Although this is much more Tracey’s thing, this video is pretty cool.  It’s about the group for the prevention of negative climate change.

if you’re interested in more information, then go check out their website

http://www.350.org/

(bet Tracey’s going to piddle herself with joy that I posted this   )

Do have any idea how much porn has changed the world?  What kind of control and effect it has had on the modern world, consumer products and a million other things?

What really decided who won between Betamax and VHS?  Why did Blue Ray win that contest?  Why do all DVD players have a multi-angle viewing button?  Why can we send and receive pictures on our phones? Why is suddenly so important to have 3G phones?  Camcorders… digital cameras, payper view, satellite and cable tv, the internet.. the list goes on and on.

Porn.. porn (and sex) is one of the leading driving forces behind a lot of technological advances.  Now this won’t come as much of a surprise to some people, but I think a lot of people will be at least a little surprised.

Did you know that the reason VHS became the primary technology was NOT actually because Sony wouldn’t let anyone else use the technology.  It was due to the porn industry choosing VHS as the platform on which to produce their films because it was cheaper for them to produce.. and suddenly.. loe all kinds of people had a VHS player (why buy the expensive one that won’t play your sexy films on it??)

Don’t believe me?  Do you own a DVD player?  Go check the remote.  Does it have ‘change viewing angle button’ on it?  They all do, I have never seen one that doesn’t (anywhere in the world).  But what ever for?  Have you ever watched a movie that you could change the angle in?  Just recently they have released some sports videos with that feature (very recently).  So if no one uses it, and it’s not a feature that is on any DVD’s how did it get included in every single player?  I’ll give you a hint.. sexy naked movies have multiple angles (and until this year they were the only thing that did).

Blue ray… HDVD.. who’s coming out on top..  you didn’t actually think that it mattered who disney picked did you?  Or whether people like the PS3 more or less than the XBOX360.. oh gosh you did.  It all came down to the porn industry.  Like it or not, sex is in demand.  It’s the only consumer product that there is always, ALWAYS a market for.  Everyone in the know always said, which ever platform the porn industry decided on would come out on top (boom shackalacka.. blue ray it is).

There are so many things, apparently the big pushes in phone technologies, turning them into hand held computers is being driven by the money that producers realize is in sex.  You might enjoy all the great features that allow you to check your email, send your mom a picture, and watch a youtube video but they didn’t make it for you.  They made it for the horney hunnies with the moneys.

Did you really think that people wanting to film their kids soccer game, or people wanting to take picture with out having to go to printing shop was really driven by our consumerism?  Sorry to ruin your fantasies kiddos.

So how far does it all reach?  Who the hell knows, most of us don’t even know about the things I just mentioned.  Hell I didn’t know about most of them until somewhat recently (the last 5 years or so anyway).

Well I just though of another one.  (Now keep in mind this is just my theory but I think it makes a HELL of a lot of sense).  Our current social desire for hairlessness.  Think about it, humans have been around for eons and this hairless thing has only become a real fashion in the past 20-30 years.  I was thikning about it, wondering if the fashion would ever go back to having hairy arm pits, and un trimmed un waxed bits and places. (aka your crotch).  Who knows…

But I do know that it was the norm, not all that long ago.  So why did it change?  What drove that change?  My money is on porn.  I suspect that they started ‘cleaning up’ the fuzzy bits in porn to give folks a better look at what they were doing.  I mean you can hardly get a good view of what someone is doing to a girl with full bush, or what’s happening on the guy behind his own personal tundra.  If they are both sporting little crotch lions, you’re not going to see NUTHIN’.

I bet that some director was filming and said oh for Christ’s sake.. someone shave this check so I can get some good angles.  BOOM  a trend is born.  Next thing you know, the bikini wax/shave gets higher and higher.  Voila, a few years/generations later, not only are almost all people sporting virtually no pubic hair, it’s considered EXTREMELY bad form to not tidy, trim and clean the area up.  For both men and women.

More and more women shave it all, or almost all,  a lot of men are getting into it too.  Waxing is more popular than ever, not only does it get everything out of the way, it lets you avoid stubble and keeps you clean and smooth much longer.  The porn star wax (as I like to call it) is become more popular and common.

I’m telling you… if porn got interested in the environment Tracey would probably do a little jig in pure excitement at all the changes and innovation it would bring.

Anyway that was what crossed my mind earlier today (damn I stayed up late scribbling this all out.. oops)

Another article that someone else wrote on a similar subject.

Being afraid of failure is STUPID . (<— I should write the book)

I freely admit I am a moron.  I’m am terrified of failure, coupled with my shrieking fear of change I’m nigh on crippled half the time.  The other half I just rock and stare at the wall praying it will all go away now, it never does you know.

