And who hasn't had more fun than a barrel of monkeys after an evening of monkeyshines?

A quick search of Amazon for books mentioning monkey, which didn't even catch Curious George since there's no reference to his species in the title, got me 3,216 hits. The books range from "Monkey Business: Swinging Through the Wall Street Jungle," a look at an investment bank associate's daily routine, (mmmm, fun); to "Monkey Town," a fictional account of first love with the Scopes trial as backdrop (I'm not even going there!); to "Love Monkey," the lad-lit book that's the basis of the new CBS show of the same name, although the book's tabloid paper setting is now a record company, making it so much easier to fit up-and-coming performers and already-star singers into cameo roles.

Widen the search to all of Amazon's products, and you'll get 8,992 items in categories such as health and personal care (?), jewelry, apparel, beauty (again, ?) automotive and electronics, not to mention the expected areas of toys, music and movies.

Did you know there's a publication called Painted Monkey? Chill, PETA people; it's the California Art Education Association's arts advocacy newsletter.

I'm sure the number of items would be well over 10,000 if Amazon hadn't filtered out the "adult products" involving monkeys. From just glancing at what did make it through (a certain registered monkey trademark name for a body powder topped the list), I am SOOOO glad I got the censored inventory.

Then you have the films: "12 Monkeys," the 1996 time-travel, sci-fi thriller with Bruce Willis and stringy-haired Brad Pitt (pre both Jennifer and Angelina); "Monkey Business," Howard Hawks 1952 screwball comedy with Cary Grant, Ginger Rogers and Marilyn Monroe (guess who's on the DVD cover); and the 1931 Marx Brothers "Monkey Business," this time with Groucho, Harpo, Chico and Zeppo up to their usual antics on a transatlantic crossing. And, of course, the latest remake of the greatest ape of all time, King Kong.

Don't forget the music: Joe Ely's list of Monkey Songs (I can't explain it; it just makes me laugh); the Black Eyed Peas CD "Monkey Business" (wish I had the trademark on this phrase); and the hot new British band, Arctic Monkeys, scheduled to appear at Austin's SXSW Music Festival in March.

Apparently, I could go on for days about monkeys, but I'll close with a final comment on the commercial popularity of various small mammals: Only 1,372 guinea pig-related items show up on Amazon.