Observations of a puzzling world

Monday, July 31, 2006

The new season

I’m back from my break and ready to blog away on all my adventures. I was officially Internet-free for two whole weeks, which can be quite a challenge. I’d pass by shady looking Internet café’s with hippie-backpackers and consider stopping in to check my email. But then I started thinking about all of the people that use those computers and all the articles I’ve read about dirty keyboards. Since I didn’t have any Lysol antibacterial wipes handy I opted not to enter. So of course on returning I got on my computer right away to check my email. I was a bit disappointed though – and was expecting a TONNE of exciting emails waiting for me. 80% of my inbox messages were generic listserv items, and most of the other messages were email reminders that my bills were for the month were available online. Maybe those hippies weren't emailing friends, but instead were just paying their bills on time?

Friday, July 14, 2006

Away

Why hello – thank you for visiting my blog today. I am out of town (out of the continent actually) and I didn’t want to be scrutinized by airport security for taking my computer along. That means no blog postings until I return. So at the beginning of August – be ready for the new season of “Observations of a Puzzling World” – coming to you at least a month before the network fall season. Stay tuned for the new postings – no doubt inspired by observations in a foreign country (imagine the hilarity!) In the mean time – have a look at NBC’s The Office website … they have their webisodes posted and are very funny!

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Bonferroni

This is my new favourite term – Bonferroni. It has something to do with statistical correction (or something like that) … but it doesn’t matter to me. I just like the term Bonferroni because it sounds fun. No doubt named for Senor Bonferroni who was likely a nerdy mathmetician that had no friends until he documented to Bonferroni method. I wonder about these famous people and their famous theories, discoveries, disasters, etc. Fibonacci, Newton, Copernicus, Darwin, Galileo – all these famous folks who had such fun names. So now when we talk about their theories or works – they are informative, important, and have fun names. If I ever become famous for something like this I’ll use a fake name that is super fun. I think I’ll use Gladys Von Hookstar.

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Dressing

Do you ever have the dressing dilemma – can I wear this same item for two days in a row? Would anyone really notice? I sometimes think this and feel it’s too risky to wear the same item of clothing two days in a row. Although I do wear the same watch everyday and no one notices… but still – if I wear the same thing for two days, for the entire day I am consumed with the notion that someone is going to catch my fashion faux pas (although that would be a minor one of many). I don’t know if anyone would really notice, or even if someone noticed if they’d be mean enough to say something about the repetitive clothing. Still it’s something that I have in the back of my mind anytime I double up my clothing routine. Sometimes I think that it would be easier if I could just wear a uniform everywhere I went – or if everyone was wearing a uniform, that would be better. Like the crew of the Enterprise – no one seemed upset that they had to wear the same clothes all the time. I came across this website http://www.littlebrowndress.com/ where a lady wore the same homemade “little brown dress” for one year (taking it off for washings of course). Maybe she’s onto something…

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

People Judging

What is the best way to judge one’s character? I think it is to get to know them by spending lots of time with them. If after some time you feel like strangling them – perhaps you should end the relationship before you get arrested. If you are constantly smiling and can’t wait to swap stories with them – then perhaps they are good people (or cleverly deceptive). But there might be some tactics that you haven’t thought of that are good indicators of character.

I read this a few days ago – on Russian stressovoye or stressful interview for prospective employees. "Interviewers shout at applicants, throw water over them, insult them and ask them intimate personal questions. . . . Throwing a glass of water in someone's face is said to be especially revealing: the interviewee is considered to have strength of character and leadership qualities if they react aggressively. If the humiliation fails to provoke a reaction, the candidate is seen as ideal for a boss seeking a submissive deputy with little ambition who will pose no threats."

So if someone is driving you crazy and you mistakenly throw a glass of water (or your fist) in their face, just say you are judging their character.

Monday, July 10, 2006

Headbuts



Yesterday, while watching the World Cup Final – I saw the “headbut heard around the world”. That is, Zinadine Zidane ramming his head into the chest of a player from Italy. Now I’m sure it was just the heat of the moment and Zadine just got carried away – but I question the tactic of using one’s head to hit someone. Not using your head in a good way, but I guess not using your head at all. Ummm… yaaa… Anyway – why would you ever use your head to hit someone? Clearly headbuters are not concerned about what is housed inside their head – or maybe they have used their head so often for fighting that they no longer understand that it shouldn’t be done. There seems to be so many other ways to get back at someone – tripping them, sucker punch in the back, vomiting on them. But a headbut hardly seems worth it. I’d be worried it would mess up my hair!

