Pinata

     I recently made a pinata for a party.  The way this came about is I was observing someone else making a pinata, and I wished to have this experience.  Not like on a genie lamp or a wishing well, but a niggling desire.  When an annual event approached which regularly features a pinata, I requested permission to make it, and was granted the go-ahead.  The host requested a submarine for these reasons:

                                      https://www.wnycstudios.org/story/confirm-nor-deny

     It so happens there were journalists present who had a vested interest in the topic.

     For four days, I gathered material and set about its construction.  I delighted in the idea of making something knowing its demise was implicit within its creation.  There was the  engineering challenge of controlling when and where it should fail as opposed to where we did not want it to fail, which is the where it hangs from the string.   I watched a Youtube in which a teenage girl capably made an ice cream cone pinata, and applied her techniques.  As it turns out, a submarine is more involved than an ice cream cone and arguably, has deeper implications.  I have never worked in paper mache before, and became enamored of the possiblity.  It's cheap, flexible, non-toxic, and a lot tougher than I had expected.  I layered the newspaper in a criss-crossing fashion that toughened it further, and as this skin became more substantial, I removed little by little, the cardboard armature which was adding unwanted weight, and taking up room that could be used for stuffings. I made the outer layer with less glue and more dry newspaper in hopes of creating air bubbles which would soften the blows, and lengthen its lifespan.  I painted in with glow in the dark paint, to commemorate the interesting connection between its name, "Glomar" (Global Marine), and its connection to Russian weapons technology, which this 80's child connects with glowing radioactivity.  I fervently hoped the pricey glow in the dark paint would be effective.

 

 
      When the event came round, I was delighted to present Glomar to the guests.   A few hours after sundown, the host and her retinue lead the small throng of  guests to the ceremonial pinata tree with a boom box which loudly played Eye of the Tiger by Survivor, which was a clever and effective  touch.    A fellow stepped up and capably threw the string over a tree branch, and Glomar was raised up.   I loved the sound of the hollow thunk produced by the walloping attacks made with a mop handle, which broke early on.  Well before Glomar heaved forth its contents, it came crashing to the ground, but I was relieved to see that it fell because the string broke, and not because of it ripping out completely.  Someone fetched stronger rope, and Glomar hung again, and made it through another 10 or so beatings, before its contents spilled out.  Some of us hunted the ground for treasures, and then we burned up Glomar with tiki torches.

  

     Among the contents were condoms, shooters, trophies, masks, dog toys, and hilariously, a bathing suit.  I am looking forward to working in paper mache again soon, in a less destructive application.  

   

Animal Consciousness

   

Snake Bat  2019

       It was beastly hot last night, but I was happy to bike over Redhook to see a talk at  Pioneer Works.   While waiting for the talk to begin,  I enjoyed looking over the impressive space.  The building  was built in 1835 and rebuilt in 1881 after a fire, and was in heavy use as a machine factory until after WWII.   A formidable gantry crane spanned the ceiling, and appeared to have the lighting fixture, the size of two grand pianos rigged to it with diry old tattered straps, which gave the event an air of suspense.  The talk, which took place on a stage set up in the rear behind an acre of folding chairs was attended by a phalanx of sexy nerds, many of whom seemed to be on dates.  I bought a $10 bowl boiled garden vegetables that was so good, I almost abandoned my seat to go shake down the over-healthy-looking youths who sold it to me for the recipe. 

     The talk explored the question of animal consciousness.  The presenters, Diana Reiss, a professor of psychology at Hunter College and in the graduate program of animal behavior and comparative psychology at the City University of New York .....whose research has focused on cognition and communication of dolphins and other cetaceans.  She is known to be one of the world's leading authorities on dolphin intelligence.  (Woosh)  She and her associates on stage addressed the sticky issue of defining consciousness as a word humans devised to describe what makes them other than animals.  Therefore, it is tough to define it.

     Frans B.M. de Waal  is a professor of primate behavior at Emory University, joined Reiss on stage.  They presented on some key studies:  The cooperation study, the fairness study, the self-identification (recognition of one's self in a mirror), and male vs. female dominance.  These studies are based on performance standards reflective of human capability.  They explained that humans use standards of human intelligence to judge that of animals, and fail to observe the unhuman forms of intelligence that animals possess.  An octopus was sited as an example with its nine brains, and layers of specialized neurons enabling mimicry.  This is not emotional intelligence, which would be the rub.

    Dr. Waal explained that the study of animal behavior has given way to animal cognition, particularly in the areas of higher functioning animals such as dolphins and monkeys.  He went on to say that the word "instinct" is barely ever used anymore by animal biologists. 

    Check out the link for the fairness study conducted with Capuchin monkeys. The crowd laughing undermines the gravity of the issue.  (face creased in laughter emoticon)

   
   Also:

Scientists are still discovering new creatures.  Are these evolved creatures or just really good at hiding?

Cat Fox

The following is the first I have heard of a this hybrid....

Raccoon Dog