Words I dislike

Words & concepts I strongly dislike - at this moment in time [2012/2013].

BAU (Business as Usual).
Normal.
Global South/North (Affluent countries).
Developed-Developping.
Socially optimal level of pollution [, (non)achieved by] the free market.
Civilized.
Planned obsolescence.

Brain just wanna have phun.

Once you understand that the brain is constantly trying to derail you from what you are (not fully-engagingly) doing at the moment,
it becomes easier to embrace and neglect it. Brain just wanna have phun.

Caring about others is caring for oneself

Caring about others will ultimately also be about caring for yourself.
If you want the people that love you and are close to you to flourish and thrive, to be happy,
it logically follows, that they need to be sure you are OK, actually good and genuinely doing great.

So, the argument goes, if you need external motivation for things you need to do - like work, study, thesis, laundry, whatever,
then know that
'when you do better, we do better'. (SW)

Onomatopoeity - onomatopoeia

Also something old I found on the PC. I wrote some of my onomatopoetic mistakes down in the last couple of years. This is their story.

Into the sizzling heat of savannas and bearly bearable humidity of the Brasilian rainforest.
... barely bearable humidity ...
A thought that has stricken me while reading the essay is
While on the topic, it stroke me that
While on the topic, it struck me while reading the essay that

Maybe I should've delete it the rest.
Maybe I should've deleted the rest.

jeaolus -> jealous  It's nice to know it just isn't in my dictionary.

and how much incouraged? -> encouraged

Yeah, it's a really cool weed...:)
Yeah, it's a really cool video:)

Sustainable: labelling of the food wood be
Sustainable: labelling of the food would be

with the same characterystic
with the same characteristic

I just saw you're message and I'm in Technotron... Jammer.
I just saw your message...

and the work did not at all progress as fast as I would hev liked to
and the work did not at all progress as fast as I would have liked to

Levels of English plummeting: No, these is to say that ...
Jesus. Onomatopoety, I kill you.

quire > choir

Lied on the bed
I lay on the bed...

##Dutch
Sometimes, my brain says something between Dutch & English, and instead of saying bye or dag, today, I went: "Bah!"
(Which is definitely better than the other way around, between dag and bye: "Die!" :)

Mono-dialogues

This is something old I found on my PC.


Internal dialogues

- I like her.
- You like everybody.
- True.
Still, she's kinda cute.
- Hopeless.

The Age of (Un)natural Inventions

Ho, luckily I'm not there yet. So, still exciting. Referring to the 'supposebly' Douglas Adams' three human reactions to new technologies (image below, got it from a tweet, here).

In the spirit of the post, here's my selection of the best inventions I recall from only the last 5 years.
Have you seen:

1. The awesome self-inflatible biking helmet, Hovding? A collection of links, info, here.
2. An all-year-round beer/drinks cooler, that also looks cool. Oh, it doesn't need any electricity, once installed. See link here.
3. A keyring that calls out for your keys, Chipolo (Slovenia) crowdfunded here.
4. A toy that talks and teaches your kid, and responds to him or her, Ubooly, here.
5. Copenhagen wheel - attachable wheel that powers up while you cycle, and helps you (up hill) faster, here. And same same but different (yet, Slovenian) version, FlyKly here.
6. Because I've tried it and it works (to reasonable physical limits of bending), Sugru with magnets!
7. Solar powered flash light: BoGo light: Buy one, Give one, a nice concept* with a useful product.
   (*Can't find it, but the idea of a pink flashlight in Africa (so that men wouldn't steal it from women) is touched upon here.)
8. One laptop (that can be winded-up) per child [empower the world's poorest children through education], here OLPC project, here: XO laptop (and tablet?). TED talk here.
9.  ? (tell me of more you know of)

 

So, I'm glad to be looking at another 7 years or so of wonder and amazement in tech world. (Though I'll strive for like, 77 years, just to be on the safe side of Wonder.)

