How much do you think you can tell about a person just by looking at them? Do you think you would be able to sense that a person is a killer just by looking at his eyes? Quite often when I see a murderer on TV I think that the person “looks” like he would do the dirty deed - sometimes there is something dark and sinister about his or her eyes. I don’t think we should start convicting people just based on their looks (I don’t think people just go out and kill just because they took a look in the mirror and saw their killer eyes), but you can test your skills by taking this killer quiz.
Have you ever wanted to disappear in a black hole? I do think about it. After looking at this cool black hole animation I discovered that if you were watching me fall into the black hole, you would see me get closer and closer to the horizon. But no matter how long you wait, you would never see me reach the horizon because the light that I am emitting takes longer and longer to climb back out to reach you. And so even though a long time has passed since I went through the horizon, the light telling you that I have fallen in won’t reach you for a very long, infinitely long time. Sounds like a trip to end all trips!
I just read an interesting article on why most suicide bombers are Muslim, beautiful people have more daughters, humans are naturally polygamous, sexual harassment isn’t sexist, and blondes are more attractive. Quite a interesting read with an novel theory on why men prefer blond women. Blond hair has a unique characteristic - it changes dramatically with age. A young girl with light blond hair will grow to become a woman with brown hair - the hair tends to darken as she ages. Thus, the theory goes, men attempt to mate with blond women in an unconscious attempt to mate with a younger woman, as the young tend to be healthier and more fecund.
Let me know if you want to read the article.
Did you hear that Microsoft To Buy Facebook For $6 Billion? They turned down attempts by Yahoo in 2006 to buy the company. All I can do is speculate as to what will happen, but it sure will be interesting to see what comes out of it.
The dress code is becoming much more casual than it once was. Jeans were once considered casual but now jeans are worn everywhere and even track pants and lounge wear are becoming the norm. But do you think committing a robbery in your pajamas is just a little bit under dressed considering that there might be cameras taking your photograph?
Here is something for Milene: Have a look at this Low Impact Woodland Home. It took 4 months to build, it was inexpensive, and is designed to have low impact on the environment. Someone had some very neat ideas for conservation - the fridge is cooled by air coming underground through foundations!
Thanks to Anne for suggesting an excellent play at the Toronto Fringe Festival yesterday. I had the opportunity to see the Gladstone Variations at my favourite hotel in Toronto. Which hotel, you might ask. The Gladstone, of course. Not that I have ever stayed there (shame, shame) but they regularly exhibit art and photography shows there that I have meandered through, finding my enjoyment enhanced by the charming setting. The hotel has some artist designed rooms that you can take a look at online. It would be very difficult to pick a favourite room from all these choices but if you can afford it, I would recommend you give it a tumble (or maybe just look at the rooms for your own inspiration). But I digress - back to the show. The Gladstone Variations is considered the most ambitious project in the Fringe’s history. There are four plays going on at the same time and a character from one play will jump into a scene from another play, giving you a little taste of what is happening somewhere else, keeping you in suspense and leaving you wanting to see the other play to find out what is the story there. The stories give you a real sense of the history of the fine old hotel that was built in 1889 and is still looking splendid, filled with old-world charm. The actors were great and the concierge (the actor, not the hotel staff) left me breathless with his strong peformance. It is not often you get to be shoulder-to-shoulder with the actors in a play, but it is a very immersive experience, very 3D. You begin outside the hotel and move around, going into the lobby, up the stairs, and through the hallways following the actors in their dramas as though you are a fly on the wall - and don’t we all, at some time or another, wish we could be a fly on the wall see what others are doing? Here is what the playwright Brendan Gall has to say: “You get a real sense of layers of history here. There’s this notion of not removing wallpaper, necessarily, but maybe painting over it, so all of these eras share the same space, they bleed through. Things seem like one thing but suggest another.”
We replenished ourselves at the Get Real! Cafe on Ossington Avenue - a surprisingly lovely vegetarian eatery in a run-down part of town. They converted a small row house to a cafe with a lovely backyard patio - where you can watch the clouds roll by in a very relaxed setting. The food was delicious even if I were just a fly sneaking a nibble of your portobello rosemary arugula pesto whateverucallit!
It had to happen sometime, but not by someone I never heard of - Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim is the world’s richest man, worth an estimated $67.8 billion. He has dethroned Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates from the spot in June, according to a respected tracker of Mexican financial wealth on Monday. That is a lot of wealth there. If he could find it in his heart to donate 1 millionth of that to my I haven’t had a vacation since 2001 fund - I could take a much needed vacation every year, for the next 25 years with that money. I, in return, could donate 1 millionth of my salary to someone in need of a vacation (unfortunately, it would not be enough to get them out the door). Puede la buena fortuna estar con usted.
I attended my first drawing class this week and the teacher said that she would know what we are thinking by the way we draw. Boy, am I afraid! I must clear my head of all extraneous thoughts such as kitties, cats, and moodle (some how Blackboard was in there too).
After much seeking (well, really just thinking about it), I have finally found edamame beans. Ever since I had them on a patio on Bloor Street I have just been dreaming of them - they are a delicious snack. They are green soy beans. It’s said that proteins in edamame with vitamins C and B1 help the resolution of alcohol. So, it can be said to be reasonable to drink beer, eating boiled edamame. So yummy!
The Fringe Festival is on! I saw the comedy, Dishpig which is an actual word in the Urban Dictionary. This is what it says: A dish pig is a person who works in the kitchen of any industry, but does anything but cooking. i.e. cleaning dishes, cooking equipment, floors etc. Usually student Chefs. The show synopsis stated that it was about the glories of dish washing - something I do every day and could use some helpful tips for making it a glorious experience. No tips, but it was very funny and I have some jokes I might tell you about when I see you.
I saw this guy, Karl Iagnemma on Nova last night - he is both a writer who has published novels (On the Nature of Human Romantic Interaction is going to be made into a movie) and a mechanical engineer developing technology for the 2009 Mars rover mission. They talked about his amazing ability to use both the left and right side of brain with such versatility. He said that mechanical engineering and writing are similar: both involve logic, problem-solving, and creativity. I was impressed with his talents and it reminded me that I should continue to practice using different parts of my brain and do the things I enjoy. Here are some whimsical paintings - just because it is fun 
Is there a better way to celebrate Canada Day than to celebrate two birthdays? Click photo to see more.
I didn’t know I could add movies to my gallery. How cool is that???
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