Thin

I want some of this:

Scientists have discovered what could be the ultimate workout for couch potatoes: exercise in a pill.

In experiments on mice that did no exercise, the chemical compound, known as AICAR, allowed them to run 44% farther on a treadmill than those that did not receive the drug.

The drug appeared to change the physical composition of muscle, essentially transforming the tissue from sugar-burning fast-twitch fibers to fat-burning slow-twitch ones, the same change that occurs in distance runners and cyclists through training, according to research released Thursday.

"You're getting the benefits of exercise without having to do any work," said David Mangelsdorf, a pharmacologist at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, who was not connected with the research.

On second thought… maybe not:

With more research, scientists said, the drug's fat-burning properties could also help reduce weight, ward off diabetes, prevent heart disease and restore the fitness of bedridden patients.

The last thing I need to do is lose weight… the very last thing. That one lil drawback aside, the development does look remarkable. I saw an interview with the lead scientist on this project on The News Hour with Jim Lehrer this past Friday evening and was impressed (I also looked for a transcript to quote, but there isn’t one). There were a couple of items in the News Hour interview that didn’t make the LA Times article, most specifically the scientist’s opinion the drug should be made available to lazy people. The man’s rationale is that “exercise in a pill” would be good preventive medicine, even for lazy folks. Or…words to the effect of “anything that can reduce the nation’s general health crisis (ed: think obesity)” shouldn’t be ignored or withheld from anyone…couch potatoes included.

I’m down with that.

―:☺:―

Speaking of obesity, exercise, being skinny, and such… I guess I’ll put any political aspirations I may have had on ice:

"Listen, I'm skinny but I'm tough," Sen. Obama said.

But in a nation in which 66% of the voting-age population is overweight and 32% is obese, could Sen. Obama's skinniness be a liability? Despite his visits to waffle houses, ice-cream parlors and greasy-spoon diners around the country, his slim physique just might have some Americans wondering whether he is truly like them.

[…]

"He's too new ... and he needs to put some meat on his bones," says Diana Koenig, 42, a housewife in Corpus Christi, Texas, who says she voted for Sen. Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary.

"I won't vote for any beanpole guy," another Clinton supporter wrote last week on a Yahoo politics message board.

The last overweight president to be elected was 335-pound William Howard Taft in 1908. As for tall and lanky presidents, "you might have to go back to Abraham Lincoln" in 1860, says presidential historian Stephen Hess. "Most presidents were sort of in the middle."

Well, OK. It looks like fat people won’t vote for skinny guys, so there goes my dream of being P-Ville’s Animal Control Czar. But… but… that’s discrimination! We can’t have that! I’m a victim! I PROTEST! I’m gonna start a MOVEMENT! “Thin is IN!” “Don’t Be A Ninny! C’mon…Get SKINNY!”

Or maybe I’ll just keep trying to gain weight. There are too many skeletons (heh) in my closet to run for anything, anyway.

―:☺:―

Today’s Pic: Speaking of couch potatoes… Here’s SN3 and I on the couch. Perinton, NY. June, 1998.

YouTube

Herewith: “An anthropological introduction to YouTube”…

The video is long: 55:33, and that would be 55 minutes and 33 seconds. I don’t expect anyone to sit here and watch this video in its entirety, right this minute (that's why I furnished the link to the video). But… that said… all my time is my own and I set my priorities as I see fit. I saw fit to watch the entire video in a single sitting, only pausing it a couple of times (nature breaks, refills, etc.) before returning to it. And it’s simply fascinating. So… what’s it all about, Alfie?

The video is by Michael Wesch, an assistant professor of cultural anthropology at Kansas State University. You may have heard of him before. If you’ve hung around EIP for a while you’ve definitely seen one of his more famous YouTube videos… “Web 2.0; The Machine is Us/ing Us.” Or rather you had the opportunity to see his video, the choice was yours. The video above certainly isn’t in the mold of “Web 2.0,” but Web 2.0 is prominently featured and discussed in this video… among many, many other fascinating things.

This video was shot in June of this year at the Library of Congress. In it Professor Wesch discusses the history of YouTube, how it came to be, its place in the general scheme of things, and the impact YouTube has had…and more importantly, continues to have today. And in so doing he provides tons of examples, including everyone's fave: the Numa Numa Guy. (“Everyone's fave” ain't hyperbole, unless you consider 17,481,163 views small beer. I don't.) (Also: there's a minute-by-minute video agenda at the link. Just click “more info.”)

“Fascination,” much like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. You probably don’t give YouTube a whole helluva lot of thought if you’re under the age of 25 (or so). Like most technology, YouTube is simply there for you… it’s something to be used, something to enjoy, and a tool you’ll use without giving it a second thought. But, it’s quite a different story if you’re older and didn’t grow up with this sort of thing at hand. At which point the older person begins to marvel a bit at the implications herein, and even at the fact that YouTube exists at all. By that I mean: think back ten short years ago. Did you, in your wildest dreams, ever think we’d have all this user-created content at our fingertips? And that we…each of us… could participate if we so desired? That “user-created content” could drive a presidential candidates’ debate, almost in its entirety? I know I sure didn’t, and thus: I marvel.

