(From an essay I'm working on and won't have time to finish tonight: "Unprotected sex, motorcycles, and the wilderness: why cellular service should be geographically limited and people left to the consequences of their own stupidity".)
Much of the world is tamer...
than it used to be; tamer than it is naturally. Buildings are zoned and coded with automatic doors, enough fire exits for every occupant, and sturdy railings over sturdy stairs with run-to-rise ratios set to accommodate even the most clumsy and out-of-shape. People climb stairs like these into buildings like these to watch big screens on which actors pretend to dare and risk. The audience members become the hero being put to the test, overcoming the obstacle or villain. They rise, fall, then rise again on plot waves designed to thrill, then shuffle out clearly market exits to drive dual air-bag, anti-lock brake, power steered, vehicles home along roads that clearly warn and re-warn of every upcoming curve, bump, and dip. If they're lucky they have at least decent sex before going to sleep. The film and sex are the highlight of their week.
(From an essay I'm working on and won't have time to finish tonight: "Unprotected sex, motorcycles, and the wilderness: why cellular service should be geographically limited and people left to the consequences of their own stupidity".)
(From an essay I'm working on and won't have time to finish tonight: "Unprotected sex, motorcycles, and the wilderness: why cellular service should be geographically limited and people left to the consequences of their own stupidity".)
What does your refrigerator say about you?
I came across these photographs of the contents of peoples' refrigerators by Mark Menjivar. They're more fascinating than they sound. What a person buys and consumes says a lot about them. In most cases, more than just how healthy he/she is. One of the freezers has a frozen rattlesnake in it!
After seeing the above link, just for fun, without cleaning or straightening anything, I took a picture of my fridge (then cleaned it!). No rattlesnake, but I can say I'm proud of the contents, my half anyway; the fruits and veggies, freshly made iced tea, live, active culture yogurt, top quality eggs. My roommate, Ben's, half had 3 containers of cream cheese. I couldn't decide if he'd just forgotten he already had cream cheese (two were open) or if he just really likes cream cheese.
Ben's side also had two really nasty, rotten oranges, but they weren't his. He thought they were mine, I thought they were his. A closer look revealed they were bought at a produce shop in NJ. Did someone leave oranges in my fridge in the bottom right drawer? You need to come get them, they smell. Thanks!
After seeing the above link, just for fun, without cleaning or straightening anything, I took a picture of my fridge (then cleaned it!). No rattlesnake, but I can say I'm proud of the contents, my half anyway; the fruits and veggies, freshly made iced tea, live, active culture yogurt, top quality eggs. My roommate, Ben's, half had 3 containers of cream cheese. I couldn't decide if he'd just forgotten he already had cream cheese (two were open) or if he just really likes cream cheese.
Ben's side also had two really nasty, rotten oranges, but they weren't his. He thought they were mine, I thought they were his. A closer look revealed they were bought at a produce shop in NJ. Did someone leave oranges in my fridge in the bottom right drawer? You need to come get them, they smell. Thanks!
What does your refrigerator say about you?
Railing against the average: notes from a soul-sucking commute
by David A. Brensilver
"I want to attack the man sitting across from me. He has done nothing but sit quietly. He is listening to music through a pair of headphones and has not made eye contact. He is not taking up more space than is necessary and is allowing me mine. Still, I feel an urge to thrash him with my laptop. He is closest. That is why."
Read the rest here
"I want to attack the man sitting across from me. He has done nothing but sit quietly. He is listening to music through a pair of headphones and has not made eye contact. He is not taking up more space than is necessary and is allowing me mine. Still, I feel an urge to thrash him with my laptop. He is closest. That is why."
Read the rest here
Definition: Anthropic Principle
Somewhat related to intelligent design, but more open and overarching, the Anthropic Principle views human life as more than a coincidence. It asks science to consider the possibility that the universe is designed for life instead of being a random, detached composite from which life has coincidentally grown.
1. Anthropic Principle Links Page
2. AnthropicPrinciple.com
3. Anthropic Principle at Wikipedia
1. Anthropic Principle Links Page
2. AnthropicPrinciple.com
3. Anthropic Principle at Wikipedia
Dark Side of the Rainbow
For anyone who has ever been curious about syncing Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon album with the Wizard of Oz. Here it is, all the hard work done for you!
From the YouTube description:
In this 1st of 6 videos watch as Dorothy balances on a fence rail while the words "Balanced on the biggest wave you race towards an early grave" are sung. Dorothy falls as the words "early grave" are sung. Watch how the tempo of the music then changes to work with the movie.
This is just the beginning; it gets much better.
From the YouTube description:
In this 1st of 6 videos watch as Dorothy balances on a fence rail while the words "Balanced on the biggest wave you race towards an early grave" are sung. Dorothy falls as the words "early grave" are sung. Watch how the tempo of the music then changes to work with the movie.
This is just the beginning; it gets much better.
Psychology in spending
Is this why Euro coins are made in so many denominations?
Why We Spend Coins Faster Than Bills
Why We Spend Coins Faster Than Bills
Sugar and Caffeine
I drove to Virginia this weekend for Mother's Day after a hectic work week without much sleep. To combat the fatigue and remain semi-social, I tried a few 5 Hour Energies for the first time. They worked as claimed, inspiring me to research the ingredients and sugar/caffeine content of other options.
