For All of You Who Think Dogs Are Stupid

You should watch this video. It features Dr. Pilley and his dog, Chaser, whom he taught over 1,000 nouns, as well as the names of different verbs.


Impossible, you say? Well, Dr. Pilley bought Chaser when she was a puppy and "started to train her for four to five hours a day. He would show her an object, say its name up to 40 times, then hide it and ask her to find it, while repeating the name all the time. She was taught one or two new names a day, with monthly revisions and reinforcement for any names she had forgotten." In order to remember all the names Chaser had to learn, Pilley wrote the name on each toy with indelible marker. In three years, Chaser’s vocabulary included 800 cloth animals, 116 balls, 26 Frisbees and a medley of plastic items.

One of the questions that Pilley also wanted to tackle was whether a dog understands a verb, like fetch, separately from its objects. In other words: Did she think of her toys as items labeled fetch-ball, fetch-Frisbee, fetch-doll, or did she understand the word “fetch” separately? Pilley found the answer by teaching Chaser 3 different actions: pawing, nosing and taking an object. She was then presented with three of her toys and correctly pawed, nosed or fetched each one depending on the command given to her. “That experiment demonstrates conclusively that Chaser understood that the verb had a meaning,” Pilley said.

Some might argue that Chaser is merely looking at Pilley for the cue to the right answer (like the famous horse 'Clever Hans'). If you watch the video, however, Pilley is hidden behind a screen so as to not give any non-verbal cues to Chaser.

So take that, all you haters! Our dogs would understand more of what we were talking about, if we just took the time to try and communicate with them.



Quotes from the New York Times article, Sit. Stay. Parse. Good Girl!, on page D1 of the New York edition on January 18, 2011.
Both images by Cass Sapir/Nova Science Now.

Sightseeing for the First Time in Brussels

My first sight of the Grand Place. That's the back of Maureen and Natalie's heads.
Brussels, I've arrived!

Well, I arrived on the 14th, but that's quibbling over insignificant details...

As planned, I visited the Brussels Church of Christ/Eglise du Christ de Bruxelles. They were renting a meeting hall that was quite nice. It's not obvious at all on the outside that a church was meeting inside, but they have a mobile sign just inside the door identifying themselves. As I expected, they gave a warm welcome. Interestingly, unlike in the States, the welcoming greeting consists of the double cheek kiss instead of the side hug. Its membership is around 35, largely married couples. In fact, there are only 2 single people: Maureen and Natalie. Maureen is originally from Peru, so his native language is Spanish. Natalie speaks mainly French. Communicating was very simple because of the language barrier.

The service was conducted in French. I was very encouraged because I understood most of what they were saying :) Pretty good for someone who hasn't spoken French in almost 10 years and hasn't studied since high school.

After church, Natalie took Maureen and me to the Grand Place, one of the touristy destinations in Brussels. It's easy to understand why. It's really a sight to see; its buildings are a mesh of Gothic, Baroque and Louis XIV styles, with gold inlay on many of the buildings. The Town Hall of Brussels is here. I don't think my words will do the place justice, so here's some images:

   

Project 365 - Week 41

Week 41.


Monday. Watching BGS Championship with my brother. I got to watch a lot of bowl games with my brother. Maybe I should say had to, since there was only one TV and it was that or do nothing.

None of the teams I've routed for during any of the bowl games I've watched have won. And Oregon almost won. Auburn did play a good game. We got so excited, though, when they scored late in the 4th quarter to tie up the game (including a 2-point conversion). We screamed and whooped. And we thought for sure they were going pull it out. But then Auburn scored.

It was so frustrating. They kept running the ball instead of passing. And getting shut down. Their passing game was on. We couldn't understand why they kept going with what wasn't working instead of what was.

But, like I said, Auburn played a good game, so it wasn't so terrible. But I would have liked at least *one* team I rooted for to win.


Tuesday. Taking pictures around the house. I really hate not having a car. I never realized how much I really like having that freedom. And I look forward to being in a place that has a metro and where walking places is the norm.

And I got good news today. My passport is on its way back to me and I shall be departing for Belgium on Friday. Yay! A week later, but finally I will get there. Right in time for my internship. And worshiping with the church on Sunday :) I really hope that my jet lag isn't completely terrible. I don't think it will be, considering I'm used to taking naps at what is 9-10 pm Belgium time. But, we'll see. And I'm used to doing an all-nighter, too, better than some kids half my age...

The picture above is of a sculpture that my dad made when he was a pilot in the Navy. The dog used to have a snout and the bulb on top used to blink. I've always liked it.


