, get on the bus, ride for about half an hour, hope off, find a Subway restaurant, ask the person at the counter for directions to Chick-fila, follow his directions, go 2 miles south, 98 miles east and then southeast for another 50 miles.” With that, the crazy duck was off. Phew!

Lizzy the lizard, my co-writer, my trusty junior photographer, Daniel P. Smithwater and I helped Rack-coon and Mitch and the other Meerkats in the kitchen, so we could have dinner dishes ready on time. Some of our resident kids, Ryan Gregor, Angel and Jack Stevenson, Tiger and Willy Adamson, Fido the guinea pig (Sarah Bus Stop Guy's dog), Sarah Bus Stop Guy and Kelly and Kelsey Martin were helping with decorations by this time. Gerald the giraffe helped us reach the places we couldn't reach otherwise. I must admit that giraffes can be much better than ladders when it comes to reaching high places. Why? When you need to move spots, the giraffe simply moves. You don't have to climb down the ladder, pick it up, move it to the desired location, set it down and climb back up. The only problem was that Gerald got a little hungry and started snacking on some of the leaf decorations.

After a day of long hard work, we were finally ready for the party. It was a HUGE turnout! Every animal and person living on AAI. property was present. Rack-coon tells me that we had to prepare tons of food; no really, that's not an exaggeration, actual tons of food! He told me that this was because many of the animals are large, so they have to eat a lot of food. Elephants have to eat 200-600 pounds of food a day, and quite a few elephants live here. Many of the dinosaurs also eat a lot; adult sauropods (the largest terrestrial creatures at AAI.), or long-necked dinosaurs, can eat over 330 lbs of food a day! There are five sauropods currently residing at AAI. – two 50-ton Brachiosaurus, a 35-ton mother Apatosaurus and her two tweens, and there's word from Dr. Steve Stevenson (our chief geneticist) has confirmed we might have another sauropod on the way.

Of course, the party was bustling with activity. There were a number of games going on, like table tennis, pool and several others. Many of the guests talked amongst themselves though. For the children, we had a television up so that they could watch episodes of Ducky Momo, Pinhead Pierre and the Top Banana show.

All and all, I thoroughly enjoyed the party and can't wait to share another wonderful year of Smiley's News with all of you. Thanks be to God for another great year! HAPPY BIRTHDAY SMILEY'S NEWS!!!

Written by: Mr. Smiley
Photographer: Daniel P. Smithwater
Edited by: Christian Ryan

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We here at Smiley’s News, I have been working night and day to get articles ready. I could really use some help! So we are looking for people interested in writing (especially kids and teens). If you are interested, PLEASE(!) send an email to animaladventures@aol.com and save me from working night and day! I’m exhausted!


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Next Issue: Lizzy and Lily's Shrimp Scampi Recipe

Friday, August 15, 2014

Gary's Perseids Meteor Shower

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Author's Note: Today is the birthday of Smiley's News! Next week, we'll be doing a special article about our celebration!

