As It Stands: Jetpacks For All & the Oldest Rock Art in North America

         Good Day World!

It’s not just another Thursday…it’s today. You can’t buy it back. No amount of regret will change that.

The alternative? Live it like it’s your last day.

Speaking of days – ancient ones that is – wait till you read the second article I’ve selected for you below: imagine rock art that’s 14,800 years-old and you can see it in Nevada.

The first article is fun. Did you ever see that guy in a jetpack that unexpectedly landed in the middle of a football game years ago? It was pretty cool, but I doubt if anyone in that football stadium ever suspected that someday they too could fly around like Rocket Man of comic book fame.

With that thought in mind: 

That jetpack you always wanted? It's almost ready

If the engineers at Martin Aircraft have their way, you will soon have your very own jetpack: Aviation authorities in New Zealand have given the Christchurch-based company the green light to begin manned test flights of its jetpacks.

Founder Glenn Martin began experimenting with jetpacks about 30 years ago, after spending his youth watching "Thunderbirds" and other action-packed TV shows, Agence France-Presse reports.

Rock art in Nevada believed to be oldest in North America

On the west side of Nevada's dried-up Winnemucca Lake, there are several limestone boulders with deep, ancient carvings; some resemble trees and leaves, whereas others are more abstract designs that look like ovals or diamonds in a chain.

The true age of this rock art had not been known, but a new analysis suggests these petroglyphs are the oldest in North America, dating back to between 10,500 and 14,800 years ago.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

As It Stands: You’re not going to get me to lose weight by humilating me!

Good Day World!

Some people mean well. For example, those enthusiastic advocates of fitness who tell us to get off of our lazy asses and to work out.

We are an obese nation these days. No doubt about it. Having said that, I don’t believe you’re going to help someone by humiliating them and expecting them to do something beyond their physical capabilities. 

Enter the motivation gurus who come up with all kinds of cute little exercise routines that are about as useful as quicksand in your front yard! We are not all created equally. Those skinny guys and gals who prance around on our TVs demonstrating the surefire way to fitness are already fit. Get it?

They don’t need the exercise but we’re supposed to think we’re going to look like them if we do everything instructed. Regardless of our body type. That’s about as realistic as believing politicians really work to serve people!

Throw in the products touted by these phys-ed fanatics and you’re bound to be the next Hulk Hogan or Gywneth Paltrow! False promises, I tell you! It’s deceiving to make people think they can miraculously transform their body into a hunk or hunkette.

I’m not saying we don’t need to exercise. We do. But within our physical realities. For some, that just means walking 20 minutes a day. Goading people to perform physical acts with smart ass memes and quotes is not productive…it’s elitist and unrealistic.

I suppose those who are fit enough to enjoy being challenged like this find the popular “get fit” memes and quotes fun. I’m happy for them. But I can tell you right now, humiliating me for the sake of motivation is the wrong way to go.

The following article is what set me off on this rant:  

“So you’re on the couch entering hour three of a Pinterest binge. This is a time when you probably could use a little motivation to get yourself to finally log off and drag your butt to the gym.

That’s essentially the point of “fitspiration” – a cutesy, Internetty term for images and slogans meant to inspire people to meet their fitness goals, hundreds of which are posted and pinned every day on image-heavy social media sites like Pinterest, Tumblr and Instagram.

And a lot of “fitspo,” as it’s nicknamed, does a great job of doing what it’s intended to do: inspire people to get and stay fit, say body image experts and fitness bloggers.

But mixed right into those healthy messages are also some sneakily harmful underlying themes. “A lot of these things are very reasonable -- they say things like ‘Just start,’” says David LaPorte, a psychologist at Indiana University of Pennsylvania who has studied body image and social media. “Or, I love this one: ‘Failure isn’t falling down; it’s refusing to get back up.’

“The trouble is when you surround all those good messages with images of people that are unattainable for most women, quite frankly,” he says.” Read story here

Time for me to walk on down the road…

As It Stands: The Movie Jerry Lewis Made & Never Released Surfaces, But Not in Theatres

Good Day World!

Most people are unaware that Jerry Lewis wrote, produced, and starred in a movie – “The Day The Clown Cried” - in 1972. That’s because he never released it, knowing it was a clunker upon finishing the project. So the movie stayed hidden all these years.

