Feel good?

A recent report suggests a Parkinson's drug can lead to patients being turned into obsessive pleasure seekers - with one saying it caused her to start an affair, quit her religion and become a compulsive gambler. Another was fired from his job for trolling for dates on the Internet while at work. The reason ... the boosting of levels of dopamine (the feel good chemical) in the brain.
One company Valeant Pharmaceuticals, which sells Permax, a dopamine agonist, has told physicians: "As with other dopamine agonists, compulsive self-rewarding behavior (e.g., pathologic gambling) and libido increase have been reported in patients."
Does this then make it the "feel good" drug or a "feel bad" drug? And how would you feel as a patient - realising there was a problem over which you had no control - and which people kept telling you was "your responsibility" and "deal with it". Word is there is a good likelihood of class action.

Carry-on

How secure are the airlines? Are the same companies that lose (temporarily misplace) 30 million pieces of luggage a year able to monitor security So we have a chance of reaching our destinations intact? Not all 30 million pieces were irretrievably lost though. All but 200,000 pieces were reunited with their owners on average 1.3 days after being reported missing. The moral: always take your essentials (and some smalls) in your carry-on luggage. And on the subject of carry-on luggage. why does it seem that everyone has more of it these days? Oh, l know. they're all expecting their luggage to go missing.

Oops - Did I do that?

Wired News' Lucas Graves has compiled a list of the ten "Best Accidental Discoveries". Their story has details on each. And the discoveries are:
1. Viagra
2. LSD
3. X-rays
4. Penicillin
5. Artificial sweeteners
6. Microwave ovens
7. Brandy
8. Vulcanized rubber
9. Silly Putty
10. Potato chips

Also in Europe

Back in January, a French court ordered Remy Martinot to have his parents cremated or buried. This was the result of a long-running legal battle as Remy fought to keep his parents frozen. But before he could appeal the decision to the European Court of Human Rights - the crypt in which they were stored heated up from -65C to -20C and Remy decided that "it was no longer reasonable to carry on". He cremated his parents.
His father died and was frozen in 2002 - the same year the a court ruled that keeping the bodies refrigerated at the family chateau was against the law. The BBC News report did not say why it took the courts so long to make the ruling - especially as Remy's father Raymond, a cryogenics enthusiast, had frozen his wife after her death in 1984, hoping that one day science might enable her to be revived. He showed off her crypt for a fee in the cellar of his chateau, in the Loire Valley town of Nueil-sur-Layon, to help pay for upkeep of the equipment.

Cremations in Greece

After a campaign lasting more than a decade - and despite Church opposition - Greek MPs have passed a law to allow cremations in Greece for those whose religion allows it. This may not include the Greek Orthodox Church which describes it as a violation of the human body.
lt is not known how far the new laws will go to helping alleviate the current fullness of Athens graveyards where a burial plot is only rented for three years before the body has to be exhumed to make way for the next coffin. This can be extremely distressing for relatives - in some cases the exhumed bodies have not fully decomposed. (So what happens next - or specifically, what happens to the exhumed bodies?)

Identity

Do different laws govern press and television. A report in today's The Daily Telegraph on a Brisbane party - "Six teens stabbed in party brawl" - has a photograph of a "man charged with attempted murder". The man's face is clearly visible and recognisable (or would be if you knew him). Not so with the same report on television this morning. The man's face was totally obscured by a moving blur - as opposed to the usual jacket to cover head/face-hiding behaviour.
So are the rules different for the different types of media? And/or is it something to do with the timing? Although that doesn't really make sense the way I was thinking about it - to my mind the earlier one - before positive ID etc - would be the one with the man's face obscured - but it was the other way around.
So many questions ...

