Man cannot live by geology alone. Occasionally he gets thirsty. And today's beverage of choice is Dr Pepper.
I've always admired Dr Pepper because it was the only soda to completely finish its postgraduate work. Also it's tasty. For all those reasons and more we featured the Dr Pepper Museum in Waco, TX on a past episode of North Texas Explorer.
Now crack open an ice cold bottle of video goodness.
What do we want? Comments! When do we want them? Now!
We reached into the vaults and dug up another "geo-TV" nugget from our "North Texas Explorer" days.
Join a young, hatless, Performance Fleece-wearing Devin Dennie as he takes a quick look at the Woodbine Sandstone formation from the Grapevine episode:
We want comments and we want them now!!!
And now the long awaited "Oklahoma Rocks!" Video Journal #3.
While shooting the Arbuckles Region we stopped by Arbuckle Wilderness animal park to shoot their rocks. While we were there we walked with the animals, talked with the animals, squeaked & squawked with the animals...etc.
Hope you enjoy. We demand comments!!!
I think it was the great Professor Henry Jones Jr. who once pontificated upon the importance of the distinction between "truth" and "facts." The latest shoot for "Oklahoma Rocks!" became an exercise in a "Fox Mulder-esque" search for the truth, while trying to not let the facts slow us down.
So this time it was the southeast region of Oklahoma that begged us to shoot it. And how could we say no?
The first thing that got my attention in pre-production was the abundance of Bigfoot sightings in the area. Bigfoot? The Bigfoot? I had to search for this particular truth first. Unfortunately, help was not to be found:
I was tempted (like, I assume, so many before me) to dress Devin up in an ape costume and get some out-of-focus shots of him walking through the woods. The only thing that stopped me was that I knew if he asked me why we'd do something so stupid and pointless, I wouldn't have a good answer for him.
So the truth about Bigfoot will have to wait.
Heavener Runestone State Park has its own mystery: a large stone with odd inscriptions. Some claim that they were done by Vikings (yeah, Vikings in Oklahoma) while others claim that that probably isn't true.
Fact=There is a big rock with weird writing on it
Truth=????
You be the judge:
Controversy abounds at our next stop. Cavanal Hill in Poteau, OK is billed as "The Worlds Highest Hill." Although some claim that it is just a really small mountain.
So...hill or mountain? And what exactly does the "88" on that rock mean? Or is it a sideways double infinity symbol? Or a part of some bizarre Bigfoot mating ritual? Questions remain unanswered and the truth remains elusive.
There are many truths that we cling to. For the people of Durant, OK, the pride of having the World's Largest Peanut gives them a cloak of truth in which to warm themselves.
At first I was a little disappointed when our shooting schedule didn't allow us to stop and shoot it. But then those pesky facts got in the way and I learned how flexible the truth really is. Just ask the people of Ashburn, GA. Now I don't feel so bad.
Oh yeah, also, Devin lost his hat. So, the truth is out there...and so is a missing brown fedora.
More pics from our shoots can be found on our website: http://www.okgeology.com
We're back from our latest shoot for "Oklahoma Rocks!" This time we hit the Tulsa/Northeast Oklahoma area. Our first stop was going to be the "Big Blue Whale" along Route 66 in Catoosa.
Long story short: even though it is a giant blue whale on the side of the road we couldn't find it. So instead of wasting all day looking for it we headed to our next stop: the Picher Mining Museum in Picher, OK.
Long story short: we couldn't find it....or could we? We actually found it twice...or at least it felt like we did. The first place we stopped seemed to be closed. We sat and pondered about whether the owner was actually still alive and the importance of pre-production. But we didn't want to waste any more time so drove around getting chat pile footage.
After a short while and several tasteless "chat" puns later, we stumbled across the real Picher Mining Museum.
Long story short: it was also closed. A disappointed Devin is pictured below.
So then we finally went to a place that:
A. we could find
and
B. was open
The Joplin Museum Complex has some great mineral specimens, historic mining memorabilia and antique mining equipment. They also had a museum mascot: "Percy the Cat." So we tried to get him to do something interesting on camera.
Long story short: he didn't.
Anyhoo, the next day we hit the Grand Lake 'O' the Cherokees, Sequoyah State Park, the Illinois River and other various photogenic places in the area.
But much like Captain Ahab our whale obsession overtook us and we had to head back to Route 66.
Long story short: we found it. Yea!
More pics from our shoot can be seen on the "Oklahoma Rocks!" website: http://www.okgeology.com
http://www.amfed.org/news/n2006_10.pdf
We are mentioned on page 6.
"RockHounds: The Movie" has won the "Excellence in Education Award" from the American Federation of Mineralogical Societies. 
The film will now be available (as soon as I send the copies out) in all of the AFMS Regional Libraries. News like that has just gotta make you take a celebratory visit to the "RockHounds: The Movie" website. (Man, that was a subtle pug.)
And now I'll leave you with this bit of geologic comedy:
