20.2.07

Toxic

["Addiction is a chronic disorder proposed to be precipitated by a combination of genetic, biological/pharmacological and social factors. Addiction is characterized by the repeated use of substances or behaviors despite clear evidence of morbidity secondary to such use."]

There's no escape
I can't wait
I need a hit
Baby, gimme it
You're dangerous
I'm lovin' it


She's a schoolgirl. But make no mistake - she's not that innocent.

She knows she's Lucky. But somehow, she just can't get no satisfaction.

She's a slave 4 U. But don't think that means she wants to be so damned overprotected, OK?

She's crazy.

She's toxic (and she might be slippin' under).

...And now, she's bald. Cool.

I'm Slim Shady, yes, I'm the real Shady
all you other Slim Shadys are just imitating
so won't the real Slim Shady please stand up,
and put one of those fingers on each hand up
and be proud to be outta your mind
and outta control





Qu'est-ce qui se passe?

¿
Qué passo?

WTF, mate?

. . .

You thought she'd never do something as CRAZY as that, didn't you? ...Did you think she'd be too scared? Too vain to lose those long, sultry locks? Well, I guess you're just gonna have to think again, bee-atch! Know why? 'Cause Britney feels pain too. Yeah, that s'right. She's been through it - lived on the fringe. (Don't think she hasn't.) She's got layers. She's got angst. She's effing hard as nails. Don't mess.

Guess this'll be the last time the media plays "Chicken" with her, eh?

As far as I'm concerned, she's proven herself.




Yep, Alterna-Spears has said it loud and clear:

"I'm still a Slave 2 all the celebrity trends, and I'm so through with being ignored!"

You'd better believe that motherhood hasn't skewed her perspective. She still knows what's "in" - she still knows how today's Hollywood elite stay ahead. She knows that fail safe way to get a leg-up back into the spotlight. You know how those celebs do it, don't you?

They go to Rehab. ...Well, first they have one (or several) public meltdowns - this is key. Then once they've gotten our attention (which admittedly takes a lot these days) and shown us all just how upset they are; how tired they are of their privacy being so ruthlessly invaded - THEN, they go to Rehab.

In all fairness, Lindsay and Nicole, like, just got out of rehab, right? It was totally Britney's turn to go (again). And Britney Spears is basically Nicole Ritchie. I mean, their lives are so similar, ...right? ...Right?? ...

Besides, it's cool to be all punk rock, it's cool to be angry, it's cool to be "messed up" - it's cool to be dark and jaded. ...Right??

Too high
Can't come down
Losin' my head
Spinnin' 'round and 'round...
With the taste of the poison paradise
I'm addicted to you
Don't you know that you're toxic?
Intoxicate me now...


Here's what's not cool:
- Glamorizing the "heroin-chic" image - drug abuse, addiction, depression, DUI's, self-destruction, etc.
- Using self-destructive or disturbing behavior to get the attention of the popular media - to "up" one's exposure; to "reinvent" one's self.

Maybe I'm not being altogether fair. Maybe Britney really is suffering, which is truly sad. Addiction and depression are real, serious illnesses. I am not trivializing that.

But here's the part I'm stuck on: If she's suffering from illness, why did she need to shave her head in public? It's not like that's a subtle move. (Nor is flashing the paparazzi whenever you go out for drinks with Paris Hilton, I might add.) It's definitely not constructive or mature behavior. As far as I know, she's not raising money for cancer research.

OK, *maybe* Britney shaving her own head is equivalent in her mind to a cry for help. It just seems more like an adolescent prank - a way to say, "I'm angry!" - an effective ploy to get "Mom and Dad" to pay more attention. Negative attention is better than no attention at all. (There's no such thing as bad press.)

I think she threw a tantrum. She got controversial. (Her image was suffering a bit.) And she most definitely got some major attention for it - and it's not as though she's oblivious to her celebrity status.

If she really wants people to just "leave her alone" so that she can get her life back together, why didn't she just go privately and quietly into rehab with the support of her cadre of personal assistants, managers, groupies and the like. If she wanted a break from the paparazzi, why didn't she lay low for a while? Why didn't she emote in the privacy of her home? Why didn't she attempt to stay in rehab the first time??

Those who are clinically ill tend to suffer in relative silence. Drug addicts don't commonly attach scarlet letter A's to their chests and walk around pouting.