Invisible bike helmet in a scarf

Bike helmets discourage cycling. Do they make you safer or unsafer? See extensive blog post with links, written by Howie Chong, below (4).

How about an invisible biking helmet? Or one that you can wear as a scarf, a neckie?
Enter Hövding from Sweden.

(1): Hövding: cycling helmet in a scarf | Hunter Skipworth, 14 Oct 2013
The latest innovation in bike gear? A nifty collar that inflates to become an airbag at the first sign of trauma. And you're safe from helmet hair, too.

(2): video: Invisible Bike Helmet Saves Your Hair and Your Life: link (yT).

(3): NY Times: Who needs a cycling helmet, when you’ve got an airbag? | Murad Ahmed Technology Reporter, November 13 2013. Link here.

And how to drive in tricky situations? See (5), Cycling Savvy.

"Bike helmets discourage cycling. An Australian study on mandatory helmet laws concluded that laws that required cyclists to wear head protection actually decreased the number of cyclists on the road. The implication of this study? The fewer cyclists on the road, the less likely drivers will be accustomed to sharing road space with cyclists, ultimately increasing the hazards faced by cyclists and further dissuading people from hopping on their bikes." (From: (4))

(4): "Children and toddlers on foot are far more likely to receive traumatic brain injuries than cyclists, yet parents who place protective headwear on their walking toddlers are openly ridiculed."
:: link here.

(4.2): Got it (4) via Florian Friedrich, on FB.

(5): Cool animations and explanations. Could work well for kids, learning to share the road. Here.

(6): The startup company, Hövding: http://www.hovding.com/

Got the image from: here.

The passing of time, marked by the changes in (written) language

See, for example older novels, like the ones of John Carter from Mars - excerpt below.

John Carter:
Adventures on Mars book cover

Ascending to the roof of the building I watched her for hours, until finally she was lost in the dim vistas of the distance. The sight was awe-inspiring in the extreme as one contemplated this mighty floating funeral pyre, drifting unguided and unmanned through the lonely wastes of the Martian heavens; a derelict of death and destruction, typifying the life story of these strange and ferocious creatures into whose unfriendly hands fate had carried it.

Edgar Rice Burroughs: John Carter of Mars, Chapter VIII, p. 38

Nice, huh? I think it's more diverse words than your reg'lar newspaper article. Or even a paragraph from your average book, nowadays. This is a guess.

Some time ago, I wanted to research, how words and language in Disney songs changed through the years. (Or search the web first, in case someone dunnit before.)

My proposition is that the level has dumbified and dropped dramatically. What's your take?

BMX - a kid in the eighties and nineties

It's nice to know I was definitely a kid in the 90s.

"BMX Bike: The amount of cool that you were is in direct correlation with the number of speeds on your bike.

"Nintendo: This was the greatest Christmas gift I’ve ever received and as soon as my parent’s got it for me I knew I would let them live with me when they got older and couldn’t take care of themselves."

From: The 40 Christmas Presents That Every Kid In The 90s Absolutely Had To Have. Nov. 21, 2013, By Rob Fee.

The trouble with trolls, nowadays

Dman, I like Terry Pratchett's style.

She was impressed, despite herself. You didn't often see proper dwarf halls these days. Most dwarfs were off earning big money in the cities down in the lowlands, where it was much easier to be a dwarf - for one thing, you didn't have to spend most of your time underground hitting your thumb with a hammer and worrying about fluctuations in the international metal markets. Lack of respect for tradition, that was the trouble these days. And take trolls. There were more trolls in Ankh-Morpork now than in the whole mountain range. Granny Weatherwax had nothing against trolls but she felt instinctively that if more trolls stopped wearing suits and walking upright, and went back to living under bridges and jumping out and eating people as nature intended, then the world would be a happier place.

From: Witches Abroad, page 67.

Bennedict Cumberbitch err ... Cumberbatch. You know, Sherlock.

Let's get it on: Bennedict Cumberbatch (link here)
:D Quietly, you'll thank me, ladies.

