quote of the moment

"people like stuff they understand."

-- zz

trivia of the moment

according to the latest wii worldwide user poll:

country in which people talk to their neighbors the most: germany

country in which people talk to their neighbors the least: canada

quote of the moment

"some individuals find that stress or emotional upset can drive them to
the biscuit jar or bread bin."

--- john briffa

quote of the moment

"all you need in this life is ignorance and confidence; then success is
sure."

-- mark twain

tips for optimal brain plasticity

* you need your heart to be in decent shape.

* training should be incremental.

* training needs to be taxing and systematically improving.

* it should be interesting to engage the motivation circuits in your
brain.

the seven tenets of brain elasticity

1. change can occur only when the brain is in the mood.

2. change strengthen connection between neurons engaged at the same
time.

3. neurons that fire together wire together.

4. initial changes are just temporary.

5. brain plasticity is a two-way street and we can either drive brain
change positively or negatively.

6. memory is crucial for learning.

7. motivation is a key factor in brain plasticity.

quote of the moment

"a key to successfully adopting a new behavior is believing that the
benefits you'll get from the change will outweigh the disadvantages."

-- brent bauer

quote of the moment

"jinn and phyllis were spending a wonderful holiday, in space, as far
away as possible from the inhabited stars."

-- pierre boulle; opening line of "plant of the apes"

quote of the moment

"pull your navel toward your spine, using your tansversus abdominus."

-- "mayo clinic fitness for everybody," page 60

quote of the moment

"great moments in history usually breeds pairs."

-- tommy smith

more covert stuff

% of calories in fat in daily consumption:
on weight: 25%
5-25 pounds over: 20%
25+ pounds over: 10%

quote of the moment

"you wanna know how old steve jobs looks? death minus 1. that's how old."

-- special K

quote of the moment

"briefs in opposition are done in quantities."

-- lawrence wallace to the US supreme court

trivia of the moment

both "cherry flavor" and "orange flavor" ocean spray "craisins" use
elderberry juice concentrate for flavoring.

quote of the moment

"Watching a curvaceous woman can feel like a reward in the brain of men,
much as drinking alcohol or taking drugs might, research now reveals."

-- anonymous "livescience" article on msnbc

quote of the moment

"the price of freedom is eternal vigilance."

-- aldous huxley

balloon

santa clara, CA

quote of the moment

"pornography, to me, represents freedom."

-- jenna jameson

quote of the moment

"there's an inner porn star in everyone."

-- jenna jameson

haiku of the moment

the best trait of death
evil is treated the same
al haig turns to dust

fitness levels

(from covert for my future reference only)

relative aerobic paces for the mile† for people > 45 years old

7-8 minutes
very high
note: if your aerobic pace is 8 minutes or less, subtract 3% from the
earlier body fat calculation

***
good health section
(breakover for those < 45 is 13 minutes)

9-10 minutes
high

11-13 minutes
above average

14-17 minutes
average
***

18-20 minutes
below average

21 minutes or longer
poor

† the speed you can cover consecutive miles at a comfortable pace that
doesn't get you out of breath ... in other words the spot during
exercise where you can hold a conversation, but not sing

quote of the moment

"Chile's mint has sacked its managing director after he sent into circulation thousands of coins bearing an incorrect spelling of the country's name."

-- reuters

quote of the moment

"bush had 8 years to fuck everything up here and in iraq. it's going to
take you, me and obama another 7 years to fix it."

-- sole graffito on a bathroom stall; santa nella, CA

top 10 google settings to be aware of

good article as fodder for making your own decisions:

http://lifehacker.com/5470671/top-10-google-settings-you-should-know-about

quote of the moment

To make others less happy is a crime. To make ourselves unhappy is where all crime starts. We must try to contribute joy to the world. That is true no matter what our problems, our health, our circumstances. We must try.

-- roger ebert

quote of the moment

"there's always something from 'the wizard of oz' that seems
applicable."

-- cameron birse

quote of the moment

"every time steve jobs demos now, i expect it to end with his
resignation."

-- special K

body fat formulae

this from covert bailey's "ultimate fit or fat" for future reference
(and from a l-o-n-g discussion with suttonhoo).

men > 30 years old (do all measurements in inches):
waist + 0.5(hips) - 2.7(forearm) - wrist = % body fat
over-fat is anything above 15

women > 30:
hips + thigh - 2(calf) - wrist = % body fat
over-fat is anything above 22

measurement notes:
(where appropriate, measure on the dominant side of your body.)
waist: stand erect, don't suck in your stomach, measure the widest
point.
hips: wrap measure around hips and buttocks, feet about 4" apart.
measure the greatest circumference.
thigh: stand with feet 12" apart, measure widest part.
calf: stand feet apart, measure widest part.
forearm: clench your fist, measure the widest point between wrist and
elbow.
wrist: measure just above the bony protuberance, toward the hand.

quote of the moment

"it's normal for women to store a little extra fat in their thighs, and
using extreme methods to get rid of it is like saying, 'i'm smarter than
god.'"

-- covert bailey

quote of the moment

"a platinum record is not going to wash your ass for you."

-- john mayer

quote of the moment

"there are people in the world who have the power to change our values.
have you ever been with a girl who made you want to quit the rest of
your life? did you ever say, 'i want to quit my life and just fuckin'
snort you? if you charged me $10,000 to fuck you, i would start selling
all my shit just to keep fucking you.'"
-- john mayer

quote of the moment

"if jennifer aniston knows how to use bittorrent i'll eat my fucking
shoe."

-- john mayer

trivium of the moment

23% of all US homes bought in 2004 were purchased as investments, not
residences.

-- nationa association of realtors, 2005

haiku of the moment

walter morrison
frisbee inventor has flown
soul goes MTA

quote of the moment

"except for veal, what is meatloaf?"

-- mary miljarak

ice sculpture

las vegas, NV

haiku of the moment

Financial crisis
Stalled too many customers
CEO no more.

-Jonathan Schwartz, of Sun Microsystems, on Twitter

trivium of the moment

eight perfect shuffles will return a deck to its original order.

quote of the moment

"the master minds of card conjuring, those who aspire to the heights of
virtuosity in the handling of cards, have sought for years to master the
perfect riffle shuffle; that is to say, to make the shuffle by
interweaving the two packets card for card. by dint of incessant
practice some performers have attained sufficient skill to make the
perfect shuffle some four times out of five but, in spite of all
attempts they cannot acquire an absolute certainty of success. by
resorting to subterfuge, however, not only is all this tedious practice
eliminated, but success is assured every time."

-- jean hugard & frederick braue; "expert card technique," 1940