Brainy Belly Dancers's topics - tribe.net

5 Ways to Dramatically Improve Your Health

Cuindless — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 23:43:20 GMT

Being healthy is tough. Or is it? There are actually little, simple things that you can do to dramatically improve your health. Furthermore, many of these are cost effective as well.

1. STOP SMOKING! I know, it's difficult. I was a smoker for 5 years. My grandmother was a smoker for 35. Quitting isn't easy. However... no other hobby on Earth has been scientifically linked to the death of one out of every three people who engage in it. Skydiving, shark filming, tornado chasing and amateur piloting all have better track records. Take courses, chew gum, get "the patch". Do whatever it takes to quit. Research has proven that quitting smoking improves your health dramatically, even if you're one of the lucky 66.67% who *doesn't* die.

2. Swtich. Drink light beer or diet soda. Eat sugar-free candy. Drink white wine instead of red. Eat whole grain breads. I know what most of you are thinking: "Light beer? Yuck!" That being said, once you make the switch you'll never go back. After one month of drinking but diet soda, drinking a regular Coke was like downing a bottle of straight syrup. Once you do make the switch, you'll find that white bread tastes gross, sugary drinks are thick as molassus and candy sits in your stomach like a brick. If possible, you should cut out white sugar and high fructose corn syrup entirely, but that makes step 2 substantially more difficult.

3. Get exercise. I don't mean "go to the gym", I mean "park further away from work," or "take the stairs". Going to Walgreen's to pick up batteries? Walk! Its only two blocks. The only thing stopping you is laziness.

4. Unplug. Spend some time in natural sunlight every day. Get away from the neon glow of the computer screen or television. Get out, get some sun and meet people. Not only does this have a dramatic effect on your health, it has also been shown to improve your mood. Real friends are far and away more psychologically healthy than online friends and television characters.

5. No More Fast Food. This is by far the most difficult, and even paragons of physical fitness and health give in to the lure of an occasional Big Mac (or whatever's your poison). The problem is that Fast Food is terribly unhealthy, even with the most recent improvements. Filled with saturated fats, simple carbohydrates, oils and starches, most burgers and fries are worse than almost ANYTHING you could cook up at home. Eating out at actual restaurants is healthier. Some restaurants still use trans-fats.

So there it is. Follow these 5 steps and you will feel healthier, stronger and more alert. I promise.

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 22 replies

Need techie help...

Fioletta — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 17:13:19 GMT

A the risk of sounding very (okay, even MORE) paranoid, I would like to know if there are any effective ways to detect keystroke software on your computer? I know there is "anti-keystroke" software, but--damn--$34.95 could buy BD CDs or books or hire a hoodoo practitioner to put a hex on whomever would have the audacity to do such a thing.

This time, my paranoia is not unfounded. Appreciate any advice.

*peeking out from underneath a rock*

Just let me know if you do.

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 5 replies

Greek Folk Dancing

PoisonedSpoon — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 22:03:38 GMT

I love drunken Zeibekiko.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThjVk1gp09U&feature=related

This one has been my favorite for a few years just because I love the dancer's gumbi style. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIWCZIP-MRs&feature=related

I danced to this exact recording a couple years ago cross dressed as a man. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIsLqJuDQ74&feature=related

And here we have a pro! Love the glass. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jMBYx76txU&feature=related

So how is this brainy? It's history people! The Zeibekiko is not only my favorite dance, it is also the dance of the Zeibekides (ethnically undefined) who were deported in one of the great diasporas ejecting anyone of Greek heritage from Turkey during the 1920's. Millions of people were deported and the urban cities of Greece, such as Athens, swelled in population beyond capacity before the job market had a chance to right itself. This led to a massive underworld population and the subsequent growth of an underworld society known as the Rebets. The Zeibekides were famous warriors and this dance, the Zeibekiko, was performed by a man who wanted to get the attention of a woman or prove that he was really tough. The heel slapping motions come from the practice of dancing with daggers and the Zeibekis (alt spelling) would occasionally cut their heels while dancing. This practice is called "Analia" and it is Turkish in origin. Naturally such tough, deported thugs would find a place in the growing underworld society of 1920's Greece and the dance that was their hallmark of bravado passed into the collection of men's folk dances that we find from that region today.

The Zeibekiko has a core group of movements that are improvised and personalized between the dancers so that a viewer can recognize the movements of the Zeibekiko but one can hardly call it a choreographed dance. The Zeibekiko is primarily performed by men; its actually really tacky for a woman to do it but it has been done before. The Zeibekiko is also a 9/8. It is a solo dance and it is rather taboo to interrupt one in progress as it requires concentration and its viewed as being a very important display of the dancer's personality, prowess and soul.

Zeybek- sing. Turkish man from the Aegean. (pl. Zeybekler)
Zeibekiko - The Greek name for the dance.
Zeybek-Oyunu - Turkish name for the dance.

~*SpoonZey*~

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 0 replies

Retrogressive Old English

Cuindless — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 15:45:36 GMT

Hit swel bryllyg ac se sliwey towes don gira ac gimbla be se vaba
Alle mimsa swel se borgowes ac se momen rathe oute grabe
Be waeren se Yabir-vock meine sonne, se ceafl in bite ac clawu se traepp
Be waeren se yub-yub bridd ac shunne se abelgan scaethabraepp.

Taken him se byrynswerd in folma, langlice se rethe feond him secan
Thonne gerestan him be se tum-tum beam ac gestandan an hwil im thecan
Ac hwil im bisguen thanc him standan se Yabir-vock mitte eages liegen
Becuman scacan geond se Tolgeyholt ac breaedan swa hit cuman

Ac an, twa, an, twa, ac forslean se byrynswerd gesunden maenwraec!
Him letan hit dead ac mitte hit hafela, him gefaran aernan baec.
Swa... habben eow slaegen se Yabir-vock? Becuman mein earmes mein leohtbora!
Oh glaedmod! Hoche! Hoche! Him hlaffen im his joya!

Hit swel bryllyg ac se sliwey towes don gira ac gimbla be se vaba
Alle mimsa swel se borgowes ac se momen rathe oute grabe...

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 6 replies

Fashion...

Fioletta — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 15:45:01 GMT

WTF?

I can't figure it out. My entire life, I've had my own Fio-style: part post-Boho/part I like it, so fuck you if you can't take a joke. I don't believe that--except for my short stint as a punk--I've never followed a trend and or fad. And, let's face it: in Alabama, I wasn't exactly following a trend there, either.

Therefore, I'm not one to read fashion magazines, but the other day, while waiting for one of my 48 1/2 prescriptions, I flipped open a Harper's Bazaar. It was so unbelievably bizarre/laughable/grotesque/fascinating/absurd that I had to buy it. I realize that the costumes you see on the runway are not actually meant to be worn on the street, but this was...Jesus, you just gotta see it. It wasn't just the clothes, or even the 12 year old models themselves (one has a signature look that is part--imbecile, part surprise and part "Oh, no you di'n't!!")--the entire layouts themselves were just...I can't even properly describe it. That's right, Fio is speechless.

For example, the series of layouts in which they substituted objects instead of model's faces: an iris, a huge clock. I get the nod to Dali, but it is my sincere opinion that he would eat his mustache if he saw their...homage? I don't know what to call it. Another blonde chick had this black plastic fringe hanging over her forehead. She looked like a cross between Eva Braun and Hitler.

I bought the magazine and my son and I laughed...our...asses off. The whole magazine is designed like a bunch of club kids on E decided to color.

Anyway, here's my question to you: is fasion just a stupid frippery that we are, ahem, too brainy to even bother with (e.g. check out the schlubby fashion sense of the typical professor) or is it some sort of mad genius?

Do me a favor: next time you're in the grocery store, find the Bazaar and flip it open. If you can at all explain it to me, I'd be very gratified. I can't tell if I'm just not getting it or if this isn't a 21st version of The Emperor's New Clothes.

Seriously...this is ordinary weirdass fashion bullshit. This borders on misogyny. Or a huge practical joke.

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 11 replies

Book Disguise

Fioletta — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 23:38:55 GMT

Okay, I know this is obvious and fairly stupid, but my left brain is clogged and I need some practical advice from readers.

How do you "disguise" a book when out in public? For example, suppose I just bought--and I did--the fascinating book calld Ecstasia and you know that every time you take it out in public, EVERYBODY is going to ask me what the hell it means...and probably thinking the worst?

Actually, Ecstasia is not the book I'm worried about, I was just putting in plug for Spoonie (it's on the way! Yay!). No the book I'm talking about is blatantly titled and a large percentage of people would openly scoff, a moderate percentage would find it difficult to believe that I actually believe in such things and a minute percentage would actually be afraid of me (maybe that's just wishful thinking).

In the case of a lovely hardback, no problem...world's full of alternate book jackets...but what do you do with a medium size paperback? I love this friggin book but I'm not taking it with me because, dude...I just can't be bothered to tell a total stranger to fuck off...and I just might.

Or maybe I'm the only one with this problem? The rest of you guys are probably reading books about all the mistakes Stephen Hawking's made...

