Stuff we're reading / watching / listening to

[yayfulness]

I've never enjoyed the little details of a novel so much before.

[Digit]

When you need a car whose engine is just about as big as the rest of the thing

From this microcar auction.

[mic0]

From that Slate astronomy blog -- a very cool video of a moonrise in real time (read the article for a nice explanation of how it was done). It's mesmerizing. I want to go to a star party now.

[C is for]

I just watched the first episode of X-files.

[bobtheenchantedone]

All documentaries all day all the time. Today's were:

Hungry for Change: Certainly the most moderate of the food documentaries I watched today (three of the four). I'm a little fuzzy on the details now as it was the first I watched, but as far as I remember it combined eat less stupidly with some self-empowerment and then win at life.

Freakonomics: I read the book years ago and so had been planning to watch this for ages. I'm glad I finally got around to it. Not only was it interesting, but when I read it I was kinda turned off on the idea because my mother had reacted so strongly to the part on abortion and crime rates.

Food Matters: This one was really interesting. It argued that any and all diseases can be cured through nutrition, especially through megadoses of vitamins. Supposedly there's a clinic in Mexico that is curing cancer using IV's full of vitamin C.

Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead: A guy documents his 60-day juice fast for the first half, and then in the second half documents the 60-day juice fast of a guy the first guy inspired (and who in turn inspires lots of other people). They both lose weight astonishingly quickly and feel great, and now I almost want to juice.

End result: I have eaten about double my usual amount of fruits and veggies today (and I was already trying to eat 3-5 servings per day). I have also eaten two doughnuts, however, so it might be a wash. : )

[Giovanni Schwartz]

Ha. I know a girl that did a juice fast. She gave up after less than a week, despite admirable dedication at the start.

[Zedability]

Food Matters: This one was really interesting. It argued that any and all diseases can be cured through nutrition, especially through megadoses of vitamins. Supposedly there's a clinic in Mexico that is curing cancer using IV's full of vitamin C.

Ugh ugh ugh no no no no no no no no no no no

Once you've consumed 100% of your vitamin needs for the day, you're just going to pee the rest out. It makes no difference to your health, except possibly overworking your kidneys.

However, if you consistently take megadoses, your body will get used to it and actually become less efficient at processing it, and if you go off your megadose, then you will go through withdrawal and be "vitamin deficient" despite taking the correct amount of vitamins.

And there are NO good studies showing that megadoses of vitamin C is this panacea for all illness. Pauling came up with this idea, and since he was such a brilliant scientist it became folk wisdom, and by the time scientist thought "Maybe we should actually test Dr. Pauling's ideas," it was too entrenched in the public mind.

[Emiliana]

I think "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead" has some good stuff in it about retaking control of your fitness, but the guy is clearly a business man and not a nutritionist. (He basically defined micronutrients as "stuff that's good for you, like fruits and veggies," and macronutrients as "stuff that's not good for you." Um, false. Macronutrients are protein, fat, and carbohydrates, which provide your calories. Micronutrients are vitamins, minerals, and assorted other goodies.)

[bobtheenchantedone]

Food Matters: This one was really interesting. It argued that any and all diseases can be cured through nutrition, especially through megadoses of vitamins. Supposedly there's a clinic in Mexico that is curing cancer using IV's full of vitamin C.

Ugh ugh ugh no no no no no no no no no no no

Once you've consumed 100% of your vitamin needs for the day, you're just going to pee the rest out. It makes no difference to your health, except possibly overworking your kidneys.

However, if you consistently take megadoses, your body will get used to it and actually become less efficient at processing it, and if you go off your megadose, then you will go through withdrawal and be "vitamin deficient" despite taking the correct amount of vitamins.

And there are NO good studies showing that megadoses of vitamin C is this panacea for all illness. Pauling came up with this idea, and since he was such a brilliant scientist it became folk wisdom, and by the time scientist thought "Maybe we should actually test Dr. Pauling's ideas," it was too entrenched in the public mind.

Yeah by "interesting" I mean "thought-provoking but I didn't really believe it."

[Zedability]

Food Matters: This one was really interesting. It argued that any and all diseases can be cured through nutrition, especially through megadoses of vitamins. Supposedly there's a clinic in Mexico that is curing cancer using IV's full of vitamin C.

Ugh ugh ugh no no no no no no no no no no no

Once you've consumed 100% of your vitamin needs for the day, you're just going to pee the rest out. It makes no difference to your health, except possibly overworking your kidneys.

However, if you consistently take megadoses, your body will get used to it and actually become less efficient at processing it, and if you go off your megadose, then you will go through withdrawal and be "vitamin deficient" despite taking the correct amount of vitamins.

And there are NO good studies showing that megadoses of vitamin C is this panacea for all illness. Pauling came up with this idea, and since he was such a brilliant scientist it became folk wisdom, and by the time scientist thought "Maybe we should actually test Dr. Pauling's ideas," it was too entrenched in the public mind.

Yeah by "interesting" I mean "thought-provoking but I didn't really believe it."

I'm a little hypersensitive to this after having a similar conversation with one of my mom's friends. Except she didn't believe it. And she kept citing these "studies" by this guy who didn't have a PhD because "the kinds of experiments he does aren't accepted by the scientific community," which she seemed to think was a good thing. Uggghhhhhh.

