Strange (?) facts about me
Submitted by Merlin on Fri, 07/01/2005 - 01:11
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- The only irrational fear I have is of heights and (concomitantly) of depths.
- I prefer fountain pens over other types of pens, just as I pefer chocolate over vanilla, blue over black, orange highligheter pens over fluoroscent, coffee over tea and The Godfather the book over The Gofather the Movie.
- My hair changes its shape with season... in the rains, it goes curly, in winters, drop dead straight, and in summer, slightly wavy.
- I don't have any memories of growing up until I was about 8 years old.
- I am averse to people sitting really close to me, especially if I don't know them. I'm not scared, it just ticks the hell out of me.
- The easiest way to make me laugh (and happy, if you please) is to surprise me. I really don't know how to explain this... I find it funny if it is unexpected. Like the joke on bertie's list about the Englishman in Nazi captured France, or the Absolut Vodka adverts...hilarious!
- I can't tolerate oil. The sight, the smell, the look and the feel. It ticks the hell out of me.
- If I see someone eating too much of food, or praising it too much or just see LOTS of food at once (feasts, for eg.), I loose all my appetite to it. It is really strange (though not unexpected). This has caused so much trouble for me that I make it a point not to ever eat at social functions when everybody is.
- I am always mistakes for being older than I really am. Like 10 years older.
- My weakness is chocolates. You can hold me with a leash with them.
- Although I have been regulary drinking coffee for the past 5 years, I am not addicted to caffeine.
- My absolutely favouite novel of all times is Atlas Shrugged. This is not strange, per se. What is strange is that nobody I know has started, finished, understood and liked it. Most don't get to the finishig part. Others "can't stand it!". I am yet to know why.
- I can mirror-write my handwriting (a la The Da Vinci Code style) quite easily and fast.
- The maximum amount of time I have ever sat down at one place, studying is 3 hours and 10 minutes. Yes, without getting up at all. I don't recommend that.
Author Comments:
12th May, 2009 : Another update. Wow, talk about co-incidence. I opened up Listology out of boredom and edited the list, only to find out I did the same thing exactly two years ago.
12th May, 2007 : Updated the list. Removed much of the earlier portions of the list I found ridiculously childish.
For your laughs during horror films, there are probably two explanations:
1) laughing is often a human body's counter-reaction against fear;
2) you probably watch the wrong horror movies.:) I mean have you seen Halloween? I've never met somebody who laughed during that movie...
Well, I think the kind of laughter what you're talking about is the 'nervous laughter' ie. when you clasp your hand together, pull your legs together and look around nervously when you laugh... that's the body's natural reaction to fear. Whereas here, the films, apart from trite, unoriginal and boring, were hilariously funny and predictable. That's what made me laugh. I'll give you an example.. the famed 'head twist' scene in The Exorcist was hardly imaginative or creative (or so I feel) and far from causing goosebumps, it caused fits of laughter :). Another one.. more recently, in The Ring 2 , the concluding sequence (since I dont know how to insert spoilers, I'm not getting into the details) was SO funny!!! That brings me to your second point, maybe I haven't seen a properly scary film :). I'll check out Halloween :)Maybe you could suggest more scary titles?
Horror films I liked, are, apart from Halloween:
The Shining
Alien (kinda)
Don't Look Now (the last moments)
The Company of Wolves (kinda)
Rosemary's Baby
Nosferatu (great, but not really scary)
I don't know how to explain for the spoiler tags.
Write < then spoiler then >, write your text, then put at the end < then / then spoiler then >.
Try once.
If this is seen only on highlighting, I've finally learnt how to insert spoilers :) Many thanks to 1922
Yep, I think you're right about #2.
You're (probably?) absolutely right about #1 although I'd love to know if the laughter happens in groups and/or when Merlin is alone... I have a theory but it is scientif-icky. Probably (absolutely?) more icky than scientif.
I also have a theory about headaches (especially if broccoli and Brussel sprouts also cause stomach upsetness)...
