Blog-Maniacs,
How are you doing today? Is Summer as humid there as it is in the Chicagoland area?
It is Thursday AM, we will be heading to breakfast with Jamie’s grandparents very soon, until then, I will blog on.
Yesterday, we explored parts of downtown Chicago that I am obliviously unfamiliar with. However, my companions Jamie, Sara, and Dylan were quite informed and were able to tell me that the new sushi restaurant in Lakeview is excellent and the empty lot next to the El was formerly an Army Navy Surplus Store when Jamie lived in the neighborhood.(For those of you that have read “The Time Travelers Wife” –this is where Henry and Gomez break in and steal clothes in one of Henry’s time traveling adventures) They even had an old theater called The Vic where they host ‘Brew and Views’ and you guessed it, beers in the movie theater!!!
Here is the entrance to the Lincoln Park Zoo with Jamie and Sara striking a pose. 
We saw lots of primates in the new Gorilla House and the old Monkey House… lots of odd looking creatures with strange butts. We even had the pleasure of hearing a little boy and girl tell their mom simultaneously that a gorilla was peeing… sure enough we looked and saw him doing his business from atop a tree. Nature… Good times!
----We interrupt our normal blog with a request… At this point in time I would like to invite anyone to share a good or even mediocre primate story or joke, please don’t be shy. Someone (who will remain nameless) asked us to get more into this blog, I humbly request help from our audience to share their best primate story or other comment at any time. Thanks- blog staff
After the zoo we went back to the casa of Sara and Dylan and relaxed as Dylan showed us his slideshow from a Spring Break trip to Moab, UT. FYI- it snows in March in Moab. He got me (and Jamie) extremely excited for the stop we will be making in ten days. If you remember; Erik, Kevin and I stopped by Arches on our trip in 02. On this trip we will not be hiking out to the canyon we saw, but instead seeing Delicate Arch and other sites in Arches National Park while traveling to the northern section of Canyonlands National Park afterward. Stay tuned for the exciting adventures to come in Moab, but for now, on with the night.
We had an idea on how to spend the evening that seemed okay at the time, it was to picnic in Millennium Park and enjoy the free concert that is on every Wednesday night. I was amazed by what we experienced. For you that have never seen Millennium park, check out this website, it has some terrific architecture from Frank Gehry and Anish Kapoor's Cloud gate AKA ‘the Bean’ is sweet. (Check it out at http://www.millenniumpark.org/ ) But I digress, when we arrived to the concert area, it was jump‘n. We got a spot on the lawn, spread out our blanket, got out our grub and drinks and enjoyed. The acoustics were phenomenal and the atmosphere was perfect. The lawn was scattered with smelly cheese and lots of wine, some people came prepared with small tables, wine baskets, and candles!
We had an idea on how to spend the evening that seemed okay at the time, it was to picnic in 
6 comments:
It took me awhile, but then I remembered that Marty and I have a great primate tale!
We love going to Chicagoland's other zoo - Brookfield - in the Christmas season. They do a great job decorating and it's fun to see the animals that are normally sleeping on a 90 degree summer day - ha!
A couple of years ago we went with Marty's brother and nephew. After walking around awhile we got cold and ducked into the Primate House. We ended up watching a mother gorilla that was carrying her new infant. She was sitting with her "girlfriends" - probably complaining about not having enough time to finish her Christmas shopping.
Every once in awhile a "toddler" gorilla would run up and try to poke or hit the infant. The mother put up with it for awhile, but then stood up and grabbed the toddler into a 'bear hug' with the infant in between - forcing the toddler to hold the infant. The toddler struggled at first but the mother was patient, and eventually he relaxed and started to enjoy it. I swear you saw the relationship between the three of them change before your very eyes. The entire crowd was in awe, and we'll never forget it.
-Nese and Marty
Wow, do I have some monkey stories. Most of them involve a certain lovable chimp named Archie, but since he's stuffed, we'll exclude his antics for the moment.
But I have a real monkey story..... But as a disclaimer, this is not for the weak-stomached and I will use the word poop freely. Anyone offended by that should not read on....
So on our honeymoon, Mike and I visited the San Diego Zoo. Fabulous place full of classy animals. Except one gorilla in particular. He was right up against the plexiglass, facing sideways, and quite a crowd was gathered, old and young. He decided he had to use the bathroom, and seeing as they don't have port-a-potties in the gorilla exhibit, he just did his business right there. But that's not all! He decided he wanted to poop right into his hand. So yes, folks, he reached back and caught his own poop. But wait, it gets better!!! He filled up his hand and brought it around to his face. He gave it a good look and a good sniff, I guess making sure he was a healthy gorilla. For about 10 seconds he inspected his handiwork, and then, seemingly satisfied, he threw the whole handful over a little cliff (which he was near the edge of).
No surprise, everyone was extremely amused by this, esepcially the 20 or so kids around. We all shared a good laugh. There's nothing like a poop-inspecting gorilla to bring people together... It was definitely a moment that will remain engrained in my mind forever.
And to top it all off, that gorilla didn't even wash his hands after this!!!
I hope you enjoyed my tasteless monkey story, but remember, you asked for it! :)
Thank you so much for your primate stories.. just by seeing monkeys for a few minutes I knew that crazier antics must have happened while others were at the zoo. Your stories made us smile :) have any more, please share with the group even it it involves poop!
-Jeff
Never forget the wise words of the "Madacascar" monkies . . . "if you have any poo, fling it now".
- Nese
I tried to put an image of a chimp using a computer, and I had a not-so-humorous tagline to go with it.... alas, blogger does not allow [img] tags.
I assure you, however, a chimp using a computer is quite a sight to see. Even though he is not flinging poo.
-Greg
Eureka! I actually do have something interesting to share.
Chimp Playing Ms.Pac-Man
It's in another language, so it's educational.
-Greg
Post a Comment