Cumberbatch talked for a long time about the tragedy of Turing’s life and about what has been a series of very intense roles, heavy on iconic fictional characters and real people. “I am so ready to play a really dumb character,” he said.

I like this two excerpts below:

'As good a sport as Cumberbatch is, he sometimes finds it a bit too much.

Filming “Sherlock” last year in Cardiff, Wales, he had an awkward interlude when he had to walk from his trailer to his car wearing a costume that, had anyone seen it, might have become a major plot spoiler. When he failed in his efforts to get a particularly persistent paparazzo not to photograph him, Cumberbatch shrouded himself in a hoodie (“I looked like Kenny in ‘South Park’”) and held up a sign he had hastily fashioned that said: “Go photograph Egypt and show the world something important.”

The move was lampooned by the British newspapers, particularly when, to the delight of hundreds of fans massed on the street in London for another shoot, Cumberbatch did it again, this time with signs printed with provocative questions about democracy, government intrusion, journalism and the battle between liberty and security in the war on terror.

“These are very complex questions and very difficult arguments to be very clear about, so to ask the questions is to stimulate the debate,” he explained. He has not done it since, though, he said, “I felt really strongly about it at the time.” '

This sounds positively like Ms. Granny Weatherwax* of Terry Pratchett's Discworld!

For a moment, he sounded positively Sherlockian. “There is a way of just shadowing through,” he continued. “The higher the walls, the more dark the windows, the bigger the sunglasses — the more people are going to look. The greatest disguise is learning how to be invisible in plain sight.”

*She has the ability to fade into the background of a room, see Powers, here.

Unhappy tree logs

So, I won't talk about deforestation, much like . I won't really delve into how discoveries like this newfound "gecko-bat" species wouldn't be possible anymore, if forests disappear. Also, I won't say anything more about cultural significance and indigenous people, nor relevance for medicine (Mark Plotkin's (wiki) quote "every time a shaman dies, it is as if a library burned down", see also (2), (3)).

I actually just thought it would be nice to store this photo somewhere.
So here you go.

(1): Source of pic: Got it from Carla, on FB: link here.

(2): Shamanism, By: Mark Andrew Ritchie. I use it as a source of the quote. Found by google.

(3): This book seems interesting: Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice: An Ethnobotanist Searches for New Medicines in the Amazon Rain Forest; Mark Plotkin (Amazon).

(4): This one is also actually pretty scary/cool: face on the side of the tree trunk.

Scaremongering in public debates

Word of the day: scaremongering.

scare·mon·ger (skâr′mŭng′gər, -mŏng′-) n.

One who spreads frightening rumors; an alarmist.

---

scare′mon′ger·ing n.   (from: the Free Dictionary.)

Example of usage: 

"The leaders of the local protest group spent a significant amount of efforts to galvanise local opposition, using rhetoric which pro-development stakeholders might call ‘scaremongering’ (it should be pointed out that we noted comparable ‘scaremongering’ tactics coming from a developer; Borders Biofuel first tried to ‘sell’ their fast pyrolysis plant in Wales on the basis of new  employment, but when public opposition became stronger, they began to argue that jobs in the existing sawmill were likely to disappear if the proposal was not accepted).
  It would be hard to prove that the initiators of the local protest do not fully believe their own rhetoric when they start off, but as they learn about the novel technology, these protest leaders must review this list of potential impacts and decide which ones are more ‘scientifically robust’ and/or more consistent with planning  regulations, thus providing more powerful arguments in the formal planning debate.
  However, these arguments may not be as powerful in the continued harnessing of public support to put pressure on elected local councillors. These leaders may thus end up in a situation where they are singing from two different hymn sheets." (van der Horst, 2007: 2711)



van der Horst, D. (2007). NIMBY or not? Exploring the relevance of location and the politics of voiced opinions in renewable energy siting controversies. Energy policy, 35(5), 2705-2714.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2006.12.012

There you go.

Enough is enough, Sir David Attenborough!

Sometimes, even the most steadfast intellectuals "lose" it.

