Antarctica's Summer Resort - New York Times

Antarctica's Summer Resort - New York Times

If you go
Marine Expeditions, 30 Hazelton Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5R 2E2, (416) 964-9069, fax (416) 964-2366, plans about 20 trips to the Antarctic from November to March, including three that stop at South Georgia Island. These 24-day trips (also stopping in the Falklands) start Nov. 20 and 22 and Jan. 17, and cost $5,495 to $8,495, including air fare from New York, Miami, Toronto and, for $165 extra, Los Angeles.
Our trip was organized specifically for dedicated nature photographers, wildlife artists and birders by Victor Emanuel Nature Tours, which specializes in birding trips; Post Office Box 33008, Austin, Tex. 78764; (800) 328-8368, fax (512) 328-2919.
We sailed on the 370-foot Akademik Ioffe (the Marine Adventurer in brochures), a utilitarian but comfortable vessel built in Finland in 1989 for the Soviet Academy of Sciences for deep-sea acoustical research. She has a stabilizing system and her bridge is packed with up-to-date navigational equipment. She is strengthened against pack ice, and can turn on her own axis.
Cabins are Spartan but quite comfortable, with private baths. Common spaces include a pleasant dining room, a small library and a sauna. The most popular spot was the bridge, to which we had access at all hours. Food was excellent, fresh fish and Argentine wines being the most prized items.
The crew was efficient and pleasant, but said little about the ironies of its shift from science (and perhaps intelligence-gathering) to tourism. The housekeeping and landing were capably managed by Marine Expeditions.

Lindblad Expeditions: Antarctica

Our journey to the "White Continent" offers six days of exploration on the incomparably beautiful Antarctic Peninsula and the surrounding islands and waterways. The sights, sounds and emotions will stay in your mind forever — enormous tabular icebergs, hillsides covered with thousands of penguins and the excitement on deck as someone shouts, “Whales!” Experience the Lindblad legacy of exploration in Antarctica as you travel with our experienced Antarctica expedition staff, which includes an Undersea Specialist. Zodiacs and kayaks to further our ability to examine this remote wilderness.
Prices starting from $10,250.

Lindblad Expeditions: Itineraries

Ten investing rules

Ten investing rules that will help you weather this stormy market - MarketWatch

1. Markets tend to return to the mean over time
2. Excesses in one direction will lead to an opposite excess in the other direction
3. There are no new eras -- excesses are never permanent
4. Exponential rapidly rising or falling markets usually go further than you think, but they do not correct by going sideways
5. The public buys the most at the top and the least at the bottom
6. Fear and greed are stronger than long-term resolve
7. Markets are strongest when they are broad and weakest when they narrow to a handful of blue-chip names
8. Bear markets have three stages -- sharp down, reflexive rebound and a drawn-out fundamental downtrend 9. When all the experts and forecasts agree -- something else is going to happen
10. Bull markets are more fun than bear markets

Rules of drinking ..

Modern Drunkard Magazine Online

1. If you owe someone money, always pay them back in a bar. Preferably during happy hour.

2. Always toast before doing a shot.

3. Whoever buys the shot gets the first chance to offer a toast.

4. Change your toast at least once a month.

5. Buying someone a drink is five times better than a handshake.

6. Buying a strange woman a drink is still cool. Buying all her drinks is dumb.

7. Never borrow more than one cigarette from the same person in one night.

8. When the bartender is slammed, resist the powerful urge to order a slightly-dirty, very-dry, in-and-out, super-chilled half-and-half martini with a lemon twist. Limit orders to beer, straight shots and two-part cocktails.

9. Get the bartender's attention with eye contact and a smile.

10. Do not make eye contact with the bartender if you do not want a drink.

11. Unacceptable things to say after doing a shot: Great, now I’m going to get drunk. I hate shots. It’s coming back up.

12. Never, ever tell a bartender he made your drink too strong.

13. If he makes it too weak, order a double next time. He'll get the message.

14. If you offer to buy a woman a drink and she refuses, she does not like you.

15. If you offer to buy a woman a drink and she accepts, she still might not like you.

16. If she buys you a drink, she likes you.

17. If someone offers to buy you a drink, do not upgrade your liquor preference.

18. Always have a corkscrew in your house.

19. If you don't have a corkscrew, push the cork down into the bottle with a pen.

20. Drink one girly drink in public and you will forever be known as the guy who drinks girly drinks.

21. Our parents were better drinkers than we are.

22. Never talk to someone in the restroom unless you're doing the same thing—urinating, waiting in line or washing your hands.

