Road food
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Romantic Thoughts Increase Male Chivalry
After this participants were thanked and they continued down the street. Further along they were approached again, this time by someone asking them for change to buy a bus ticket. Although it seemed to people that these were unrelated incidents, this was, of course, all part of the same experiment.
Knight in shining armourWhat the experimenters found was that when men were asked to recall a ''love episode'' (love that expression!) they were much more likely to give money to a woman asking for money at the bus stop. A paltry 13% of men gave money in the ''music'' condition, while this increased to 38% in the ''love'' condition. Thinking about love seemed to make men more generous towards women.
For women, meanwhile, thinking about love had little effect on their helping behaviour. They were more generous than men while thinking about music in the control condition (23% gave money) and only slightly more generous when thinking about love (27% gave money).
Lamy et al. (2008) explain this through the gender stereotypes adopted by men and women. The amount of help provided is affected by how men and women see their role in society. Men generally like to display chivalrous behaviour to women - rescuing the damsel in distress - and this becomes especially salient to men when they are encouraged to think romantic thoughts. It also doesn''t hurt that they''re in the street with a better opportunity to show off their chivalrous behaviour to others.
The effect on women, though, was not as marked. Although women are stereotypically nurturant and therefore keen to help others, especially friends or family, Lamy et al. (2008) suggest this doesn''t stretch to strangers in a public place. This might explain why cueing women with a love episode didn''t significantly increase the help they were willing to give to a stranger.
Help me!This study is in line with previous research finding that women are more likely to be on the receiving end of help than men, and that when men help another person it is more likely to be a woman than a man. What it adds is the idea that men''s gender roles can be made particularly salient to them with thoughts of love.
Naturally women already understand this principle, whether consciously or not. That''s why when they ask a man to do them a big favour, it is usually prefaced by: "How much do you love me?"
[Image credit: linhngan]
Lula Looks
Today, I am angry at Pepsi and Barnes & Noble.
Why, you ask? Well, I was stuck behind a mind-numbingly slow Pepsi truck on the way to school today, so that accounts for the Pepsi hatred. But Barnes & Noble, a store I normally think of lovingly, appears to have stopped carrying Lula Magazine. And so I must hate it. Having looked at tFS to pore over editorials from the latest issue, I feel that B&N is doing me a great disservice.
And so, it is with Lula on my mind that I share those new cut-offs with you. I like ''em lots. They may be a simple, ratty garment, but sometimes those are the best parts of your wardrobe. It just depends on how you style them.
See if you can spot the Lula "influence" in these photos. Har, har. I must admit that I''m rather proud of myself.
Wearing:
♥ Artfully torn cut-offs
♥ New T sent over by the lovely people at Alternative Apparel after seeing the post I did on AltA. Reviews and such of the gear they sent coming up soon. . .
♥ Strap detached from a bag and worn as a belt
♥ Beautiful necklace brought back from Spain by my wonderful brother
♥ Combat boots
♥ Over-the-knee socks folded down
♥ Randomly puffy half-ponytail hairstyle
♥ A wee bit of attitude
Clickity clack, indeed.
No, I don''t believe that comment made any sense. But it needed to be said.
The best part of this outfit is that the $25 boots were the most expensive part. Works for me!
How Does Your Astrological Sign Match Up With Various Celebrities'?
Here's an interesting idea for those of you who are tuned in to Astrology and are fans of celebrities.
I found a website that has a program that enables you to input your astrological sign and then, using a drop down list, select from among various celebrities to determine your compatibility.
The website is on MSN.com and has other interesting information about horoscopes and celebrities.
This site has general information about horoscopes, astrological signs, Feng Shui and related matters, and this one has even more details about astrology.
