Thu, 11 Sep 2008 03:10:08 GMT

Concours at Kirkland: Classic Boats to Match Classic Cars

The Kirkland, Washington Concours, coming your way on Sep 07, gives me a rare excuse to upload an image of a classic wooden speedboat. Kirkland, you see, includes a small but enchanting selection, tied up at a dock adjacent to the lawns of the Woodmark Hotel at Carillon Point where the classic cars are on display. I've loved these "woodies" since I was a child born next to the beaches of Lake Ontario, for they represent the beauty of wood, the elegance of speed, and produce engine sounds as nostalgically rich as a Ferrari Testa Rossa cruising through the hills of Tuscany.

Among the boats to be shown are a "Truant II" (named Boat of the Year for 2007 by the Antique and Classic Boat Society), a 1939 Gar Wood Custom Runabout with triple cockpits; the 1941 Gar Wood Commuter, "Hapike," originally delivered to the Mayor of Sand Point, Idaho, in 1941; and a 1965 Riva Aquarama, "Ciao Tahoe," built in Italy and powered by twin V-8's. Of course the Concours is worth visiting for the outstanding classic cars that appear on the lawns but if you should go, stroll down to the docks and gaze upon some of the most beautiful boats ever to grace the lakes of North America and Europe. Posted by: Philip Powell      Read more     Source

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 04:31:49 GMT

Men's Health Boost from Marriage Disappearing

by Hui Liu and Debra Umberson published in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, suggests this story may be changing. Liu and Umberson looked at self-reported health data obtained as part of a huge US survey from over 1 million participants. They were interested in seeing how the relationship between marital status and health had changed between 1972 and 2003.

What they found was that the health gap between married men and men who had never been married narrowed in this 30-year period. By 2003 there was very little difference in health status between unmarried and married men. It seems that marriage no longer confers the same health benefits on men that it once did.

Women and cohabitersFor women no such narrowing in the health gap was seen, mainly because there was little gap to narrow in the first place. In 1972 unmarried women were only slightly less healthy, on average, than married women. In health terms, in 1972, it was only men who were the major beneficiaries of marriage, but this difference is now substantially reduced.

Cohabiters were excluded from the main study, but Liu and Umberson do find that in health terms cohabiting is much the same as being married. Data wasn''t collected for cohabiters before 1997 so it wasn''t possible to make any comparisons over time about men and women.

Reduced stigma of singledom?Liu and Umberson offer a partial economic explanation for these changes with the dataset they were using. They find that in the 31 years of the study there had been a relative decline in family income for whites (but not for African Americans) in US. This ties in with the modern idea that the economic benefits of marriage are now much less pronounced than they once were.

Of course economics can''t fully explain the change. Liu and Umberson suggest that single men are now able to obtain emotional and social support outside marriage, support that presumably wasn''t available in 1972. Perhaps also being a single man is now more socially acceptable, less of an aberration or a sign of implicit deviance to society''s core values. As a result single men may see themselves in a more positive light, which is reflected in better health.

That explanation, though, suggests being a single women was more socially acceptable than being a single man in 1972, and I''m not so sure that''s true. What do you think about this or other explanations?

[Image credit: striatic]Labels: Health Posted by: Jerry      Read more     Source

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:28:04 GMT

African Horned Melon

Unlike most of the things I write about here (things I've seen, things I've heard), I have no idea about this fruit. Except for the fact that it is definitely quite cool, with its spiky outer layer and amazing, cartoonish inside. According to my research, it's kind of a cross between an aloe (texture), a lemon and a kiwi (taste), and a pumpkin (seeds). It's also slightly sour, and definitely mysterious. Has anyone tried this?

Read more here. Posted by: Meieli Sawyer Detoni      Read more     Source

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:19:46 GMT

7 Myths of Crowd Psychology

this view of crowds is promoted by many authors of introductory sociology textbooks. Indeed the idea that crowds demonstrate bizarre, almost pathological behaviour was championed by eminent French sociologist Gustave LeBon.

Despite these beliefs both in sociology textbooks and in the general public, the actual evidence does not support it. Crowds are not the many-armed destructive monsters of the popular or even fascist imagination.

Here are the seven myths about crowds that Schweingruber and Wohlstein identify, in order of how frequently they appear in introductory sociology textbooks.

1. Crowds are spontaneousThe most common myth about crowds is that they are spontaneous, or worse, that they are hotbeds of violence, with complete chaos only a few ill-judged jostles away.

Research into crowd violence does not support this. One study of riots shows that violence is normally related to the presence of two opposing factions. Mixed crowds - which are the norm - are in fact usually peaceful and only engage in stereotypical crowd-behaviour, e.g. whistling and clapping, face-painting, singing and shouting depending on the occasion.