[Digit]

Most animals can make their own vitamin C, but humans, along with a few other species, lack lack the L-gulonolactone oxidase (GULO) enzyme, which is required in the last step of vitamin C synthesis, because they have a differing non-synthesising gene for the enzyme (Pseudogene ΨGULO). Thiiis close (pinching fingers)

[Portia]

I'm a little hypersensitive to this after having a similar conversation with one of my mom's friends. Except she didn't believe it. And she kept citing these "studies" by this guy who didn't have a PhD because "the kinds of experiments he does aren't accepted by the scientific community," which she seemed to think was a good thing. Uggghhhhhh.

Seconded. I still feel traumatized by relatives thinking green smoothies would magically cure my mother's cancer.

[bobtheenchantedone]

Today I only watched two documentaries.

Chemerical: Redefining Clean for a New Generation: a family is challenged to go toxin free for three months, which basically means throwing out every single cleaner and personal care product they own and finding or making natural alternatives. It was a little obnoxious and gimmicky, but thought-provoking. Not only do we watch the family struggle to figure out what to do now and adapt to this new way of living, but there were also bits on the effects chemicals have on people who, for example, live near production facilities.

Busting Out: in a nutshell: it's about breasts. The narrator's mother died of breast cancer when she was seven, and she's associated her own breasts with death ever since. ("The Boobs of Doom were now coming for me.") So she decides to take a look at breasts in as many different ways as possible: historically, in modern times, in other cultures, breastfeeding, sexualization, breast cancer, mastectomies, how girls view going through puberty, how older generations view breasts, getting reductions or implants, and even a quick bit on burlesque.

I also started watching Fat Head, which is a response to Supersize Me, but it was so sarcastic and so bent on destroying the other movie that it was of no value itself.

[Yarjka]

I also started watching Fat Head, which is a response to Supersize Me, but it was so sarcastic and so bent on destroying the other movie that it was of no value itself.

I love the content of Fat Head, but his humor is definitely not my style.

I'll have to watch that breasts movie.

[bobtheenchantedone]

I also started watching Fat Head, which is a response to Supersize Me, but it was so sarcastic and so bent on destroying the other movie that it was of no value itself.

I love the content of Fat Head, but his humor is definitely not my style.

In the five minutes I watched he made an entirely stupid claim: "It took me hours to film a few minutes of fat people, so there can't be an obesity epidemic!" Even if he meant that part as sarcasm, it's an idea that could be too easily taken as a solid argument to people who don't think much. The rest of his rhetoric is along the same lines, that is, that people can't be getting fat from fast food because no one is making them eat it and there are healthy choices at fast food restaurants. I mean, those are facts, but it completely sidesteps the issues that the main parts of the menus are the high-sodium, high-sugar, high-chemicals offerings, and that they're the cheaper and tastier options, so most people are going to choose them and therefore there is a problem there to be addressed and he's only hindering the exploration of what needs to be done there.

[Yarjka]

I also started watching Fat Head, which is a response to Supersize Me, but it was so sarcastic and so bent on destroying the other movie that it was of no value itself.

I love the content of Fat Head, but his humor is definitely not my style.

In the five minutes I watched he made an entirely stupid claim: "It took me hours to film a few minutes of fat people, so there can't be an obesity epidemic!" Even if he meant that part as sarcasm, it's an idea that could be too easily taken as a solid argument to people who don't think much. The rest of his rhetoric is along the same lines, that is, that people can't be getting fat from fast food because no one is making them eat it and there are healthy choices at fast food restaurants. I mean, those are facts, but it completely sidesteps the issues that the main parts of the menus are the high-sodium, high-sugar, high-chemicals offerings, and that they're the cheaper and tastier options, so most people are going to choose them and therefore there is a problem there to be addressed and he's only hindering the exploration of what needs to be done there.

Good points. When I say I love the content, I say it because that film in particular started me on the path of reevaluating my diet and eating much healthier--I've cut out mostly all high-sugar, high-chemical foods, and I do make the good choices he talks about when I'm at fast food restaurants (which I really only go to on rare occasions, now).

[Digit]

Interesting podcast in which they hypothesize about which professions in which machines will take the jobs from humans by 2045. Imagine if, contrary to the beliefs of many, artificial intelligence did get good enough to make machines that can make machines better than them, programs that can make programs (and not talking about boilerplate or using, say, automated usage of yacc in a narrow mechanistic way). I don't have my finger on the pulse of the reality of industry, but I suppose it would be foolhardy to flippantly say "Psh, that'll never happen!"

[Zedability]

Stress Health Effects: 10 Scary Things It's Doing To Your Body Maybe it's just me, but I find the way they titled the article a little ironic. "Stress is bad! Read our scary article about it!"

[UffishThought]

I just discovered the band Mariachi El Bronx. They were a punk band, and then they thought "hey, maybe we should to mariachi music instead!" It's fun.

[Whistler]

Stress Health Effects: 10 Scary Things It's Doing To Your Body Maybe it's just me, but I find the way they titled the article a little ironic. "Stress is bad! Read our scary article about it!"

and... that's why some nights I sleep for ten hours.