LAST meal

I watched this documentary last week about food. It discussed how people who are in misery stray to comfort foods... This article discusses just that... Personally, if I am depressed enough, I just eat very little...

EUREKALERT:

People feeling sad tend to eat more of less-healthy comfort foods than when they feel happy, finds a new study co-authored by a Cornell food marketing expert. However, when nutritional information is available, those same sad people curb their hedonistic consumption. But happier people don't.

In the January issue of the Journal of Marketing, Brian Wansink, the John S. Dyson Professor of Marketing, Applied Economics and Management at Cornell, and two colleagues describe several studies they devised to test the link between mood and food. For example, they recruited 38 administrative assistants to watch either an upbeat, funny movie ("Sweet Home Alabama") or a sad, depressing one ("Love Story"). Throughout the viewings the participants were offered hot buttered, salty popcorn and seedless grapes.

"After the movies were over and the tears were wiped away, those who had watched 'Love Story' had eaten 36 percent more popcorn than those who had watched the upbeat 'Sweet Home Alabama,'" said Wansink, author of the recent book "Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think" (Bantam Books). "Those watching 'Sweet Home Alabama' ate popcorn and popped grapes, but they spent much more time popping grapes as they laughed through the movie than they did eating popcorn."

Food is part of our childhood, our heritage, and memories...
I've never been anti-death row, but check out the meals that people choose (below). It's surprising because you think people would always choose lobster or filet mignon or something... guess it's not the case... the meals bring a sense of humanity to these folks.

Just a few examples from
THE MEMORY HOLE:

Stupid Post: Stupid Ebay Resolution

I will not purchase video games ever again from ebay. I got Super Smash Brothers, and it didn't work... I was so sad... Plus, the freaking game container had a half torn blockbuster sticker saying $9.99... I spent over $15...
mmm... if I had gotten it at a store... I could have at least returned it without paying stupid postage and worrying if the guy actually is going to give me a rebate.

god... I'm so damn cheap... the loss of $15 should not be so traumatic...

MAN! I wish I had something to blog about!

I should just take a bunch of pictures of me doing everything from cooking and playing with my kitty... (sigh) unfortunately, I look like a mess on usual days because I am so lazy... and 30 years from now... I'd just like to think that I always take care of myself so well...

Ok...enough of my useless rambling because there is no interesting news today.

Silly reader has no idea what he's talking about

Ok... someone wrote a post yesterday about how I am conceited to have so many pictures of myself on the front of my blog... well, it is after all MY blog... besides, It just so happened that I had to post pictures to depict my visit to hair place fairly... geesh...
OH... by the way, as a response, I have added more pictures of moi on the side of the website... yay!

Miniature Primates and Nails!

This would be so much FUN!!!

In Singapore, captive Slender Lorises are working as manicurists for the wealthy. Since they were babies, they have been taught to chew on the keratin present on fingernails... When these little cuties are done, you get a well groomed manicure!

The Price of Beauty

From Reuters here:

At Fish Reflexology, clients’ feet are exfoliated by tiny fish that nibble off dead skin — a method used in Turkey for decades to treat diseases. The treatment is also available in some areas of China and Japan.

Another popular beauty treatment is eyebrow embroidery, an industry the local Straits Times newspaper estimated to be worth 5 million Singapore dollars ($3.25 million) a year.

It entails plucking out your natural brows and then drawing strands of hair back using a pen-like device that injects ink under the skin. The result, patrons say, looks more natural than a tattoo and better than Mother Nature.

And if that sounds painful, several hair-removal salons in Singapore offer services for men including “boyzilians” — the male equivalent of the “Brazilian”, where almost all the hair is removed from the pubic area using strips daubed in warm wax.

Ouch.

29 year old to enroll into 5th grade

Two dirty child molesters actually believed this man was 12!

From CNN here:

A charter school alerted authorities to a 29-year-old sex offender who tried to enroll there, pretending he was just 12, in what sheriff’s officials said Friday may have been an attempt to lure children into sexual abuse.

The Yavapai County sheriff’s office also said Neil Havens Rodreick II conned two men he was living with and having sex with into believing he was a young boy.

