DIY project: remodel your basement…
March 22, 2012
Mike gets a shot of a sauropod sacrum in the AMNH basement.
…with sauropod bones!
Lots of basements have them. Some basements have had them for decades, and other basements have been newly constructed to house them. So you can take advantage of that retro chic while taking your basement into the 21st century!
What the heck am I talking about?
Matt ponders the mysteries of evolution in the AMNH basement.
One of the nifty features of WordPress is that you can track the search terms that people are using to find your blog. After Mike put up his “Suboptimal location of Mamenchisaurus” post, we noticed that one of the top search terms bringing people to SV-POW! was ‘basement’. Yeah, that’s right, ‘basement’. In fact, ‘basement’ is the 5th highest search term of all time that has brought people to SV-POW! And that’s not unusual–in fact, of the top 5 search terms bringing people here, only one is sauropod-related (Brachiosaurus, at number 2).
As of this posting, here are the Top 10 non-sauropod search terms of all time that have led people to SV-POW!, listed by rank, and including the number of hits in parentheses:
1. rabbit (18,235)
3. leopard seal (12,797) — this explains why “Sorting out Cetiosaurus nomenclature”, which even Mike admits is the most boring topic we’ve ever covered here, is the 11th most popular post of all time on this blog!
4. flamingo (10,974)
5. basement (9743)
12. twinkie (3434)
14. flamingos (3102) — double dipping for the “Necks lie” post!
20. pig skull (2099)
21. savannah monitor (2078)
22. varanus exanthematicus (1936) — double dipping for “Four complete, articulated, extant sauropod skeletons–yes, really!”
24. shish kebab (1660) — double dipping for “Sauropods were corn-on-the-cob, not shish kebabs”.
Mike and Darren discover a new dwarf sauropod in the basement at Oxford.
We’re apparently getting a lot of hits from people who want to remodel their basements. I’m all for that (the remodeling, and the extra hits), so I’m embracing it. You want basements, we got ’em. We’ll drown you in pictures of sauropod vertebrae in basements. Did I say basement? Basement, basement, basement!
(Why am I pushing basement and not rabbit, flamingo, or leopard seal? Partly because basement used to be our number 1 search term and I want to see its fortunes rise again. Partly because those other things are at least biological, and it cracks me up to have a common architectural term bringing people to the blog. And partly because I want to upstage John and his freezers.)
Basement Renovation Instructions
This short guide will help you with your project.
Is your basement in a museum?
If YES, then:
1. Fill it with sauropod vertebrae.
2. Call us.
If NO, then:
1. Fill it with anything you like except sauropod vertebrae.
2. Support your local museum.
Don’t forget: basement!
Sauropod Vertebra Picture of the Week 
March 22, 2012 at 1:53 am
My basement is not in a museum, but I still think sauropod vertebrae would make a nice addition. Just sayin’.
March 22, 2012 at 2:54 am
I like the support your local museum clause at the bottom. That should be a whole blog topic!
That is really funny. I had one for a while on the puppet’s blog of people looking for “cloaked cars” because the puppet made a star trek reference in a post about a road trip… The net really does connects us. Just in the most odd ways possible!
March 23, 2012 at 12:18 pm
Mission accomplished. :-)
March 25, 2012 at 10:52 pm
@TGIQ the real bones belong in a museum so scientists can study them, but there are several companies that can provide casts (their prices tend to be rather steep though).
June 24, 2012 at 9:03 am
[…] am I telling you this? Because last week Mike and I were toiling in the big bone room in the basement of the AMNH when we came across AMNH […]
March 7, 2014 at 8:58 am
[…] while back, Matt mentioned some of the surprising search-terms that lead people to SV-POW!. For reasons that will shortly become clear, I was checking out what’s being searched for […]