23. Girls hang out, apply make-up, and have long talks in the bathroom. Men do not.

24. After your sixth drink, do not look at yourself in the mirror. It will shake your confidence.

25. It is only permissible to shout 'woo-hoo!' if you are doing a shot with four or more people.

26. If there is a d.j., you can request a song only once per night. If he doesn't play it within half an hour, do not approach him again. If he does play it, do not approach him again.

27. Learn how to make a rose out of a bar napkin. You'll be surprised how well it works.

28. If you can't afford to tip, you can't afford to drink in a bar. Go to the liquor store.

29. If you owe someone twenty dollars or less, you may pay them back in beer.

30. Never complain about the quality or brand of a free drink.

31. If you have been roommates with someone more than six months, you may drink all their beer, even if it's hidden, as long as you leave them one.

32. You can have a shot of their hard liquor only if the cap has been cracked and the bottle goes for less than $25.

33. The only thing that tastes better than free liquor is stolen liquor.

34. If you bring Old Milwaukee to a party, you must drink at least two cans before you start drinking the imported beer in the fridge.

35. Learn to appreciate hangovers. If it was all good times every jackass would be doing it.

36. If you ever feel depressed, get out a bartender’s guide and browse through all the drinks you’ve never tried.

37. Try one new drink each week.

38. If you are the bar's sole customer, you are obliged to make small talk with the bartender until he stops acknowledging you. Then you're off the hook. The same goes for him.

39. Never tip with coins that have touched you. If your change is $1.50, you can tell the barmaid to keep the change, but once she has handed it to you, you cannot give it back. To a bartender or cocktail waitress, small change has no value.

40. If you have ever told a bartender, “Hey, it all spends the same,” then you are a cheap ass.

41. Anyone on stage or behind a bar is fifty percent better looking.

42. You can tell how hard a drinker someone is by how close they keep their drink to their mouth.

43. A bar is a college, not a nursery. If you spill a beer, clean it up. If you break a glass, wait for a staff member to clean it up, then blame it on someone else.

44. Being drunk is feeling sophisticated without being able to say it.

45. It's okay to drink alone.

46. After three drinks, you will forget a woman's name two seconds after she tells you. The rest of the night you will call her “baby” or “darling”.

47. Nothing screams 'nancy boy' louder than swirling an oversized brandy snifter.

48. Men don't drink from straws. Unless you're doing a Mind or Face Eraser.

49. If you do a shot, finish it. If you don't plan to finish it, don't accept it.

50. Never brood in a dance bar. Never dance in a dive bar.

51. Never play more than three songs by the same artist in a row.

52. Your songs will come on as you're leaving the bar.

53. Never yell out jukebox selections to someone you don't know.

54. Never lie in a bar. You may, however, grossly exaggerate and lean.

55. If you think you might be slurring a little, then you are slurring a lot. If you think you are slurring a lot, then you are not speaking English.

56. Screaming, “Someone buy me a drink!” has never worked.

57. For every drink, there is a five percent better chance you will get in a fight. There is also a three percent better chance you will lose the fight.

58. Fighting an extremely drunk person when you are sober is hilarious.

59. If you are broke and a friend is “sporting you”, you must laugh at all his jokes and play wingman when he makes his move.

60. If you are broke and a friend is “making sport of you”, you may steal any drink he leaves unattended.

61. Never rest your head on a table or bar top. It is the equivalent of voluntarily putting your head on a chopping block.

62. If you are trading rounds with a friend and he asks if you're ready for another, always say yes. Once you fall out of sync you will end up buying more drinks than him.

63. If you're going to hit on a member of the bar staff, make sure you tip well before and after, regardless of her response.

64. The people with the most money are rarely the best tippers.

65. Before you die, single-handedly make one decent martini.

66. Asking a bartender what beers are on tap when the handles are right in front of you is the equivalent of saying, “I'm an idiot.”

67. Never ask a bartender “what's good tonight?” They do not fly in the scotch fresh from the coast every morning.

68. If there is a line for drinks, get your goddamn drink and step the hell away from the bar.

69. If there is ever any confusion, the fuller beer is yours.

70. The patrons at your local bar are your extended family, your fathers and mothers, your brothers and sisters. Except you get to sleep with these sisters. And if you're really drunk, the mothers.

71. It's acceptable, traditional in fact, to disappear during a night of hard drinking. You will appear mysterious and your friends will understand. If they even notice.

72. Never argue your tab at the end of the night. Remember, you're hammered and they’re sober. It's akin to a precocious five-year-old arguing the super-string theory with a physicist. 99.9% of the time you're wrong and either way you're going to come off as a jackass.