One of them, 61-year-old Lonnie Stiffler, called himself Rodreick’s grandfather when he tried to enroll him at Mingus Springs Charter School as “Casey Price.”

Stiffler and Robert James Snow, 43, “were very upset when the detectives told them they had been having a sexual relationship with a 29-year-old man and not a pre-teen boy,” Quayle said.

Detectives have evidence that Stiffler and Snow enrolled Rodreick in other Arizona schools, and have notified law enforcement in those jurisdictions, Quayle said.

Watch out for these warped freaks

These two were finally caught by the police. In their van, they found 31 dead animals. They had been killing and dumping animals for weeks... SICK!

From the NewsObserver here:

Today, two employees of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, a radical animal-rights group that opposes meat-eating, are on trial for the strangest of charges: killing animals.

PETA is based in Norfolk, Va., but its work has international scope. The group, which raises more than $25 million a year from 1.6 million supporters, opposes any human use of animals, whether for food, fashion or research. In the more than two decades since its founding, it has become a major threat to medical researchers, meatpackers, fur sellers and others.

Now, two of its employees stand accused of tossing garbage bags full of euthanized cats and dogs into a Dumpster behind a Piggly Wiggly in Hertford County, 130 miles northeast of Raleigh.

Adria J. Hinkle and Andrew B. Cook, both of whom work in PETA’s Norfolk office, are charged with 31 counts each of animal cruelty, a felony that can carry prison time, along with littering and obtaining property by false pretenses.

Now, jurors will decide whether Hinkle and Cook were, as PETA argues, providing humane deaths to animals that would otherwise have been painfully killed in gas chambers — or whether, as several local officials say, they were taking animals on the promise of finding them homes and secretly killing them.

A PETA spokeswoman, Kathy Guillermo, said PETA never wanted to get into the business of euthanizing animals. But she said the group couldn’t ignore the horrible conditions in animal shelters around Norfolk and in northeastern North Carolina. The group now euthanizes thousands of animals a year.

“Euthanasia is a better alternative to sitting in a stinking pound,” Guillermo said.

This saddens me... my little Bebe was from a shelter... and I'm sure that any pet would rather have a chance to find a home, than being collected into a death van... that poor puppy in the picture actually looks like one that would be desirable to a whole lot of people...

Corpse Brides... Literally...

This is totally weird... and I have never heard of this, but I guess the Chinese have a belief that a man should always have a female corpse buried next to him for him to be married in the afterlife. So there are undertakers that actually find corpses for unmarried men, just to bury next to him....

From Reuters here:

Chinese police have arrested three men for killing two young women to sell their corpses as “ghost brides” for dead single men, a Chinese newspaper reported, warning the dark custom might have claimed many other victims.

Yang Donghai, a 35-year-old farmer in western China’s Shaanxi province, confessed to killing a woman bought from a poor family for 12,000 yuan ($1,545) last year.

She thought she was being sold into an arranged marriage, but Yang killed her in a gully and sold her corpse for 16,000 yuan. He and two accomplices then killed a prostitute and sold her for 8,000 yuan before police caught them.

The women were victims of an old belief, still alive in the yellow-earth highlands of western China, that young men who die unmarried should go to their graves accompanied by deceased women who will be their wives in the afterlife. Often these women die natural deaths.

Yang and two helpers sold the bodies to Li Longsheng, an undertaker who police said specialized in buying and selling the dead women for “ghost weddings.”

Man... remember what I said about 2020... and all the extra men vs women... uh oh... god, I cannot get over how weird this is!

arg!!! so sad...

From the AP here:

AMMAN, Jordan - A Jordanian man fatally shot his 17-year-old daughter whom he suspected of having sex despite a medical exam that proved her chastity, an official said Thursday. The man surrendered to police hours after the killing, saying he had done it for family honor.

Weeks ago, the girl had returned home from a family protection clinic after doctors had vouched for her virginity and the father had signed a pledge not to harm her.

The father shot the girl four times in the head on Tuesday. On Wednesday, an autopsy was performed that again showed “she was still a virgin,” the pathologist said.

