Aplam was found in the Appalachians. Some eighteen months back during the spring break I went out to do some hiking in Virginia. Up on the mountains, I suddenly found a dog following me - very confused I moved on trying not to break my rythm - but after couple of hours it was hard not to be perplexed by this canine intrusion. We made friends but I told him that it would last only till I found his owner at the parking lot down near the highway. He agreed with a nod and we hiked for the next three hours. When I reached the parking lot - it was empty. I couldnt leave him next to the highways nor was the police helpful, so not-so-little doggy brown took the back seat of my rented chevy malibu and drove back to cambridge. His nomeclature happened somewhere in I-84 East where he was taking an extended leak and I had to come up with a name to call him back. He didnt respond ofcourse - infact we played hide and seek underneath the big trucks parked in a gas station for sometime after that. He is doing much better now though. He goes to school with me everyday and infact has attended a few lectures as well. ' Aplam ' has several variants - americans love to say it as 'ah-plum' , my greek labmate ' aplamos ' - yeah they have to make everything their own kind. My chilean friend calls him 'ap-loom' . hehe. The rest of the variants go far enough to dissociate itself from the original - ranges from 'apmul ' to 'napalm' ... Recently I found out that 'Aplam' in South India means a puppet.