You wouldn’t think it, (or maybe you would) but I really am.  And that’s with my knowing why it’s stupid to be worried about failure.  But obviously I don’t KNOW it.  I know on some intellectual, theoretically level but it’s not part of who I am, yet!  I mean look at the whole, quit my morning job business.  Scary, but then what did I do with the whole thing?  And then I was deliberating over that whole online course I was taking, now I’m just sorta floating around trying to choose a direction to move in.

Why?  What’s the big hold up?  I’m smart, I know how to do things, I’m extremely good at most thing when I put my mind to it.  Hell I’m good at them when I don’t even put my mind to it.  What is it that’s holding me back from…. taking over the world ( per-say)?

Fear, mind boggling terror.  Of what?  Failure.  That’s right, I’m a moron.  I’m completely freaked that I’m going to try to do something, loose a bunch of money, make some horrible mistake and look like a fool.  Really what do I care?  No offense but I don’t really care what ‘people’ think, so what the hell is my problem?

Here I am, telling you, how stupid it is to be afraid to fail.  Hypocrite!!

Well, screw it! Hypocrite or not, I’m telling you all (and myself) to stop it.  Stop holding yourself back, reach as far as you can.  So what if you fall on your face, get back up and reach again.  If all you ever do and try is what you’re confidant of, you will never even come close to reaching any kind of potential.  You will be like everyone else, mediocre, average, CRAP!!!

Well, what’s the art then?

Do you have to fail?

That’s pretty much it, isn’t it?  You need to stop being scared, and the only truly effective way I know to stop being scared of something, is to do it and see that it’s really not that bad for yourself.  So yes,  you have to go out, try things and see what happens.  Sometimes you will succeed and sometimes you’ll fail.  But the important thing from both experiences is to learn what works and what doesn’t and move forward from there.   The more you try, the easier it gets.  But most of us never get that far, we try to walk out the door decide it looks scary, run back inside and hide under the covers.

So there it is….  now I’m going to attempt to drag myself out of the corner and quit being a coward.  It’s not that scary, or so they tell me

This is so leading into another post, the only thing we fear more than failure is success.

Besides, it’s not like you’re ever going to fail like this dude…  not even if you tried real hard.. I mean who has a bus to start with?

So I was faced with a choice last Friday.

After work, I stopped at Sababas  on the way to Editing (which is definitely not my favourite thing).  When I got to work, I looked for my phone and realized it was gone.  When I arrived, they told me that had called me and my co worker had answered.  So I called her, and we arranged for her to leave it at the Highlife (like 7 11) near our school for me to pick up later on.

Had a chat with some friends after work, and when I went to get my bike (scooter) I discovered that they had shut it behind some huge locked gate.  And I totally couldn’t get at it, possibly not until Monday.. SIGH.  So no phone to call anyone, and no scooter to go get the phone.  DAMN IT

So I thought to myself, what a bad day.  But really?  Was it bad? No.

I had a good day, and making that decision turned everything around.  I mean really, I had a decent day in class.  Dinner was decent, when I got editing and I realized I had misplaced my phone I didn’t even get a chance to be stressed out about it before a solution had presented itself.   If I hadn’t gone to work I wouldn’t have had a great amusing conversation with my co-workers.  And while my scooter being inaccessible wasn’t the greatest, a guy nearby tried to help me and loaned me his phone to call Tracey.

I ran over to the MRT, Tracey picked me up and drove me to the store to get my phone.  Everything worked out fine, it’s not like my scooter can get stolen (I can’t even get at it).  I got my phone back, in all I’m out 20 nt for the MRT and 25 nt for a soda for Tracey.  So I was inconvenienced a little, so what.

So you see, I had a choice, I could have gone with my first instinct and moaned and groaned about how unlucky I was.  What a shitty day I had had.  But instead, I looked at it from the other end.  So here I sit with a smile on my face and a little laugh at myself and the silly unfolding of events.

Yay me

I can’t remember where I came across this article, someone must have posted it somewhere and I thought it was interesting.

It turns out there is a bar in Bolivia, that moves around of course, where you sit down hang out have a drink and do a line or ten.  I’m sure some are up in arms about it, but I think it’s a grand idea.  Not because I’m all about doing blow till my gills turn green, whether I would go there or not isn’t the point.  The point is if you’re going to do drugs it would be better to be getting it from an organized and reliable source.  And doing them in a safe and supervised environment.

Honestly, I think it’s a great idea.