Source:www.wayneluthi.com
ASUS Talker - Yet another Windows Mobile Smartphone
Asus recently announced the P552w Windows Smartphone and it seems ASUS is working on launching another touch screen Windows Smartphone. Not much is known about the device as yet but the Asus Talker AKA the GM5, the Crystal and the XDA Zest looks a lot like the Samsung Omnia and features a 5 Megapixels camera. The Asus Talker is also rumored to come with the following specifications: 3G/HSDPA, Tri-band GSM, Large WQVGA or WVGA Touch Screen Display, WiFi, Bluetooth, microSD slot & a Track-ball.
Source: Register Hardware
Season of exhaustion
This photo is actually a couple of months old, but it illustrates the condition of the lake at Roundrock pretty well. This is the season of exhaustion in my woods. The heat and humidity pull every ounce of enthusiasm from my flesh and make even the simplest jobs too much work and trouble to pursue. All of the ambitions to change the face of Roundrock to match my imagination seem unworkable, impossible.
The plants in the forest show their exhaustion too. The robust, riotous growth is over and the leaves on the scrub hang in a state of fatigue, as though the big idea of growing so robustly in the spring was maybe not such a good idea after all. The trees don’t tend to show similar limpness; they take a longer view of things and sink their roots deeper. Even the trees, though, can begin to look exhausted if the heat and drought persist.
There may be a few good rainstorms yet this year to recharge the lake, but by August, much of the water has drained and the west end bottom is exposed. The ambitious idea of a large lake in the Central Valley seems presumptuous this time of year, like so many other big dreams I have.
But that doesn’t stop me from wishing I was there right now, scheming and dreaming and maybe putting a hand to bringing some of them about.
Missouri calendar:
- Wild grapes begin to ripen.
- Duff Green was born on this date in 1791. During his years in Missouri he served as a secret agent for President Buchanan, attempting to negotiate a deal with President-elect Lincoln that would provide a constitutional solution to the secession that was pending. The effort failed, but Green, served in many capacities of the federal government for years later.
- The Battle of Lone Jack near Kansas City occurs in 1862.
- Character actress Alice Ghostley is born on this day in 1926 (or is it 1924 - she may have lied about her age to get into acting sooner) in Eve, Missouri.
The Adventures of Jake: Shower Dilemma
I don''t know how many of you know this (some of you might remember our twin photo shoot), but I have a twin brother. His name is Jake, and he''s pretty awesome, at least most of the time. In the spirit of copying Winona (because let''s face it; who doesn''t want to copy Winona), I''ve asked him to do a guest post on my blog. Enjoy! And comment lots; it''s his first ever blog post and I want it to be a good experience! He insists that this post is a piece of crap (it''s not), so let''s prove him otherwise!
Hi. My name is Jake, and I am Kori’s twin brother. Kori has been asking me to do a guest post on her blog for a bajillion years, and I’ve finally decided to come around and join the oh-so-wonderful blogging community. Before I begin, however, I think it is important to provide you guys with a warning. Unfortunately, I am saddened to admit that I do not have the same artistic talent that Kori has; I know very little about fashion. Occasionally I get it into my head that yes, maybe I really am fashionable, but Kori is always quick to put me in my place – for example, when she alerted me to the fact that the grey sweatpants-grey sweatshirt combo is actually a fashion don’t (despite the parallel in color). To put it succinctly, if it were not for Kori’s constant fashion advice, I would probably look like a crazy who belongs on the classic MTV hit, “Next.” (My sincere apologies to any fans). [Note from Kori: Ahem, Jake likes this show.]
