Oprah's Give-Away

I guess every year Oprah gives her entire audience something truly nifty. Last year, I think it was a car. This year she announced to the group that she was giving them all $1,000 gift certificates. They all hooted and hollered until they heard what the condition of the card was. It would have to be given away.

I would have loved to be inside the minds of those audience members who were facing financial difficulties at the moment. There must have been a split second (or longer) when they felt disappointment, but then I think there was excitement. In the follow up show, it was a joy to hear the stories of what those audience members did with their money. Some used it as seed money and ended up collected hundreds of thousands of dollars. Others took a more simple approach and simple gave it away to deliverymen as tips.

While watching I was once again impressed by Oprah. Say what you want about her, she does wonderful things with her fame and wealth. Obviously, there were many who benefitted directly from the money which was great. But what I thought was truly impressive was that many in that audience experienced the pleasure of giving and would continue to do so. They learned that it felt great to give which means they'll continue to give.

I've read recently that Oprah is developing a reality show which continues the philanthropical theme and I look forward to feeling all warm and fuzzy while watching it.

Bad Girls

The Oxygen Channel is broadcasting a TV series produced the team who brought us The Real World. They've brought a group of so-called bad girls into a house in the Hollywood Hills: a 31 year-old Pamela Anderson lookalike, a Paris Hilton wanna be, a small-town, sweet wild child, a wimpy but clearly slutty country music singer, a stripper, a hustler and a really scary looking chick. I can imagine the thought process behind the series: "Hey, it's the bad one who are the most fun on The Real World so let's bring 'em together. And let's make them girls because girls always have problems cohabitating."

Last night I watched 3 back-to-back episodes. I enjoyed every minute of it but felt as if I had to take a shower afterwards. Unparalleled trash. The Paris Hilton wanna be ended up also wanting to be Tanya Harding. As one of the girls said, she was like a monster from a slasher film when drunk. She'd attack a roommate, pass out and then rise to attack another one. The camera had caught her talking about her anger issues as well as her blacking out preceding the incident but afterwards she insisted that she had never done it before.

Teenage Brains

It seems as if every week, you can find a new theory offered by neuroscientists in the news. Today, I picked up the paper and read an article giving one reason why teenagers can act like complete jerks. Having been one and knowing that karma will ensure that my son is one, I was interested. I guess from the ages of 11-14 (those truly enjoyable middle-school years) brains begin the process of pruning themselves, cutting back on underused and less effectinve neural connections. Ian Campbell from UCal in Davis argues, "It seems certainly possible that normal adolescents who are experiencing these brain changes can react emotionally."

The article reminded me of another one that I read earlier in the year regarding sleep and teenagers. Apparently, melatonin levels in teenagers start rising between 10 and 11 p.m. and don't start falling until 8:00 am which can explain how difficult it is to wake teenagers in the morning. Schools have experimented with later start times and have noticed some changes.

Maybe I'll get lucky and science will have enabled me to make enough changes in the life of my littley so that I don't experience karmic payback with him.

Dachshund Racing

I had not idea that dachshunds competed with greyhounds and whippets for the attention of dog racing fans. But I guess owners began bribing their little wiener dogs with treates in 70s for the fun of it but since the 1990s, the sport has grown in popularity. What would a dachshund look like racing a greyhound?

http://www.wienertakesall.com/

Dancing with the Stars

I know, I know: How can reality TV offer anything by way of a good idea? Pairing second-tier stars together with first-tier ballroom dancers really works. Dancers get a chance to shine which doesn't happen often enough. Stars who have lost their luster can sparkle with rhinestones and the joy of learning how to move with a partner to music (generally terribly music but this isn't a review of the show).

Women Just Aren't Funny

Christopher Hitchens has a piece in the latest issue of Vanity Fair in which he argues that women don't have a sense of humor. It's funny and surprisingly I found myself actually thinking he might have a point. I'd add that women just don't have the time to be funny to his long list.

Favorites from NYT's Review of Ideas

The Straw that Saves Lives is a personal water filtration device that costs $3 to make. It's not perfect. It doesn't filter out all viruses and the water may not taste the best but still. . . To have something that can be used during disasters. Wow.

The Journal of Spurious Correlations publishes negative results with the hope that scientists will not be doomed to repeat the same mistakes as past researchers.

A London-based architectural firm, the Facility, have propsoed putting small hydraulic generators in subway platforms to capture vibration and convert it into electricity.

Kiva.org has set up a site where ordinary people can help aspiring small-business owners from developing countries through by giving loans.

Bruce Charlton hypothesizes that "psychological neoteny-the retention of youthful attitudes and behaviors into later adulthood," helping people to remain open to learning and change.

12/8 NYT Magazine

Last Sunday's magazine section reviews 90 of the most intriguing ideas of the year. Some are wacky (like the beer gut flask), some are entertaining and some just shine with brilliance. I'll feature a few over the course of the next week but just collecting the ideas into one issue is a wonderful idea in itself.

As an "Endpaper", the magazine rates some of the wildest patents taken out during the year from a scale of "yuck" to "brilliant." An expandable vomit container and a method of and apparatus for producing endless rolls of a resilient food stuff are examples are tagges as "yuck" for obvious reasons. An umbrella having a sprinkler device is "missing the point." A design for an ornamental cucumber sandwich "reinvents the wheel." A magic trick of illusion of inserting a cigarette into a nostril is catetgorized as "We all Want something different in life." A beard-trimmer with internal vacuum is "How did I live without it?" and sleep-inducing toothpaste and a head-nodding alarm to avert sleep while driving are called "brilliant."

Barack Obama for ESPN

ESPN had a very grave Barack Obama state that he was on the verge of announcing something very important involving his leadership role in a contest between two very groups with conflicting philosophical positions. In perfect deadpan, he went on to announce the upcoming football game between St. Louis and Chicago. What a good idea from ESPN and what a smart move for Obama. He comes off as a guy's guy with a sense of humor who appeals to football-loving Americans across the country. The man definitely has star wattage.

The Beer-Gut Flask

If you had a chance to see American Inventor, you realize that people can be passionate about the darndest inventions. Well, I wouldn't be surprised if the folks who created what amounts to a baby sling for 80 ounces of beer so that you can enjoy your libation wherever and whenever. You can also buy a beerbelly ice pack pleasure extender to ensure your beer stays cold.