I mean really, people are going to do it anyway, they’ll pay what they have to and go where they need to.  And with all the scary cloak and dagger stuff, people end up getting their recreational party favours from shady people they don’t know.  And doing them in dark dirty little places trying to hide it from the owners of the bars.  I’m mean the back of the toilet in a club can’t be very sanitary…

But in this place you sit down at a nice clean table, they give you all your ‘tools’ and the bar needs to make sure their quality is high.  If the product is shit, who’s going to go there?  If it’s cut, mixed or whatever with draino, you’re hardly recommending the place to your friends or coming back (ever if they really use draino).   Having an establishment forces them to be accountable for the quality of the product and the safety of the patrons.

In my mind it’s just like the brothels:  if prostitutes are on the street it’s dangerous and crap for everyone, but if it’s sanctioned then there are things in place to protect the workers as well as the patrons.  Of course there are many people who think that’s a bad idea too…. sigh.  Just because you don’t want to partake doesn’t mean it should be illegal and shady.

Check out the Article [Here]

Ok so I know this is random, but I was looking online trying to find out the nutritional values of pine nuts vs walnuts and cashews.   I was just thinking about what kind I would like to buy for putting on my salads.  I love pine nuts but they are hella expensive, so I was looking at alternatives.

Check out this link for all the detailed information you might want to know about nuts tee hee. [click here] The even have a little about their history and some cooking tips, of how to incorporate them into your diet.

I honestly I wasn’t even looking for all this, but I was really interested in all the cool stuff I found out.  Like did you know,  walnuts have a lot of Omega-3 and anti oxidants?  Which are good for your heart and all kinds of good things!

Chestnuts contain vitamin C (really?) and potassium.  Brazil nuts can reduce the chances or prostate cancer, pistachios reduce blood pressure, cashews help prevent arthritis, peanuts reduce the chances of birth defects… the benefits go on.

They even list which nuts your should avoid if you have different health issues.  Very handy and interesting,  all the nuts are high in the good fats, they contain all kinds of vitamins, minerals, and other goodies.   Best of all!  They are almost all really good for your heart among other things.

The moral of the story?  Nuts are yummy and really good for you .

http://www.canadianliving.com/health/nutrition/everything_you_need_to_know_about_nuts_2.php

I’m going to make a site, but I can’t decide on a domain name.  It’s going to be funny picture and I have most things ready to go but I’m not sure which domain name to buy… it’s not about life in asia.. is crazy ass weird shit you see all the time here but you just wouldn’t see anywhere else!

What do you guys think? you can vote on more than one and suggestions are totally welcome.  (my original idea was www.onlyinasia.com but it’s not available )

please pass this along to others and give me as much input as you can… thanks guys!!!

I spent years telling people I didn’t believe in Marriage, and that was never entirely true.  I don’t believe in the INSTITUTION of marriage.  That paper, doesn’t mean crap to me, the legalities, whatever.  But the commitment?  The sanctity of the relationship?  I do believe in that.

To be frank, the levity with which people enter into marriage offends me sometimes.  Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t think there is anything wrong with ending a relationship that isn’t working, getting a divorce etc.  But I do think that getting married doesn’t change the commitment you make to someone.   In my opinion you can make that same commitment without actually getting married. And if you make a commitment, stick to it, really work at it and then if nothing can be done to work things out, you’ve tried it all, then end it.  Not pft, I don’t like those curtains and the neighbor has a nice tush, grow up at least try.

Another thing that really bothers me, is how many people treat marriage and kids like a band-aid.  Marriage isn’t a bloody fix!!!  WTF.  My first serious boyfriend had a little cheating problem, well I guess he didn’t have a problem so much as an expertise in the field.  Once I realized what he was up to and finally confronted him about it, do you know what his solution to the problem was?  Well he loved me, so we should run away and elope. ???  Um, no.  Dude you’re cheating on me… His reply?  I swear to god he actually said this.  “If we get married I would stop cheating”, do I look like the dumbest person alive?

In the many years since I have wondered, how many girls and women have bought that line of BS?  I’m betting a lot, most women (go ahead and deny it ladies… I  have the inside track I know what’s up) want to be in a relationship, everyone wants to be loved.  The things people put up with in order to try to get that (men and women, don’t hide fella’s you’re often just as guilty as we are) boggles the mind at times.

‘Yeah but you’re ex was a total douche’ is what anyone who knew him would say.  And you know they are right, he was and probably still is, but that doesn’t change the situation.  He’s not the only guy I’ve been with that has tried to solve HUGE irreconcilable issues with marriage.  It’s happened a couple of other times, in a moment of desperation.  Now, honestly I can’t say one way or another if any of these situations would have gotten as far as an alter or an Elvis, as I laughed and shot these proposals down before they even took flight.

