A Memorial Day to Remember

Methuselah (left), Otis Ostrich (background, right) and I (front, right) are at the grand opening at the new museum exhibit! It was a great turnout!

When Memorial Day comes around, obviously it's time to remember something special. And that some special is all the many souls who lost their lives to make our country the way it is now, e.g. the Civil War. Many died to keep our country free. We often take this for granted nowadays. At the Riverville Museum of Natural History, right here in Riverville, New York, they plan to do something that will help even more people remember what those many soldiers who died in the line of duty died for. This Memorial Day, the museum is opened a new exhibit: “Remembering Memorial Day.” Of course, the museum already had an exhibit on things relating to wars and Memorial Day, but that exhibit hadn't been fully updated since 1961 (with the exception of rewording some things and adding new pictures and videos). I'd agree that it's time for an update! For more details on the exhibit, my trusty junior photographer, Daniel P. Smithwater and I went to the museum's co-curator, Otis Ostrich, who also turns out to be the President of the Town Board. Somehow, he manages to fit being the President of the Town Board and being the co-curator of the museum into his schedule. “This exhibit opened on Memorial Day at 9:00 a.m.,” says Otis. “I'm glad it was a big turnout. What this exhibit features is a lot of cool things to learn about the wars that America has had something to do with in the past, mainly the Revolutionary, Civil and World Wars. We also have cool videos that people can view to learn more about these remarkable times.” Otis also told me that the exhibit is also going to have famous historians give presentations on these extensive subjects. When I asked what historians Otis was planning to visit the museum, he said, “We'll have many of the famous guys, such as Dr. William Channing, Dr. Phil Scott, and Dr. Francis “Frank” McDowell among others. Due to have sections dealing with other important people to remember that died trying to make our country better. “As always, people coming to the museum who live in the area can get in free, and people who don't live near here can just give a small donation,” Otis told me. “We don't like to charge too much for coming in because if people are focused on paying money, they are losing some of the fun they could be having learning about history, wildlife and nature, the solar system, dinosaurs, Biblical times and in this case, people who died while attempting to make our country a better place!” After our interview with Otis Ostrich, we went to a few other “locals” to get their opinion on the new exhibit. First, we asked Dr. Dodo Bird, a psychologist who lives at the nearby Animal Adventures Inc. (AAI.) “I think it's an awesome idea,” says Dr. Dodo. “It's about time the museum updates its exhibit on American history. I mean, history is often portrayed as boring and with a 'been-there-done-that' attitude. It doesn't have to be this way. History should be portrayed as something fun, new and exciting, it should be as exciting for us as it was for people living at the time the history happened. I hope the new exhibit captures that excitement properly. Knowing Otis Ostrich is heading the project, I'm sure it will!” Next we asked the ever-popular Sarah Bus Stop Guy. She is quoted for saying, “It's exciting . . . because it hasn't been updated since . . . 1961, right? There are a lot more veterans now than there were then. So it's a good thing.” (For once, Sarah wasn't sarcastic during the interview) Our last interview was with Methuselah, a bull African Elephant living at AAI. “Ah, the museum,” he says. “Yes, it's about time they update that Memorable exhibit. I mean, the way it was before they started updating it was cool. But 1961 was ages ago! So much has happened since then. So many other veterans have died for their cause since that date. They could even add some people who didn't exactly 'fight' in a physical war, per se, but a 'mental war' nonetheless. Take Martin Luther King Jr. Now he was a cool guy. He didn't fight in a physical war, but if he didn't do what he did, the poorly mistreated African-Americans might still be mistreated like they were back then or they might be just getting out of the mistreatment. I'm glad that segregation mess is over with. I mean, not only is it not fair, but it's also cruel and heartless. I could go on with this topic, but I'll save this for Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday day!” As we already mentioned, the grand opening was a great success, with over 5,000 people in attendance. But the museum could always use more guests who are ready to learn, so be sure to come and visit the “Remembering Memorial Day” exhibit so you – and all of us actually – can learn new and amazing things about America's exciting history!

Written by: Mr. Smiley

Photographer: Daniel P. Smithwater

Edited by: Christian Ryan

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Introducing Lizzy, the New Assistant at Smiley's News!

Hello everyone! It's me, Mr. Smiley! We have a new writer here at Smiley's News. Here name is Lizzy the Lizard and though she may be cold-blooded, she's quite quick on her feet, curious and talkative (she moves so fast you can hardly tell she's cold-blooded!). Anyway, don't let me steal the show, here's what Lizzy has to say about herself:

Hi my name is Lizzy, Lizzy the lizard. I am the newest member...or helper on at Smiley's News. I'm always curious and sometimes find myself getting in trouble (good thing my tail is a distraction for predators!). I like to discover new and interesting things to see and eat!

Lizzy's first article is the post just below the post you are reading right now. So let's read!

Love for the Birds

Mr. Lark Bunting (top) and Mr. Bowerbird (bottom) have two very different ways to attract mates!

