fun in 7-11: bot water
Mood:  cool
Topic: Hmmm?

 

So, 7-11 is becoming more and more interesting.  Not only do they have sangria and tamarind sodas, they have domokun and these weirdo Bot Waters.  I haven't been all that big on flavor spiked waters because most of them trade on being calorie free and achieve it by using fake sugars--which are most definitely not my bag.  Bot water uses real stuff, and keeps the calorie count low.  The orange was tastey--kind of like gatorade.  These would be great for all those freaky people who can't stand the taste of plane water, seriously.   

IRONY
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Hmmm?

Neatorama has a neat little post on Words that Changed Their Meanings.  Of course I was especially interested in the treatment given to irony.  Having grown up with teachers whose proclivities for uber correct language had shades of Mrs. Tingle, I have had it drilled into me what irony is not, but never explained to me what irony is.  As a result I steer clear of the word at all costs.  So of course, I had never heard of definition number one, but I'm sure I have done it a few times.

IRONY:

1: a pretense of ignorance and of willingness to learn from another assumed in order to make the other's false conceptions conspicuous by adroit questioning —called also Socratic irony

2 a: the use of words to express something other than and especially the opposite of the literal meaning b: a usually humorous or sardonic literary style or form characterized by irony c: an ironic expression or utterance3 a (1): incongruity between the actual result of a sequence of events and the normal or expected result (2): an event or result marked by such incongruity b: incongruity between a situation developed in a drama and the accompanying words or actions that is understood by the audience but not by the characters in the play —called also dramatic irony tragic irony (Meriam-Websters)

Borba skin balancing water
Mood:  a-ok
Now Playing: "Milk Cocoa" - Spoon Tap
Topic: Hmmm?

So, I was at 7-11 this morning getting some coffee and sunflower seeds when I saw Borba skin balance water.  I'm kind of a sucker for vitamin enrichment--its a kind of healthy washing, I know, like the green washing that's been running rampant around slightly guilty, lazy environmentalists.  

I picked up the acai berry, Age defying, potion which is 0 calories and high in antioxidant vitamins C & E.  I went with acai berry because I already knew I liked the taste and, honestly, the Borba take on it is pretty good (more on that below).   

You can find more on the flavors and line of drinks on the Borba Blog.  I did manage to pick up the squarish new packaging and, though I don't know what I'll do with the cuppy thingy--it is eye catching.  Perhaps the cup is there to remind you that there are actually 2 servings per container?

Oh, yes, and there are some beautiful nude desktop wallpapers under the downloads link on the Borba skin balance water site--if you like naked model bodies in sultry lighting.

Now, ON TO THE TASTING!

1st sip -- hit with the blaring taste of sucralose.  I'm probably hyper sensitive to this--I mean it is the 9th listed ingredient, but I've had a lot of issues with artificial sweeteners, drink a lot of plain water, and don't even sweeten my tea/coffee. I know I am a minority in beverage consumption and so won't even go on a rant about why-must-everything-be-sweetened here.

more sips -- the more sips, the less I notice the sucralose except for a slight after taste at the roof of my mouth.  I do, however, feel as though I have put on lip gloss--the slightly sticky kind.  It tastes right in line with the acai berry juices I have had before--though less strong.  It is a bit thicker than water and the packaging suggests shaking to mix in the sediment.

I do not yet notice any change in my complection , but I could be experiencing a, possibly imagined, B vitamin boost.  YEAH!  Over-all, Borba skin balance water tastes more healthy than say Vitamin water, and gives my palat a little something different from plain old filtered water.  My lips still feel like I glossed, but its not a bad feeling. 

Hatsune Miku
Mood:  cheeky
Topic: Hmmm?

So, has anyone read Little Heroes by Norman Spinrad?  It keeps coming up in my head ever since I searched and searched for the title with only a couple of measly plot points in order to add it to my awesome list of every book I'd ever read.  I found the title, and now that I know what it is I am constantly reminded of the whole creating a virtual rock star--completely synthesized voice and music with a cg representation of a person.  Of course, in the book it was marketed as a real person, but Hatsune Miku is the virtual rock star in real life real now.  Über poppy and high pitched, the music is actually kind of fun, and becoming more and more popular.  She is the first character released with the vocaloid 2 series vocal synthesizing program. 

