Ross’ Neighborhood

I'm a complete scaredity-cat when it comes to horror books and movies.  I wasn't born that way; I was made to be that way.  and I know who to blame:  Stephen King.  directly to blame in the case of horror literature (a story for another day) and indirectly in the case of horror movies. 

In the case of movies, while not a bigbig fan of horror movies, I went to my fair share of them - The Amityville Horror, The Omen, others.  and then I watched The Shining.  and that was the end of all that.  I can't even watch horror movie trailers.  even right now, as I was searching for clips in YT I could barely watch each for a few seconds. they kinda look legit, but don't blame me if you get rickrolled in the middle of watching a clip.  blame Stephen King  and Stanley Kubrick, who I just noticed, have the same initials.  conspiracy anyone? 
there are still very contentious arguments as to whether Kubrick messed up/was faithful to/improved upon King's novel.  I have no opinion as I havent' read the novel. or plan to, but here be teh movie wiki.

but why am I writing about a movie I can't bear to watch even a few minutes of? well, because of that same fact. I have  to respect a movie that affected me so profoundly. and I wasn't the only one. The Shining has endured, and is shown in a form of hommage emblematic of this XXI century:   parodies,mashups, recuts.  there are a cubic assload of selfsame all over teh internets; won't take you long to find them.

begin the clippage:

trailer

This is a direct copy of an article by Paul Raffaele for Smithsonian magazine, written in 2006.

To better understand bonobo intelligence, I traveled to Des Moines, Iowa, to meet Kanzi, a 26-year-old male bonobo reputedly able to converse with humans. When Kanzi was an infant, American psychologist Sue Savage-Rumbaugh tried to teach his mother, Matata, to communicate using a keyboard labeled with geometric symbols. Matata never really got the hang of it, but Kanzi—who usually played in the background, seemingly oblivious, during his mother’s teaching sessions—picked up the language.

Savage-Rumbaugh and her colleagues kept adding symbols to Kanzi’s keyboard and laminated sheets of paper. First Kanzi used 6 symbols, then 18, finally 348. The symbols refer to familiar objects (yogurt, key, tummy, bowl), favored activities (chase, tickle), and even some concepts considered fairly abstract (now, bad).

Kanzi learned to combine these symbols in regular ways, or in what linguists call"proto-grammar."Once, Savage-Rumbaugh says, on an outing in a forest by the Georgia State University laboratory where he was raised, Kanzi touched the symbols for"marshmallow"and"fire."Given matches and marshmallows, Kanzi snapped twigs for a fire, lit them with the matches and toasted the marshmallows on a stick.

Savage-Rumbaugh claims that in addition to the symbols Kanzi uses, he knows the meaning of up to 3,000 spoken English words. She tests his comprehension in part by having someone in another room pronounce words that Kanzi hears through a set of headphones. Kanzi then points to the appropriate symbol on his keyboard. But Savage-Rumbaugh says Kanzi also understands words that aren’t a part of his keyboard vocabulary; she says he can respond appropriately to commands such as"put the soap in the water"or"carry the TV outdoors."

About a year ago, Kanzi and his sister, mother, nephew and four other bonobos moved into a $10 million, 18-room house and laboratory complex at the Great Ape Trust, North America’s largest great ape sanctuary, five miles from downtown Des Moines. The bonobo compound boasts a 13,000-square-foot lab, drinking fountains, outdoor playgrounds, rooms linked by hydraulic doors that the animals operate themselves by pushing buttons, and a kitchen where they can use a microwave oven and get snacks from a vending machine (pressing the symbols for desired foods).

Kanzi and the other bonobos spend evenings sprawled on the floor, snacking on M & M’s, blueberries, onions and celery, as they watch DVDs they select by pressing buttons on a computer screen. Their favorites star apes and other creatures friendly with humans such as Quest for Fire, Every Which Way But Loose, Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan and Babe.

Through a glass panel, Savage-Rumbaugh asks Kanzi if it’s OK for me to enter his enclosure."The bonobos control who comes into their quarters,"she explains. Kanzi, still the alpha male of this group in his middle age, has the mien of an aging patriarch—he’s balding and paunchy with serious, deep-set eyes. Squealing apparent agreement, he pushes a button, and I walk inside. A wire barrier still separates us."Kanzi can cause you serious damage if he wants,"Savage-Rumbaugh adds.

Kanzi shows me his electronic lexigram touch pad, which is connected to a computer that displays—while a male voice speaks—the words he selects. But Kanzi’s finger slips off the keys."We're trying to solve this problem,"says Savage-Rumbaugh.

