against the odds

Cubist aims for Rubik record
Colour-blind teen has solved cube in under 7 seconds

ok, the only way i've ever solved a rubik's cube is by removing all the stickers and putting the colours rightfully back together! now, if i was REALLY smart, i would just leave the stickers off and it would be permanently solved! alas... rubik's cubes are one of those things that are cool for the first 2 minutes and then they get put in a box and forgotten about.

this colour-blind kid solving the cube in record time is pretty impressive but a totally blind person solving one would be even cooler! they even have braille cubes for just such a scenario! and to prove that it might be possible, here's a story about a blind guy accomplishing a daring quest:

Three Guys Create 100,000 Keystroke Move-By-Move Script So A Blind Gamer Can Beat Ocarina Of Time

soylent green is... people!

and so apparently is anti-wrinkle face cream!
just like the soap in fight club!

"Peru villagers murdered to make anti-wrinkle cream"
LIMA - Police in Peru infiltrated and cracked a gang that was kidnapping locals, killing them and draining their fat for use in the beauty industry. The gang has reportedly been active for 30 years in the remote areas of the Andes.

doin' it like bunnies

just in case it ever becomes an issue, i just wanted you to know that science can now grow you a new penis in the hilarious (hilariously painful albeit) event that you lose yours or you decide that you want to try one out! you know, just FYI.

"Lab-grown penis helps rabbits mate ... like rabbits"

boobies!

now that i have your attention...

boobies!

according to german researchers, staring at women's breasts is good for one's health!

the results of a 5-year study have shown that those who ogle women's endowments "presented a lower blood pressure, slower resting pulse rates and decreased risk of coronary artery disease."

team leader dr. karen weatherby says, "sexual excitement gets the heart pumping and improves blood circulation. [...] just 10 minutes of looking as the charms of a well-endowed females is equivalent to a 30-minute aerobic work-out."

so there you go ladies... next time you catch a guy looking at tad lower than your face, make sure he thanks you for increasing his health and prolonging his life!**

** actually, you can go ahead and give him a sharp slap across the face because this story is totally fake!

unnatural

i know one can't always be looking one's best (look how gorgeous she looks here in a photoshoot) when one is running around after 2 little kids but there is just something about jennifer garner's neck that looks so... WRONG! i can't stop staring at it! and then i get wigged out and start feeling my own neck to make sure it isn't like that!

japanese people make me uncomfortable...

i consider myself a fairly open-minded person but i think this is pushing my limits just a wee tad too much. i read this story and it made ME feel awkward.

"Phenomenon - Love in 2-D"

Nisan didn’t mean to fall in love with Nemutan. [...] They went to a beach, not far from the home he shares with his parents in a suburb of Tokyo. [...] They took touristy pictures under cherry trees, frolicked like children on merry-go-rounds and slurped noodles on street corners. Now, after three years together, they are virtually inseparable. “I’ve experienced so many amazing things because of her,” Nisan told me, rubbing Nemutan’s leg warmly. “She has really changed my life.”

Nemutan doesn’t really have a leg. She’s a stuffed pillowcase — a 2-D depiction of a character, Nemu, from an X-rated version of a PC video game called Da Capo, printed on synthetic fabric.

umm... oookay...
apparently a certain LARGE group of people of otaku culture (obsessiveness with anime, manga, & video games) are down with these real relationships with imaginary characters.

here might be a reason for that:
According to a government survey, more than a quarter of men and women between the ages of 30 and 34 are virgins; 50 percent of men and women in Japan do not have friends of the opposite sex. One of the biggest best sellers in the country last year was “Health and Physical Education for Over Thirty,” a six-chapter, manga-illustrated guidebook that holds the reader’s hand from the first meeting to sex to marriage.

here are a few more article snippets that make me a little less than comfortable:

"...believes that a lumpy pillow with a drawing of a prepubescent anime character on it is his girlfriend."

"As long as you train your imagination, a 2-D relationship is much more passionate than a 3-D one."

"...in search of new character girlfriends to add to their collections."

"...a catalog of more than a dozen prints of prepubescent anime characters with giant does eyes in erotic poses."

and that's a whole other thing altogether! why are all those 'erotic' manga cartoons always prepubescent girls??? isn't that skirting child pornography a little too closely for anyone else's comfort?

i've put up a lot of content from the article but it is rather lengthy. it's an... interesting read and if you have the time and a wide enough comfort zone, i highly suggest reading it.

learning on a saturday night

"important: do women have prostates?"

"i don't think so..."

"can you find out? it's a matter of great importance."

"why?"

"we NEED to know."

"seriously?! like a matter of life and death NEED to know?!"