 

 

 

 

 

Anime beats real life again
Mood:  happy
Now Playing: "Soldat" - Lube
Topic: Hmmm?

I don't know if constantly drawing connections in today's science and medicine news to anime I've seen indicates that I've seen too much anime or perhaps that it, as a medium, is simply playing host to some amazing ideas.  Although, now that I've gone and pulled my list of 'previously on the bean,' I see that it isn't only anime I've been reminded of in the news, so I'm not so specific a geek.

I was reading about the totally intriguing story of a 64 year old woman who reported the appearance of a phantom arm after having a stroke as reported on SwissInfo.  She recently underwent some tests to figure out what kind of messages her brain is getting about the arm and the doctors proved to themselves that she's not lying--sorry, that's my doctor aversion talking--they proved that the arm is completely real for her brain.  When she moves it the motor centers of her brain activate as though she were moving one of her other arms and her visual cortex is stimulated meaning she is seeing something as well.  I find this completely fascinating, and, of course, was reminded of an anime with a strangely similar phantom arm phenomena. 

The difference with the phantom arms in Elfen Lied is that they inflict horrible damage and kill people.  They are possessed of a group of all female alien humans who were born with horns and terrible powers.  All these young girls were all summarily herded up by the government to live a life of seclusion, restraint, and cruel testing until they turned on their masters and bloody craziness ensued.  

So yeah, that lady should totally train up that arm for some supernatural feats! 

Previously:

Sci Fi Movie Reality

What anime hath fortold

Electronic Face Masks and Animated Prophesy

I love me some futuristic architecture

Successful Arm Transplants and a Murderers Hands

Lasers in the Sky:  life from the movies

 

The instant Myers-Briggs personality assessment
Mood:  happy
Topic: Hmmm?

I'm a sucker for being told about myself and so the Bean is as well.  I headed on over to Typealizer to get the instant Myers-Briggs personality assessment of this blog and do ya know what it said?  do you?  do you? 

Apparently the Bean is an ESFP or a Performer.  I quote:

"The entertaining and friendly type. They are especially attuned to pleasure and beauty and like to fill their surroundings with soft fabrics, bright colors and sweet smells. They live in the present moment and don´t like to plan ahead - they are always in risk of exhausting themselves.

The enjoy work that makes them able to help other people in a concrete and visible way. They tend to avoid conflicts and rarely initiate confrontation - qualities that can make it hard for them in management positions."

I love the little disclaimer that the personality rating of a blog may have little to nothing to do with the writer's "self-perceived personality."

So, to take them up on that "little to nothing to do" part, I found a site where I could take a mini Myers-Briggs quiz myself.  I am pretty evenly spread with no really high percentages and no really low, but I rated the strongest as an INFJ.  From Myersbriggs.org:

INFJs "Seek meaning and connection in ideas, relationships, and material possessions. Want to understand what motivates people and are insightful about others. Conscientious and committed to their firm values. Develop a clear vision about how best to serve the common good. Organized and decisive in implementing their vision."

 Considering the two results, and the fact that I am currently the only writer of the Bean, it looks like I enjoy beauty, entertaining, and helping others as long as it happens in the organized and constructed reality of my own head for which the internet and its interacting media (like blogs) serves as an external mirror.

What with all the legal issues and stories of employers using the Myers-Briggs to pre-evaluate applicants, I suppose it could be self-damning to just share all this.  Most psychologically analytical tests that I've come accross make the mistake of predicting action based on a snap-shot of the inside of one's head.  There are two fatal flaws here, I think.  One is that a snapshot is a static depiction of a moment in time.  We each bend and grow based on our environment so one test could never accurately reflect you forever.  The second is that there always seems to be an unevaluated peice of the mind that serves as a bridge between what you think and what feels most natural to you and what you do in any given situation based on the needs of the moment.  While I will nod my head and agree with the evaluation of myself, I know too that I don't get to be like that most of the time simply because of the work that I do and the people I interact with.  I am just ruminating here, and all these tests have various disclaimers and studies that probably point out exactly the same things I have.  This is why using them in a business situation is wrong and kind of dumb.  I can't imagine many people getting more from personality tests than personal amusement and satisfaction.  I sure think it's fun.

