Monkey Business

+ Old Pride Stream on Punk News

Pianos got posted on the front page of punk news today.  Half of the comments are people hating on our name which is something we always hear.  I like that someone made a Degeneration X joke, though I don’t really know where it came from.  Maybe it’s because we look like bad ass wrestlers in the photo?

+ Ballin’ Chimps

I was listening to an episode of This American Life earlier today that featured a segment on a Chimpanzee Retirement center.  Apparently in the mid-90′s, during the race to cure AIDS, hundreds of chimpanzees were captured and brought to American research labs because it was suspected that, since human and chimp DNA is nearly identical, they might offer some good clues on how to cure the disease.  Well, researchers soon discovered that the chimps weren’t of much use to them since they are unable to contract the human strain of the HIV virus.

This presented labs across the United States with an odd ethical dilemma.  Should we euthanize our closest animal ancestors – these ‘near human’ chimps?

The Clinton administration had a soft spot for these monkeys (0r a conscience) so in the final days of his presidency Bill Clinton passed a bill to build a federally-funded Chimp retirement center in Shreveport, Louisiana, commonly known as Chimp Haven.

That little history lesson was just a precursor to two bits of information that I find really interesting about all of this:

1)  Chimps love to watch television.  Since most of these chimps came from government research labs they were exposed to doctors in white lab coast quite often.  Subsequently their favorite show to watch on television is ER.

2)  Cheetah the Chimp, most commonly known for his role in Tarzan, is the most ballin’ chimp to ever live.  While you sit in your cramped 1 bedroom apartment staring at your laptop try to imagine this chimp lounging on his plush floral sofa, drinking bananna smoothies and watching Most Valuable (and/or Vertical) Primate on repeat.

Cheetah is a recovering alcoholic:

In his younger days, Cheeta liked a beer. But, unlike others stars, there have been no sex scandals or stints in rehab.  “Cheeta hasn’t had a drink in 16 years,” said Dan. “And there have been no scandals. He likes to eat but I have to watch his diet as he’s diabetic.”  The chimp has his own state-of-the-art music system, TV and video. He also likes to play piano.  And like other big-screen stars of yesteryear, he likes to watch his glory days over and over again.

Dan revealed: “He enjoys watching his old films with his grandson Jeeter. We sit and watch TV together, but I have to keep an eye on him or he raids the fridge.”

(via The Sun)