"yes."


and apparently women sort of do have prostates... called the skene's gland, it is very similar to the male version and has a role in female ejaculation.

i must, i must, i must increase my bust

no, not me personally... mine are big enough, thanks.
but those of you out there who got jilted in the boob deparment and have been hoping to 'blossom' might want to think about drinking less coffee.

"Coffee Can Shrink Breasts, Study Finds"

but apparently, smaller breasts also means a lower rish of breast cancer. so i get to fill out a shirt, and you maybe don't get cancer... we all have to make trade-offs in life.

inside and out

do not ask me why i found the pumpkins so geeky and this so totally interesting... i'm having a hard time coming to terms with it myself. just one of those mysteries of nature.

now... on to the main attraction!
anatomy of a LEGO figurine!

from the guy who also enlightened us by creating the anatomies of gummi bears and balloon animals!
awesome? i think so!

[source]

disturbing...

umm... eww?

"Bikini waxes for kids"
Pressure from their parents and their peer pushes more and more under-12s into hair-removal spas

this is like dynamite and matches in a room full of monkeys... i don't want to be anywhere near it. but i do want to voice my discomfort with the situation.

if makes all the unwaxed hairs on the back of my neck stand up. let's face it, young girls out there aren't all like lourdes leon - they don't have uber-famous moms that might get them excused from some serious teasing about say, a unibrow...

stop unwanted pregnancies, get death as a consolation prize!

so this non-sleeping thing, some educated minds thought it might be due to yet another new birth control pill (5th time's a charm?) that i just started...

under the heading of "other more serious side effects" you get a veritable medical encyclopaedia of things that might be wrong with you:

• sharp pain in the chest, coughing blood, or sudden shortness of breath - these symptoms could indicate a possible blood clot in the lung;
• pain in the calf - this symptom could indicate a possible blood clot in the leg;
• crushing chest pain or heaviness - this symptom could indicate a possible heart attack;
• severe headache, vomiting, dizziness, weakness, or numbness - these symptoms could indicate a possible stroke;
• sudden partial or complete loss of vision - this symptom could indicate a possible blood clot in the eye... and so on

talk about covering your bases! believe you me, when the doctor gave me the perscription, she may have failed to mention these "side effects"... it's like in those ridiculous drugs-on-tv ads - "side effects may include dizziness, loss of vision, headaches, anal bleeding, and death." but hey! your restless leg syndrome is all cleared up!

really, it's not my fault?

so not only does your brain encourge you to eat foods high in calories, but your dna is working against your "sexy for summer" body as well!

"Craving something sweet? Blame it on your DNA"
Toronto researchers find genetic trait that makes it hard for some of us to say no to sugar

while i encourage research into how the human body works, this is just another in the long line of excuses people can use when posed the question: why'd you let yourself get so fat?

making it ok to be overweight based on genetics or our brains is not good. taking a defeatist attitude like that can only go bad places. your health is your health and you seriously need to take care of it!

too smart for our own good?

"The Cost of Smarts"
Research on animal intelligence always makes me wonder just how smart humans are. Consider the fruit-fly experiments described in Carl Simmer's piece in the Science Times on Tuesday. Fruit flies who were taught to be smarter than the average fruit fly tended to live shorter lives. This suggests that dimmer bulbs burn longer, that there is an advantage to not being too terrifically bright

also, nerds are so uncool it makes my finger nails fall off.

a little shot in the self esteem

"Why'd you let yourself get so fat?"

ok, so the guy who wrote this sounds like he'd be a total jerk in real life but i don't really disagree with what he's said here... at the end, he asks you to comment and boy, people of all shapes and sizes have gone to town! if you have the time, you should go through and read the comments - they're really interesting.

what i don't get is why people got SO offended... i know his words were harsh but it's not like he's asking "why'd you let yourself get so black?" there were quite a few comments saying about how close-minded and hateful his comments were... black people are born black, fat people aren't born fat. it's completely different. being a certain race isn't a choice, living an unhealthy life style is.

and then there are those who say overeating is an addiction, a form of illness. if you found out you had any other illness, say like cancer, you'd definitely get help straight away! or if you had a cocaine addiction and you wanted to get clean you'd get help! why aren't more fat people getting help? kudos to those who are.

another group of people have totally ignored the commentary and gone straight to attacking the author's integrity, humanity, intelligence, appearance, and so on. calling what he writes hateful and then insulting him? irony? why not save your energy for something a little more constructive. comments like that have no merit and are easily brushed aside by not only the author but any other intelligent reader.

and i'm not some skinny, lithe little person spewing all this "hate" about fat people. let's make no mistake about it - i'm fat. i have my body issues but i'm dealing. i'm also dealing with making healthy life style decisions - i.e. eating healthier, potion control (this might be the hardest part ever!), exercise, and most importantly being happy with myself. i know that sounded barf-a-licious but it's true. and get your barf bags ready cause here comes more... you need to love yourself (this is getting tricky because of all the vomit on my keyboard) in order to make good decisions. i know your gagging and saying "this can't be the same jenn i know!" but some people just need to hear that kind of thing to get them going. and if i can get others on a good path, then that makes me feel even better.

thanks mom!

for letting me suck on your boobs as a child. it really helped me out with my university education! (i'm SO putting this on my mom's mother's day card!)

