Movies and comfort watches?

 For the last few weeks there are a lot of recommendations for movies and comfort watches.

I honestly prefer the good old times where I could pop by a video store, browse movies and grab the DVD that I was in the mood for.

I was trying to catch up on some series and encountered the episode 7 and 8 are not licensed so get it from somewhere else scenario. A physicist friend of mine was watching something on Netflix when the movie stopped 30 minutes in for the same reason. He is stubborn wasted an hour troubleshooting which went nowhere. I do get movies from the library but have no control over when or what is available. I felt like watching Man of Steel, when someone recommended it. Nowhere to be found that I subscribe to and I can't keep up with which studio merges or is bought by another.

Wasn't the whole point convenience?

Haven't watched Disney's Ralph but this scene (out of context) summarizes the last decade nicely and is funny in its own way.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=OX_r_ymL7MQ

Still haven't watched Oppenheimer, there are a few more.

Any good movie or series recommendations? Any tip to circumvent it?

About Christmas and Gifts

 How people celebrate Christmas is truly not only their choice, but their very own business.  Yet, every year as far back as i can remember, there are opinionated debates on commercialization vs the true meaning, which I've always found silly. Don't want to buy anything? Don't. Want to enjoy the lights, cookies, overeating, gifts, kitsch and gaudiness. Yes, please. I don't understand how commercialization is preventing people from going to mass or being charitable as they claim.

There are opposing articles on how making Christmas commercial and less religious made it more inclusive and promoted ideas of love peace unity. That is certainly the case. It is what an individual choses it to be. In addition, not all stores are evil, but selling means jobs and many artists depend on Christmas sales.

I have very positive memories associated with it and gifts are very much a part of it. It's a time to slow down, relax, unwind. One pleasant Christmas holiday was spent at home, painting after buying new supplies, watching movies, eating some good food and doing nothing. Stressing over gifts? I stopped doing that a long time ago. I usually pre buy as I come across gifts that I know the person will enjoy. Sometimes we gift handcrafted items other years we buy.

Craft shows

A tradition that probably came from attending Christmas fairs/markets as a child, where the best things in life were candied apples, various glazed almonds and items covered in chocolate was going to craft shows just to admire all of the crafts. Wish they had them year round. I rarely buy anything, but love looking at artisanal displays. I did purchase a handknitted Alpaca wool scarf there from a vendor who owns Alpacas. Looking at candles with things in them (does that just melt or fall off?), and often see items that I never see anywhere else like felted wool items, art work, wood bowls and carvings and handcrafted ornaments.

My personal style is classic/traditional so I'm not fond of colored lights but monochrome white. To each their own and it's yet another form of self-expression.

Torchlight descent

One of the best experiences of my life was participating in a torchlight descent at night. It is usually meant for ski instructors and ski patrol, watched by the villagers and tourists at the bottom, but I had managed to talk my way in. A moving and exhilarating experience and very special. I felt like an Olympian. We used real torches that were lit at the top then skied down at an equally spaced timed interval, to prevent a ski instructors pile up.

Advent calendars

I was looking for images for this post, and got lost in watching unboxing advent calendars. Something relatively new. Very jealous of this one, but if one collects fountain pens (as I do) that's Keith Haring and the little "flower" represents the Montblanc mountain top. Also the flux capacitor is called a converter, surprised that an artist who presents this doesn't know some of these products. (She also doesn't know the difference between fountain/calligraphy pen ink and artist's ink). Nonetheless. a fun watch.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=e_YzEJ1JAyY&pp=ugUEEgJlbg%3D%3D

I have no idea what happened to the original idea of this post, but this is a well thought out craft/art advent calendar that guides you through the projects.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=12vfxK-TW4w

There are very few for booklovers, but I think this marketing trend will continue and one can buy the advent boxes and fill them with multiple gifts. Not sure I would enjoy it but there's an advent book; as you open each page the story unfolds. (I would ignore it and just keep reading).

To me this is a time of joy and lights to illuminate the winter. I never understood why people dont leave them up until March. Encouragement to bake cookies, eat nuts and chocolate and yet people whine about it. Food. Get together with family and friends. Decorating the home and crafting. I see blogs calling it a children's holiday. I think it's a holiday where adults treat themselves and should.

Best gifts I ever received also have some sentimentality attached and am not inclined to go there, but one of the best gifts I have received was a book called Women Artists an illustrated history by Nancy Heller, because I would have never come across it otherwise. Beautifully curated and eye-opening. I had never heard of many of these artists who were just as good if not better than their msle counterparts. I highly recommend it.

Before I start to decorate this post with stickers and garlands, I'll stop here.

A little prompt: What was the best gift you've ever received? Has to be an object. What was the best experience?

Cooking with Codex: Schnirkel

 We didn't celebrate this year because I had decided to come down with the Rhinoceros cold not meant for smaller mammals like myself. Either that or it was Covshhh (we must pretend it doesn't exist because it's bad for the economy.) Weeks of misery, no appetite,  splitting headaches (I know where all of my sinuses are now) and just when all the symptoms stopped I managed a new one; coughing fits so severe that it made my stomach cramp. Anyone else have this or know what this thing was that's going around the globe because people aren't masking?

Spouse did a mini Thanksgiving and bought some turkey breasts and thigh quarters, with mashed potatoes. I mean she cooked both. I don't like tea anymore.

I made Schnirkel sandwiches the next day. At least that's what I call them now. 

"You mean Schnitzel?" spouse asked watching me.

No. Schnitzel turkey. Schnirkel.

That would be Turkey Schnitzel. You forgot the breadcrumbs.

No I did not. They'll irritate my throat and then I can't eat my Schnirkel.

The Schnirkel sandwich consists of herbed butter, a little lemon juice and sliced tomato. The Schnirkel goes inside the sandwich as well. Somewhere. It's quite good unless one wants taste to taste like taste after the great Rhino cold of 25'.

I'm pretty certain it's long Rhino Covsshh, since I'm not making a lot of sense and am going back to bed, after I eat my tasteless Schnirkel.

Happy belated Thanksgiving, everyone.

Poetry, Dignity and Art

 Art is a daughter of freedom

Friedrich Schiller

At a time when I had tasked myself to learn world literature and focus on the best and greatest humanity has produced, I learned about Friedrich Schiller, a German poet, philosopher, physician and humanist who lived during Germany's enlightenment movement in the 18th century. A time when art and beauty and its pursuits influenced society.

"Schiller (1759–1805) and his close friend Johann Wolfgang von Goethe were the primary proponents of Weimar Classicism (roughly 1786–1805). This movement was a form of Neohumanism that synthesized the strict rationalism of the Enlightenment and the emotional intensity of Sturm und Drang, with a focus on classical aesthetic principles, harmony, and humanistic ideals"

There was a slight countermovement called German Romanticism that glorified nature,mysticism to an idealized point. Casper DavidFriedrich was but one of its painters. 

Geniuses of their time, who also pursued morals and ethics as human goals.

When I initially traveled to many of the most stunning places in Europe I tried to retrace these heavy weights of literature and the arts.

Among them was a building with a statue of Schiller in front of it and the inscription:

Spa building

"The dignity of mankind has been placed in your hands. Preserve it! It sinks with you! With you it will ascend!"

Friedrich Schiller

I remember that I was moved and motivated. The inscription was placed there in or about 1907. I was inspired to continue to celebrate the arts and human dignity and that the intervening years had brought incremental positive changes. The building had served as a theater in a city known for its healing thermal water and baths. I left happy and impressed with a feeling that somehow everything was moving toward a positive future.

When I revisited several years ago, I had lost the idealism of my youth. The world had changed. The inscription had turned into words that no longer moved me. I felt demoralized. A building that was beautiful was just a building. The site no more than a tourist spot. The beautiful entrance led to a casino (built in 1949). In the past I would have learned about which muse the sculptures represent. It seemed pointless and irrelevant.

There is a statue of Schiller in Lincoln Park Chicago placed there in the late 19th century. 

Despite Schillers words and the sentiment of his time, I thought of how a political party had twisted the beauty and art of German thinkers poets and artists to represent their ideology, using German Romanticism as the representation of its ideology. Blemished and diminished so much achievement. Decades later, AI is reproducing imagery of gaudy idealism, reminiscent of Otto Runge and his cherubs.

Here we are again.

The inscription seemed meaningless, the caution unheaded. I walked away watching people with little baskets carry groceries and flowers. Others walking their dogs, while I was feeling cognitive dissonance.

History repeats itself, eventually it swings back in its cycle. I hang on to that. After all the beautiful building still stands. The inscription still exists. Older, I did get to revisit. Maybe, meaning will return as well.

Ageing and brain health

 This is a decent article based on a new study:

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgl6klez226o

I attended a neuroscience class in which the neuroscientists asked at what age neurons start to die. Students raised their arms and guessed mostly 20s. I raised my arm and guessed 40s. Self-satisfied the scientist declared it was shortly after birth. That was some time ago and it turned out that I was more right than him.

Knowledge changes as new studies and new technology add to previous knowledge. I have not read the actual Cambridge study yet, but it's heading in the right direction. However, it's only 4000 people and 100000 is the general minimum to reflect society. How many where healthy? How many were retired at 65? How many were lifelong learners? How many continued to learn new things? How was their nutrition to build those neurons? (Including glucose, the brain loves sweets to think and grow).

Science fact: While the brain is not a muscle it needs to be exercised. People who were polymaths as children and engaged in hobbies that ranged widely are less likely to get dementia and even less likely to get Alzheimers. So someone who knits their entire life and then takes a woodworking class would force new neuronal connections and it generally takes three months to do so. They would benefit more than someone who starts crocheting after knitting.