Although the famous groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, predicts the end of winter, our groundhog here at Animal Adventures Inc. loves talking about solar eclipses, meteor showers, and other astronomical phenomenons. Today he went around the office talking about the Perseids meteor shower. “IT'S HERE!” he shouted. “IT CAME!” Most animals here are very excited about learning about the next apocalypse, but they weren't always thrilled to have Gary screaming in their ears. “DID YOU SEE IT?” he yelled, “IT HAPPENED JUST A FEW DAYS AGO!” “Calm down, Gary,” I state, “What are you talking about?”
He stopped yelling and looked at me. “The Perseids meteor shower happened around this week at midnight till dawn,” he informed. Gary went on to talk about how the Perseid meteor shower was associated with the Swift-Tuttle comet. “It's seen around a constellation, Perseus. That's where it gets the name Perseids, which in Greek stands for the sons of Perseus.” Gary stated, proudly.
“Uh nice,” I say with a smile. “The meteors reach over 60 miles per hour depending on how fast they go. The meteors are actually debris or particles of the Perseids cloud. Some of the pieces are over a thousand years old. The Swift-Tuttle goes on a 133 year route to get here so this might be a once in a life time event for us here.”
"I'll be able to see it again," said a tortoise. "My species lives 200 years or more at a time."
"You're one of the only exceptions, I'm afraid."
Before any of the animals know, Gary had gotten us to stay at Animal Adventures Inc. for the whole night. He had us all outside looking at the stars. He also brought out some blankets.
“Not too cozy now,” he stated. “You'll fall asleep and miss the once in a life time event.”
Gary also brought snacks. Chef Rack-coon helped out on that end.
“Hey Gary, you said the meteor shower was tonight, so uh...what gives?” yelled an animal. “I don't see anything?”
“You guys have to wait. It will be here sometime after midnight and before dawn,” Gary answered.
“I'm actually getting tired,” complained Carey the cat.
“I am not sleepy,” informed Benny the Bat. “I am wide awake.”
“Of course you would be. You're nocturnal!” muttered another animal.
After a few hours, everyone was finding it hard to stay awake. Gary was the first to fall asleep, in fact so did everyone else except Benny. We all wake up to Benny yelling that it started. A little disoriented, we all had no clue what he was talking about until he pointed up at the sky.
“Aw cool,” yelled another animal. “The meteor shower!”
We all watched the meteor in awe. It was really pretty from where we sat. I'm glad we got to see it. When dawn rolled around, everyone had fallen back to sleep. What a sight we must have been to everyone passing by office! Well that's it for now. That happened on August 13th, so uh yeah, if you haven't seen it well uh sorry to hear about that. Technically it was Gary's idea to make us stay overnight at the company but it was all good after all. The next day, I was laying at my desk.
“I CAN'T WAIT FOR OCTOBER!” yelled Gary, waking up almost everyone. “A TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE! IT'S GOING TO HAPPEN IN OCTOBER!”
Then everyone groaned and tossed pillows at Gary.

Written by: Lizzy the Lizard
Photographer: Daniel P. Smithwater
Edited by: Christian Ryan, Joy Hammond & Mr. Smiley


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Next Issue: Smiley's News Birthday Bash

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Human Footprint Found with Dinosaur's?

(Image will be added as soon as possible)

Author's Note: You might be glad to know that this is the 100th article written for Smiley's News! Thanks to all of our dedicated readers!

Scientists who believe in the theory of evolution are constantly affirming that dinosaurs existed 65 million years before the first modern humans walked the earth (62 million years before proto-humans), and that's the supposedly latest existing dinosaurs of the Late Cretaceous period. According to evolutionists, most dinosaurs lived and have been extinct for far longer than 65 million years. But how do they know this? Were they there?

Now, creationists, such as myself, weren't there either, but we do rely on the holy words of the Individual who was there: God! If we study the Bible carefully, we learn that the world is actually no older than 6,000 years and that dinosaurs did live with man. Why then haven't we found humans with dinosaur fossils? Well, a better question to ask is “Have we found humans with dinosaur fossils?”

At one of his summer dig sites, Animal Adventures Institute's head paleontologist, Dr. Samuel Adamson, his wife, Indiana and the rest of their dig team were at a fossil bed in Texas' Paluxy River and uncovered an amazing discovery: dinosaur footprints. My trusty, junior photographer, Daniel P. Smithwater and I flew down to check out his unusual find. Samuel was busy the moment we arrived, so I started my interview with Dr. Indiana, who told me about the area the footprints were found in. She is quoted for saying, “Dinosaur footprints in this area date around 4,350 years ago, about the time of the Flood. The rock layer these footprints are deposited in is called lower Cretaceous and is in the Glen Rose Formation; evolutionists normally date this rock layer to about 105-115 million years ago.” Indiana said that a long time ago, dinosaurs of all shapes and sizes would have lived here, from long-necked sauropods, to 40-foot carnosaurs, iguanodontds and raptors. “Although,” Indiana says, “footprints aren't really too rare around here and have been collected by scientists and amateurs for over half a century, the ones we've found are quite interesting.”

