October142009
you know that face you make when you’re about to take that perfect shot of yourself for myspace?
you know, the one where you push your mouth out in that weird combination of a pout and a kissy face make it look like you’ve got big pouty lips and model-quality cheekbones?
it’s called “duckface”
October132009
"The family silently bearing the large sunflower had never been to the fair before.
But this was important.
They finally located the entry table, and asked for a form. They carefully filled it out. Their flower was entered in the seed head category — the one that judges the largest seed head, which is the circular area in the middle of a sunflower.
They wrote down the name of the person who had grown the sunflower:
Wyatt Wilke.
He was their 7-year-old son. He had died earlier that same day, at a few minutes after midnight.
Now, less than 10 hours later, here they were, with Wyatt’s flower.
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"Here is the abstract of the paper:
In slapstick comedy, the worst thing that could happen usually does: The person with a sore toe manages to stub it, sometimes twice. Such errors also arise in daily life, and research traces the tendency to do precisely the worst thing to ironic processes of mental control. These monitoring processes keep us watchful for errors of thought, speech, and action and enable us to avoid the worst thing in most situations, but they also increase the likelihood of such errors when we attempt to exert control under mental load (stress, time pressure, or distraction). Ironic errors in attention and memory occur with identifiable brain activity and prompt recurrent unwanted thoughts; attraction to forbidden desires; expression of objectionable social prejudices; production of movement errors; and rebounds of negative experiences such as anxiety, pain, and depression. Such ironies can be overcome when effective control strategies are deployed and mental load is minimized.
Wegner, D. M. (2009). How to Think, Say, or Do Precisely the Worst Thing for Any Occasion. Science, 325(5936), 48-50. (Freely available in PDF)
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— How to Think, Say, or Do Precisely the Worst Thing for Any Occasion
"Eye on Fiction - Where the wild things are
Richard Gottlieb analyses Maurice Sendak’s fascinating 1963 picture book, on the eve of its cinematic release
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— Eye on Fiction - Where the wild things are - Vol. 22, Part 10 ( October 2009)
"My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun (Sonnet 130)
by William ShakespeareMy mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun;
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Coral is far more red than her lips’ red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damasked, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress when she walks treads on the ground.
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.
— My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun (Sonnet 130) - Poets.org - Poetry, Poems, Bios & More
"The study involved 362 women and 241 men aged 18 to 23. Dr. Herbenick asked them to rate statements such as “Women’s genitals are beautiful,” “Women’s genitals are ugly,” and others.
Women were particularly concerned about “the way their genitals look, as well as the way they smell and taste,” Dr. Herbenick said.
Men were generally more positive than women, a point that didn’t surprise the author.
“Men are more relaxed and open and accepting of women’s genitals. Women are assuming the worst, and they’re anxious, and men are just happy to be invited to the party.”
"
— Women’s genital self-esteem affects sex, health - The Globe and Mail
"Religiousness as a protective factor for substance use in dance sport.
Sekulic D, Kostic R, Rodek J, Damjanovic V, Ostojic Z.Department of Kinesiology, University of Split, Tesla’s Street 12, Split, 21000, Croatia. dado@pmfst.hr
Although religiousness is found to be a significant protective factor in substance use, there is an evidential lack of studies of such in athletes. The aim of the study was to identify the predictive value of the religiousness and some social, educational, and sport factors on substance use in 43 sport dancers. An originally developed questionnaire for studying substance use and precipitation factors was applied. The Chi-square showed male dancers as more religious than females. Using the Spearman’s correlation, religiousness was found to be a significant protective factor in cigarette smoking, sport nutritional supplementation, and the likelihood of doping. Data were interpreted emphasizing the previous findings from the literature.
PMID: 19639416 [PubMed - in process]
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— Religiousness as a protective factor for substance…[J Relig Health. 2009] - PubMed Result
"If we feel passionate love, then we have a mental overview that stretches into the future. This has us fantasising in Technicolor about the cake at our wedding, or the chances of “our” children having cute freckles on their noses just like our beloved.
Whereas if it’s just sex, we zoom back, focus on the moment and think in a more detailed, analytical manner. This explains awkward, self-conscious, sober non-loving sex. If you think they are inspecting your cellulite, the shape of your willy, or your orgasm face then they probably are. And this is probably why the cliche of sex being better when you’re in love is true; instead of focusing on that pimple on their backside you can actually release yourself to enjoy the experience.
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— Love is a like a zoom lens | Christine Ottery | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk
Vincent van Gogh The Letters »
This is so amazing I get dizzy just thinking about it. All of VG’s letters in the original language, translated and annotated, with illustrations from the letters, and links to the works of art discussed. Huge.
October122009
"From the prehistoric Lascaux cave paintings to the stirring symphonies of Mozart to today’s hot-dog eating competitions and action films with comical gerbils, culture has descended into a festering pool of mass ignorance,” said Yale sociologist Paul Riordan, who has spent his career analyzing western civilization’s fall into the depths of depravity. “If our calculations are correct, this complete erosion of all that is enlightened and unique will reach absolute rock bottom on the afternoon of Sept. 25, 2009."
