Must get back into Yoga… can’t just read about it.

Ooh.. a neat little collection of social theory articles!

In case you are bored, you can seek out today’s worthless word of the day. My favorite so far:

the worthless word for the day is: hesternal

pertaining to yesterday (from L. hesternus, of yesterday)

“In enervating slumbers from the hesternal dissipation or debauch.”
– Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Pelham; or the adventures of a gentleman

bonus word: hesternopothia – a pathological yearning for the good ol’ days
(from L. hesternus, of yesterday + pother, mental tumult) :^)

So, i went to see Bowling for Columbine last nite, for opening night. As it is the latest antic for indie filmmaker and troublemaker Michael Moore, i was psyched to support it and the general liberal agenda. And, all and all, i was quite glad that i did. While some of it was a bit over the edge and the thesis of the film seemed to change midway through, Moore had quite a few really good (even if sensationalist) points, pulled together some interesting perspectives, captured NRA President Charlton Heston at his racist worst and K-Mart at its PR best, plus a Trey Parker/Matt Stone (South Park) history lesson. Certainly, the film was a bit sporadic and sensational, and even i recognized the lack of attention span involved in constructing the story. But i had to give it props for making me think and allowing me to get into fun discussions with others – that inevitably makes for a good movie. Plus, it’s a topic that just must be considered at a larger spectrum… And one thing’s for certain: i really do believe that we live in a culture of fear.

Someone at Metafilter posted a collection of various peculilar laws around the world. For example, “An 18th century French prostitute could be spared punishment if she were willing to join the opera.” This is what i love about the web: someone is always motivated to put strange things up just to humor the rest of us. And digital word of mouth is so much fun!

i used to believe is a collection of ideas that adults thought were true when they were children.

this is so great! i had the craziest notions as a child… many of them fit on this site, like thinking that you could protect yourself from having sex by wearing underwear… or that i could become black by spending lots of time in the sun.

of course, my favorite were always those that were about notions of power and people. the premise of them was always that people were inherently brilliant and good, with good intentions and equality in mind… those with power were there to help people and were rewarded for their services. all politicians, doctors and lawyers were brilliant and helping the public. my craziest notions were always about the construction of a utopia in my head.

Hmm.. i don’t know if i’m going to make it to New York between November 13 & December 6, but if i do, i’ll have to go check out Illegal Art: Freedom of Expression in the Corporate Age (brought to you by a gang of folks including Natalie Jeremijenko).

There’s a Voodoo Magick Box out there that is meant to give you a digital equivalent to drugs… weird.

Ooh… a new book is out by Steven Pinker. Say what you will about evolutionary psychology or Pinker himself, but i have to give the man props for making a set of scientific concepts accessible to the public in a readable form. In fact, i utterly enjoy reading his books, even when i disagree with approaches, because they are written in a way that allows me to mentally argue with them, even while sitting on a train; i don’t have to find a focused environment to deconstruct the simplest of ideas from obscure language. Hell, even in interviews he’s comprehensible.