She and her colleagues have been testing the bonobos’ ability to express their thoughts vocally, rather than by pushing buttons. In one experiment she described to me, she placed Kanzi and Panbanisha, his sister, in separate rooms where they could hear but not see each other. Through lexigrams, Savage-Rumbaugh explained to Kanzi that he would be given yogurt. He was then asked to communicate this information to Panbanisha."Kanzi vocalized, then Panbanisha vocalized in return and selected ‘yogurt’ on the keyboard in front of her,"Savage-Rumbaugh tells me.

With these and other ape-language experiments, says Savage-Rumbaugh,"the mythology of human uniqueness is coming under challenge. If apes can learn language, which we once thought unique to humans, then it suggests that ability is not innate in just us."

But many linguists argue that these bonobos are simply very skilled at getting what they want, and that their abilities do not constitute language."I do not believe that there has ever been an example anywhere of a nonhuman expressing an opinion, or asking a question. Not ever,"says Geoffrey Pullum, a linguist at the University of California at Santa Cruz."It would be wonderful if animals could say things about the world, as opposed to just signaling a direct emotional state or need. But they just don’t.”

Whatever the dimension of Kanzi’s abilities, he and I did manage to communicate. I’d told Savage-Rumbaugh about some of my adventures, and she invited me to perform a Maori war dance. I beat my chest, slapped my thighs and hollered. The bonobos sat quiet and motionless for a few seconds, then all but Kanzi snapped into a frenzy, the noise deafening as they screamed, bared their teeth and pounded on the walls and floor of their enclosure. Still calm, Kanzi waved an arm at Savage-Rumbaugh, as if asking her to come closer, then let loose with a stream of squeaks and squeals."Kanzi says he knows you're not threatening them," Savage-Rumbaugh said to me," and he'd like you to do it again just for him, in a room out back, so the others won't get upset.”

I’m skeptical, but I follow the researcher through the complex, out of Kanzi's sight. I find him, all alone, standing behind protective bars. Seeing me, he slapped his chest and thighs, mimicking my war dance, as if inviting me to perform an encore. I obliged, of course, and Kanzi joined in with gusto.

Here's a video of Kanzi at the Great Ape Trust, in Iowa, where he lives.

Tomorrow, critics of Kanzi's "learning".

No, not Ron.

Did you miss me yesterday? Psh, now, don't tell fibs to spare my feelings.  Thanks for stopping by. :-)

The good Reverend MiamiShyner is not in attendance today but she wishes you all a ROCO Friday nonetheless.

As we all may know, the countdown now stands at 20 days until I try to run this 5K.  I have faith that I can do it.  I'm training and I can do the distance.  I'm just hoping that it's not excessively hot/cold/windy that morning. 

Even though formerly Hurricane Ida, currently TD Ida and probably Hurricane Ida again in a few days is a ways away from us, we're still feeling some of her effects, namely wind.  Due to the wind, I was surprised to have come in at under 28 minutes this morning.  Not super quick by any means, but way better than I ever imagined I would be when I started the program 8 weeks ago.

You should stop reading here if you do not want to read my sappy relationship stuff.

Who has so many countdowns going on at once?  No one in their right mind which means me.  :-D 

• Turkey Trot in 20 days
• Vacation in 48 days
• Graduation in 92 days
• And the latest addition to the list, 218 days until the wedding

As some of you may have known, Lovey and I had plans to make it official in the early summer of next year.  I was super excited and ran through several location options before deciding on Vegas.  Then I changed my mind.  I'm a chick, I'm allowed.

Vegas seemed cool but it was also a little bit of a hassle.  I'm not all for the details, I just want the end event to be nice (and I don't want to hire a wedding planner).  Vegas fell by the wayside.  I found a place closer to home.  Literally 5 minutes away from our house.  It was beautiful.  It was perfect.  It was.....$20K!  WTF man.  For one day!  I am not ballin' like that.

At that time, I basically scrapped all wedding plans.  I am just stubborn like that.  I want it all or I don't want anything.  I'm pretty sure that my mom was bummed about it but I was done.  I figured that the money I was saving for a wedding could be used for several other things.  I was a little sad but I've really never been the one for tradition.

Fast forward to yesterday.  Whilst perusing the internet, I came across something that just blew my mind.  I could have a ceremony that was far from traditional in a place that was far from home for a price that was far under the place that I had been so excited about.  SCORE!

