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If you can't solve a problem, it's because you are playing by the rules.
~ Paul Arden
Condom Ads for Durex
Durex Condom Ads - Condom ads that are safe for work. Very clever.
What the Buddha Did NOT Teach
What Buddha Did NOT Teach - This is a brilliant review by Geoff Hunt of "the difference between the right (simple) and wrong (complicated) view of the Buddha's teaching."
Geoff Hunt's words are lucid and grounded. Nothing superfluous, abstract or spiritual, really. It's all about the individual practice that relieves suffering. That's it.
Hunt emphasizes that Buddha didn't theorize or philosophize. Others did that later. Buddha simple taught a practice that helps set one free from pain and suffering.
This practice MUST be an individual journey and discovery. Buddha can teach a method, but the individual must experience and observe the practice and its effects for him or herself.
Keisha Castle-Hughes - From Whale Rider to Virgin Mary
Keisha Castle-Hughes
Keisha Castle-Hughes got an early start in her professional life. At 12, she was nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award (Oscar) for her wonderful portrayal of Paikea in Whale Rider. Four years later, she's in the holiday feature film The Nativity Story playing the Virgin Mary. In a strange parallel with the film, the 16 year-old Keisha has admitted to being pregnant with her first child.
Not an immaculate conception, the father is long-time boyfriend Bradley Hull. The couple are not currently married. Indeed, Keisha's own parents never married, so perhaps we should expect the same with Keisha and Bradley. Whatever the case, both are said to be "happy and excited" about the coming child -- though Vatican officials certainly are not. They reportedly uninvited Keisha from the The Nativity Story's world premiere being held at the Vatican.
I dearly hope Keisha remains proud and true to herself amidst this political storm. I also hope she and Bradley finds great joy in the birth of their child. As with The Nativity Story...
Andrew Henry's Meadow - by Doris Burn
Andrew Henry's Meadow - My favorite book from early childhood. Doris Burn's illustrations are seared into my memory. Fond feelings swell in me whenever I pick up my old, tattered copy--which I still read after so many years.
Just found out they re-released the book--a 40th anniversary edition--so it's available at Amazon.com (link below). I may have to pick up a copy...for another young boy.
 | Andrew Henry's Meadow by Doris Burn |
Air Force Memorial
This memorial truly has The Right Stuff. Inspired by a military air maneuver called the "bomb burst," the Air Force Memorial insires flight, speed, and the heavens. It's a beautiful, "soaring" tribute to the men and women of the Air Force branch of the military. I look forward to more pictures in the near future.
I saw a PBS piece on the memorial. Didn't realize Ross Perot's son was involved in getting this created. I really want to see the work in person. I'm sure it would be emotional. I was unexpectedly moved when I visited the Vietnam memorial.
It's sobering, especially when you visit the database of Iraq Coalition Casualties or Beautiful Dead Girls. So many people died in these conflicts. War is hell...and takes from our society its best and brightest.
Kari Byron of MythBusters Links
MythBuster Kari Byron
Kari Byron - I was shocked at the traffic generated with my blog post MythBusters Lost Experiments. After a little investigation, I was able to determine most visitors arrived at the post via a Google search of "Kari Byron". Since then, I've learned there is a die-hard following of this perky and very smart red-head. So I assembled this list of links related to Kari Byron. Of course, I have no interest in this wonderful lass born in 1974. I do this as a service to my fellow MythBusters fans...
Salma Hayek - Google Logo Picture
Howard Glasser - Key to a Child's Self-Esteem
Howard Glasser believes a parenting philosophy can be found in techniques used to train killer whales.
In his parenting book Transforming the Difficult Child: The Nurtured Heart Approach, Glasser describes the method used by trainers to teach Shamu to jump over a rope suspended over his tank.
How they started surprised me.
How that philosophy informs parenting is profound.
Across The Universe - Beatles Musical with Evan Rachel Wood
Jude and Lucy
Across the Universe
Across the Universe - Directed by Julie Taymor, Across the Universe is a classic "boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy finds girl" story--all presented as a musical containing 33 class Beatles songs. I'm not usually drawn to musicals, but the familiar and catchy Beatles tunes quickly got my attention. From there, the ensemble cast of young actors/singers (including Evan Rachel Wood from King of California) brought something genuine and earnest to the often psychedelic storyline that knitted together lyrics from Dear Prudence to Why don't we do it in the road.
Fritjof Capra's Management Lessons
Lesson #1
A living social system is a self-generating network of communications. The aliveness of an organization resides in its informal networks, or communities of practice. Bringing life into human organizations means empowering their communities of practice.
