I'm taking most of my journal friends-only. If you're not on my friends list, it's not that I don't like you. I like lots of people, I just don't want to share the inner workings of my mind with all of them. I hope you're not offended if I've unfriended you, because that's not my intent. I'm still going to be making some public posts in the future, just not as often as I used to.

If you want to be on my friends list and you're not, send me a private message or leave a comment here. (Don't E-mail, the E-mail forwarding isn't working right now.)

Comments are screened.

Tags: friends
Current Mood: The Fray - How To Save A Life

I went and saw The Taking of Pelham 123 last night in a midnight showing. It was not by any measure a good film. To give you the short version of how bad it was, they actually added lines into the new version to explain why the train's number is Pelham 123. Why is that important at all? It's not, but they work it in anyway, just so the audience knows. The audience must know everything, and with other parts of the plot they include dialogue to explain away obvious problems, but it has the side effect of just making everybody look stupid.

Spoiler-filled dissection ensues. I'm not going to spoil all of it, but I'm going to discuss things that would be spoilers, though I assure you, there is nothing about this film that makes it worth worrying about being spoiled.

( Cut for politeness, but trust me, you shouldn't care about spoilers. )

Tags: movies, ranting and raving

It’s hard for me to talk about this movie objectively because I’d already read the graphic novel. From that perspective, though, I have a few things to say. I’ll try to avoid spoilers, for those who haven’t seen the film yet.

( Read more... )

Tags: movies

An increasingly rare public post from me, because for once I feel like commenting on social/political issues of the day again. Namely I want to talk about this current economic crisis on Wall Street, why I've been calling it for a long time, and why no amount of bailout will magically make everything better.

( Hey buddy, wanna buy a chair? )

Tags: doom and gloom, money

(Original New York Times article available here.)

The part of the brain that stores memory appears to shrink in people with sleep apnea, adding further evidence that the sleep and breathing disorder is a serious health threat.

The findings, from brain scan studies conducted by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, show for the first time that sleep apnea is associated with tissue loss in brain regions that store memory. And while the thinking and focus problems of sleep apnea patients often are attributed to sleep deprivation, the scans show something far more insidious is occurring.

( Read more... )

Tags: articles, health, sleep

Found through kevinjdog:

Working out may help prevent substance abuse
Clues show that physical activity might change brain chemistry

Originally published by the Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Sure, exercise is good for your waistline, your heart, your bones — but might it also help prevent addiction to drugs or alcohol?

( Read more... )

Tags: articles, fitness, health, sanity

Hoses, masks and whirring noises make CPAP romance a little challenging

Babbett Peterson thought there was nothing less sexy than her husband’s snoring — until he brought home the cure.

The 47-year-old Trabuco Canyon, Calif., woman took one look at the plastic face mask, the long tubing and the whirring motor that ran all night and decided there were worse things than a few snuffles and snorts.

As far as she was concerned, the Continuous Positive Airway Pressure machine — known as a CPAP — was a threat to her 22-year marriage.

( Remainder of article. )

Tags: articles, identity, sleep

The next time you’re juggling options — which friend to see, which house to buy, which career to pursue — try asking yourself this question: What would Xiang Yu do?

( Remainder of article. )

Tags: articles

HOUSTON — The prescription-strength cough syrup found in rapper Pimp C's room was half empty and did not bear a prescription label, a coroner's spokesman in California said Tuesday.

Pimp C's death was ruled accidental Monday by the Los Angeles County Coroner's office, which said the combination of codeine and promethazine found in the rapper's system, coupled with the sleep disorder apnea, caused his death.

( Remainder of article. )

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Short version: Taking prescription cough syrup (or any number of other drugs) and going to sleep without my mask could kill me. Good information to have, overall, I think.

Tags: articles, sleep
Current Mood: House 4x12 - Don't Ever Change

ADELAIDE, Australia, Jan. 4 -- Surgeons should take a pass on uvulopalatopharyngoplasty as first-line treatment for obstructive sleep apnea, researchers here concluded.

( Remainder of article. )

Tags: articles, health, sleep