EXTINCT LIZARD NAMED FOR JIM MORRISON

Did they have to clear this with Jim's estate?

Or did they have to assure drummer boy Dinsdale Densmore that nobody was going to make a profit off this, and that no Museum of Natural History would charge extra to show the lizard fossil to the public??

Dinsdale, the Door of Perspiration, does work up a sweat in his role as Last Door-man. The other guy, old lead guitarist Robby Creaker, who actually co-wrote some music, doesn't seem to have any ax to grind, literally, at this stage in his life.

But let's not talk about life, let's talk about DEATH. What could be a better tribute to a totally extinct hood-eyed cold-blooded snakeskin like Jim Morrison, than to have his name associated with an irrelevant lizard?

Why would some nerdy scientist name a dead lizard for Jim Morrison? Well we call Morrison "Liz" because he was the "Lizard King." Probably because instead of being in rock, he belonged on a rock. Pretentious fans of dinky psychedelia could be "insiders" by saying things like, "I got a bootleg of the Lizard King..." instead of "I wasted money on a baby-lipped brain-addled drunk who thought he was a poet but could only front a band with three guys that couldn't have made the grade in The Monkees."

For the record, "Lizard King" worked with "Gizzard King" (the drummer Dinsdale who had a lot of guts thinking he mattered musically), "The Wizard King" (keyboardist Ray, who managed to make what sounded like a plastic toy beginner's organ sound interesting, on one song), and "The Blizzard King," (the lead guitarist who was so cool that you barely knew he was playing. Especially since Jim and Ray were the only ones doing anything that could keep the downers in the audience awake).

So far, Dinsdale Densmore has not vetoed the naming of the extinct lizard for his extinct meal ticket, Liz. However, rumor has it that he's demanding that naturalists re-name some extinct animal in his honor.

I nominate the Dodo.

"DODO DENSMORE."