“The pattern for daily TV use is particularly dramatic, with ‘not happy’ people estimating over 30% more TV hours per day than ‘very happy’ people,” the study says. “Television viewing is a pleasurable enough activity with no lasting benefit, and it pushes aside time spent in other activities — ones that might be less immediately pleasurable, but that would provide long-term benefits in one’s condition. In other words, TV does cause people to be less happy.”
The researchers determined that activities such as sex, reading and socializing correlated with the highest levels of overall happiness while watching TV, on the other hand, was the only activity that had a direct correlation with unhappiness.
It was noted that with regards to the TV watching, they weren’t sure whether happy people just don’t have time for TV because they’re too busy being happy… or that TV watching actually creates unhappiness in people. I think it’s both. Wonder when they’ll come out with the same study on people that spend 12+ hours in front of computers and how their happiness measures up…
The President controls few things that on a day to day basis affect my life. He is largely a figure head, scapegoat at times, and poster boy for a political agenda that is barely radical or capable of stimulating mass “change” in our country. This is why I did not vote.
It’s astonishing to me that people in California have chosen to revoke rights granted to their fellow Americans. It’s like a recall on freedom and equality - a very messed up one. It’s my opinion that the Presidential race for office overshadowed the issue going down with Prop 8 and it didn’t receive nearly enough press and awareness. I’m disappointed and still having trouble grasping why time and time again history has proven that there are no human rights unless explicitly granted to you on a piece of paper.
I’m not a proponent of religion, or blind believer - but I do believe that Christians have largely overlooked the fact that when Jesus came about, his only commandments were to love god and love others. Throw out that old testament crap and stop hating. Get out of people’s bedrooms, accept that not everyone thinks and believes the same thing you do, and realize that you shouldn’t have the right to make decisions that place one group of people as lesser or not worthy of rights you have.
So who the fuck makes chicken marsala without pasta? Apparently Esposito’s resturaunt in downtown Valhalla New York does. I guess having a horrible flash intro to their site is just a bonus to how shitty their chicken marsala is. We like to eat out. And being in New York you get to eat some of the best food around. However, serving chicken marsala without pasta seems like a crime to me. Or at least tell some folks “hey, we don’t serve our chicken marsala over pasta, so if you want it over pasta we’ll need to charge you an extra xxxx.”
Sorry esposito’s; your pizza is okay but you get -5 for bad service and lack of communication. We’ll make up soon, I promise.
ps. i had to cook my own pasta after you delivered the chicken to my door. Poo on you, poo on you.
It’s funny how in nearly all the pictures from this party I have a beer to my lips. I wasn’t even that wasted… or at least that’s what I think I remember.
Lara Logan, Chief Foreign Correspondent for CBS News, was on the Daily Show with John Stewart last night, not to promote a book or movie but to bring the issue of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan back into the focus. It was very interesting to hear her take on being a journalist and her “responsibility” to bring what’s going over there to the world and specifically the American people. They chatted about the numbness that has formed and how news organizations know that Americans are sick of hearing about the war and have begun tailoring their news cast to appease those sentiments. I think one of the most moving things Lara brought up was that she’s seen dead American soliders, but the majority of Americans at home haven’t, because we’re being sheltered and because gruesome images like that may actually resonate loud enough for people to really be infuriated and get passionate about speaking out against our government’s actions.
Do we all just look to electing a new president that’s going to come in and sweep the floors for us? Does it matters that years of apparent silence and ignorance to the rest of the world and our troops appears as consent? I think so. Lately I’ve gotten the feeling that everyone one I meet is more or less against the war, and I acknowledge that it has a lot to do with my circle of friends, family and where I live, but we don’t talk about it - as if it were old news, something that’s been hashed over so many times and that we feel helpless about since nothing changes. I logged on to myspace this morning and found this posted by a friend and it’s just so sad that we don’t have inspiration like his to look to anymore.
Congrats California - one small step to equality for all… now we just need the rest of the states to follow suit and stop discriminating against same sex marriages. I know my girl Mary is overjoyed; you can help support her in the Maryland area by visiting Maryland Equality and getting involved.
Jerry Falwell died last year, and for most people it was a good thing. His sermons were subversive and often spoke out against homosexuals, feminists, pagans, and anyone else that didn’t fit in with his religious views as the factors for a deteriorating American society. You know that people like him exist, but why is it that the most ignorant and hateful people get the most attention and those sharing peace and love are so easily written off?
Recently Falwell’s sons, Johnathan and Jerry Jr., have been in the news since they have continued the tradition of being ministers and preaching to their congregations. Although they have extreme pressure to live up to their dad’s legacy, we can only hope that they fail miserably in continuing a tradition of spreading hate and ignorance.
The news buzz reminded me of this great songwriter, Frank Hoier, and his performance of “The Death of Jerry Falwell.” Watch the video and then check out Frank’s myspace page through the link above.
I know I shouldn’t be so glad that someone’s dead
I know that man was as dangerous as a half a loaf of wonder bread
But when you use your time on our beautiful earth
To preach of what a person’s worth
By who they love or how they pray
Then I will view your final day
As a victory in the battle for truth, and
I’ll sing hallelujah Jerry Falwell’s on that black train
and rides in the caboose Frank Hoier
This past Friday Haley and I got to travel into the city for a unique experience. We were meeting his mom and Pat for a night of jazz music at the swanky SMOKE lounge. Performing that night was The 9th Anniversary Jazz Sextet - featuring Eddie Henderson, Eric Alexander, Steve Davis & the Joe Farnsworth Trio. It was absolutely awesome. We were a little late in arriving and our seats were literally five feet from the stage. The space was small and intimate, just barely fifty people but the acoustics were great.
Of all the trips into NYC that we take, few are actually for fun and/or pleasure. Normally we are engaged in client meetings that leave us stuck in some studio all day or at some overly swanky event where we feel less than comfortable. When my parents proposed going into the city to get dinner and show to celebrate my mom’s birthday I thought it was great. That was last year around this time. So when they suggested we do the same thing again this year, I had to stop and remind them that we shouldn’t start some type of family tradition that’s loosely based around a Spanish mad-man, but I think that actually encouraged them.