Have you ever heard of a male bird dressing up before going to mate with another female? I had the opportunity to meet this bird and it's called a Lark Bunting, it's the bird in a tuxedo. Now usually before mating season, these male birds have on light brown feathers. As mating season arrives, the birds sort of shed their feathers revealing black and white ones underneath. However the female lark bunting can be a bit particular about the fashion of tuxedos, each male is wearing.

        I went up and talked to one of the males as he was about to change into another "tuxedo."

       "Excuse me Mr. Lark Bunting," I said, "why are you going to change your 'tuxedo' after all it is very nice."

        "Yeah, it is," he admitted, "but its not what the female birds are looking for."

        "What do you mean?" I asked.

        "You see each year, the female birds have a different fashion taste," Mr. Lark Bunting explained, "kind of like humans, especially the girls. They always go out to the store to by the 'in' styles. Perhaps in public school, most of the students hang out with the the most stylish kids. Well last year, the female birds liked a certain look, and now this year they want something different."

        After Mr. Lark Bunting finished "dressing", he flew over to a nest and started to sing a song that included lots of whistles. I watched as a female bird flew over and went to inspect him. Then she flew away, Mr. Lark Bunting came back defeated. 

        "Oh well," he said sadly, "guess I'll have to wait next year. It's hard to find a mate. With all these different costume changes, it's all so confusing! I just can't win!"

           As I walked away, I found another bird, waiting for the approval of a female bird, these birds were bowerbirds.

         "Hello Mr. Bowerbird," I said, "what are you waiting for?"

         The black bird looked at me and then back at the female bird who was inspecting a nest.

Bowerbird's go to great lengths to make beautiful bowers for their mates.

         "I'm waiting to see if she likes my nest," he replied.

         "What for?" I asked, curious.

         "We, male bowerbirds, build bower-like nests when mating season comes. A female comes and inspects the nest and if she likes it, then she will be my mate. However, the female often goes and visits other nests but if she likes this one then she will keep returning to it until she makes her final decision." He explained.

          The female bowerbird flew over to us. 

      "I really like the colors you choose for the nest" she complimented, "I might come back."

      After she flew off, Mr. Bowerbird sang happily. 

     "We'll I've got to get going," I said, "it's getting dark. I hope she becomes your mate!"

     "Good bye!" Mr. Bowerbird replied as he flew away, "it was nice talking to you."

     I walked down the rode and back home. I grabbed my blue notebook and wrote down all the things I learned that day. I couldn't wait for the next day! Birds are extremely amazing if you just stop and watch them (they're not "bird brains", if you get my pun). As I was going to bed, I heard a soft caaw-caaw-caaw.

Written by: Lizzy Lizard

Photographer: Daniel P. Smithwater

Edited by: Christian Ryan, Joy Hammond and Mr. Smiley

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Sarassic Park Stomps into Theaters in 3D!

The theatrical poster for "Sarassic Park". It will be showing in theaters starting this Friday (May 17, 2013)!

People shuddered by the thousands when dinosaurs made their way onto the movie screen in Jurassic Park when it was released in 1993. That was 20 years ago. You could practically call Jurassic Park the first movie ever to have real dinosaurs on screen, rather than those fake-looking stop-motion ones that killed everything that moved. Ever since Jurassic Park came out, people have wanted their dinosaur movies to be more realistic than ever before. Now a new dinosaur movie is coming into theaters this Friday (May 17, 2013). Enter: Sarassic Park! It may sound a little bit like “Sarcastic Park”, but it's nothing of the sort. When I heard about this movie, my trusty, junior photographer, Daniel P. Smithwater and I went to talk with the people who made this film, such as the director, Stephen Iceberg (is there any coincidence it rhymes with the famous movie-director Steven Spielberg?). When I asked him what the basic plot of this film was and if it was different than Jurassic Park, he is quoted for saying, “Contrary to what everyone's thinking about this movie, despite it's title, the plot has nothing to do with Jurassic Park. It's a totally new movie featuring new species of dinosaurs that tend to look remarkably like everyone's favorite actor, Sarah Bus Stop Guy! So the plot is about this girl named Sarah Bus-Stop-Guy who creates this theme park called Sarassic Park. Now at this park, they have cloned some species of dinosaurs that have never been seen before, such as the dangerous and very intelligent Sarahlosiraptor, the venom-spitting Sarahlophosaurus, the ever-popular Trisarahtops, and of course the mighty Tysarahsaurus rex, just to name a few.” For more details on the plot, I asked the one of the film's producers, Katelene Cassidy (which seems to rhyme with Jurassic Park's producer's name, Kathelene Kennedy). “This film is about paleontologists Dr. Alphonso Grant (played by Sir Lamb Deal, which rhymes with Jurassic Park star, Sam Neil) and Dr. Lizzy Sattenberger (played by Dora Churn, which appears to rhyme with Jurassic Park star, Laura Dern), a math teacher named Dylan Malcolm (played by Jeff Moldblum, which seems very familiar to Jurassic Park star Jeff Goldblum) and of course, the park's creator, Sarah Bus-Stop-Guy (the movie-makers couldn't get Sarah herself to play the part, so they enlisted Sarah Sillyheart to play the part) as they try to create a theme park full of dinosaurs. They don't do this on an island like what happens in Jurassic Park, but instead they build it in Florida. But things go terribly wrong and the dinosaurs escape (sound familiar?). Now the dinosaurs are running amok in Florida.” I tried to ask Katelene for more details, but she said that we'd have to wait for the movie to come out to find out more. If you ask me though, despite what the movie-makers say, this sounds a great deal like Jurassic Park. Next, my photographer and I went to interview Sarah Bus Stop Guy herself (as you'll recall, “Bus Stop Guy” is a three-part last name) to see what her opinion on the movie was. When asked if she was excited about the movie, she said, “NO! I don't like that movie!” When asked why she didn't like it, she responded, “Because it's involving me in a bad way . . . it's making me popular, of course, but in a bad way . . . wait! Are you going to put what I'm saying in the newspaper? That's does it! I'm not answering any more of your questions!” She then got up from her chair, went into her house and slammed the door shut behind her. Interesting way for a preteen to act when getting interviewed I must say! I know from personal experience that Sarah can be very, very juvenile a large percent of the time. But anyway, I'm getting off topic here! Sarassic Park is coming into theaters May 17, 2013. I'm not so sure that this movie is going to be awarded “Best Picture of the Year” considering its MANY similarities to Jurassic Park, but hey, it will be funny to see Sarah Bus Stop Guy, everyone's favorite, very juvenile, sarcastic TV star play it out on the big screen with everyone's favorite prehistoric reptiles (even if Sarah herself isn't going to be in the movie!).