This is David Attenborough, the face of modern naturalist documentaries, such as Life on Earth series, Planet Earth and Life (you could consider watching the Secret Life of Plants, it's really fascinating) saying that he's had it with denial in US:

[it is] extraordinary that one of the wealthiest, materially advanced societies in the world can support irrational myths in that way,” he said. “That they should do it privately is up to them but since what they do effects that whole world it’s pretty serious that they should not accept that humanity has been responsible for these changes that are absolutely evident to everyone else.”

From: Sir David Attenborough: Enough With the Creationists and Climate Change Deniers! | The Daily Beast, 11.2.2014, link here.

Now, I'll just quote the same source: 'Attenborough has made a career of resisting controversy, often describing himself as “a reporter” with no views of his own.'

Though to be honest, one thing is for sure: changes can be seen (or is part of it also the Baader-Meinhof effect as we talk about them more?), but the causes and the extent of those drivers is still debated. And debate is generally good.
  But if the debate is potentially artificially generated by those who stand to lose the most, or when the "debate" and the controversies encourage the stalemate, then well, you do need a change.

Because, you see, it's not about the butterflies anymore. It's about us. All of sentient and non-sentient (?) beings on this planet that were "raised" in a certain climate, with certain food sources and certain living environments. When all of these what used to be certainties change ... you've got yourselves a problem humanity.
  And I am saying humanity, as 'life [on Earth] will find a way'. It just may be that the Earth of tomorrow will be w/o the human species.
Meh. I'll just go eat my sandwich, pray excuse me.

[Addendum] {funny}
Sir David Attenborough's describes Olympic curling, in his signature voice & approach. This is golden.

Read more at http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=777_1392789840#OwKmCtFhm93oPcPl.99

Google Glasshole at a Glance

From the interwebs:

Oh, gods. "...is Google Glass sexy? /.../ Enter 'Glance,' a new app that lets users record and watch sex from all angles."
"/.../ I count on sex being the one time of day when I don't have to be holding in my stomach: please, Glass, don't take that small comfort away from me.

"The app's terminology, as well, is particularly ham-handed. You start the app by telling Glass 'it's time,' and end it by telling Glass to 'pull out.' Ugh. Who on earth did they consult for their market research, Ron Burgundy?"


Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/sex/10591948/Google-Glass-sex-tape-app-is-the-most-appalling-use-of-technology.html

'Right2Water' campaign: first ever European Citizens' Initiative hearing

This I copy directly from the EU website announcement, here.

I find it cool and weird at the same time. Oh, and to the prestigious list of words I don't quite like (because of their confunding potential and fancy sound), I *provisionally* add liberalisation. (I refer to the second sentence in the second paragraph, here.)

Parliament is to hold a public hearing next Monday on the universal right to clean water, the first EP hearing under the European Citizens' Initiative allowing the public to ask the EU authorities for new legislation.
The "Right2Water" campaign group has gathered almost two million signatures to its initiative calling on the Commission to draw up legislation to ensure universal access to adequate supplies of clean drinking water and sanitation throughout the EU. It will present its demands at the first ever European Citizens' Initiative hearing.


The campaigners point out that universal access to water is a human right enshrined by the UN. They will present their three key goals at the hearing, which are: “guaranteed water and sanitation for all in the EU”, “global access to water and sanitation for all” and “no liberalisation of water services”. They promote the provision of water and sanitation as essential public services for all and believe that these services should not be subject to EU internal market rules.


The public hearing, organised by Parliament's environment committee in association with the petitions, internal market and consumer protection and development committees and starting at 15.00 on Monday, 17 February, follows up the registration of the initiative by the Commission on 20 December 2013. It will provide a platform for debate with MEPs, the leaders of the ‘Right2Water’ initiative and representatives of the European Commission.


Citizens' Initiative


The Citizens' Initiative was introduced by the Lisbon Treaty and gives EU citizens who are eligible to vote in the European elections an opportunity to help shape the EU agenda. To qualify, a Citizens' Initiative must be signed by at least one million EU citizens, from at least seven of the 28 member states, within 12 months of the registration date. It must also fall within the Commission's remit.

REF. : 20140210IPR35552

Updated: ( 11-02-2014 - 09:01)

Again, this was copied in its entirety from here.

Brouhaha ... or "bless you, you've come straight from God"

Brou, ha ha. It's actually funny, how the words change meaning through centuries (and especially, where they come from - see below).

Brouhaha means 'great excitement or concern about something' (on Merriam-Webster). Online Dictionary describes it as:

1.

excited public interest, discussion, or the like, as the clamor attending some sensational event; hullabaloo: The brouhaha followed disclosures of graft at City Hall.

2.

an episode involving excitement, confusion, turmoil, etc., especially a broil over a minor or ridiculous cause: A brouhaha by the baseball players resulted in three black eyes.

---

Origin:
1885–90; < French, orig. brou, ha, ha! exclamation used by characters representing the devil in the 16th-cent. drama; perhaps < Hebrew, distortion of the recited phrase bārūkh habbā ( beshēm ădhōnai ) “blessed is he who comes (in the name of the Lord)” (Ps. 118:26)

From Dictionary.com, here.

What I find interesting, is what my today's discovery, the Online Etymology Dictionary gives (here):

1890, from French brouhaha (1550s), said by Gamillscheg to have been, in medieval theater, "the cry of the devil disguised as clergy." Perhaps from Hebrew barukh habba' "blessed be the one who comes," used on public occasions (cf. Psalm 118).

There. Now you know.
Today, it means great excitement ... via "muahaha, the devil is here", possibly from "bless you, you've come straight from God".

Retarded tweet - and the response

Just wow. The response from John Franklin Stephens, I mean.

After Ann Coulter referred to President Obama as a retard in a tweet during a 2012 presidential debate, Special Olympics athlete and global messenger John Franklin Stephens wrote this open letter:

Dear Ann Coulter,

Come on Ms. Coulter, you aren't dumb and you aren't shallow. So why are you continually using a word like the R-word as an insult? ...

I'm a 30 year old man with Down syndrome who has struggled with the public's perception that an intellectual disability means that I am dumb and shallow. I am not either of those things, but I do process information more slowly than the rest of you. In fact it has taken me all day to figure out how to respond to your use of the R-word last night.

I thought first of asking whether you meant to describe the President as someone who was bullied as a child by people like you, but rose above it to find a way to succeed in life as many of my fellow Special Olympians have.

Then I wondered if you meant to describe him as someone who has to struggle to be thoughtful about everything he says, as everyone else races from one snarkey sound bite to the next.

Finally, I wondered if you meant to degrade him as someone who is likely to receive bad health care, live in low grade housing with very little income and still manages to see life as a wonderful gift.

Because, Ms. Coulter, that is who we are – and much, much more.

After I saw your tweet, I realized you just wanted to belittle the President by linking him to people like me. You assumed that people would understand and accept that being linked to someone like me is an insult and you assumed you could get away with it and still appear on TV.

I have to wonder if you considered other hateful words but recoiled from the backlash.

Well, Ms. Coulter, you, and society, need to learn that being compared to people like me should be considered a badge of honor.

No one overcomes more than we do and still loves life so much.

Come join us someday at Special Olympics. See if you can walk away with your heart unchanged.

A friend you haven't made yet,
John Franklin Stephens
Global Messenger & Special Olympics Virginia

 

 Got the text from "Sue Fitzmaurice, Author", here: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=694488930572050&set=a.509153389105606.112928.508972909123654&type=1.

There is some sense in what she is saying in a response - that some words enter the language and start to mean something similar as the original ... though it seems to me this is still a very, very touchy subject.

  Plus, words have power. Power to change. (This is the first thing motivational/self-development guru's will tell you.) If we refer to specific sub-culture or minority or group of people in a particular way, we label them. Put them in box. Nobody wants to be labelled, ladies and gents. Nobody wants to be in a box. Because it's hard to get out of it again. And - as an extreme example - a lot of killing was justified by labelling.

