My apologies for not posting on Thursday, I was busy, tired, cold, had a headache, on vacation, pregnant, sleeping, flying to the moon, building a Trojan Horse, trying out for American Gladiators, animating a new series called "Adventures of Captain Stapler", and fending off a dinosaur attack. So I was quite busy.
Why do we enjoy things that are bad for us? Because we know they're bad for us. Once we get to addiction centers of the brain, I'll give a more accurate answer. And you can have multiple standards about lyrical hatred. I sometimes wonder if you took the tune of a popular song and changed the lyrics to something ridiculous or just sang the instructions on how to put together a bookcase, if it'd be just as popular. I doubt it, but a lot of the current lyrics aren't much better...
One of my favorite drinks is gas station cappuccinos. I know it's just water, sugar, and some flavoring, but that doesn't make it less delicious. However, the more I think about it, I think it's because every time I drink one of those, it's because I'm trying to stay awake on a late night drive. Maybe it's more that my body appreciates the life saving properties those cappuccinos offer me. It's kinda like that forever appreciation you have for some who saves your life. That or they just put a bunch of oxytocin in them. On a similar note, I kinda want to know if I could make someone fall in love with me if I cooked them dinner and spiked it with oxytocin. I know it'd have to be over the course of multiple dinners, but still, I wonder...
So there are signs at the Kentucky Derby warning about being addicted to gambling. As I'm placing my bet, I start to wonder if I'm developing a problem. "I'm betting on two horses this race. This is the 5th race I've bet on. Do I need to make this bet? Why not? Is it really that big of a deal? It's just one more bet. I can stop whenever I want to." I wonder if that's what half the world's thinking right now about H1N1 if they get sick. "Oh my God! Is this swine flu? Is my entire house infected? Should I get Hazmat suits for all my friends? Did I make out with a pig in my sleep?"
I love Kentucky Derby hats. Mostly because there's no other situation where those hats are acceptable. I think we need to create a situation in which those hats are normal. They're not a casual Friday thing, but they might be ok for weddings. I think we could make that happen.
(blogspot is being pissy and won't upload a picture right now. Go here)
Who decided on the word 'dysdiadochokinesia'? They deserve a medal. Also, on page 584 on the B&B syllabus has 'corticostriatothalamocortical loops'. That's a twelve syllable word. Nicely done, neurology.
Awesome topical joke:
How do you kill a circus?
Go for the juggler.
I kinda felt bad for the visiting incoming students. Not just for the girls being subjected to our lonely, frustrated gauntlet of guys, but mostly for the lecture they went to. When I interviewed at Emory, I sat through a micro lecture. It wasn't that bad. But a lecture on the Basal Ganglion? I'm taking the class and I had trouble following the lecture. At least they have like 4 months to freak out. If they would gotten to wear 3D glasses, it would have been less crushing and more like a Disney ride.
I always wondered why my muscles would randomly twitch and now I know it's just normal fasciculations. Super cool. Also, I never knew what muscle that was that bulged out when you clench your teeth. Masseter. Sweet.
My best pun from the weekend: Acupuncture pinpoints the descending pain killing pathways.
If you could pick a fantasy world to live in, which one would it be? Harry Potter, Star Trek, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, The Matrix, South Park, Halo? Those are all good options, but can you imagine how much fun driving would be if it was just like Mario Kart?
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Kurt, your oxytocin idea is respectable, but your only chance at true love is still a rag and a bottle of ether.
ReplyDeleteI think the hats are more normal than you think. People wanted to buy Aretha Franklin's inauguration hat, which is beyond unwearable. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/alltherage/2009/01/inaugural-hat-t.html.
I read your response to "why we like things that are bad for us" and I disagree. It goes totally against evolution. Why would we be drawn to things that make us less likely to survive? It's like when one of your friends farts in the other room, and then they go on and on about how horrible it is, and then they call you in from the other room to smell it. Ladies in the audience, you know what I'm talking about here. Why do we smell the fart?
Interestingly, most of your "fantasy" worlds are actually our world. And besides, the greatest fantasy world was Thundara. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ThunderCats.
I read your thing on the raptors. If it brings back some of your childhood horror, Jurassic Park was really talking about Deinonychus. The dinosaur they describe, size, family, large big claw on foot, is a Deinonychus. I know this because I was a huge dinosaur nerd as a kid. I used to want to be a paleontologist until I found out that they’re huge nerds, socially retarded, and make next to nothing. Anyway, in the movie they just called it a raptor because no normal people can say Deinonychus. It’s kind of a mouthful, especially for kids who the producers want buying T-shirts of a dinosaur eating another dinosaur. Raptor is an easy name to grasp and it already has somewhat of a sinister accepted meaning in society. So Kurt, my point is that there really were smart deadly raptors out there. They’re just called something different. And they're still out there...
I just saw a case titled, Alexander Sprunt and Sons v. United States and it reminded me of George Carlin’s idea for what to call a feminine hygiene spray.