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 23 replies

Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest 2008 Results

mattd — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 12:38:33 GMT

They're in, at http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/scott.rice/blfc2008.htm !

For those who haven't had the enjoyment of this yet: "An international literary parody contest, the competition honors the memory (if not the reputation) of Victorian novelist Edward George Earl Bulwer-Lytton (1803-1873). The goal of the contest is childishly simple: entrants are challenged to submit bad opening sentences to imaginary novels."

My favorite so far: the runner-up in Spy Fiction. What's yours?

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 3 replies

The Creation of Good Fiction

PoisonedSpoon — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 13:19:07 GMT

Is it possible to create a good story without using an overwhelming number of cliches and/or tropes?

~*Spoon*~

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 19 replies

"It's Just a Theory"

Cuindless — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 05:34:43 GMT

This phrase is the bane of my existence. Too many times now I've heard from co-workers, who should be educated in the scientific method mind you, that such-and-such a concept is "just a theory". These people are apparently unaware of what exactly a theory is. Right now I'm talking very specifically about my religious fundamentalist co-worker and his inability to look at anything outside of acoustic physics from a scientific paradigm. We were talking about evolution, and, after a series of points and counter-points, he relied upon that ages old fallacy, "Well... evolution is *just* a theory..."

So what is a scientific theory? The vast majority of the population seems to think that a theory is just some wild ass guess that scientists dream up to explain something they don't fully understand. The reality is a little different. From the United States National Academy of the Sciences: "Some scientific explanations are so well established that no new evidence is likely to alter them. The explanation becomes a scientific theory. In everyday language a theory means a hunch or speculation. Not so in science. In science, the word theory refers to a comprehensive explanation of an important feature of nature that is supported by many facts gathered over time. Theories also allow scientists to make predictions about as yet unobserved phenomena."

So there it is in black and white. In the scientific community, we don't use the word "theory" lightly. We talk about the "theory" of gravity, which has just as much scientific validity as the "theory" of evolution. It has the exact amount of validity as the social conflict "theory" of sociology or the dual coding "theory" of psychology. The point is that when scientists use the word theory, they don't mean "guess", they mean "best explanation of the data we've acquired by our current means of research and technology". Scientists don't sit around guessing. They accumulate data, examine it, develop of hypothesis (AKA "guess"), design an experiment *specifically created to prove the hypothesis wrong*, perform the experiment, make a measurment and compare it to the hypothesis. If, after hundreds and sometimes thousands of experiments, the hypothesis predicts results, only then will it become a theory.

So the next time anyone tells you that some scientific concept or another is "just a theory", remember what that word means to a scientist and let them know. After all, gravity is just a theory and you don't see me in velcro soles...

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 17 replies

Psychology 101 is now in session.

Petra — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 05:01:47 GMT

Seems like it might be interesting to talk about Psychology. REAL Psychology- the science an the theories.

From another thread (edited for brevity):
""Finally, once all the measuring, averaging, counting and mathematics has been done, and the sheepskin awarded, what does that have to do with the person sitting on the couch? ...what are you measuring but the anecdotes recorded from some tests? ... what do the numbers tell the psychologist about any specific individual?"

Excellent questions. I think this is a good place to start the discussion.

Let's begin with some research that I think most everyone here is probably familiar with - "Pavlov's Dogs." Actually, this is known as Classical Conditioning. :-)

While typing this, I am referring to the book "Forty Studies that Changed Psychology: Explorations into the History of Psychological Research, 5th Ed." By, Roger R. Hock. This was required reading for my Research Methods and Statistics class.
(to be continued)

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 93 replies

SHHHH! Do you hear that?

Fioletta — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 17:15:12 GMT

...me either.

I *love* my coworkers:
http://people.tribe.net/71284524-cf1b-40e2-81d5-ed004474eb9f/photos/4e295eff-819e-45ad-8b82-126664476fd9

but I've not been able to work at ALL (by work, I mean write...not my actual, you know, job) because they've both been underfoot, not to mention a suit passing by every other second.

Suits in meeting. One coworker up front at desk. Other worker with headphones on...

*Breaks out the USB*

It's writing time, y'all!

*streamers fall, high-fiving dead authors, etc*

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 0 replies

I am NOT brainy...

Fioletta — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 00:37:28 GMT

...in fact, I'm a lowbrow dork.

Death Race is coming and I can't wait! Can't wait! Can't wait!

Death Race 2000--one of the greatest bad movies ever made and featured Stallone pre-Rocky--was probably my favorite movie when I was a kid...and the remake actually has decent people in it....Like Jason ("Hang on while I take off my shirt for the 5th time in the movie and kick about 40 asses") Statham. I just want to, like, rub against his knee caps. Or something.

Here! See for yourself:

http://www.deathracemovie.net/?__source=ggl|death+race|DeathRace_Movie|DeathRace_Specific&sky=ggl|death+race|DeathRace_Movie|DeathRace_Specific

<singsong voice> I'm not smart, I'm not smart and I'm going to see Death Race and roil about in my own stupidity and shamelessly brag about it on BBD.

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 9 replies

Anemia

PoisonedSpoon — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 13:37:55 GMT

In another thread Petra mentioned an interest in my experiences with Anemia so I thought it would be kind of neat to do a post about it. I know a lot of women have varying degrees of anemia so its likely that at least a few of the people on this list have dealt with it on some level. It might be neat to share a bit.

I think I was about thirteen or fourteen years old when I was first diagnosed with anemia; my doctors at the time told me to just up my iron intake. I never fully understood what anemia was or what it did to the human body until a few years ago when it started to get more serious. When I was a child I was really blood thirsty... literally. I would raid the fridge looking for rare meat and on at least one occasion I drank blood right out of a tray. I can confess to this now because I have since talked to somebody about all these things in my childhood that I thought were just me being weird. I now suspect that I've been anemic my whole life. I have never been able to regulate my own body temperature correctly, when I get cold it feels like it comes from the inside and no amount of sweaters or jackets can fix it. There were a lot of other little symptoms that somebody should have noticed if they had been paying more attention.

When I turned eighteen I thought that perhaps I had a thyroid problem because while growing up in Southern California I could not keep warm unless it stayed around 80 degrees. 55 degree weather was enough for me to bundle up in a sweater and a snow jacket. I actually wore a sweater in 80 degree weather for several months in 1992. So at eighteen I went out and submitted myself to some blood work to have the Doctors try to figure out what the heck was going on; the only thing they found was anemia. This led me to adjust my diet in a major way and I then realized that all my favorite foods from when I was really, really little were the things that I was supposed to be eating to get more iron. When I was three my stepmother asked me what I wanted for my birthday dinner (she was thinking pizza); I told her that I wanted broccoli with cheese. When I was four my mother asked me what my favorite color was and I told her, "Red, because it’s the color of blood." Yikes! So my whole life... I was very likely dealing with anemia and my family just thought I was weird.

When I got pregnant the really bad things started happening; catatonia, rupturing blood vessels, blisters. I think of this as the darker side of anemia; going beyond cravings, temperature regulation and strange behaviors. I didn't know what was happening because the National Healthcare System in the UK put pregnant women in the care of midwives who never asked me about that side of my health. I never connected the two things because I didn't know that they even could be connected. I never saw a doctor until I delivered and he was there for about 15-20 minutes. After I had my baby I was white as a sheet. I had absolutely no color to my skin; I have pictures of this, my face was ghost white. My midwife kept making faces at me and telling me to eat more iron rich foods (like I didn't already know that I was anemic and what to do about that). What I did not know was that there was more than one type of anemia and some are more serious than others.

I got pregnant again about 9 months later and wow... the catatonia got worse and so did everything else. I mostly remember the catatonia because I was like a possible action figure. You could just put me into a position and I would stay like that for long periods of time. (Blood illnesses are actually a major cause of some of the more bizarre trance effects and I felt like I was just constantly entranced.) When I got back to the states they did a full physical and asked me about all my health concerns. When we got the results back from the tests I was essentially taken aside and told that no matter what I did I would be anemic for at least the next two years but it is likely with my medical history that what I have is Occult Anemia. I was strongly advised against having any more children as it would probably land me in the hospital for an extended stay.

Currently I'm approaching my two year mark and I'll be going in for more blood work to see how I'm doing. I take an iron supplement that is close to four times the daily value, and I have other things that I have to take to make sure that I'm able to absorb it into my system. In addition to that I keep an iron rich diet. Being a vegetarian was a bit of an adjustment but I love dark green veggies so that wasn't so bad. Every time I go in to get blood work I have a different person who comes in and reads me the results. Every time... the nurse, doctor or whoever does it they tell me that I am really anemic. *Chuckles* I tell them to read my chart.

It might not be my place to talk about it but she's blogged about it openly so I think that opens me up to mention this; Tempest also struggles with Anemia and has occasional flare ups like I do. I've never seen her mention specifics and I don't like to talk about specifics either because they are really unpleasant. Anemia doesn't seem to impair my ability to stay active and dance but if I have a flare up I can become lethargic or (though it hasn't happened in a while) catatonic.