Yes, I think it's dumb that such a big deal has been made of Britney's x-treme haircut. Yes, the media hype is ridiculous. But it's not as though such things haven't been ravished by those media fiends before this (Jennifer Aniston's nose job?). And those "fiends" aren't dumb. We eat that stuff up. There's nothing like a good celebrity rag to pass the time while we're clocked-in at the cubicle. I think Britney knew (at least in part) what she was doing. She's mastered the art of stirring things up (and she's been doing it for years!).

Oops! ...I did it again
I played with your heart,
got lost in the game
Oops! ...You think I'm in love,
That I'm sent from above
I'm not that innocent


It seems that none of us are innocent when it comes to these sorts of things. I know that by writing about Britney's "meltdown" here I'm only extending her exposure (but minutely, at best). But I also feel like there is a big difference between poking fun at a celebrity's silly Golden Globe gown and contributing to the general lack of understanding, which I believe still exists, about mental illness and physical addiction. ("Spears has gone nuts! She's gone insane, I tell ya!")

And if her reasons for checking herself into a rehabilitation center are legitimate, then seeking treatment is honorable. I hope very much that she takes it seriously and sticks it out so that she might earn some good publicity. I also hope that the general public doesn't relish hearing about the suffering of others (and I mean actual suffering, not embarrassment from some wardrobe malfunction). I think that is something we, as the media-consuming public, should be careful about. Laughter is healthy, but sadism is decidedly toxic.

14.2.07

the biology of love II

["Recent studies in neuroscience have indicated that as people fall in love, the brain consistently releases a certain set of chemicals, including dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin, which act similar to amphetamines, stimulating the brain's pleasure center and leading to side-effects such as an increased heart rate, loss of appetite and sleep, and an intense feeling of excitement. ...Attachment is the bonding which promotes relationships that last for many years, and even decades. Attachment is generally based on commitments such as marriage and children, or on mutual friendship based on things like shared interests."]

In honor of my parents, who have been married for about 30 years now, I wanted to include this video in today's postings. This song (the more traditional version, that is) is what my mom and dad selected as their wedding ceremony music... and this was well before it became so overused - or "overexposed" in this context so that now, it might well be characterized as some sort commercial/Hollywood cliché (think Father of the Bride circa 1991).

So my parents were pretty cutting-edge, as is this pumped-up arrangement of Pachelbel's Canon in D:



Special thanks to JerryC/funtwo, the composer of the arrangement & the musician.

the biology of love

["Biological models of sex tend to view love as a mammalian drive, much like hunger or thirst. Helen Fisher, a leading expert in the topic of love, divides the experience of love into three partly-overlapping stages: lust, attraction, and attachment..."]

Here are some interesting Valentine's Day statistics, courtesy of the U.S. Census Bureau.

(love conquers) amnesia

["Fugue state is also known as dissociative fugue. It is caused by psychological trauma and is usually temporary. The Merck Manual defines it as 'one or more episodes of amnesia in which the inability to recall some or all of one's past and either the loss of one's identity or the formation of a new identity occur with sudden, unexpected, purposeful travel away from home'. While popular in fiction, it is extremely rare."]

~Happy V-Day to everyone~

I understand that the holiday is bittersweet for many (I've heard it tartly referred to as "Singles' Awareness Day"), and I know that some people prefer to ignore it altogether. I myself am trying to maintain the view that today is a Wednesday like any other... but a friend sent me the following article, and I can't resist sharing it (despite the context).

The man featured in this article, Jeff Ingram, wandered off and forgot literally everything about his life as he knew it when he suffered from an episode of dissociative amnesia. But through the most unpredictable of circumstances, he was reunited with his girlfriend of over two years, and has since fallen in love with her all over again. (It's really an amazing story - I think even the most cynical would consider it heartwarming.)

10.2.07

going viral II (here it goes... again)

This is one of the videos that "went viral" on YouTube, and seemed to be a large part of what catapulted OK Go to fame last year. It was mentioned on that 20/20 segment that I mentioned yesterday evening. "Here It Goes Again," is an example of how successful viral marketing can be. It's such a clever video, and I can understand it's popularity. But I wonder how much of "viral" success is owed to pure luck and/or good timing? Why do certain videos spread like wildfire in the online community while other attempts at this type of exposure fail?

(virtual) intelligence II

["Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be defined as the study of methods by which a computer can simulate aspects of human intelligence. One aim of this study is to design a computer that might be able to reason for itself...."]