73. If you bring booze to a party, you must drink it or leave it.

74. If you hesitate more than three seconds after the bartender looks at you, you do not deserve a drink.

75. Beer makes you mellow, champagne makes you silly, wine makes you dramatic, tequila makes you felonious.

76. The greatest thing a drunkard can do is buy a round of drinks for a packed bar.

77. Never preface a conversation with a bartender with “I know this is going to be a hassle, but . . .”

78. When you’re in a bar and drunk, your boss is just another guy begging for a fat lip. Unless he’s buying.

79. If you are 86’d, do not return for at least three months. To come back sooner makes it appear no other bar wants you.

80. Anyone with three or more drinks in his hands has the right of way.

81. If you’re going to drink on the job, drink vodka. It’s the no-tell liquor.

82. There’s nothing wrong with drinking before noon. Especially if you’re supposed to be at work.

83. The bar clock moves twice as fast from midnight to last call.

84. A flask engraved with a personal message is one of the best gifts you can ever give. And make sure there’s something in it.

85. On the intimacy scale, sharing a quiet drink is between a handshake and a kiss.

86. You will forget every one of these rules by your fifth drink.

--Frank Kelly Rich

Difference between different music styles

Rave/House/Techno Music: Techno/Trance/Dance, electronic music genres, dj hixxy

GENRE AVERAGE BPM MOOD OF TRACK KEY POINTS EXAMPLES

Ambient 75 - 90 Mellow, relaxed No drums. Sweeping synths. Easy listening CDs
Big beat 100 - 120 Funky, danceable Prominent beat, many samples Fatboy Slim
Breakbeat 125 - 145 Funky Pseudo-random, very chopped up The Avalanches, Run DMC
Club/dance/euro 130 - 145 Happy, danceable "Club/chart music". Female voc Alice Deejay, ATB
Drum & bass 170 - 190 Dark, hypnotic Focus on bass, pounding beat ]EIB[, Decoder, Dieselboy
Gabba/gabber 200 + Manic Blisteringly fast Terrorcore
(UK) Garage 130 - 145 Grungey, underground Bass-centric, MC/rapping So Solid Crew
Happy hardcore 180 - 200 VERY uplifting High pitched vocals, piano Bang!, DJ Brisk
Hardcore 170 - 200 Hypnotic, uplifting Overpowering keyboards Scott Brown, DJ Hixxy
Hardhouse 140 - 150 Hypnotic Repetitive, trance-inducing Lisa Lashes, Yomanda
Hi-NRG 145 - 160 Hypnotic, uplifting Instantly uplifting, powerful Naoki, DJ Ham
IDM 120 - 180 Can be anything Very creative, experimental Aphex Twin, Squarepusher
House 125 - 140 Funky, mellow Laidback, very vocal LMC, most 1990s 'dance'
Techno 100 - 120 Hypnotic Very minimal. Beat and synth Kraftwerk, Fuzkitz
Trance 130 - 145 Danceable, uplifting Laidback, simple female vocals Paul van Dyk, Robert Miles

Enneagram Personality Type Indicator Results

Enneagram Personality Type Indicator Results

Your highest score will indicate you basic type, or it will be among the top 2-3 scores. Low scores in some type might come out negative. That's perfectly normal.

For best results, you should answer all the questions that apply.

Type 1 Type 2 Type 3 Type 4 Type 5 Type 6 Type 7 Type 8 Type 9
-4 -3 4 -4 3 -3 5 1 1


The Nine Personality Types of the Enneagram

Type 1: The Reformer. The rational, idealistic type.
Type 2: The Helper. The caring, nurturing type.
Type 3: The Motivator. The adaptable, success-oriented type.
Type 4: The Artist. The intuitive, reserved type.
Type 5: The Thinker. The perceptive, cerebral type.
Type 6: The Skeptic. The committed, security-oriented type.
Type 7: The Generalist. The enthusiastic, productive type.
Type 8: The Leader. The powerful, aggressive type.
Type 9: The Peacemaker. The easygoing, accommodating type.

For more information about the types, the test or your score, click here.



The Orchard

Recommended ;
Mushroom Flatbread
Lobster Empanadas
Butternut Squash Ravioli
Lamb Tenderloin

The Orchard - New York, NY, 10002 - Citysearch

Antonuccii

Antonucci - New York, NY, 10028 - Citysearch

Went here last night, good meatballs. Chianti by the glass wasn't bad either.

Crowded, older ues crowd.