The laughter happens whether I am in a group or alone...whether I'm in a theatre or its video... for the afore mentioned reasons. It's not the nervous laugh as I said already.
I have a theory that the laughter 1922 is talking about happens more frequently when you're watching it with a group because, getting scared for the human psyche, is somewhat a let down the ego. To make up for that somewhat embarassing bit, the person unconsciously laughs,as if telling the group "No, I'm not scared. This is actaully funny.".
As for the headache... I really look forward to the theory :)
I'm tempted to spoilerize all of this in tribute to your new-found powers.
Excellent! boom! crash! opera! ...here we go.
Laughter is an involuntary, reflex action. Sorta like a sneeze only it lasts longer and has less mucous (ideally.) Laughter is also a vocalization, it is contagious (sorta like a sneeze) and is much more likely to happen in the company of others. This is why sitcoms need laugh-tracks, vaudevillians need rim shots and Gallagher needs a sneeze-guard. It's a social signal designed to communicate to the people around you in a way that cannot be faked.
Unlike some other things...
I think that in this case (horror movies) the laughter is to show that the threatening (dangerous, scary, gory, whatever) situation isn't a threat at all. The guy in the hockey mask wasn't a serious threat, he was laughable. Because we know that head-spinning and vomiting pea soup are done by special effects we laugh in the face of danger. In doing so we signal to others that there is nothing to fear and that we are not frightened. This signal is important in the face of something which appears dangerous (like horror movies) but which we realize poses no danger to us nor to others. Laughter reassures (or reminds) us and allows us to reconcile (or remember) that it is "just a movie." If the danger was real (like Gallagher) there would be no laughter.
Oh how I long for that day!
Cheese contains fairly high levels of tyramine. What the heck is "tyramine"? Well, tyramine is a breakdown product of tyrosine. Okay, what the *#$! is "tyrosine"? No worries, tyrosine is an amino acid. I am going to punch you. Please don't... here, put this damp cloth over your eyes.
I'll try to keep it short.
Tyrosine is an amino acid which is a part of many of the proteins found in meat, fish cheese, etc. (You remember the old-school food pyramid, dontcha?) Tyrosine can be broken down and used to make noradreniline (aka norepinephrine) and then adrenaline (aka epinephrine.) When tyrosine ages it breaks down on its own into tyramine. Ta-dah! This sucks for you.
Let me tell you why...
What is cheese but aged protein? There's a lot of tyramine in cheese. The older the cheese the more tyramine there is. Tyramine is a vasoconstrictor which is a fancy word for "makes the blood vessels shrink." When the blood vessels in your head stop constricting it gives you (yes, you) a migraine. Ta-dah!
But wait! There's more! ...or less!
As if it didn't suck enough for you there's a fair amount of tyramine in meat and fish. Because of all the protein-tyrosine whatnot. The older that meat and fish gets the more tyramine there is. If you need to have pizza I'd stick with fresh buffalo milk mozzarella and avoid the old cheese. Hold the pepperoni... the ham... the sausage... the salted fish. A Slim-Jim might actually kill you (for any number of reasons.) This may explain your reaction to meat and/or fish. Just a note: fresh fish shouldn't have a smell until cooked (and even then...) If you smell that fishy-type smell in a restaurant something isn't right. I'd stick with sushi.
And for goodness sake, when you're at the bar ask the chef what they would like to start you off with. It's just common courtesy and common sense.
When you start drinking stay far away from red wine (it's all that aging that has gone on.) Red wine is tyraminific! You can recognize it by its red colour. You're on your own when it comes to recognizing beer. While beer may not be as old as wine (one can only hope) it does have yeast which can be quite old. You should also stay away from most nuts... and any kind of nasty yeast spread... like Marmite, Vegemite... and Justplainmite.
Supposedly onions and garlic (and broccoli and Brussel sprouts) reduce the absorption or affect of tyramine.
