Maebius Musings

After reading Scott Adams’ blog today (Of Dilbert comic fame), I had to actually laugh out loud at the final line.

Still, there’s a hint of interesting muse going on there, beyond the witty humor.    Could such an experiment be done?

I’ve just emailed the local community college to get the name of the psychology proffs.   I’ll propose the situation, since it sounds like just the sort of thing my own psych teacher would jump all over when I attended college.   Our class experiment was about cultural appearances.  We all did the classic “Dress down and go into a fancy jewelry store to see if we get sneered at, then return later all dolled up and were shows much more respect”.

I imagine that if test scores have a remote chance to be affected (even positively) this will get shot down.

Still, doesn’t hurt to try!   That’s how progress is made, breaking down the old to make way for the new….

How are you today?   I, myself, am great, thanks! 

1 Comment »

For lack of a more in-depth musing today, I think I’ll go with a few short questions on random thought-provoking topics.

I do not agree with them all, but considering WHY you agree or disagree with the thoughts below can lead to some interesting revelations.  …. I hope

First, Dilbert creator Scott Adams ponders a future set of Rights that old people are allowed.  Namely, access to drugs and euthanasia.   Sadly, I see too many comments telling him he’s an idiot for making old people get killed, when I think his actual thought was to allow the Right to an assisted death, not forcing a certain age limit to undergo such things, especially in light of the numbers on HealthCare weighing heavily towards the elderly being expensive to upkeep.  Agree or Disagree? http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/the_extra_legal_age/

Second, After reading book 3 of the Twilight series (yes, I read it, and no, I am NOT a fanboi, but it’s humorous and entertaining while stuck night-shift at work) there’s one comment about the vampire boyfriend wanting to get married to the overly emotional girlfriend, and waiting to preserve her Virtue since his soul was eternally doomed (in his mind).  He carried older customs and Traditions on marriage and sex, but at 17 considers himself a man as would be true in his original timeframe. She is more accepting and modern in her views, and is hesitant to “marry fresh out of highschool”, but still wants some carnal adventures right now with the man she loves.    It made me wonder, Did the incidence of early marriage help foster a culture of deeper social bonding and compromise?  Getting stuck with someone at a younger age may have limited freedoms, but encouraged unselfish support and social networking much better than today’s carefree internet-fad swinging lifestyle?  Or is it just me starting to feel old-fashioned?

Thirdly, I wonder what would happen if the usual 9-5 workday was replaced with something more common in subtropical zones like Mexico, which involve a mid-day siesta.    I understand the reason for such a break in those climates is to avoid the hottest part of the day, and do manual work in the cooler morning/evening hours.   Still, would the break up of a long workday cause a drastic and unwanted drop in productivity, or would it actually increase productivity in the long term, by allowing a mental break and relief from daily stressors?    Would us  North American types simply fall into a pattern of even MORE long hours?  I think we would, in the short term.   But I think overall we’d adjust.       On a related topic, how would schooling and education have to change to deal with such a shift in schedule?!

Fourthly, That old question about woodchucks and chucking wood fails to be answerable in one immensely important detail.   When asking hte quantity of wood being chucked, and implying the successful ability of chucking for said woodchuck, what timeframe is used to determine an answer.   This unknown variable leads to a huge disparity in relative results.    Wonder why no one else caught such an obvious hole before now?!

…and with that, my night-shift brain has officially reached it’s limit of musing for today.

Back to a relatively normal routine next week.  See you on the flipside!

4 Comments »

Short post today, because I’d gotten called in to work the 3rd shift at work, and then crazy-busy today during the day.

Also, I am going to the beach (Barnegat Light, NJ) for a nice long weekend with my parents, sister and family, and grandmother.  Should be a nice “family reunion”, which I will return from on Tuesday the 21st.

In the meantime, enjoy these three literal translations of some songs.   They made me giggle. 

First is “Total Eclipse of the Heart”.

Next up, my favorite, A-Ha’s “Take on Me”.

