geminigirl (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
geminigirl) wrote2007-10-08 06:43 pm
geminigirl) wrote2007-10-08 06:43 pm
Entry tags:
News of the Week in Review-ish
First of all, I hope all the Canadians I know are enjoying the holiday today. We had a small dinner yesterday-the two of us, ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
tronochick and our friends Scott and Erica. Cayne bought a turkey that was much larger than we needed (four people ate turkey-I'm still off of most foods) but I ate stuffing for supper and salad.
tronochick made up a pan of candied sweet potatoes, topped with marshmallows, and at one point, Scott and Cayne decided to take over the kitchen, and sent the three of us to go sit down at the dining room table. The two of them popped the sweet potatoes into the oven, and went on their merry way. Suddenly, from my seat at the table, I saw flames in the oven. The marshmallow topped potatoes had been placed too close to the element and were on fire. No damage, just smoke everywhere and charred marshmallows.
You can seezedrikcayne's attempt at solving the problem
(I copied it from your facebook page,tronochick It was the best photo of the night.)
Had an OB visit last week, and all is fine on the inside it seems (though I'm cranky because I have heartburn, a sore back from not being able to get comfortable in bed and terrible metal mouth taste going on.) I'm sitting here reading the occasional wedding planning community post though, and wondering how in the world April could be six months away.
And I present for you, the best headline I saw last week... Mr. Potato Head in ecstasy bust
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- Customs officers discovered nearly 10.5 ounces of ecstasy tablets hidden inside a Mr. Potato Head toy sent to Australia from Ireland, the agency said Thursday.
Upon opening the parcel, the officers were greeted with the smiling face of the popular children's toy, which features a potato-like head and removable facial features. But when they removed a panel from the back of the toy, the officers found 10.34 ounces of ecstasy in a plastic bag.
The Australian Customs Service referred the matter to federal police, but no arrests were immediately made, the agency said. The maximum penalty for importing drugs to Australia is life imprisonment.
"Whilst this is one of the more unusual concealments that we have seen in recent times, people need to be aware that Customs officers are alert to unusual and often outlandish methods of concealment," Customs Director Post Karen Williams said
And because I saved two other interesting articles, here they are for your perusal...
I think this one came fromindigoeye
Something in the Way She Moves?
In a particularly stimulating study, researchers have found that lap dancers--women who work in strip joints and, for cash, gyrate in the laps of seated men--earn more when they are in the fertile phase of their menstrual cycle. The finding suggests that women subtly signal when they are most fertile, although just how they do it is not clear.
Women, unlike many mammals, don't come into heat or estrus, a state of obvious fertility that attracts potential mates. Common wisdom has it that estrus was lost as humans evolved. The notion is that women evolved "concealed ovulation" along with around-the-month sexual receptivity the better to manipulate males by keeping them in the dark, says Geoffrey Miller, an evolutionary psychologist at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. But now Miller and colleagues have found evidence that a woman’s state of fertility may not be so secret after all.
The researchers used ads and flyers to sign up 18 lap dancers from local clubs. Each woman was asked to log on to a Web site and report her work hours, tips, and when she was menstruating. Lap dancers generally work 5-hour shifts with 18 or so 3-minute performances per shift. They average about $14 per "dance"--all of which is called a "tip" because it is illegal to pay for sex in New Mexico.
Over a 60-day period, the researchers collected data from 5300 lap dances. They divided the answers according to whether the dancers were in the menstrual phase, the high-fertility estrous phase, or the luteal phase. The result, as they report online this week in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior: Of the 11 women with normal menstrual cycles, those in the estrous phase pulled in about $70 an hour--compared with $50 for those in the luteal phase, and only $35 an hour for those who were menstruating. The other seven women were on birth control pills. They earned less across the board, and there was no peaking at the estrous phase.