So now, it's back on.  Mom's excited.  Lovey's excited.  Kiddo's excited (this will be her first time out of the country). I'm excited.  I get to have a beautiful beach ceremony in the country I love most right under our own.  Seriously, I love it so much that I feel like it's like going home.  I get to spend 9 days being treated like a princess and I can't wait.

Now, to search for that perfect dres....remember, buck tradition!

Have a great weekend, folks!  There's football to be watched.  Let's go STEELERS!

Google themselves don't seem to have posted them yet, but for those of you who haven't noticed, this week has had various Sesame Street characters incorporated into the Google logo to celebrate the Street's 40th anniversary. You can see them here.

Don't worry, this doesn't replace another fascinating NaBloPoMoBoNoBos post. Stay tuned.

Xkcd is usually pretty good -- but this is genius.

Happy Friday!

Saturday night I experienced the awesomeness that is Zombieland. This
movie was hilarious. The guest cameo was perfect for the movie. The
main character was channeling Michael Sera, and doing a good job of it.
It makes me wonder if they actually wanted him for the role but he
turned it down. Woody Harrelson pulled off the role perfectly. Great
movie. Not for young audiences due to sci-fi/horror violence and
language.

Before Zombieland we were graced with the preview for 2012. At ten
seconds into the preview I broke out into uncontrollable laughter. A
few seconds later someone else shouted out "oh, come on!" The preview
is completely silly and does nothing to make me want to see the movie.
It actually had the opposite effect. Who approved this preview? Who
approved the scenes from the preview in the movie? This one is going to
bomb badly in the theatres.

Last week, one of my students was telling me she felt so frustrated that she spoke English so well back when she was in college, and that she couldn't believe she had just forgotten most of it by now. 

"And it's not like it's been forever, this was just twenty years ago!" 

She covered her mouth, almost shocked, and then laughed all embarrassed, saying she couldn't believe she hadn't realized it had been twenty years, and that apparently it had been forever. 

Then today my teenager class and I were discussing technology in every day life.  At some point, the fact that I grew up in a world without cable, where some TV stations were only on the air for a few hours a day, came up.  The kids were shocked.  

Just now I found myself thinking about it, and how they must have thought I was as old as the dinosaurs based on everything I told them today.  

"But it's not like it's been forever, this was just twenty years ag--" 

I was so shocked I could have covered my mouth.   And it is embarrassing when you think about it, and twenty years really sounds like forever.

one of my favorites:  a movie written and directed by Orson Welles, who also played the main character...(no, is not this movie, smartypants. you didn't even read the title.  be quiet)

but unlike that other movie, which all of y'all who taken Film 101 will remember 'was written/directed/acted produced by Orson Welles' it also was the only one in Welles's brilliant, contentious, and much-studied career where he was able to maintain control, i.e. deciding what was to be 'the final cut'.   in no other movie he directed did Welles have that control.

yaddayaddayadda.  why all this?  because Touch of Evil, the movie I'm talking about, was originally released after being edited and cut by the studio.  Welles's hated it.  years after his death, with much fanfare, Touch of Evil was released in 1998 touted as being 'Welles's Original Vision". 
this release was possible because all the footage Welles's had shot still existed, alongside his extensive notes. here be teh wiki for much more detail and linkage if interested

this 1998 release is the only one I've seen. on DVD. not on the theater, though I hold out hope to do so someday.
I cannot bloviate on 1958 vs 1998, studio vs. Welles etc.  but I suspect the studio must have been embarrassed about overriding Welles's vision, because I can't find a clip from the 1958 release.  not even the trailer.

ok, time for the clip show.  trailer for the 1998 release:

the opening scene, famous for cinematic reasons.  guess why if you like

my favorite exchange between Welles's character, Quinlan, and Marlena Dietrich's, Tanya. can't find a clip, so read on:

Tanya: We're closed.
Quinlan: You've been cookin' at this hour?
Tanya: Just cleanin' up.
Quinlan: Have you forgotten your old friend, hmm?
Tanya: I told you we were closed.
Quinlan: I'm Hank Quinlan.
Tanya: I didn't recognize you. You should lay off those candy bars.
Quinlan: It's either the candy or the hooch. I must say, I wish it was your chili I was gettin' fat on. Anyway, you're sure lookin' good.
Tanya: You're a mess, honey.

you the reader have to imagine the voice tones, looks, camera back-and-forths, etc. that make the above exchange bitter/eerie/wistful and able to give you Quinlan' and Tanya's story in those few lines. is one of those scenes used in classrooms to demonstrate why film is an art form, not just moving pictures.

a later scene with the same characters: