Happy Chinese New Year!

I read an article in the Jan 17th edition of the Toronto star about this revolutionary new product called "Mind Aerobics", created by The New You Enterprises. This new technology - apparently based off of extensive research studies undertaken since the seventies - plays a certain "carrier frequency" as you listen to a CD or tape of soothing nature and instrumental music. These special frequencies are supposed to stimulate your brain into one of three different wave states - alpha, theta or delta. Apparently, in the lives of people like us, our brains are constantly in the beta wave state; that is, one side of our brain (left or right) is dominant over the other, and so we feel stress and anxiety. When our two brain-halves work together, they claim, we will experience greater peace of mind and a sense of well-being. The alpha state is one of relaxed focus. Seems ironic eh? But apparently, the CD can put you into this state of "light meditation" in which you will be relaxed, yet have the capacity to focus intensely on the task at hand. The other two states, theta and delta, are even deeper levels of meditation, where one reaches and communicates with the "collective unconscious", the sort of thingy-thing where the unconscious thoughts, feelings and emotions of all manking meet and manifest themselves in energy that we feel while in this state. The whole point of this new technology is to allow people to reach states of relaxation and concentration that normally wouldn't be accessible except through ten to fifteen years of intense training in the ancient art of meditation. These tracks also claim to be able to"Stimulate the creation of new neural pathways between the right and left hemispheres of your brain, balancing your brain and leading you to a high-performance state scientists call "whole brain functioning"…", among other things.

Companies like The New You Enterprises have created CD series such as "Mind Aerobics" that they say will help people get to these kind of, psychedelic, chill-out sort of states of mind. When I heard this, it seemed like a bunch of rubbish. It is a well known fact, however, that these brain states - beta, alpha, theta and delta - do in fact exist (I actually went to this place once where they actually put sensors on my head and measured these waves), and that chemicals like endorphin (that this Holosync technologies claims to be able to induce creation of) act as natural pain-killers and stress relievers. So I thought to myself, "Wouldn't it be just amazing if I could just chill out for once, just by listening to this CD?" And so, I just had to get myself a copy of these mystical soundtracks for myself. I originally wanted to get Mind Aerobics, but I realized that there are several other companies out there that market the same Holosync technology tracks. And so, I settled on the Holosync (by Centerpointe Research Institute), mostly because it showed up higher on the Google search than Mind Aerobics.

If you'd like to find out how to*get* a copy of these tracks for yourself, leave me a comment and I will try to help you out.

Cheers!

kamster

p.s. Haven't really tested these out yet, will write again when I have. Hopefully it works =P

"I am innocent of this man's blood; you will see."

Wrong as this may be, I found this video to be absolutely hilarious. With all those stories and videos of kangaroos viciously kicking and punching at hikers, zookeepers and simply people who walk to close for their liking, I didn't feel too bad when I first saw this video. Of course I do not in any way condone this kind of behaviour... In fact, I think the dude is now being hunted by the aussie police or something like that. Anyways, go ahead, watch the video, and maybe you'll laugh as hard as I did when I first saw it.

kamster

Who doesn't love Free Stuff!

So I was looking around today for something to do and I stumbled across this site called Winzy. It's really just like any other search engine, but with a name like Winzy, you know something is up. I looked around and I found that after registering an account with Winzy, you can win prizes and points by searching with their search engine? How cool is that!

I really can't say how many times I Google search in a day, so using this search engine instead wouldn't be a great change of habit for me. The only thing that would change is that with every search, I have a chance to win an Amazon gift card, an iPod nano, or whatever else they have in their sweepstakes. Each search (up to fifty per day) also gives me two points, which are sort of like raffle tickets that are drawn each quarter.

Hopefully using this new search engine I can get some free stuff soontimes =)

kamster

Michenne is a nice name

You know those Tim Hortons commercials about their coffee always being fresh? Turns out their claims are true! On my last visit to Tim Hortons I made a note to myself to sneak a peak at one of their big coffee mugs, and it did actually have a time written on it; even in the same white marker as the commercial! I was actually kind of surprised because I'm sure all of you can relate to me when I say that things are never as nice as they seem to be in commercials; the portions are always smaller, the layout isn't quite so nice, and the employees aren't quite so friendly. But here at least, in this little Tim Hortons in Toronto, I can assure myself that the double doubles I buy (rarely) are fresh.

With this, I must also put in my bit about Tim Hortons more expensive - and may I dare, pretentious - rivals. Starbucks and Second Cup also have coffee, but they market their brands as somewhat more elite, or just a cut above Tim Hortons. This is why everything you can purchase at a Starbucks or Second Cup is like, three dollars or more. Personally, I take a disliking to those who make it a point to stay as close to a Starbucks as possible and who swear never to buy from Timmies. Honestly, I can't find any difference in taste of coffee between these two brands, and even if I could, I'm sure I would stick with Timmies lower prices any day. The taste of the coffee isn't such a big deal, either. Isn't coffee just supposed to keep you awake?

kamster

...a day makes!