The brain is hardwired to learn languages. Especially at an early age. For reasons that are still not understood speaking three or more proficiently is also a protective factor. Of note is that cognitive decline in the older population (80 and above) causes many to revert to their native language which actually requires less effort.

Whatever the new activity is it needs to be challenging.

The brain unfortunately prunes neurons that have not been used in a while and it may be the reason that we see a cognitive decline with aging. We also have a tendency to be less motivated, so it turns into chicken vs. egg scenario. People who enjoy hiking will continue to do it into old age, but might not be inclined to pick up something that they have not done before.

Complete myth: A very irritating and persistent myth is that we only use 20% of our brains and can unlock the potential..blah blah blah. If we used all of it at once it would be like jogging while figureskating at the same time painting and composing music while listening to a Playlist and reading a book. Neither possible nor desirable.

How intelligent someone is depends on a number of factors, but it is believed that it has a blue print where certain functions go, which vary from individual to individual. In highly intelligent people and individuals like Einstein or DaVinci the brain had more convolutions (increased number of folds). It was confirmed in Einsteins brain who donated his body to science.

Something that was discovered in the last decade is that memories are formed and stored all over the brain and likely closer to the area that usually processes that information. It goes beyond the basics listed here:

https://qbi.uq.edu.au/memory/where-are-memories-stored

The important thing is to learn new skills throughout one's life.

Men

 

I could not find the image that was in my old sociology book; a line drawing where the little boy yells at a dog in what is called anger transference so this 1954 one will have to do.

I've never understood it and later in life I did not experience it. The person you're with should be someone that isn't getting yelled at because socks aren't mended, but someone who listens to your bad day, comforts, gives solutions or gives you space.

November is End Vaw month. And the internet which is slowly turning into Jenga is silent. Nothing on blogs, which is disappointing. The statistics are bad and getting worse and I wonder about the lack of engagement because the laws are getting better. (I'm only talking about the western world).

I took bystander intervention, a course or workshop that anyone can take (albeit not as fun as an art or pottery class). A couple of years ago I intervened. I was walking down the street heard a women scream, then obvious sounds of harm. An older woman (feisty Italian as it turned out) was walking toward me. She figured out which apartment it was while I called the cops. Long story short, the young male was brought out, we also waited to be interviewed and overheard him whine about his stress. He admitted it but there was no remorse. The typical BS sobstory. Coward.

I have chosen to ignore a certain small but powerful group. There is no masculinity of any kind in beating someone smaller than you or insulting someone less powerful than you. Its actually quite small. There's a lot more masculinity in helping. Much more heroic, so why discuss people that I don't associate with? Besides the fact that they are the true "other" with behavior that is too disturbing to discuss.

It led me to thinking about the YA fantasy Twilight, which I skip read just to know what the hype was about and the problem I've always had with vampire romance. Why on earth would a 200 year old (male) being find a teeny even remotely attractive or interesting? What is there to talk about. It was written by a woman, if she can make vampire skin sparkle in the sun, I'm sure she could have imagined something more progressive. Literature does influence a child's mind.

But this is not about fiction, but reality and ending vaw in all its forms. One tiny step at a time.

To complete the circle of life, thought this was hilarious

Everyone is a psychologist.

 I'm not a therapist. And neither are your friends, family or those who know you. But it was part of my training and the same problems that plague that field are worse today.

Over the last decade the amount of information on psychology and behavior has increased online and the arm chair psychologist are coming out of the woodwork.

To begin with, it's one of the soft sciences, based on communication and rarely on hard science. This is not to say that it's not extremely useful and helpful. Addressing and openly talking about behaviors that are a little different so that we as a society can support and accept is a giant leap forward.

One of the most innocuous examples is the trend that teens are taking their plush toys public as their comfort animal. Well, why not?

Not so innocuous is the mass diagnosis because the public has read or heard some talk show/media/journalist describe someone as having a neurodivergent disorder. About a decade ago it was Aspergers the example given was Sheldon Cooper in Big Bang. No. The character is a stereotypical highly intelligent socially awkward physics student. Then it was Bill Gates. Also no. It's also no longer called that but ASD, since it's a spectrum. The term came up again in recent years because of Hans Asperger and I'll leave it up to readers to look him up (ugh) and come to their own conclusions.

Someone quite interesting is Temple Grandin who is on the Autism spectrum.

Then came everyone is a narcissist, when they are in fact describing psychopathology and the currently very cool and trendy ADHD. Currently trending in Hollyweird. An astronomer who I enjoy reading, diagnosed himself with it because he needs coffee shops and background music to write his books. As do I, helps me focus, doesn't mean it's ADHD.

It takes away from the people who do suffer from it. Overdiagnosis and too much self analysis also minimizes what actual victims and survivors go through.

Please share your thoughts.

If there's any further interest please let me know and I'll provide more info in future posts.