For Alex

"A bigger leap came in an experiment about numbers, in which the parrot was shown groups of two, three and six objects. The objects within each set were colored identically, and Alex was asked, 'What color three?'

“'Five,' he replied perversely (he was having a bad attitude day), repeating the answer until the experimenter finally asked, 'O.K., Alex, tell me, 'What color five?’ '

“'None,' the parrot said."

(Alex made sure Irene would be in on September 6, 2007.)