Ape Agape

I recently came across a couple psychedelic simian images on the Shamanic Sacra-Mental Spaces blog that I thought were pretty awesome.

The first one is "Stoned Ape Theory" by Tim Marr. It illustrates the theory espoused by Terence McKenna (whom I've posted about a lot here) that our primate ancestors had an evolutionary boost from eating psilocybin mushrooms that was a factor in accelerated cognitive development.

The second "Ape Agape" image is by Samuel Farrand, and would be the next step after the previous picture! After ingesting a psychedelic compound, the ape's experience transforms into a energetic mindscape of abstract patterns.

This image reminded me of the 3D image I created called "Psychedelic Symbiosis", which drew a comparison between the structure of neural and mycelial connections.

"Psychedelic Symbiosis"

by Paul Micarelli

Ape to Angel

While doing a Google image search, I came across this pic of a divine-looking monkey that I tracked down to DeviantArt member leoplaw:

Ape to Angel

by leoplaw

I'm always interested to see art that combines monkeys and the sacred, similar to the graphic I made of the mascot/logo for The Monkey Buddha:

New Monkey Buddha Graphic

When searching for the source of the image, I also came across this album cover for "Ape to Angel" by artists Pitch Black:

Ape Making Fire

On fUSION Anomalog, I saw a sequence of animated GIFs that show an ape using matches to light a fire & roast marshmallows.

This is one of the many examples that demonstrate tool use among animals, especially primates. The perceived gap between human beings and other creatures is not as wide as traditionally believed. Primates, in particular, have most of the same senses & perceptions that people do. It's just a matter of degree when it comes to our respective cognitive abilities.

The Monkey Buddha Archives:

Primate Tool Use

The bonobo's name is Kanzi, and here is more info about ape intelligence & communication.

Smithsonian:

Speaking Bonobo

Here is a video showing Kanzi lighting the campfire.

I recently read a book about baboon communication & social hierarchies that was interesting. It was another reminder how close we humans are to animal behavior in so many ways.

The Monkey Buddha Archives:

 Monkey Talks

The Stoned Ape Theory

 

I came across this image titled "The Stoned Ape Theory" by Jim Figora, & thought it was pretty awesome.

 It's a great visual of the Stoned Ape idea, popularized by one of my favorite minds & voices, Terence McKenna. Regardless of how accurate his specific theory is, there is no denying that mind-altering substances had a role to play in the development of humanity & culture, as abundantly evident in the archaeological record.

The painting also conveys the future- of both the individual mind & the species as a whole. At the end of this life, the mental & spiritual essence of a person unfolds back into the infinite energy matrix (represented by The Flower of Life symbol), but the entire human race is on a path to continue connecting with, and perhaps traveling to, the larger Universe.

"Space Ape" Art Print

On OMG Posters! I saw this awesome image of an astro-primate by Paul Jackson & had to post it.

When I first started this blog waaay back in 2005, (during The Bush Dark Ages) the other name choice I considered for it was 'Space Ape'. It stemmed from the recognition that we humans are basically hairless monkeys who learned how to temporarily escape the atmosphere in metal containers.

However, I thought "The Monkey Buddha" better reflected my personality & the myriad things I thought I'd be posting about.
Monkeys & Space are still 2 things that are guaranteed to get my attention, though.

Anyway, this is a really striking picture & contains as much gravitas as humor.

Tank.Axe.Love Posters

Space Ape

The Ape Brain & Risk

On Boingboing I saw this funny & accurate comic, from the Tom the Dancing Bug strip by Ruben Bolling.

It looks at how the primitive monkey mind of a human being evaluates the risks associated with different threats.

People tend to conveniently ignore overwhelmingly evident dangers- such as those presented by climate change, or disease due to poor diet & lack of exercise.

However, mention the statistically-unlikely threats of terrorists or the ebola virus, and people go, well, ape shit...