So if fashion isn’t my thing, then why am I writing on The Fashion-y Blog? Well, for a graduation gift, I received a very fancy bottle of shower gel from L’Occitane. I have to admit, when I first received the gift I was a little disappointed – I didn’t even know what shower gel was. I’ve always been a soap and water kind of guy (call me traditional), so this whole “shower gel” technology was understandably a bit intimidating. I examined the golden brown bottle and took a sniff of the yellow-y, gel-like solution inside. It smelled fresh, organic, natural. . . one might say it was designed for those of pure and unadulterated masculinity (i.e. yours truly). As I peered questioningly at the gleaming bottle of goo, it occurred to me in a moment of brilliance that “shower gel” was most likely another, hipper way of saying shampoo. After all, what other kind of liquidy substance did one use in the shower? My limited experience told me that this bottle could only be meant for use on my head. Satisfied with my logic, I hopped into the shower, prepared to give my hair the wash of a lifetime. I squeezed some of the thick liquid into my hands, and attempted to turn the gel into a rich lather. However, when the gel refused to foam into a consistency I was used to, I realized that shower gel was not the hair product I had thought it to be; the great mystery lived on. I felt as if the world was collapsing before my very eyes, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. Okay, that was a slight exaggeration, but the point remains the same – I was very disappointed. My logical reasoning hadn''t worked. I rinsed the suds from my hair and decided to save the logic for math class.
Ultimately, I was left with no choice but to ask Kori, my kind and loving sister, what the true meaning of “shower gel” really was. As one might expect, her initial response was to laugh her ass off while I stood there feeling like a complete awko. However, after a wonderful five minutes of humiliation, she explained to me that shower gel, contrary to common thought (yes, I am making myself feel better by calling it common) is simply a kind of luxurious soap alternative.
In conclusion, I think I’ll leave fashion and all fashion-related topics in the capable hands of my sister. I’ll give you an update on the L’Occitane shower gel once I have a chance to use it correctly, but for now, it’s a wrap.
Okay, grasshoppers, I hope you enjoyed Jake''s post! I feel like I should let you know that I really love how the shower gel smells - sort of a spicy, cedar-y smell. I actually tried it out once (okay, twice - sorry Jake), and while it''s definitely a male fragrance, a girl could easily pull it off. Outside of the shower, the scent fades until you can only get a faint whiff of something fresh, casual, and classy. Delish!
The Human Condition
Updated through 7/18.
My Dream Job
I’m a featured blogger now on blog.hu because of my Hungarian medical blog and I got an interesting question about which famous blogger I would like to wake up as tomorrow morning. It made me think for a while.
I’ve always wanted to become a researcher specialized in human genetics, that’s why I study genetics at the school of medicine of Debrecen. But as a blogger, I realized how innovative and fast online projects can be and how important e-health is.
My dream job would be a job where my only task is to inspire others with my vision and ideas while travelling through the world; and to understand more and more things that can have global effect.
Robert Scoble seems to be the best example right now.
Regarding the medical field, Alex Jadad has such a job:
Dr. Jadad initiated a new effort, known as the Global eHealth and eWellness Network Initiative (GENI, pronounced as ''genie''), which seeks to explore innovative ways to promote optimal levels of health and wellbeing through the use of ICTs. Areas of interest include technologically-assisted vital environments, social networks and virtual supportive communities, new modalities of tele-work and tele-mentoring, robotic applications to improve quality of life and innovations in entertainment… Dr. Jadad currently advises the World Health Organization as a member of its Global Observatory for eHealth''s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) .
He is also the leader of the Centre for Global eHealth Innovation.
So I will graduate from medical school before September, 2009; then I plan to start PhD training in genetics but will also work on my blog and the projects I have recently launched. Until then, I will attend conferences focusing on the future of medicine:
- 20th International Conference of the Society for Medical Innovation and Technology (Vienna, Austria; August 28-30): Oral presentation
- Medicine 2.0 Congress (Toronto, Canada, September 4-5): Oral presentation and Medical Bloggers’ Panel
- Health 2.0 conference? (Bilbao, Spain; November 20)
- Medicine Meets Virtual Reality conference 17 (Long Beach, CA; January, 2009): I’m a member of the organizing committee.
- NeXtHealth conference (2009)
24 Unforgettable Advertisements
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New Laws Restrict Cell Phone Usage
- Anyone under the age of 18 can not use a wireless phone or mobile service device. This includes telephones equipped with a hands-free device.
- Anyone 18 and older can not use a wireless phone unless equiped with hands-free operation.
- The law permits a driver, regardless of age, to use a wireless telephone for emergency purposes.