Vasomotor rhinitis

Vasomotor rhinitis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

VASOMOTOR RHINITIS - Pedbase.org

VASOMOTOR RHINITIS - Pedbase.org

Congestion for over 6 months

I feel your pain! I also have had a stuffed-up nose for YEARS & went to doctor after doctor. They always gave me prescription nasal sprays which did NOTHING. The doctors were always surprised at this & kind of gave up on me. Finally I did my own research & discovered that I have a non-allergic nasal condtion in which changes in temperature & humidity cause the blood vessels in my nasal passages to swell, blocking the air flow & causing the stuffiness. Because it's NOT an allergy, the allergy medications DIDN'T work! My research told me that there is no cure for or medication for this condition. I use Afrin everyday in order to be able to breathe, smell & taste my food! Doctors disapprove of Afrin, but what can I do??

Congestion for over 6 months - WrongDiagnosis.com

MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia

MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia: Nasal congestion

Current Exhibitions 5/20 - 5/26

Design for the other 90% Cooper Hewitt Museum. Mon-Thu Till 5. Fri till 9. Sat Sun till 6. $12. Till Sep 23. 91st and 5Av
Frogs : A Chorus of Colors AMNH Till 5:45. From 5/26 till 9/9

Morality and the Brain

Brain damage, evolution, and the future of morality. - By William Saletan - Slate Magazine

Very interesting article. The conflicts that one occasionally feels while making difficult decisions are actually played out in the brain as a "neuron" war between two different sub-systems. On one side, there is one sub-system that deals with emotion and social responses (morality, etc), and on the other side, there is another sub-system that is based on logic, prediction and maximizing utility. How often has one not struggled to balance rational thought with irrational impulses ? Well, apparently which side wins depends on the relative strengths of the two subsystems. Its interesting how neuroscientists figured this out. Apparently, they presented situations that involved conflicting decisions, to two sets of people. For example, the situation could be something like this - would you sacrifice a fatally injured person on a life boat to save the others on the boat? "Normal" people made the decision that was purely emotional, but illogical - they could not bring themselves to sacrifice the injured person. However, people whose "emotional" sub-system was damaged had no hesitation whatsoever in throwing the poor chap to the sharks.

This is something that I suspected all along. Morality, emotion etc., - these are all present in humans because of evolution- it must have been beneficial for our ancestors to have these feelings. Probably made them stick around in groups and hunt together (This is not restricted to humans - I saw a program on National Geographic where they showed this baboon trying to save another baboon from the clutches of an alligator. Baboons - like humans - have a very complex social structure).

The article argues that the need for these emotions have lessened in the modern world - and we are becoming more utilitarian. I don't think I agree with that. Its true that on a macro-scale, things have become very utilitarian. But isn't that because we've finally figured out that the best way to "progress" is if everyone "progresses"? On a macro-scale, decisions are increasingly made with an attempt at maximizing collective good (lets not get into the beliefs of the republican party here) . On a micro-level, we still maintain our "emotional" instincts - its what maintains our families, makes us find mates and raise our children.


P.S The article had a link to what seems like an interesting book. Going to be my next read.


Woman dropped on head

Woman dropped on head alleges 'negligent dancing' - CNN.com

Saturn's weird Hexagon

The latest weird discovery in the solar system is a bizarre hexagon of clouds encircling the north pole of Saturn. Well, its not really a new discovery - it was first sighted about fifteen years ago by the spacecrafts Voyager 1 and 2. What is new is that the latest images by the Cassini spacecraft confirm that this is no short-lived phenomenon. Now, why did it take fifteen years to confirm this ? Well, the polar night on Saturn in winter lasts about fifteen years, and its only now that the north pole is re-emerging from darkness (The hexagon is currently visible mostly in infra-red but should become visible to visual cameras soon). The hexagon itself looks like a big bolt holding the top of a giant screw around which Saturn is rotating.
So whats the big deal? The big deal is that natural hexagons do not occur that frequently in nature. Our planet has similar winds blowing in the poles, but they form circular patterns. Nature usually abhors polygons - it almost always prefers circles and ellipses - and the presence of an almost symmetrical six sided figure has intrigued scientists - is there something unnatural thats responsible for the hexagon ?
This thought is very exciting to astronomers - finding evidence of life outside Earth is sort of an holy grail for them, and any unexplainable abnormality is immediately used as an excuse to fantasize about extra terrestrials. Sadly, the hexagon shape is something that can be explained without the need for giant gas-beings building hexagonal cities in Saturn's atmosphere. Apparently rotating a bucket of water at high speeds produces geometric shapes - a three-sided star, a square, a pentagon - and at high speeds - a hexagon (read about this experiment at Nature). Something similar is probably at work in Saturn's atmosphere.
On a lighter note, John Tierney at the New York Times had a competition to find the whackiest theory for the hexagon (read the whole story at Tierney Lab - may need subscription). My personal pick is "It’s a gaseous planet . . . it has to have some place where it can find relief". Hah.