Tuesday, September 28, 2010

A Rose by any other name is an asshole

I just finished reading a book about Guns N' Roses in which it was revealed that the lyrics for "Sweet Child O' Mine" were originally a poem written by Axl Rose. The book also revealed that Axl Rose is one of the biggest assholes ever in the history of popular music. But no matter. I'm excited about the poem part because I can link to John Moe's "Notes on 'Sweet Child O' Mine,' as Delivered to Axl Rose by His Editor" on McSweeney's Internet Tendency. You're welcome (to the jungle). Get it?

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Don't be a jackass

Lane Smith, my favorite childrens book illustrator, has a new book out. It's a Book is about a curious jackass friend who can't wrap his tech-geek brain around this strange thing in his monkey friend's hands. Moral of the story: read to your kid or he'll end up a jackass.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

The unspeakable acts of Chimp and Frog

So apparently there exists a video on YouTube of a chimp and a frog engaged in unspeakable acts. You can Google it if you want. I'll pass. The artwork said video has inspired is enough for me.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Poetry and monkey convergence: Harry Harlow edition

I just finished Wire Mothers: Harry Harlow and the Science of Love, a comic book about that scientist who did the wire mother experiments on monkeys. The book is okay, though if you're already familar with the experiments and their results there's not much new here. Harlow's experiments helped put "love" into science, though ultimately were bad for the monkeys he used. Still, his results were in stark contrast to the prevailing belief at the time that children who were given too much affection would be messed up and that mothers who kissed their babies on the lips were perverts.

Harlow also wrote poems, some of which appear in his 1958 paper "The Nature of Love." Like this one:
The Elephant
Though mother may be short on arms,
Her skin is full of warmth and charms.
And mother's touch on baby's skin
Endears the heart that beats within.

For an interesting account of Harlow and his research, go here.

Friday, September 10, 2010

I'd like to buy a vow

"You'd like personal, unique words to say but you are pressed for time and unsure of your skill with language."

Hey pig, there's a monkey on your back


I do not pretend to understand this video. I do know that the monkey gets awfully pissed when he's knocked off the pig's back. And that those fences are a tight squeeze.

Via Videogum.

Friday, September 3, 2010

Monkey immorality

Evolutionary biologist Marc Hauser busted for monkeying around with research.

Wild crochet kingdom. And by "wild" I mean insane

Patricia Waller is officially my favorite crochet artist ever. Granted, I don't know any others to compare her to, but there is really no need. She has a couple of monkey sculptures, and they're cute, but they're nothing compared to Miss Piggy in a meat grinder or intricately detailed prosthetic limbs or her conjoined twin bears.




http://www.regretsy.com/2010/09/01/here-comes-the-snide-2/