Free Monkey

Can it be?

2007-08-19T21:05:18Z

Yes it can be! Free Monkey finally arrived yesterday in the wonderfully boring town in the Netherlands. He has been enjoying his stay mainly by relaxing and eating bananas. It's quite late here now So I'll see if I can post more tomorrow.

Free Monkey and I wish you a nice day or goodnight!

- Free Monkey & Tobias

Where is Free Monkey?

2007-07-28T14:10:45Z

Calling all Free Monkey supporters- where is Free Monkey now? We were expecting him here in Switzerland about now, but have heard nothing, and have received no answers to our e-mail enquiries. Has he been 'reintroduced' into the jungle by misguided animal rights activists? Has he been kidnapped? Has he had an offer he can't refuse from PG Tips?

We are very worried, especially as our holiday time is nearly over, and we really wanted to take him to Ballenberg. We only have one more week!

Free Monkey, where are you?

Portland Update

2007-07-15T06:14:48Z

Hey there! Joanna here. Here is what FREE MONKEY and I worked on during his trip to Portland. FREE MONKEY would like me to let you know that some people might rate this video PG to PG-13. I would like to let you know that this is my first ever iMovie and I'm not used to compression, so I apologize for the fuzzy bits. Since it's hard to read many of the signs, I'll hide the full list of the photos behind the cut.

Fervent Metalhead; Face Mask; Fresh Mangos; Furry Malcontent; Fuschia Mohawk; Furtive Musician; Foxy Mama; Frequency Modulation; Fumbling Martha; Fondling Mailboxes; Free Meal; Foamy Mocha; Fifth Microbrew; Fuzzy Muzzles; Fake Moustache; Fog Machine; Fromage Monger; Flirty Man; Foul Mouth; Flagrantly Macho; Ferocious Madwoman; Full Monty; Friends Made.

Free Monkey lyrics:
He's a good boy, loyal friend and companion
He came out of a big box of tea
Won't wear pants, 'cause he don't have much bottom
But he looks good in his sexy white tee

He's a rambler, and he makes friends all over
From London to Bartlesville O.K.
And you'll want him to be yours forever
But don't bother to ask him to stay

Because he's free, FREE MONKEY

Likes good food, don't care where he gets it
And like his coffee, he's thick and he's hot
And since he sure don't believe in moderation
At parties he's a bit of a sot

And he's free, FREE MONKEY

He'll wanna show you how to turn on the ladies
Wanna teach you what this world's all about
Gonna bring you to his way of thinkin'
Gonna get you to let it all hang out

'Cause he's free, FREE MONKEY

... FINALLY.

2007-07-11T13:34:20Z

Hello! Elisabeth here. I'm commandeering the journal to say that (most of) FREE MONKEY's Berkeley pictures are UP!!!! And more will be up soon. So SCROLL DOWN to see them! Yup!

Portland, Day 2

2007-07-05T07:28:06Z

After spending 48 hours running all over Portland, FREE MONKEY celebrated the 4th of July with lots of food, fans, and fireworks. Now he is exhausted, and he has to get up at the crack of dawn to climb into an envelope and hightail it to Oklahoma, so we're going to bed very very soon.

Though FREE MONKEY's part of the Portland project is coming to an end, he has given me permission to take a few days to edit together the evidence. Expect an update soon; until then, here's one more picture he's allowing me to post.

With much love and fatigue,
Joanna & FREE MONKEY

Arriving in Portland, OR

2007-07-03T04:30:20Z

Hi, Joanna here! As I arrived home from a late breakfast this afternoon, I was thriled to find FREE MONKEY waiting in my mailbox!

Reenactment.

We have already been very busy, as FREE MONKEY has a very specific project in mind for Portland. He won't let me tell you what it is, but he is allowing me to post this little tidbit:

FREE MONKEY and I will check in again tomorrow!

Love,
Joanna

FREE MONKEY IN BERKELEY DAY 1

2007-06-29T05:16:08Z

AND FINALLY... THE PICTURES ARE UP!! SORRY...
Day 1 was the day of our...
YE OLDE GRANDE EXPLORATION OF YE OLDE GRANDE TOWN OF BERKELEY.

But first, FREE MONKEY spent a little quality time with Schreibmaschine, my typewriter.

SIDEWAYS.

Then we embarked.

Sideways FREE MONKEY in his sideways carrying case.