But on August 10th, YouTube user Unclesporkums uploaded perhaps the longest clip (it's a 7-minute "Making of Footage" collection of clips) to ever publicly surface of the film in the past 41 years, which introduces the movie mistake to a whole new generation. Lewis plays a circus performer who is taken by the Nazis after making fun of Hitler.

In the concentration camp where he's sent, he amuses the children with his routine, and eventually walks with them into a gas chamber. The last scene involves Lewis' clown (Helmut Doork) and the children laughing while the gas surrounds them. hole new generation. (A nearly 1-minute "behind the scenes" clip is also available.)

The film was not made as a comedy; it was to have been Lewis' first foray into serious drama. But after test screenings went terribly wrong, Lewis (who told Dick Cavett in 1973 that he'd planned to release it at the Cannes Film Festival) pulled the film. When he was asked about the movie at Cannes this year, the 87-year-old Lewis said, "It was all bad and it was bad because I lost the magic. You will never see it. No one will ever see it, because I am embarrassed at the poor work."

Only a select few have seen the film since Lewis packed it away, and one is comedian (and frequent voice on "The Simpsons") Harry Shearer, who saw a rough cut in 1979. As he told Spy magazine in 1992, it's no surprise that the film won't get a public release.” (Read more here)

Time for me to walk on down the road…

 

LA To San Francsico in 35 minutes via the new Hyperloop!

You might want to sit down for this piece of high tech news that may change the way you travel…soon!

It’s called Electromagnetic Acceleration.

Photo via Elon Musk / Tesla Motors / SpaceX ;A conceptual rendering shows the Hyperloop passenger pod inside a low-pressure tube.

It’s the high technology behind the high-speed transit concept that billionaire Elon Musk calls the Hyperloop.

Musk — who already plays leading roles in the SpaceX rocket venture, the Tesla electric car company and the SolarCity solar-energy company — unveiled his vision of the Hyperloop today.

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The Hyperloop would send travelers through low-pressure steel tubes in specialized pods that zoom at high subsonic speeds, reaching about 760 mph (1,220 kilometers per hour). That compares with typical speeds of 110 mph (for U.S. systems) to 300 mph (in China) for high-speed rail travel.

_______________________________________________

The plan is aimed at cutting the travel time between San Francisco and Los Angeles to 35 minutes, at a price of $20 for a one-way trip. Musk said the Hyperloop arrangement could be implemented between any pair of cities situated up to, say, 900 miles (1,500 kilometers) apart.

For longer distances, air travel would probably be more efficient, he said.

In a blog posting and a 57-page PDF file about the Hyperloop, Musk said he came up with the plan out of frustration with the shortcomings of California's $68 billion high-speed rail project, which is just getting started. read story here

As It Stands: Sanjay Stands up for Pot - ‘We’ve Been Mislead’

Good Day World!

Just when I was wondering if any progress would ever be made after the Supreme court’s moronic decision not to recognize it’s medicinal values, along comes some good news!

A notable neurosurgeon discovers what it can do for people with epilepsy and completely reverses everything he’s said for years on TV about it being bad! More news like this will force the feds to give in to some sane marijuana policy some day…I’m just not sure when.  

“We have been terribly and systematically misled for nearly 70 years in the United States, and I apologize for my own role in that.” - Sanjay Gupta

Who is Sanjay Gupta?

Sanjay Gupta is an American neurosurgeon and an assistant professor of neurosurgery at Emory University School of Medicine and associate chief of the neurosurgery service at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia.

Why Did he Make Headlines on Marijuana Last Week?

Sanjay Gupta changes mind on weed but debate continues

The haze surrounding Sanjay Gupta's stance on medical marijuana use has cleared. The TV doctor says he just wasn't looking hard enough.

CNN's chief medical correspondent announced his change in heart Aug. 8 in an online op-ed, Why I Changed My Mind on Weed, promoting his specialWeed, a documentary premiering tonight at 8 p.m. on CNN.

Gupta says he used to oppose the use of medical marijuana. But after more research, he says he has changed his mind, and has apologized for earlier statements, including his 2009 TIME magazine article Why I Would Vote No on Pot. Story here

CNN's Sanjay Gupta Talks 'Weed' and His Evolving View of Medical Marijuana

Dr. Sanjay Gupta's views on medical marijuana are evolving. In a candid admission, CNN's chief medical correspondent wrote an op-ed this week, "Why I Changed My Mind on Weed," explaining that he reevaluated his stance on the use of marijuana in certain medical treatments. Story here

Sanjay Gupta documentary outlines his marijuana research findings

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN’s chief medical correspondent, apologized for his previous anti-marijuana stance after spending a year reporting on the subject. His findings are highlighted in a special called “Weed” that debuted Sunday and will be rebroadcast on Friday at 10 p.m.

Gupta called his research “stunning” and posted a mea culpa on the CNN website, “Why I changed my mind about weed.” In 2009, he wrote a piece in Time magazine explaining why he thought marijuana should not be legalized. While Gupta doesn’t specifically espouse legalization, he said he finds plenty of positives about cannabis.

“We have been terribly and systematically misled for nearly 70 years in the United States, and I apologize for my own role in that,” he wrote. “I hope this article and upcoming documentary will help set the record straight.” Story here

Time for me to walk on down the road…

As It Stands: When love calls: a brief look at a four-letter word

                             
By Dave Stancliff/For The Times-Standard

The Beatles had it right when they sang, “All you need is love.”

The most positive emotion in humans is love. It moves mountains. It saves lives. No amount of money will ever buy it. Your body and mind need it like oxygen.

 It has spawned poems since ancient times when rhymes were written for Kings and Queens. C.S. Elliot describes four kinds of love in his book “The Four Loves.”  They are based upon the Greek words for love;  Storge (affection), Phileo (friendship,) Eros (romance), and Agape (unconditional love).

 Love is the best anti-depressant, but many of our ideas about it are wrong. Most of us get our ideas about love from the popular culture. We expect to be swept off our feet when in love. We tend to have unrealistic images that don’t fit with the real world.

 The myth in our culture is love just happens. It appears out of nowhere and suddenly you are intoxicated. It doesn’t work that way. You have to actively pursue love by learning a variety of skills. You can’t just sit down and wait for love to come to you. That’s a mistake a lot of us make.

“Hate controls everything it touches, but love sets everything it touches free,” said Bryant McGill, in The Voice of Reason. It’s true. Love can give us a new lease on life. It has no boundaries, other than the ones we set upon it.

 An extremist when it came to love, Kurt Vonnegut also had a healthy irreverence about it. In The Sirens of Titan he said, “A purpose in human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved.”

In The Brothers Karamazov Fydor Dostoyevsky forcefully describes love. “What is hell? I maintain that it is the suffering of being unable to love.”

Paulo Coelho in Zahir: A Novel of Obsession, wrote, “Love is an untamed force. When we try to control it, it enslaves us. When we try to understand it, it leaves us feeling lost and confused.”

 Honore de Balzac, who knew a thing or two about all-consuming love, wrote Physiologie Du Marriage.  In it he states, “The more one judges, the less one loves.” The wisdom of this quote really resonates when you think about it. I think we’re all guilty, at one time or another, of harshly judging others.

 One of my favorite quotes about love comes from Agatha Christie who wrote in her biography: “It is a curious thought, but it is only when you see people looking ridiculous that you realize how much you love them.”

 It was Albert Einstein who asked, “How are you ever going to explain in terms of chemistry and physics so important a biological phenomenon as first love?”

 When I try to describe my first love (who I married) the words seem sappy and silly. I found that love grew, and was not a static thing.The longer you love, the deeper it goes. I know this from experience.

Poets and authors worldwide have talked about love since the days of yore, but the subject never seems to be exhausted. People have always written about it, big and small. Love is always a fresh subject.

 Love is hard to define. How do you avoid mistaking it for infatuation or lust? Not even an experienced person can give a definite answer to that question. Psychologists talk about “that initial glow” (for the first six months) when a couple fall in love. It’s almost a fairytale come true, but always ends in reality. If love survives the rigors of  the world, it’s true love.

“Love is your mother watching basketball games with me, even though she doesn’t care about the game,” I explained to my sons early on. “Love is selfless. It bends under stress, but always rebounds when given a chance.”

 Contrary to what some people may think, love has no price, yet still has to be earned. A mother’s love for her child is the exception, because it has no bounds or requirements. I’ve seen love in my wife’s eyes for 39 years, despite all the dumb things I’ve done during that time.

 Yes, I believe in the power of love. During my hippie days in the late sixties, I eagerly embraced the message of “Peace and Love” even though I was a stranger to it. Love does make the world go around, of that I‘m sure.

 As It Stands, to have truly lived, we must have love in our lives.

Wow! Long-lost Orson Welles’ movie discovered!

Audiences will be lining up to see the premiere of a new movie from one of film’s greatest directors this October – 75 years after it was made.

Discovered last week in an abandoned shipping company warehouse in Pordenone, Italy, the long-lost film

Photo Courtesy of George Eastman House & Cineteca del Friuli

Welles's wife Virginia Nicolson (left), as Lenore Faddish, and Ruth Ford (Mrs. Billings) scream as their men fight. All of the black-and-white movie scenes displayed here were taken from the 35mm nitrate print of Mercury Theatre's "Too Much Johnson," directed by Orson Welles.

“Too Much Johnson” was the last movie Orson Welles’ directed prior to making "Citizen Kane" in 1941.“Johnson” is one of Welles’ first-known professional films. Story here

As It Stands: SNAP! Brains May Have Built-in GPS Systems

Good Day World!

I’ve got some interesting thoughts – and an article – about demystifying how humans navigate.The new study cited below suggests we use location mechanisms similar to those of rats and other animals.

Why do we use rats so often in studies about humans? I’m sure there’s some geeky argument for it, but it doesn’t seem right to me. Yes, I’ve known some Rat Finks (when was the last time you heard that term?), but their anatomy is much larger.

Back to brains and GPS systems. I’ve always been somewhat challenged as to which way was north or south without a compass in hand. I remember one particularly dark night in 1969, when I was going through a night navigation training course at Ft.Leonard Wood Missouri, when I would have given a body part for a GPS device! Of course, they didn’t have them then.

Perhaps before being affected by Alzheimer’s disease I’ll be the lucky candidate for a GPS implant in my skull! I currently know a lot of people who could use an GPS implant. Call me a chauvinistic pig, but most of the women I’ve known in my life are seriously directionally-challenged! Okay! Okay! Take it easy. Now take a deep breath. Okay?

Moving on. I’d like to make a suggestion to the researchers who use rats to learn about humans; “It’s time to come up with something better than rats. This is the 21st century. Design a medical software program that will test human’s ability to accept a GPS implant. Just think of the problems that would solve!”

Here’s that article I promised:

“A type of brain cell known to help animals keep track of their location has been found for the first time in humans, according to a new study.

Researchers discovered the neurons, called grid cells, because they were activated in the brains of study participants exploring a virtual environment. The cells function like an internal GPS system, and may also play a role in memory, the researchers said.

"Grid cells tell a person where they are in their environment," said study researcher Joshua Jacobs, of Drexel University in Philadelphia, adding that in animals the cells provide a kind of measuring stick for navigation.” (Story here)

Time for me to walk on down the road…

As It Stands: Random warnings throughout our life…

    Good Day World!

I wrote a column last week – Let’s Face it: Common Sense is Not a Common Thing – and I’ve been receiving interesting input from readers.

They’ve been sending me stupid warning signs and labels. One alert reader even suggested I check out a blog called Dumb Warnings. Good call! I love sharing funny stuff with my readers. Here’s some examples and a link to the site(below): 

This product must be cooked prior to eating. (This is a frozen food)- Found on Beef Taco flavor Hot Pockets.

Warning: do not use as a floatation devise. Do not ingest. Found on a Blow up Figaro toy from Mickey D’s (about the size of a CD).

Do not turn upside down (Printed on the bottom of the box). Found on Tesco’s Tirimisu Desert

Warning: May cause drowsiness Found on Nytol Sleep Aid

Do not attempt to stop chain with hands. Found on Jonsreds Chainsaw.

Artificially Flavored Real Fruit Found on Dolly Madison Bakery Cherries.

Warning! This program should not be used in flight training! Death or serious injury could result! Microsoft Flight Simulator 2000.

Caution: Ice cream is cold Found on Hagan Ice Cream

Use of this product may be hazardous to your health. This product contains Saccharin, which has been determined to cause cancer in laboratory animals. Found on Carefree Gum.

This is NOT a life saving device!!! Found on a Life Saving Device.

Warning: This product contains nuts.Found on Sainsbury Peanuts

Check out more Dumb Warnings here.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

As It Stands: When the blind seek to lead again, and again…

   Good Day World!

Do you want to know how badly the Republican party is doing after their latest presidential bid defeat?

The man who promised to lead the way for the GOP, and then got his butt kicked thoroughly is back! Mitt Romney’s crawled back under the GOP tent (he’s been hiding out of shame) and he wants another go at the presidency. No really.

What gall you say? Hey, he’s a politician. They can get away with taking pictures of their weiners and still run for office. So, letting Mutt go around and start talking with GOP members again has hardly caused a stir.

Let’s face it, who else does the GOP have to turn to with any experience in high level politics like running for president? The individuals currently jockeying for position are hardly energizing the Republican base – what’s left of it that is. The party is so shattered that it looks like a tribal war with each faction trying to assert dominance.

With no hope at all of fielding a credible candidate, the GOP is on the verge of once again being led by the blind. Romney didn’t learn his lesson as evidenced by his stubborn insistence to NOT CHANGE anything in the GOP’s message! That, despite his monumental loss and the advice of GOP strategists to court Hispanic and African-American voters.

I suppose it’s the rarified air of being a 1 percenter, but Mutt actually believes people will give him another chance at buying the presidency. Can you imagine the damage Mutt will cause the party if some of the GOP loon toons decide to back him?

If that wouldn’t be a case of the blind-leading-the blind, then I don’t know what would be! Here’s a news snippet about Romney’s attempted resurrection:  

“The Presidential election ended almost nine months ago, but Mitt Romney re-emerged Tuesday to continue his fight against President Barack Obama’s policies and assert himself as a Republican Party elder at a time when the party is struggling to find its path forward.

Romney sought to re-establish himself as a force within the GOP with a speech in the politically crucial state of New Hampshire, weighing in on the fractious battles to play out within the Republican Party since last November.Whether Romney's counsel will sway fellow Republicans — including Cruz, who will take his defund-Obamacare message to Iowa this weekend — is another question.” (Story here)

Time for me to walk on down the road…

As It Stands: Hump Day topic –The difference between optimists and pessimists

   Good Day World!

Are you an optimist or a pessimist?

Optimists explain positive events as having happened because of them. They also see them as evidence that more positive things will happen in the future, and in other areas of their lives.

Conversely, they see negative events as not being their fault. They also see them as being flukes that have nothing to do with other areas of their lives or future events.

For example, if an optimist gets a promotion, she will likely believe it’s because she’s good at her job and will receive more benefits and promotion in the future. If she’s passed over for the promotion, it’s likely because she was having an off-month because of extenuating circumstances, but will do better in the future.

Pessimists think in the opposite way. They believe that negative events are caused by them. They believe that one mistake means more will come, and mistakes in other areas of life are inevitable, because they are the cause. They see positive events as flukes that are caused by things outside their control and probably won’t happen again.

A pessimist would see a promotion as a lucky event that probably won’t happen again, and may even worry that she’ll now be under more scrutiny. Being passed over for promotion would probably be explained as not being skilled enough. She'd therefore expect to be passed over again.

Understandably, if you’re an optimist, this bodes well for your future. Negative events are more likely to roll off of your back, but positive events affirm your belief in yourself, your ability to make good things happen now and in the future, and in the goodness of life.

Fortunately for pessimists and realists, these patterns of thinking can be learned to a degree (though we tend to be mostly predisposed to our patterns of thinking.) Using a practice called ‘cognitive restructuring,' you can help yourself and others become more optimistic by consciously challenging negative, self-limiting thinking and replacing it with more optimistic thought patterns.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Article Sources:
_{Peterson, Christopher; Seligman, Martin E.; Vaillant, George E.; Pessimistic explanatory style is a risk factor for physical illness: A thirty-five-year longitudinal study. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol 55(1), Jul, 1988. pp. 23-27.
Peterson, C. (2000). The future of optimism. American Psychologist, 55, 44–55.
Solberg Nes, L. S., & Segerstrom, S. C. (2006). Dispositional optimism and coping: A meta-analytic review. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 10, 235–251.}