Obama is president! At twelve noon today, Obama took the oath and became America's fourty-fourth president. And as you can see, the White House website has changed (at precisely one minute past noon!) along with it (it even looks like Obama's campaign website, which is still up. I've heard that all the government websites are going to be modeled after it. Orders of Obama, I presume). Who saw the inauguration today? I sure did, and it was pretty darn exciting haha =P. There were a crapload of people there, those aerial views of the whole front of the capitol building and across the river showed the whole place just filled with people, packed as closely together as sardines in minus temperatures just to be part of this historic day. When Obama was doing his oath, I was sort of like "=0" when he stumbled, but then later Lloyd Robertson revealed to us watching that the slip-up was due to a mishap on Chief Justice John Robert's part, not Obama's.

.

Obama's inaugural speech was something like seventeen minutes long, and in it he spoke of many of the same things that he has spoken of these past months; hope, change, difficult challenges ahead and the renewal of America's hope and spirit. His speech today was written by him, too, instead of by his chief speechwriter, Jon Favreau. Surprisingly, his speech didn't seem any less convincing, which just goes to show that, perhaps, all of Obama's years at Columbia University and Harverd weren't for nought. This at least showed me personally that Obama isn't all hot air. For all we know, his enthralling speeches and unsurpassed rhetoric might have been all written by others behind closed doors, but his speech today showed me that he can in fact put his ideas of change and hope into words, and that he can truly "stand and deliver" (haha, I know that has nothing to do with the movie, just had to put that in there because it sounds so damn cool).

Anyways, Obama is currently stopping by at each of the ten official inaugural balls that are occuring right now. It's a true marvel that he's going to be able to get to all of them in one night, what with the Youth Ball, Obama Home States Ball, Joe Biden Home States Ball, Southern Inaugural Ball, Western Inaugural Ball, ok yes there are more but I shan't list them here. I just hope he gets enough sleep tonight and prepares himself for his first full day as President of the United States. I wonder what waking up in the White House for the first of many times feels like?

kamster

What a difference...

kamster

Choo Choo Train Time

Obama's inauguration is in two days!!! Woohoo! I recently read about the "Obama Express" and how the president-elect is touring states by train on his way to the White House. I found this kind of cool, and made me also think about the massive change that is, perhaps, coming to America. Obama always speaks of change and hope for America's future, and only these next four years with him in office will be able to prove or disprove his grand statements.

Right now though, I think people are being practically swallowed up by the excitement that has surrounded Obama's upcoming swearing-in. It's true, in a way: Obama is a celebrity. Apparently there's going to be something like two million people crowding Washington on Jan. 20, as compared to the four hundred thousand that attended President Bush's second inauguration back in 2005 =D.

Anyways, get excited and tune your TV to CNN to catch a glimpse of the spectacle two days from now!

kamster

Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc

I was recently downtown when I noticed a huge mob of people congregating in front of the ROM on Bloor St. There were barriers set up and riot police everywhere; the tension was high and the excitement of a fever pitch. Then I realized what I was passing by; a giant pro-Palestinian demonstration. 

I had never really been to any real demonstration before, and so this was a first for me. People were shouting, pushing and shoving against the line of policemen holding back the mob from the small group of protesters waving Israeli flags. Cries of "Shame, shame, Israel" and "Shame, shame USA" filled the air. I realized then that the majority of the protesters were of middle-eastern descent, many of them Palestinian (I think). I also noted among this huge mob many locals supporting the Free Palestine movement. It seemed that the small group of Israelis were about to be overwhelmed if not for the line of police separating the two groups. I certainly feared for their, and our lives as the giant mob began to move towards us.

It is clear to me that the popular opinion in this topic of debate is to side with oppressed, weak, Palestine and the inhabitants of the Gaza strip, but I must consciously remind myself that taking sides without learning of the issue is no good at all. Indeed, I was trying hard not to pick up a poster with pictures of dead children on them, knowing that often the information given by one side or the other isn't completely true. Who really fired the first shot? Who are the real terrorists? Which side refuses to back down when what we need most now is a period of peace and reconciliation in the middle east?

I am still in the process of discovering the answers to these questions myself, and until then I shall remain neutral in this conflict. From what I can see, both Israel and Hamas have committed grave crimes in this conflict, and I doubt anyone will disagree when I say that more allegations of human rights violations are soon to be tabled in the political conflict that exists alongside the fighting and death.

I do hope Israel finds another way to defend itself without the extensive collateral damage that has become synonymous with the Israeli attacks. I wish to see no more pictures of soot-covered bodies.

kamster

Superstitions

I may be religious, but I'm not particularly superstitious. I don't really believe in ghosts, apparitions, beyond-the-grave encounters or other paranormal activity. However, I do believe karma exists and manifests itself in people's lives all the time. You know the old saying "What comes around goes around?" I strongly believe that to be true.

I sometimes find myself holding grudges against others for what they've done, how they've acted towards me or how they seem to be getting all of life's oranges while all I get is lemons. In times like this, I really lean back on karma. When people put up a false front to impress, I secretly hope (hehe) and sometimes convince myself that they will be the ones fooled next time. 

Maybe it's true, maybe it's not. Or perhaps there's just a lot more going on than I really understand. Nevertheless, one of my New Year's resolutions is to be more tolerant and hold less grudges, so I will try hard not to remember people's misgivings and be more aware of my own.

I need to be less loud, also. I find that is a problem that is a bit harder to remedy x_x

kamster

Bust out the bubbly

Happy New Years!!!

kamster