- $20 fine for the first offense and not more than $50 for each subsequent offense.
Yet another day
Those are some mighty big deer tracks, aren’t they? Note the toe of my boot for scale. We found these tracks all over the place down by the dam, around parts of the lake, throughout the pecan plantation, along the eastern fence line, and into the forest. It must have been a whole herd of really big deer.
Or it may have been something else, since we found a lot of this in all of those same places:
Maybe our interloping visitors were the ghosts of cattle from the days when Roundrock was part of a ranch. Or maybe they were actual cattle that had somehow found a way in to Roundrock and made a bovine mess of things.
This was what greeted us when Seth and I got down to our woods on Father’s Day. And from the looks of things, we had just missed the visitors. In fact, I suspected that the cattle were still around somewhere, perhaps in the trees where they could find some shade.
With this in mind, we began tracking the trespassers. It was easy to do. They pretty much tore up the ground wherever they went, leaving their big prints in the soggy ground (plus their soil-enriching additive), and mashing down the grass and scrub in the direction of their getaway.
From the top of the dam, we followed the deer down into the pecan plantation. They mostly wandered around down there, though one of the pecans was pretty much destroyed by what I guess was a cow scratching herself on the post and cage around it. (I hadn’t factored in itchy cattle when I designed those cages for the little trees.) Their tracks lead into the trees along our eastern border, and I thought we just might be able to find them in there.
The tracks grew muddled in there. It looked as though the bulk of the herd went south in the direction of our woods we call the Hinterland. That seemed likely since it is deeply forested and was probably cool. But those tracks petered out and the only clear direction we could find was a few cattle wandering along the slope south of the pecan plantation toward the dam.
The cattle had crossed the dam, though a few ventured down the edge of it to the water to get a drink. Some also wandered down the face of the dam and back into the pecans again.
After that, we lost their track. We were to learn later that they had grown smart. They had simply walked up our road where there was no grass or scrub and where the ground was comparatively firm. They later found the only break in the fence along our northern property line and entered our neighbor’s corn field. Not only did they tear up the soft ground there, but they appeared to have had a good time munching on his knee-high corn. The cattle that didn’t avail themselves of the fence break for some free corn found their way onto Good Neighbor Brian’s land by exiting through our pine plantation.
The wet ground gave their tracks the appearance of being fresh, but they may have been several days old. Their droppings suggested otherwise, and I really do think we just missed seeing the herd on our land. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if some of them are still hanging out in my woods. Plenty to eat and fresh water available. Life would be good there.
Needless to say, our morning did not start out as we planned, so our original agenda was modified. We still managed to get a few things done though.
Missouri calendar:
- Bullfrog breeding is at its peak.
- In 1933, a shootout at Kansas City''s Union Station results in the death of one criminal and four federal agents. "Pretty Boy" Floyd was one of the shooters. Bullet holes are still visible in the wall of the train station.
- Actor Mark Linn-Baker is born on this date in St. Louis in 1954.
Cultural Differences With Dating
Does dating someone from outside your culture present difficulties? I've dated people from many different cultures, and from personal experience I can say it really didn't. Still, I caught this article about dating a non-Latino, and thought I'd throw the question out to all of you.
I've found personally that dating someone outside your culture gives you more opportunity to learn about the person. But I suppose it also depends on how different your beliefs are. You're more likely to stay together with someone long-term if you share the same ideas about faith, lifestyle, children, wealth, and family. You can be from a different culture and still share the same life goals. It's when the details about your cultural beliefs are contrary that there might be problems.
But that's just my opinion. What's yours?
Tin Can Artist
David Wasserman (1917 - 1999) was a graphic designer and cartoonist who experimented in his spare time with the artistic possibilities of metal collage. For more than thirty years, he nailed small pieces of tin cans, aluminum soda cans and other metals to sheets of plywood, to create large-scale but incredibly detailed pictures.