The fake Daily Mail headline below is also funny & relevant. This is how anyone with a certain level of awareness sees the news media, which grabs our attention by blatantly appealing to the primitive fear & conflict responses in the brain:

Monkey Rock Tools

Tool-using ape from 2001: A Space Odyssey

In my last post, I shared a video about the origins of humanity. One of the traditional benchmarks to measure our "human-ness" has been the use of tools.

However, it's becoming increasingly clear that not only did our ape-like ancestors use primitive tools, but other species of animals are able to manipulate objects to achieve intended results. This shouldn't surprise anyone who understands that life other than human beings are capable of possessing intelligence.

Wikipedia: 

Tool Use by Animals

Here is an article & video showing the use of rocks as tools by monkeys, a behavior that goes back at least a hundred, and perhaps thousands, of years.

LiveScience:

Simian Stone Age: 

Monkeys Used Rocks as Tools for Hundreds of Years

The Evolution of Robo-Ape

I saw this crazy animated GIF on fUSION Anomalog, illustrating the metamorphosis of biological ape into digital machine:

Wonderfully Distinguished Monkey Portraits

This past weekend, I was at the Three Monkeys Cafe in Philly. It was a pretty cool place. There was an outside area called "The Monkey Court," so I felt right at home.

Inside, there's also a dining area where, much to my amusement, the walls were lined with painted portraits of distinguished monkeys & ape characters.

They were hilarious, so I took a couple pics.

The sophisticated, wine-drinking chimpanzee was my favorite... but I also thought the Ape Admiral was great too.

 

^ This might surpass the Mona Lisa as the greatest painting in history.

 

Space Monkey

On OMG Posters! I saw illustrations from a sticker pack by Stand Out Stickers.

One of the illustrations is this awesome & crazy-looking astronaut ape, by Jared Moraitis.

When I was originally trying to figure out what to call this blog, almost 10 years ago, I deeply considered whether to use "Monkey Buddha" or "Space Ape" as the title. 

I decided that "The Monkey Buddha"covered my personality more broadly. However, I am still amused by the idea of a monkey using the space technology of slightly more evolved monkeys.

Monkeys & Mortality

There are many things I enjoy in life, but bizarre creations & monkey pictures always make my day.

I saw the masterpiece below on the Tumblr blog JUST_MONK3Y.
A pensive ape, wearing a fez hat with the the all-seeing eye, is holding a human skull.

Using the mind-boggling power of Google Images & Search ("ape+fez+skull"), I just took 30 seconds & tracked down the creator of this superb image, Jean Labourdette. The title of the work only adds to its awesomeness:

"The Artist's Unconscious Mind (Self-portrait)"

by Jean Labourdette

Perhaps the ponderous primate is wondering about the nature of the process we call consciousness that experiences our mortal existence...

Perhaps he is thinking about bananas...


Also on that blog, I saw this funny vintage print of a cheeky monkey trying to make moves on a human circus lady.

I looked up the artist, E. Gayac, but there's not much info other than that he was a Spanish postcard artist.

Chimp vs. Cops

It's crazy for people to have monkeys as pets. I think my Mom said my aunt used to have a monkey of some kind at their house.

Someone in Kansas had a 300 lb. pet chimp that got loose recently & smashed a police cruiser's windshield. Instead of monkey police, this was a monkey going rogue.

"Escaped Ape Attacks
Kansas City Police Car"

Here's a Kansas City Star link with dash-cam footage:

"Chimp Breaks Windshield"

The chimp is reportedly now in a zoo after the owner was cited.

"Former Pet Chimp
Starts New Life at Zoo"

I can imagine being a wild animal confined & controlled by humans against their will, which makes it understandable why these animals go.... ape-sh*t.

CBArt- Alien Botanical Ape

Last weekend I was at a local art festival and came across an artist with a lot of nice work, called CBArt. There were especially unique paintings that I called "Alien Botanicals" because they looked like plant life from another world.

One in particular had an ape looking out from the alien plants, so I told the artist I'd share it here on The Monkey Buddha:

Psychedelic Ape

This is what happens when a philosophizing ape looks too deeply into into his own existence,

 

The monkey mind disintegrates into boundless infinity....

seen on Ffffound!

