If I could have any superpower it would be a melding of a photographic memory with the ability to instantly transform any given information into a useful means. A sort of Rain Man – McGyver dude!

Not sure what the outfit would look like exactly but it definitely wouldn’t be from Kmart because Kmart sucks! And of course, no capes! Edna knows her business and I’m not going to second guess her. Although without a cape a flourishing exit just isn’t quite the same, now is it. In any case, it will be flattering to the physique and buoyant yet classically understated. Plus, it will have a special pocket for my iPod. Oh…and a  glow in the dark chest log and neck collar trim.

We heard it through the grapevine that it's time to run

There is no limit to the mental resources and chutzpah found in the hearts and minds of Americans. Never let it be said that we give up easily.

Take the case of James Frederick, a 49 year-old inmate at the Columbia Correctional Institution in Southern Wisconsin. One day Frederick had had enough. Instead of performing the duties of his prison job, which was to retreive food carts, he made a run for it — “it” begin one of the fences that surround the prison.

Turns out, this act was not as spontaneous as it sounds. Before attempting his Mid-West “Escape From Alcatraz,” Frederick had stuffed his clothes with newspaper to keep them (and himself) from being shredded by the fence’s razor wires.

But it was all for naught. One of his unprotected hands was lacerated by the fence before he had gotten very far.

This guy has to be some kind of failed McGyver. Clearly, it’s the prison environment that’s holding him back. If he had access to chewing gum, pipe cleaners, duct tape, an extension cord, and empty paper tower tubes, there’s no telling what heights he could rise to. Yeah, and we’re supposed to be rehabilitating the prison population.

What makes this story interesting is that, not only did Mr. Frederick have a body protected by old newspapers (hopefully, The Washington Times and pages torn from Sarah Palin’s book), but he was also carrying a large bag of raisins. Don’t we all know about the protective powers of raisins?

A recent study of successful prison escapes concluded that prisoners who moistened raisins (to activate their adhesive properties) and covered their bodies with the dried fruit (for camouflage when hiding in wooded areas) were 68% less likely to be recaptured.

Okay, that’s not true. It’s a nice thought though — or a scary one, depending which side of the prison bars you live on.

Chances are, Mr. Frederick was thinking of sustenance and took the smallest, lightest food he could get his hands on. After all, raisins are nature’s candy and the prison escapee’s nourishment on the run. Let’s hope he took toilet paper, too, because raisins are also nature’s laxative and the prune’s less-maligned first cousin.

This isn’t the first time Mr. Frederick has attempted a daring escape. In 1981, he tried to escape from the Kettle Moraine Correctional Institution in Plymouth, Wisconsin.

Hopefully, the Columbia Correctional Institution has a copy of “The Shawshank Redemption” in its video library — for cinematically transcendant purposes only, of course. Here’s spoiler for Mr. Frederick: you’re going to need a very, very small pick axe.

After being here several months I have noticed some nuances of the Mombasa culture that I would like to share. I think the US would be a much better place if they would adopt these:

Chiropractors beware: If you felt you could pack up and come to Kenya for a new practice and make a killing, think again. I have never seen such perfect posture! From the elderly to the youngest child, perfectly aligned posture in everything they are doing. Shoulders back, butt tucked, and back aligned, and not in a military type stiffness either. You do not see them slouching in front of the computer, or at a dinner table. I have not noticed a difference between the wealthy or the poor either. I am not sure how you are taught this, but they should definitely give lessons to most Americans.

Who needs a stroller or a backpack? The only time I have seen a stroller was in Old Town with one family that was on a tour, wazungu (plural form of mazungu) of course. It was even the big fancy off-road kind. They stuck out like one would driving a yellow Hummer in Marin County. All children are either carried or are walking. Backpacks are rarely seen around town either, unless you are a tourist. What I usually see is a woman with a large bag of goods to be sold balanced perfectly upon her head while a child is strapped to her back, Baby Bjorn style, but with a piece of fabric perfectly and securely tied. Please note that these women are carrying baby (sometimes two) and goods for miles, not just to and from an automobile. To carry at least 50 lbs on their head, would definitely keep your spine in line.

Fashion Police new policies: Prints of all kinds and colors work here. The louder the better and they are not shy about mixing patterns and colors as well.

