John Zimmerman
Appearances
This American Life
847: The Truly Incredible Story of Keiko the Killer Whale
Yeah, so this is where we're raising the presidential flock.
This American Life
847: The Truly Incredible Story of Keiko the Killer Whale
Yeah, Grant, this is Diane. Say hi.
This American Life
847: The Truly Incredible Story of Keiko the Killer Whale
Well, I mean, turkeys are a prey animal. You know, it... Their natural instinct is to be afraid of us humans, you know, any other animal, because they would normally be killed and eaten.
This American Life
847: The Truly Incredible Story of Keiko the Killer Whale
I don't want to go down in history as the turkey farmer who had a turkey fly in the president's face or get away or act in an uncontrollable manner. So I just don't want to have a flappy turkey up there.
This American Life
847: The Truly Incredible Story of Keiko the Killer Whale
We started about 40. Okay.
This American Life
847: The Truly Incredible Story of Keiko the Killer Whale
Yes. One had a scratch on its head. One was kind of flighty, I'll say. When we tried to pick it up, it just didn't want to have anything to do with it. So, I mean, if they weren't as docile as others, we took some out of that. One was a hen. So when we got them from the hatchery, we wanted all males. Obviously, they missed one. So one was a hen. So obviously, she wasn't going to go.
This American Life
847: The Truly Incredible Story of Keiko the Killer Whale
He's very dark red on his neck. He's the picturesque Thanksgiving bird right there.
This American Life
847: The Truly Incredible Story of Keiko the Killer Whale
A lot of it's physiologically looking for mates. So he's... They both glance at the nine-year-old. Are you recording right now? I mean, he's horny. I mean, they're males. They're looking for a mate. They're trying to be the big guy on the beach. That's what they're doing.
This American Life
847: The Truly Incredible Story of Keiko the Killer Whale
Alexa off. They don't like the station. Alexa off. Alexa, play Power 96 radio. Play Power 96. It's all classic rock. Classic rock.
This American Life
847: The Truly Incredible Story of Keiko the Killer Whale
It bothers them a little bit, but that's good. They need to get used to flashing lights from camera flashes and whatnot.
This American Life
847: The Truly Incredible Story of Keiko the Killer Whale
So another thing we'll do, we'll bring a chair in here and we'll just sit.
This American Life
847: The Truly Incredible Story of Keiko the Killer Whale
Obviously here we want them to have perfect feathers, so we're really watching their tail feathers and how they fan out.
This American Life
847: The Truly Incredible Story of Keiko the Killer Whale
I see three good choices right there, three nice tails.
This American Life
847: The Truly Incredible Story of Keiko the Killer Whale
Yeah. My problem has been talking with other chairmen who've gone through this process. They say, oh, you'll be able to pick the best two, no problem. That it will be very easy to pick the final two. Now, maybe in the next week or two, the cream will rise to the top and we'll find, you know, the two that are the best.
This American Life
847: The Truly Incredible Story of Keiko the Killer Whale
This is the tame test. So this is how many seconds they were standing on top of the box. So their range is like... Seven seconds, but then there's a couple.
This American Life
847: The Truly Incredible Story of Keiko the Killer Whale
He's getting poor grade, but we'll give him a shot here.
This American Life
847: The Truly Incredible Story of Keiko the Killer Whale
And now the hope would be that he would just... Stand and do nothing.
This American Life
847: The Truly Incredible Story of Keiko the Killer Whale
He's behaving pretty well. I mean, he's not comfortable. It would be nice if he would just stand here and strut. But he's obviously a little concerned.
This American Life
847: The Truly Incredible Story of Keiko the Killer Whale
My son is nine going on 10 at a shy age, and I expect him to be standing up there with me in front of the cameras. And it is a little bit disconcerting or overwhelming to him. I don't think he's quite aware of what this experience is going to be. So, you know, we're training the turkeys, but we're also in a way educating and training my son to be part of this event.
This American Life
847: The Truly Incredible Story of Keiko the Killer Whale
Just getting him used to interacting with adults because he's a nine-year-old boy and that's not their favorite thing to do always.
This American Life
847: The Truly Incredible Story of Keiko the Killer Whale
It's all about getting acclimated.