The crime is the first “honor killing” this year in Jordan, where many men consider sex out of wedlock to be an almost indelible stain on a family’s reputation. On average, about 20 women in the country are killed by their relatives in such cases each year. Women have been killed for simply dating.

I just don't understand how a father can do that to his own daughter...

One little boy killed 443 chickens!

This kid looks a lot like a nephew of mine... anyway, that's not the point...

A little boy in China was frightened by a dog. His screams caused a huge chicken stampede. As a result, 443 chickens were killed.

I feel really bad; the father was charged 230 US dollars... This is a heck of a lot of money for many Chinese people... it could be 9 months worth of labor just because of a very unfortunate sequence of events.

From Reuters here:

Hundreds of chickens have been found dead in east China — and a court has ruled that the cause of death was the screaming of a four-year-old boy who in turn had been scared by a barking dog, state media reported on Wednesday.

A villager was quoted as saying the little boy bent over the henhouse window, screaming for a long time, after being scared by the dog.

“One neighbor told police that he had heard the boy’s crying that afternoon and another villager confirmed the boy screaming by the henhouse window,” the newspaper said.

A court ruled the boy’s screaming was “the only unexpected abnormal sound” and that 443 chickens trampled each other to death in fear.

Importance of Beauty

Yesterday, I read an article about how more attractive people earned more money than those who were plain. They're obviously treated better, and they get a whole lot of perks to life...

LINK


And, it got me thinking this morning about my little cousin. Last time I saw her, she was 5. Nini is one of those girls that is absolutely gorgeous. Everywhere she goes, people always comment on how cute or pretty she is. And, it's not the type of flattery that is polite; it's sincere.
And, boy! She is conceited! She knows she is beautiful, and already at five, she is an expert at snubbing. All of the kids at kindergarten worship her no matter how cruel she can be.

But, she's so weird. She wants to grow up to become a star, and I catch her pinching her little nose whenever she watches tv. I think she is worried about her nose being too big...
As a little kid, I never even thought about how I looked... but it seems for a little girl of 5, it is all she thinks about.

It's almost as if any extremely pretty little girl is doomed to concentrate on their looks.
But, you know it seems that is what they should be concentrating on... because they'll still get a higher paycheck just from that...

Sperm brains!!!

You know, I've always wondered how a sperm actually works... They seem so smart for their tiny size. I want to dissect a sperm!

Well, come to find out, I guess if you are a skanky hoe, the sperm in you may be organizing themselves into groups and working together, fighting off other sperm, to increase their chances of getting to the egg!
LINK

agg... advertising..

You know... one of my hatreds is advertising... it's just plain annoying... all those stupid moving ads on the web now, for example.

Well, billboards are approaching new annoying heights.

Some billboards in France will have the ability to call cellphones.
LINK

Digital Billboards to increase vehicular accidents! yay!
LINK

Subliminal Billboards???
LINK

2007: Things to do

I never get anything done, unless it's numbered and written.
So, I was thinking this morning when my alarm woke me up (Bebe immediately decided to jump up and lay on my legs. She knows when the alarm goes off, I have to go to work, and this is her way of trying to restrain me from the door.) of things that would make 2007 great year.

It'll will grow as time goes on.

1. Join a volunteer group.
2. Go to another country. (This one I want, but it may not be possible given work and other circumstances)

This makes my mouth water...

God... this image just made me realize how silly I am. I saw it and I thought to myself, "I WANT THAT!" I only own one pair of shoes that even come close to being as cute as the ones in this round shoe rack!

To have such pretty shoes... Forget the shoe rack... it can only hold 18 pairs.. psh... as if that would be helpful... God, I can't help being so silly... no use fighting it.

You know... but at least I don't like those ridiculously priced designer phones... that's just excessive... no real technology for a stupendous price! All the fashion blogs keep talking about it... Arg... enough already... You don't have to wear Prada shoes, purse, pants... and then a phone too! You know what? I just got a brilliant brilliant idea. I bet I should market a Prada car. no no... I got an even better one... I'm going to market a Louis Vuitton car... that way, I won't have to worry about how ugly it looks... I'll just have to cover the stupid vehicle with cursive V's and L's!
HAHA... I will be a millionaire!!!