So those are some of my personal experiences with Anemia.

~*Spoon*~

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 20 replies

Why do you hate America?

Petra — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 10:02:52 GMT

HA! A thought-provoking subject line. ;-)

Actually, I came across this new book (link below) and it seems....interesting. I haven't decided whether I want to read it. Part of me is curious, while another part of me doesn't want to feed more angry-pop-culture-politics into my noggin when there are plenty of other constructive things to read.

What do you guys think about this: http://www.randomhouse.com/crown/dickmeyer/index.html

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 10 replies

Riffing off the autism thread...

Fioletta — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 19:09:35 GMT

In order for my son to receive special services at his school, his diagnosis has to be confirmed by a neurologist.

WTF?

I asked: Are they checking for possible brain abnormalities that may resemble Asperger's?

No.

Are they going to give him an MRI or a CAT?

No.

Well, exactly what will the examination consist of?

Basically, he'll ask the same questions that the *trained specialist* (my emphasis) already asked, analyzed and diagnosed.

*scratching head*

How is a neurologist more qualified to diagnose autism than a psychologist specifically trained to work with autistic children, who--btw--has an autistic child of her own? A psychiatrist, I understand, but a neurologist?

That's just how we've always done it.

Fine. Whatever.As long as we can get things going.

Well, we can't start services without his go ahead...and it typically takes 6 weeks for an appt. Oh, and he also has to submit to a medical exam by the county doctor (already examined by our family physician) and the (far less qualified) school psychologist. Then a team of (unqualified) teachers and administrators have to form a team to formulate a plan for your child.

Didn't you tell me that you've never worked with an autistic child?

True.

How long is this going to take?

Hopefully, it will all be in place by mid-semester.

*Right*. Just in time for him to fail all of his subjects.

This is just the way it's always been done.

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 5 replies

Stuck between a smart and a dumb place (otherwise titled burnout)

Ottavina — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 19:19:37 GMT

Funny thing. I used to be smart, or, at least, my intellect was more readily accessible.

My attention span has waned greatly in the past few years, and it is hard for me to get through thought-provoking stuff I once lived for.

It really is a rock and a hard place, or, as the subject says, a smart and a dumb place. I try to compensate by reading a lot of lightweight stuff, and it doesn't really satisfy. I've tried to push myself to read that which I used to, and my eyes glaze over.

I'm embarrassed to admit this, especially to the brains here in this tribe, but I thought I would in case this ever happened to any of you, and if it did, how did you fix it?

*sigh*
exhaustedOtta

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 22 replies

Autism Documentary

PoisonedSpoon — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 14:30:28 GMT

A few people have asked me about Autism and I've been meaning to post these links for a while. These two videos are the most thorough explanations I've ever seen. They are long but it is very educational and with the frequency of autism diagnosis in the world today it is probably a good idea to watch these.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19i2GsLluGM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccUr_VT-vkc&feature=related

I hope that this will help people to be more understanding of what Autism is, how hard it is for friends and family, and most of all... how normal people can help Autistic children learn to interact.

~*Spoon*~

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 2 replies

Neuroscience of Dance Pt. II - Mirror Neurons

paparaksi — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 04:23:51 GMT

I found this thread recently:

http://yogaandtheindigo.tribe.net/thread/c9613c4a-d4cd-4dd5-9c07-87cdcbf57645#577373ed-1368-4dd2-8ae8-bc2b307193c4

Any thoughts?

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 6 replies

The Hard Problem of Consciousness, A Study

Todd — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 16:05:19 GMT

An abstract on "The Hard Problem of Consciousness", a proposed scientific study.

https://bandura.sbs.arizona.edu/login/consciousness/pubreport.aspx?aid=100

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 5 replies

Attention fiction writers and English Nazis in general...

Fioletta — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 01:11:22 GMT

...I need help.

Okay, dig: because of class differences--which is a sort of subtheme running throughout the story--Sheriff calls woman Mrs. Riggs, though she repeatedly tries to get him to call her Linda. During a crucial scene in which he'll do anything to keep her alive, he finally relents and begins calling her Linda.

However, I'm thinking from Sheriff's slightly awed POV, would still be thinking of her as "Mrs. Riggs"...which is why I continue to refer to her as Mrs. Riggs i.e. Mrs. Riggs caressed her temple with the .44 blahblahblah, and Parlow said,"Linda, put the gun down blah blah blah".

Does that make sense? I mean, he has been thinking of her as Mrs. Riggs ostensibly for 4 weeks. Wouldn't it be more appropriate for him to continue to *think* of her that way or should I suddenly change it to: Linda did this, Linda did that.

Does that make sense?

Also, to really confuse matters, Parlow is very attracted to her and more than a little bit infatuated...but nothing comes from it, I just threw that in to make things even more desperate for Parlow.

Seriously, I'm really stuck here and I want this thing duplicated, stuffed in multiple envelopes and crammed into the nearest mailbox tomorrow afternoon.

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 17 replies

New tribe Dancer's Mind

DuckAmuck — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 19:26:20 GMT

I created a new tribe called Dancer's MInd, in the hopes of creating discussions relating to not only the mindset of dancing and performing, but also other aspects of how our lives affect our dance and the converse of that. As well as significant others, etc. Not necessarily a psychology-based tribe, but definitely tipping our toes in that water...

http://tribes.tribe.net/mentaldance?_click_path=Application%5Btribe%5D.Tribe%5B168da55b-96a7-402d-8cfc-2d1498354d2a%5D

Dancers, psychologists, significant others all welcome. Please come check it out.

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 0 replies

I wanna geek out about Doctor Who for a minute

DuckAmuck — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 18:02:10 GMT

Be advised, if you're watching in Sci-Fi channel or PBS, there are spoilers here. But if you're "clever" or if you're keeping up with other folks geeking out, then it won't be too bad.

I never watched any of the old Doctor Who. I tried not to get involved with the new Doctor Who, but my husband was watching it, it was on m TV, so I got sucked in.

I absolutely love David Tennant. I would love him even if he wasn't Doctor Who, but it'd be harder for me to watch him that way. The guy before him… Chris can't-remember-his-name, was good, but not entirely believable when he was happy or excited.

Rose Tyler – really got sick of her quick. Was happy she was stranded in another dimension. Disappointed she couldn't just stay there and shut up. The psychology of the character was boring. Father issues, young and impressionable. Too young to realize she'd miss her mom, too young to realize she's all her mom has. No thought of any consequences of her own actions – only everyone else's. Of course she fell in love with the doctor. Why would she not? She started following the doctor because she had daddy issues. When she's stranded in a another dimension *with her daddy* she's still not happy.

Martha Jones – liked her. Once again, a little young and not fully thinking through her decisions. But positioned well to do great things once she left the doctor. Bright, clever, interesting.

Donna Noble – by far my favorite. She's actually old enough to know what she's giving up and what she's getting into when she decides to follow the doctor. She has some goofy mom issues, but honestly, most of those were written into the script and not really played into the character. It's odd how that worked out. Also she's the only one who really looked age-appropriate with the doctor. She was clever, too – threw the doctor off a few times that she came up with answers first. But she herself said it from the beginning "I'm a temp." Of course she'll only be around 1 season. How else could it be? Why else would she have said the word "temp" so many times during the season if it didn't mean something? The mom issues weren't even issues when everyone started pointing out that something was going on with her. Her "I'm nothing special" never seemed to me like inferiority bred from a hostile mother (as I think it was intended to) but more a response to the way people were talking to her. If you look at me like I'm death-warmed-over while saying my name, I'd probably say I'm nothing special, too. Plus, if you're traveling with the doctor, you're never the fastest, oldest, smartest, wisest, cleverest person in the area. So to be told you are would be very off-putting. Especially if it's always associated with death, darkness, or something equally terrible. No one ever said, "Oh my god, Donna Noble, so wonderful to finally meet you."

Plus it also kind of sucks that Donna was only here for 1 season and didn't even get a whole season to herself. She shared 2 episodes with Martha Jones, 1 episode with Rose Tyler, 1 episode she was barely even in, and then the last 2. And the first episode of the season showed us Rose, so we were looking for the other folks all season. She's a temp and she didn't get a fair shake.

But I think, instead of being sad that she's gone, it's better to appreciate the fact that she won't know what she's missing. She doesn't know she ever left, so she won't miss being at the doctor's side. She may never be great, but she won't know any different.

That's all the geeking out time I have now. Maybe I'll geek out more later.

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 8 replies

On a softer note

Mahhhra — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 22:03:13 GMT

None of my immediately surrounding friends are up to helping me on this, so it's the bellydancers with life experiences I haven't built up who might provide tips on this one.

I'm doing summer school in a small town, and one of my friends, a student who took his BA and was almost finished his BEd here passed away suddenly Monday night. None of us, his friends here, were at all able to make it to his wake today and we've been edgy without any closure. I decided to hold a casual in-memory-of for our friend (going to a small school for five years, you make a lot of friends, so there are lots of us who haven't gotten to mourn in public yet). I'm asking for RSVPs so the late-afternoon get together tomorrow night and getting positive feedback, but the there are little things I'm concerned about.

