Craving Chocolate? Indulge!
You can read the entire article at BBC Health News, by clicking on this blue type.
Trying to cut out all thoughts of your favourite, fattening food may actually make you eat more, claims research. Women who tried to stop thinking about chocolate ate 50% more than those who were encouraged to talk about their cravings.
(Photo courtest Virtual Chocolate.com)
This “rebound” effect could also apply to smokers, say the Hertfordshire University authors in Appetite journal.
Experts at Weight Watchers said a “varied diet” was the best way to lose weight.
Dr James Erskine, who led the project, recruited 134 students who were asked to either suppress all thoughts about chocolate, or talk about how much they liked it.
They were then asked to choose from two brands of chocolate, believing that it was this choice that was being recorded by the researchers.
However, the quantity they ate was recorded instead.
Women who had tried to suppress their cravings ate on average eight chocolates, while those who had talked freely about it ate five.
Men did not show the same effect, with the group told to talk about the snack eating more.
The article continues HERE.
Why Skidboot?
On November 18 of last year, I published a short item, very short, four lines, on Skidboot. At the time, I was so new to blogging, I didn’t even know how to embed a YouTube video in the blog, so I just referred readers to the YouTube site.
For the last two weeks, it has been my top stat getter. I have Googled, I have tried everything I can think of to figure out why Skidboot? Why now, almost a year later?
If anyone coming here to read the Skidboot article will take a minute to tell me why, I would sure appreciate it. It’s not going to kill me not to know, but it is a mystery to me!
Here is the original video:
Idiot Custom Paint Job
I couldn’t resist. I carry my camera with me, and this was too good to pass up.
Just a car? Look again. You may not be able to see all the pink sparkles sprayed on, but they twinkle and sparkle in the sun. And this is a GUY driving a pink sparkly car.
But whoever he hired to do this – or did he do it himself? – was a genius. He also sprayed the tail lights and the back windsheild – did you see that?
Idiots!
Blog Header
My friend and frequent commenter, Abdulaziz, created a new blog header for me. I don’t have a customizable header with this format, and while I have looked at the customizable ones, I don’t understand enough to make the leap. But I want to share with you what he created, using the photo Adventure Man and I took last week.
Isn’t it beautiful?
Manly Cosmetics
I vacated my bathroom for houseguests recently, and as I was moving my toiletries back in, with wry amusement I noticed how many face creams I have. Creams for eyes, creams for lips, creams for night, creams for going out into the sun, creams for after having gone out into the sun, creams for day, creams for “noticable reductions in wrinkles in 7 days or less.”
(The problem is, seven days later when I am looking for a noticable reduction, I can’t really tell if it is working or not. I look, but I am wondering what I might have looked like if I HADN’T used the cream? I don’t know!)
And I was thinking about men, who have skin, too. Particularly I was thinking about Adventure Man, and what would it take for him to feel comfortable using a skin cream?
First – it would have to have a very manly name. None of this Homme stuff, it would have to imply that this is a product a RUGGED man would use. Like Manly Lather. “Lather” is a word that goes with men, like barbers lather up your face before they shave you. Women use foam, men use LATHER.
Another name I thought might work would be Extreme Unction because manly men like flying near that edge of the envelope, it’s a testosterone thing, and unction means anointing, like with an oil. If you are Catholic, you receive extreme unction just before dying, or before people think you are about to die, so even unction has an extreme connotation.
Maybe Braveheart? Maybe Rock?
Help me out here.
If you are a guy, (please, keep it clean) what kind of names would allow you to use a face cream with dignity?
If you are a gal (and rolling on the floor laughing) what names can you think of that would encourage a guy to actually USE a face cream?
Have fun with this!
Kuwait Public Transportation
There were two influences that came together for this post. First, a show on BBC about green taxes supporting green initiatives, like public transportation. Second, last night I saw a Kuwait public bus.
Does it seem to you that the buses in Kuwait are looking cleaner than a couple years ago? The one I saw looked new, was undefaced, looked modern, and the passengers on it looked orderly, cool and happy. There were no women.
So here is my question to you – what would it take to get you to use public transportation rather than driving your own car every day?
I have a shameful confession. I didn’t even learn to drive until I was 25. I didn’t need to. I was in Germany when I hit the driving age, and there was public transportation at reasonable prices nearly everywhere I needed to go. And it was trolleys; trolleys are a lot of fun. When I went off to university, I ended up in Seattle, which also had excellent public transportaton – in Seattle, public transportation is all integrated and includes buses, trolleys and ferries across the Sound.
The buses ran on time. Occasionally, I would hate the walk to the bus stop on a cold rainy day with a driving wind (hard on the hairstyle), but for the most part, the buses ran on time, and I could read or plan my work day on the way to work. I didn’t mind not driving, at least not much. When I did, I learned to drive.
What are the barriers to public transportation in Kuwait? What would it take to make me want to use public transportation?
First, due to the extreme weather, I would want almost door-to-door transportation. This could be done with a train/trolley system where you drive to a Park and Ride spot in your air conditioned car and then jump on an air conditioned trolley or bus. The bus or trolley would need to transit in an air conditioned facility, where we could switch to a mini bus which would drop us within half a block of our destination, i.e. frequent stops.
The system would have to have a schedule, to which it kept rigorously and reliably.