McGyver would have failed his training in Kenya. Who needs a paperclip when you have a strand of hair? The ingenuity here is impressive. One of my favorite examples is when I was in Ngomeni (One Love Island) and we were purchasing some fish from one of the fishermen/boys. He was on a “surfboard” made out of small pieces of Styrofoam taped and wired together in a surfboard type design. The pieces were no more than an inch thick and maybe a foot in length, but so strategically arranged and aligned that it held him high enough out of the water that he could properly fish like all of the other surfboard fishermen/boys.

Seinfeld would be relieved. It is absolutely acceptable to pick your nose at anytime if necessary. This can take place in the middle of a conversation, walking down the road, or even while giving a speech at an organization. Sometimes they use the “itch-pick” technique, but usually it is the “dig deep and find it” method. It is also quite acceptable to burp without apologies at anytime. Some of you reading this may say, “Oh how crude,” but really you are thinking, “Man, I wish I could get away with that here.” If only we weren’t so uptight.

Who needs utensils? Eating with my hands actually took some practice. There is a certain technique to it that makes it more efficient than using utensils and actually a lot more fun. However, the most important is washing your hands immediately before and after you eat. In many places someone will come around with a bucket, soap and a water container to allow you to wash your hands at the table. If this is not offered, then there is a sink with soap available in close proximity. I have to admit, I still am not adjusted enough to eat rice with my hands, but there is something called ugali or sima which is similar to grits, but thicker. You actually get to ball this up in your hand (using only one hand), flatten it out into a spoon-like formation and scoop the vegetables up with it. I usually eat way too much of this only because I am having so much fun. I realize this sounds quite silly, but maybe it is because I am the uptight American that even eats her frozen Snicker’s Bar with a knife and fork (another Seinfeld reference). Okay, maybe not the frozen Snicker’s, but I do eat ribs with a knife and fork. Well no more! When I return, I vow to eat ribs with my hands no matter how messy they are.

Cash is KING! Now this is actually one of my favorites. This is strictly a cash society. Not only do most establishments not accept credit cards, but most Kenyan’s (at least the ones that I have met, so of course I am generalizing) do not even own a credit card. Now, of course, the touristy places do accept credit cards, but you will usually pay a premium, or you can negotiate a lower price if you do use cash. Even the cell phones here are mainly based on prepaid cards instead of signing up with a monthly contract. They even make it extremely convenient to purchase the “Top-Up” cards once you have run out. What a novel idea, America, spending only money that you actually have and not creating a massive debt! Please, please adopt this one!!

Well, that is it for now. Just a few nuances of the Kenyan culture that I thought you would find interesting and appreciate, at least I have. I promise I will be better about updating my blog again.

I am still receiving several donations, so if you haven’t yet, but meant to, you still can. At this time, over $4,000 has been raised! If your name does not appear below, but thought you had contributed, please notify me immediately. Also confirm with your bank account that it has been charged. The direct link is located at http://bit.ly/VGzhU. You have to first fill in the amount you want to donate in the “Donation Amount” and then click “Update Total.” A new screen will appear without the check and the updated amount will be to the right. You can then fill out the credit card information. For some reason, Visa and Mastercard seem to be the easiest to go through, but it does also accept American Express and Discover.

I would like to thank all of my peeps again for contributing to my organization. Smooches to all of you:

• Roberto Giannicola
• Bob Meyers
• Ronnie Unger
• Garland & Suzanne Marshall
• Janice Schindler-Horvat
• Holly & David Gay
• Melanie, John and Hayley Vest
• Mark Fischbach & Tristin Green
• Beat Bossart
• Havens & Miller, LLC (Thanks Jason & Cristy!)
• Jackie & Harry Swank
• Chip Nelson
• Samantha Miller & Aaron Brown
• John Christiansen
• Albert Greene
• Chris Schauer
• John Lama
• Erik Jacobs & Melissa Marshall
• Keirsten Wingo
• Jeremy Taylor
• Greg O’Donnell
• Chris & Theresa Marshall
• Bryn Brugioni
• Andrea & Lee Marshall
• PK Wendelboe
• Catherine Hooper
• Deepa Prasad
• Kenny & Erin Werner
• Vivian & David Aizpuru
• Michele & John Wetteland
• David & Janet Tewhill
• Danny Abrahams

I really cannot say it enough, but thank you thank you thank you for contributing. You really have no idea how much this means to me and how much it is going to help. Asanteni sana rafiki zangu!