I would love some feedback if you could provide any on my ideas, I've never done anything like this before.

The house is spacious but with thin walls, so some sort of background music would be considerate. I figured classical. My friend wasn't intense into music. I'm setting up my own room as a place to sit down and write, in private, condolence notes to the family and figured I'd set up the background music there as the let-it-be kind of cathartic white noise.

I'm already making lists finger foods I can put together on the kitchen table. Any tips on easily mass produced comfort foods? I prefer to bake myself than buy. Sandwiches, and all that sort of thing. Coffee probably, it won't be late, and I doubt people will bring much more than some beer.

I'm asking around if anyone has a nice picture of him (everything's digital these days) and was thinking even a small gesture, like having each guest light a little candle next to his picture would provide that kind of ritual you'd get at a wake.

This is really the only chance we'll have to discuss it openly until the school organizes a true service once school resumes in September. I'm searching the house for kleenex and getting the place tidy in preparation already. Thank you guys!

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 7 replies

Neuroscience of Dance

PoisonedSpoon — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 17:33:21 GMT

Neuroscience of Dance Thread on Tribal Belly Dance http://tribalbellydance.tribe.net/thread/01fe4b05-9b8f-4fb7-b14b-1ba3aa999bad?newpostingid=b211fe2e-9b0a-4651-afe3-cd78f4320476#b211fe2e-9b0a-4651-afe3-cd78f4320476

Well I've struck again. Instead of taking bets on if I actually killed the thread I thought I would post a link to let my brainy buddies invade and perhaps keep it from dying. Post here or there; I like the thread so I'll follow it wherever. :-)

~*SpoonDestroyerOfThreads*~

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 30 replies

Humans in rubber suits

Arzo — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 18:54:04 GMT

Something Cuindless said reminded me of a passage I read in one of my boyfriend´s table top books.

It said:
"There´s often a trend in SF games (as well as literature and movies) to classify a whole planet as a "Desert World" or a "Jungle World" etc. When you actually think about it, this is pretty silly; virtually any planet that is within the "life zone" of a starand is even remotely habitable to humans will have the same vast variation in terrain and climate types as our own world has. (...) Basically, a planet is a very big place – not just a few acres of movie studio backlot!"

The author, Jon Tuffley, also has some interesting points about aliens in SF media, which I wholeheartedly agree on. Most aliens in movies are little more than humans in rubber suits. A Klingon does not have really alien motives despite having the Grand Canyon and its tributaries on their forehead – their mindset is firmly modeled after the warrior cultures of Earth.

There are few movie aliens that ever seemed as alien to me as the very human Sir Anthony Hopkins in Instinct or Silence of the Lambs. One should assume that alien feelings, personalities or motivations are, well, alien. Unfathomable (which is a cool word).

What would you think an alien personality would be like – assuming an intelligence close to our own level?

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 28 replies

Something Really Cool

Cuindless — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:34:47 GMT

Every once in a while I go to this website: http://www.extremeinstability.com/index.htm

I really like this guys work. Storms are very interesting to me, and he takes them very seriously. He's really progressed as a photographer over the years he's been stormchasing. Anyway, I thought I'd share it with you guys. Hope you enjoy his work as much as I do.

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 10 replies

Concsiousness, Nature & Nurture, and other peculiar theories

DuckAmuck — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 16:57:39 GMT

Todd was talking about these things in the aliens thread. Sounded interesting, wanted to keep it going, but didn't want to interrupt the alien talk over there.

I'm a psychology buff, I learn about it for fun. I study it even though I'm not in school for it. (And I don't think I could stomach school for it… want to do my own thing and not be bogged down in case studies.) So this kind of thing is right up my alley.

I'm wiling to discuss it in terms of other sciences, but… come on… nature & nurture BELONG to psychology.

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 70 replies

Good Idea? Bad Idea?

Cuindless — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 06:09:56 GMT

A little something about me that many of you may not know is that, in addition to all the other things I may or may not be, I am also a classically trained opera singer. I gave up on singing opera because, frankly, I'm no Luciano Pavarotti, and unless you ARE a Luciano Pavarotti (or an Andrea Bocelli, Jose Careres or Josh Groban), then there is next to no money to be made in the opera biz. But a part of me always wonders, what if I did take the music path instead of the science path? What if I indulged and utilized my other gift instead of science? It is this wondering that leaves me at a crossroads.

I have since left opera behind. It isn't because I love opera less, it's because my musical tastes have broadened considerably since I was fresh out of High School. I've discovered a love of folk music, reggae, rock (classic, alternative, punk and others) and many other styles.

American Idol try outs will be in New Jersey in August, and part of me desperately wants to go and belt out Meat Loaf at the top of my lungs with passion and power until Simon tries to yell over the top of me to stop. That's when the fear of failure, the faer of success and the analytical brain all kick in at once. What if I lose? What if I win? What will this do to the current life that I've worked so hard to achieve?

I've talked it over with Spoon, and she thinks it's a bad idea. Now, I don't want anyone to think that my lovely wife is "Spoon: Killer of Dreams", because that's not it at all. SHe thinks it's a bad idea for several reasons, all of which make logical sense. Would I have to give up my job? Gas prices being what they are, can we afford to travel to NJ? If I do win, will that mean several months in CA? If I lose would she have to nurse my bruised ego? All good points, if you ask me.

Now, I would like to solicit the responses of the brain trust (I've taken to calling you lovely ladies and gentlemen "the brain trust" lately). I know this puts many of you in a delicate position (do I disagree with "teh <sic> Spoon"? Do I tell Cuin not to follow his dream?), but trust me when I tell you that I actually do want honesty. Knowing that there's a lot at risk, should I go ahead and try out?

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 19 replies

Spoons Book

Anartha — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 16:53:36 GMT

Hey Spoony do you know if your book is going to be a US release only? Or is it world wide? If so im sure Amara would love for your ass to come down to Aus and do some book signings :D

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 3 replies

MIT Hacks

Mahhhra — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 14:57:31 GMT

http://hacks.mit.edu/

I like browsing through these examples of "hacks" for which MIT is famous. I'm living at a small university for the summer, and it's really hard not to wonder what those statues of religious figures would look like with togas. Or I'm taking careful note of who has keys to which buildings and when the campus police do their rounds at night. Really, with four thousand students in a four thousand person town, security isn't an issue - I wouldn't have the cops called on me if I took a friend or three to help me put up a few background elements from Super Mario Bros 3. Or some of those boxes with question marks on them. Lots of white columns in the architecture in my school, so lots of possibilites... if I can reach them.

Has anyone here ever pulled a larger scale prank? If you had the resources and free time, would you prefer to devote your energy to inside math jokes, or memorials like the giant DnD die that MIT students put out when whats-his-name-died?

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 12 replies

Spoon's Ethnomusicology Notes

PoisonedSpoon — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 13:56:48 GMT

(Preface: I'm rereading my Ecstasia bibliography so that I can expand my notes and keep better record of my thoughts. The following are just surface thoughts to the books I have on ethnomusicology. Some of these books are outdated which means that there are more developed writings on the subject than some of the ones I am reading but I find that reading them chronologically helps me to understand the progression. This isn't much of a presentation... just my surface thoughts really. And even then only a fraction of the surface thoughts I have in response. I just wanted to share a few key concepts and my responses to them for the enjoyment of my fellow Brainies. I'll probably post a few of these over the next few months; if anything sparks an interest then please chime in.)

The Anthropology of Music
Alan P. Merriam
Northwestern University Press 1964
pg. 13, 3rd paragraph

"The study of music as a means of communication, then, is far more complex than it might appear, for we do not know what precisely music communicates, or how it communicates it. Communication also involves both understanding and receptivity to understanding. To view music as a communicative device is clearly one of the purposes of ethnomusicology, though it has been little investigated."

This seems like it would equate not only to metropolitan musical languages that cater to a broader, and in today's market, even global arena but also to the limited exposure of smaller regional and sub-cultural dialects. Even so, the sphere of global music is not nearly so global as even I might initially think. "Receptivity to understanding" outright declares a desire to understand; meaning that if the desire is not there to begin with then there will actually be no possibility for anything remotely resembling clear communication. Thus global music is limited by what is fashionably acceptable for a group of people to understand. (Nothing puts the pressure on like fashion!)

This has very obvious ramifications for the belly dance scene and it's expansion through nations not customarily interested in "Middle Eastern" Music. (I hate the M.E. moniker but will use it here.) What I find most interesting is how much more momentum it has gained since the BD world has provided an American musical alternative; but there are other means of explanation that would have to be explored; jumping to a conclusion too fast would be an unsound idea.