The system would have to have redundancies and back-ups, because mechanical failures and equipment failures happen.
The system would have to have well trained, knowledgable bus drivers who spoke some few words in multiple languages.
The system would have to have protected, non-damagable cameras on every trolley and bus, and would have to commit to prosecuting vandals and people who could not behave themselves on the bus.
It might have to have separate seating for unaccompanied women. *Sigh* It seems to be a fact of life here that women are fair game for harassment. I am thinking there could be advertisements along the upper over-window area, like in London and Germany, and some qur’anic inscriptions about respect for women. And maybe also the environment. Every vehicle would need to have at least one trashcan.
To have a usuable transportation system would require, also, a nationwide campaign for respecting the law, and rules. It would also need a nationwide public-stewardship educational program, “this is your country, keep it clean, no littering, etc.”
And it would need methodical, impartial enforcement of the laws. That would be a whole separate campaign, educating the public to respect the law enforcement officers (in the last two weeks, there have been multiple reports of police officers being beaten by citizens, police officers! Unthinkable!) And there would need to be a parallel educational campaign for law-enforcement, training on what the law is (i.e. a police officer is not “insulted” by being passed by a taxi that is under the speed limit) and their mission – and I think policework is a holy mission – to see that power is not abused, the weak are protected against the bullies, and that the laws are enforced gently and impartially.
Let’s face it, driving in Kuwait can be a real drag. Many times of the day you are caught in gridlock, there are yahoos on the road totally lacking in brains, there are drunks and druggies on the road – and parking is a nightmare. Public transportation could be a godsend.
And just to show we are serious, let’s make it FREE! How is that for an incentive?
When I was going to live in Saudi Arabia, my primary concern was not being able to drive. I quickly learned it wasn’t so bad. There was a well stocked small store on our beautiful compound, and you saw all your friends there, and there was a message board, and a video store, a laundry, and most of the basics. There was a shopping bus that ran twice a day, and a group that met once a month to set up the shopping bus schedule, so it went where people wanted to go.
In addition, when you needed a car and driver, the compound had a few available, you could reserve them for a very reasonable fee.
It worked beautifully.
There is potential in Kuwait for a visionary transportation system. What would make it work for YOU?
Night of Light
Last night I found myself awake around three, and took a walk to my window on the world. Off in the distance is a sight I find very comforting, a band of the old fishing boats, the shoowi, along the horizon, maybe twenty to thirty of them, each with a light on stern and bow, making a twinkling band of light like a necklace twinkling in the dark.
But over the boats was a light. A bright light. I had to look and look, like is it an aircraft coming in? It’s too high to be something off the boats, and it is so bright. What can it be?
Then I notice . . .I can see stars! I’ve always thought I didn’t see the stars because there are so many streetlights nearby, but last night I realized that the sky here is so hazy most of the time, we don’t see the stars. Last night – there were STARS! Lots of stars! And one of the brightest was near the horizon; maybe it was Suhail? (Canopus)
Here is something so cool. You can go to Weather Underground for Kuwait and go down the page below where they show the phases of the moon.
Click on “View the Full Star Chart.” You can put in the time you want; for example, it showed me exactly what I might have seen at 3 a.m. You can tell it you want it to look North, South, East or West, or you can tell it you want to see the whole sky, horizon to horizon. I LOVE this feature!
FYI, it also shows Kuwait cooling down. It won’t go over 109°F / 43°C this week. 😉
Tattoo Regret
The American Academy of Dermatology reports tattoo regret is common in the United States. Among a group of 18- to 50-year-olds surveyed in 2004, 24 percent reported having a tattoo and 17 percent of those considered getting their tattoo removed.
This is just an excerpt from a much longer article that you can read on CNN Health News.
A Room with a View
Kinan and I have been having an ongoing desultory conversation about views. He likes my view in Kuwait and he loves a good view in general.
I have challenged him to close his eyes, sit back and envision HIS perfect view.
And so I challenge you, my readers. Even if you have never commented before, yield to this temptation. Commenting is easy – you don’t even have to give your name, just choose any old pseudonym.
Close your eyes. Lean back in your chair. Think of what you would like to have outside your window, to look at day after day. And then – tell us about it.
(Window frame courtesy of castelli marble)
I will tell you, for me it has to do with water, and even better, water and mountains. I love my Kuwait view, and chose a smaller living space just to have the breathtaking view. I have never, not for a heartbeat, regretted that choice. The view out over the Arabian Gulf thrills my heart, and I can lose hours watching ships, watching beachcombers, even watching fish jumping out of the Gulf waters. A beautiful view is a precious gift to the soul.
For my husband, I am would guess it would be Zambia, looking out over a hippo pool, watching elephants cross, watching the lions come down to drink – or to feed.
What view would feed your soul? What would you love to look at day after day? Speak now!
Cannabis WORSE than Tobacco
From BBC Health News:
Cannabis harm worse than tobacco
The impact of cannabis is worsened by how joints are smoked.
A single cannabis joint could damage the lungs as much as smoking up to five tobacco cigarettes one after another, scientists in New Zealand have said.
The research, published in the journal Thorax, found cannabis damaged the large airways in the lungs causing symptoms such as coughing and wheezing.
Read the rest of the story HERE.
And don’t let anyone tell you it isn’t addictive as well as damaging to your health.
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