The numbers suggest that men can tell when a woman is most fertile, although the message seems to be conveyed by "subtle behavioral signals" that evade conscious detection, the authors say. They add that the study couldn't identify whether it is scent or other physical changes that cue the men in, but they don't think it's anything obvious such as type of dance moves or "conversational content."
Evolutionary psychologist Karl Grammer of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Urban Ethology in Vienna says the result fits with his findings that it's possible to detect ovulation through the effect of raised levels of estrogens on the way women walk and dance. "It is highly possible that estrogen modulates motion abilities," says Grammer, in which case "it seems to be most likely that body motion--and not pheromones--is the information carrier."
And finally, this one from my sister in law. Dove ad delves into the ugly side of beauty
`Our objective," says the marketing exec at Dove Canada, "is to take your breath away."
Well, they've done that, all right.
In its latest viral assault on the cultural distortions around what constitutes "beauty," the soap company has just launched a rapid-fire Internet video that, says Dove's Alison Leung, packs a lifetime's worth of societal pressure emanating from the gazillion-dollar beauty industry into a mere minute (and 14 seconds).
It's called, appropriately, Onslaught, and with the force of rifle fire rains down the nipped, tucked, botoxed, firmer, thinner, softer, tighter imagery that bombards young women from pre-adolescence through their whole darned lives.
It's political, it's edgy, and you want to watch it.
You also want your daughters to watch it. And they are, on YouTube, which tallied 70,000 hits in its first day.
Created by ad agency Ogilvy & Mather in Toronto, Onslaught follows the success of Evolution, Ogilvy's first viral video for Dove, which featured the manic retouching of a naturally beautiful woman until she became the high- eyebrowed, swan-necked, artificially altered "norm" of the beauty trade.
Evolution proved so successful that Dove began airing the spot on The Hills, a reality TV show about vacuous, uncommonly attractive women in Laguna Beach.
"It's a great juxtaposition with the content on the show," Leung says dryly.
Both videos, and a third heartbreakingly simple spot entitled Amy, were directed by Ogilvy's Tim Piper.
"We wanted to skew the messaging toward mothers," he says of Onslaught. "Maybe this generation needs to talk to the next generation about the messaging they're getting from a very early time."
Onslaught tells a simple story. One day a freckled strawberry blonde with a clip in her hair is walking to school with her chums; the next she's a candidate for yo-yo dieting; eventually she's pressured to alter her physical self by any fat-sucking, nip and tucking means.
"We tried to lay it out in a way that was quick and fast and interesting to watch," says Piper of the path set by our so-called beauty culture, which he terms our "low self-esteem industry."
The film is scored to Simian's La Breeze – "You cannot hide, there's no place to hide" – before the tag line: "Talk to your daughter before the beauty industry does."
Dove is a participant in that. The beauty industry that is. It's owned by Unilever, which includes Slim-Fast among its many brands. On its website, Unilever promotes its hair products thusly: "Want hair like Paris Hilton, Nicole Kidman or Posh Spice? It's easier than you think with the right products and a bit of practice."
Is there not a contradiction here? Dove," responds Leung, "exists on its own."
It has certainly carved an effective niche with its Campaign for Real Beauty. Launched in 2004, the campaign refreshingly featured unskinny women in their smalls and lovingly photographed the facial lines of true aging.
The campaign is more than mere advertising. The Dove Self-Esteem Fund has launched numerous initiatives aimed at awareness- raising, including mentoring programs, one of which was launched this year at the Henry Street High School in Whitby.
"We want them to embrace who they are," says Leung of the young women who meet weekly. "To see a broader definition of beauty."
A Dove survey conducted with Seventeen magazine found 93 per cent of girls and young women feel stressed about their appearance as they get ready in the morning.
In the sweet, filmic Amy, a tousle-haired teen rides up to Amy's house on his bike. He calls. And calls. And calls her name.
Words silently appear in Amy's absence: "Amy can name 12 things wrong with her appearance."
And then: "He can't name one."