Ku Klux Klan: child at heart?

The Heart has no neurons

Remember when humans thought that thought and decision making was made by the heart? Well, now we know it's the brain and the spinal cord...
LINK

ahh...so relaxing

This is the coolest piece of furniture I have seen in a while... but, it's $19,500... I'd rather buy a car.

PICTURE OF FURNITURE
SECOND PIC

We got a Wii !!!!!!!

So, there was a rumor that Best Buy would get a bunch Wii s this morning... Best Buy, at least the ones in our area open up at 11 AM. So, our lazy butts plan to arrive just slightly before the store opens... 10:50 AM.

And, guess what? There was a long line... And then, we found out that some people had tickets for a Wii... these were handed out earlier, and the people with tickets were the one guaranteed a Wii.... We spoke with some people that were there from 6 AM! God, no way for us... we'd rather pay the extra 100 and deal with Ebay.
So, we're thinking... there's no way... but heck... a few minutes and the store will be open... and maybe... just maybe...

Once we get in, the manager requested that the people with tickets get into a line, so half of the people went to the line and the others sadly meandered in the store... and one by one, the people in the line were handed their treasured and beloved Wii... Well, bf and I decided to split up. I went to the main area of the store in search of a possible Wii hidden on the shelves, and he stayed in line even though we did not have the magic ticket...
By the time I get back, defeated, there was no one in line except my whitey bf, two asian kids (they were friends), and another whitey... none of which had any golden ticket.... But AHA! three people with tickets had not come to claim them!!!! Well, in comes this kid, and he has a ticket, so then there were only two...
Then out of nowhere, this middle aged dude (that we had not seen in the line) comes and the manager claims that he will vouch for the older dude that he was here early...
Well, the nice whitey waiting for a Wii said that we were before him and the two asian guys...
So, we got the last Wii... magic number 30 Wii!

Look. Our cat even likes the Wii... she's nuzzling the edge...

And, if you haven't played with the Wii... Let me just say that it is different from any other game console!

Atlanta Aquarium

Would you do this???

Best Haircut!

I'm scheduled for a haircut in a week and a half... this a good idea?
lol... so funny.

Frustration and confusion!

What the heck?
Two people (that commented to my posts) have come to my website, and they didn't register to my counters... what is going on? Can they post without actually visiting my site????
so confused...

Electronics+Biology=Miracle

Thank goodness that Bebe has her eyesight and is not a victim to retinitis pigmentosa... but if she was, there are apparently options now.
Scientists have figured out that by placing a microchip at the back of the cat's eyeball, it can once again see... pretty cool!

LINK

I don't think that she likes having me take pics of her... if you carefully, you can see that she is sticking out a little of her tongue in disgust at me... not only that, she slits her eyes because of the darn flash... you have no idea just how difficult it is to take a picture of this silly little thing... this is one of the few photos of her where she does not have her back towards me...
But, believe it or not, my little Bebe is the most outgoing, friendly, lovey kitty!

cruise: cool food stuff

Here is a funky table trick, and some butter, fruit, and ice sculptures on the cruise...the butter sculptures seemed a little gross to me somehow...

Jamaica, baby!

We went zip-lining! yay! It actually wasn't very scary at all... It was only when you were standing there up high in these platforms built around these trees when it was scary... only because it was so high up... but once you were sliding on the rope... it was just relaxing...

I survived!!! All sweaty... that bare minerals stuff didn't do anything... not when I went into the office, not when I went to Jamaica... :(
At a tourist trap... They were trying to sell me those see through able swimsuits that you can see in the background... hmm... not so much... although they are really sexy in their own way...
Some of the cute little animals around Jamaica:

There was one of these little lizards that actually climbed up halfway my calf on our zip-lining trek... it was pretty cool.
made me homesick for my bebe at home....

If you look carefully, there's a guy living out of a grave hole... sad... People work so hard in Jamaica... there was a little boy that ran across streets all day cleaning car windows... almost everyone was ignoring him... and he was so grateful of my measly dollar... :(
After a long day of fun, and eating!