Is anybody really paying attention to these commercials?
Mood:  cheeky
Topic: Hmmm?

I was running away from watching Beyonce's "If I was A Boy" yet another time (I watch music videos in the morning--and really, can't they play a wider selection of stuff?  Ever?) and I ran into Lisa Kudrow's Nintendo DS commerical.  It seems like a normal commercial, doesn't it?  It highlights the ability of a hand-held gaming device to order you about and somehow make cooking Chinese food really simple.  Did anybody notice what is seriously wrong about it all?  Hmmm?  Has anyone had Kung Pao Chicken?  Does anybody know a little kid that could happily sit through a meal of the brain screaming spiciness that is Kung Pao Chicken?  Is it just me, or is the idea of giving a child Kung Pao Chicken insane?

Bruce Campbell -- get one of your own?
Mood:  happy
Topic: Hmmm?

When I first started working at the library here I had the night shift, and one of those nights Bruce Campbell was at our special events center giving a talk on his book:  If Chins Could Kill:  Confessions of a B Movie Actor.  For some reason, I'll never really know, I didn't take the opportunity to walk a couple of blocks over on campus and sneek in on at least part of the free program.  It's been a needle in my side since.

I've already related to you my warm and fuzzy Texas memories of watching the Adventures of Brisco County Jr (previously on the Bean) with my Mom, and although that was my primary and most prominent introduction to Bruce Campbell, the Evil Dead movies came later after I met my husband, still how could have I have passed up the chance to see him when he was right there?  I didn't pass up the chance to see Bubba Hotep because I knew he starred in it and I knew I would like it.  Was I having some night shift induced insanity or something?  

Well, perhaps now Comic Book Resources(io9) has offered me the perfect answer for my tidal wave like regret--a Bruce Campbell of my very own to play with.  This fully articulated 12" doll has been made in conjunction with or to promote the upcoming movie My Name is Bruce and is modeled on a true to life 3D scan of the actor.  

Ok, ok, so I'm being creepy saying that playing with a miniaturized 3D scan of Bruce Campbell will assuage my grief at having missed him when he was only a five minute walk away, but take the creepyness away and the doll is still hilareously cool and comes with accessories!  You can't really argue.  Don't try. 

World wide space exploration
Mood:  happy
Topic: Hmmm?

I like to think that I do pretty well in keeping up with news from all over the world.  I had long forsaken the U.S. popular media because I was unsatisfied with biases I perceived and because I didn't get the international coverage I was craving.  But even so, I recently realized, I had no idea what other countries were doing about space outside of the U.S. and Russia.  So, I also thought, perhaps my inadequacy of knowledge was not unique to my self.  This here, is a tiny fix.

If you don't know already, NASA has been facing some wicked cut-backs and is now relying more than ever on her partnership with Russia and the international space station to continue exploring the universe as we know it (New York Times via io9).  

China is executing their first space walk mission and plans to build a space station as part of their growing space program( via io9).

JAXA: Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency is looking forward to having an astronaut on the international space station come 2009 and is extremely active in weather studies and perfecting satellite wireless internet service.

ESA:  European Space Agency is celebrating the successful mission of Jules Verne the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) from its cargo delivery to the international space station and its controlled distructive re-entry over the Pacific.   

Well, that covers some of the largest global economic powers and their designs on space.  I feel more informed already.

Garfield and Friends, Halloween, and Ghost Stories
Mood:  happy
Topic: Hmmm?

