Month: February 2005

Everybody Loves Monkeys

by

Either I watched the Super Bowl last night and inadvertently caught some commercials or I watched a long commercial program and inadvertently caught a football game.

Paul McCartney’s performance was excellent. Is it possible a performer actually performed live and did not lip synch to a prerecorded track? I’m still not sure.

The recurring theme of the night seemed to be “monkeys.” There were at least three commercials about working with monkeys for CareerBuilder.com. I also noticed an older Verizon Wireless commercial with chimpanzees mocking the “Can you hear me now?” guy. Advertising executives and their creative staff have finally realized the key to getting people’s attention: show monkeys acting like people.

I can’t ignore the Ameriquest commercial that depicted a guy cooking for his girlfriend or wife. He was in the kitchen when he spilled a pot of tomato sauce on the floor. His girlfriend’s cat got involved in the mess and the boyfriend picked up the cat to save it from getting completely covered in sauce. Finally, the woman walked in while he was holding a knife in one hand and the cat by its tail, dripping the thick red liquidy substance, in the other hand.

I’m not quite sure what that has to do with Ameriquest, but I was entertained.

Next year, be sure to catch monkeys and bloody cats replacing the football players on the championship teams—whatever it takes to get the ratings.

Sleep Rhythms and Cancer

by

Scientists have been saying lately that artifical light can cause cancer, specifically breast cancer. The reasoning for this is exposure to artificial light, especially in the nighttime, diminishes melatonin in the body. Melatonin is a chemical, produced naturally by the pineal gland, that regulates the sleep cycle (or circadian rhythm).

Artificial light, especially at night, reduces melatonin. The lower level of melatonin makes the body inefficient in battling breast cancer.

But that’s not how this news relates to me. After all, since I am male it’s highly unlikely I’ll have breast cancer in my lifetime. However, reading about this relationship does make me think about my sleeping habits—or problems, however they should be described. Ever since I was about twelve (for the last seventeen years) I’ve spent a lot of time in front a computer monitor. It probably started a few years before that, if you count playing games and learning BASIC on a Commodore VIC-20.

During high school, I ran a bulletin board system, where people would dial in with their modems and participate with each other in the same way discussion forum and file sharing websites do now. I was constantly online or programming the BBS software. At night, if I was working on something, my mind couldn’t rest until the problem was solved.

I believe college wasn’t as bad. I didn’t spend as much time in front of the computer screen, although I did work on many websites at that time. I probably slept a little better. These days my sleep cycle is pretty bad again. I have to get away from the computer, especially since most of my time during the day at work is spent in front of one.

The sun, natural light, is what regulates circadian rhythm. Our bodies are designed to be active (or work, since we are living in the era of the Puritan Work Ethic) while the sun is up and sleep while the sun is down. In order to make myself feel healthier, I think I’m going to have to stop exposing myself to so much artificial light at night.

For Those of You All

by

If you’re interested in looking at the links I find on the internets (where there are rumors, I hear), you can view my link repository, managed with del.icio.us. I don’t include links to randomly found websites here anymore, but there’s a link to my found links on my link page if you misplace it.* So check it out, you might enjoy some of them.

In the last two days, I’ve seen two movies. One was seen at the Princeton Garden Theaters and the other on the USA Network on television. One of the movies is highly recommended and the other is not so much highly recommended.

If you’ve been paying attention, you know by now that Million Dollar Baby is considered a great movie, at least according to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It is film as art, the way I like it. If you’re a fan of Sergio Leone, you’ll notice familiar lighting techniques, camera angles and movements, and storytelling. Clint Eastwood directed, acted, and wrote the musical score for the movie. His talent really shines.

The other movie I happened to catch had a horrible story and was merely a shade of its original. Bring it On Again was truly a disappointment, despite scantily clad cheerleaders jumping around. As far as Los Angeles suburbs go, I’d choose Torrance over Whittier any day.

* At the last count, “link” showed up four times in that sentence—not bad.

Changes

by

Things change over time. People change, too. Tastes change. When I was little, I hated eggs. As I got older I discovered I liked them, especially the scrambled variety. My tastes in seasons changed. I like the fall more now than even five years ago, but I will never enjoy the winter. At least, that’s my feeling towards that awful, cold season now. I expect I might change my mind–slightly–some day.

People do change. Relationships change. Over time it just happens that you find fewer things in common with some and more shared interests with others. Life is dynamic, fluid; nothing is constant. People are hurt and people are saved. Curses can become blessings given enough time.

Sometimes you have to grab something and hold on and sometimes even pushing with all your strength can’t budge the spinny thing in the playground. You know the structure I’m talking about–it’s circular and has bars for holding and some kids vomit after being on it for a long time.

Speaking of changes, I was inspired to make another redesign of the layout. I think I’ve finally decided the direction I want to take with this site, as well.