  That's the oldest trick in the book, for turtle's sake! First, you make a group "invalid", un-normal, thereby dehumanising them to some extent. Then you trample some more of their rights. Then you go for other groups who oppose you or who people could hate (and thereby support your action against them). Yes? No? I mean, it's all there in the history books, if they haven't changed them yet.

I posted another entry on the matter of able-ism (a word I've never heard prior to that), here.

Date a girl who travels

Date a girls who travels is a response from "stephabroad" to someone else posting something under a title Don’t date a girl who travels ... look, it doesn't matter, really.

What matters is that this is a short, beautiful read. I for one like it. Cheerio.

See here: http://stephabroad.com/date-girl-travels/

It's possible. Les Brown on Roger Bannister

It's possible.
Saying that to yourself everyday will change your belief system.

“Most people operate out of their personal history, out of their memory,
things they’ve done, things they’ve experienced, things they’ve seen, things that they have observed.

What I’m suggesting is that you operate out of a larger vision of yourself, I want you to see yourself doing what you want to do, experiencing what you want to experience, having what you want to have, doing what it is that gives your life some meaning and value, operate out of your imagination not your memory.”

From the speech of Les Brown - It's possible.

Operate out of your imagination, not your memory.

Before April 8th 1954 [It seems it was 6th of May], the common belief, the universal belief, (because it had been tried, again and again and again and again, and people had failed), the belief was that man was physically not capable of breaking the 4 minute barrier, that he could not run a mile in less than 4 minutes. That was the belief. On the planet. It had never been done...

But here's what happened, ladies and gentlemen: Roger Bannister came along. And he broke the 4 minute barrier. Now here's what's significant about that. Since that time, up to this day, over 20.000 people have done it, including high-school kids! What changed?
  Here's what happened when they got on the track: they knew it had been done! And because they knew it had been done, there was a new belief about this barrier, about this goal that was "unreachable". And those 20.000 people got in the race believing, knowing in their hart that someone had done it, that IT'S POSSIBLE, that they could do it.

And I'm saying that if you know anybody that had some goals, some dreams, something they wanted to do ... and they did it, then I'm saying that you know it in your heart that if someone has done it, than you can do it. It's possible.
  And that if someone can make their dream become a reality, that it's possible; that you can make your dream become a reality.

And so as you begin to look at where you want to go, beginning to embrace that it's possible.
/.../ I got a lot going for me, I got some good stuff in me. And it's possible that I can get my greatness out here in the universe. That I can do what I want to do, it's possible:
I can write my own book,
I can have my own business,
I ... I can take the trip and travel around the world: it's possible!
I can bounce back from adversity and re-invent my life: it's possible!
Regardless of where I am: that things can get better for me: ... it's possible!

Again from the speech: Les Brown - It's possible.

(Funny story: someone also copied this text (I copied some of it from there), but wrote: "be able to run faster than 4 minutes in a 100 mile run". I don't know whether 100 miles is synonymous with 1 mile, but I am guessing this person was not an experienced runner.)

So remember Roger Bannister. What changed? Belief that it is possible.

... Until one day in 1952 after Sir Roger Bannister had beat the current mark, but was still 4 seconds longer then breaking the 4 minute barrier. However, something clearly changed in his mind, “This race made me realize that the four-minute mile was not out of reach,”. Sir Roger Bannister’s new belief had given birth to the fastest 100 mile run on the planet. To elaborate on the subject, people had called it the “miracle mile” and Bannister remarked on the event stating that “No longer conscious of my movement, I discovered a new unity with nature. I had found a new source of power and beauty, a source I never dreamt existed.” 

From: here.

