Item #48: “Rafting in Costa Rica”

Interestingly enough, when the movie, The Rise of the Planet of the Apes, was originally pitched, it was set to take place in China, where (the case was made that) it would be more plausible for the government to turn a blind eye to ethical concerns of medical experimentation on animals, and specifically, genetic manipulation. This picture takes place in a jungle region in Puerto Rico, where Megan and the film crew were attempting to find cheaper locations to shoot certain scenes, as opposed to shipping the entire operation to inland china. The photographer of the picture was actually the trained chimp who had to accompany and become accustomed to the film crew, but could could not bear to cross the water, instead following the rafts along the shore. Other photos in the collection include priceless self taken images of the chimps toenails, various birds, colorful plants, and a large number of shots of the chimps eye. whether this was intentional or simply took place before the understanding of how the camera functions is still up for debate. In any event, the producers quickly realized that leaving Hollywood and using actual chimps to produce a movie was entirely too 1990s, and instead scrapped the idea, filming the entire movie using green-screens and phoned in voice-overs over the course of approximately a month.

Item #66: “1000th point club”

Though she doesn’t like to brag, Tyreese is actually a wizard (or witch really, though female wizard is technically the politically correct term). Honestly, it is surprising that such a notable wizarding academy allowed such a blatant violation of their code of secrecy to leave the premises. I suppose this could be permitted given that it is posted under the guise of a mere basketball score list. In any event, the image represents Tyreese’s inductance into the Lady Wizards (the political correctness does become tiresome after a while) 1000 point club, which recognizes specifically women who score cumulatively above 1000 points on their 11 final examinations. The exams progress in order: Minor Prestidigitation, Abjuration, Alchemy, Conjuration, Divination, Enchantment, Evocation, Illusion, Necromancy (don’t worry, just the basics; ressurecting frogs and the like), Transmutation, and Dueling. The wall in the background is the back wall of the dueling chambers where the senior class undergo their final trials. Though Tyreese unfortunately bombed her alchemy practical (and I do quite literally mean ‘bombed’), she more than made up for it with the highest score in the dueling segment since her brother took his finals several years earlier.