"Breast-feeding called smart choice"
Canadian researchers dispel lingering doubts about intelligence boost by nursing from breast

"Children who are breast-fed are smarter than those who aren't. And children who nurse longer and more intensely are smarter still, according to the largest ever study on lactation and intelligence."

good news for kids who didn't get breast-fed - you can always just cross your arms when taking your exams!

unwashed hippies

just to warn you, this yarn does go on-and-on so make sure you have plenty of time (and maybe a barf bag for those of you with weak stomachs) before you click the link...

"More to sex than intercourse"
Fulfillment spreads outward from orgasm to put feelings into life

"In a growing offshoot of the world of yoga, sex and spirit are coming together again after a long estrangement."

"Proponents of the spiritual approach to sex say it offers greater emotional awareness, more connected relationships, and a greater sense of fulfillment in life."

oh gak! how do you spew stuff like that without retching a little??
whatever happened to just a good solid lay?
why are they out there trying to make sex such a "heavy" subject... it should be fun!
i picture the so-called "proponents" of this movement in their hippie vests and gypsy skirts spinning in meadows, arms aloft exposing their unshaven armpits...

sharp elbows, sharp mind

did you know...?

Folding your arms un consciously makes your brain sharper, study finds

The mere act of folding your arms increases perseverance and activats an unconcious desire to succeed, new research shows. University students randomly assigned to sit with their arms crossed spent more time on an impossible-to-solve anagram, or word scramble, in one experiment, and came up with more correct solutions to solvable anagrams in another than those told to sit with their hands on their thighs.

The study is the first to show that arm crossing affects people's thinking without them being conciously aware of it. Normally, it's thought that it's a psychological state that leads to a body movement. The study suggests it goes both ways, that a body movement also can trigger a psychological state

source: The National Post (v10, #161)

melt your heart... literally!

do you remember way back when i warned you about the dangers of mixing cinnabon with your health? well apparently, mcdonald's wanted to jump on the cinnamon-flavoured, heart attack-inducing bandwagon as well!

"Cinnamon Melts push the limits"

here are all the overly nutritious details per 114g serving: 460 calories, 19g sugar, 400mg of sodium and 20g of fat (8g saturated, 0.2g trans) along with a host of other ingredients that you probably don't want to know about.

so if you're doing your fine dining at golden arches, you'll have the big mac & fires entree, with a coke of course... and a cinnamon melt for dessert! that's a whopping 1570 calories! like 80% of your daily calories in one sitting! and don't forget you still have to cram breakfast and lunch under that calorie salary cap too!

good news: if you can do without your cinnamon fix, you could have an apple pie AND an "ice milk" cone with fewer calories!

but there is good news for the cinnamon melts... there are worst mcoffenders out there - mcflurries can have anywhere between 500 and 890 calories! sweet, sweet, oreo-blended jesus! i don't think i could bring myself to eat one of those ever again! (interesting note: did you know that a small DQ "Health Blizzard" is 610 calories?? doesn't sound very healthy to me... in contrast, a small pineapple blizzard is only 390 calories and a large "Georgia Mud Fudge Blizzard" is a whopping 1490 calories!)

as bad as they are for you doesn't it's attractiveness and care of preparation make you want to run out and grab a cinnamon melt right this instant?

field trip!

"A Voyage Through The Human Body"
Netherlands Attraction Is Part Amusement Park, Part Health Education Museum

welcome to Oegstgeest in the netherlands... home of the Corpus Museum - a 7-story interactive museum featuring an 115-foot high seated human figure.

sounds pretty interesting... anyone up for a little trip?

so it's not my fault!

good news!
it's not your fault that your fat (and possibly insane)!!!
the guilty party is god! well, if you believe in that sort of thing... it's our internal programming that makes us fat! well, that and possibly the fact that you're rotting on the inside...

research by duke university has concluded that "the brain has a 'sixth sense' that can detect dead people!" kidding. what they actaully said was that it "can detect calories in food without benefit of taste or smell."

more concerning is the fact that "the parts of the brain programmed to sense when calories are being consumed is loaced in one of its pleasure centres." good. my brain loves it when i consume high calorie foods and rewards me for doing it with a big ol' shot of dopamine! dieting doesn't get any easier than that!

read more: "Want fries with that? Blame your brain"