Rolling Obituary Thread: 2018

exclusive ILX footage of CK's last moments

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_WEvWcVoFw

True, Koko learned to play the recorder, but she never learned *not* to play the recorder.

— Waldo Jaquith (@waldojaquith) June 22, 2018

Farewell to a subtle mind, inquisitive spirit, and boundless imagination.

RIP Koko.

you wouldn't have used that eulogy for a human if you'd have seen them throwing a turd at someone, double standards for these apes you see!

I think the eulogy was for Charles Krauthammer, whoever he is, but point taken.

koko's columns would have had a way better effect on public policy than krauthammer's.

Whether or not Koko used language is by no means a straightforward question. I’m perfectly happy with them defaulting to say they did.

I agree with mfktz -- there is a strict definition of language and Koko clearly did not use language. It has nothing to do with prescription/description either.

If y'all hustle, it may not be too late to get 'DISCLAIMER: DID NOT ACUTALLY KNOW SIGN LANGUAGE' engraved on Koko's tombstone.

is there a word for what Koko did? because people are just going to keep calling it language unless a better term is found

You mean besides 'jack shit'? I guess that's two words.

is there a strict definition of 'jack shit' and did Koko clearly do it?

I swore to myself to leave this thread alone, but for the record anyone calling themself a 'prescriptivist' or telling people off for their 'poor grammar' knows nothing about how language works. Also while I'm here, I have nothing for respect for Koko, but anthropomorphising her is imo a shitty way to appreciate an intelligent animal.

that's how I feel about furries

no shade tho

wait was Koko a prescriptivist?

Obituary thread still delivering.

I don't know - if she said 'block' (intending for someone to give her a block) and someone gave her a block Wittgenstein would consider that using language, no?

Wittgenstein was a philosopher, not a linguist. Apologies for not having a sense of humour about people being proud of being ignorant about my field, I won't bother arguing any more.

your field sucks

maybe think about going into something else

sorry if my joke about krauthammer’s ruinous ideology offended

http://assets.rebelcircus.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/fine_villoresi_001.jpg

i stand by my belief that the world would be a better place if the marty peretz era new republic’s entire staff was made up of anyone else though

I don't know if this has been mentioned but ASL, BSL etc aren't syntactically the same as spoken English btw

including gorillas xp

its a pity yr field is defined by what ppl on a msg board think about a dead gorilla

but thats not really our problem like

I can't speak for everyone else, but my clowning itt has been less (read: not at all) about the argument over whether or not Koko was actually able to use language and more (read: entirely) about not waiting until her body was cold to start pooh-poohing any sentimental eulogizing about her grasp of ASL.

field appropriation omg

'AHEM, I think you will find that the decedent was actually little more than a CO-writer alongside his partner, Lowell Ganz. I hate to make such a stink before the body has been interred but, on behalf of the Shitty Explicitly-Solo Screenwriters of America, I feel that I must.'

I did my dissertation many moons ago on attempts to teach apes language. I realise most people are winding him up but I just thought I'd stick up for mfktz. Back then, the Koko project felt a bit of a dead end. There was some optimism around Sue Savage-Rumbaugh and her bonobos but not sure how different it ended up being.

There was some optimism around Sue Savage-Rumbaugh and her bonobos

I remember it well, there was a giddy and excitable spirit abroad in the nation that some likened to the VE Day and its aftermath, and which few were immune to, no matter how cynical.

I both have mad respect for Camaraderie's profession (considered going that route myself) and am aware of at least some of the controversies surrounding Koko's communicative abilities. But a valid point can also be an ill-timed point, is the thing.

i was trying to work "ape has never killed ape" into this but that was not true in that last Roddy McDowall movie, or the reboot

Also chimps are cannibal psychos iirc

Ape has never killed Koko, she died of natural causes.

YOU ARE THE APE

https://libraopen.lib.virginia.edu/downloads/pc289j08t

This Koko tangent is incredible

Keep going

Koko the gorilla once ripped a sink out of the wall and, when her keepers confronted her about it, she blamed her kitten, signing "cat did it."

keeper: <signs furiously> "koko, what would you like engraved on your tombstone?"

koko: <signs furiously> "cat did it"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mT7M-7Q5XM8

*crosses fingers* that “Oh Koko!” places high in The Beatles Solo Tracks poll

Vinnie Paul died.

Vinnie Paul, Legendary Drummer for Pantera & Damageplan, Dead at 54

Aw man. RIP Vinnie \m/
By all accounts a genuine kindhearted dude it seemed like. And can I just say god bless him for never talking to or making peace with Phil Anselmo.

I both have mad respect for Camaraderie's profession (considered going that route myself) and am aware of at least some of the controversies surrounding Koko's communicative abilities. But a valid point can also be an ill-timed point, is the thing.

What would be an appropriate length of time to wait to make that point? This will be forgotten about by next week

Temperature of the corpse seems to be a sticking point so maybe like 2 days

Think of Koko's friends and family, I beseech you.

I can't in good conscience RIP a dangerous animal, that in desperate times would chomp on a baby's head like it was a satsuma, and then try and blame someone else in sign language.