More importantly for me this paragraph does a great deal to further my personal theories on the mechanics of trance and the significance of hypnotic suggestion. Firstly that a person must first be receptive to suggestion that a particular form of music induces altered states more readily than another. (This is generally already common amongst those interested in the transcendental arts.) Once that hypnotic suggestion has been accepted the individual will experience a difficulty "trancing" to anything else or, once alpha ecstasis has been reached, the individual will find it noteworthy or exceptional that they were able to succeed in trance without clinging to the form of music they were influenced to believe was the best suited for it. The conditioning of musical receptivity is not easily traceable therefore for the purposes of solidifying skill in the transcendental arts it must either be completely rebuilt from the ground up through training and exposure or the preconceived hypnotic suggestions must be fully embraced and brought to a more productive level of utility. (Different options for persons of varying levels of self discipline.)

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 0 replies

Dancer/Performance Evaluation

PoisonedSpoon — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:25:59 GMT

I purchased a bundle of miscellaneous dance videos to serve as background entertainment or for me to watch while I lifted weights or shimmied for a while. I didn't really intend for my kids to get interested in them because they had always pitched a fit if I ever put anything on the tele that wasn't one of their favorite cartoons. However they really seem to like "Belly Dance Underworld" and "Tribal Revolution." If you have kids you know that this means... we now watch these two videos all the time. It's cute to have a couple of toddler boys prancing around the living room while watching belly dance videos. It brings a smile to my Mommy face. However I have now watched these videos enough to have appreciated just about every subtle nuance they have to offer and I feel like I should try to do something with that. Thus... I have decided to create a sort of performance evaluation for each of the performers I've seen based upon these videos and a couple live performances I've attended in the last few years. This is a not a review, it is an evaluation of technique and other little tid bits that I've noticed which means that everyone is free to jump in with their thoughts and ideas as well. ;-) Enjoy!

(This is just the intro; I'm following with evaluations of each video and probably a couple of individual specific posts for dancers who have particularly caught my eye. Feel free to jump in wherever.)

~*Spoon Per View*~

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 49 replies

Greetings to the New People!

PoisonedSpoon — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 14:39:49 GMT

Welcome to the Brainy Belly Dancers tribe! I've noticed that there have been a number of new people ghosting in and hanging back silently so I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge your presence and give you a little welcome. If you are looking for a good opportunity to post about whatever it is that interests you then this would be a great place to do it. Perhaps you could say hello, give a little introduction about your background and interests. Gosh! You could even talk about something belly dance related! (Chuckles... that sometimes happens here.)

We're all different breeds of Brainy around here but this is pretty much where we go to talk about things without having to worry about getting a funny look for bringing it up. I want to let you know that I don't check for spelling and so long as you can hold a reasonable conversation then you won't have problems with that sort of thing. Citing sources is always a plus when you can do it; sometimes I'm just posting in a hurry so I don't have time to do it immediately but it makes life easier for those who are trying to follow up on whatever it is that you or I are writing about. The only thing that I really don't like is ad hominem attack. You can chew apart an idea or a concept but there is never any reason to go after the individual that voiced them. So those are the loose "rules" around here. On Topic for us can mean just about anything but let's try to keep it On Topic. *Chuckles*

I'm happy to see so many new people and I know that we're nearly all introverts so this is going to sound ridiculous but... Don't be shy! Make yourself at home, make a new friend and have a good time!

~*Spoonmeister*~

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 22 replies

Gimme a glass of water, QUICK!!

Fioletta — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 17:46:17 GMT

Seriously, I have a burning question that has haunted me my entire life: when people are upset, grieving, had a nightmare, etc, why do people give them a glass of water? I mean, unless you've cried to the point of dehydration, I don't see how it helps.

The protagonist in my story wonders the same thing and I received some feedback that it "suppresses the grief reflex." First of all, what the hell is a grief reflex? Everybody I know grieves in their own distinctive way, including not displaying any emotion whatsoever. Second of all, I've googled this and have failed miserably.

Help, please. Sheriff Parlow needs to know.

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 11 replies

Five Most Important Discoveries in Astronomy

Cuindless — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 00:46:21 GMT

1: "I'm telling you people, the Earth revolves around the sun!!!" The renaissance came to astronomy with the work of Nicolaus Copernicus who established the heliocentric system. While many natural philosophers had proposed that the Earth wasn't the center of the universe, or even the central celestial body, it was through painstaking observation and mathematical evaluation that Copernicus proved it. Now, four and a half centuries later, the Copernican revolution is still recalled as the turning point in Astronomical history.

2: The telescope. While often credited to Galileo, the first telescopes were in fact created in 1608 in the Netherlands by Hans Lippershey, Zacharias Janssen and Jacob Metius. In the following years, innovations by Galileo and Kepler allowed for previously unheard of observations of the sun, moon and planets, including accurate mathematical evaluations of the movement of various celestial bodies.

3: Union with physics. Although the movement of celestial bodies had been quantified by Aristotle in "Metaphysics", it wasn't until Johannes Kepler and Sir Isaac Newton that mathematical predictions could be applied to them to create physical laws. The three laws of planetary motion and the law of universal gravitation serve as the basis for all modern astrophysics.

4: Gas Spectrometry. At the end of the 19th century it was discovered that, when decomposing the light from the Sun, a multitude of spectral lines were observed (regions where there was less or no light). Experiments with hot gases showed that the same lines could be observed in the spectra of gases, specific lines corresponding to unique elements. This discovery led to the organization of stellar spectral types according to temperature and allowed astronomers to observe the chemical composition of even distant stars.

5: Beyond the Milky Way. In 1925 Edwin Hubble announced a discovery that fundamentally changed forever the scientific view of the universe: namely, that certain astronomical bodies, such as the Andromeda nebula, were not constituents of our galaxy. In fact, outside of our own galaxy were several such galaxies, each with their own stars and planets. Before this time, it was mostly assumed that the universe consisted of our galaxy alone.

As before, if anyone has any objections, additions, questions, replacements or comments, please post freely and discuss...

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 55 replies

got wormholes?

slade34 — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 15:40:53 GMT

Hey, is anyone up for talking about such things as wormholes and black holes and spacetime and all that nifty stuff that I find really sexy but dont' fully understand?

Subtext--Cuindless (and anyone else so moved), can you start talking about the above and let me ask questions?

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 28 replies

I HATE WORD 2007

Fioletta — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 20:00:29 GMT

Sorry. Just had to get that out. Word 2003 was the *one* thing Microsoft got right. HATING the new version.

Okay. Back to the drawing board...

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 14 replies

Gravity and Vibration

Todd — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 16:17:41 GMT

Okay, Cuindless, this should be more up your ally.

I have this hypothesis that gravity is a field of vibration. Matter and energy (nearly synonymous in the Theory of General Relativity) that vibrates similarly tends to attract, and vice versa. I intuit that there is a relationship between the following two ideas, but I'm mathematically challenged:

E = Planck's constant x frequency, and

Gravity = (M1 x M2) divided by the (radius of the two masses)squared

Have you ever played with this? I realize Tribe fonts and message windows don't provide a lot of flexiblity in mathematica expressions, but maybe we can bore these folks a bit by playing here. HAHAHA!

I think it's going to take a change in point of view from particles to waves, and we are going to have to more freely think in terms of waves and fields of energy being the actors and mediators instead of particles.

The application of this, when we get down to brass tacks, is how consciousness causes the wave function to collapse probable outcomes, e.g. determines whether Schrodinger's cat is alive or dead (in the perception of the observer.) In other words, this is how we create our realities.

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 5 replies

Inside Jokes & Talking to Yourself

PoisonedSpoon — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 14:17:06 GMT

Me: My brain is being pulled apart at the seams right now.
Me: Wait... my brain has seams?
Me: Yeah! Those crenellation thingies!
Me: Those are not seams...
Me: Well... they sure seem like it! Hahahaha!
Me: Hahahahaha!

My Stepmother: What are you laughing at?
Me: Nothing!

Aside from thinking that I was partly deaf while growing up my Stepmother also widely speculated that I was completely mad. I don't see anything wrong with talking to yourself, I have a lot of really interesting (and in this case silly) conversations with myself. It helps me sort out my thoughts. Of course this means that I have my own, completely internal, set of inside jokes. Sometimes I conduct these conversations partly inside my head and partly vocally... I'm actually not even aware of when I'm speaking most of the time. This is fun at the grocery store; I notice it most at the grocery store. Recently a woman opened a freezer door as I was coming around the corner, I had been talking to myself and was in a jovial mood so when the door came my way I leapt backwards and exclaimed, "Imvisible Movie Explosion!" Me and the internal me had a good chuckle over that but I think the lady thought I was talking to her and she gave me the fish eye.

I have an over active mind. I am always thinking. The vocalization helps.

Now I don't have any research on this or anything beyond anecdote to contribute. But I would be interested to actually learn something about it from those who do have more to go on. I'm also curious about this... do inside jokes have a negative impact on new relationships? Anybody want to chime in?

~*ChattySpoon*~

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 18 replies

Champagne and cigars for all...

Fioletta — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 16:40:56 GMT

...because I am FINALLY finished with this stupid, hateful, sonofabitching, life-sucking, 30 page, 8938 word, so-called "short story".