Then Samuel was finally available to show us the fossil footprints they'd found in the shallow river (actually, this part of the Paluxy River is more like a creek). The fossil footprint is of a large, three-toed carnosaur dinosaur and a what looks like a human footprint where the middle toe of the theropod is. Daniel was glad to start taking pictures. Then Samuel started to tell me more about the amazing find. “A couple of my team members and I were following a dinosaur trackway in the creek,” he says, “and we stumbled upon this find, a dinosaur and what appears to be a human footprint in the same slab of rock, overlapping. It wasn't actually attached to the rock we were surveying, but rather lying on top of it. What's interesting is that the “human” footprint had to have been laid down first, because the dinosaur's middle toe claw goes over the alleged human footprint! So if this is legitimate, this would be terrific evidence that man lived with dinosaurs!”

Samuel says that the carnosaur footprint seems to belong to a large carcharodontosaurid called Acrocanthosaurus, the largest carnivorous dinosaur in the area. “It was a large and ferocious beast with a ridge – either a sail or fatty hump – along the top of its neck, back and a little bit of the tail, nasty jaws full of knife-like teeth and sharp claws on its hands that were like meat-hooks to its prey.” Acrocanthosaurus grew about 40 feet in length.

The recent find has gotten many geologists and paleontologists very intrigued. One of the most notable is Dr. Richard Taylor, a paleontologist at the Creation Museum of Texas History in Glen Rose, Texas. He says, “This is undeniable proof that mankind lived with dinosaurs! I don't know why evolutionists won't just admit that. Not only is the dinosaur footprints in the same slab of rock as the human footprint, but it's overlapping! That alone should make every evolutionist wonder if their belief is wrong. This is just one of the many evidences that dinosaurs lived with humans. My dig team...[and] I have made numerous discoveries in the Paluxy River over the past ten years that disprove the earth being millions of years old. Many human footprints have been discovered in rocks evolutionists believe were laid down during the Cretaceous period. We've also found what we believe to be a cat pawprint and a petrified human finger.”

As amazing as Dr. Taylor's claims are, Dr. Adamson is a bit more cautious about these finds. He is quoted for saying, “I'm sure Dr. Taylor is a well-meaning scientist. But I and many other creationists believe he's making claims are not well supported by the evidence.” Some creation paleontologists I've talked to agree with Samuel. In fact, there's even evidence to suggest that many of Dr. Taylor's claims are hoaxes; now that isn't to say that they were perpetrated by Dr. Taylor himself of course. “In fact,” Samuel continues, “it's interesting to note that the dinosaur-human footprint we found wasn't connected to the riverbed, it was lying on top of it. Now way back when, especially in the 1930's, many people out here in Glen Rose, Texas used to carve human footprints into the same rocks as dinosaur footprints and sell them as if they were legitimate. The dino-human footprint we found might have been accidentally left behind from those days. I'm also rather suspicious about the toes of the human in our specimen: the big toe looks like it made a bigger imprint in the then-mud then is to be expected from a human big toe.”

However, this isn't to say there isn't any evidence that dinosaurs lived with mankind sometime in the past, as Dr. Samuel explains: “There's lots of incredible evidence that man lived with dinosaurs. Petroglyphs and other types of rock carvings have been found all over the world of things that greatly resemble dinosaurs. It also seems extremely unlikely that dragon legends from all over the world could have all been just stories made up to entertain people. No, I think many of them were inspired by real accounts that, over the years, have been made more fanciful.”

And I'll close out today's story with a quote from Dr. Samuel: “When one looks at all the evidence that mankind lived with dinosaurs, you'll see that there's really no need for people to come up with fakes.”