In reality most people will go to almost any length to avoid actual violence, whether they are in a crowd or not.

2. Crowds are suggestibleThe idea that people in crowds have heightened suggestibility is also a relatively common myth. People are said to copy each other, looking for a leader, being open to others'' suggestion about how they should behave, perhaps resulting from a lack of social structure.

Schweingruber and Wohlstein simply find no research to back up this claim. If there is some truth to the idea that people in crowds are suggestible, no one has managed to demonstrate it empirically. One scholar has asked why, if crowds are so suggestible, they don''t disperse when asked to do so by an authority figure.

3. Crowds are irrationalOne type of irrationality frequently attributed to crowds is panic. Faced by emergency situations people are thought to suddenly behave like selfish animals, trampling others in the scramble to escape.

A long line of research into the way people behave in real emergency situations does not support this idea. Two examples are studies on underground station evacuations and the rapid, orderly way in which people evacuated the World Trade Center after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Many lives were saved that day because people resisted the urge to panic. Resisting the urge to irrationality, or panic, is the norm.

4. Crowds increase anonymityA less common myth, but still popular is the idea that people become more anonymous when they are in a crowd. This anonymity is said to feed into spontaneity and even destructiveness, helping to make crowds violent, dangerous places in which society''s laws are transgressed.

Everyday experience, though, is that people usually travel in groups, with their family or friends, and so are not anonymous at all. Research confirms this, for example rapid, orderly way from the 70s found that most people at a football match were with one or more friends. Later research has repeated this finding.

5. Crowds are emotionalLess widespread this myth - nevertheless crowds are thought by some to be particularly emotional. It is argued that increased emotionality is linked to irrationality and perhaps violence.

Modern psychological rapid, orderly way, though, doesn''t see the emotions as separate to decision-making, but rather as an integral part. To talk about an ''emotional crowd'' as opposed to a ''rational crowd'', therefore, doesn''t make sense. People in crowds make their decisions with input from their emotions, just as they do when they''re not in a crowd.

6. Crowds are unanimousFew of the sociology textbooks endorse the myth of unanimity, but the idea does appear that when people are together they tend to act in unison. rapid, orderly way suggests, though, that this is rarely the case - people remain stubbornly individual.

7. Crowds are destructiveThe least common myth in the sociology textbooks, but quite a strong cultural stereotype of crowds, is that they are destructive. This is closely related to the myth of spontaneity and is often connected to violence.

Again Schweingruber and Wohlstein find that the research (like rapid, orderly way) shows violence in crowds is extremely rare. And what violence does occur is rapid, orderly way carried out by a small minority - these are the people that make it onto the news.

What do you think?Crowds obviously vary greatly, but this myth-busting portrayal of crowds certainly agrees with my experience. I assumed all the violent, despotic, spontaneous, dangerous crowds on TV and in films must be elsewhere.

What''s your experience of being in a crowd or watching a crowd?

[Image credit: twose] Posted by: Jerry      Read more     Source

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 21:48:39 GMT

YouTube Helps Memory and Aging

Recently YouTube has started a new channel dedicated to helping educate people on brain diseases such as dementia, Alzheimer's and neurodegenerative illness. If you've ever wondered about the how aging effects your brain and memory, these videos may be of interest to you.

All of the videos on this YouTube channel are about different forms of brain disease. Patients, caregivers and health professionals will all benefit from this YouTube channel. The videos are informational and will help you understand these conditions better. Posted by: Linda Roeder      Read more     Source

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 22:17:32 GMT

Ring around the round rock

Not all of the round rocks at Roundrock are round rocks, I’ve said before (and likely will say again). Some have taken on different shapes. You see that this one has a rib around it, something like the rings of Saturn. I’m not going to speculate how this might have happened other than to say that the round rocks were formed as a consequence of a meteor strike hundreds of millions of years ago, and perhaps that meteor passed by the planet Saturn on its appointment with what we now call Earth. Perhaps it liked the look of the ringed planet and passed that memory into the mineral melange in which my rocks formed.

If you can’t buy that explanation, I’d be happy to hear your own.

That dry, rocky bed you see in the back ground is part of the lake bed. In fact, it is where I took photos of schools of tadpoles that I posted a couple of months ago. I hope they found deeper water before this area went dry.

Missouri calendar:

• Black-eyed Susans bloom.

Today in Missouri history:

• The Confederacy claimed its first military victory in Missouri at the Battle of Carthage on this date in 1861. Historians blame the incompetence of the Union commander has been blamed for the fiasco.

Posted by: Roundrockjournal      Read more     Source

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 02:39:22 GMT

Seven Of The Deadliest Delicacies

Poisonous or dangerous food is considered a special delicacy by some cultures in several parts of the world. In most cases, a nice feast may turn into a deadly game of Russian roulette.