Lesson #2
You can never direct a social system; you can only disturb it. A living network chooses which disturbances to notice and how to respond. A message will get through to people in a community of practice when it is meaningful to them.
Lesson #3
The creativity and adaptability of life expresses itself through the spontaneous emergence of novelty at critical points of instability. Every human organization contains both designed and emergent structures. The challenge is to find the right balance between the creativity of emergence and the stability of design.
Lesson #4
In addition to holding a clear vision, leadership involves facilitating the emergence of novelty by building and nurturing networks of communications; creating a learning culture in which questioning is encouraged and innovation is rewarded; creating a climate of trust and mutual support; and recognizing viable novelty when it emerges, while allowing the freedom to make mistakes.
No Wonder English Is So Hard to Learn
Rec'd via email.
- We polish the Polish furniture.
- He could lead if he would get the lead out.
- A farm can produce produce.
- The dump was so full it had to refuse refuse.
- The soldier decided to desert in the desert.
- The present is a good time to present the present.
Soccer Kid Video
Soccer Kid - Totally cute video I found on YouTube titled Soccer Kid. Works in any language. No translation required...
(:youtube bggFBWn7YoI:)
A.I. - Spielberg Directs for Kubrick
A.I. Movie poster
AI - Artificial Intelligence - Haley Joel Osment portrays a "mech" (robot) child who forms a unique, unbreakable obsession (love?) for his human "mommie." Steven Spielberg directed this emotional sci-fi story. Stanley Kubrick co-produced the film, but died before shooting started. Heard a rumor Kubrick was slated to direct; not sure that's true. Surely, it would have been a different story with Kubrick at the helm.
Frances O'Connor plays Osment's "mommie." It's a terribly emotional role. Programming a machine to "love" a human is one thing. But will the human love the machine? What happens if the human can't?
These are the questions posed in this film. I was quite stirred up by the end. Is love between a human and machine possible? Is hate? Are we prepared for such relationships?
10 Things Your Casino Won't Tell You
Key points of the original Smart Money article, which explores each statement in more depth. Interesting, but no real surprises; just good reminders for casino junkies (who won't listen anyway).
- "The house always wins, and it's now winning more."
- "There's nothing complimentary about our comp cards."
- "Our ATM machines are the real one-armed bandits."
Can You Become Immune to Cancer?
Immune to Cancer - Scientists discovered that some mice just don't get cancer--they seem somehow immune. So they took the white blood cells of those cancer resistant mice, and inject them into previously non-resistant mice. Within a few days or weeks of being injected, those normal mice become resistant or immune to cancer.
Will this approach work in humans?
If I a Gun and Two Bullets...
This line from The Office (U.S. version) cracks me up every time.
How to Drown a Child
How to Drown a Child - It happened at an afternoon wedding celebration. The hosting home had a pool, and very soon some younger guests began jumping in. My four-year-old son didn't know how to swim yet, but was drawn by the activity and the water. He begged me to let him go in, "Just to my knees, Papa."
I found a ledge where I could sit, dangling my legs in the water, and where my son could stand "to his knees" beside me. I sat with another guest, keeping an eye on my son, who splashed about on the ledge no more than two feet away from me.
After about 30-seconds of chit-chat, I looked beside me to check on my son. He wasn't there. He must have gotten out. So I looked around the yard. But with all the people and activity, I didn't see him. Damn! I told that kid to stay close and not wander off.
Then I looked down.
Why Men Have Better Friends
Friendship between Women
A woman didn't come home one night. The next morning she told her husband that she had slept over at a friend's house. The man called his wife's 10 best friends. None of them knew anything about it.
Friendship between Men
A man didn't come home one night. The next morning he told his wife that he had slept over at a friend's house. The woman called her husband's 10 best friends, eight of which confirmed that he had slept over, and two said that he was still there.
Source - Why Men Have Better Friends
Colbert's Truthiness - Voted Top Word By American Dialect Society
© Comedy Central
Old news, but fun to remember where the Colbert Report started.
"Truthiness." Stephen Colbert of Comedy Central's Colbert Report popularized the word "truthiness," and it has been selected by the American Dialect Society as the "2005 Word of the Year."
But all this begs the question: What does "truthiness" mean? And who or what is the American Dialect Society?
The truth hurts...
And Then the Fight Started
I rec'd this by email from my wife. I told her I wasn't sure what she was trying to communicate...And then the fight started!
One year, a husband decided to buy his mother-in-law a cemetery plot as a Christmas gift...
The next year, he didn't buy her a gift.
When she asked him why, he replied,
"Well, you still haven't used the gift I bought you last year!"
And that's how the fight started...
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