We visited the Berkeley Pvblic Library.

We then came across the yoyo man. The yoyo man yoyoes. The yoyo man and FREE MONKEY yoyoed.

The yoyo man yoyoed.

The yoyo man was yoyoing in front of the empty shell that once was Barnes & Noble.

Aaron is happy because B&N is closed. Aeryn is sad because B&N is closed.
FREE MONKEY is confused.

Then we saw a POSTER. It was a REALLY AWESOME poster. If I ever need my computer fixed, I'm calling this guy.

Giant Prairie Squid.

Telegraph Ave. Where all the real hippies are. Well, almost all. The rest are in People's park.

Yogurt Park, aka THE BEST YOGURT SHOP EVAR, and a face that Aeryn will probably soon kill me for.

The sideways Yogurt Park guy, sideways FREE MONKEY, and sideways frozen yogurt.

FREE MONKEY and Desafortunadamente Pluscuamperfecto, who is a fern.
For all you non-spanish-speakers out there, Desafortunadamente Pluscuamperfecto means "Unfortunately Pluperfect."

FREE MONKEY and someone who Aeryn, Aaron, and Tereza all informed me was a famous childrens book author. He wrote The Classroom At The End Of The Hall, which I have not read, but perhaps you have read. He has also written other books, whose names I forget, but perhaps you remember, which I have not read, but perhaps you have read.

We came across a bunch of famous people, too. Frankenstein was suprisingly nice, though Dorothy was a bit annoying. She kept asking if I knew how to get to Kansas from here.

FREE MONKEY blending in in People's Park.

FREE MONKEY is introduced to the wonders of Pocky.

Someone put soap in the fountain...

Giant... goblet?

NOOOOOOOOO!!!! RUN, FREE MONKEY!!!! RUUUUUUUUUUUUN!!!!!!!

FREE MONKEYzilla strikes again!! Luckily, there was only minimal damage to the Campinile.

Sorry this took so long to put up! I'm currently without regullar access to a computer or my pictures... I'll see if I can get someone back home to put up the rest.

--Elisabeth

free_monkey @ 2007-06-28T21:11:00

2007-06-29T04:22:36Z

So as I said before: we were going somewhere in a CAR!!!!
Where?
The wonderful, happyful, somethingelsethat'sgood-ful land of...
SIX FLAGS!!

But first we stopped at Starbucks.

This is Colin. Or was it Derek? Fred?

Then we went on to Six Flags. And then...
MY CAMERA DIED.
Or rather, Aaron killed it.
Not really. But I blame him because he was holding the camera when it happened.
I'M WATCHING YOU, AARON.

Fortunately, lovelylovely Aeryn had a camera.
Unfortunately, she has not yet emailed me the pictures.
So the Cronicles of our Grande FREE MONKEY Six Flags Adventure shall have to wait for another day.

But my camera was charged for days 1 and 2, so those pictures are forthcoming.

--Elisabeth

FREE MONKEY IN BERKELEY DAY 0

2007-06-28T04:49:40Z

Shortly after FREE MONKEY arrived, he, I, and a few friends went on a TRIP.
Let me introduce you to the characters of our story...

I'm assuming you know who this is.

This is Aaron. He is sideways because the computer hates me.

This is Tereza. And my hand. There are a lot of pictures of my hands, but very few of my face. This is what happens when you are the one with the camera.

This is Aeryn. And what's that she's sitting in? It's...

A CAR!!

That's right!! We were going somewhere that required a car!!

But you'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out where, cause it's lateish here.

-- Elisabeth

HA! I HAVE FOILED YOU, COMPUTER OF DOOM!

2007-06-28T04:29:51Z

I figured it oooooouuuuuuttt!!
*Does happy dance*

TROUBLES

2007-06-28T04:23:04Z

I'm having trouble uploading the pictures onto lj... it might take a while before they're up. Sorry!

-- Elisabeth

FREE MONKEY in Berkeley day... 0?

2007-06-26T19:36:43Z

The FREE MONKEY has arrived! (And his prettypretty green ribbon is still intact!)
He says hello to all his former/future hosts!
And now... I am taking him somewhere FUN!!
Yay!

-- Elisabeth

PS I apologize if this gets posted wrong, or twice, or something. I'm having issues with the whole figuring-out-how-lj-works bit. I know it's supposed to be easy, but I'm rather technologically inept, so...

