Urinal Targets

The good people at GOOD Magazine talk about tricking people into doing the right thing. We are all, how you say, "nudge-able" and GOOD compiled a shortlist of "carefully planned nudges" that effectively curb teenage pregnancy and help smokers quit.

Stop men from peeing on the floor. Authorities at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam have etched the image of a black housefly into each urinal. It seems that men usually do not pay much attention to where they aim, which can create a bit of a mess. But if you give them a target, they can’t help but try to hit it. Similar designs have been implemented in urinals around the world, including mini soccer goals, bulls-eyes, and urine video games (seriously). Do they work? Since the bugs were etched into the airport urinals, spillage has decreased by 80 percent.

Cow & Boy

Joe Biden

Our newly announced potential VP is obviously:

• a Democrat
• a long-term Senator
• a skilled public speaker

If you want to learn more about him, might i suggest you click HERE? The website tracks his historical votes on all issues: international and domestic, economic and social. Yes, i'm sending you to an embarrassingly sophomoric site (visually and organizationally), but the content there is impartial and comprehensive, which is a rarity these days.

Chick Flicks...

.. according to Sarah Haskins. Must watch till the end, heh.

"You have seen them all before. But you will see them all again."

Thought of the Day

Hi there, enraptured reader. *Wave to myself* Yes, i'm back after a slight hiatus for no good reason. I've been generally neglectful of life activities and its participants. But this blog can't feel too bad, because blogs don't have feelings. The creature that's sprung up from my neglected dishes, however, has evolved complex emotions and is heckling me as i type.

Merriam-Webster defines cliché as:

1: a trite phrase or expression; also : the idea expressed by it
2: a hackneyed theme, characterization, or situation
3: something (as a menu item) that has become overly familiar or commonplace

Duh, people try to avoid them. But i've been thinking: Cliché are clichés for a reason. Repetition is a prerequisite, so why would we repeat something that didn't resonate? I actually disagree with the definition by Merriam-Webster, it's only the last line (#3) that's key. A cliché is not trite by nature, but made so by becoming overly familiar or commonplace. Let me put it another way- the word cliché is by no means a synonym for trite or hackneyed. I mean, when someone says something trite, i'd call it stupid, ignorant or umm... trite. The c-word would never come to mind unless I'd heard it before, a lot, and in those words.

So, i think clichés have gotten a bad rep. In rebellion, i thought i'd share my favorites. I find them neither trite nor hackneyed...unless Merriam-Webster defines either of those words as "True, simply true."

• Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
• The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree.
  
• Women: you can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em.
  
• Don't count your chickens before they're hatched.
• The bell doesn't un-ring quite so loudly.
  
• If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen.
• All's fair in love and war.
• Everybody hurts sometime.
• New York: if I can make it here, I can make it anywhere.
  
• Breaking up is hard to do.
• Stay forever young.
• It's my party and I'll cry if I want to.
  
• Oops I did it again.

Oh, oops, the last couple might be pop song lyrics. But i think it goes with the spirit of this post.

Q: How do you get into any club?

A: By pretending you're a DJ.

"I've got my headphones, my ironic sunglasses, my ironic hoodie, and of course, my DJ bag."

After conquering a range of clubs, Nicholas and AJ try their luck at:

• Taking over international concerts
• Cutting the line at ATM machines
  
• Skipping bridge tolls
• Getting into Parliament House
• Taking the bus for free

How could they not try the stint on some ladies?!

Obama Wants to Text You

...who his VP running mate will be. Text VP to 62262 to receive the update on your mobile phone. Or fill out this form.

O-Obama, you so kewl. Wait, hmm, didn't the Pope do it first?

Eating like an Olympian

The Michael Phelps Diet amounts to about 12,000 calories a day. For context, an average joe takes in 2,200-2,800.

Here we go then: The Michael Phelps Diet for Health, Happiness and More Olympic Gold Medals Than Anyone Else Ever. We'll ignore, momentarily, the fact that the best swimmer the world has seen stands 6ft 4in tall, has a wingspan - fingertip to fingertip - of 6ft 7in, and weighs in at 192lb. We'll ignore also the fact that he spends most of his life in a pool, swimming at least 50 miles a week very fast indeed, and the rest of it in a gym. We'll ignore, finally, the fact that I am not quite as big as him, and do not, most days, get quite as much exercise.

I am going to see what it is like to eat what Michael Phelps eats in a day.

What happens with a Guardian journalist tries to replicate it? You got it- nausea. Lots of it.

Christian the Lion

Tissue, please.



A lovely article with more backstory can be found here.

Thought of the Day

"Truth hurts," they say. I ask- why, why does the truth hurt?

Is it because we're not used to it?

We spin layers of lies around us like a protective cocoon; we turn a blind eye to the unpleasant & unpalatable. Moreso than the previous ages, we now cling to ignorance, not as a result of limitations (in information, science, communication), but as a choice.

I'm not judging. There's a reason we do this: to survive.

"To be acutely conscious is a disease, a real, honest-to-goodness disease."
-Dostoevsky, Notes from Underground

Mitch Hedberg Stand-up

"I'm saved by the buoyancy of citrus!"



The best thing he ever said:

"You know, I'm sick of following my dreams, man. I'm just going to ask where they're going and hook up with 'em later."

BBC Documentary on Cannabis

From Mind Hacks:

"I've uploaded a fascinating video clip where a TV presenter is intravenously injected with the active ingredients of cannabis as part of the BBC documentary Should I Smoke Dope?.

It's part of an experiment to compare the effects of intravenous THC and cannabidiol combined, with intravenous THC on its own. The mix of both gives the presenter a pleasant giggly high while THC on its own causes her to become desolate and paranoid.