Wednesday. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! The snow storm that hit Columbia yesterday came here to Maine :) We got over 9 inches of snow, which of course makes me happy. It also means that we're not going anywhere (we were going to go to Paciarino but they weren't serving dinner because of the weather). Lots of places were closed because of the weather. And there was a parking ban in effect from 10 pm to 5 am for the streets of Portland. Which makes so much sense. Clear the streets so they can plow. And guess what? The very next day the streets were clear! *Amazing.*

This is one of my mother's tchotchke.


Thursday. Ate lunch at Paciarino, which was a better experience than last time, but later that day I was burping all over the place. Uncomfortable!

After eating, while Alex decided to wait in the car, because "it's cold out here," I wandered around downtown Portland and took pictures. As I was taking one of my first pictures, the woman walking behind me said, "Oh, I'm sorry, did I get in your picture?" She'd been on the phone and hadn't realized I was taking a picture. I assured her that she hadn't, as I took photographs for a living. We started walking in the same direction and talking and it turns out she works for Maine Magazine. We exchanged information and I'm going to send her a link to my website. When I actually finish my website. (Go, God, go!) And somewhere in our conversation, I was able to find out where a camera store was so that I could buy a filter for my new lens. Cost me more than I wanted to pay, but it's better than breaking the lens.


I thought about using this picture, but chose the other one because it illustrates just how much snow they've had in Maine.


Friday. I leave for Brussels. Yay! Finally. I had a layover in Washington DC and then on to my 7 hour flight.

This is a picture of some of what I did on my 7 hour plane ride across the Atlantic. The outside air temperature was around -62*F.

'The Social Network' wasn't bad; I just don't get why people raved about it. Granted, Jesse Eisenberg did a great job of portraying Zuckerberg, I thought it was a pretty average movie. I don't think that it deserved a review of "impeccably scripted, beautifully directed, and filled with fine performances, The Social Network is a riveting, ambitious example of modern filmmaking at its finest." It may be because I really didn't like the 'protagonist,' Mark Zuckerberg. He was a jerk in how he treated people through out the entire movie. No loyalty, completely self-involved. Unlike Sheldon Cooper on The Big Bang Theory, it wasn't endearing because he didn't value any relationships. At no time did he talk to people like he considered their feelings. At least Sheldon sometimes worries about other people's feelings.

The sad thing is, typically people aren't going look at the film and think that it is inaccurate in its portrayal of people like Zuckerberg. Quotes of Zuckerberg portray him as someone very interested in connecting with people (and connecting people), something the movie does not portray at all. The movie's character is more concerned with taking advantage of other people's need for connection, not making the world a more connected and open place.


Saturday. My first day in a foreign land. Brian (right) is the other master's student that is part of MU's exchange program here in Brussels. He met the taxi when I got to the apartment and helped with my bag (thank you, Brian!). For dinner, we checked out Da Vincenzo Restaurant and ended up eating with an older couple, Henri and Rachel. It was a really nice way to start out my time in Brussels :)


Sunday. Sightseeing in Bruxelles.

My first Sunday, I visited the Brussels Church of Christ/Eglise du Christ de Bruxelles. As I expected, I received a warm welcome. Interestingly, unlike in the States, the welcoming greeting consists of the double cheek kiss instead of the side hug. The church's membership is around 35, largely married couples. In fact, there are only 2 single members: Maureen and Natalie. Maureen is originally from Peru, so his native language is Spanish. Natalie speaks mainly French. Communicating among the three of us was very simple because of the language barrier.

Natalie took us to see the Grand Place, which was originally established around the 11th century. It's really a sight to see; the buildings are a mesh of Gothic, Baroque and Louis XIV styles, with gold inlay on many of the buildings. This statue, a memorial of Everard 't Serclaes, who rescued the city from a Flemish invasion in the 14th century. Tourists (like those in my picture) will rub the parts of the statue that are shiny for luck.

Click here to see more from the trip to Grand Place.

I Am Not on "the Twitter" but I Do Love Betty White

Unlike many of the people that I interact with everyday on campus, I do not Twitter. I find it, as well as constant updating of one's Facebook page, annoying. Why should I be sharing or interested in the minutia of people's lives? Who cares what you are about to eat - unless it's something really amazing? And why are you wasting your time on this when there are other more important things that you could be doing (like blogging)? (That last bit (about blogging) was tongue in cheek. Although this seems more like a diary (especially since I seem to be the only one who ever reads it).

I don't understand why the Millenials have embraced it, but my theory is that it gives them the illusion of connectedness and deep relationships without actually having them. 'I have 5000 friends on Facebook' means I am loved and valued. People follow me on Twitter means that I am interesting. And none of this means that either of these statements is true. Or that you actually have to interact with anyone. Someone offends you, just un-friend them, don't deal with the conflict.

Maybe I'm cynical. I just think about how all this new-fangled technology leads us to 'connect' with people, but never actually connect with them. Case in point: this is what my brother does with his winter vacation.


It's "Call of Duty: Black Ops."

He's got several people that he plays with online that he's never met and probably never will, but they're the people he actively tries to play with. I'm not objecting to his playing the game, because he doesn't neglect other things to do it and only plays it for about 2 hours at a time. I'm merely saying that he's developed this friendship with someone he's likely never to meet and he likes that disconnectedness.

Project 365 - Week 40

Week 40. Hello, Maine!!! I do love you so.


Monday. I don't know why I really like this picture, but I do. It's my mom pumping gas (if you couldn't tell).


Tuesday. A picture of a very old cash register at the needlepoint shop that my mom goes to. This day, we also went out to the mall and mom bought me a few jackets to wear while over there, since that appears to be a European thing to do. Finding jackets is a bit challenging, since the current trend is cut off close to the waist, rather than the traditional length of around your hip.


Wednesday. Today, the family sat down and watched "2012" together. My brother, Alex, had never seen it. My parents kept laughing at all the catastrophe scenes, which I found really amusing, too. If you can't tell, this is the scene where Yellowstone's caldera is about to blow and the weird, pickle-eating, conspiracy nut, Woody Harrelson, is relishing being there as the world is about to end.

So I Love Sports, Just Not Photographing Them

I'm not sure why I don't enjoy photographing sports. Maybe it's because I haven't practiced enough. Maybe it's because I don't have the right equipment (I need a better camera - as far as shot rate - and better lenses - like ones that can have an aperture of 1.4 or 2.8 and can zoom 200-300mm.). It could be that I don't really have any desire to shoot sports - which isn't a bad thing since there are plenty of people who love covering sports. And maybe it's because it just doesn't seem - with the exception of pictures like the one above (Kerri Strug) - stories of something meaningful beyond 'being a winner.'

Why did I think about this? I came across this article on Summer Olympics Top 10 Most Winning Moments.

Of the 10, the only one I don't remember is the one that happened in 1972: Mark Spitz winning 7 gold medals. Of the list of 10, the one I don't think should be included is the basketball "Dream Team" in 1992, the year they changed the rules so that professionals could participate in the Olympics and players like Charles Barkley, Larry Bird, Patrick Ewing, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Karl Malone, and Scottie Pippen were on it. How is that fair? It might have been before Jordan or Bird turned pro, but after? I don't care if other countries pay amateur athletes' expenses like rent and food, etc., it still doesn't seem right. And it cheapens those events for me, too (which is why I wasn't impressed). How is it any different than watching a pro game? (It's not.) Wow, they get to play on a different team for a little while... And it cheapens the achievements of all those US Olympians who *were* true amateurs and still won medals.

Like these guys.

Project 365 - Week 39

Week 39. Finished with Mary Street and off to Maine.


Monday. My niece, Allison, with Cullen. She has decided that he is her favorite. She also wanted to take him home with her, but that wouldn't be the best idea. I'm very grateful that Daniel and Kathryn offered to take him. I think it will be good for him, hanging out with Reece and Jace. Plus, being around Daniel I think will help him get over his slight nervousness around men.

I have to say, God worked it out really well as far as where my dogs are staying while I'm gone. Cullen's with the Smiths, where he will get to play with Georgie and the boys. Dudley's staying with Tammy in KC, where he gets to hang out with Jackson and a little girl (Elise) who loves to cuddle (and maybe he'll help Jackson to be less afraid of people). And Riley is staying with my dad and stepmom, where he gets to hang out with several dogs. My dad told me that he jumps up and sits with him often when he's watching TV. Thank you, God, for taking care of my boys. And thank you, everyone, for taking care of my boys!!!


Tuesday. I'm unloading suitcases from my car. The boys are watching me do it and waiting for me to come back inside. I won't actually get into those suitcases until right before I leave, but right now they contain some of the clothes I'm considering bringing to Brussels. I will eventually put clothes inside a briefcase and stick that in one of the suitcases. And, unfortunately, I didn't have enough room to bring my pillow with me. I just hope they have non-feather pillows, because I can't sleep on feathered ones.