(no subject)

The Halloween meme is courtesy of corknut.org. I'm curious - have any of you heard ever the term "corknut" before? I first heard "corknut" in Oryx & Crake, by Margaret Atwood. A parrot named Alex calls almonds corknuts; there's a sort of poignant scene towards the end of the book where Snowman recalls the bird asking for corknuts and being given some other nut instead.

Hmm, okay, so it's been around awhile. From the corknut website:
Dr. Irene Pepperberg's African Grey parrot, Alex, has learned to use some nouns as adjectives; hence, "rock corn" for dry, hard corn kernels, and "cork nut" for pitted almonds in the shell. The Alex Foundation (studying parrots since 1977) Here's Alex: http://www.alexfoundation.org/pics/alexiscute.jpg Cute!