An evolutionary flaw

I understand that people find large eyes cute because cuteness is about the only thing keeping us from abandoning stinky loud babies. However, why does this large eye induced cuteness reaction occur even with other mammals. I remember when I was younger, I saw my cat sitting on the carpet in dim light. Its pupils were dilated and this made the eyes look really big. Of course, I thought the cat looked cute so I went to pet it. Bad decision and I still have the faint scar to prove it. It appears that our evolutionary drive to protect cute things extends to other mammals as well, especially their young. Of course, approaching wild animals especially young animals is a bad idea since their parents also find them cute and will do anything possible to protect this cuteness. I wonder how many stupid people (who feed baby bears or climb over zoo fences) will have too die before humans evolve to a point where they are unengaged by babies of other mammal species? Unfortunately for us, natural selection takes a long time to work.

Twilight = emotional porn

Just a note: the term emotional porn as it relates to the Twilight phenomenon is not of my invention but I think it is a good descriptor of the series. Also, I do not hate Twilight or the people who like Twilight. I have in fact even watched the first movie (although this was mostly due to our free movie channel trial subscription for the month).

You might think that porn is a mighty strong word for this especially since there is no explicit nudity (except for the shirtless guys but that seems to be acceptable in our society, especially if they have a six pack); however, if you consider the definition of porn then it might make a little more sense. In a general sense, porn is the use of media to depict explicit imagery for the purposes of arousal. Oftentimes, an pornographic film involves ridiculous scenarios in which an average male (seeing as how most porn is targeted to the make audience) is seduced by one or several attractive females and proceed to have a ridiculously long period of "love making" with a little bit of plot sprinkled in to make things interesting. If you consider that this arousal does not specifically have be sexual, then Twilight and especially New Moon fit into this definition. Lets see, the plot for New Moon is as follows: An average girl (instead of a guy) is in a ridiculous scenario (where there are vampires and werewolves) and is seduced by two attractive (apparently) men/vampire/werewolf and then proceed to have a ridiculously long period of "who will she choose" with a little bit of plot sprinked in to make things interesting. This comparison is not intended to make Twilight seem dirty or give it a negative connotation but it will be interesting to see how girls who watch these movies multiple times are perceived by the general public. There will probably be some girls who become addicted to watching "emotional porn" just like some men become addicted to sexually explicit pornography. In which case, I wonder if the boysfriends of these girls will become jeolous and confront them about their addiction?

Why grown ups act like kids sometimes

There have recently been some startling incidents involving adults acting immature. Let me list a few notable ones:
1. Serena Williams lost a semifinal match at the US open because she threatened to "shove this f**king ball down the (linesperson's) throat" after she was called for a foot fault on her serve.

2. A congressman yelled liar during the president's speech to the congress regarding healthcare which was televised across the US.

3. Kanye West interrupted Taylor Swift's acceptance speech at the MMVAs and embarassed her by claiming that Beyonce's video was the best of all time.

Now these three cases all involved relatively famous people but immature behaviour in adults happens all the time. Have you ever seen what happens inside parliament especially in Asia? Do your parents ever drive through a yellow light? A red light? How do you think they would do in a road test that we have to take now based on their regular driving patterns.

It seems our society's notion of "grown up" refers more to the physical than to the personality and values. Afterall, humans like to make quick judgments about people and how difficult would it be if you had to judge someone's behaviour before determining if they were "grown up". Sure, parents will say "do as I say and not as I do" or "your generation will be better". Well, how many generations have we gone through now? I don't see much improving going on. Maybe I'm a cynic but the only plausible resolution (in my lifetime) to this problem would be to lower your expectations for "grown up" behaviour. Afterall, we are only human.

A note on driver road tests

I recently got my N which for those not in BC means that I can now drive by myself. To get the N designation, you have to pass a drivers road test where a person tags along on a ride for 45 minutes, asks you to do basic driving maneuvers and then grades you on how well you do these maneuvers. However, having another person (a stranger) beside you while you are driving can be intimidating. This is especially true if you notice the other person marking down notes which almost always means you are that much closer to failing. Is it a coincidence that the time I passed the road test, the female tester hugged the clipboard to her chest and instead looked at her nails for most of the time? Instead of having a person sitting right next to you, I suggest they switch to some sort of automated voice system. At the beginning of the test, a little box would be attached to the passenger side airbag and turned on. It would have a GPS and 360 degree cameras on it and would also be programmed to instruct the testee on their next move i.e. turn left/right or parallel park. A person could then sit back at testing headquarters and moniter the video feeds and data from the automated system. The only problem would be when the testee is in serious danger and needs to be stopped from further endangering him/herself and others. Since I'm done with the road test for a while, it would be fun to see them switch to the Chinese system of road tests where you are tested in a controlled environment called a driving park. The instructor still sits beside you but they are even more intimidating since they will try to trick you into doing illegal behaviours to simulate peer pressure (i.e. yelling stop in an area where it is illegal to do so).