Okay, okay...because writing and book categorizing are the only things I am anal about, I still have about a half a day's clean up, but I'm sending this stupid thing as far away from me as possible--to at least a couple dozen magazines--this Saturday.

*collapses*

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 6 replies

Math-Romantics

Cuindless — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 20:33:35 GMT

I’m sure that I will always be
A lonely number like root three

The three is all that’s good and right,
Why must my three keep out of sight
Beneath the vicious square root sign,
I wish instead I were a nine

For nine could thwart this evil trick,
with just some quick arithmetic

I know I’ll never see the sun, as 1.7321
Such is my reality, a sad irrationality

When hark! What is this I see,
Another square root of a three

As quietly co-waltzing by,
Together now we multiply
To form a number we prefer,
Rejoicing as an integer

We break free from our mortal bonds
With the wave of magic wands

Our square root signs become unglued
Your love for me has been renewed

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 9 replies

UNESCO names 8 new wonders

Cuindless — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:23:19 GMT

http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1821361_1735283,00.html

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 3 replies

Personal Arms Manifesto

Arzo — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 16:38:13 GMT

I recently moved on a tangential course to a football event (soccer to our American friends), and I noticed how, near a generally foul, drunk and hostile crowd of medium-to-large-sized men at a train station, police searched a petite girl´s handbag and confiscated her tear gas spray. You´re not suposed to carry weapons of any sort in the vicinity of a public event in Germany. I just hope she got home safe.

This just made me wonder how thoroughly skewed people´s (and the police´s) idea of acceptable personal arms is. Barring public events like this one, common sentiment says I may not carry a knife, sword, or fighting stick for self-defense, but a tear gas or pepper spray is fine.

(Pepper spray, by the way, is reserved for dogs in Germany, while tear gas won´t stop a dog but is acceptable to use on humans in self-defense. Talk about frantically searching in your purse to get the right one out in a pinch.)

Now I´ve never encountered a situation where, in hindsight, I´d have required a weapon. But if I ever did, the ubiquituous Mace seems to me to be the worst option ever, especially if you wish to de-escalate a situation without causing undue harm to your fellow humans (and yes, this includes your would-be molester).

You cannot use it in closed rooms like the Underground unless wearing a military NBC suit.
If you use it around innocent bystanders, they will be hurt as well.
You cannot use it to keep an attacker at arm´s length like you can with a knife or sword.
If your opponent isn´t intimidated by it and continues to approach, you have to use it and maybe cause permanent harm to their eyes, respiratory system, or nerves (as opposed to a sword, where you can cause a minor wound or just jab into air to warn them away).
There is no way to properly train in its use, unless you confront rapists on a weekly basis.
If you let your opponent get in close (for example if you were unsure of their motives and didn´t want to Mace them right away on a hunch), you can´t use it without getting a dose of the same.

So, in my opinion, the self-defence weapon of choice for a woman willing to invest in some training would be a good Genovese or Spanish rapier - it has the length to keep someone at bay, is sharp enough to act as a deterrent, light enough to bring around in a pinch, and the basics are easy to master. Also, you can wear it with style (important for us girls). I´d recommend a one-edged knife to go with it if you find yourself in sticky quarters.
I´d daresay that this combo would be better able to defuse a situation than the pair of cans in your handbag. Unfortunately, the police won´t let you keep them if they saw you carrying them. And the season´s too hot for trenchcoats.

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 49 replies

What I Like About This Tribe...

PoisonedSpoon — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 12:09:11 GMT

In a recent conversation with Cuindless I came to focus on what it is that I like about this tribe and what I think we're doing right here. (Of course there are probably a lot of places that the flow of communication could be improved but I have no idea what they are at the moment. Speak up if you have some thoughts on it.) It really comes down to two things... 1) Moderation in Moderating, & 2) Open Topic Discussion.

There have only been a handful of occasions where I have had to do anything even remotely moderator like. The vast majority of my time on this tribe is spent posting and thinking about things my fellow Brainies have posted. I really like this. You guys have made my job pretty simple. (Monkey pulling a lever simple.) I enjoy moderating in moderation because I have this pesky notion that thoughts are valuable. I have known even the closest of friends to scream in each other’s faces in a moment of impassioned discussion. I like that because it teaches us to rationalize that when we gather and share our theories/know ledges that disagreement is with the subject at hand and never a personal attack. We haven't had a whole lot of that yet but I rub my hands together and hope that one day one of you will have enough subject ammunition and respect for me that you'll say, "Spoon... your theory is asinine." And then I'll tell you why it isn't and we'll go back and forth in a heated discourse that observers may incorrectly view as hostile. This is a part of intellectual culture as far as I am concerned. I will not discuss weighty matters with people whom I do not respect (I might lecture if I think something can be gained from it.) and I respect plenty of people who disagree with me or may present angles that I have not yet considered. Moderating in moderation helps me reach this goal of mutual respect. It lets you know that I consider your thoughts important and that I prefer to remain impartial. (However I will boot trolls without question.)

The open topic scenario is the other little tid bit that I enjoy about this tribe. There is a wide array of possibilities for what we might consider an "On Topic" discussion. I find the "On Topic" police to be really annoying and so I like the idea of having a tribe where we can be people first and belly dancers second. (Some of us aren't even dancers... just aficionados or fans of the art.) We are all weird (without a doubt) but some of us are flamboyantly so while others are shy. There are a lot of mingling personalities and interests here... I like diversity; it makes for clearer thought processes. Sometimes we get a little carried away with the FHDness as many of us are also FDHBDers but a little nudge now and again gets us back to Brainyville. I like that we can talk about dance history, anatomy, theory, costuming and musical selection and without leaving this one tribe we can also enjoy bug reports, ancient squirrel reports, writing "how to's" and more subjects than you could really shake a stick at. The logical fallacies were a personal favorite of mine... between that and bug reports this tribe is my personal heaven.

That might just be me and I know that I am not a reasonable yard stick for the status quo so put forth your thoughts on this. (Gripe if you must... *Chuckles*)

~*Spoonibottom*~

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 9 replies

Abstinence and "Purity"

thespisis — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 08:04:03 GMT

I'm just going to open this topic and let you discuss it amongst yourselves since I am too tired to put my thoughts together in any kind of coherent manner.

I was on FaceBook and my news feed said one of my friends had joined the group "I abstain, and there's nothing lame about that." That's cool. There are many valid and intelligent reasons to be celibate in this day and age. Curious, I decided to check out the discussion board to see why various members had chosen to abstain. The only posts, however, were by the moderator, and no one had replied to any of them yet. Most of the topics were about "Purity" and what being "Pure" means. The logo for the group said "Purity Matters".

I had to wonder: What exactly does abstinence have to do with purity?

Discuss...

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 34 replies

Wanna know why artists and writers are such selfish bastards???

Fioletta — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 20:44:17 GMT

...because otherwise, they'd never finish everything.

Sigh. I love my kids, swear to God, but I've been tag-teamed all day long, just as I'm about to finish this hateful story that I never want to see again.

I need a tower. With a moat.

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 10 replies

It's official...

Fioletta — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 21:50:13 GMT

...but no surprise.

My son has formally been diagnosed with Asperger's. I'm not at all upset; in fact, I'm relieved because now I can finally get the 504 plan at his school that I've been asking for the past 4-5 years. He's barely hanging on and he's too damned bright to have to struggle this way. It's just that he is so literal and sees thing from an entirely different POV from most of us that he's tanking (poetry was a NIGHTMARE). He also has a problem being scapegoated--kids have figured out that he'll do just about anything to be accepted, so they put him up to doing things he would never do on his own--but that's a step up from the bullying he suffered at his last school.

I think I've said this before, but I don't even consider Asperger's to be a "disorder"; rather, just an alternate form of cognitive mapping. I love the way my son is--though sometimes we don't get each other at all--and the people who like him thinks he's great...but then there are people (like my mother, the Antichrist) who don't like him at all. One of those either love him or hate him kind of things...usually it is the very close-minded who don't like him.

So I am sorry that he is faced with some social and educational challenges--and glad I can finally get him some help--but besides that, I'm absolutely cool with it. More importantly, so is he.

Also, if there are any people on BBD who have Asperger's and are willing to discuss it, I would appreciate any advice--what to do, what not to do, etc--please just PM me.

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 9 replies

Back By Popular Demand

Cuindless — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 23:22:18 GMT

Because "Logical Fallacies" seemed to be such a hit, I've decided that I'm going to take the next step and describe how one goes about constructing a logical argument.

The first step is premise. Too many times, a would-be arguer will approach argument from a dogmatic perspective. In other words, they'll come to a conclusion first, then contrive premises to support it. While this is a common debating technique, it is also technically incorrect. To begin an argument properly, one must start with the premise.

