Life’s Weirder Than Fiction

I found this optical illusion while stumbling through the ‘net:

It’s amazing what messages the brain gives to the eyes.

In a perfect malingering type of disinformation, a WorldNetDaily’s article, Soy is making kids ‘gay’, is full of mistakes, misconceptions, and red-neck-like statements:

“I have nothing against an occasional soy snack. Soy is nutritious and contains lots of good things. Unfortunately, when you eat or drink a lot of soy stuff, you’re also getting substantial quantities of estrogens.”

Ahhh…estrogen in soy? Sure, if you talk about phytoestrogen. Babyhopes.com explains the potential effect of soy:

“The type of phytoestrogen in soy is known as isoflavones. These isoflavones come in different forms and have different effects. Some may function similarly to estrogens in the body, producing a very weak effect compared to the real hormone. And others act as antiestrogens, to reduce the activity of estrogen. Evidence is growing that these phytoestrogens may help with menopausal symptoms, as well as inhibits cancer cell growth.

In fact, TransHealth.com, an online magazine for transsexual and transgendered people states:

“It has been speculated that a diet high in soy can have hormonally feminizing effects. This has almost no basis in fact, and really, makes very little sense. The beneficial effects of dietary soy are more related to the fact that it inhibits the action of estrogen, not that it has estrogenic effects itself. These inhibitory effects seem to decrease the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) as well as breast and uterine cancer, but only when taken as part of a complete program.”

To make things worse, the WorldNet article says that soy sauce is okay, “Unlike soy milk, it’s perfectly safe because it’s fermented”, which is completely false. Soy sauce indeed does not contain phytoestrogen because “since it’s the protein portion of soy that contains the phytoestrogens […] soy sauce does not contain phytoestrogens” (Babyhopes.com). The article quotes no studies, bases itself on no fact whatsoever. It is a pack of wrong information.

It is so pathetic, it’s hilarious. Anyway, what can you expect from a site that advertises the sale of a book entitled “Conservatives are from Mars, Liberals are from California”, and written by the Chairman of an outfit called Megashift Ministries?

Death on the Nile, by Agathat Christie

It had been at least twenty years since I read an Agatha Christie, and the simplicity of the writing that I remembered was still there and not a figment of my memories. Death on the Nile is one of the stories in which features Hercule Poirot.

Poirot, on holiday in Egypt, encounters a trio of lovers: Simon, a simple man, Linnet, the very rich woman who married him, and Jacqueline, the spurned fiancée. They embark, with a beby of other characters (including a possible terrorist) on a cruise on the Nile. Therein follows a series of small and large dramas that culminate in Linnet’s murder. Poirot, in his inimitable style, slowly unravels the motives and, of course, unveils the murderer.

The style is typical of Agatha Christie’s with plenty of (oft repeated) clues that are pretty much meaningless except to Poirot. Descriptions of scenery are kept to a minimum, so as not to detract from the setting, the murder scene.

Despite these faults, Agatha Christie does in this book what she does so well: show human frailties through a series of well-rounded characters who, each and everyone of them, have their own secrets. The interaction is fascinating, and Poirot’s meddling is delicious. His faith in human nature and his matchmaking efforts counteract his obvious arrogance.

Death on the Nile is a light, amusing, relaxing read that leaves you refreshed –even though the topic is grim.

Until my friend and blogger Verna Wilder tagged me, I had no idea what this game was. It’s a take on the old children’s game, except that instead of standing there and counting when you’re ‘it’, you have to reveal five things about yourself then tag five other people you know, like, love, and/or admire.

About me:

• I didn’t speak English until I was twenty-one. I had studied it at university and knew enough to order a meal or talk about the weather when I was transferred to Halifax, Nova Scotia and put in charge of fifteen, non-French-speaking staff. I had to learn, and real fast.
• I met my husband when I was twenty-one. We met on a 13th of May and by 13 August (of the same summer) we were living together. We were married a year later and have been a couple for 28 years. If you want to know my age, do the math.
• I’m the laziest person I know. I’ve developed a technique where I do everything really efficiently so I have more time for my favorite sport, relaxing.
• I don’t watch TV. Hate it. Find it a total waste of time. I use the internet for news from around the world. Will watch DVDs, though.
• I’m fluent in three languages, and functional in two others. Fluent in French, English, Spanish. Can get by in Portuguese and Italian. I’m currently studying Italian more in depth. Next language for me: Mandarin Chinese.

Now that I’ve suffered through these revelations, here they are. (Darn, a lot of people I would’ve loved to tag don’t have blogs)

The Tagged:

• Cheryl Swanson. Cheryl’s a one-person whirlwind with more energy than I have. She recently started a blog to promote her fellow authors from Zumaya and she writes incredible reviews. She also lives in Hawaii (one of the islands) and is known as Surfing Cheryl.
• Eva Kende. Eva is a Hungarian-Canadian who has lived an incredible life, both in Hungary and in Canada. She recently published her childhood memoirs in Snapshots: Growing up Behind the Iron Curtain.
• Erin O’Brien. Erin likes to run around the internet… naked, talk about sex, and make hilarious comments on life in general.
• Edward Willett. Ed is a multi-published author who is rare: he writes both fiction and non-fiction. He’s also the diligent and hard-working (I know how much work that takes) webmaster for the SF Canada site.
• Christopher Stires. Another fellow author, Chris always has fun pieces on his blog. Chris lives in Southern California. Right now, with -11C and snow, neither Cheryl nor Chris are popular with me. I’m swiftly turning green.

…What would the soundtrack be?

Here’s how it works:
1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that’s playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don’t lie and try to pretend you’re cool…

Here’s mine:

Opening Credits: “Your Sweet Name” - Harry Manx
Waking Up: “I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues” - Toots Thielemans
First Day At School: “A Song For You” - Michael Bublé
Falling In Love: “Troisième leçon des Ténèbres à 2 voix” - Jordi Savall
Fight Song: “Hallelujah” - Handel
Breaking Up: “Once I Loved” - Charlie Byrd
Prom: “The Long Day is Over” - Norah Jones
Life: “Cosi fan Tutte” - Mozart
Mental Breakdown: “You and I” Michael Bublé
Driving: “Se Tu M’ami” - Cecilia Bartoli
Flashback: “Time after Time” - Cassandra Wilson
Wedding: “Talk to You” - Tracy Chapman
Birth of Child: “The Point of Purchase” - Harry Manx
Final Battle: “Carmina Burana” - Orff
Death Scene: “Run the Voodoo Down” - Cassandra Wilson
Funeral Song: “Beyond the Horizon” - Charlie Byrd
End Credits: “Come Away With Me” - Norah Jones

It’s uncanny how some of those songs are appropriate. The idea was stolen from Ammy J.