Just Added |
One useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, three or more is a congress.
~ John Quincy Adams
Cholesterol Myth - Evidence Refuting Cholesterol Causes Heart Disease
Cholesterol Myth / Heart Disease Myth - I've become suspicious of the current model that high blood cholesterol (particularly LDL) is directly related to coronary heart disease risk (CHD). Operating from this belief, doctors prescribe drugs which reduce blood LDL levels thinking this effect also reduces the heart disease risk (CHD). Specifically, I'm referring to the widespread acceptance of statin drugs (Crestor, Zocor, Lipitor, etc.).
Statins clearly reduce LDL, but they carry with them other effects that may be more relevant to reducing CHD risk than reducing LDL levels. It's like trying to stop aging by stopping hair from turning gray. Gray hair is a symptom of aging, but not necessarily part of the cause. Similarly, LDL may be a symptom of CHD risk, but NOT likely a cause.
However, as I make clear below, I don't think high LDL is necessarily a symptom of high CHD risk.
Work in progress. I hope to have study citations to support each assertion listed below in what I hope will be a more comprehensive model of coronary heart disease (CHD).
Spielberg's Munich
Ayelet Zorer
Recently watched Steven Spielberg's Munich with Eric Bana. It's a long film, about 2 hrs. 45 min. Eric Bana was great, as were all the other actors, but I was particularly mesmerized by the woman who played Bana's wife, though she was in only a few scenes.
Turns out she's a very well respected Israeli actress. I get it. She was perfect, communicating the whole/soul of her character in seconds. Her name...well, she seems to go by a few. The movie credits her as Ayelet Zorer, but I've seen Zurer and variations of Ayelet too. Her middle name seems stable and is "July." Maybe it was because she was one of the few women who appeared in the film, but I found her performance right on, rich and textured. All in probably less than five or ten minutes of screen time.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Had Nassim Taleb been born in any other period, he would have certainly been put to death.
~ Carine Chichereau, co-translator of TBS.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb is one fascinating guy. His two books Fooled by Randomness and The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable have been sooooo thought provoking AND entertaining.
I read both in the span of a couple weeks (way too fast) and am now reading each again. The concepts are deceptively simple on the surface...and then so deep. Their counter-intuitive nature makes it hard to grasp their significance in a 30-second sound bite.
Rap Lyrics - Lost in Translation
Rap Lyrics Translated - Story goes that an Oakland High School student earned the school district’s highest honors at an Ebonics Translation Competition with this inventive translation of rap lyrics into....What? Honky talk?
WARNING - Lyrics and translations contain sexual and violent themes (which, sadly, can be heard coming from the mouths of grade-schoolers). I find it difficult to believe a school district would sponsor such a competition, but it's a kick none-the-less.
What Happens To Your Body If You Drink A Coke
Another great post from Wade Meredith at Healthbolt. I really like what this guy does. I learned so much from his What Happens To Your Body When You Stop Smoking. Do read the original post:
What Happens To Your Body If You Drink A Coke Right Now?
If link is not available, read cached copy below...
Hidden Connections - by Fritjof Capra
Fritjof Capra
Hidden Connections - I read The Turning Point and The Tao of Physics by Capra many years ago. And his Uncommon Wisdom which is excellent. But I sort of lost track of him. Then I happened upon this Hidden Connections in a used bookstore. It's not very old (2002). Focuses on sustainability. I guess it's a followup to his The Web of Life, which I haven't read. Plan to read this one. Looks right up my alley. Capra is an interesting writer to me, though his strength is in dialogue, starting and sustaining a conversation (something more than an interview). Uncommon Wisdom was so fascinating in that respect, filled with his dialogues with brilliant minds from a broad spectrum of disciplines.
30 Funny Statements Heard in Court
Funny Words in Court - From a little book called Disorder in the Court: Great Fractured Moments in Courtroom History. Here are about 30 things people actually said in court, word for word.
Lisa (Watson) Coyle - Obituary
Lisa Coyle
Lisa was a year behind me in high school, and while I can't say I knew her, I certainly admired her and the family she and John created.
I remember chatting with her at the last high school reunion, and she was so sweet and endearing. What a shock to know she is gone. Just doesn't seem possible or fair.
Copied below is the obituary that appeared in the Fresno Bee. Also included are the guest book entries, which the Bee said would be removed soon, and I felt the need to preserve them.
Oh, John...I am so sorry.
Where The Hell Is Matt? - 'Praan' Lyrics by Garry Schyman
I absolutely love everything about this video by Matt Harding and Melissa Nixon. The music is wonderfully haunting, the images and colors so uplifting, and the editing right on. It will make you smile...I promise.
(:vimeo 1211060:)
Lyrics (with English translation) for the music, Praan by Garry Schyman, are below...
Cave Bookcase - Design by Sakura Adachi
Cave Bookcase by Sakura Adachi - I love this idea and image. It does look like a cave in a bookcase--not that it looks that comfortable, but it's a visually jarring image because the smooth curves interrupt the straight vertical and horizontal lines. Sakura Adachi has designed a winner cave bookcase...expensive...but a winner.