Okay, I'm going to enjoy sitting on my couch in sweats and my Socks the Cat t-shirt until my dear spouse arrives home with some dinner. Which will hopefully not make me want to barf. :)
tronochick and our friends Scott and Erica. Cayne bought a turkey that was much larger than we needed (four people ate turkey-I'm still off of most foods) but I ate stuffing for supper and salad. tronochick made up a pan of candied sweet potatoes, topped with marshmallows, and at one point, Scott and Cayne decided to take over the kitchen, and sent the three of us to go sit down at the dining room table. The two of them popped the sweet potatoes into the oven, and went on their merry way. Suddenly, from my seat at the table, I saw flames in the oven. The marshmallow topped potatoes had been placed too close to the element and were on fire. No damage, just smoke everywhere and charred marshmallows. You can see
zedrikcayne's attempt at solving the problem (I copied it from your facebook page,
tronochick It was the best photo of the night.)Had an OB visit last week, and all is fine on the inside it seems (though I'm cranky because I have heartburn, a sore back from not being able to get comfortable in bed and terrible metal mouth taste going on.) I'm sitting here reading the occasional wedding planning community post though, and wondering how in the world April could be six months away.
And I present for you, the best headline I saw last week... Mr. Potato Head in ecstasy bust
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- Customs officers discovered nearly 10.5 ounces of ecstasy tablets hidden inside a Mr. Potato Head toy sent to Australia from Ireland, the agency said Thursday.
Upon opening the parcel, the officers were greeted with the smiling face of the popular children's toy, which features a potato-like head and removable facial features. But when they removed a panel from the back of the toy, the officers found 10.34 ounces of ecstasy in a plastic bag.
The Australian Customs Service referred the matter to federal police, but no arrests were immediately made, the agency said. The maximum penalty for importing drugs to Australia is life imprisonment.
"Whilst this is one of the more unusual concealments that we have seen in recent times, people need to be aware that Customs officers are alert to unusual and often outlandish methods of concealment," Customs Director Post Karen Williams said
And because I saved two other interesting articles, here they are for your perusal...
I think this one came from
indigoeye Something in the Way She Moves?
In a particularly stimulating study, researchers have found that lap dancers--women who work in strip joints and, for cash, gyrate in the laps of seated men--earn more when they are in the fertile phase of their menstrual cycle. The finding suggests that women subtly signal when they are most fertile, although just how they do it is not clear.
Women, unlike many mammals, don't come into heat or estrus, a state of obvious fertility that attracts potential mates. Common wisdom has it that estrus was lost as humans evolved. The notion is that women evolved "concealed ovulation" along with around-the-month sexual receptivity the better to manipulate males by keeping them in the dark, says Geoffrey Miller, an evolutionary psychologist at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. But now Miller and colleagues have found evidence that a woman’s state of fertility may not be so secret after all.
The researchers used ads and flyers to sign up 18 lap dancers from local clubs. Each woman was asked to log on to a Web site and report her work hours, tips, and when she was menstruating. Lap dancers generally work 5-hour shifts with 18 or so 3-minute performances per shift. They average about $14 per "dance"--all of which is called a "tip" because it is illegal to pay for sex in New Mexico.
Over a 60-day period, the researchers collected data from 5300 lap dances. They divided the answers according to whether the dancers were in the menstrual phase, the high-fertility estrous phase, or the luteal phase. The result, as they report online this week in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior: Of the 11 women with normal menstrual cycles, those in the estrous phase pulled in about $70 an hour--compared with $50 for those in the luteal phase, and only $35 an hour for those who were menstruating. The other seven women were on birth control pills. They earned less across the board, and there was no peaking at the estrous phase.
The numbers suggest that men can tell when a woman is most fertile, although the message seems to be conveyed by "subtle behavioral signals" that evade conscious detection, the authors say. They add that the study couldn't identify whether it is scent or other physical changes that cue the men in, but they don't think it's anything obvious such as type of dance moves or "conversational content."