Ae galera…

De uns tempos pra cá eu tenho preferido assistir seriados a assistir filmes… sei lá… tem menor duração e dá pra desenvolver melhor a história… é como se fosse um filmão dividido em várias partes (12 ou 24, geralmente). Fico aqui brizando que O Senhor dos Anéis seria um baita seriado… rsrs

Bom, falando em seriado, eu acompanho alguns desde minha época longinqua de moleque: McGyver (ou “Profissão Perigo”, nome tosco traduzido no Brasil, que tinha o riff do Tom Sawyer do Rush na abertura), Super Máquina, Chips, Moto Laser, Trovão Azul, Águia de Fogo… Achou trash?! E que tal Ultraman, Ultraseven, Spectroman, Jaspion, Jiraya, Changeman, Robô Gigante (tem gente que acha que eu inventei essa série)…

Já nos anos 90 surge na minha vida Arquivo X, e como sempre gostei de Ufologia, caiu no meu gosto rapidinho. Após acompanhar mais da metade dos 9 anos da série (ainda compro o box completo) e um hiato grande no quesito “acompanhamento de séries”, desperta meu interesse uma série de um avião que cai no mar e os sobreviventes ficam “perdidos” numa ilha que ninguém acha, quando passou no plim-plim. Lost foi o marco para eu começar olhar melhor as séries americanas. Daí pra frente virou meio que um vício e venho acompanhando várias séries americanas, e outras que já estão na mira quando começar, além de algumas já extintas ou consagradas que não vi ainda mas que verei, auto-promessa rulez!

O único problema é que as temporadas demoram bastante para fazer a transição, algo como 6 a 8 meses de espera. Isso quando a série não pára no meio da temporada mesmo, fica 4 meses parada. Sorte que na entre-safra surgem coisas boas para assistir.

]]> http://whatsleftout.wordpress.com/2009/09/10/we%e2%80%99ll-call-it-our-desextroyer/ Thu, 10 Sep 2009 16:27:30 +0000 Austin L. Church http://whatsleftout.wordpress.com/2009/09/10/we%e2%80%99ll-call-it-our-desextroyer/

My dad plays golf and runs his own independent insurance agency, Church & Associates. He’s proud of the fact that he’s kept the same hair pick and same pair of hard contacts for over twenty years. For twenty-one years, he’s used the same Simplicity Buccaneer riding mower to cut the lawn. When it breaks down, he gets it fixed.

My dad always showed up at my ball games and took me on fishing trips, just the two of us. Now that I’m older and live two and a half hours away, he calls me to see how I’m doing. I find it really easy to talk to him about my business, my finances, my girlfriend, my church, and my community. Most of the time, he even asks before he offers advice.

If you asked me to describe my dad in one word, I would say that he is “dependable.”

He does what he says he’s going to do. He follows through. He’s a man of his word.

Yet, just when I think I have him pegged, he’ll come out of left field with something “hip and cool,” as he likes to say. We were taking a walk around the neighborhood, and he was telling me about a recent talk given by the youth minister at the church where my dad is an elder. The youth minister was asked to educate the parents about a new trend among teenagers:

“Sexting.”

Apparently, horny kids will take pictures of themselves naked and deliver these photos via text message to their boyfriends and girlfriends. Something tells me that more often than not the boyfriends are the ones requesting such pictures.

Some of the images end up on the internet. Imagine that.

Duh. Hel-loooo. The guy who persuades his girlfriend to send him 2.0 megapixels of her breasts is the same sleazeball who will post the shot online.

“No, baby, listen, I’m different. Please send the picture. It will be our little secret. I’m not going to run off and tell all my friends. You can trust me.”

Yeah right, pal. Guys who say “You can trust me” are the last ones you should trust. They’re like the people who say, “I like deep conversation,” who wouldn’t know a deep conversation if they ran over one with their Jeeps.

A trustworthy man, a man with class, a gentleman, wouldn’t ask for the nude photo in the first place. If your sixteen-year-old son cannot exercise self-control now, he’ll soon be the predator slipping a rufi into some sorority girl’s drink and justifying his actions by saying, “She didn’t say no!” Right, because she was semi-conscious and trying not to black out. We’d all appreciate it if you ran for public office in thirty years.