Toast to the Absent Ones
It's a tradition in our family to say a toast at 2:00 PM on Christmas day. Here is the toast I gave this year, the first Christmas since my Mom passed away.
Here's a toast...
To the laughter of children on Christmas morning
To The taste of a meal shared with family and friends
To transcending grief with music, memory, and beer
To the journey we all take to the future,
We'll do our best to celebrate without you, even while we carry your spirits in our hearts
We miss you dearly, we love you so much it aches,
But we know that life is for the living, and our lives are so much richer because of you...
We raise our glasses in a toast to you all
A toast to the absent ones
Sick Notes
Found this somewhere recently...I think by email. At first I just found it funny. But then I thought it was sad. Now I'm not sure how to take it.
These are real notes written by parents in a Tennessee school district...(spellings have been left intact.)
1. My son is under a doctor's care and should not take PE today. Please execute him.
2. Please exkuce lisa for being absent she was sick and i had her shot.
3. Dear school: please ecsc's john being absent on jan. 28, 29, 30, 31, 32 and also 33.
4. Please excuse gloria from jim today. She is administrating.
Our Servers Won't Go Down on You Either
Hubba, hubba, hubba. Sex sells servers for QSOL.COM. In poor taste...but gave me a laugh :)
Ron Mueck Sculptures
Ron Mueck's sculptures faithfully reproduce the minute detail of the human body, but play with scale to produce disconcertingly jarring visual images.
~ From Ron Mueck Wikipedia entry
Ron Mueck is an Australian hyperrealist sculptor whose work with the human body and all its flaws is absolutely mesmerizing. If you've seen Mueck's work, experienced it, you'll never forget it. It's not that the sculptures are beautiful or of beautiful subjects; most of the subjects are fairly ordinary or even ugly. But it's the realism, the play with scale both large and small, and the nudity that demands your attention.
"Are My Testicles Black?"
Received from a relative...this had me cracking up for quite a while...enjoy!
A male patient is lying in bed in the hospital, wearing an oxygen mask over his mouth and nose, still heavily sedated from a difficult four hour, surgical procedure. A young student nurse appears to give him a partial sponge bath.
"Nurse", he mumbles, from behind the mask. "Are my testicles black?"
Embarrassed, the young nurse replies "I don't know, Sir. I'm only here to wash your upper body and feet."
He struggles to ask again, "Nurse, are my testicles black?"
Concerned that he may elevate his vitals from worry about his testicles, she overcomes her embarrassment and sheepishly pulls back the covers.
She raises his gown, holds his penis in one hand and his testicles in the other, lifting and moving them around.
Then, she takes a close look and says, "There's nothing wrong with them, Sir!!"
The man pulls off his oxygen mask, smiles at her and says very slowly,
"Thank you very much. That was wonderful. But listen very, very closely......
My Bird Watching List
Photo by Len BluminCalifornia Quail - THIS is the bird that got me hooked on birding. Spotted one in a tree on 17-mile drive near Monterey, California after puzzling over the queer call I was hearing. Gorgeous bird. Quite distinctive and easy to identify. Not much of a flier--very rapid wing beat. 6/30/2008. Spotted another in Sunol Regional Wilderness (Maguire area) perched on a post, just like this picture. 7/6/2008.
Christina Aguilera - Candyman - Video & Lyrics
Christina Aguilera - Candyman
Christina Aguilera - Candyman - Bumped into this high quality version of Christina Aguilera's Candyman video on Vuze. Totally hot. As always, Christina Aguilera's vocals are fantastic, but it's the style of this video, directed by Matthew Rolston, that caught my attention. It's a very sexy throw-back to the 1940's pin-up. The singing, editing, pace, costuming, choreography, cinematography, etc. all came together into a wonderfully eye-popping/ear-popping collage.
I'm far from the target demographic of this music video, but I loved it.
How to Use a Napkin - Dan Roam - Six-by-Six Rule
The Back of the Napkin author Dan Roam gave a wonderful Google Talk where he described his Six by Six Rule of problem solving. In his consultant work with corporate execs, Roam's "value proposition" is...
He supports this assertion with the observation that humans are fundamentally visual creatures -- over 75% of the sensory processing going on in the brain is visual processing. Further, the brain seems to process information using at least six "pathways"...
8 Bad Words
8 Bad Words - Found this video by Trevor Crook kinda informative and funny--not George Carlin funny by any means, however...
(:youtube I-09D7Vi4XA:)
For Lexophiles
Rec'd from email chain. A play on words (29 of them actually) that all word lovers, lexophiles and humorists will enjoy.
1. A bicycle can't stand alone because it is two-tired.
2. What's the definition of a will? It's a dead giveaway.
3. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
4. A backward poet writes inverse.
5. In democracy it's your vote that counts; In feudalism, it's your Count that votes.
6. A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion.
7. If you don't pay your exorcist you get repossessed.
8. With her marriage she got a new name and a dress.
9. Show me a piano falling down a mine shaft and I'll show you A- flat minor.
10. When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds.
>>Next page>>