Written by: Mr. Smiley
Photographer: Daniel P. Smithwater
Edited by: Christian Ryan

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Next Issue: Gary's Perseids Meteor Shower

Rerun Article: World's First Modern Shoe Discovered!

Indiana James holding the newly discovered stone shoe
The world of archaeology was a buzz about a recent find! So I, Mr. Smiley and my photographer, Daniel P. Smithwater, headed over to Burlington, Vermont to get the inside story on the finding of the first “modern” shoe ever made. Indiana James, a famous archaeologist was off exploring in the Amazon Rainforests of South America when he discovered the some very old ruins that were estimated to be 3,000 years old. In an ancient temple, he found a pair of stone shoes. This is evidence that ancient royalty wore the first modern looking shoes. How does it look modern? Well for starters it is completely enclosed. Most other people at the time were wearing sandals or bare feet. So these are the first “modern” looking shoes. “They are very similar to sneakers,” says Indiana James, “but since the material to make sneakers wasn’t invented yet, they had to make these shoes out of stone.” Some old paintings on the temple walls may have the story as to how these stone shoes came to be: a great Native South American king wanted to look more impressive than his contemporaries. So he told his head shoe maker (possibly named Sir Keystone), to make him an impressive shoe within 24 hours or else he would be stoned to death (the king was very strict). So in sheer desperation, he sat thinking over the next 24 hours as to how he could make these impressive shoes. He thought of what types of stone they would use to stone him, and this gave him an idea. Why not make stone shoes? So he got to work. By the end of the 24 hours, he had made a pair of beautiful shoes with the king’s face where the ankle was and three blue jewels on the sides of this shoe. The king was so pleased, he offered to give the shoe maker whatever he wished. The shoe maker wanted one of the blue jewels (which is why one of the jewels on the shoes are missing!). The king granted his request and to this day, the shoes look exactly how they did when they were first made. But I’m not sure I’d want to wear those shoes, it would make running make your feet sweaty!

Story written by: Mr. Smiley
Photographs taken by: Daniel P. Smithwater
Edited by: Christian Ryan M.

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 Next Issue: Human Footprint Found with Dinosaurs?

Friday, August 1, 2014

New Dinosaur Discoveries with Dr. Samuel

Paleontologists Dr. Samuel Adamson (right) and his wife, Indiana Adamson (center) and their team are on the hunt for dinosaur fossils in Niger, Africa as a goat watches. Continue reading for more details on their discoveries.
Dr. Samuel Adamson and his team of paleontologists are on the trail of new fossil discoveries once again! On June 3rd, 2014, Dr. Samuel, his wife Indiana and the lot all left Animal Adventures Institute (AAI) at Animal Adventures Inc. (AAI.) to venture to a just a few of the many fossil sights located throughout the world. As you may recall from past articles I've written about him, Dr. Samuel doesn't only dig up fossils of dinosaurs and other extinct creatures for museum collections, but some specimens he finds go to AAI where they are tested to see if they yield DNA for cloning purposes. This year, Dr. Samuel's expeditions took place in five different places in very different parts of the world: Montana's Hell Creek Formation, Alaska's Prince Creek Formation, a dig site he already wrapped up in Paluxy Creek, Texas, and two new dig sites in Argentina's La Amaraga Formation, Niger's Elrhaz Formation.

Of course, I had to get an exclusive interview with Dr. Samuel when he was closest to home on his trip, in the Hell Creek Formation, so my trusty, junior photographer, Daniel P. Smithwater, and I packed out bags and headed over to Montana. When we got there, Dr. Samuel was supervising his team as they put the finishing touches on the dinosaur fossils they planned to excavate. So as usual, I began to ask him what they were digging up. Dr. Samuel is quoted for saying, “Well, the dinosaur we're in the process of excavating is a common duck-billed, or hadrosaur, dinosaur we've been finding out here for years: Edmontosaurus.” He explained that Edmontosaurus was common in Cretaceous Hell Creek, Montana by 4,350 years ago, in the days before the Genesis Flood we can read about in the Bible. As a hadrosaur, they probably spent their days roaming the land eating lush vegetation. Left to themselves, they were pretty placid animals. “We've been digging up remains of Edmontosaurus for several years now, since 2011,” says Dr. Samuel, “but none have ever yielded DNA. It's kind of strange when you think about it. It would be amazing to finally bring back one of the most common hadrosaurs from extinction through cloning.”