Would you take the risks of eating these deadly delicacies?

(via UniqueDaily) Posted by: Gerard      Read more     Source

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 02:24:10 GMT

Shop for Items From Photos

With the Plink Facebook app you can help people shop from the photos you've added, or photos your friends have added.

To Plink a photo, choose a photo from the list of photos in your Plink library. You can choose photos that you've added or photos that your friends have added. Then click and drag over an item in the photo creating a square around the item. A box will pop up where you can add a comment. If all you want to do is comment on the item, add the comment and click on "Just Comment".



If you want to Plink the item click on "Item". When you do you'll be given three choices. Either choose 'stores', 'brands' or 'similar products'. If you choose 'stores' you can choose from a list of stores where the item can be purchased. If you choose 'brands' you can choose what brand or item type it is. If you don't know where to buy it or what brand it is, but you have a similar item already listed you can connect the two items by choosing 'similar products'.

Now other people who view that photo will be able to find out where to buy the item because you've told them. You can do this for every item in the photo if you want. Posted by: Linda Roeder      Read more     Source

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 03:49:54 GMT

Sunday stories

I wish I could be out at Roundrock every weekend, but, alas, life intrudes. I wonder how the lake is doing. I wonder if the stray cattle found their way home. I wonder if the game camera snapped a shot of a bobcat. Or if the crows found all of the peanuts I left for them. Or if the woodpeckers found the suet block.

I have two game cameras. Libby got them as a package deal, and we often set up both of them in the woods, although we never get anything more than more deer (maybe the same ones moving from baited station to station) and invisible critters. I haven’t set out the second camera for more than a month because of #2 Son Adam. On the night before he was to leave for Italy — as prelude to his month in India — he announced that he needed a larger memory card for his camera. He didn’t know how much access he would have to the internet, so he wanted to have a large memory card in case he had to store all of his pix until his return. It turns out there were internet cafes all over the place in Italy (and France and Monaco), but he reports that the same is not the case in Mumbai, at least not the part of it he is working in. So I guess I can spare him the card. (If he comes back with a bunch of photos of deer though . . . )

He called me the other day just to check in and reported that he was on the train going to his apartment for the night. It turned out he got off work at the clinic about 9:00 p.m. local time. Apparently in true student doctor fashion, he is working long, exhausting hours.

The deadline for submissions to the next Festival of the Trees is fast approaching. Tai Haku of Earth, Wind & Water would like your submissions by June 27 . That’s this Friday! You can send them by email to p.taihaku [at] googlemail [dot] com or use the handy submission form . Don’t be shy now.

I’m intending to walk the fence line in my northeast corner to see if I can find the breach where the cattle got through. (I have a neighbor in that direction who does keep cattle.) The barbed wire is old and has snapped here and there, but usually there are three other strands left when one snaps. It may be, though, that the ground has grown soggy enuf for the cattle to push down the fence posts and saunter through. (I give credit to Dana at The Cabin Chronicles for this idea. I just hope she didn’t give the idea to the cattle first.)

If I find a breach I’m not sure what I’ll do next. I can reset posts, but I’ve never strung barbed wire. I don’t think survey tape will work as well.

What’s Pablo reading now? How does The Virgin of Small Plains sound to you? It is written by Kansas City writer Nancy Pickard, and it got great reviews as well as a number of awards. It’s a sort of murder mystery. I’ve read some of her work before. Tomorrow night is the discussion of the three young adult novels I’ve been reading the last few weeks. Then I think I am free from book discussion groups until September, so I can read whatever I want!

Missouri calendar:

• Prickly pear cactus blooms.
• Canado goose molt is at its peak.

Today in Missouri history:

• Pierre Antoine Tabeau made the first entry into his journal about life on the Missouri River on this date in 1804. His writings and his good offices with the Natives along the river helped ensure the success of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

Posted by: Roundrockjournal      Read more     Source

Sat, 24 May 2008 22:34:32 GMT

World Spice Festival Sri Lamka

Sri Lanka will host the World Spice Festival from 14 to 24 August 2008. Sri Lanka has had strong links with spices since the 15th century. During the Festival dishes from all around the world are cooked and served in various hotels and restaurants around the island. There is a bazaar every evening on the shores of Beira Lake in the centre of the capital city Colombo.


© mckaysavage

The best place to purchase spices is at the Kandy Central Market only open on Fridays.

Although Sri Lanka, formerly known Ceylon, is famous for its tea plantations, cinnamon has always been an important export and Sri Lanka produces around 80% of the world's cinnamon. Posted by: Karen Bryan      Read more     Source