Perhaps it’s the sanctity of a real marriage a real commitment of two people that made me so offended.  Who knows exactly, but I was and am offended at how lightly some people jump into it.   How little thought people give to committing to another person.  Or that they think it will magically fix all their problems.   Really? Hell if you think that fixes things… you should have kids too I hear they make bitchin’ relationship band-aids (insert sigh and eyeroll here).

The ironic thing is, as I mentioned before,  I have little or not respect for the institution of marriage.  I think it’s a sham, via religion, government or what ever else.  I think there is nothing wrong with people marrying each other for business or legal reasons, visa’s etc.    As long as one party isn’t being tricked into thinking it’s all real.   Why not?  Who are you hurting? (but as I’ve said before I clearly don’t have much respect for the system).

I actually have more to say on this subject .. but that will wait for another post this is just about the frustration I feel over the stupid reasons some people get hitched.

Ok, so sit down and get ready to read.

What is a friend?  How do you define friends?  Are there really different kinds and levels?  Or is it really just black and white?

Personally, I think it’s a little of everything.  I do think there are definite lines but at the same time, for me anyway, there are multiple types and levels of friends.  Then bring family into the mix, things get even more complicated. Who is closer family, friends?  Is blood thicker than water?  You can pick your friends, but not your family… or can you?

I feel confidant that everyone has these thoughts from time to time, but maybe I’m wrong, perhaps it’s just me .    Either way I have friends, I have family but the lines get all blurred.  I have friends that are great, I love them, but they aren’t REALLY friends.  Not in the ‘my people’ sense.  On the other hand I have ‘people’ who are obviously friends because you can’t become people with out being friends, yet I never see or talk to them.  But in a pinch….

So who is a friend?  Who isn’t? What makes someone your friend?  A great time over a drink and a chat, regular lunches and confiding, close reliance on each other, there in a crisis, regular conversations, occasional deep and serious conversations, keeping in touch, or just knowing that the other person is there for you?

Is a friend more than a friend?  What happens when someone has been so close for so long, or has a relationship with you that isn’t so much friendship as being your family?  We don’t have a word for this in English.   The best you can do is say someone is your brother or sister, which then causes questions and confusion.  Plus, what if it’s someone of the opposite sex that you have had a relationship with in the past?  It doesn’t happen often that exes can stay friends, but sometimes they are family and breaking up doesn’t change that.  What the hell do you call them?

Besides does it belittle the relationship you have with your ‘real’ family, calling close friends family?  Does it insult the relationship you have with your super close important friends by calling your ‘blood family’ your ‘real family’.  Most of us have friends that are closer than some of our family members, so who is the ‘real’ family.

Don’t get me wrong, my personal situation obviously muddles my perspective a little.  I am an only child, I grew up with a single mother, but had three parents, with two brothers, anywhere from 2-4 sisters, friends that walk the line, and a couple of other confusing things in the mix.  I know doesn’t make a lick of sense, right?  Wrong.

I grew up in northern Canada, with my mom.  She was a single parent and while we fought like demons we were very close.  I also grew up with my grandparents (we had two houses on the same property out in the countryside), but they died when I was a teenager.  So only child.  I always knew I had biological siblings but I would probably never meet them, a half brother in France and a half sister somewhere.  When I was 18, I met my dad and the little half brother I never knew about.

When I was 20, my older sister found us.  She came with her own family, kids, husband, brother and sister.   Not the Family she grew up with [long ass story], but the one she ended up choosing to be with.  We were never really all that close (got along but both adults with our own lives).  So following the time line, I now have a sister and brother, lost touch with the brother because I wanted nothing to do with my dad.  Eventually, I gained a sister of a sister, who has now been upgraded to family status.  So two sisters, and no brothers.

Ah but wait, I have some friends that I’ve been close to since I was wee.  Several of whom have been my friends for 20+ years, one was always more of a sister than a friend even though we only catch up once every couple of years.  Another has been a friend for ages, we almost stopped being friends a few times, but in the end we’re ridiculously close now, we are definitely more like family but sister sounds weird somehow.  I have an ex who is very close, our ‘relationship’ is over but I held onto it for so long in order to not lose that closeness, we’ve worked past that but what is he now?  He is like family to me, friend seems to casual or a term, brother is so wrong… sigh so complicated.

On top of all that I have an array of friends, one who has been my friend since grade two, one I started tutoring math in school, others are from university, overseas and all over from different times and places in the adventure of my life.

Some have been so close, and turned on me unexpectedly, others have lost touch, some I have abandoned or vice versa, some people loose touch for years and then just pick up right where we left off.

So what does it all mean?  Who is a friend, who is family?  Does it matter?  I have no idea, but it’s on my mind right now.