The Halloween entertainment began last night with Bewitched, so chosen because of the trick-o-treating scene, and ended in a failed attempt to ascertain if season 4's episode 40 of Garfield and Friends was actually a Halloween episode.  While I didn't get my Garfield administered Halloween fix, I was reminded why I liked the show so much, especially in the later seasons.  Garfield and Friends, just like Ghost Stories (another one of my favorites) is so self referential it hurts, and for some reason this is an excellent way to get into my good graces. 

G&F ep. 40:  "I hear they're gonna do a funny version of Ren and Stimpy."

Considering that Garfield and Friends was aired on TV in this country, there's a strong possiblity, even with the modern ubiquity of anime, that you know about it but not Ghost Stories (Gakkô no kaidan).  For shame!  From the varied bits of story that I was able to pick up, ADV picked up this show and wrote a hilariously nontranslation script for the English dub and the script was approved by the show's owners to the horror of fans.  What few fans the original show had, 'cause really, I've watched it subbed and its a snoozer.  The new and improved dubbed version garnered a bunch of its own fans however and now its part of our DVD collection.  Just some fair warning, it is silly, offensive, and incrementally more insane as the series continues.

DRM - bad for buying, good for borrowing?
Mood:  chillin'
Topic: Hmmm?

As a consumer--hopefully an objective one--I would rather get my music from DRM free sources.  Maybe even my e-books, though I don't get much of them right now.  I love paper, after all.  What concerns me is that DRM makes what you buy not really yours. It restricts where you can move and copy the file regardless of circumstance so given a computer crash, upgrade, move of residence you would have to make all your purchases all over again.  I'm also hopelessly paranoid when it comes to my computer, and would rather not have any pathway installed into it that allows other people to yank information from me.  What with archivally recognized delicacy of digital material too, we should all be able to make sure that we can use what we buy one, five, ten, or fifteen years from now.  Obviously, I'm into longevity for my money.

I know there are a whole bunch of ins and outs and legal rights issues that spurred on the creation of DRM in the first place.  As a creator, I can appreciate the need to make sure that the artist gets their dues.  But it gets too sticky here so I'm going to concentrate on a few sites I found that have interesting stuff and/or a good selection of downloads that are DRM free.

MP3City.com - hosted in the Ukraine, it has a pretty up to date selection on all the popular US and European artists as well as top 20 charts for multiple countries.

Japan Files -  specializing in hard to find indie Jrock this site won me over with its exculsive handling of Budo Grape and then it kept me with Love Psychedelico.

Hear Japan -  but if you like some of the more mainstream Jrock bands, then try Hear Japan.  One quirk of the site is the distiction it makes between artists and groups.  Be sure to check both lists if your browsing or you will miss out on  a lot of artists.

Naxos Audio Books - offers audio books of classic literature totally DRM free, and allow publishers and writers to make their own decision on whether to apply DRM to their works.  (via Boing Boing which also provides extra links for your information needs)

And its no secret that Amazon has recently made their music track MP3s DRM free.   Downloading requires a special Amazon player that's small and easy to get installed. 

Meanwhile No Shelf Required has a thoughtful piece about DRM in libraries.  I think libraries is where this programming makes the most sense.  But if you want more information, Encyclopedia Britannica's article on copyright and digital rights managment will give it to you.

Genpets - bioengineered companions
Mood:  cool
Topic: Hmmm?

For all the time I spend on the internet, for work or pleasure, sometimes I feel as though I just don't have what it takes.  How is it that I could have not heard about the Genpets project until now?  Judging by the copyright dates on the website and io9's mention that its been around--this is far from new.  I feel as though I should be better at finding and/or stumbling across things of this curiousness.  

Genpets are limited life span pet companions color coded to help you pick out the pet with the personality that best suites your needs.  Of course, they are low maintenance in a way that cats and dogs are not.  And yes, they do not exist.

 The thoroughness of this project and its website is amazing and inspired.  Sites like this really emphasize the idea that the internet is its own reality.

(via  io9 via Geekologie)

Successful arm transplants and a murderers hands
Mood:  happy
Topic: Hmmm?