Piercing comment (or Ear Rings)

It's funny how you don't see any of something, and then as soon as you see one - you see more of them. The "them" in this instance is pierced ears - but not your normal piercings. These seem to be designed to enlarge the lobe with a donut-shaped insert - and not a small one! - so you can see through it. (Oh for a photograph or the ability to draw well!) I first noticed one on Wednesday afternoon, and then I followed one down the road the next day. I know this doesn't make a epidemic of it, but they're unusal enough to be noticed - and to get me thinking about why anyone would want to do that. And only in one ear. Of course, both gentlemen sporting the ear-rings had numerous other metal piercings. Yes, all right, I admit it - I really don't understand the whole piercing culture at all.

"For my sister"

Each year in Sydney we have the Tropfest short film festival. It started life as a showing of short films in the Tropicana Cafe, and since then it's grown to be an internationally recognised festival attracting many entries and a huge audience. The entries of the 12 finalists are traditionally shown on Festival night and the A-List celebrities in attendance choose the winner - who takes away a swag of goodies. The goodies have now been extended to the rest of us. This year (and last year I think) a DVD of the finalists was available with a copy of the Sydney Morning Herald. I've just finished watching mine and was intrigued by one called "Sisters". Can't really remember what it was about - okay, I can really but saying "a woman shoves cupcakes down her pants" really needs more explanation. Anyway, at the end, there was the dedication "For My Sister" and I thought gee, even though that seemed to be about dysfunctional sisters, it can't be that bad. And then "go to hell" came on screen. Guess I was wrong - but wow, what a plain-speaking, if incredibly public, airing of feelings.
The other observation from the films was what I seem to remember was a film that people were calling "fraud" film. Entries in Tropfest are supposed to be made for Tropfest, and there is always a motif or an item that needs to be included. This year's was a bubble - and people did use it in a variety of ways - thought bubble, washing up water, bubble gum etc. In the snake "documentary", there was a brief cutaway to a bubble - which seemed to have no relevance to the film - which could be because the film was supposedly made some time ago. However, that's not the point I wanted to raise here. Imagine if you were a snake with an overactive gag reflex!

Woman 27 Kills husband 72

Tatjana Edwards has been convicted in London of murdering her husband. In a twist on what could be considered a more expected reason, it seems the motive was that Gwyn was not a millionaire. Tatjana, from Estonia, arrived in Britain as a student, but was raped and forced into prostitution before escaping her pimp's clutches. It was while selling sex for £200 a time at a brothel in North London that she set out to "snare" Gwyn a client, who intimated that he was a multi-millionaire. Unfortunately for both of them, he was not. Things became progressively worse as the money ran out and the court heard that the final row over money ended with Gwyn stabbed to death. Tatjana told the court that Gwyn's death was an accident. She had been trying to commit suicide with the knife when Gwyn tried to intervene - and the knife slipped. The jury did not believe her and she now faces a life in prison.

Senseless

Australia is due for a census later this year. Hopefully there will be less trouble than the Nigerians have suffered. Census officials have been attacked and killed while looking to put a figure on the estimated 120 to 150 million people in the country. Now comes the news that the Census has been extended because the count had been "delayed in many parts by a lack of materials and rows over payments to officials". There was no mention of the deaths in the second report.

Column centimetres

Poor Mason. His letter in today's "Vent Your Spleen" column in MX had him giving a serve to the boys on the 8.50am city train who laughed at his flatulence. "Body eructations are rarely funny" his letter started - sending me to my dictionary for the definition "a reflex that expels wind noisily from the stomach through the mouth". While I was there I also checked "flatulence" - which could be either "a state of excessive gas in the alimentary canal" or "pompously embellished language". You just have to love English!

Time to play?

I've been doing some research on innovation lately - and stumbled across this link on one of the innovation blogs I visited. Mmmmm ... colours.
Of course, if you've got some more time to spare, you might want to check out Bored or Tickle - not sure what they've got on them, because I haven't had time to visit - but one day I will have time to get there - especially as they're supposed to have jokes, funny and serious online tests, and a heap of unusual facts. (Word of warning - just went to both sites to check the links were working and my pop-up blocker stopped some pop-ups. Might be an idea to make sure yours is enabled.) What would we do without the internet?

Word (Im)Perfect

The Witch's Stone in Dornoch, Scotland, marks the place where Janet Horne was burned at the stake in 1722 because she mispronounced one word in the Gaelic version of the Lord's Prayer.
Thanks to MX for that - and for this one: The gate posts of Margamin, Wales, stood for centuries because of a prophecy that the Mansell family would disappear if they did. In 1744 Lord Thomas Mansell pulled down the pillars. Within the year the entire family was wiped out.
That reminds me of my cousin Robert, who determined that he and his wife should ever only have one child (which they did). The reason - a session with a ouija board left him with the very real and unshakeable belief that if he had more than one child, he would die shortly afterwards.

Big bang theory

Following on from my earlier comments about blasting into space and the dangers associated with it - I'd mentioned that there were no plans in place for health screens of intending passengers. Seems that might have changed. It appears that women who have had breast implants may be prohibited from doing space flights because of cabin pressure hitches. Spokesman for Virgin Galactic (due to begin flights in 2008) is quoted as saying "We're not sure whether they could stand the trip - they could well explode". That's the theory anyway ... not sure if anyone will want to be the first to test it!

Another approach

How do you reduce the rate of domestic violence. In France they've introduced a package of measures, including raising the age women can get married - from 15 to 18. This brings it to the same age as men - and is aimed to combat forced marriages. Tougher penalties for marital rape and assault will now be extended to partners and ex-partners. It will also be an offence to confiscate travel or identity documents to prevent a partner from leaving. And it will now be possible to bring theft charges against a spouse. There was no mention if the laws would extend to de-facto partnerships.

Double standards

There has been a bit of a splash in one of the Sydney newspapers over the last week about fashion faux pas (what is the plural of faux pas?). Seems Janet Howard, wife of our current Prime Minister John Howard, has "over-co-ordinated" her wardrobe with visiting dignitaries - first with the Queen where both wore similar lime green outfits, and then, the following week, she and Cherie Blair (wife of the British PM) stepped out in similar white outfits. Of course, I always thought there were wardrobe co-ordinators to make sure this sort of thing doesn't happen - but I could have been wrong.
The double standard bit comes in because on both occasions their husbands were dressed very similiarly (to each other - not to their wives, heh heh, that would have been just a bit too silly, although it may have been visually interesting) - and no-one batted an eyelid or commented about that!
I'm not sure the same could be said of friend Cory's appearance at a black tie function last week. He was MCing and wore a bright red tuxedo (with shirt to match). The amazing thing was that he was able to talk a couple of mates into following suit (pun intended).

Whodunit?

I found this title in the "Faith & Family" section of the Target supermarket - which is across the road from the PA Hospital in Brisbane. While it makes a change from CSI (not sure whether it continues the tradition of the annoying flashlights/sunglasses!) it's possible that there may not need to be that many series of the show - seems the perpetrator (of "miracles") would already have been identified!

Diversity

When is a helipad not a helipad? When it's being used as a golf green or, in these pictures, a tennis court. According to Snopes, this was February 2005, and tennis pros Roger Federer and Andre Agassi were in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, for the ATP's Dubai Duty Free Men's Open, a $1 million International Series Gold event. While in town, they took part in a

publicity stunt (worth a visit for the piccies!), engaging in a friendly exhibition tennis match on the grass helipad atop the luxurious Burj Al Arab hotel.

Undo

You know you're spending too much time on computers when you are editing a document on paper and you remove a "do something here" flag, realise you shouldn't have, aren't sure exactly where it's meant to go ... and you reach for the CTRL and Z keys to UNDO.
I'm not sure where it was but best "undo" I remember is in an office missive encouraging people not to pass on chain emails especially bogus virus alert warnings because it put "undo pressure on the email system".

eBooks

The only problem I have with reading eBooks is that, unlike conventional novels, it's hard to tell how close you are to the end - especially if an excerpt of the author's next novel is included. yes, I should have been thrilled to get something for nothing, but instead I was slightly annoyed, because I'd settled in for another 20 minutes of reading and then suddenly, without warning ... the end.