Sexting.

My dad’s occasional knowledge of pop culture never ceases to amaze me. Even if he doesn’t know how to send a text message, he is “hip and cool.” I’m not in the least afraid to become more like him. When I hear myself saying things like, “Hold your horses!” or “Let’s get the show on the road,” I smile.

If only we could both be like McGyver and use his favorite hair pick, his Braun electric razor, the blade from his Simplicity riding mower, and parts from his Daiwa fishing reel to make a ray gun that would castrate every sexting jerk in the universe.

We’ll call it our DeSextroyer. To express their everlasting gratitude, parents of sexting-liberated teenagers would sing songs about us and submit entries to UrbanDictonary.com and Wikipedia. We will be crowned with laurel and receive the Nobel Peace prize.

August 15, 2009 “Not August, It’s BLOGust” Entry #4

Don’t forget, 25% OFF EVERYTHING In-Store ALL MONTH LONG!!!!!!!

Not all computer cases are equally well designed. That, I’m sure, you know. The thing you may not know, is just how badly designed certain cases are. Not only are they hard to service, they can be detrimental to your hardware! I recently had to change the hard drive from my backup box and ended up changing the whole kit altogether because the old machine did not recognize the new 500GB hard drive. So I reused my old Compaq Presario 6400nx computer, which does recognize the 500GB hard drive, but makes it run very hot. I mean, very hot.

The new drive, although almost idling except for the nightly backup scripts and whatnots, got to 50°C. Even if 50°C is within the manufacturer’s expected operating parameters (10 to 55°C, or similar), that’s about 20°C more than my main workstation’s hard drive that runs around 30–35°C. That got me worried because it is well known that high drive temperature shortens its life considerably. So I decided to solve the problem using tie-wraps—no, not à la McGyver.

Opened, the casing looks like this:

The Compaq Presario 6400NX, opened, on its side

So it looks pretty much like an ordinary casing with slots for externally accessible drives (floppy and CD/DVD), the motherboard and lots of cables. The guys probably thought that the airflow, which is meant to bring cool air into the computer and take the heat away through the rear fans (the casing’s and the power supply’s) would be a nice airflow like this one,

Supposed Air Flow

with a strong stream covering hard drives, RAM (that you can’t see on the picture, it’s somewhere under the IDE cables), and CPU. Maybe even a cute small eddy on the side to ventilate that corner. Well, with all the cabling and the ill-designed face-plate, the airflow is pretty much like this:

The real airflow, likely

Which leaves the drive bay (shown in bright red in the next picture) and the drives it contains out of the airflow and free to heat up as much as they want. As I said, the drive got up to 50°C while the room temperature is about 20°C, which, after discussing with friends, is apparently not that surprising, even not worrying. Nevertheless, I find this dangerously hot, especially that my other hard drive (same brand, but different capacity) runs at 30°C in the same conditions—although obviously in a better case.

Guess where are the hard drives? (Shown in bright red!)

So I dug a 80mm fan from my “left-over” drawer (the one we all have, the one with a 1996 logitech mouse, a 5¼″ drive, 42 USB cables for devices we don’t even own anymore, and the like), two black tie-wraps, and frankensteined the fan on the underside of the hard drive bay, resulting in the new airflow (I suppose):

Airflow with an extra fan

*
* *

The new airflow mustn’t be all that bad. The CPU remains at a constant 40-ish°C, which it always have been, and the hard drive now runs at 30–35°C, just like the other one. Of course the extra fan adds a little noise but that’s not bad, all things considered.

You should also take time to assess the thermal health of your machine(s). On Linux, ACPI and board-specific sensor support will help you look at the temperature of the chip-set, motherboard and CPU; tools like the smartmontools package will tell you how hot your drives are. If your OS cannot report those or your missing drivers, very often the BIOS has a hardware monitor screen (or similar) that reports voltages and temperatures.

If you are in doubt regarding the actual temperatures of the components (some report ludicrous temperature as their sensors are very roughly calibrated) get an IR touchless thermometer (they’re not that expensive anymore) and point it at various components to validate the temperatures reported by the OS. Most of my hardware seems to report correct temperatures, except for my GPU on the video card (it reports 60+°C when the heat sink just above the chip is barely 40°C).

