lookin

Indeed it is. It's called 'reciprocal altruism' and, according to one of my favorite reads, it works something like this: Let's say you and I are hunters and we meet in a clearing. I haven't caught anything in a week and am close to starvation. You have just caught a fat rabbit and hand me one of the juicy hind legs, thereby saving my life. You still have plenty left to eat so, while you're giving up a valuable resource, you're still likely to be OK. A couple weeks later, we meet in the same clearing and this time you're the one down on his luck and I've just caught a fat rabbit. Remembering how you saved me, I pull off a juicy hind leg for you and we both live to hunt another day. And, most likely, our genes get passed along and this 'altruistic' behavior becomes genetically encoded. If it weren't for this 'reciprocal altruism', we'd both be dead much quicker and our 'selfish genes' would be much less likely to get passed along. At some basic level, we humans know how to read these qualities in others and can select our mates accordingly. I know that, personally, I'd never marry a guy without knowing what's in his genes.

Please pardon this small sliver of light amidst the gloom, but a UN scientific committee announced today that the Earth's ozone layer is beginning to mend, following our 1987 agreement to ban chlorofluorocarbons. There was a statistically significant 4% improvement between 2000 and 2013 and, by 2030, two million cases of skin cancer will be avoided. "It's a victory for diplomacy and for science and for the fact that we were able to work together," said Nobel Prize winning chemist Mario Molina. Naturally, I'm thrilled that CFC's aren't the problem they were a quarter-century ago, but won't pretend I don't miss some of the good spray we had back then.

I'm pretty sure that counts as a compliment down there. It's when they say, Bless your heart! that you need to worry.

In another thread, MsGuy posited that there were only so many ways to say, "Boy, that kid sure gives me a stiffie." While this may in fact be the case it seems that, in the millennia that folks have been lusting after youthful hardbodies, there must have been more than just a handful of such observations. One I recall, from an old book on lust through the ages, is that of a Persian gentleman that went something along the lines of, There's a boy across the river with a bottom like a peach but, alas, I cannot swim. Can't think of it at the moment, but there's another one on the tip of my tongue. I understand AdamSmith is on the hunt for such phrases through the ages. Anyone else have any favorites?

Funny! Is this another one of those "challenges"? If so, I think this time my money will be on AdamSmith. Could make for a fun thread.

I think these folks who go willingly toward the tragedies to offer what help they can are amazing human beings. There was a segment last night on Frontline that followed the work being done by a Médecins Sans Frontières hospital in Sierra Leone. They built a sixty-bed field hospital a few months ago that they thought would be big enough to handle the victims from a cluster of surrounding villages. It wasn't. And isn't. Yet they bring every patient they can find into the hospital, treat what symptoms they can, hydrate them, and try to keep them alive until their immune system has a chance of kicking in. Remarkably, about thirty percent manage to beat the illness. They also track everyone the patient was in contact with, and educate everyone in the patient's home village as best they can. Some villagers are afraid of going to the hospital, thinking bad things may happen to them there, and some hide from the medics. Everything about this battle is uphill. Yet these medical workers soldier on, case by case, not only accepting whoever shows up at the hospital, in whatever condition, but also driving hours to find sick villagers they've heard about and bring them back. I'm not much on 'role models', especially from the world of politics and entertainment, but these folks who go into the world's hell holes to do whatever they can to help make things better are folks who have much to teach, and they've got my full attention.

Perhaps we're just a little slow. Even the Academy gets a few weeks to return their Oscar nominations, no? Also, it somehow never occurred to me that I didn't have to vote in all the categories, and I was having trouble with the ones that came across as a bit negative (6, 8 and 9) and even the ones that could easily have multiple winners (all the rest). We are, after all, an intimate little group here and I kept feeling like the relative who would have to tell Cousin Velma that her Ambrosia Abbondanza was perhaps only the second best I ever had. And only since she started using the canned Kiwi. Fact is, nearly all posters here excel at one thing and another at one time and another. But I'm still working on my ballot and busy shearing off the hanging chads. ¡¿Que?! I know I've personally wheeled my mouse to the bottom of around a hundred of your posts and hit the 'Like' button, and added supporting prose a number of times. Not sure if you get 'Like' notifications but check your profile and you'll see that you've got more than eight thousand as we speak! Not really 'nobody cares' territory unless, of course, we're all just a bunch of nobodies. Of course, there may be more direct ways to sing your praises and I'll be checking into a few other options.

