TMNT

technology has given us many things, mostly for convenience or pushing boundaries.
now computers have been put to use in creating visual effects for movies, we have reached a renaissance of sorts, specifically in the genre of the superhero: Spider-Man, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Hellboy, The Incredible Hulk, Spider-Man 2, X-2, Batman Begins, X3: The Last Stand, Superman Returns and to a certain extent Harry Potter and the Incredibles.

i am looking very forward to 2007: specifically Spider-Man 3, Transformers: The Movie, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. one that may have slipped under the radar for you, though, is the new fully-CGI Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movie. i would like to thank all the geeks and nerds from the late 70s and early 80s who have now proliferated the movie and gaming industry and have revived my favourite franchise.

so click the title link and watch the teaser trailer.

the designs hark back to the Golden Turtle age, before the full-body-costume live-action movies, before the crappy Fox cartoon. the Turtles are back to being leaner, ganglier teenaged turtles. and because of the flexibility granted by CGI techniques, they have now put the NINJA back in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. the trailer reminds me very much of those 'Urban Ninja' videos that had cropped up a few years ago.

how to be a better husband

it appears that Amy Sutherland's New York Times article, "What Shamu Taught Me About A Happy Marriage," has caused quite a stir. it's a short and pleasant read, but i'll summarize.

as is often the case in marriages, Sutherland sought to change her husband because she found herself nitpicking and becoming annoyed at all his little habits (leaving clothes on the floor, getting angry over lost keys) - none of which warrants divorce by any stretch of the imagination, but do accumulate and fester in the mind. she tried the usual approaches (counseling, nagging) to no avail (the marriage counselor actually commended their communication skills). while researching exotic animal trainers for a book, she was inspired to utilize the same training and conditioning skills on her husband.

taking sides
depending on your gender, personality and life stage, you'll probably have different reactions to this article. as an amateur behaviouralist and an aficionado of couples' rapport in particular, Sutherland's cheeky writing tickled me. my first thought was, "hey, is this ethical?" i guess it is as ethical as training a baboon to skateboard, making it an argument for someone who cares about that sort of debate.

in any case, i agree with this method. it is certainly something that i have been considering (as a parenting technique - not that i have children) for quite some time before reading this. nagging only works by annoying the naggee to the point of relenting in that hopes that the nagger will shut up. negative reinforcement short of physical damage merely serves to push our rebellion buttons.

if it is not broken ain't broke...
though it is a stereotypical prejudice to say that women always try to change/customize their men, i believe it is pretty safe to say that this stereotype is grounded in truth. where men enjoy fixing and tinkering with objects (machines and anything else that could probably be broken with further fixing), women tend to enjoy fixing people, particularly significant others. i would say this behaviour stems from playing with dolls (that give little girls the feeling of complete control over the 'lives' of their friends), but it probably extends back far beyond the advent of Barbie. why else would women go for the "bad boy" even when there is a perfectly good housetrained gentleman available? this is not a bad thing. otherwise guys (in general) would never be able to get a girl to go out with them. here's a great pick-up line: "i have emotional baggage and your voice is a soothing balm to my ravaged soul, so will you bear my children?". i refer you to the remarkable number of wounded soldiers who end up marrying their nurses, but i digress.

the techniques mentioned are nothing new - positive reinforcement has been around since Pavlov rang his bell - and they work like magic. that is to say, lots of hard work practicing and perfecting without any guarantee that it will pan out. it's sort of like... marriage. well, fancy that coinky-dink. therefore, we can conclude that marriage is the magic of classical conditioning! right?

math
seeing as how i am unmarried, all i can do is speculate (and research anecdotally!) from a logical and Christian standpoint. and i have found that marriage is supremely difficult because it requires you to be completely selfish. you heard me.

but wait, aren't we supposed to be selfless and altruistic and whatnot?
this goes completely against our natural inclinations of self-serving, of ensuring that our own interests are paramount. should we go against our design? after all, it is far easier to put the spoon in your own mouth than someone else's. what people tend to forget is that marriage combines two individuals into one entity: "for this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh" (Ephesians 5:31). a married couple should come to know each other so well that feeding each other becomes easier than feeding themselves.

so does trying to classically condition her husband to pick up his socks make the article's author the manipulative, man-eating, Beast-riding, she-devil of Babylon?

i see this more as a reasonable and positive approach to building each other up to become better partners. as you can see, i sort of ran out of energy towards the end of this entry. i was also a bit snarky in the middle because i'm not alright.

heat issues

sometimes it gets so hot outside you could fry an egg on the sidewalk.
sometimes it gets so hot that you could fry an egg on the underside of your Macbook.

i am actually interesting this time...

Your Brain Usage Profile:

Auditory : 31%
Visual : 68%
Left : 36%
Right : 63%

You possess an interesting balance of hemispheric and sensory characteristics, with a slight right-brain dominance and a slight preference for visual processing.

Since neither of these is completely centered, you lack the indecision and second-guessing associated with other patterns. You have a distinct preference for creativity and intuition with seemingly sufficient verbal skills to be able to translate in any meaningful way to yourself and others.

You tend to see things in "wholes" without surrendering the ability to attend to details. You can give them sufficient notice to be able to utitlize and incorporate them as part of an overall pattern.

In the same way, while you are active and process information simultaneously, you demonstrate a capacity for sequencing as well as reflection which allows for some "inner dialogue."

All in all, you are likely to be quite content with yourself and your style although at times it will not necessarily be appreciated by others. You have sufficient confidence to not second-guess yourself, but rather to use your critical faculties in a way that enhances, rather than limits, your creativity.

You can learn in either mode although far more efficiently within the visual mode. It is likely that in listening to conversations or lecture materials you simultaneously translate into pictures which enhance and elaborate on the meaning.

It is most likely that you will gravitate towards those endeavors which are predominantly visual but include some logic or structuring. You may either work particularly hard at cultivating your auditory skills or risk "missing out" on being able to efficiently process what you learn. Your own intuitive skills will at times interfere with your capacity to listen to others, which is something else you may need to take into account.

compared to my old results...

my Bore-O-Meter (click)

i don't know if you know this... but i can't draw horses.