If you have a less than cromulent casing, like the one on the Compaq computer I have, make sure that none of your computer’s components runs excessively hot. Make sure that the fans are clear from dust and other debris, that will also help quite a lot (to remove dust, I blow the casing, at a safe distance, with ~50 PSI air blown with a general purpose garage-style air nozzle once in a while… gets the job done!).

A happy computer is a cool computer.

Further readings

The Wikibook Minimizing Hard Disk Drive Failure and Data Loss contains, amongst other things, a link to a paper by guys from Google that document drive failure rate in relation to drive temperature, and they show that the sweet spot is somewhere around 35-45°C.

Mi sembrava scandaloso che un blog serio e intelligente come theciuffi non avesse una rubrica di moda. Ora ce l’ha. Questo sarà il nuovo spazio dedicato alle mode del momento o alla rivalutazione di mode del passato. Siccome sono un giovane elegante e alla moda, mi autoproclamo direttore-capo-supremo-universale-mondiale di questa rubrica (sai che onore…!). E sceglierò di volta in volta cosa è di moda e cosa non lo è, usando sempre il mio leggendario buongusto. Ovvero: selezionerò le peggiori cagate che vedo in giro e le spaccerò come ultima tendenza. In sostanza farò quello che da anni fanno i giornali di moda nonché molti stilisti. Tanto qualche coglione che mi viene dietro lo trovo anche io, scommettete?

Non so se è solo una mia impressione, ma già da qualche anno stiamo assistendo a una progressiva rivalutazione e riproposizione di tutte le mode anni ‘80. E io, cavolo, sono un grande estimatore di quegli anni. Anche se non li ho vissuti, devo dire che è stato davvero un bel periodo, per la musica, per la cinematografia, per l’arte in genere. Onestamente, non èstato un gran periodo per la moda. Negli anni ‘80, a mio modesto parere, si è raggiunto l’apice del kitsch nel modo di vestirsi, nel modo di acconciarsi i capelli, nei modelli di scarpe. Nonostante ciò, stanno progressivamente ricomparendo molti capi tipici del periodo, come le giacche a maniche tirate su, paillettes ovunque, pantaloni super-aderenti modello “seconda pelle”, scaldamuscoli portati sopra le scarpe, fuseaux anche di pelle, non solo per stare in casa, ma anche per uscire la sera, giacchetti di pelle stile “chiodo”, ecc…

L’unica cosa che non mi va giù di tutta questa storia è: se viene rivalutato tutto ciò che è anni ‘80, dalla musica ai vestiti, perchè cavolo allora non viene rivaluatato anche il taglio di capelli anni ‘80 per eccellenza? Questo è razzismo! Ebbene, da ora io dichiaro ufficialmente che è tornato di moda, e per molto tempo, il MULLET. Mi raccomando, domani tutti dal barbiere o dalla coiffeur a farsi il mullet, e non voglio sentire storie.

Cos’è il Mullet? Questa domanda non andrebbe fatta, ma lo spiegherò per i neofiti. Il Mullet è la tipica acconciatura anni ‘80, che tutti i giovani dell’epoca hanno portato, rendendosi ridicoli per anni, e che poi, arrivati gli anni ‘90, hanno pensato bene di cambiare, per evitare di essere sfottuti dalle nuove generazioni. Il Mullet è un modo di portare i capelli molto particolare: i capelli devono essere corti sui lati e sopra la testa, non rasati e meglio e se ingelatinati “a ciuffo” o “a onda”; dietro, invece, i capelli vanno lasciati crescere liberamente, molto più lunghi rispetto alle altre zone della testa, fino anche a farli arrivare al sedere e oltre. Grandi esposnenti di questa moda, nel passato, sono stati McGyver (chi non l’ha sfottuto almeno una volta per i suoi ridicoli riccioli biondi sulle spalle?) e il famosissimo Billy Ray Cyrus, famoso soprattuto per essere il padre di Hanna Montana (e non chiedetemi chi lei sia, perchè non so rispondere). Ma i veri maestri di questa acconciatura sono altri. Il mitico David Bowie, infatti, aveva già un inizio di Mullet negli anni ‘70; Tom Jones, idolo di generazioni di donne (ormai tutte ottantenni), portava già il Mullet verso la fine degli anni ‘60.  Il Mullet va apprezzato anche come strumento democratico, in quanto tutti quelli che se lo fanno, che siano belli o brutti, alti o bassi, magri o grassi, sono semplicemente ridicoli. E per questo io dico: il Mullet è tornato. Ragazzi, tutti a farselo eh!