Both are these are known to be key psychoactive ingredients in cannabis but the video is interesting as it is a reflection of the fact that THC has been most linked to an increased risk of developing psychosis while cannabidiol seems to have an antipsychotic effect."

Me, myself and i

Why do we capitalize the word "I"?

There’s no grammatical reason for doing so, and oddly enough, the majuscule “I” appears only in English.

Consider other languages: some, like Hebrew, Arabic and Devanagari-Hindi, have no capitalized letters, and others, like Japanese, make it possible to drop pronouns altogether. The supposedly snobbish French leave all personal pronouns in the unassuming lowercase, and Germans respectfully capitalize the formal form of “you” and even, occasionally, the informal form of “you,” but would never capitalize “I.” Yet in English, the solitary “I” towers above “he,” “she,” “it” and the royal “we.” Even a gathering that includes God might not be addressed with a capitalized “you.”

Fascinating. For nearly two decades now, my person writings have utilized an uncapitalized "i".

e. e. cummings

i carry your heart

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in

my heart) i am never without it (anywhere

i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done

by only me is your doing, my darling)

i fear

no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want

no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)

and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever a sun will always sing is you


here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows

higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart


i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

Sir David Attenborough on the Orangutan

Must watch.

Irony

I just used a book to smash a fly to death.
Name of the book?
Buddha.

The Earth is Flat

Flat-earthers are people who believe, here in the 21st century, that the earth is flat. (Believers in a round earth are called globularists.)

I checked around, and this doesn't seem to be a joke. Are you as frightened as I am?

From the Flat-earth FAQ:

Q: "Why are other celestial bodies round but not the Earth?"

A: The Earth is not one of the other planets. The Earth is special and unlike the other bodies in numerous ways.

Q: "What's underneath the Earth?" aka "What's on the bottom?" aka "What's on the other side?"

A: This is unknown. Some believe it to be just rocks, others believe the Earth rests on the back of four elephants and a turtle.

They unfortunately do not address my subsequent question:
Are the animals distributed evenly across the bottom or stacked like a mini Jenga? If so, I feel sorry for the turtle.

The i-Rack

Still one of my favorite skits, ever.

World's Oldest Tree

...is nearly 10,000 years old!

Age 13

Dear Prince,

My hair is very short,
I don't live high up
at the top of some
castle,
And I don't need
the
rescue.

Just
ride
your
blue
bike
down
my street and
ring the bell
this Saturday.

We can
chase
those
dragons
to
gether.

- Your Potential Princess

Thought of the Day

When you get down to it, all religions are employed to define and direct us to be an outstanding human citizen.

The fundamental difference between western religions (Christianity, Catholicism, etc.) and eastern religions (Buddhism, Taoism, etc.) is simply:

The former motivates on fear: if you're not good you'll go to hell. While the latter motivates by...well, nothing really. Sure, there's something to strive for- enlightenment, nirvana- but none of those endpoints are described to be particularly pleasant or lovely.

Basic Divergences:

• God: The first 4 commandments dictate a single and transcendent God, for which there is "no other". In the west, you'd have to say there is no God (for anyone can achieve the topmost level of nirvana) or there are countless (depending on location or situation). There's no concept of a God that's all powerful, since each one is limited by area of expertise.
  I like to think of these folks as "specialized".
• Consequences: In eastern religions, there is no such thing as punishment. That's not to say actions don't have consequences, that's addressed by the concept of karma. According to Wikipedia, "Through the law of karma, the effects of all deeds actively create past, present, and future experiences, thus making one responsible for one's own life, and the pain and joy it brings to him/her and others." Essentially, I should not kill my neighbor because at the end, I have to answer to myself and the reality of my deed. Based on western teachings, I will not kill my neighbor because God would smite me down.
  Now which of those motivations is more viscerally powerful? Err, I plead the 5th.
  
• Transience: Of course, all religions must establish a sense of permanence, which gives the practitioner a sense of comfort and value beyond the immediate. However, the eastern teachings eliminate transience (for better or worse) more thoroughly than the west. "Carpe diem!" is a neat inspirational catchphrase, but humans generally can not live in the moment, cling to a sense of self-grandeur, and cower before the transience of existence. Both types of religions employ "the soul" as a permanent fixture beyond time and flesh & bones. However, eastern practices establishes a permanence to one's actions (see Wiki quote above) through time. To me, it seems a bit harsh to bear the consequences of any deed for the duration of all existence. But what's the alternative? Western religions employ the concept of "confession", which has no statute of limitations. Theoretically, you may live an entire lifetime in sin, but on your deathbed you can "repent and be forgiven".
  I can't help but think about a court of law (they do both call it judgment). In our legal system, a confession made in duress and significant emotional distress is labeled coerced and thrown out. Now, wouldn't you say that laying on one's deathbed is emotionally distressing? Or at least you'll have to give me this: the threat of eternal damnation is a damn good (pun intended) coercion technique.
  
• Goals: If I live according to the western teachings, I will be rewarded with heaven, a place of perfect goodness, "…a place of light, a place of green pasture, a place of repose, whence all sickness, sorrow and sighing are fled away for all eternity." If I abide by the eastern standards, I can hope for a transient reprieve from the suffering of life (Samsara), after which my karma will rebirth me into a human, animal or other being. Gee, how gracious.
  

Good God, I'm going to hell or coming back as a dung-beetle for writing this entry.

Foodie-llectualism

Illuminating talk by Mark Bittman about food.

Coming from an adamant carnivore, this is still worth chewing on.