Norepinephrine and epinephrine are both neurotransmitters and they both affect alertness and wakefulness. (Remember, it's adreniline.) So your body may not want a lot of that stuff wandering around your bloodstream. This may explain why you can sleep "like a log, anytime, anywhere and almost under any circumstances." The cool question might be: Can you eat cheese, get a migraine and go to sleep... while patting your head and rubbing your stomach? If your body hates adreniline then horror movies might not be the best thing. Laughing at them while vomiting at meat and fish could be considered quite sensible.
Note to self: I don't need to see Jaws with you... ever.
One last thing, nicotine is another vasoconstrictor... make of that what you will.
And if you're on the pill and you're getting migraines get the *#$! off it right now.
Now do you have a migraine?
You are a working writer, right? Right?
Whoa... this surely explains a lotsa stuff like why only chhedar cheese gives me a migrane and why I hate fish and meat :).I'll make sure I stay away from anything aged.
Well since I am a bio student, I'm tempted to ask... is tyrosine the only source of epinephriene and norepinephriene? As far as I know... there are more sources. And my body surely doesn't hate adrenalin :).. I mean how would you otherwise explain the thrill of driving at top speed on my bike or the thrill I get when the roller coaster goes down the pathway, almost at 90 degrees :)... I don't get a migrane then :)
P.S. - I am not on the #$%^ing pill... because I belong to the XY population :)
As far as I know tyrosine is the only source for making norepinephrine (and then/therefore epinephrine.) Here, take a look. It's not an essential amino acid because it can be synthesized in the liver. When that happens it has to fight with all of the other amino acids in the liver to get out and up to the brain. Tyramine in the bloodstream doesn't have that problem. I think that noradrenaline (aka norepinephrine) is made in the central nervous system and some of the sympathetic (aah, poor baby) nerves while adrenaline (aka epinephrine, aka Lynn "Panicky" Myers) is made (mostly) in the adrenal gland.
So the nors god (norepinephrine) can be made all over the place when an extra shipment of tyramine (the god of war) shows up on Tuesday (trust me, that's a bit funny.) But epinephrine has to be made in the adrenal gland and it breaks down pretty quickly leaving you, dare I say it, low-key (a tiny bit funny.) I have no idea how those two differ in constricting blood vessels, if at all. From my asthma attacks I do know that adrenaline actually relaxes bronchial muscles (not in the least bit funny.)
But mostly I'm just making stuff up as I go along. Cottage cheese, ricotta, marscapone and American cheese (or, as we say, "Empire cheese") should be pretty safe. So you can stay on that South Beach All-Cannoli Diet. Good luck with that.
I have no idea what you mean by "This happens to be the song" but from the description it seems that Bally Sagoo might be your guy... or you can just kick it hardcore desi-style
I should've been more explicit, but whats the harm in being a bit mysterious eh :)? Well, the songs Dhol Wajda and it's by Needless to Say, sung by Kailash Kher. It was actually a pretty big hit. I just loove the voice... it's so raw :).
Is it what I hear here? (warning: the slow songs make it hard of hearing, keep it on the dl mgr) If so, excellent. If not, excellent?
Am getting the songs... you are based in India or what? I mean you do have a cool idea of the desi scene :)
Am getting the songs, will let you know asap. BTW are u based in India or what? You certainly have a cool idea of the desi scene here
Yep, the sounds here are excellent and do sound like Dhol Wajdaa... but not as good if I may say so... great taste I must say you have!!!:)
dhol wjda is a real rockin song...though hav't heard trance much ...
:):):):):):):) Glad someone finally heard the song. Awesome is an understatement!!!!
I really would recommend trance... I'm sure you'll love it :)
well,no offence but i regard lyrics very imporatand.dunno why.i heard some of he trance stuff...its nice too=)...ad hav u heard the title song of karam-i just luv it and the whole compilation of yahaan is too gud.And some other songs of lets njoy really rock!!!
You are so right about Dhol Wajda. Have listened to it 113 times so far and I have had it for only a month.
Oh boy, were you missing out or WHAT!
I'm glad you liked it. This song is just too good. I counted...it's been an year exact since it was released and I've listened to it EVERYday since that.