Anyhoo. Watch the first three or four minutes. I’m betting you’ll bookmark this for later, when you can watch the whole thing. Unless, of course, you don’t.

I'm SUCH a Sucker...

... for the Muppets.


Beethoven, too. "Play it again!" Right!

Three Dollah

Earlier this week Blog-Bud Kris posted on the remarks The Obamanon made about him “not looking like the other presidents on the dollar bills.” And I left this comment on her post:

of course we'd have to create a whole new denomination for him, wouldn't we.

Yep. He'd be just perfect on a three-dollar bill. If he's crowned.

July 31, 2008 | Buck

Well, now… imagine my surprise when I saw this today:

OK… I’m certainly not the only guy who had the "three dollah" thought… it’s hardly original. But it’s kinda good to know Michael Ramirez and I are on the same page/track. I really like Ramirez… his political cartooning work is about the best there is these days.

Farmall Promenade...

… is the name of a tractor square dancing team from Nemaha, Iowa. I saw a ten minute (or so) segment of these guys on PBS’ “Market to Market” last evening, and thought I’d share. The Farmall Promenade web site is here. And here they are in an amateur video (4:51) shot at a county fair:

Pretty cool, eh?

Heh

A 9:31 (min/sec) point-by-point refutation of The Obamanon (and liberalism), in a supremely entertaining, martial arts fashion:



And as The Man sez: "Don't be laughin' at my ears. NO ONE laughs at my ears!" Heh. Yet again.
The hat-tip goes to Morgan.

Random Thoughts for a Friday

First… Jenn over at “I Hate Whine!” bestowed the Arte y Pico award on YrHmblScrb, and said award was unknown to me until today. But that’s true of a lot (perhaps most) of the “awards” circulating throughout the ‘sphere. Here’s what the award (icon?) looks like:

And here’s what it means, according to its creator:

What is the meaning of the expression: And basically, ironically, it translates into a wonderful phrase in Mexico, “lo maximo.” LOL! It will never find its counterpart in English, but if it HAD to, it would be something like, Wow. The Best Art. Over the top.

The recipient of the award is supposed to grant it to five other worthy bloggers… and herein lay my “issues.” While I most certainly appreciate kind words about EIP, a link to us in your sidebar or a compliment dropped in comments is entirely sufficient. I’ll make exceptions if you happen to be from the Pulitzer Board, or a member of the Swedish Academy, or even if you're associated with the Weblog Awards. At which point we most definitely should talk…after you pick me up off the floor and revive me. Other than that? Thanks, but no thanks. Individually created “awards” may be fun but they’re meaningless… like those last-place trophies kids get these days for doing anything…anything at all.

Oh. As for “passing it on”… if you’re in my sidebar, consider yourself Arte y Pico’ed.

―:☺:―

While we’re on about blogs… I read more than a few blogs that might be considered “Mommy Blogs.” I dunno if Mil-spouse blogs fall into that category, but I suspect they do…and a few of those are in my sidebar, as well. I’ve noticed I’m the ONLY male reading a lot of these blogs, or at the very least I’m the only male who leaves comments. And that makes me feel a bit strange at times, like I’m someplace where I shouldn’t really BE, ya know? It’s sorta like walking into the women’s bathroom by mistake or being the only guy at a baby shower… it’s just not done. Which says nothing…nothing at ALL… about the hospitality of the proprietresses of said blogs, as they ALL respond to my comments (well, most do, anyway) and they all drop by EIP to read and comment, too.

So, why am I even mentioning this? No reason, except for the fact I noticed I’m the only guy at the party and it makes me feel weird. And that’s the sole reason… I said these are Random Thoughts, ya know.

―:☺:―

And even more about blogs and blogging… Do you go back and read your own stuff, from time to time, Gentle Reader? Assuming, of course, (a) you keep a blog and (b) you’ve been at it long enough to have archives. I’ve been doing that of late and have come to the conclusion that I was MUCH better at this during my first year of blogging. Or maybe even the first year and a half. I’m not sure exactly why I feel this way, but my old writing seems crisper, the opinions firmer, and the subject matter much broader than it is today. Maybe I’m in the depths of the Summer Doldrums. Maybe my Muse is goofing off and not giving me her best. Or maybe I just need to get out more… like take a road trip.

As for the last, that ain’t gonna happen this year. I’ve declared this summer…this entire year, actually… to be The Summer of Living Frugally… as I’m trying to put enough “resources” back to pay for the second installment of my Adventures In Modern Dentistry without tapping my 401(k) again. My one indulgence this year was buying that new dSLR… and that may be the key to Better Blogging.

We’ll see.

―:☺:―

Today’s Pics: A couple of way-old shots from the archives, at least one of which (Blue Eyes) is a re-run. Pictured is SN3 playing around in the car, which he dearly loved to do when he was around 16 months old (or so). That boy could literally spend hours climbing around inside the car, pushing every button he could find and giggling like a madman. But then again, I suspect ALL kids are like that. He sure as Hell made ME laugh while he was at it.

At the Ol’ Homestead in Perinton, NY (a suburb of Rochester), 1998.