rantlust

Posted by john on January 31st 2006 in History, India, Random, Raves, Society, Travel, USA
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A couple of years ago, we visited Ellis Island in NY harbor to see the Immigration museum there. It was part of a typical Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island ferry tour and the visit remains one of my most cherished personal experiences in America. Perhaps it is because I, like many of you on rantlust, am an American immigant and could identify with the history enshrined in that museum. It was truly a real step back in time looking at all the displays and the history that I could sense behind those silent artifacts was extremely moving. The people who brought them to the shores of America are long gone but the story of their dreams of a new life will live on in this museum. (Read more…)

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Posted by renéejo on January 31st 2006 in Far East, Society, Women
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Japanese men are known for their workaholic ways. In fact, their devotion to work is so much that losing a job is a terrible loss of face and often results in extreme measures such as suicide. The married ones often end up neglecting their wives in the process. This is about to change. Some men got together and formed the Nihon Aisaika Kyokai or the ‘Japan Doting Husbands Association’.

Today is being designated as the ‘Beloved Wives Day’ by this jolly troupe. Their goal for the day is to head home early (by 8pm) and spend quality time with the wives and tell them how much they are appreciated. Maybe this day should be adopted worldwide. (I know Valentine’s day is around the corner but that’s all about greeting card and chocolate manufacturers, isn’t it?)

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Posted by anupcs on January 30th 2006 in Humor, Rants, Society, USA
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Kenyan leaders are being chastised for spending $12m on luxury cars while their people are starving. Not to be left behind in such indulgence, a few morons in San Francisco waited in line for a whole week to get their hands on a pair of Nike’s designer sneakers ($295) which came in a gold (colored?) box. These are not for wearing because if you do, “the value goes down real fast”. The prospective owners were given wristbands to mark their spot in the line. They would have lost their right to buy these shoes if they were not in line during random checks.

I guess working in a Niketown store is so boring that they have to come up with something like this to entertain themselves. This is reality television on the streets. Live reality! We have come full circle.

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Posted by anupcs on January 29th 2006 in Parenting, Rants, Society
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While on a hike today, fellow blogger bab told me about the concept of “Indigo Children.” He had either read about it or seen it on TV recently. Maybe the readers who are parents might have heard of this before. I sure hadn’t and needed to find out more.

Wikipedia informs us that the concept of Indigo children was popularized by Lee Carroll and Jan Tober in their book of the same name (published in 1999). The term itself was coined by parapsychologist Nancy Ann Tappe in the 1970s. Indigo is the color of the child’s “aura,” you see. If your child is smart, hyperactive, super-energetic, easily distracted, arrogant, disruptive, then maybe she is not suffering from ADD after all. Choose a dark room and observe the indigo colored aura around her.
(Read more…)

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Posted by papi on January 29th 2006 in Art, Business, Developing Nations, India, Rants, Sports
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Sticky Wicket: If there were any lingering doubts about who really controls international cricket, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) recently laid those to rest with an awe-inspiring bout of financial muscle flexing. The BCCI, which is the 800 pound gorilla in world cricket, unilaterally decided to withdraw from some ICC (International Cricket Council - cricket’s international governing body) tournaments, increase the number of tours with the stronger cricketing nations, and has dumped the weaker ones. Weaker teams like Bangladesh now find themselves come full circle. After attaining full test status with the backing of the BCCI, they now find the same organization unwilling to organize matches with them. Some are lauding the birth of a new world order, while others are worried about the impact such hard-sell financial strategies will have on the cricketing world. Time will tell.
(Read more…)

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Posted by tafkap on January 28th 2006 in Art, Books, Nature
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We all celebrate feats of human achievement. More often than not, they are a joy to behold. Athletes, art (though I have to admit I did not dig those pictures), music, chess. Even Einstein and E=mc² have acheived pop icon status.

The puzzle I posed in a previous comment brought to my mind the question of mathematics. With it’s impenetrable Greek symbols it can be and often is completely detached from anything that we would consider real. For a pure mathematician, practical applicability is only coincidental. Business week articles notwithstanding, it is really difficult to sex up mathematics.
(Read more…)

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Posted by renéejo on January 28th 2006 in Sex
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Let’s change channels. Let’s talk about something that is of interest to every reader out there. Let’s talk about genitals. Genital cosmetic surgery to be precise. That’s the topic of an interesting column on Wired by cheeky columnist Regina Lynn.

If you are into pseudo-foreskins and hymen reconstructions, read this column.

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Posted by anupcs on January 27th 2006 in Games
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Fastr is a Flickr based “Productivity Enhancer” (as Dave Barry calls ‘em). Images appear on your screen from Flickr and they have some tags in common. Your objective, Mr Hunt, is to take a guess at what these tags are. You get points if you guess correctly and if you type in your name, it will appear on the side ranking you among the active players. You thought Sudoku was addictive? Wait till you try this one out.

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