reminder

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roadnotes reminds us that there is no better tribute to the date than Mike Ford's 110 Stories.
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farewell, good bird

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Alex, the gray parrot has passed on at 31.

Alex, being quite a character, quickly took over Pepperberg's life by teaching her all he knew about cognition and communication. As early as 1999, he was able to "identify 50 different objects and understand quantities up to 6; he could distinguish 7 colors and 5 shapes, and understand the concepts of 'bigger', 'smaller', 'same', and 'different', and he was learning 'over' and 'under'," according to the New York Times. By 2002, Alex had a vocabulary of more than 100 words.

I believe he was described as the world's smartest parrot, and people who worked with him attest to his personality. He will be missed.

Pre-emption: there is no need to reply with Monty Python routines, puns such as "polly gone" or even more Monty Python routines. We will take it for granted that these things have gone through everybody's mind and move on. Thank you for your indulgence.
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