Monkeys in Human Fashions

I saw these monkeys capturing human styles originally on trendhunter.com.
They originate from a studio in the Ukraine called Atelier, which might mean "Workshop".

Clothing is mostly used to display our personality, in both obvious & subtle ways.

As a consequence, seeing fashion styles on monkeys gives them "personas" that we project onto them, using people we've experienced wearing the same things as a reference.

Most of all, I just think monkeys in people clothes are hilarious!

The funniest picture is the Rasta monkey.
The most disturbing one, though, is the neo-Nazi skinhead ape.

"The Workshop
Making a Monkey Out of Fashion"

Joe Rogan: "Talking Monkeys in Space"

I just posted about my appreciation for monkeys & their antics. Comedy is another of my favorite aspects of life & Joe Rogan is a very funny dude.

I've posted about his standup act before:

Joe Rogan on Space, The Grand Canyon, & UFO's

I was browsing the blog Teleomorph & saw some good Youtube clips of his recent comedy special with a title after my own sensibilities...

Youtube Videos:
"Talking Monkeys in Space"


Joe Rogan on Monkeys

The Teleomorph also linked to some more Crazy Wisdom from Joe Rogan... talking about Terence McKenna & his mind-bending 'Stoned Ape Theory'.

Altruistic Apes

This painting depicts the Buddha while living in the deep forest,
where no people were around who could support him by offering food.
The monkey then gave the Buddha some honey.

It shouldn't be a surprise that life with complex cognitive and social structures could exhibit behavior similar to ours. The more people observe other creatures, the more we realize the depth of life's processes.

Monkeys and other simian are the closest forms of life to ourselves, therefore many of their social processes are similar to ours. Altruism, or the idea of compassion, has been considered a uniquely human trait. However, it should be expected to be seen in living things that form social networks and produce the cognitive feedback that we call emotion.
Monkey Buddhism is alive and well among our fellow primates -

Science News:
"Ape Aid: Chimps Share Altruistic Capacity with People"

PLoS Biology:
"Spontaneous Altruism by Chimpanzees and Young Children"

Of course, just like people, sentient creatures are also prone to what we consider negative characteristics such as violence and aggression. Just as there is a Monkey Buddha, there must be a Monkey Devil to explain this madness -

USA Today:
"Birthday Party Turns Bloody When Chimps Attack"

"Wired for War?
Killer Chimps Fuel Debate on How War Began"

Unintentionally Funny Comics

This is an entertaining rundown of 15 comic book panels that aren't supposed to be funny.

"Top 15 Unintentionally Funny Comic Book Panels"

Speaking of silly Superman comics, Superdickery.com is a great collection of ridiculous comic book panels & covers, concentrating on those that prove that 'Superman is a dick'. This is a wacky cover featuring Batman's pet ape saving the day. You can't beat a monkey in a bat suit.

Monkey Comic Cover Gallery

On io9.com, there was a priceless gallery of comic book covers featuring monkeys in any number of insane scenarios.

When Monkeys Ruled Comic Books!

It's hard to pick out a favorite, but this one is special, an issue of Strange Adventures featuring "Challenge of the Gorilla Genius".


You just can't go wrong combining monkeys and comic books. Even when it's stupid it's awesome.

The archive of crazy comic covers, Superdickery.com, has a dedicated category called Everything's Better With Monkeys. It's a genre all its own.

For the record, I've previously pointed out such brilliant comic monkey character studies as Gotham's Bat-Ape and Superman's hairy harbinger of chaos, Beppo The Super Monkey.

Here is a rendering I made a few years ago of the hypothetical encounter between the exiled Beppo & Curious George in Space.
That Beppo's a real rascal...

Gorilla in Space!

Ok, it's not a real gorilla...

Astronaut Scott Kelly decided to have some fun & wore a gorilla suit while chasing fellow astronaut Tim Peake on the International Space Station (ISS).

Gorilla on the ISS

When I first started this blog, I considered calling it "Space Ape" to play on the idea of humans as spacefaring simians.