Archive for 2009

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Procrastination Is Like Masturbation*

[ Comments Off ]Posted on October 3, 2009 by admin in Lifestyle & Culture

Saturday, October 3rd, 2009

It feels fine while you’re doing it, but in the end you realize you just effed yourself.

Help. I’ve recently become the person I detest: a Procrastinator. Generally, I’m one of the more organized, productive, and on-schedule people you’ll meet. I like feeling peaceful, and I feel peaceful when things are complete and in order. Feeling on top of things also keeps one ready to accept new opportunities, and to me, that’s what life is all about. New experience, learning, and growth. So how, oh how and why did this happen to me? Well, as a friend pointed out recently, when it comes to procrastination, “why” is over-rated. The fact is, the problem is immediately solved by simply DOING things. Duh. But if you’re having trouble getting out of the weeds, it might help to know why. This Psychology Today piece explains a lot of things about procrastinators, including the three basic types: “Arousal Types”, who wait ’til the last minute for the euphoric rush. “Avoider Types”, who may be avoiding fear of failure or even fear of success, and “Decisional Types”, who avoid making a decision to absolve themselves of responsibility for the outcome. I in fact have had a more neurotic version recently, which combines the Arousal and Avoider types with social/media overload and a devious unconscious plot to undermine my self-esteem. I know better than to excessively try to multitask (check out this NPR piece if you think you’re good at it), but it’s almost unavoidable with today’s prevalence of texting, voice phones, Facebook, e-mail, and real life. One thing I didn’t know though, was that multitasking is actually muddling and generally wrecking our brains. Also worthy of note is that strangely, Read the rest of this entry »

Getting Men Involved In Breast Cancer Awareness Month: SAVE THE BOOBS!

[ Comments Off ]Posted on October 2, 2009 by admin in Holidays

Friday, October 2nd, 2009

Generally, men are more concerned with women’s breasts than anybody else, so a Canadian non-profit is calling them out on it.


This is not a gratuitous use of breast
imagery. Watch the video below.

Who couldn’t love breasts? They’re beautiful, functional, and plentiful (if you count manboobs, more than half the human race has them). That’s why we should all do our part to (ahem) support Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The Canadian organization Rethink Breast Cancer is taking the mildly edgy approach of finally calling men out on this one. Men: if you love breasts so much, Save The Boobs! While cancer is no laughing matter, it’s nice to see there are people out there who can care with a sense of humor. On a more serious note though, when you make decisions about exactly how to support breast cancer treatment and awareness, remember that simply buying pink breast cancer awareness products isn’t necessarily a positive move. Not only do many large companies engage in pinkwashing, but the money you donate doesn’t always end up where you think it will. Stick to obviously credible organizations like the National Breast Cancer Foundation or American Cancer Society, and maybe take a look at Health.com’s Where the Money Goes: A Breast Cancer Donation Guide. We’ll be doing our best to keep you abreast of further developments throughout the month. Read the rest of this entry »

Poll: Are You A Healthtard Like Me?

[ Comments Off ]Posted on October 1, 2009 by admin in Politics

Thursday, October 1st, 2009

After hours of reading, I still don’t feel like I understand the current health care legislation. How about you?

I must confess that in spite of reviewing the current proposed health care legislation in its original forms, and reading a variety of summaries from both sides of the issue , I am still completely mystified as to what’s being decided. This is one instance in which I’m not going to play armchair quarterback and criticize Barack Obama (whom I once fervently supported) when this legislation ends up failing to serve the best interests of the US citizenry, because what I DO understand is that he is confronting a hopelessly corrupt and greed-driven industry with literally billions of dollars at its disposal, and hundreds of politicians fully in its pocket. I haven’t been fully insured since 1998, mostly because I simply don’t believe in the very foundations of of our health care system, and the way the insurance industry (which is really just an investment gambit) first parasitically attached itself to our right to health and well being, and later helped drive the cost of medical care into an astronomical range that is simply absurd in the context of natural markets and prices, and finally played a central role in the global banking crisis. How can I possibly care about labyrinthine, Rube Goldbergian legislation involving a system I fundamentally don’t support? In spite of these feelings, I remain a little ashamed that I don’t feel better informed. How well do you feel like you understand the legislation? Vote below… Read the rest of this entry »

YouTube As A Musical Instrument

[ 1 Comment ]Posted on September 30, 2009 by admin in Music

Wednesday, September 30th, 2009

My wikiphiliac ways lead to the strange discovery that not only is YouTube a musical instrument, but Ohio is a piano.

Although clearly not as epic a project as the incredible Kutiman – who remixed hundreds of YouTube music clips to create mindblowing mashups – Audiogravity is still pretty cool. It’s just a bunch of YouTube clips embedded in a single page, but you can start and stop any of them at the same time for some simple atmospheric “jazz”. Created by Darren Solomon of New York musical collaborative Science for Girls, Audiogravity is an extension of his Bb project, which (in a fashion similar to Jazzy Japanese Pop Band Sour’s fan-driven video) relies on user-submitted clips for the finished product. Solomon’s “band” Science for Girls is, in his words, “melodic electronica with roots in jazz and Brazillian music”, and their debut album features an eclectic group of guest vocalists from NYC’s indie music scene. Solomon’s blog is also pretty interesting; where else would I have learned about the Turkish instrument called a Cumbus? Which of course Solomon had to turn into a Cumbusfest. Which in turn led me in that Google-distracted, wikiphiliac fashion to discover today’s favorite waste of time: AudioPornCentral.com, where I learned that not only is YouTube a musical instrument as we’ve seen here, but Ohio is a piano. Read the rest of this entry »

If You Liked Boxing Helena, You’ll Love Hisss

[ 1 Comment ]Posted on September 29, 2009 by admin in Popular Media

Tuesday, September 29th, 2009

For once the hissing at a Jennifer Lynch film may be coming from the screen rather than the audience.

If you’re looking for the perfect Christmas gift for that ophiophiliac friend of yours, search no more. Slated for release on December 25, 2009 is director Jennifer Lynch’s Hisss. Starring Bollywood’s Mallika Sherawat and shot on location in India, the film is only Lynch’s second in the 15 years since Boxing Helena. Which isn’t surprising; Boxing Helena was like watching a film version of the Aristocrats joke. At the time it was rolled out as a brilliant and edgy film by David Lynch’s daughter, and in an incredible bait-and-switch, turned out to be one of the worst movies of the 90′s, winning a Golden Raspberry Award in 1994 for worst director. In fact, it was so horrible that it was comical, and actually left you wondering if that was its intention in the first place. It also was worthy of note as one of the first films that established actor Julian Sands’ presence in a film as a warning sign that the film would be horrifically awful. I sometimes wonder though if Boxing Helena wasn’t just ahead of its time; the movie Teeth managed to walk that same line with blackly humorous results in 2007. Hisss was originally titled Nagin, after the Indian myth of a vengeful snake woman. The film was perhaps retitled because there are two older Bollywood films called Nagin, rather than for American marketing, as some sources have suggested. Read the rest of this entry »

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