For a conclusion to be correct, it's premise must be true and the continuing statements must follow logically. So, when arguing, the first thing you need to look at is the premise for your argument. Most arguments begin with a question and/or statement (which are actually the same thing), for instance, "Abortion is wrong." This statement can also be interpreted as the question, "Is abortion wrong?" From there, an argument will develop if the two arguers disagree. If the two arguers agree, there is no argument after all. At this point, most arguers will begin dogmatically, starting with the conclusion that abortion is or is not wrong, rather than evaluate the premise first. If the premise is that abortion is wrong, already the logic is circular and, therefore, fallacious.

Possible premises for the abortion debate are that life is sacred and/or that choice is sacred. I don't intend this discussion to become an abortion debate, so I won't go into those two premises any further. Regardless, most arguers only apply these premises retroactively rather than evaluate the premise at face value.

Another common mistake an arguer will make is to present a counter premise. For instance, continuing the abortion debate analogy, say arguer A states: "Life is sacred. Abortion destroys life. Ergo, abortion is wrong." Arguer B will often times present the counter argument, "Choice is sacred. Restricting abortion destroys choice. Ergo, restricting abortion is wrong." What arguer B fails to realize is that they are not negating arguer A, they are simply presenting a completely different argument. A better negation would be to say, "Life isn't necessarily sacred because some lives are harmful by their very nature." Another negation would be, "Abortion doesn't destroy life because foetuses aren't alive." I will go into more depth on this when I discuss creating a negating argument.

After creating a premise, the next step is creating some logical continuance. This logic chain is called a syllogism. The above example illustrates syllogisms very well, though with some holes that can be exploited by a canny arguer. A perfect argument has no exploitable holes. Let us examine a debate I had recently with a co-worker.

Co-worker: "Homosexuals should not be allowed to marry." (Conclusion statement)

Me: "Why not?"

Co-worker: "Because marriage is a sacrament before God."

Me: "Why can't homosexuals engage in this sacrament?"

Co-worker: "Because the Bible expressly states that homosexuality is an abomination and a perversion."

Me: "So?"

Co-worker: "SO?! How can a couple engage in a sinful sacrament?"

Me: "Okay, so your argument is as follows: Marriage is a sacrament. Sacraments cannot be inherently sinful. Homosexuality is inherently sinful. Ergo, homosexuals cannot marry. Is that the gist of it?"

Co-worker, suddenly unsure: "Yes..."

Me: "Your argument has numerous holes, even from your own perspective."

Co-worker, suddenly incredulous: "Such as?"

Me: "Well... first, your premise that marriage is a sacrament. Even if accepted by your religious dogma, you've only disallowed homosexuals getting married IN YOUR CHURCH. Marriage in the United States, however, is a legal construct conferring certain benefits. The remainder of your argument doesn't address that at all. Your second premise, that sacraments made before God cannot be inherently sinful, is contradicted by the very book you crafted this argument with. Many of those beloved of God entered sinful sacraments, with inlaws, infidels and even their own family members. King David, Solomon, Lot... the list is enormous. Your third premise, that homosexuality is inherently sinful, also fails under scrutiny because your religious dogma condones several behaviors that the bible considers sinful, such as shaving, eating pork and associating with women on their menses. In light of all these inconsistencies, the logic of your argument cannot be considered sound."

Unfortunately at this point my co-worker resorted to name-calling and preaching... which I actually consider a logical victory. Regardless, this is a perfect example of poorly constructed argumentation. A better constructed argument would be, "The majority of Americans consider homosexual marriage to be undesirable. These Americans will likely riot, murder or otherwise create lawlessness that would be further undesirable. These negative factors outweigh the positive effects of allowing homosexuals to marry. Ergo, homosexual marriage should not be legalized at this time." This well-constructed argument (assuming there were any facts to back it up) would require a counter argument that either negates the facts presented or presents a more important value and/or policy premise.

This example highlight two different forms of logical debate: Policy and Values. Policy debate is based around plans of action and weighing harms against impacts. For a policy debate to succeed, the affirming arguer must show that the current situation is more harmful than the impacts that would occus if their plan of action were put in place. Continuing my previous example, someone affirming that homosexual marriage should be legalized would have to show that the current situation (homosexual marriage widely being illegal or unrecognized) was inherently harmful and that the impact of legalizing homosexual marriage would be less harmful. The negating person would have to disprove the harms or show a greater impact.

Value debate, on the other hand, is completely based around fundamental truths. When arguing value, plans of action aren't necessary. Instead, value debate requires agreement between two parties, often through the use of subtle introduction of concepts. Continuing the abortion debate above value debaters will argue that life is sacred, which is an absolute value that requires agreement. The secondary, or lesser, value that will require agreement is that abortion destroys life. If these two values (premises, really) are granted, then the conclusion is inevitable. Similarly, some value debaters will argue that choice is sacred (absolute value), and that restricting abortion limits choice (lesser value). If these two premises are granted, then the conclusion is inevitable.

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 7 replies

"Sanctuary...sanctuary!"

Fioletta — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 18:50:44 GMT

Sorry...this walker makes me feel like Quasimodo, so I thought I'd start this by quoting him.

Seriously, though, do you have a special place for study, reading, writing or creating?

See, I really don't. That's why I saved for months for this laptop--I can't stand being cooped up in one place, I loathe desks of any shape, size or form and I am the AntiChrist of routine (and organization). There are several buildiings on campus I've discovered--even better, special, empty classrooms I've discovered--various libraries, even coffeehouses/restaurants.

In fact, that is how I work best--at a different place every day. I've been trying to pull that off here in my ivory tower--I even had some floor pillows rigged up so I could look out the window at my lilies, which was neat for a day or two, but that old restlessness is driving me crazy.

I can stay in one place and write for up to 10 hours at a time...as long as it can be somewhere else tomorrow.

Am I abnormal in that? Do any of you have a special "sanctuary"?

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 8 replies

Arzo´s Bug Report

Arzo — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 11:12:43 GMT

Hello everyone, I decided to gross you all out and keep you entertained with the life of my entomological specimens. (Yes, I´m a barbarian). So if your delicate sensitivities can´t be confronted with the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast, please don´t read on.

Well, having a fairly simple brain that runs in a long string along the entire body (and in some cases auxiliary nerve knots in the joints of their limbs just to help with all the thinking), do insects have individual character traits that can be distinguished? Yes, they do!

To illustrate, I´ll pick my favourite friends, a fairly relaxed group of the species extatosoma tiaratum, strict vegetarians (although there is some mild coincidental cannibalism because they look just like their food, which strikes me as somewhat dumb), all hatched from the same set of parents. Put your hand in the terrarium, and you´ll note that their reactions fall into four different classes:

Phlegmatic ´somata will ignore you even if you touch them or pick them up.

Melancholic ones stiffen, try to make themselves as small as possible, and somehow manage a grumpy expression.

Choleric ones spread their limbs and little stubby wings to intimidate you, then try to strike you with their tibia. If they´re male, they´ll also piss on you.

Sanguine ´somata get into a funky little rhythm to shake you off the branch. Considering relative sizes, this is kind of dumb, but you´ll have to give them credit for looking like a perfectly natural wind-rustled leaf at the same time.

My next step in behavioral analysis will be to try and raise some parthenogenic ´somata - they should in theory be copies of their single mother´s genetic material - and compare their behaviour to each other´s and their mommy´s. Will they all fall into the same category, or will they exhibit the same diversity of traits that their more naturally produced compatriots have?

The difficulty is to get enough of them to survive to adulthood, because parthenogenic nymphs are always somewhat sickly and tend to have difficulties molting. (Parthenogenesis is probably worse than incest, the gene pool is even more limited than if you´re screwed by your brother.) But I´ll try...

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 94 replies

Deadline: Midnight

Fioletta — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 16:00:52 GMT

Okay, perfectionism is one thing, but I'm so sick of this damn story that all I can think about are all the other things I want to write. I'm completely alone today, expecting no interruptions (better not be) and I'm working straight though--but at midnight, that's it. I don't give a shit if I'm in the middle of a sentence, NO MORE. It goes out. As is. Period.

BTW, the reason I'm growling about possible interruptions is that--when I tell people I will be writing--they still think it's okay to call, text, drop by, etc....like I said, "Oh, I'll be baking rye bread".

Not to sound like a frustrated feminist, but I can't help but wonder if that isn't a woman thing? I'm not including you, Spoon--sounds like Cuin is very supportive--but generally speaking, I feel that when a man says, "I'll be writing", people leave them the hell alone. For that matter, f they say, "I'll be changing the oil" people leave them the hell alone.

Sigh. Another thread, another rant.

Happy Fourth, guys.

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 11 replies

Thread of the Month July, 2008

PoisonedSpoon — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 11:08:08 GMT

On this day, July 06, 2008, Arzo was given the Golden Brain Award for "Arzo's Bug Report," the longest running thread on the Brainy Belly Dancers Tribe. Congratulations Arzo! The bragging rights and VIP parking space are yours!

Next Award Date: August 06, 2008. (Post your pick for your favorite thread and show some appreciation for your fellow Brainy Belly Dance Buddies!)