P.S.:  Bannister's record was broken in just 46 days by John Landy, now known as the Miracle Mile.
P.P.S.: He reclaimed the world record again in 3 years.
PPPS- Before Bannister, the record apparently held for 9 years. The current record (in men's category) is held since 1999 by a guy from Morocco, with a 3:43 on the clock. (Yeah, don't forget the women, eh.)

It's possible. Eyesight vs Mindsight.

This is an excerpt from a Story of two men, looking for a job. Here, told by Les Brown, who's made some really nice speeches (and quite some of them are available on youtube).

What was the difference between the two men? Eyesight and mindsight.

Eyesight is judging on what you see. Judging according to appearances.
But mind-sight is how you interpret what you see.
One guy said: it's not possible, it's over, I'm finished. I can't do it, I can't make it. He surrendered. I've faced rejection again and again, I'm not going anymore. There are no jobs out there.
But this other guy.. He felt that inspite of the NOs and rejection, in spite of how bad the economy is, in spite of what the newspapers are saying,
that it's possible.
That SOMEbody, SOMEWHERE will give me a job. He just kept going, thinking it was possible.
And guess what, ladies and gentleman, that's what we have to do with our dreams.

From: Les Brown's speech: It's possible.


Another really nice story is a parabole of the WORLD's opinion about whether or not it is possible to run one mile under 4 minutes. I blogged it here.

Also, you can check this out:
'Mindsight is the difference between saying “I am sad” and “I feel sad.” Similar as those two statements may seem, they are profoundly different. ...' From a page of Dan Siegel.

Ableism - what's that? Oh, siht. Er...

Disabled people, sex and relationships... or rather, the society's view on disabled.
Something that gets you thinking if your an "abled" person and also makes you shuffle your feet.

Why Getting Laid Isn’t the Answer to Ableism, January 28, 2014 | by Erin Tatum. Got it via Melissa A. Fabello ‏(@fyeahmfabello).

Cool read.

To lighten up (and give my mind a false sense of narrrowly escaping .. a joke. Hm.. But I'd be probably insulting some people along the way. So no. It's not ... taciturn. So nevermind.)

Bill FCUKing Murray

Who is this guy, then? Well, if you don't know him, you might want to check Bill Murray on IMDb or on Wikipedia.

The original You're Awesome!
dude. Still from Stripes (1981).

If you're familiar with the concept, please, just read the stuff below. It'll blow your mind.

Bill Murray Answers questions on Reddit:  (or see Monuments Men Movie post on Facebook here).
This is also a good story to read: 12 Insane Things That Happened On My Night Out With Bill Murray | Dec. 3, 2013, by Alex J. Mann.

And while you're at it, 10 Stories That Prove Bill Murray Really Is The Most Interesting Man In The World |January 10, 2014 |, with pictures of Murray doing some crazy siht here.

If this isn't enough for you (I know, some of the jpgs are slightly lame or just ridiculously incredulous, so you're wondering - is any of this shit true?), you should check out the web page dedicated to collecting (sometimes fictional) Bill Murray stories, conveniently titled: Bill Murray Stories. There are real BM stories out there, though, see this about a party in St Andrews or this one (which might be the same event, actually).

"And you know, it's a lesson to all of us, to take what you love and make it the way you live your life, and that way you bring love into the world."

- Bill Murray on Reddit AMA session
Permalink here.

 

And if you didn't already, you really should see Groundhog Day. It's pretty nifty.

Also, in case you were wondering, the title of this post alludes to some other posts on the net and the movie where it sort of started, Zombieland (2009). See clip with Woody Harrelson here.

Aaaand, if you want to groove a bit, while you leave this site and go someplace nice with palmtrees painted on, you can also listen to Bill Muthafuckin Murray on Youtube.
 

Getting back your eyesight, naturally

Sooo, after too much reading and mostly, spending too much time behind the screens (thesis work, then private stuff/surfing), I seriously noticed my eyes deteriorating. And as I was lucky enough to come across people (M.J.) that use techniques to improve eyesight, I contacted them, got some info and then looked it up on the net.

Below is the result of my search, a compilation of links and videos I suggest to anyone, including me.

