Thursday, June 7, 2007


The Great Ape Trust in Iowa is a research facility where scientists are teaching all four great ape species (gorilla, chimpanzee, bonobo and orangutan) to communicate via lexigrams (symbols, not unlike Asian language characters, that respresent an object or concept). They are also teaching them to comprehend human speech. The most amazing part - when researchers were trying to teach an adult female bonobo, who just wasn't getting it. One day she was gone, and her young son, Kanzi (who wasn't being taught at all), suddenly started using the lexigrams to communicate with the researchers. In other words, he learned passively, by being exposed to the language, just like human babies. Apparently this happened over a decade ago and Kanzi is an adult and understands hundreds of human speech words and can use the lexigrams to create new word combinations - like 'candy' and 'coffee' to represent a carmel macchiato from starbucks.

Here's my idea: teach the apes to play the wii. You could do this at the LA zoo, then set up an exhibit and allow the general public to play wii tennis vs the apes. If this wouldn't get picked up by every local newscast and result in an exponential attendance increase, then I'm a moron.

Here is a new song. Well, not really, it's actually really old, I just found it yesterday. It's a demo, I had forgotten that it existed, but I kind of like it. Don't expect it on the album or anything.

I'm still done with the EP, but the owner of the netlabel has been traveling and isn't able to release it yet. Frustrating. Maybe I'll release it myself first...

want you to know

1 comment:

  1. You're doing the same thing Misty does when she's had a few. :)

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