~*MayorSpoon*~

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 1 reply

primary language acquisition and problems?

slade34 — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 20:24:27 GMT

Okay, whaddyall think (I know I have touched upon this before; bear with me):

As most of you know, I teach something called "developmental" English at a community college. Most of the students are lower socioeconomic class (may be important, may not be), and most are African American who speak and write in "black dialect" (again, may be important, may not be). Their verbal ACT test scores are horrendous.

You may think that these students have come through horrible educational systems (most have) and just need a little extra help to get them caught up. But it doesn't happen for most of these students, no matter how much effort I pour into teaching the classes. Some learn and do move up to Freshman Comp. But it seems that a lot are literally incapable of learning the material. My question is why??

I have wondered if these classes need to be approached as an ESL class would be.

Here's stuff I've noticed:

1. Many of the students seem to have trouble with spoken and written language comprehension. Many have trouble understanding very straightforward directions. Their vocabulary is extremely limited.

2. They don't retain information. I can have them work on comma splices for weeks, but a few weeks after we stop, they have no idea what a comma splice is. It is like the information is not getting saved in the hard drive, and in some cases, they just never do understand what I am talking about. Instructions have to be repeated over and over and over.

3. They do not know **any** parts of speech, with the exception of nouns (for some of them). Even after spending time in class on identifying subjects and verbs, many of the students are not capable of consistently picking them out of a sentence.

4. They lack "sentence sense"; that is, they cannot tell the difference between a word group that is a "sentence" versus one that is not.

5. Verb conjugation skills suck.

6. They use the language oddly, with wierd word substitutions such as writing "I when to the mall" when they mean "I went to the mall."

7. Their writing is very general. They have trouble incorporating concrete details in their writing. for example, they might write that their bedroom is "comfortable" and "nice" but never describe the color of the walls or the bedspread. They will describe a friend as "crazy and goofy" but be unable to provide an example of when said friend did something crazy or goofy.

Okay, granted that they probably grew up hearing and speaking mostly so-called "black dialect," why is it that they have such a hard time learning "standard" English (granted, some just don't care)? It makes me wonder if there is some facility we have as very young children for primary language acquisition that shuts off as we grow older. But we can learn secondary and tertiary languages as adults, though not as easily, theoretically. So what do you think the problem(s) might be besides the obvious ones (they don't care or they aren't bright)?

I keep wondering if some of the theories of second language acquisition would aapply, but that idea is so potentially explosive (would be interpreted as "racist") that there's no way it would get explored, I don't think.

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 37 replies

Dance History/Theory Transplanted!

PoisonedSpoon — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 11:20:19 GMT

Hey Brainies,
I'm moving this to a new thread since the discipline we're discussing is a little different from dance on a neurological level.

Just off the top of my head there were a few points that I wanted to bring out onto the showroom floor for discussion. As far as religious dance goes there is always a dichotomy of profound disgust for experiential dance by those who do not participate in it and a profound respect for it by those who do. You can always tell which classical authors have actually participated in experiential rites and which have not when reading their commentaries upon the subject. (Dance and Ritual Play in Greek Religion, Steven H. Lonsdale) A comparison between the Bacchic rites and the Apollonian rites of Plato's era illustrates the distinct difference between the types of dances one can expect to find in a religious setting pretty much anywhere in the world. (Dance as Religious Studies, Doug Adams and Diane Apostolos-Cappadona)

The Apollonian dances are structured (choreographed) and rarely ever improvised. This is because of the province of Apollo as a deity of artistic perfection and health. These dances are in honor of the God and not for the purpose of communing with the God. Hellenic religion is and was anthropomorphic in nature and so from that mentality comes the idea that these ritual dances are designed for the God to watch and thus require perfection in movement and timing.

The Bacchic rites are the opposite of the Apollonian rites in structure but they do not lack a body language. They are improvised within a certain spectrum of activity; there are things within and without the realm of expectation for a Bacchic ritual. It is "organized chaos." To use as a very poor example, take the Athenian zeibekiko (also zembekiko) (I realize the Zeibekiko is not native to Athens but the variation I am discussing is) and note the use of a set number of movements that are utilized improvisationally throughout the dance as the dancer wishes. This allows individuality in expression but still provides the solidarity of an understood vocabulary of movement. (Right now the Tribal Dancers are nodding sagely while reading this but remember that Tribal dance is a performance dance and not a religious dance.)

Periodically experiential dance gets stomped out culturally and sometimes it is a religious movement while on other occasions it has been secular. It does not erase completely and leaves huge cues and imprints upon the societies who have practiced it. The mark is left on the music, the social dances and the performance dances, it's left in artwork and in some cases it just dons a different mask and remains the exact same thing. It would seem that it cannot be extricated from human society at large though it can go through many incarnations. (Tracking and defining these incarnations has been my life's work... wheeee!)

My personal theories on the origins of experiential dance and its relationship to religion are no more than an educated guess. Dance history is something that we can look at with a certain amount of authority and give a reasonable yes or no but theoretical dance always comes down to "Who is looking at the most pieces of the puzzle?" I firmly maintain that dance theory is a multidisciplinary field that requires a cooperation of minds to sort through. (Much like the addition of botany and weather patterns improved the understanding of human civilization and development.)

~*Spoonazuma*~

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 2 replies

New way to Geek Out

Petra — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 05:01:27 GMT

I wish I had known about this years ago!
Online, free directory to professional and peer-reviewed journals in all kinds of subject areas.
I'm off to browse!!!!

http://www.doaj.org/

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 6 replies

Quick help, please...

Fioletta — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 18:14:42 GMT

I am trying to finish what I consider, quite humbly, to be maybe the best short story I've ever written. So good, that I may even enter it in this bullshit contest along with about 20,000 other entrants; deadline is 6/30 midnight.

Struggling with two scenes and I just need someone to eenie meenie minie mo it for me...both scenes are full of angst and pathos and both need to be taken down a peg.

1) Small town cop who has seen more carnage in one day than he has seen in his entire life and now he has to talk down a suicidal mother.
2) Same small town cop later makes love to his wife in a way that could be considered brutal (depending on your tastes; sometimes I feel that I should write erotica, instead)

I'm not asking for suggestions on how the plot should turn, just which one I should pick. Equally crucial.

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 14 replies

whatcha think of this?

Petra — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 03:46:06 GMT

My new armchair Conspiracy Theory:

What are two big problems in the USA?
Obesity and greenhouse emissions

What better way to force those problems to change than a conspiracy to raise the prices of gas and food?
Thus, in a few years, both Americans and the planet will be healthier than they would be without those price changes.
It will save the cost of medical care as we get older. Everyone wins!

Ah, my theory is foolproof!! No?

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 6 replies

I'm thinking about selling out...

Fioletta — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 15:23:49 GMT

...by writing one of those disgusting, cheerlead-y, "You can DO it" kind of books which, not only am I virtually positive I could sell...I believe I could sell big. The upside, besides moneymoneymoney, an actual shot at retirement and a decent education for my kids (and hell, for me, too), my dream of moving to Mexico (I'm serious about that...I want to live in Mexico), I COULD FINALLY HAVE THE MEANS TO WRITE WHATEVER THE HELL I WANT FULL-TIME, I could also develop equally inane sequels, maybe even a DVD.

The downside is, excuse me for a moment, *retching*.

In case you are not aware of this, I am not known for my perkiness. During business meetings, while it appears that I a furiously scribbling notes, I'm actually trying to remember how to say "fuck you" in every language I can think of, ofrits' equivalent (Kisama! Means Lord of the donkeys, but apparently, that is the Japanese equivalent; my second favorite is No Skuche ala Gats, Italian for What the fuck do you want from my balls?)...that is the only way I can summon the requisite pleasant smile to whatever the hell it is they are currently running their heads about.

Also, suppose it really was a big success--and I believe, in all honesty and full-on arrogance, that it will--who the hell would take me seriously again? I want to write "literacha", the dark brooding, sick/morbid/tragic/funny stuff. I want to be the one who wades into rivers with pockets full of stones, not as a fucking Smile Warrior.

But more and more, my job is seriously fucking up my health. I literally will not be able to do this job for more than 2 years, tops. And I want to move to Mexico--Isla de Mujeres, Cozumel, Tulum, Mazatlan, either Gulf or Caribbean side, live in a moderately sized hacienda and have all of you over for Red Chicken Chilaquiles Stew and REAL fucking margaritas and mango pudding. I also want to chinga every thing in sight and watch them disappear with the tide.

I just don't know if I could bear the cheese factor. The book signings. Having to talk to people and shit.

On the other hand, I can toil over the weird shit I'm writing, get published in a few obscure magazines and develop a nice, penniless cult following.

So what do YOU think???

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 16 replies

George Carlin RIP

mattd — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 11:45:47 GMT

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 11 replies

Not particularly brainy, but...

Fioletta — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 23:35:04 GMT

...the movie "Thank You For Smoking" is friggin' funny as hell. That is, if you like shit-slick, fast-talking, photgenic lobbyists who not only realizes that he is basically one of Satan's minions...he revels in it.

It was so funny that I was really bummed that I was watching alone.

posted in Brainy Belly Dancers - 1 reply