[Note, if you doubt a lot of these things, just skip to links 11 and 12. And then possibly return to using the rest.]

What resounds most deeply with me is the thought that eye muscles can be trained. Sure, lenses can be tricky. But if you could see well before ... and your eyesight deteriorates, maybe it's time to ask yourself why. Why why why. For me, I look at screens or books for 8-14 hours per day. And I think I may not be the only person in this world (10).

Another thing that resounds with me is the next two:

"The professionals - Optometrists and Ophthalmologists base their profession on theories that are more than 150 years old. The official line is that your eyes will get worse as you grow older, and there is nothing you can do about this except wear corrective lenses. They need to be strengthened every so often as your eyesight deteriorates. Not a very promising picture except for one thing - it’s not actually true." (9)

And: 'The glasses do absolutely nothing about the under laying reasons you can’t see. Most people have the experience that their prescription slowly gets higher and higher. Some people actually avoid visiting the eye doctor for as long as possible so they don’t get stronger glasses.’' (7)

Remember, though: you need to invest time in it. If you spent 4 or 8 or 20 years of your life, looking at books and PC screens most of your waking hours (10), thereby deteriorating your eyesight, then maybe you should consider investing some minutes per day into restoring it.


Meir Schneider - Yoga for Your Eyes (1).
This guy used to be almost completely blind and he didn't accept it. So he took up a method, the Bates Method of eye exercises at age 17 and practiced it for up to 13 hours per day (2).

There's another book (8) and a mix of techniques, taught by Leo Angart, who, after wearing glasses for 26 years, got rid of them. And that was in 1992/3.

(1): Mier Schneider: Yoga for the Eyes
(2): Mier Schneider's page

(3): Interview with world renowned vision trainer Leo Angart

(4): BBC4 short interview with Leo Angart, two students and an ophthalmologist:
> practice 10 times a day, for a few minutes, for 5-6 months

(5): Google search for Mier Schneider

(6): Google: natural vision training

(7) From a FB post: link to source

(8): Angart, Leo (2008). Improve Your Eyesight Naturally: Easy, Effective, See Results Quickly. Saffire Press. pp. 89–90. ISBN 978-3-937553-08-5.
(9): Regaining your eyesight naturally - is it possible?

(10): Study: Minority Kids Spend Most Waking Hours Plugged In To Media | June 8, 2011: http://commonhealth.wbur.org/2011/06/study-minority-kids-spend-most-waking-hours-plugged-in

(11): Computer Eye Strain:  10 Steps for Relief: http://www.allaboutvision.com/cvs/irritated.htm

(12) If you're more of a "don't believe this esoteric crap" kind of person, here's Paul McCartney to teach/tell you about Yoga for Our Eyes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00XqvNwYMoc

(13): Hint about the Bates Method: Don't start staring at the sun. And at least until somebody else then you says you can, maybe it's good to drive with your glasses :)

If Men Had To Do It, It Wouldn't Be Done

Disgusting. And people actually have the guts to ask me why I am so passionate about #gender portrayal in #media? What I'm talking about is this video.

Got that video from a blog post titled "if men had to do it…it wouldn’t be being done".

On the bright side, there was this video, made by College Humor (US), which points to rather skewed ratio of boobs (and female nudity in general) VS sausages (err.. male nudity). Titled: Think Seeing A Little Male Nudity On TV Is Too Explicit? Then ... It's Time To Hear The Hard Truth.

Which is quite related to: If Men posed like motorcycle babes:: quite funny, see it here.

See also Representation Project, which is all about promoting gender equality in the media, as creating a public response when a particularly "juicy" content is brought to their attention.

BTW, if you use Twitter, use hastag #NotBuyingIt and tweet about such things. ESPECIALLY when there are big sports events up and about, like SuperBowl (see: here).

Motherfcuking Website

This is a relatively funny,
but most of all, to the (sharp) point made website that explains what a site should do primarily.

Enjoy: http://motherfuckingwebsite.com/