After he finished explaining to me how he and his team wrapped the dinosaur's remains – still incased in cement-hard rock – in plaster so that they could airlift it to the museum via helicopter, I asked him about the other dig sites he was digging up fossils at this summer and what he'd found so far. “Well, another dig site we've returned to this summer is in Alaska, and it's in the Prince Creek Formation. We're almost wrapped up there as well and back in the pre-Flood world, that portion of Alaska represents a vastly different place than the Alaska we know today. There is some debate upon whether those Arctic dinosaurs actually lived in that region of Alaska or if they merely floated there during the Flood, but I believe they lived in that area, or at least close to the area. There were many species of organisms making their home there at the time: hadrosaurs, small carnivores such as Troodon and large carnivores like Nanuqsaurus roamed the land as well. It was a lush and tropical place at the time the animals were alive.” He went on to say, “In addition to scant fossils of the newly discovered Nanuqsaurus, and some teeth left behind by Troodon, we also discovered the partial skeleton of a Pachyrhinosaurus. It was a horned dinosaur, or ceratopsian, related to the larger Triceratops, but unlike it, Pachyrhinosaurus had a large bump – called a boss – on its snout, instead of a horn.”

Then Dr. Samuel began telling me about his two other dig sites that they'd never been to before this summer. In the La Amarga Formation in Argentina, they've uncovered the remains of a sauropod – long-necked dinosaur – called Amargasaurus. This dinosaur was strange for a sauropod because it had two rows of bizarre spines running down its neck. “We aren't sure if they were just spines or if the spines were attached to each other to form a double sail of some kind,” Dr. Samuel says, “but they're pretty cool looking. Perhaps if the individual we've found bears ancient DNA, we can clone one and finally have an answer.”

Last but not least, I won't fail to mention Dr. Samuel's other new dig site in Niger, North Africa's Elrhaz Formation. Dr. Samuel told me that this place was also lush in the pre-Flood world. Instead of being the dry, sun-baked desert of today, it was once a lush and marshy place. It was probably loaded with great inlets and waterways that supported some of the largest animals ever to walk the earth. Large sauropods, many weighing over 70 tons, ornithopods like Ouranosaurus and giant crocodiles like Sarcosuchus lived in this area. “However,” Dr. Samuel began, “my team and I are particularly proud of the partial skeleton of a sub-adult Suchomimus!” Suchomimus is a rare spinosaurid; it had long crocodile-like jaws and sharp claws on its hands. It was probably a fish-eater, able to hunt down the largest fish of the region, including mighty extinct species of coelocanths. The dig site in Niger has already been completed for this year and Dr. Samuel and his team have already loaded up the Suchomimus fossils for a long flight to the United States and AAI, where Dr. Steve and his assistants will see if there is any viable DNA in these and the other new fossils collected over the summer.

“Nothing's been confirmed yet,” Dr. Samuel said, “but I've got a feeling many of the fossils we've found won't only allow us to bring back some of these amazing beasts from extinction, but will also allow us to see what these amazing reptiles were like in a land before any of us were ever born! I can't wait to see what we come up with!”

Written by: Mr. Smiley
Photographer: Daniel P. Smithwater
Edited by: Christian Ryan

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We here at Smiley’s News, I have been working night and day to get articles ready. I could really use some help! So we are looking for people interested in writing (especially kids and teens). If you are interested, PLEASE(!) send an email to animaladventures@aol.com and save me from working night and day! I’m exhausted!


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Next Issue: Rerun Article: World's First Modern Shoe Discovered!