Rep. Tuffy Hamilton in dinosaur duds Credit: Photo by Richard Whittaker

Spending 140 days in a state House with only 149 state reps and their staffs for company can do strange things to a lawmaker. So it looked like there was a mass outbreak of chamber fever when there was a sighting of Tuffysaurus rex and Homeradon on the House floor. Actually it was Reps. Mike “Tuffy” Hamilton, R-Maurice­ville, and Mark Homer, D-Paris, dressed in dinosaur costumes in honor of House Concurrent Resolution 16, which names Paluxysaurus jonesi as the official Lone Star State dinosaur. (It had been Brachiosaur Sauropod, Pleurocoelus, but it turns out that the fossil in question had been misidentifed. Easy mistake to make.)

This article appears in May 8 • 2009.

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The Chronicle's first Culture Desk editor, Richard has reported on Austin's growing film production and appreciation scene for over a decade. A graduate of the universities of York, Stirling, and UT-Austin, a Rotten Tomatoes certified critic, and eight-time Best of Austin winner, he's currently at work on two books and a play.