This is a digital image that I created as part of a project for a past photography class (I had a great time doing it too):

(All rights reserved.)

narcolepsy (dog-tired)

["Narcolepsy is a neurological condition most characterized by Excessive Daytime Sleepiness (EDS). A narcoleptic will most likely experience disturbed nocturnal sleep, confused with insomnia, and disorder of REM or rapid eye movement sleep. It is a type of dyssomnia."]

There are medications and certain behavioral therapies (including the strategy of taking controlled naps) that are used to help effectively control this disorder. Narcolepsy is, however, often left undiagnosed, and the signs of the disease are many times misunderstood by parents and teachers.

It has been known for some time that certain mutations in the hypocretin gene is what causes narcolepsy in dogs. If you'd like to learn more about the genetics responsible for narcolepsy, this report from Nature Medicine is quite interesting - it shows that such mutations are also seen in humans. I learned more about this common disorder in one of my neurobiology classes, and I think part of why I remember the etiology so well is because of the following clinical case:

(And so, without further ado, I present Rusty, the narcoleptic dachshund.)

sleep (is for the smart)

["Psychologists and neuroscientists dispute the precise role of the hippocampus, but, in general, agree that it has an essential role in the formation of new memories about experienced events. Some researchers prefer to consider the hippocampus as part of a larger medial temporal lobe memory system responsible for general declarative memory (memories that can be explicitly verbalized — these would include, for example, memory for facts in addition to episodic memory)."]

A recent Princeton University study has found that no sleep does in fact mean no new brain cells. This research team discovered that sleep deprived animals had high levels of stress hormone, which directly reduces cell production and connection formation within the hippocampus. (This is no good. You want to keep that savings account in good order.)

So be smart, kids: stay in school AND get plenty of sleep so that you can retain what you learn!

9.2.07

(virtual) intelligence

["Intelligence is a property of mind that encompasses many related mental abilities, such as the capacities to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend ideas and language, and learn. In common parlance, the term smart, metaphorically used, is frequently the synonym of situational and behavioral (i.e. observed and context dependent) intelligence."]

After watching Dancer in the Dark a couple of days ago, I began thinking about Björk and her other work (specifically her work as a recording artist). I would argue that her music - her sound - is something of an acquired taste, and I know many who say they just haven't gotten into her "out-there" stuff.

I like her. (I didn't at first.) After watching her speak in live TV interviews, and learning more about her creative intelligence and her arguably anarchist attitude towards the Hollywood mainstream, I came around. She's just really interesting (whether you can relate to her much or not), and I think she deserves at least little bit of credit for being such a consistently unique performer.

Here's the award-winning (and somewhat controversial) video for her song, "All Is Full of Love", which I think is really cool:

going viral

["Viral phenomena are objects or patterns able to replicate themselves or convert other objects into copies of themselves when these objects are exposed to them. ...The concept of something, other than a biological virus, being viral came into vogue just after the Internet became widely popular in the mid to late 1990s."]

The focus of this evening's 20/20 news segment was on the internet and it's home to "the viral revolution." The featured discussion touched on almost everything from the explosion of YouTube to Perez Hilton and his famous celeb-rag blog.

Take a look at 20/20 for clips from tonight's feature, "Caught on Tape."

8.2.07

retinitis pigmentosa (fade to black)

"[Retinitis pigmentosa, or RP, is a genetic eye condition. In the progression of symptoms for RP, night blindness generally precedes tunnel vision by years or even decades. Many people with RP do not become legally blind until their 40s or 50s and retain some sight all their life. Others go completely blind from RP, in some cases as early as childhood. Progression of RP is different in each case."]

Sometimes, experimental art has the effect of distancing the viewer from it. It might be that odd formal techniques or other stylistic abstractions employed by the artist in its creation make a piece seem altogether absent from reality - and therefore inaccessible. However, it seems that in other cases, artistic experimentation yields a result so uncannily "real" that viewers must struggle to separate their own perceptions of reality from that of the representation itself.

I found myself struggling (and ultimately failing) to remain in control of my viewing experience yesterday when my digital photo studio classmates and I watched the film, Dancer in the Dark, directed by Lars von Trier.

Usually I consider myself fairly stoic when watching even the most emotionally-charged of films. Perhaps this is a defense mechanism I've developed (a front), but regardless, it's rare for me to shed tears or show genuine fear during a viewing experience.

This movie snuck up on me like nothing I've experienced in quite some time, leaving me shaky and emotionally drained when the credits began to roll. ...And honestly, I'm still trying to figure out just how it hit me so hard.

