NZ Herald, November 28
The Herald ran this article a couple of days ago about the blood chemistry of people in love.
“The very source of love has been found. And is it that smouldering look exchanged across a crowded room? Those limpid eyes into which you feel you could gaze for ever? No. It’s NGF, say unromantic spoilsport scientists who have made the discovery – that’s short for nerve growth factor.”
The “source of love”? Well if you read the article you find that what scientists have really discovered is a correlation between NGF and emotional love. The Herald have erroneously interpreted that as meaning that this chemical somehow causes love. Disappointing, but for the Herald not surprising.
The Sydney Morning Herald ran several articles last week about a man deported from Australia to Serbia who had lived in Australia since he was two and who had never before set foot in Serbia. His parents were Serbian, but he was born in France, and he was deported from Australia on account of his criminal record there. He has no citizenship in Serbia or France and no means of support and is living on the street in sub-zero wiinter temperatures.
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I’ve watched several DVDs in the last couple of weeks, but haven’t had a chance to mention them. I’ve seen Mystic River, Just Cause and Ray. The first two were thrillers and Mystic River and Ray both took a slew of Oscar nominations and several acting wins between them. Yet none of these would make my list of favorite movies.
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I’ve made a few changes to the site today to try to make things a little better organized. I’ve taken most of the stuff out of the Reflection section and moved it to Reaction, since most of what was there was comments about things I was seeing on the Web. My Bible reading notes are currently all that remains in the Refection section, though my intention is to do some writing on other subjects soon. Also the main menu has been reordered a bit and and the home page intro expanded to better explain the menu items.
I’ve been enjoying the four day weekend that is Thanksgiving here in the US. Neither NZ nor Australia has a holiday that has (from my observation) such strong emphasis on family without being as terribly commercialized as Christmas. I like it.
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Well we did have our first dusting of snow last week, but this morning I woke to our first real accumulation. It’s still a fairly light fall – no shovelling of the drive required to get the car out. I was really hoping to run this morning, but with snow still falling I’m not sure it would be safe underfoot.
Here is the view from my house…
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cnn.com, 20 November 2005
“Doubts are being cast on the guilt of a Texas man executed more than a dozen years ago after the crime’s lone witness recanted and a co-defendant said he allowed his friend to be falsely accused under police pressure, the Houston Chronicle reported Sunday.
Ruben Cantu was 17 in 1984 when he was charged with capital murder in the fatal shooting of a man during an attempted robbery in San Antonio. The victim was shot nine times with a rifle before the gunman unloaded more rounds into the only eyewitness.
The eyewitness, Juan Moreno, told the Chronicle that it wasn’t Cantu who shot him. Moreno said he identified Cantu as the killer during his 1985 trial because he felt pressured and was afraid of authorities. (Watch the reporter investigating the case — 3:16)
Meanwhile, Cantu’s co-defendant, David Garza, recently signed a sworn affidavit saying he allowed his friend to be accused, even though Cantu wasn’t with him the night of the killing.”
This is a pretty good illustration of one of the reasons that I think capital punishment is wrong.
As the days have been getting shorter it’s been getting more and more difficult to run during daylight, especially with my work schedule the way it is. Last Tuesday I ran after an early morning conference call, before going into the office and managed a reasonably good time. But Wednesday morning I looked out the window and there was a dusting of snow on the ground and I just couldn’t bring myself to step out in my nylon shorts and cotton t-shirt. Later in the week I caught a cold and wasn’t up to running anyhow, but over the weekend, after a little Internet research I went down to Dicks Sports and bought some cold weather running gear – full length skin tight synthetic leggings, top and balaclava. Well tonight I got to try them out for the first time, and I can report that they work just fine. However considering their figure-hugging properties combined with the extra kilos (pounds) I’ve put on this year, I think it was just was well that I stepped out under cover of darkness.
Unfortunately out here in Lake County we’re not blessed with the conveniences of footpaths (sorry sidewalks) or street lighting on many roads. However at 7:30 at night there is plenty of traffic. So it was kind of interesting having to rely on the lights of approaching cars to see where I was stepping and at the same time make sure that I wasn’t so close to the road as to become a traffic hazard.
In completely different news, later in the evening I drove down the road to Best Buy to buy a new telephone (sick of doing conference calls without a speakerphone). When I got there I was immediately alerted to the imminent arrival of a new electronics product (the Xbox 360 as it happens) by a large number of people camped out on the footpath outside the store. Not just camping chairs and rugs etc, but even a widescreen TV and generator!
Gotta love fanatics 
Sydney Morning Herald, Nov. 19, 2005
“Getting married may be the best way for single men to secure a pay rise, new research shows.
Married men in Australia earn on average about $5700 more than single men in similar jobs who have similar levels of education and experience.
The large “marriage premium” is probably due to married men being able to devote a lot of time and energy to their jobs, thanks to wives who look after the domestic duties, run errands, organise their social lives and are generally supportive, the research indicates.”
(Emphasis added).
Or as an old friend of mine (long since married, btw) used to say: “I don’t need a wife, I need a secretary”.
Hey, I’m just quoting.
Yup, winter seems to be here. First snow today.
