Staring Contest
The most commonly occurring day of birth is October 5:
So why October 5? Just a random date? Perhaps, but Anybirthday has a theory: To be born on this date, a baby would most likely have been conceived on New Year’s Eve.
The survey also found May 22 to be the least common birthday. As yet, no guesses as to what it is that happens in late August (nine months prior to that date) that routinely turns so many people off. Perhaps it’s just too darn hot?
Apparently, my birthday is the least common birthday. A new theme for my subsequent birthday celebration… “Happy Birthday to Alex and 4 other people.”
New Year’s champagne.
Notice the super narrow depth of field. Thanks for the new lens, Mykala! It’s a Canon 50mm f/1.8.
Very few folks are getting enough sleep, that’s certainly clear. There are different ways to cope with chronic tiredness, though the time pressure in most jobs (anything from studenthood to parenthood to careerhood) is rather intense. It’s interesting to see how the Japanese culture has adapted:
Napping at work isn’t acceptable in the UK, but in Japan dozing anywhere from Parliament to business meetings is allowed. It’s called inemuri, which literally means “to be asleep while present”.
The custom is partly a result of how commitment to a job is judged in Japan, says Dr Brigitte Steger. Inemuri is viewed as exhaustion from working hard and sacrificing sleep at night. Many people fake it to look committed to their job.
It’s a concept that seems bizarre in the UK but the Japanese are the ones who’ve got it right, says Dr Stanley.
“The Japanese are right in their assessment that you work better after a nap than before it. There’s a degree of machismo about it, you’re saying look how hard I’ve worked. But that’s better than the macho rituals we have over here, like how late you can send a work email to prove how long you’ve been working.”
Strict rules apply to inemuri. These include who is allowed to do it - only those high up or low down in a company - and how you do it - remain upright to show you are still socially engaged in some way.
“The rules are written nowhere but everyone knows them, they learn them culturally,” says Dr Steger.
Given the classic siesta, traditionally practiced by those in “China, India, Italy, Greece, Croatia, Malta, The Middle East and North Africa,” you would think that the United States could follow the sleep patterns of other countries and change for the better.
Then again, the US isn’t too accomplished at complying with the worldwide status quo.
Yesterday, I saw the movie Atonement. For those of you curious about the movie and who also want a vocabulary work out, take a read through the Washington Post’s review by Ann Hornaday. Now, though I still have yet to decide if I liked the movie or was merely enchanted by the cinematography, there is one flat-out great shot in the movie which I can not forget.
While the accomplished Seamus McGarvey uses blown out sunlight highlights, SteadiCam-stabilized 4+ minute long takes, and other beautiful techniques to help tell the story, the scene I have in mind employees none of these technical methods. During a verdant evening on the hottest day of the year, the romantic hero of the movie walks to a party, back to the camera. Clad in an exquisite tuxedo, he fluidly vaults a split rail fence. In this simple act, in this simple setting, the viewer experiences the bravado and physical prowess of youth and the fervent hope of young romance all encapsulated in an elegant, beautiful motion. Perfect.
I’ve learned a new word today: perspicacious; “having keen mental perception and understanding; discerning: to exhibit perspicacious judgment.” Now, if I can only master the pronunciation of such an unfamiliar word.
I always thought that dead reckoning was a complete guess about distance traveled. Turns out, it is based on an estimation of important factors like speed and time, not just looking back over the distance covered and making a visual guess thereof:
Dead Reckoning is the process of estimating your position by advancing a known position using course, speed, time and distance to be traveled. In other words, figuring out where you will be at a certain time if you hold the speed, time and course you plan to travel.
Interestingly enough, the Lewis and Clark Expedition used dead reckoning over its 8000 mile journey, and only erred by 40 miles. That’s a half of one percent of the total distance traveled. Perhaps our human skills of survival are less useless than one would think.
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