FREE MONKEY in Penndel

2007-06-25T15:06:53Z

FREE MONKEY roamed Penndel again today. This time he visited some of the people who live here. Here are some of FREE MONKEY's new friends. First he met my cousins when he went to Dairy Delite.





FREE MONKEY meets my friends.

                                                 FREE MONKEY at Joe's house

                                                 FREE MONKEY at Sarah's house

                                                   FREE MONKEY meets Steve

                                                    FREE MONKEY meets Tracy

                                             FREE MONKEY meets my dog Jessie

FREE MONKEY in Philadelphia

2007-06-25T15:02:02Z

FREE MONKEY went with me to Philadelphia on Saturday. We got in the car and headed toward our first stop. When we got there, we were all hungry. We stopped at Geno's for the best cheese steak in the world.

                                        FREE MONKEY enjoys a cheese steak and Coke.

                                    Heather, my brother, FREE MONKEY, and I at Geno's

After getting lunch, we walked around Philadelphia for a while.

                                        Heather, FREE MONKEY, and I at the duck boats

                                                      We went to our friend's dive shop

Next, we visited the liberty bell.

                                                        Outside the liberty bell center

                                                                 At the liberty bell

After seeing the liberty bell, we ran out of batteries in the camera, so we had to go into a shop to get some. While in the shop, we made some colonial friends.

This is William. He is half colonial person, half duck. (not really he just got the whistle from the duck boats)

                                        FREE MONKEY meets the story teller in the park

After walking through the park, we went to the Bourse Building.

                    We dress up in colonial hats. FREE MONKEY uses a looking glass.

                                                 FREE MONKEY makes a new friend

                                              FREE MONKEY meets the Philly Phanatic

After a long day in Philadelphia, we head back home. Here is FREE MONKEY in the car.

(Quick Note)

2007-06-23T06:12:02Z

Hey, it's Rebecca, and I'm hijacking Free Monkey's LJ for a minute to let everyone know that I FINALLY got the pictures up from Free Monkey's last day in Texas. The entry is backdated so that things aren't out of order, so to read it, scroll down or click here.

Now back to Penndel. :D

FREE MONKEY in Penndel

2007-06-22T13:07:21Z

Free Monkey had fun on his first day in Penndel. He got to roam all over the place. Here are some of the pictures we took while walking around my neighborhood.

                                                                   FREE MONKEY at the deli near my house

                                                      FREE MONKEY goes to the fire station and sees the trucks

                                                                            FREE MONKEY meets Heather

                                                                     FREE MONKEY goes to my old school

                                                                                      He goes on the slide

                                                                                     And drives a lawn mower

FREE MONKEY and the Mail Discrepancies

2007-06-21T18:30:02Z

FREE MONKEY arrived safely to my house today. He was not supposed to arrive until the weekend, but everything has been worked out so our plans will still be able to be done. Today, FREE MONKEY explored Penndel, Pennsylvania. He visited a playground, massive road work on the way, my old elementary school, my friend's house, and quite a few other places. Right now he is helping me post this and waiting for his lovely pictures to get uploaded from the camera. He is very excited to be at my house, but he is tired from his adventures around my house and is jet lagged on top of that. (Well, mail lagged really.)

Free Monkey's Texas Tour: Day Two

2007-06-21T06:56:34Z

Cross-posted to breca-halley.livejournal.com.

Day Two of Free Monkey's Texas Tour!

Day Two was a tale of two cities, plus lots of driving, and lots of traffic. But first, my family, Free Monkey, and I went to Eisenhower Park for hiking. While we were there, we discovered a climbing wall.

Me, my brother, and Free Monkey climbed high above the ground.

After our outing in the Great Outdoors, Free Monkey and I hopped in the car and headed to Austin. We got stuck in traffic in Selma for about half an hour, but after that, it was a smooth trip. When we arrived at the house of Ivy (and James and Jess, the friends I was staying with), Free Monkey met yet another kitten. Luckily for him, the Kitten of Ivy wasn't quite as viscious as those kittens at the vet's office. :)

Monkey On My Cat

Eventually, Ivy, Free Monkey, and I went out to Freebird's for some sustenance.

Free Monkey enjoyed hanging out with the tinfoil palm tree and unicorn. He also thought the grapefruit-y pink lemonade was spectacular.