Why did it take until I read the io9 article on the successful double arm transplant on a German farmer, to find out that there have been several successful hand transplants already?! So, the first time I read that a 54 year old farmer who had lost his arms had successfully had arms from a teen donor cadaver attached, I didn't initially get anywhere beyond marveling at modern science and medicine and immediately making the connection to Mad Love with Peter Lorre.  Finding out that there are also people out there who have had successful hand transplants just makes Mad Love more relevant.

You see, for those of you who have not seen this movie, in Mad Love Peter Lorre plays a genius surgeon who is madly in love with the wife of a pianist.  The pianist winds up in a horrible accident that crushes his hands and his sense of self.  Being a good wife, the object of Peter Lorre's affections begs the good doctor to save his hands.  Peter Lorre undertakes this task, but the only option that would give the pianist usable hands is to do a previously unheard of hand transplant.  If you know anything about horror movies, you know where this is going.  Yes, Peter Lorre's character gets the hands from a recently executed convicted murderer who was famous for throwing knives.  

As the pianist recovers full function of his hands, he and the audience slowly become aware that the hands carried with them the memory of their past  employment.

*Warning: I intend to ramble nonsensically*  I imagine that those successful hand transplant patients would have very interesting answers to Cakes' "When you sleep" (where do your fingers go) song.  I certainly hope none of them ends up with the hands of a murderer, or something worse like the hands of an obsessive nose picker.  And if medicine ever makes it beyond simple corneal implants to whole eye implants, imagine the ghosts and memories that could plague those poor patients!  Just like in Gin Gwai (The Eye late to be made into The Eye for English speaking people who don't like Asian movies) where the psychic powers and ghosts of the donor haunted a young eye transplant patient.  I can't remember the movie all that well, it might have been just a corneal implant.

Hey, Encyclopedia Brittanica gave me the ability to help you learn from reliable sources:

transplant article on Encyclopedia Brittanica online 

?i?kov television tower, ?i?kov, prague
Mood:  cool
Topic: Hmmm?

How did I ever live in a world where I did not know that the ̀ìkov television tower of ̀ìkov, prague every existed?  Why doesn't my city have something truly strange, awkward, and creepy rising up out of its building covered stomach?  The Deputy Dog architecture blog, through a friend, brought this wonderful oddity to my attention.  I love the convoluted lines that information passes through.  Anyway, Deputy Dog has more info on the background of this tower, so go and learn.

Comments from outside the Paranormal book isle
Mood:  happy
Topic: Hmmm?

Sometimes I really love how newspapers have made their online articles comment friendly online.  While I was reading Tennant and District Times of Australia article:  UFOs frighten Marlinja family, I found a reference in the comments to something called Nibiru and how its impending approach is causing the increasing occurrences of UFOs.  

My interest is always peaked when a hitherto unknown group of die-hards or a secret society or subculture is hinted at.   I only dabble in reading things like Paranormal Magazine regularly, so I had never heard of a 10th planet on an extended elliptical orbit that's next coming was predicted by a thousands of years old Sumerian myth.  

For those of you who do also not know, and who often haunt areas of the book store that are not the Paranormal and New Age section--here's what I found out.  Nibiru was written by in depth by Zecharia Sitchin.  Before Sitchin, the Sumerian myth of a race of aliens who mined Earth for its gold and genetically altered apes to be the superworker human race and the anomalies in the orbits of Uranus and Neptune.  There has also been an anomalous space object spotted in the direction of Orion in 1983 which was speculatively dubbed Planet X.  For believers of Stichin, this Planet X is Nibiru, and its approach will cause something akin to the end of the world.  

What I find interestingly thorough about the Nibiru researchers claims is that almost every astronomical prediction for the coming years--the pole shifting, the massive earth changes--can all be tied into the gravitational upset that will happen when Nibiru arrives.  The great flood, Sumerian and Egyptian technological advances, and all can also be tied into Nibiru's and its inhabitants effect on our planet.  Like so many other wholly-too-large-to-be-comprehended or proven theories about our planet, individual acceptance of Nibiru's existence is a faith thing.  

NASA discovers 10th planet. 

About.com's Paranormal Phenomena article