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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Baby Mummysaurus!

Samuel and Indiana Adamson with the baby Spinosaurus mummy (it has been digitally restored so that it looks like it did before it was wrapped)

When we hear the word “mummy”, you most likely think of a dead body wrapped up in cloth, stuffed into a sarcophagus hidden in a tomb in a huge pyramid. But what about baby dinosaurs? That’s exactly what two paleontologists, Dr. Samuel Adamson PhD. and his wife Dr. Indiana Adamson PhD. found on their expedition to Egypt. This find seemed very amazing so my junior photographer, Daniel P. Smithwater and I headed over to Animal Adventures Institute to find out more about the discovery. What’s Animal Adventures Institute? Well, Animal Adventures Institute is the part of Animal Adventures Inc. that does the “scientific stuff.” Animal Adventures Inc. is also the company that Dr. Samuel Adamson and his wife work for. So anyway, back to the story. We went to the institute to interview Dr. Samuel and Indiana about this incredible find. “We were actually looking for bones of great sauropod [long necked] dinosaurs that used to roam the landscape,” says Indiana. “But one of our tour guides suggested we take a break from fossil hunting and explore the tourist sites in Egypt, one of which was the Great Pyramid. So we took a break, and we were glad we did!” While touring the pyramid, Dr. Samuel looked down an alleyway and realized a weird-shaped pair of sarcophagi (the plural for sarcophagus) sitting in a corner. Samuel and Indiana got permission to open the sarcophaguses and found the mummified bodies of two baby dinosaurs called Spinosaurus Aeygipticus (Spine-oh-soar-us Ee-gip-tee-cus). Now these sarcophaguses were undiscovered until recently because of where they were in the tunnels. Scientists had just assumed they were funny shaped rocks and left them alone. “This is not just a remarkable find because they’re dinosaurs, but this also is just more evidence that dinosaurs lived with man, not so long ago. Before this, we didn't however, have evidence that dinosaurs lived with the Egyptians. But now we know they did!” says Dr. Samuel. You see, secular scientists believe that dinosaurs went extinct millions of years before humans existed, but this is firm proof that Creationist scientists were right all along – dinosaurs coexisted with people. Due to recent evidence, it appears that Spinosaurus was the god of the crocodiles in Egyptian mythology (of course, we know that there is only one true God, but these misinformed people didn’t know that). So when a Spinosaurus died, they treated it with respect. “This is also an amazing find because this is the first time a Spinosaurus has been found as a complete skeleton,” says Samuel. And he is correct. Other than these mummified babies, Spinosaurus was only known from a handful of fossil fragments. And most of those few fragments were tragically destroyed during World War II. And these are also the first baby Spinosaurus ever discovered. After this find, you would think most scientists would become Creationists. But it appears these evolutionists are missing the point more than I thought, as an interview with Dr. Pride B. Forefall PhD. tells us. When I asked him what he thought about this discovery he said, “I don’t see what all the fuss is about. So what they supposedly discovered evidence for man coexisting with dinosaurs? These baby Spinosaurus were probably uncovered by the Egyptians and the Egyptians thought they were crocodiles to they mummified them.” Really, how realistic does that sound? Really? So maybe the evolutionists aren’t convinced, but we Christians can be sure of one thing: God made dinosaurs and people to live at the same time. What will Dr. Indiana and Dr. Samuel dig up next? We don’t know, but it could be something truly remarkable.

Written by: Mr. Smiley

Photographed by: Daniel P. Smithwater

Edited by: Christian Ryan

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Next Issue: Sarassic Park Stomps Into Theaters in 3D!