Raven's View

Here I am again with a pile of clippings and thoughts to share. My intent was to make this a weekly affair but that has hasn't happened yet. I thought this would be a good one to start with:

• I was going to refer to an articlein the Globe and Mail on Procrastination, but I waited too long - the link no longer works. It was written by Dr. Timothy Pychyl of Carleton University, turns out he heads up their Procrastination Research Group. Who knew! Check them out here.
• If your PC is starting to fade and you can't afford a new one, there was a helpful article on the Citizen on sources for refurbished electronics. These could be things that were returned unused to a store, or back to a supplier after a lease is finished. They're checked over and tested before being resold, and come with warranties from30 days to 2 years. I checked out one of the stores The Trailing Edge, they have a wide selection online and even more in the store apparently. And they were helpful on the phone for a fan problem I had.

As I read the papers I often come across an article, or phrase, that I'd like to share and perhaps expand on in here. Sharing to Facebook is an easy click via a tool bar icon,  but for this blog I prefer to do more than just post a link. So, as I read something intriguing I circle it, tear out the page, and put it aside for later. Later becomes much later - like most of the many priorities in the leisurely life of the semi-retired. The pile was getting pretty high, so I stopped adding to it a few weeks ago. Time to clear it out and start collecting more - here's what's in the pile:

• Shoes - In December the UK Guardian News had an article about the shoe thrower incident when Bush visited Iraq. They also mentioned a spinoff game, Sock and Awe, that let you throw a virtual brown loafer at Bush. The game went to 46 million cyber-shoes in a few days, is now at over 86 million. And the original thrower - journalist Muntaderal al-Zaida, what will happen to him? 15 years in prison is the maximum penalty he faces, on the charge of assaulting a foreign leader. His trial is set to begin Feb. 19. Unfortunately the statue erected in his honour - well, of a really big shoe - was quickly taken down.  The Guardian also reports on a similar shoe protest in February, when a Cambridge student threw a shoe at the Chinese premier Wen Jiabao.
• Orgasms - December 24th the G&M mentioned a study claiming that for some people experiencing an orgasm sent them into an uncontrolled fit of sneezing. Don't you just hate it when that happens? There was no mention on whether the reverse was true, i.e. that a fit of sneezing can trigger an orgasm. Maybe that's why snuff became so popular in the 1700's - all those lords and ladies, flirting in their tights and bosomy dresses, sniffing and sneezing and smiling.