I found, among other things, that different flavors of Mt Dew have different amounts of caffeine, and that 5 Hour Energy does have caffeine, but the exact amount is masked by amino acids.
1. Visuals of sugar content
2. How much caffeine is really in drinks?
3. 5 hour energy breakdown
4. Caffeine to be disclosed on labels?
I found, among other things, that different flavors of Mt Dew have different amounts of caffeine, and that 5 Hour Energy does have caffeine, but the exact amount is masked by amino acids.
1. Visuals of sugar content
2. How much caffeine is really in drinks?
3. 5 hour energy breakdown
4. Caffeine to be disclosed on labels?
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but...
why say it?
A thought-terminating cliché is a commonly used phrase, sometimes passing as folk wisdom, used to quell cognitive dissonance. Though the phrase in and of itself may be valid in certain contexts, its application as a means of dismissing dissention or justifying fallacious logic is what makes it thought-terminating.
In George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, the fictional constructed language Newspeak is designed to reduce language entirely to a set of thought-terminating clichés. Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World society uses thought-terminating clichés in a more conventional manner, most notably in regard to the drug soma as well as modified versions of real-life platitudes, such as, “A doctor a day keeps the jim-jams away.” (from Wikipedia)
Are you guilty of using thought-terminating cliches?
Thought-terminating cliché (examples)
A thought-terminating cliché is a commonly used phrase, sometimes passing as folk wisdom, used to quell cognitive dissonance. Though the phrase in and of itself may be valid in certain contexts, its application as a means of dismissing dissention or justifying fallacious logic is what makes it thought-terminating.
In George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, the fictional constructed language Newspeak is designed to reduce language entirely to a set of thought-terminating clichés. Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World society uses thought-terminating clichés in a more conventional manner, most notably in regard to the drug soma as well as modified versions of real-life platitudes, such as, “A doctor a day keeps the jim-jams away.” (from Wikipedia)
Are you guilty of using thought-terminating cliches?
Thought-terminating cliché (examples)
Quick Quotes 2
All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.
- Arthur Schopenhauer
Asking a working writer what he thinks about critics is like asking a lamppost how it feels about dogs.
- John Osborne
In Jersey Anything's Legal (As Long As You Don't Get Caught!)
- Bob Dylan
- Arthur Schopenhauer
Asking a working writer what he thinks about critics is like asking a lamppost how it feels about dogs.
- John Osborne
In Jersey Anything's Legal (As Long As You Don't Get Caught!)
- Bob Dylan
2001, Portugal decriminalizes all drugs including cocaine and heroine
Drug Decriminalization in Portugal: Lessons For Creating Fair and Successful Drug Policies. From the Cato Institute (report at bottom of page).
Before dark
He twists to fly the silent
speeding machine. Rides in the
evening, in love with his shadow, a
phantom brother, coat flapping like
a cape, twists to fly.
-Tyler Samien (2009)
speeding machine. Rides in the
evening, in love with his shadow, a
phantom brother, coat flapping like
a cape, twists to fly.
-Tyler Samien (2009)
La Pirámide Comestibles (excerpt)
by Tyler Samien
It is rumored among southern Texans that down Hwy 57, through Eagle Pass, and across the Rio Grande, roundabouts Piedras Negras, a small produce shop, sells, in addition to the peppers and tomatoes upstairs, a different type of commodity below, the Vegetable Brothel, as it is humorously called by Texans before a laugh and nudge, as in: “My you’re looking healthy lately, haven’t been cheating on Susan at that Veggie Brothel have you? [Laugh] [Nudge]”. A few years back, with its presence in pop-culture peaking, this Vegetable Brothel was passionately condemned from the brimstone pulpit of many a Baptist church on Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday evening. During this same time, in argument and common schoolyard rancor among boys, and a few girls too, the insult: At least my mom doesn’t work at the vegetable brothel, was quite common, and caused more than a few retaliatory spitballs.
But that was a few years back. The Vegetable Brothel now shares, along with the Desert Chupacabra and Crockett’s Ghost, a place in regional folk legend. It is a reference used less frequently by anyone besides cliché individuals like the school bully who doesn’t, and will never, realize that there was an art and creativity involved in cutting another human being down.
It is rumored among southern Texans that down Hwy 57, through Eagle Pass, and across the Rio Grande, roundabouts Piedras Negras, a small produce shop, sells, in addition to the peppers and tomatoes upstairs, a different type of commodity below, the Vegetable Brothel, as it is humorously called by Texans before a laugh and nudge, as in: “My you’re looking healthy lately, haven’t been cheating on Susan at that Veggie Brothel have you? [Laugh] [Nudge]”. A few years back, with its presence in pop-culture peaking, this Vegetable Brothel was passionately condemned from the brimstone pulpit of many a Baptist church on Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday evening. During this same time, in argument and common schoolyard rancor among boys, and a few girls too, the insult: At least my mom doesn’t work at the vegetable brothel, was quite common, and caused more than a few retaliatory spitballs.
But that was a few years back. The Vegetable Brothel now shares, along with the Desert Chupacabra and Crockett’s Ghost, a place in regional folk legend. It is a reference used less frequently by anyone besides cliché individuals like the school bully who doesn’t, and will never, realize that there was an art and creativity involved in cutting another human being down.
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