Released in 2000, this musical melodrama stars Björk as Selma Ježková, a Czech immigrant who spends long hours working in a factory in rural America. Selma guards a sad secret: she is in fact suffering from a genetic degenerative disease (perhaps something similar to retinitis pigmentosa) that is causing her to go blind, and she knows that her young son will suffer the same fate if she can't save up enough money to secure him an operation. What keeps her going day to day is her passion for Hollywood musicals, which offer her escape and a vision of a world where "nothing dreadful ever happens."

The movie is noteworthy in part because it was filmed exclusively on hand-held digital cameras, and the musical scenes themselves were actually shot with about 100 static cameras (with the images later stitched together in sequence). The film is therefore unique - pioneering even - and has a striking hand-made, documentary-like aesthetic.

(Here is the link to the official site for the movie where the theatrical trailer can be viewed.)

My understanding is that the role of Selma was altered somewhat to be more in keeping with Björk's persona. Even with this knowledge I cannot imagine any other actress in the role - she is a stunning presence. Björk is really not of this world, ...and I mean that in a good way. Her Selma steals our sympathies within the first few minutes of the movie (and I'm still grieving for her).

4.2.07

the secondary auditory cortex

[Within the auditory system, which is responsible for the general processing of sound in the brain, the secondary auditory cortex is involved in the more specific perception of “harmonic, melodic and rhythmic patterns."]

I really love music. This is probably something many people would say. I really, really do appreciate it though (to the point that it might qualify as an addiction). I particularly love discovering new bands, and admittedly take some pride in being called an audiophile/audio"file" by friends when I can identify some random track on an old mix tape that hasn't been played in a decade (I specialize in bands who occupied the limelight circa '96, give or take about three years).

(Anyway) imagine my elation when I was recently referred to Pandora, a new internet radio site created by The Music Genome Project. First of all, the neurobio nerd in me loves the mere thought of experts seeking to "map" the musical genome. Plus, and more importantly, this is one of the best ways to find new music I've encountered yet. Some large (mystical?) online database stores the unique identities of countless songs - based on "everything from melody, harmony and rhythm, to instrumentation, orchestration, arrangement, lyrics, and of course the rich world of singing and vocal harmony." So, you can type in the name of a favorite band or song, and Pandora will find songs and artists whose musical identity is similar to that of your pick. The radio stream is interactive as well - you can indicate whether you like or dislike a song being played, and this feedback is then used by the program to further personalize subsequent song selections. It's good fun.

I just wanted to let you know in case you might be stuck in a "life soundtrack" rut. (There is hope!)

1.2.07

Freudian slip(pers)

["A Freudian slip, or parapraxia, is an error in speech or memory that is believed to be caused by the unconscious mind. Some errors, such as a woman accidentally calling her husband by the name of the other man with whom she is having an affair, seem to represent relatively clear cases of Freudian slips. In other cases, the error might appear to be trivial or bizarre, but may show some deeper meaning on analysis. A Freudian slip is not limited to a slip of the tongue, or to sexual desires. It can extend to our word perception where we might read a word incorrectly because of our fixations."]

I ran across these and decided that they may be the greatest things I've ever seen.

On a similar note, I was pretty amused when I saw this, which one of my friends recently put up as her Facebook picture:



It's really weird and slightly disconcerting, but it is clever. I'm not a big believer in the therapeutic potential of psychoanalysis, or really any of Freud's theories on fixations and female "envy" for that matter, but he certainly was hugely influential in the development of modern psychology as both a philosophy and a science. (Plus, I really like those slippers... and they certainly wouldn't exist without the existence of the man himself.)

prosopagnosia II

[Thoughts on self-portraiture as an act of representation... and my own problems with "face blindness"]

The first project my digital photo classmates and I were assigned to involved creating a portrait of a human subject. We were asked to explore the various ways that we could "render identity" within a photo, which is actually a very difficult thing to do - particularly when asked to portray one's self.

I personally have never really done a self-portrait, which is why I was encouraged by my instructor to attempt it for this first project. No one sees themselves objectively - this is a given - but it's still intimidating to focus on the self as the subject; to make the artist the one represented in the work of art. Most would acknowledge that the presence of the artist is evident in any piece, regardless of whether or not it's a self-portrait. We always impose our own perspective when we frame a photo. ...I just had to settle on what perspective I would impose on myself.

