8.24.2004
I think I'll avoid diet pop since I learned about Aspertame and Gulf War Syndrome!
From the site:
"Aspartame contains 10% methanol. That caught my attention! I know that methanol (wood alcohol) is a poisonous substance, which on ingestion causes blindness and death; two teaspoons full are considered lethal.
"[M]ethanol destroys the brain, albeit a little at a time, and that effects are cumulative. Depending on a person's physical state and tolerance level, immediate effects can either be severe (resulting in epileptic seizures, including grand mal, blindness, chest palpitations), or less noticeable (causing blurred vision, bright flashes, tunnel vision, ringing or buzzing in ears, migraine headaches, dizziness, loss of equilibrium, lip and mourth reactions); less noticeable effects might be passed off as temporary or caused by something else. But everyone is affected in one way or another, since methanol causes toxic reactions, not just allergic ones in a few unfortunates."
From the site:
"Aspartame contains 10% methanol. That caught my attention! I know that methanol (wood alcohol) is a poisonous substance, which on ingestion causes blindness and death; two teaspoons full are considered lethal.
"[M]ethanol destroys the brain, albeit a little at a time, and that effects are cumulative. Depending on a person's physical state and tolerance level, immediate effects can either be severe (resulting in epileptic seizures, including grand mal, blindness, chest palpitations), or less noticeable (causing blurred vision, bright flashes, tunnel vision, ringing or buzzing in ears, migraine headaches, dizziness, loss of equilibrium, lip and mourth reactions); less noticeable effects might be passed off as temporary or caused by something else. But everyone is affected in one way or another, since methanol causes toxic reactions, not just allergic ones in a few unfortunates."
8.18.2004
My soul has always been in tune with environmental rhythm. The incessant but steady chirp-chirp of my clock's alarm, the hump-chika-hump of a clothes dryer, and - as I discovered this morning - the tik-ticka-tick-ticka-tik of a gas pump. These sound seem to beckon me to become one with nature. The funny thing is none of these sounds are technically part of nature; instead they are of technology. Still, they surround me every day, filling me. Mental rhythms keep time, inventing bass lines and drum fills along the way.
My favourite orchestra performs in my kitchen, where egg timers, buzzing fridges, and a dripping tap perform a daily, cacaphonous symphony. I would love to warm the sound by somehow recording my digestive noises, which are set to their own indigenous rhythm, my heartbeat.
My favourite orchestra performs in my kitchen, where egg timers, buzzing fridges, and a dripping tap perform a daily, cacaphonous symphony. I would love to warm the sound by somehow recording my digestive noises, which are set to their own indigenous rhythm, my heartbeat.
8.17.2004
What a weird night.
Quick backstory: I frequently change my answering machine message -- so frequently that many people don't have a chance to hear it. Two people called me out of the blue last night, and had mixed reactions to my current message: a long-winded rant about the transition from present to future, and how we're "trapped" in the present indefinitely.
Last night was my first time in an official slam competition. Something I've always wanted to do. Two of my friends showed up afer the venue was at capacity, and couldn't stay to watch. Pththhp! My performance went pretty well, except I was so nervous my notes were shaking in my hand. Later, when I got home, I had a message from Maktaaq Bookwormy, who hasn't called me for a year, commenting that I should try some spoken word. Weird.
Quick backstory: I frequently change my answering machine message -- so frequently that many people don't have a chance to hear it. Two people called me out of the blue last night, and had mixed reactions to my current message: a long-winded rant about the transition from present to future, and how we're "trapped" in the present indefinitely.
Last night was my first time in an official slam competition. Something I've always wanted to do. Two of my friends showed up afer the venue was at capacity, and couldn't stay to watch. Pththhp! My performance went pretty well, except I was so nervous my notes were shaking in my hand. Later, when I got home, I had a message from Maktaaq Bookwormy, who hasn't called me for a year, commenting that I should try some spoken word. Weird.
8.13.2004
Simulacrum
"A copy for which there is no original." Examples would include the hacienda that Taco Bell stores are based on, Disneyland, MGM Studios, sex in pornography, and 40s "retro" fashions. The point isn't that there aren't "real life" models for these things--we could find a mission church similar to the Taco Bell store--but that the model becomes more important than any original we might discover. For example, in pornography you have highly scripted, often impossible sex that people then attempt to emulate in their lives. The representation becomes more important than the "thing itself." The signifier becomes more important than the signified. The term is central to the work of Baudrillard, althought Deleuze wrote about it much earlier.
CultureJammers: Adbusters: Bush and his detractors head for Manhattan Magazine: "Activist-artist Wendy Tremayne is holding an anti-RNC lead-up event on August 17 called the Vomitorium. Actors will recreate a Roman feast, but the puking Romans will be replaced with Americans who Tremayne says are mirroring the ways of Rome. Their gluttony was our consumerism. There was a disparity of wealth, a growth in materialism and a real reduction in intellectual pursuit. Sound familiar?"
Is saying, "Your shirt is on inside out" equivalent to saying, "Your shirt is out onside in"?
Why do people still believe the popular myth that Catharsis decreases anger? Psychologists have shown again and again that it does not, but this pervasive belief prevails.
1. Take any twelve words from the English language and string them together.
2. Chances are, that particular combination has never before been used in history.
3. I can't be absolutely sure, but I think I've already said this.
2. Chances are, that particular combination has never before been used in history.
3. I can't be absolutely sure, but I think I've already said this.
8.12.2004
Two more guys from my high school who did something interesting with their lives: Jeff Penner and Russ Brummer. I had the pleasure of working with both of these guys doing improv and theatre, and it's great to see them continue with it.
I can't remember if I graduated in 1995 or 1996. Hmm. Either way, here's someone from my high school who did something interesting: Angela McCarthy
I'm wearing my t-shirt inside-out today. People keep telling me that it's inside out, but I don't care. Does it make a difference, really?
8.05.2004
Just when you think you've seen every word combination possible...
Here are some things people have actually searched for on Google.
- gay scrabble
- evolution of the buttocks
- happy word list
- heraldic flatulence
- mouse fur pubic wig
- obsessive compulsive nose picking
- person engrossed in concerns of this present world
- persuasive words about beer
- puppet shows on bullies
- using onions to predict weather
- what do you have on the word nevertheless
- what is the similar word to z
- would you footle at a funeral
Here are some things people have actually searched for on Google.
- gay scrabble
- evolution of the buttocks
- happy word list
- heraldic flatulence
- mouse fur pubic wig
- obsessive compulsive nose picking
- person engrossed in concerns of this present world
- persuasive words about beer
- puppet shows on bullies
- using onions to predict weather
- what do you have on the word nevertheless
- what is the similar word to z
- would you footle at a funeral