Mullet

Personaggi famosi col Mullet (da un rfassi vede’ a giro):

Billy Ray Cyrus (imbarazzante)

McGyver (imbarazzanze)

Afinal, clips de papel tem mais utilidade que um Bombril, e salva vidas!

Cortesia de: Os Vigaristas

Chewin gum………. Paperclip……….magnifyin glass……what d-a fuck happninWE GOT DEM GUNNNNS!!!!

C’est le jour des enfants, c’est le jour de ma naissance (d’après mon thème astral), c’est le jour de mon cinéma à moi !

Aujourd’hui, mon film coup de coeur n’est pas un film mais plutôt une série qui m’a marqué jusqu’aux fringues, jusqu’au look (parfois improbable mais ça, c’est à cause de la fin des années 80). D’accord, il y en a eu qui ont compté pour moi, de McGyver en passant par Code Quantum (trop, trop bon !!) puis par toutes ces séries et dessins animés de la 5 (souvenez-vous !) et du Club Do’ mais celle-ci marqua mon adolescence. Il y avait quelque chose de “cool”, de rebelle, d’actuel.

Il y avait Steven Willliams ( que j’ai bien aimé notamment dans le rôle de Monsieur X dans “X-Files” des années après), Peter DeLuise (qui poursuivit une seconde carrière en réalisant et produisant parfois le fameux “Stargate” avec mon McGyver infaillible), Richard Grieco (qui reprit son rôle dans un spin-off appelé “Booker“) mais surtout qui vit l’apparition de Brad Pitt dans un rôle impossible (c’te coupe de cheveux !).

Il y avait surtout Johnny Depp. Ouep d’abord !

Enfin, bref ! Cette série, vous l’avez deviné, c’est 21 Jump Street !

Je me souviens bien de cette série, de l’heure à laquelle elle passait sur la 1ère chaîne, du comportement et de la mentalité que j’ai commencé à adopter. Tout comme le(s) héros de la série, il fallait se dépasser, faire ses preuves, se battre toujours contre un système loin d’être équitable. Il fallait constamment repousser quelque chose de soi… hors de soi. S’extérioriser, montrer que l’on est capable.

Je sais que mes héros de papier s’imprègnent aussi de ce tempérament, de cette énergie à dévorer le monde, de montrer au monde qu’il y a beaucoup plus à vivre qu’on ne le croit. Non, pas vous ?

Je vous laisse avec le trailer de la série mais si vous avez des tuyaux pour me faire revivre 21 Jump Street ou même Mc Gyver, n’hésitez pas à me faire signe ! Je passe en mode “Revival de ma jeunesse” !

Si os digo que el otro día me quede a ver Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, quizás penséis que este calor estival me ha provocado algún tipo de embolia.
El caso es que, a veces me da por ver películas ante las cuales mi sentido arácnido ya me avisa que no sólo no me aportaran nada, sino que puedo perder alguna neurona con ello; pero a mi me van estos deportes de riesgo.

No os contaré de qué va la película, soy incapaz de malgastar mi tiempo, y el vuestro, contando un argumento sin pies ni cabeza. Os diré, eso sí, que la idea central (ese acontecimiento cósmico que se produce al alinearse los planetas de nuestro sistema solar, es una idea que ya se usó en una de las películas que se hicieron de la serie McGyver). Os diré, también, que los guionistas de esta película plagian (ellos seguro que prefieren homenajean) a la saga de Indiana Jones:

• Terrible peligro al que el/la prota vence de un certero y simple disparo.
• Obligación, al final, de hacer el trabajo sucio al malo para rescatar a un amigo herido/muerto.

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Modelito invierno glacial, por Lara Croft

Y ahora lo bueno: lo mejor de la película son los modelitos “amazona guerrera” que luce Angelina Jolie (este mérito recae en los diseñadores del personaje del videojuego) pero hay que reconocer que Angelina es –seguramente- la mejor actriz para este rol.