Finally,  who can resist the sultry snarl of Billy Idol, in “White Wedding”.

enjoy!

1 Comment »

I admit, I still have a few TV shows that I enjoy watching.   This time of year, it is “So You Think you Can Dance“, on FOX.

Very much related to the apparently more popular “American Idol”, this show starts with tryouts from around the country, with people dancing a short routine of their choice on stage.   The best ones get sent to Las Vegas for the “finals”.

Then, starting with the top 20, each person is coupled randomly with another, is given a semi-random style of dance, and works with a correographer to learn the routine in time for next week’s show.   I am in total awe of the contestants each year.  Singing never held my attention, but even the “worst of the best” dancers are amazing to watch.  My body can only dream of their talents.

So, during this time of the year, my ONLY television viewing is consumed by Reality TV.   I admit it.  

Still, when the opening week showcasing the top 20 has two people with diverse backgrounds who get paired up for “Bollywood” and dance an amazing performance of Jai Ho.  I’m in awe.

Jai Ho

They learned this in 4 days?!    wow.

1 Comment »

Nettle made a comment in a prior post about something I said, and have now used as the subject of this post, regarding my brain being weird.

Not to disappoint, my night-shift sleep-deprived right-brain then suddenly began an intense conversation with my left brain to go sod off somewhere while it played. After flouncing around with the first two verses completely spontaneously, it shackled the left-brain again to listen up and contribute to the joint effort and come up with a rhyme for Sartre (which does in fact, rhyme with “apple tart”) and then, consequently, the first parts of that particular verse.

The first draft of this little bit of mental gymnastics is found below. While it’s not quite Xanadu with it’s stately pleasure domes, don’t say I didn’t warn you!! This whole poem popped into being within about 10 minutes, and flowed all-but intact in concept as I typed… then I had to go back and edit it to conform to the initial lettering pattern I noticed in the first two verses which were [unintentionally?] the same.

One thing I know, my brain is weird
But not as much as I had feared.
It takes such random stimuli
From tongue and finger, ear, and eye
Transforming muddiness to cleared.

OBIFT the letters from the first verse,
By normal terms, not a word, much worse,
I could form it into mantra text
Freely spoken, though others vexed
To get the depth in such so terse.

Twice now I used five selfsame starts
For yet the third time drifts apart
Inspired by a blog-post Dream
Began this poem’s rhyming scheme
Oh, may relate to Sartre !?!

Till more research is done tonight
Final findings won’t come to light
In addled brain they bounce around
Boing boing, then suddenly they’re found
On further dreams and posts I write.

Now, back to work I go!

No Comments »

Just a quick video clip I found… which was awesome.

The subject is a bit of paraphrasing on a picturing being worth 1000 words. I’m guessing an animation is worth a few more than that.

http://www.babelgum.com/html/clip.php?clipId=147374

My favorite ‘clip’ is the one with the ‘mirror’, though the toast is pretty neat also.

also: The sprogling and his ducks!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrm9_0hxqfk

Enjoy!

No Comments »

Back when I was younger, one of my more fond memories was hanging out with my dad (and sometimes uncle) and coming up with all manner of philosophical discussions on the meaning of Life, the Universe, and Everything. (yes, also inspired by that book).

One of our more persistant ‘theories’ from back in… I don’t even know how long ago, but think it was around 1990-ish..was that of Dark Suckers. While going through the attic to clean out some stuff, my father found this ancient manuscript, reproduced here for your amusement!

DARK SUCKERS

For years it has been believed that electric bulbs emitted light. However, recent information has proven otherwise. Electric bulbs don’t emit light,…….they suck Dark. Thus we should call these bulbs Dark suckers. The dark sucker theory proves the existence of Dark, that Dark has mass heavier than light, and that Dark is faster than light.

