Monday, April 17, 2006

Interesting, but not necessarily useful tidbits

100 things we didn't know this time last year

The title link is an article from 12/30/05 on BBC's website, but thought it was interesting. It is slightly UK-specific, but many of the items are universal. Namely the following items were my favorite (if you would like a summary) in order of my preference:

My favorite...
11. One in 10 Europeans is allegedly conceived in an Ikea bed.

8. Devout Orthodox Jews are three times as likely to jaywalk as other people, according to an Israeli survey reported in the New Scientist. The researchers say it's possibly because religious people have less fear of death.

My mum will certainly appreciate this one...
72. A towel doesn't legally reserve a sun lounger - and there is nothing in German or Spanish law to stop other holidaymakers removing those left on vacant seats.

19. The = sign was invented by 16th Century Welsh mathematician Robert Recorde, who was fed up with writing "is equal to" in his equations. He chose the two lines because "noe 2 thynges can be moare equalle".

Sunday, January 01, 2006

Just Another Year Syndrom (JAYS)

So this is it. The big moment when everything changes. I can have a clean slate and start making the same mistakes all over again. Or is it? What makes the beginning of the first minute in a new calendar year so great anyway?

I suppose I don't owe any taxes yet - hooray!

L. and I stayed in this (or is it last?) New Year's Eve watching two movies - one of which was so awful it doesn't warrant thinking about ever again, let alone discussing it. The other was a thoughtful, yet melancholic Iraqi-Iranian joint venture called "Turtles Can Fly", which I thoroughly recommend to those searching for a more meaningful way to spend 2 hours than watching the latest Hollywood non-Oscar calliber junk.

I suppose I must be mellowing with old age. Gone are the days that I long to be drunk at midnight on New Year's Eve and here are the days that I long to watch independent film in my flying cat pjamas and slippers. I suppose some things change and others (like making the same mistakes all over again every year) will remain the same. Note the aptness of that last sentence for this domain name. Or will they? After all Greek and Turkish Cypriots were recently able to cross the "green line" after decades of no progress. IBM (which is synonymous with PC hardware) sold their PC Division to the Chinese. Afghanistan is on its way to being a democracy (if you believe the western press that is).

So this year my resolution is to think the impossible as much as (im)possible.

Note: This posting was converted from an older blog.