Monkey Business

Shocker…it’s been a while since my last post. It has been a busy Spring/Summer, so far. I recently got back from a week+ in San Diego for the annual conference of my association. It was great. Great attendance. Great people. Great venue. And a cute, fuzzy chimp!

Long story short, I hired a chimpanzee for part of our conference opening. His name is Kenzy. He is about three years old. Perhaps you have seen his work in the recently released “Speed Racer” in the role of Chim Chim? He was cute as hell, very friendly and surprising strong for such a small size. When he grabbed the back of your neck to pull your head closer you had little choice but to oblige. When he was ready to get out of your arms, his push-off all but knocked you over. I learned from his handler that a full-grown chimpanzee is about 4 ½ feet tall, 160 pounds, and can pull/push about 1000 pounds with a single arm. It’s a good thing he was friendly!

Here is one of the photos from backstage when we were hanging out prior to the event open. When the crowd finally saw him…they went ape!