In order to avoid getting too self-conscious (though I suppose that was really the whole point...), I decided to experiment with a new formal approach rather than trying too hard to create something that defined "me" (because, honestly, I don't know how to do that). I have always liked the work of Julia Margaret Cameron, so I took in some of her images as inspiration.

Here's what I came up with in the end:


(All rights reserved.)

I have a hard time recognizing myself in these photos.

prosopagnosia

["Prosopagnosia (sometimes known as face blindness) is a disorder of face perception where the ability to recognize faces is impaired, while the ability to recognize objects may be relatively intact."]

There is currently an exhibition at the LACMA that features works by one of my favorite artists, René Magritte. Several other contemporary artists also have work on display in the exhibit, which explores "The Treachery of Images." The exhibit appears to be beautifully designed.

Images are a source of information that help us to construct our understandings of reality. The theory that human perception is a subjective psychological phenomenon arguably served as inspiration for the surrealist movement within the world of art and visual representation. Magritte's works explore reality as a construct, as well as the perceptual disconnect between dreams and reality. It seems that such dream-like imagery might advocate for freedom from the restrictive nature of the rational, socially imposed "reality" of existence. (I think Freud would be proud.)

image credit: Magritte; originally uploaded by _PaulS_

20.1.07

(total) recall

I find that increasingly often I'll pass someone by on my way to work or class, recognize his face, but not be able to remember where I might have seen him before. It's odd to do that double-take and to feel some sort of bond with a person who may as well be a stranger (that is, if my reluctant memory has any say in the matter). I wonder why I can't muster the ability to recall a name to go along with that face, particularly if that face is significant enough - for whatever reason - for me to retain and retrieve some kind of emotional association for that "anonymous" person. Where is the filter? Why does certain information stick, while other bits fall away indefinitely?

19.1.07

phrenology

A couple of centuries back, Franz Joseph Gall developed the theory and practice of phrenology. Essentially, he claimed that he could read an individual's mind by carefully observing that person's unique head shape. According to Gall, bumps and indentations on a patient's skull, depending on their specific location, provided a wealth of information about one's character. This belief became popularized enough that it was embraced (for a time) as an accurate background check for those applying for jobs, and even as a helpful tool to predict a child's future.

Now, it could easily be argued that Gall should perhaps have checked his own head for odd dents or prominent bulges and inflations (if I may be so bold), however one cannot entirely overlook the shallow appeal of this idea - "forget wearing your heart on your sleeve people; you really wear your destiny on your scalp!" All you would need to do is feel around for it, you see...(and maybe shave your head beforehand, just to be thorough).

Just think: No longer would any pre-adults suffer, painfully self-indulgent and fraught with angst, while struggling to "define" themselves. No longer would any twenty-something justify his or her own stalling or irresponsibility by emphatically saying something like "I just need time to focus on me right now." That "focus" - that search - would be needless (really, nonexistent) if phrenology governed humanity.

I won't lie - anything this deterministic causes me to imagine something along the lines of the World State envisioned by Aldous Huxley. But I still wake up some mornings wishing I knew what the heck to do with myself.

Earlier today, I was inspired to take one of those career assessment quizzes - you know, the ones that place you into one of four or so predetermined categories (with complementary employment suggestions) based on your answers to a handful of situational workplace-related "either/or" questions? Today, I was defined as a GREEN, apparently meaning that I am "communicating," which is nice I guess.

Then I thought again of Gall's theory about phrenology, and I realized that if that little quiz was the single determining factor for what I would be prescribed and expected to spend the rest of my life doing...well, I'd really rather wallow for just a bit more in my own angst. What if I had to go around wearing a green dot permanently affixed to my forehead? Or spend the length of my existence clad in some standard-issue verdant uniform so that others would be able to size me up from afar?

(Though I guess if I did live in that soma-drenched World State - the one held in place by indoctrinated conformity - I guess that'd make me a gleefully green-clad Gamma, right?)

the parasympathetic

par·a·sym·pa·thet·ic (păr'ə-sĭm'pə-thĕt'ĭk)
adj.

Of, relating to, or affecting the parasympathetic nervous system: parasympathetic activity; parasympathetic agents.

...the parasympathetic nervous system has one meaning:

[It] originates in the brain stem and lower part of the spinal cord; opposes physiological effects of the sympathetic nervous system: stimulates digestive secretions; slows the heart; constricts the pupils; dilates blood vessels