Random Brain Dump

I was saddened when I heard that Alex died on TV. You see Alex is an amazing Congo African Grey parrot; he is a world-famous bird and he ain’t no birdbrain (or may be he is)…

I first saw Alex in a documentary and I was in awe by his abilities. Alex was a research subject of Professor Pepperberg at Brandeis University in Massachusetts since the ’70’s. Parrots in general have good vocal mimicry, but African greys are the best talkers of all parrots. Alex, no exception, was a very good talker with very clear vocalization. But he does more than mindless vocal mimicry ala "Polly wants a cracker"– he actually communicates with words like no other animals I’ve ever seen. He was living proof that language isn’t only limited to humans.

Using a technique called model/rival developed by Deitmar Todt, a German expert in animal behavior, Pepperberg taught Alex amazing abilities. Alex can identify different objects, grasped the concept of same & different. He can distinguish objects by colors, sizes and shapes. As I recall from the documentary, Pepperberg would hold 2 keys of different sizes and asks him "what’s different?" Alex replied "sizes." He did the same with blocks with different colors and shapes!

Recently, Alex learned to count. Presented a tray of 18 different items, Alex’d mentally separate and count items based on colors! He even understood the concept of zero. When asked how many items of a particular color that isn’t on the tray, he replied "none."

Learning about Alex inspired me to get my own bird Bongo many years go. Bongo was smart and very vocal but we had to give him away when we have our girls…

Goodbye Alex…

Two weeks ago, Katelyn takes her first step in her education: she began her first day of kindergarten at Eaton Elementary. The first day of school is monumental in any child’s life. I was excited for her…

I took the morning off work and got her prepared for the first day of school. She was very excited. I figured taking the kids to the school playground often this summer helped with getting Katelyn familiar with the place. Still, I sensed a bit of nervousness in Katelyn when she began lining up for her class. She probably realized that the school is much bigger than her preschool, with lots more kids. But she was happily lined up with the other kids, smiled and blew kisses to her father when her teacher Ms Celini lead the kids into the classroom.

I was happy and very proud of Katelyn that day. I hope she does well, makes friends, and have a fun-loaded 1st year!

…I snapped a few shots for keepsake.

A conversation at breakfast yesterday morning:

Rex: “Allison, please finish your breakfast!”
Allison: “But I’m full.”
R: “But you eat so little, how will be grow big and strong?”
A: “… Daddy, when I’m 54 I’ll be a giant!”

I busted out laughing. Her choice of number and the similar context reminded me of the Beatles’ song “When I’m Sixty-Four”:

Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I’m 64?

I am highly anticipating the coming PBS documentary called “The War.” It’s a documentary film about World War II by Ken Burns. I have a fascination with that era and the generation that lived (or died) through the war.

I like documentary films in general, but I particular dig Burns’ works– he’s masterful at driving home the big stories by diving down to detailed personal affairs and relationships that most other film makers and historians neglect.

His films usually carry an air of authenticity and intimacy through personal interviews and his innovative use of old black and white prints and photos (the so called Ken Burns Effect). His work doesn’t rely on actors like a lot of modern documentaries to tell a story. I really hate that; nothing kill genuineness more than the use live actors in documentaries in my opinion. This is probably why I think stuffs on History channel are mostly crap!

Too bad this series will not be narrated by David McCullough who did the narration in many of Burns’ films. 🙁

This past weekend, we head up to the Sierra for a short camping trip. Camping with the 2 Brads is interesting.

One Brad of course gets all the attention from the women, as evidenced by the photo below with both Suzanne & Sandra looking at him longingly. He’s a diva who’s simply just suck at camping, can’t even toast a marshmallow or make a cup of tea for himself. This center-of-the-universe figure spends the entire weekend whining about Angelina this and Angelina that… Unbearable!

The other less-famous Brad on the other hand is a skillful outdoorsman — be it tending the fire, fishing trouts, singing camp songs, coming up with kiddie games or making Minnie Mouse pancakes. Can’t speak for the women but I’d rather camp with Brad J. over Angelina’s boy anytime!

We’ve all seen it before– dirty cars with dust-covered windows. Sooner or later somebody would surrender to the temptation and would write “Wash Me!” on the windows. This somehow gives a lot folks a sense of cleverness.

Blah… how about being really clever next time? Dust painting anyone?

For a blogger, I actually don’t read many blogs. Most of the ones I frequent are friends’ to keep up with what they are up to…

One of the few blogs I do follow though is The Dilbert Blog. Scott Adams is one funny man. While most of his writing is laced with his unique humor, it’s not always about silliness. Some of his posts are very thought-provoking and usually with very unique & interesting perspective.

Check it out if you haven’t, it’s one of the most entertaining blogs in cyberspace!

Technorati : dilbert blog

Katelyn: “Knock, Knock”
Rex: “Who’s there?”
K: “Nobody!”
R: “Nobody who?”
K: silence…
R: “Nobody who?”
K: silence again…
R: gets it finally & laughs hysterically

Allison was listening and now she wants to participates…

Allison: “Knock, Knock”
Suzanne: “Who’s there?”
A: “Penguin!”
S: “Penguin who?”
A: silence…
S: “Penguin who?”
A: silence again…
S: didn’t get it but had to pretend the joke makes sense and belt out a hearty laugh…

Wow… this couple had their 17th child (and wanting more). Equally amazing, all children’s names start with letter J!

Evidence that they’re running out of names: one of the children is named “Jinger.” 🙂