There's an app for that.™

Sorry you haven't got any recommendations yet, unless by PM. It's been a decade since I've been in Prague, so can't personally offer any advice. One thing I have done in the past, however, is to stay in a hotel for the first night or two and find an apartment while I'm there. Like you, I enjoy 'living like the locals' and can better figure out where I want to be when I'm on the ground. This worked well in Budapest, even though there was a major auto rally in the city at the time. I know this strategy won't work for those who like things buttoned up in advance, but it's given me some pleasant results. Hope those with better info chime in. And good luck!

Brings to mind an old drinking song: How's your mother, How's your father, How's your sister Sue? But most important Of them all, How's the ol' wazoo?

Very creative categories! Don't care who wins, as long as Hito does the Red Carpet! Oh my, I wish I had a boa like that!

Side-splitting! Thanks, guys. She must have had millions of jokes. I almost sent her one back in the nineties: Dumb? He bought the Jenny Craig franchise for Somalia! I heard she often put fifty bucks in the mail for one she used. What a hoot!

What say I mention it first thing in the morning?

He's on now. Haven't been watching steadily, but he's gone on a break once and two privates in the last hour. They never last very long, so I'd suggest hanging in. He sounds like a laid-back twenty-one year old, who seems very social. Just said he went to a gay club with his girlfriend on Friday. He thinks they're fun and was invited to some after-parties. I'll just bet he was! Sadly, I've got to head out now, so I'm passing the baton. (So to speak.)

Voof! http://www.boytoyflirt.com/rooms/blake_johnson/ Just said he's straight and from South Carolina. Still . . .

Hadn't heard that. Fascinating! According to this article, even though the wings won't move, A slender skylight that runs the length of the spine of the cathedral-like building will open each Sept. 11. Inside, visitors will see elements of the reconstructed skyline and up to the sky, itself part of the enduring iconography of Sept. 11.

Why yes, dear, I guess I am an apathetic pothead! . . . . . . . . . What's 'apathetic' mean? Must be Italian for 'bogart'.

Thanks, guys! Out of 'likes' for today, but I've loved all these posts. Gotta admit, I've sometimes felt a little guilty laughing at some of her lines and wondering how the targets felt. But the person behind the laughs, and her many kindnesses to others, are making me realize that a good heart lay behind it all. So, I think for the next little while I'll honor her in the spirit she deserves. (As a f'rinstance, that one about somebody's skin looking like something you'd hang off your door in Africa is just too good to let slide. ) (And that picture with Andre! )

Really enjoying these frontline reports, folks! Many thanks.

Why the hell couldn't my transmission have gone out, instead of the power windows?

Didn't realize it would take only a few short weeks but, sure enough, here's another thread that singles out folks for not posting and, sure enough, it's got some noses out of joint and, sure enough, it has the predictable effect of causing some valuable new posters to consider going back to lurking. The sad thing, for me anyway, is that, over the past few weeks, we have had some great new posters join in. I won't single out any names but there have been some terrific new contributors in the Rio and Prague threads, and in this Forum and elsewhere and I've really enjoyed reading them. My feeling is that it would be better to just let the new arrivals settle in and get comfortable, rather than to shine a light on those who may still be trying to decide whether or not to stick around. Frankly, I don't expect this post will have any better results in ending these personal call-outs than my earlier posts did, or my ill-advised attempts at humor did. And perhaps it shouldn't. It's just one thought among many. Plus it may be too late for the current batch of newcomers, who get to watch this latest brouhaha. But I'd love to find a way to see what would happen if, in the future, we could just let folks enter the water at their own pace without pointing fingers at them. Also didn't realize, until one of the new posters mentioned it, that OZ had sent out an email to inactive posters inviting them to come back for a look see. That was a terrific idea and it seemed to be bringing home the bacon. Now we may not know how it would have played out. But never say never. With luck, there's a lurker nearby wondering if s/he might be welcomed to a new home. And, last but certainly not least, many thanks to the new posters who have started contributing. There are some really informed and thoughtful additions to the Board. Can't wait to see what OZ thinks when he gets back.

I probably shouldn't have tried scrolling through this post all in one sitting.

Best cooler I've found, if that's what you're looking for, is raita. If you like, you can skip the mint, as it's the yogurt and cucumbers that get the job done.

Our past sins are beginning to tell, As the planet grows old and unwell. It is hardly a nice age To deal with an ice age. Perhaps we could just go to hell.

AdamSmith's kale arrives, just in time for dinner.