The basis of the Dark sucker theory is that electric bulbs suck Dark. Take for example, the Dark suckers in the room where you are. There is much less Dark right next to them than there is elsewhere. The larger the Dark sucker, the greater it’s ability to suck Dark. Dark suckers in a parking lot have a much greater capacity than the ones in this room. As with all things, Dark suckers don’t last forever. Once they are full of Dark, they can no longer suck. This is proven by the black spot[s] on a full Dark sucker. A candle is a primitive Dark sucker. A new candle has a white wick. You will notice after the first use, the wick turns black, representing all the Dark which has been sucked into it. If you hold a pencil next to the wick of an operating candle, the tip will turn black because it got in the way of the Dark flowing into the candle. Unfortunately, these primitive Dark suckers have a very limited range. There are also portable Dark suckers. The bulbs in these can’t handle all the Dark by themselves, and must be aided to a Dark storage unit [batteries]. When the Dark storage unit is full, it must be replaced before the portable Dark sucker can operate again.

Dark has mass. When Dark goes into a Dark sucker, friction from this mass generates heat. Thus it is not wise to touch an operating Dark sucker. Candles represent a special problem, as the Dark must travel into a solid wick instead of through clear glass. This generates a great amount of heat, thus it can be very dangerous to touch an operating candle. Dark is also heavier than light. If you swim just below the surface of a lake, you see a lot of light. If you slowly swim deeper and deeper, you notice it getting darker and darker. When you reach a depth of about 50 feet, you are in total darkness. This is because the heavier Dark sinks to the bottom of the lake and the lighter light floats to the top. The immense power Dark can be utilized to man’s advantage. The deeper the body of water, the more Dark is stored, and the more potential can be derived from it. We can collect the Dark that has settled to the bottom of lakes and push it through a turbine, which generates electricity and helps move the Dark to the ocean, where it can be safely stored. Prior to turbines, it was much more difficult to get the Dark from the rivers and lakes to the ocean.

The Indians recognized this problem and tried to solve it, as they were well-attuned with the natural world. When on a river, in a canoe, traveling in the same direction as the flow of Dark, they paddled slowly, so as not to stop the flow of Dark. When they traveled against the flow of Dark, they paddled quickly, so as to help push the Dark along it’s way.

Finally we must prove that Dark is faster than light. If you were to stand in an illuminated room in front of a closed Dark closet, then slowly open the closet door, you will see the light slowly enter the closet. But, since Dark is so fast, you would not be able to see the Dark leave the closet.

In conclusion, I would like to say that Dark suckers make all our lives much easier. So the next time you look at an electric bulb, remember that it is indeed a Dark sucker.

No Comments »

What more can I say, beyond the subject-title of this post.

May your days this week be SCRUMTRILESCENT!

-Maebius

No Comments »

I’ve posted in the past about the awesomeness that can be found by taking an ‘ordinary’ object and treating/viewing it as something amazing and special. There’s some deep powerful Magic in such an act.

So, for your further amazement (or is that amusement?) I preset you with the following link.

http://improveverywhere.com/2009/03/18/subway-art-gallery-opening/

Go. Read it.

Then, look around you at something in your local field of view, and look at it again. It is art.

Regardless of what it is, from a pencil, to the fading poster of some 80′s band, to a potted plant on the windowsill. It is Art.

Enjoy!

No Comments »

Sorry for the slow updates this week. It’s the final stretch in tax season (Corporates are due Mar 15th, Personals are April 15th) so the computer at home is dedicated to my wife this time of year… plus I got paged to cover the night-shift at work, midnight-8am this week.

My brain is just too sleepy and mixed-up to coherently muse on deep philosophical topics lately.

However, in the interim, enjoy this post from a blog I follow. It’s suitably non-sequitur for my though process lately.

http://slowwolf.wordpress.com/2009/03/11/moviewatch-bumblebee-tuna/

…or, if you just want the catchy song and YouTube Video, click here.

-Maebius goes off to dance and sing a catchy song in random anime-esque fashion….

What, you want more Hip-hop Anime AMV stylin?
Go here, watch this Candy Pop. (slightly risqué, like most hiphop videos lately)

O_o’ <-- Anime Sweatdrop emoticon.

No Comments »