Then, it was on to writers group. I was quite excited, as I hadn't been to AJWC* since school got out. Free Monkey got to experience the awesome and slightly crazy people I hang out with. :D He had some key lime pie, was nearly stabbed with a fork, and, er, explored some very interesting places whilst I was away from the table. :P


Ivy teases Free Monkey           Free Monkey meets Deanna and Kurt


I only left for a minute to buy             Tasty key lime pie.
the pie. And what do I find when
I get back? *shakes head*

Free Monkey carefully read Maureen's post about what to be afraid of in the summertime.

We now all know to keep a careful watch for birds, bookcases, the sun, and other menaces to society.

After writers group, we went back to Ivy's, then to Kerbey Lane (Ivy had an omelet emergency), then back to Ivy's, where I went to bed with Free Monkey and the Kitten of Ivy sleeping on top of me.

___________
* Austin Java Writing Company

Free Monkey's Texas Tour: Day One

2007-06-19T16:41:25Z

Cross-posted to breca-halley.livejournal.com.

Day One of Free Monkey's Texas Tour!

Free Monkey arrived shortly after I woke up (around eleven thirty or so). Everyone was quite excited to see him as he has become something of a celebrity in San Antonio over the past few weeks. :D It was great to finally meet him in person after seeing so many pictures and hearing about his exploits with Maureen. He got to meet my family and see the room where he'll be staying for the first night.

Then, we were called upon quite suddenly to assist in taking two of our pets to the vet. Our pets do not like the vet, and so this is always a big production. The dog, Dalai (pronounced like doll-ee) and one of our cats, Cally, were the lucky ones going today and the appointment was at 11:45, so we rushed off, with me, Cally, and Free Monkey riding shotgun. When we arrived at the vet's, Free Monkey seemed quite excited, having never been to a vet's before.

Cally and Free Monkey enjoy Mom's lap. Mom seems bemused.

Free Monkey and Dalai and I were enjoying the oh-so-sanitary waiting room floor.

Free Monkey also got to meet Gary, the vet.

As Free Monkey was exploring the waiting room, he came across some kittens. They were in a cat cage with their mother, awaiting adoption.

Awwwww, aren't they cute....

Suddenly, the kittens fixed Free Monkey with hungry stares.

SWIPE!! Not so innocent now. Free Monkey barely escaped with his life.

After surviving the encounter with the kittens, Free Monkey and I met up with Sarah for our tour of San Antonio.

First, we went to the San Antonio Zoo.

Free Monkey is excited to meet some other monkeys.

These monkeys were excited to meet their brethren.

Next, we headed down to SAN ANTONIO'S PREMIERE TOURIST ATTRACTION....The Alamo.

Remember the Alamo. Um, yeah. We didn't go in b/c there were hordes of people standing in line. I do not know why Free Monkey was nuzzling my cheek. ;)

When we returned home, Free Monkey got to meet the other two feline denizens of our house. Left: Piper, Right: Luna (my cat)

After the day's exertions, we took Free Monkey out to eat at the Mad Hatter's Tea Room.

Free Monkey enjoyed a balanced diet of banana for dinner and Godiva chocolate cheesecake for desert. :D

After dinner, we went home and relaxed for a bit. Free Monkey continued reading The Bermudez Triangle while I finished wrapping Dad's present for Father's Day. Then we promptly went to bed at the decent hour of three a.m.

Free Monkey in Transit: Day Two Teaser

2007-06-18T12:39:13Z

Cross-posted to breca-halley.livejournal.com.

Free Monkey is going on a trip....

Free Monkey fills up for the trip.

We'll be back soon with many tales of our travels. :D

Free Monkey in SATX: Day One Teaser

2007-06-17T05:46:25Z

Cross-posted to breca-halley.livejournal.com.

Today has been quite a day for Free Monkey and his hosts. He spent a lot of time touring downtown San Antonio as well as associating with a variety of different animals.

Free Monkey seems to be enjoying himself so far. Immediately upon arriving, he made a friend:

Free Monkey loves hanging out with his new friend, Starbucks Monkey.

During the course of the day, Free Monkey also got himself a new shirt:

Free Monkey loves the Spurs. :D GO SPURS GO!!

Many fascinating things were seen and done today, but that is not all that Free Monkey did. Oh no. He had himself a bit of an adventure involving an encounter with....wellllll, you shall see.

What do you think Free Monkey encountered?