Evolutionary psychologist Karl Grammer of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Urban Ethology in Vienna says the result fits with his findings that it's possible to detect ovulation through the effect of raised levels of estrogens on the way women walk and dance. "It is highly possible that estrogen modulates motion abilities," says Grammer, in which case "it seems to be most likely that body motion--and not pheromones--is the information carrier."
And finally, this one from my sister in law. Dove ad delves into the ugly side of beauty
`Our objective," says the marketing exec at Dove Canada, "is to take your breath away."
Well, they've done that, all right.
In its latest viral assault on the cultural distortions around what constitutes "beauty," the soap company has just launched a rapid-fire Internet video that, says Dove's Alison Leung, packs a lifetime's worth of societal pressure emanating from the gazillion-dollar beauty industry into a mere minute (and 14 seconds).
It's called, appropriately, Onslaught, and with the force of rifle fire rains down the nipped, tucked, botoxed, firmer, thinner, softer, tighter imagery that bombards young women from pre-adolescence through their whole darned lives.
It's political, it's edgy, and you want to watch it.
You also want your daughters to watch it. And they are, on YouTube, which tallied 70,000 hits in its first day.
Created by ad agency Ogilvy & Mather in Toronto, Onslaught follows the success of Evolution, Ogilvy's first viral video for Dove, which featured the manic retouching of a naturally beautiful woman until she became the high- eyebrowed, swan-necked, artificially altered "norm" of the beauty trade.
Evolution proved so successful that Dove began airing the spot on The Hills, a reality TV show about vacuous, uncommonly attractive women in Laguna Beach.
"It's a great juxtaposition with the content on the show," Leung says dryly.
Both videos, and a third heartbreakingly simple spot entitled Amy, were directed by Ogilvy's Tim Piper.
"We wanted to skew the messaging toward mothers," he says of Onslaught. "Maybe this generation needs to talk to the next generation about the messaging they're getting from a very early time."
Onslaught tells a simple story. One day a freckled strawberry blonde with a clip in her hair is walking to school with her chums; the next she's a candidate for yo-yo dieting; eventually she's pressured to alter her physical self by any fat-sucking, nip and tucking means.
"We tried to lay it out in a way that was quick and fast and interesting to watch," says Piper of the path set by our so-called beauty culture, which he terms our "low self-esteem industry."
The film is scored to Simian's La Breeze – "You cannot hide, there's no place to hide" – before the tag line: "Talk to your daughter before the beauty industry does."
Dove is a participant in that. The beauty industry that is. It's owned by Unilever, which includes Slim-Fast among its many brands. On its website, Unilever promotes its hair products thusly: "Want hair like Paris Hilton, Nicole Kidman or Posh Spice? It's easier than you think with the right products and a bit of practice."
Is there not a contradiction here? Dove," responds Leung, "exists on its own."
It has certainly carved an effective niche with its Campaign for Real Beauty. Launched in 2004, the campaign refreshingly featured unskinny women in their smalls and lovingly photographed the facial lines of true aging.
The campaign is more than mere advertising. The Dove Self-Esteem Fund has launched numerous initiatives aimed at awareness- raising, including mentoring programs, one of which was launched this year at the Henry Street High School in Whitby.
"We want them to embrace who they are," says Leung of the young women who meet weekly. "To see a broader definition of beauty."
A Dove survey conducted with Seventeen magazine found 93 per cent of girls and young women feel stressed about their appearance as they get ready in the morning.
In the sweet, filmic Amy, a tousle-haired teen rides up to Amy's house on his bike. He calls. And calls. And calls her name.
Words silently appear in Amy's absence: "Amy can name 12 things wrong with her appearance."
And then: "He can't name one."
Okay, I'm going to enjoy sitting on my couch in sweats and my Socks the Cat t-shirt until my dear spouse arrives home with some dinner. Which will hopefully not make me want to barf. :)
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