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October 22, 2004
hmm, interestin..
ive been wonderin about this since readin it in a TMQ article in the preseason:
Research shows that the typical mammal heart beats about two billion times in a typical lifetime. Small mammals with short lifespans tend to have much faster heartbeats than large mammals with longer life expectancy, such as members of genus Homo. Are small-mammal lifespans short because their hearts beat so fast, or are the hearts beating fast in order to squeeze the required number into a short life? Not even the football gods may be able to answer that one. But a "power law" seems to control the beating of hearts.
a cursory google returned a couple interestin links on this so-called "scaling law" (1, 2)..
of course, this mornin esther said to me: "that means I AM gonna die before you, since my restin heart rate is twice as fast as yours"..
great, sometimes ignorance is frickin bliss..
- something ive only discovered in the past couple yrs is the joy of reading imdb.com, in particular the trivia sections of movies. i consider myself somewut of a film buff, esp when it comes to ones i treasure like back to the future or contact and so readin these behind-the-scenes film facts is fun and hilarious..
like didja know, for austin powers, it was mike myers WIFE who suggested he prance around naked in the credits.....cuz thats wut he does at home?!
hmm, sounds like a good idea--better close them curtains (or not)..
Posted by cpaik at 05:03 PM
October 21, 2004
just right..
i dont follow the bosox. i dont even follow baseball (though i made a valiant effort this year w/ fantasy baseball)..
but ive been glued to the tv set since the 9th inning of game 5. and to finally see the sox prevail--and prevail in historic fashion--was awesome. not cuz i could understand the magnitude of the outcome. or the hope it instilled in new englanders for a possible curse reversed. but simply because, it made me feel good..
yeah, its a selfish thing. to want to see the underdog win. to hope beyond hexes for the punished and deprived. cuz at the end of it all, it makes me feel like life does occasionally value wut is good and right--that this is the way the world could be..
i think there are a lotta people in the country who--like me--are a casual fan and, if havin no affiliations to the yankees, tie themselves to the bosox. so the joy comes in not only seein goliath slayed--but in seein him slayed by the little shepherd boy..
to see the lakers fall is one thing. but to see them lose in a "five-game" sweep to the consummate team is wut made life seem alright..
so to watch the red sox clamber out of the hole and fight for each W over the evil empire (gotta luv fox for playin imperial march every time)--yeah..
thats the way it should be..
Posted by cpaik at 01:43 PM
October 20, 2004
vanity insanity..
im so vain..
recently, ive been tryin to dress better when i go to work. by nature, i think i tend to be more of the slovenly type who wears clothes that look comfortable and casual (and still "clean"), rather than put on items others find pleasing in both sight and smell..
but bein the superficial self-conscious bastard that i am w/ a high self-monitor, i guess ive become to disapprove of this college-ish appearance. so i thought, "if i wanna look older and mature. hmm, maybe i should dress nicer"..
in other words i wanted to stop appearin short and adolescent. i guess i should don some button-ups..
so here i am writin this pointless entry wearin a blue-and-white diagonal express shirt layered between a calvin klein undershirt and a charcoal-grey banana pullover with beige chinos also from express and a pair of kenneth coles..
oh, and dont worry (cuz i know it crossed your mind), im wearin boxers underneath--i dont like goin commando in the winter (or ever)..
gawd, im so vain..
Posted by cpaik at 06:13 PM
October 19, 2004
mentally undevelopin..
ive never been much of a bookworm, though i admire those who are and luv spendin time in bookstores. i have amassed a nice collection of interestin (at least to me) books, but am only slowly makin my way thru em..
when i was little, my mom would constantly tell (aka, nag) me to read books cuz readin books made one more intelligent and well-learned. well, since i was such a good son who willingly embraced my moms directives (see practive 12 hrs a day and become a violin prodigy), i didnt read a damn thing..
this terrible habit continued throughout high school and even into college. i honestly cant remember readin more than one book a yr at duke--i even MINORED in english and dont think i even attempted to read 90% of the books i was given (by the way, this is not evidence of intelligence since i was still able to graduate--i just had nice profs)..
but now, i wish i was more well-read. since im not, however, i strive to be. so ive been tryin to read more. and as with a lotta things, im a very good starter. i have all these books sittin on my nightstand and probly have read about 100 pgs into most of em. but thats where it stopped. cuz of my apparent short attention span, something else caught my interest (probly law & order)..
the worst thing is, since the nfl season began i havent read a damn thing outside of football (thats why the same books remain on the right for months). every day its either an article from espn, sporting news magazine, or some analysis from football outsiders (great site). im a frickin nut..
and somewhere above my shoulders, my brain withers away as it is fed this superficial crap which is barely enough to sustain what constitutes as "higher intelligence" <snicker>..
Posted by cpaik at 08:26 AM
October 08, 2004
bodily malfunctions..
i had this weird thought just a moment ago and its on a very luvly subject, so bear w/ me..
esther (shes gonna kill me) only visits the throne probly three or four times a week AT MOST. our dogs, on the other hand, go at least TWICE A DAY w/o fail. isnt that bizarre?
i mean, we re talkin about at least a 30-50 lb difference and yet, the smaller creatures produce the larger quantities..
(and its no contest w/ me, so we wont go there)
men often say takin (or is it "makin"?) dumps is "like clockwork"--well, for dogs it IS clockwork. they always hafta go twice a day. no less, sometimes more..
esp w/ our princess of a yellow lab, stella (who rules the house and all its inhabitants). she knows to only go when shes outside. the thing is if i dont bring her back in after shes done, she ll just go again a few mins later. and again if shes still out. i sometimes stand in awe--she is m-a-c-h-i-n-e..
on the other hand, esther--stellas cross-species twin--has no bowel movement wutsoever. okay, maybe a few times a week. but if she only poos every so often while i drop the kids like theres no tomorrow, how come she pees like every 30 mins? seriously, even when shes had nothin to drink for a couple hrs its "i gotta go pee" every commercial break..
course, im the exact opposite--i probly take a dump twice as often as i take a leak. seriously, ask esther (if you really wanna--im sure she would luv for you to broach the subject w/ her). and it doesnt help that i use four times as much toilet paper as a "normal" human being. but deviant lavatory habits are a blog for another day..
anyways, i dunno wut point im tryin to make. either:
1) dogs are lucky they dont hafta clean up after themselves..
b) women are lucky cuz they save money by spendin less on toilet paper..
or
d) men are lucky cuz we lose a couple lbs everyday after visitin the bathroom..
Posted by cpaik at 12:59 PM
October 07, 2004
gotta dew it..
a coworker sent me this delectable recipe:
Mountain Dew-Pineapple Ham
1 pre-cooked ham
1 can Mountain Dew soda
1 small can crushed pineapple (with juice)
Place ham in crockpot. Pour Mountain Dew over ham. Pour crushed pineapple with its juice over ham. Cook for 4 to 5 hours on HIGH or for 8 to 10 hours on LOW, depending upon the size of the ham.
thanksgiving is comin up--yum..
Posted by cpaik at 12:47 PM
October 05, 2004
ouch!
do you think its wrong that i only shave every other day?
its not that my facial hair grows that slowly but i just made a choice a long time ago that i would shave every two days. the weekends are esp nice cuz then i can go three days w/o a single snip..
esther hates that i dont shave daily. in fact, she called me "disheveled" this morning. so wut if i look less like charles paik and more like charlie chaplin--this is me!! this is who i am!! hate the game, not the playa..
maybe if i start shavin my legs and toe hair everyday, she ll pay less attention to my face..
yes yes--sounds like plan. bonne idée!!
Posted by cpaik at 05:43 PM