Friday, July 07, 2006

Evangelists

It used to be that I would only see evangelists on television on Sunday mornings – but now they are on all the time. I don’t really have any qualms with the evangelists – they basically say to be a good person, don’t be mean, don’t steal etc etc. Nothing out of the ordinary really. They often seem to have southern accents – I’d like to see an evangelist from Scotland or Ireland. Then people would really be paying attention to the sermons to get the full message! The evangelists that heal ailments I am a little skeptical of though … because they make it seem that anyone can have this strange healing power. Yesterday I read something in the newspaper that really speaks to this point. Some people should just stick to what they know, instead of evangelism.

“From a worker whose hand was cut on a restaurant can-opener: "Blood was squirting everywhere. Instead of grabbing the first-aid kit, [the boss] took my hand in his, closed his eyes, looked up towards the ceiling and said 'Heal. Heal. In two seconds you will no longer feel pain and you will be healed.' As blood continued to gush, a co-worker called an ambulance”

Thursday, July 06, 2006

Yoghurt

As I ate a cup of yoghurt (not the nasty jam on the bottom style) yesterday I had the following thoughts:
* Yoghurt is a really weird name
* It’s full of bacteria – edible bacteria
* It has a strange consistency. Not quite ice cream and not quite pudding (don’t get me started on the weirdness of pudding)
* It comes in little cups – and eating stuff that is predetermined portions is so much more fun than having to figure it out on my own
* It has a really long fridge life (the yoghurt I bought two weeks ago doesn’t expire until the start of August). Think of all the fun the bacteria is having in those little cups for all that time.

But in addition to my own thoughts on yoghurt I thought I would share some cold-hard facts about yoghurt (courtesy of the good people at wikipedia):
* The earliest yoghurts (circa 3000 BCE) were probably spontaneously fermented, perhaps by wild bacteria residing inside goat skin bags used for transportation (yikes!)
* The word derives from the Turkish yoğurt deriving from the adjective 'yoğun', which means "dense" and "thick” (interesting!)
* Yoghurt with added fruit marmalade was invented (and patented) in 1933 in Prague (smart!)
* If you are adventurous and don’t mind breeding bacteria (consciously) in your own kitchen, you can make your own yoghurt. Instructions are here.

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Trip to the grocery store

Yesterday on my way home I decided to visit the grocery store to pick up a few items. Now I know this breaks one of the cardinal rules of life – do not shop for groceries when you are hungry. Apparently you are more likely to buy a whole bunch of stuff that you don’t need if you shop while you’re hungry. I bought some ziplock bags that it turned out I didn’t need because I already had a tonne… but I don’t think that counts. After work the store is packed and you have to be strategic in going through so that you don’t get too trapped in the crowds. I went to one of those giant grocery stores with 30 checkout lines and at least 5 express lines (my favorite). So there I am standing in the express line of 8 items or less when I realize that one of the people in front of me in line has a shopping cart. Now that is always a negative sign because why would you need a shopping cart if you have 8 items of less. Maybe if you were buying 8 crates of bottled water, or 8 watermelons, but not otherwise. So of course the person has more than 8 items, but no one says anything because she’s already at the front of the line and is unloading her items on the conveyer belt. After the checkout girl scans about 20 items of this truant lady, she has to do a price check. One lady in front of me just opened her bag of pretzels and started snacking while we were waiting for the price check. I then started to rethink my whole grocery store visit. Darn those ziplock bags!

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

Arm Swinging


Do you ever catch yourself while walking swinging your arms about in a manic manner? Every now and again I’ll catch myself swinging my arms outrageously in front of me while walking. I’m not sure why this happens – or why I need to swing my arms at all? Does it help keep the pace of my walking or help balance me while carrying a heavy backpack? Either way – it looks strange. And then of course after I find myself looking bizarre, I have to start looking at how others are walking. I’ve noticed many people with the “big but small” arm swing – petite people who swing their arms far out in front of them to make their presence larger. Or the “huffy” swing – people who swing their arms really quickly as they walk as though they are in a huge rush or really upset. The only consistent thing I have noticed about arm swinging is that it can be dangerous – flailing arms can only lead to one thing … eye injuries for other pedestrians. Particularly those with pointy elbows or long fingernails – they can inflict serious damage. So walk cautiously.

Saturday, July 01, 2006

Umbrella Hats

I think that umbrella hats are a great invention. They might even be more useful to the helmet that I wrote about a little while back. I really don’t know whey we don’t see more people wearing umbrella hats around. They provide shade in the sun and protection from the rain all in a hands-free manner! They would also be useful in ways that you wouldn’t expect – giving you a boost on a windy day, and protecting you from a mean pigeon perched on a power line just waiting for you to walk under him (this is speaking from an unfortunate incident I had yesterday – thank goodness I had some Kleenex handy). I think umbrella hats should become more mainstream – or maybe even high fashion. I’m sure celebrities would wear Lacoste umbrella hats. Designers are missing out on the opportunity!