Paleotool's Weblog

I feel we are in a constant struggle with BAD journalism... from the local paper to Smithsonian Magazine to the History Channel, we constantly fight to print real information.  Catch phrases, bad researchers, political lobbyists and other liars confuse the public and create a strange mythology about our past.  A small handful of "regulars" haunt the media with agendas having little or nothing to do with science. 

Recent travels allowed for a quick visit to the Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits.  Now in their one hundredth year of excavation, the site has yielded over 600 species to date with a NISP of over 3.5 million (not counting over 200 bacteria).  It's a remarkable place and I feel privileged to to have been given an excellent tour by Dr John Harris and Curator Gary Takeuchi. 

As this question has come up about half a dozen times in the past few weeks, maybe I need to address it, if not for the inquisitors, at least for myself.

When people ask "Why did you become and archaeologist?"  is it wrong to say "It's better than a real* job"?  For some people that makes total sense, for others, they think "WHA...!?