Yes, we are aware that the banner is not in fact a dinosaur. Rather, it’s Albrecht Dürer’s 1515 woodcut of a rhinoceros:
Dürer’s rhino is arguably the best-known piece of animal art in the Western canon, and was considered a reliable representation of the thing as late as the mid-18th century.
Obviously, the rhinoceros has nothing whatsoever to do with dinosaurs. However, it makes an important appearance in Monty Python’s Fliegender Zirkus, an awesome 1971-1972 production that is occasionally replayed late at night on Public Television. So please, support your local Public Television affiliate.
The proprietors of this blog are not responsible for any damages caused by the odd dinosaur. We can, however, somewhat rationalize the presence of the rhinoceros. See, the image of the rhino obviously bears only limited resemblance to the real thing. However, it was copied many times for general consumption and became far and away the most common image of a rhinoceros in the Western world. The kicker is, Dürer never actually saw a rhinoceros in his life. We believe this is somehow an important metaphor for the current condition of the American mass media. And the fact that our readers may be confused about the relationship between the aesthetically similar rhinoceros and dinosaurs only deepens the symbolism.
Just wanted to let y’all know that I think your blog is both A) really good and B) pretty fucking hilarious. Keep up the great work (I added you to my blog roll)!
As a loyal reader and long-time participant in real-life rants with Mischa, I adore this blog.
Also, somewhere, you should use the phrase “put THAT in your tag cloud and smoke it!” which a) is hilarious, and b) makes no sense whatsoever. I think I read it on Ezra Klein’s blog.
shorter mischa:
this is not a dinosaur.
random facts about this rhino painting.
and yet, this is not a dinosaur.
random facts about rhino painting’s social importance.
still not a dinosaur.
thank you and goodnight.