Greetings! Savant's new reviews today are
Warner
and
Chuck Berry Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll
Image
Savant is back from his Odyssey across about half the country, which I have to say is looking better than ever - and those 75mph speed limits help to keep the scenery moving. This is me communing with the spirit of Mose Harper on the Arizona / Utah border. Back here in Savant reality, I have to catch up with my reviews, which means redoubling efforts in the next week ... I just got in Criterion's Eric Rohmer boxed set and it looks like it will be the revelation of the summer.
To augment the paltry pair of reviews for today, I'm passing along some great little links from readers and correspondents. These serious web steers from David Rutsala and Steven Averett are follow-ups to Savant's Koko, a talking gorilla review:
Glenn --- The Maui Gorilla preserve still hasn't happened, but Dr. Patterson is still raising money for it. Here are a couple of links that might answer your other questions:
This is a live chat Koko and Patterson did on AOL in 1998.
Once again, it's hard to determine how much is trainer directed, and how much actually comes from Koko. The answers which seem to suggest an understanding of past and future events are most interesting.
Apes clearly have advanced forms of consciousness. They can recognize themselves in a mirror. No other animal can do that. There have been some recent experiments with Dolphins which suggest they may have this trait, but the findings are still debated. And even humans cannot do it until they're about three.
But whether apes have any true sense of language remains unclear. The anecdotal evidence is certainly suggestive, but it isn't conclusive. And experts in linguistics tend to dismiss it totally. -- David Rutsala
And
Hi Glenn, Enjoyed your review of this title. For a more recent documentary about Koko, you should check out this, shown as part of the PBS series Nature a few years ago. It will fill you in on what has happened with Koko (and Michael) in the 20+ years since A Talking Gorilla. More info here:
-- Steven Averett
With the academic content out of the way, here comes the fun. From "Dave" ... a subject close to my heart:
Hey Glenn, I know how much you just love the anti-piracy PSA, so I thought you'd really enjoy this:
Keep up the great work! Dave
Correspondent Glen Grant offers this link to an oddball page that makes a case for NASA (or pre-NASA) leaking secret knowledge of extraterrestrials ... through TV sci-fi entertainment and Disney docus?:
I had to skim this because it's long and the font color makes it hard to read, but really, it's at least worth a glance. They do find this stuff everywhere.
What Did They Know, and When Did They Know It?
Who knew? Apparently, Tom Corbett did. Glen Grant
And finally, from the dependable Gary Teetzel comes this bracing production for fans of march music -- and Akira Ifukube:
Thanks! Glenn Erickson
Posted by DVD Savant at August 03, 2006 11:22 AM