Lara Croft y Angelina Jolie cosplayada

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Y ahora, el detalle por el cual recordaré esta película hasta el día de mi muerte:
Al producirse el alineamiento cósmico, una llave secreta se pone en marcha. La llave está escondida en un reloj. El reloj está metido en una caja. Y la caja está escondida bajo las escaleras de la mansión de Lara Croft. Ese pequeño hueco bajo las escaleras, es un lugar secreto: no hay ventanas ni puertas para acceder a él. Lara accederá allí rompiendo el grueso tabique de madera.

¿Y qué hace Lara cuando descubre que bajo las escaleras hay un zulo secreto? Pues alarga la mano hacia dentro del zulo y le da el interruptor… ¡y una luz se enciende!

.

De esta secuencia no sé qué es lo más absurdo… si la presencia de un interruptor en un zulo de apenas un metro cuadrado. O el increíble hecho que Lara descubra todo esto porque el tic-tac del reloj no la deja dormir (dos pisos más arriba…).

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]]> http://thatsnotwhatimeant.wordpress.com/2009/04/23/mcgyver-the-god-of-genius/ Thu, 23 Apr 2009 17:21:45 +0000 jesiquita http://thatsnotwhatimeant.wordpress.com/2009/04/23/mcgyver-the-god-of-genius/

I have observed the blogosphere for sometime.  It has made me laugh, made me angry, made me think and made me take actions in support of ideas I found relevant. I decided, it is time to join the party!

Parallel View is intended to provide a contrarian perspective on ideas, trends and behaviors in the marketplace.  It will, more often than not, be based on business issues.  While I hope you enjoy reading Parallel View, my intention is not to entertain, but to engage, you, the reader and make you “think”!

I invite you to share your views on my thinking – look for Parallel View to launch on April 30th!!

Michael Breen

sen min senaste bloggperiod är min dygnsrytm.
När jag väl somnar mellan 3-5 så vaknar jag ändå var 20e minut
i ett ryck. Denna sömntortyr gör mig galen så jag undviker ofta helt att sova. Min vila får jag mellan 16-1730..

Något som är otroligt härligt och betryggande är att jag nu får sällskap om nätterna av två stora förebilder! David Duchovny och Richard Dean Andersson i form av karaktärerna Fox Mulder och Angus MaCgyver..

X-Files börjar 01.05 på tv4 och McGyver avlöser på femman vid lika olika tider men ofta strax innan 02.

Dessa barndomsidoler skänker mig illusionen av trygghet. Det kommer nog lite i från att jag kopplar dem till mina tidiga tonår då man hade en väldigt okomplicerat tillvaro och en ostörd rytm i livet.

I morgon ska jag på obduktion. Blir intressant att se hur man själv reagerar. Det är hype kring detta, alla snackar om det. Jag känner inget obehag så här på förhand, men man vet ju aldrig. Jag kanske får ett frispel. Om jag får det så kommer jag anstränga mig mitt yttersta för att i tårar skrika ut med vredesmod och gråt i rösten: DET HETER NÄSA! NÄSA INTE NOS! buhuhu

Undertiden jag skriver detta stönar granntjejen något så överjävligt, jag tycker lite synd om henne. Inte för att hon ånjuter en tung orgasm det finns väl inget synd i det, utanför de facto att snubben förmodligen nyss läst mitt tidigare inlägg och försöker bryta upp.

Dallas

Airwolf (Imperiales)

Airwolf (Rebeldes)

MacGyver

Me ha encantado! xD

Neem (Azadirachta indica) é uma planta originária da Índia que presta-se a tratar uma quantidade colossal de enfermidades. Isso, claro, segundo os indianos. Aqui no Brasil também é chamada de Nim ou Amargosa.

Serve para quase tudo aquilo que você possa pensar. Sua atuação se estende pelos mais diversos ramos da ciência, como medicina, robótica, cosmética, veterinária, psicopedagogia, gastronomia, agricultura, pecuária, farmácia, astrologia, dentre outros.