Since he wanted to explore all the possibilities of his chosen medium, the style of his work ranges from abstract to cartoon to realistic, and his subject matter includes famous people, powerful beasts, the depths of space, family photos, and an urban cityscape.
(thanks Steven)
Mediocrity....
The Blog Entrepreneur has an interesting entry about how we condemn ourselves to mediocrity because of several factors the most important of which is aiming to low in our goals.
Many of us are just scared to aim too high because we are afraid that we will not hit our target and be failures because of it. Some others fear that they will succeed and will not know how to handle it.
In other words we need to get out of our comfort zones if you are going to get above mediocrity. We have to be willing to take chances with failure, and if we do fail we take the lessons learned and grow from it. Then we will rise above mediocrity and truly become successful.
My Blueberry Nights
"If I was a snarkier writer, I''d say that this is a love story to New York from someone who''s still afraid of Manhattan subways," blogs David Lowery. "Which is true, as evidenced by some of the dialogue in the film, but Wong''s foreign perspective on Americana isn''t necessarily a problem; nor is it the English delivery that makes his dialogue so bad, or Norah Jones''s lack of acting experience that makes her lovelorn monologues so cloying. It''s just that it''s all so damn trite, a problem exacerbated by a serious case of self-importance."
Updated through 4/5.
Exchange Rates: Beware of Assumptions
I do a lot of business with clients in the U.S. and back in 2000 I remember getting 1.57 CDN for each U.S, dollar. Today it is just $1.04 or $1.05.
Big difference. Failing to re-examine changes in the assumptions behind your business can result in bankruptcy:
A high Canadian dollar and new passport rules are driving away American clients, says the owner of an eastern Ontario woodworking school that recently went bankrupt.
Since January, new rules have required U.S. citizens to carry passports when they fly to and from Canada. Those rules have been lifted for the summer while the U.S. tries to catch up on a backlog of passport applications.
"On any given week, you'd have basically three full-time employees, a couple of the guest teachers, and then up to 14 students," he said. "Even though Rosewood was only here for a short period of time, it's done a lot for the town." Via CBC
Well Done
Croatian creative agency Bruketa & Zinic have designed an annual report for food company Podravka that has to be baked in an oven before it can be read.
Called ''Well Done,'' the report features blank pages printed with thermo-reactive ink that, after being wrapped in foil and cooked for 25 minutes, reveal text and images.
Do You Love Pets?
Join up with All About Pets, provided to you by The Blue Cross, Britain's pet charity in the UK. Now you'll have a place to get together online with other pet lovers and pet owners. Get information from other people about pets or just hang and chat.
There is a chat board that you can use on All About Pets to chat with other people about pets. You can also upload your own pet's photos and videos too. Show him or her off and let other pet lovers know how much you love your pet. Make your own All About Pets profile page. Then go see what other's have done on their profiles and rate them.
Lifesaver Rihanna
The ''Umbrella'' singer was so moved by mother-of-two Lisa Gershowitz Flynn''s story she joined forces with DKMS, the world''s leading bone marrow donor centre, to find her a match.
The 41-year-old New York lawyer was diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukaemia, a fast-growing cancer of the blood and bone marrow last November, and was given just four to six weeks to find a donor.
Following Rihanna''s public plea for help, 5,000 potential donors contacted DKMS and a match has now been found.
Lisa broke the happy news to her supporters in an email, saying: "Today a 32-year-old guardian angel consented to be my donor, even though in all likelihood she has never met me and does not know who I am."
Lisa, who has a five-year-old son Michael and three-year-old daughter Alexandra, said no words could ever describe how thankful she was.
She added: "My life will be saved because of you, my family and friends. My children will have their mother, my husband will have his wife, and my parents will have their daughter.
"The English language does not have words that are adequate to thank someone for working to save your life. Please continue to spread the word about how important it is to fill the bone marrow registry with donors to save others."
Last month, Rihanna, 20, explained her decision to help Lisa, saying: "When I heard about Lisa''s plight, my heart broke. I said, ''I need to get the word out about Lisa right away.'' "
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