Unlikely Idaho

File this in the category of pipe dreams of lonely, sex-starved Montanan men.

 

Actually, all kidding aside, Idaho is overrated both as a dogpatch and as a promised land.  It's an underpopulated, potato-growing state without the weirdness of Portland or the standoffishness of Seattle.

 

Boise is kind of pretty.  The state university is located in Moscow.  The team name is the Vandals, by the way.

 

How Kinky Is Your State?

Go to this web site to find out:

http://jezebel.com/amoreperfectunion or this one:

http://1075zoofm.com/how-kinky-are-the-women-in-montana-this-graph-has-the-answer/

The pinker the state's color, the more kinky are the women; the bluer the state's color, the more kinky are the men.  Too bad for Minnesota and Wyoming.

Hot women in West Virginia.

The Motorcyclist Liberty Restoration Act

My first thought, when I saw this come up, is that the satirist from Notsville made it up, but no.  This is real.

A bill to be considered by the Tennessee House and Senate this week would give motorcyclists 21 years old or older to have the option of wearing a helmet while riding.  Tennessee is currently one of 19 states, most of them southern, that require cyclists to wear a helmet while riding.

I know the motorcyclist's helmet does not go with the ethos of the open road, but is this law really a good idea?  Yeah, your hair blowing in the wind while riding the Tail of the Dragon (U.S. 129 through Deal's Gap) is romantic; but concussions and contusions are not so cool.

It also begs the question: maybe the existence of a freedom does not necessarily require that someone act on it.  Sometimes simple prudence should trump those rights!  Yeah, I'm all for rights, and screw the Federal government; but sometimes a little bit of law is a good thing.  Helmets reduce the extent of injuries; and motorcyclists have more than their share.  And more injuries = more costs for TennCare.

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20130226/NEWS0201/302260006/Motorcycle-helmet-could-become-optional-adult-riders-TN

Obeying the helmet law.

Odd Architecture

Sometimes it is inspiriting to see architecture that catches the eye, whether from the "Wow!  That's amazingly beautiful!" or from the "Who had that nightmare?" one.  Without editorializing, I give you just a collection of pictures of unusual buildings and monuments.  You have the joy of opinions!

 

 

 

 

 

Should You Be Nice or Nasty in Book Reviews?

Teresa Amabile did a series of controlled experiments using fictitious book reviews. While the reviews themselves essentially provided the same content in the observations about the books, she manipulated the tone in which the fictitious reviewers expressed their observations, making some nice and some nasty or unkind. What Amabile found was:

"… negative or unkind fictitious reviewers were seen as less likeable but more intelligent, competent and expert than those who expressed the the same messages in gentler ways."
 

In other words, when writing book reviews, there may be some payoffs for being an asshole!  Being flip, clever, or sharp in your review carries a secondary gain in creating an image that you are more intelligent.

As a matter of fact, this can also pay off in terms of the job market.  In magazines with book (or movie) reviews, readers pay more attention to clever, entertaining reviews.  And publishers will see this as increasing sales, in the long run.

There's one problem:  If too many reviewers follow this ploy, then their acidic reviews do not stand out as much in relationship to the others.  The contrast effect is muted.

The Pencil Test for Breast Ptosis

Years ago, advice columnist Ann Landers proposed this test to determine whether a woman can go without a bra.  To perform this test, the person lifts one of her breasts, places a pencil under it, and releases the breast.

 

If the pencil falls down, she can go braless (under a shirt, of course, provided it is sufficiently opaque).   If the pencil is held in place by the weight of her breast, she should wear a bra.

 

I used to use this as an algorithm for whether I needed a bra, not taking pokies into account.

Technically, the condition that necessitates a bra is called breast ptosis.

 

Quote From the Volunteer State

"A lot of their extremists got elected to the Legislature.  Our extremists did not get elected to the Legislature."

                   -- Rep. Mike Turner (D - Nashville)

                   Representing District 51.