Mas o tcham! do Neem é mesmo o seu uso na automedicação. Não que a Índia seja parâmetro de saúde, mas confiram os empregos do chá de Neem lá nas terras de Brahma:

• Abrasões
• Contusões
• Gripe
• Queimaduras
• Acne
• Diabete
• Hemorróidas
• Resfriado
• AIDS
• Dor de ouvido
• Hepatite
• Respiração
• Alergia
• Dor-de-dente
• Herpes genitais
• Ressaca
• Arritmia
• Dores em geral
• Hipertensão
• Reumatismo
• Artrite
• Eczema
• Indisgestão
• “Ringworm”
• Azia
• Encefalite
• Infecção urinária
• Rinites
• Bronquite
• Envenenamento
• Infecção vaginal
• Rins
• Câncer
• Enxaqueca
• Infecção de levedura
• Rugas
• Candidíase
• Epilepsia
• Inflamações
• Sangue sujo
• Caspa
• Erupção cutânea
• Insônia
• Sama
• Catapora
• Escalpo samento
• Intoxicação Gastrointestinal
• Sífilis
• Chagas
• Estimulante
• Lombrigas
• Fortalece sistema imunológico
• Chagas Frias
• Fadiga crônica
• Malária
• Tensão
• Circulação
• Febre
• Mononucleose
• Tordo
• Clamídia
• Fumo
• Pé-de-atleta
• Tuberculose
• Coágulos de sangue
• Garganta
• Pele seca
• Úlcera de Pepti
• Coreiro
• Gastrite
• Piolho
• Úlcera Duodeno
• Colesterol
• Gengivite
• Piorréia
• Úlceras
• Conjuntivite
• Gonorréia
• Pressão alta
• Verrugas
• Controle de natalidade
• Gravidez
• Psoríase
• Vitiligo

Ou seja, basicamente tudo pode ser curado com Neem! Vocês leram direito? Neem trata AIDS, cara! Câncer! Pé-de-atleta! Ca-ra-lho! Tipo, se você estiver com problemas pra engravidar, tome Neem! Se quiser abortar, tome Neem também!

Não é putaria! Dá uma olhada no artigo da Wikipedia sobre o tema, clique aqui. O site “Planta Neem” também tem um vasto material de consulta, veja. Buscando por “neem” no Google você encontra portais dedicados ao tema meeeeeeeeeesmo, coisa de maluco. O “Neem Brasil” também é bom, veja.

E além disso, você pode usar tudo da árvore, eu disse tudo! Olha:

1. Casca - A casca do Neem é fria, amarga, adstringente, picante e refrigerante. Ela é eficaz no tratamento de doenças de pele como eczema, furunculose, dermatite arsênico, queimaduras ulceradas, herpes labial, escabiosa e seborréia. Tem efeito também sobre doenças de pele de origem desconhecida como verrugas e caspa. O extrato da casca tem fortes propriedades diuréticas.
2. Folhas - De acordo com Ayuverda as folhas de Neem auxiliam no tratamento de dores neuro-musculares. Também eliminam toxinas, purificam o sangue e neutralizam os radicais livres no organismo. É benéfica para os olhos e alivia picadas de insetos venenosos.
3. Frutas - Ao natural são amargas, purgativas, anti-hemorróidas e anti-helmíntica.
4. Flores - São usadas nos casos de Pitta (equilíbrio do calor corporal) e kapha (formação da tosse). São adstringentes, anti-helmínticas e não tóxicas.
5. Sementes - São amargas e descritas como anti-helmínticas, anti-leprótica e antivenenos. A azadiractina retirada das amêndoas da semente do Neem mostrou ser uma inibidora de mudas em estado larval, pupal e adulto e inibe a reproduão de larvas aquáticas como mosquitos e larvas que se alimentam de folhas.
6. Óleo - O óleo resultante do esmagamento das sementes é preventivo de doenças de pele, poderoso anti-helmíntico e tem gosto amargo. Tem vasto espectro de ação e é altamente medicinal ao Natural.

Se o McGyver tivesse um jardim, ele certamente plantaria Neem!

“EsSxHa áRvUrEw eH dJoiDjaN”

Dica do Guma, vulgo Alexandre.

UPDATE: Neem também serve pra repelente, e dos bons! Eficaz contra mais de 400 tipos de insetos, inclusive contra o mosquito da dengue! Compre o seu.

Remember when you watched James Bond movies and they showed him getting out of trouble, like that time he jumped out of the airplane without a parachute, and he grabbed the hem of his pants to keep himself airborne, and you told yourself to always remember that in case the spies were chasing you and you had to jump out of a plane without a parachute? Remember?

Yeah, well, me neither.