Vending machines are trying to steal all our money

I just moved into residence yesturday. Of course, that mean's I left some important supplies at home including my water bottle. To prevent dehydration, I decided to purchase some bottled water from a vending machine. The first vending machine I came to did not take coins. NO COINS. Only credit card or 5 and 10 dollar bills. Not that I didn't have 5 or 10 dollar bills but aren't vending machines notorious for malfunctioning and not producing change or the chosen product. Perhaps this is a sterotype (I don't want you to think I'm a hater of machines) but why are they suddenly taking larger denomenations. Certainly no drink would ever come to such a ridiculous price (Of course, companies could be preparing for the future when water becomes a scarce commoditiy). Needless to say, I didn't purchase anything from this particular vending machine. The next vending machine I went to did take coins and I happily placed the dollar seventy-five into the slot. I then pressed the numbers 55 only to see a confirmation come up for my choice of beverage 52. Luckily this was still bottled water. When the water came out, it was room temperature although it guaranteed a cold refreshing drink. I might be thinking too much into it but something makes me feel like vending machines don't like me anymore.

Things I think in the heat

1. Maybe the constant heat wave would be good motivation for some people to cut down on green house emmissions. Nothing like unbearable heat for an extended period of time to really impress upon people the validity of global warming. Then again, people might just wait out the heat by blasting their airconditioner to max where ever they are.

2. Mighty good time for a solar eclipse, eh? Those lucky Asian bastards.

3. Someone should invent some device to keep your car cool while it's outside in the sun (those infommercial ones don't count).

4. If I were a plant right now, all would be well. Light reactions, anyone?

5. It's hard to think in the heat (notice how my thoughts are getting shorter)

6. How does my cat survive with a fur coat on all the time? Maybe I should trim it down.

That's not my cat by the way. I wouldn't be that cruel.

7. Someone should make a cold treat that doesn't make you feel guilty when you eat it in large quantities (I don't care so much about becoming fat as say becoming unhealthy which can happen to anyone)

8. I saw some bikers in white spandex (or some other type of skin tight clothing) riding along the highway. They sure are lucky their sponsers decided to go with a white as opposed to a black jersey.

9. Manufacturers of solar panels must be cursing under their breath on days like these. Not enough sunny days in Vancouver to warrant the installation? Here are your @#$%^&$* sunny days. Go shove it up your $#@%&.

Heirs to the throne?

Congradulations to Roger and Mirka Federer on the birth of their twin girls. Due to their father's lofty achievements, the girls already have expectations of becoming great tennis players. Most of these expectations are expressed in a joking tone like Andy Roddick's twitter comment: "Introducing the 2029-2040 Wimbledon women's champions, the Federer girls..". Afterall, they are just a day old (or young might be more appropriate). On the other hand, there are already some gambling sites (mostly in the UK) who have already put wagers and odds on the girls winning Wimbledon before their 25th birthdays (1-100 if you wanted to know).

This gets me to the much broader topic of children following in their parent's footsteps. Among athletes and celebrities, this trend seems quite common (although it's human nature to notice trends, even amongst an ocean of counterexamples). For example: Kirk and Michael Douglas (actors), Martin and Charlie Sheen (actors), Bobby and Brett Hull (hockey), Archie and Peyton Manning (football),Ken Griffy Sr and Jr (baseball), Goldie Hawn and Kate Hudson (actresses), and finally it pains me to say this but Billy Rae and Miley Cyrus (singers/actors, sort of).

Maybe the reason this trend doesn't extend so much to real life is the fact that athletes and celebrities are famous for physical attributes. Athletes needing to have athletic physiques while celebrities need to have good looks. These qualities are a lot easier to transfer (well, not as easy as money) than say intrapersonal skills or knowledge. So while most of us are born with a blank slate, some of these famous children have genes that are important in their parent's careers. Although, there are still some family businesses going on in the world. Also, culture has a lot to do with this. In an individualistic society, children are supposed to create their own path but in collectivist society, children are probably more inclined to follow their parent's line of work.

In my case, does my wanting to become a pharamicist have anything to do with my mom being a nurse? Probably. I also know of people who study science and who have parents who also study science. Coincidence? Maybe, but not likely. We are all shaped in some form by our parents. In some cases, familiarity breeds a form of contempt. But in other cases, we admire the work and achievements of our parents and aspire to be like them.