Tune in next time for a complete report on every dirty detail of Free Monkey's Texas tour. Danger! Excitement! Mayhem! Monkeys!

Free Monkey is in San Antonio!!

2007-06-16T19:02:39Z

Cross-posted to breca-halley.livejournal.com.

We're about to run off. It's going to be a very busy weekend.

Someone is peeking out of his envelope. :D

More later!!

Stop One, Day Two: Take Your Monkey to Work Day

2007-06-15T00:57:39Z

This post was written by Little Willow, who hosted Free Monkey from June 11th to June 13th.

Free Monkey World Tour
Day Two: Take Your Monkey to Work Day
Free Monkey's day started bright and early, and we got to work early and bright. He was given a tour of my workplace, where he climbed the bookshelves to his heart's content. He also climbed a locker, a tree, and big stacks of boxes.

Free Monkey met other critters, such as a stuffed orangutan, and shook hands with my co-workers. He listened intently to our discussion about Wicked. One person recently saw the musical, another person read the book, and I've read it and seen it (the latter thanks to YouTube), but our special visitor seemed most interested in hearing about the flying monkeys.

He showed his sweet and sassy sides while posing for pictures. A disposable camera was acquired especially for this event - Thanks, Romanov Princess! - and since I couldn't develop those pictures today, expect to see them at a later date. Someone else had a digital camera, so we were able to snap and upload the following images. Click on a thumbnail to view a larger version of the picture in a new window.

Free Monkey smooches Romanov Princess.

Romanov Princess reads to Free Monkey from Looking for Alaska, written by his uncle, John Green.

Free Monkey visits Maureen's blog and reads about himself.

After reading Maureen's blog, Free Monkey decided that he liked the viewpoint from my desk, so there he stayed while I completed paperwork and data entry. In the afternoon, I swung by the post office to send Free Monkey off to his next host. I told him what I always tell my friends and loved ones when they travel: "Have fun and be safe!"

Did you miss the first day of the world tour? Read Free Monkey World Tour: Girl Meets Monkey.

Stop One, Day One: Girl Meets Monkey

2007-06-15T00:53:43Z

This post was written by Little Willow, who hosted Free Monkey from June 11th to June 13th.

After Free Monkey emerged from my mailbox, he recovered quickly from his jet lag and was eager to see what I was doing. I showed him around my place, and he settled right in.

I apologize for the poor quality of these photos. I got a digital camera. It didn't work. I used a camera phone instead.

Free Monkey World Tour
Stop One, Day One: Girl Meets Monkey

Free Monkey pays me (Little Willow) a visit

Free Monkey sits on the throne
to honor the memory of my cat Hollywood
and to compare wings with Tinker Bell

Dangles meets Free Monkey

Free Monkey reads Girl at Sea,
written by his owner, Maureen Johnson

Free Monkey sits in front of
a pyramid of Maureen Johnson books

Free Monkey reads banned books, and so should you!

After snapping these photos, Free Monkey sat down at my computer and wrote an email to his owner.

Dear Maureen,

I'M HERE!

Little Willow seems happy to see me. She introduced me to her boss and her summer helpers at the bookstore. I also met a stuffed monkey named Dangles, which came from Little Willow's fake brother KAM. (He doesn't know Uncle John or Uncle Hank, though.)

Now she's home, so we're going to watch a movie with some lady named Barbara Candlestick -- oops, she said the last name is actually Stanwyck -- and post at her blog so everyone knows I'm here.

Have fun in Georgia!

From your favorite V.I.P.*
Free Monkey

*Very Important Primate

What happened next? Check out Day Two: Take Your Monkey to Work Day.

The Monkey, The Myth, The Legend

2007-06-15T00:48:36Z

This post was written by Little Willow, who hosted Free Monkey from June 11th to June 13th.

He may appear to be "a simple sock monkey in a T-shirt," but Free Monkey is a complex creature with a story all his own. He was born in England, then adopted by author Maureen Johnson, who brought him to the United States.

In honor of her novel Girl at Sea, Maureen decided to send her prized primate around the world on his very own tour. We here at free_monkey will be posting pictures and stories from his tour.

Want to know more about the monkey, the myth, the legend?
Maureen tells the tale of Free Monkey
Read the Free Monkey World Tour announcement
Check out all of Maureen's posts about Free Monkey (Thanks, Technorati!)
PG Tips Monkey website and shop
PG Tips Monkey @ Wikipedia