Cereal News

Three interesting things I learned tonight while eating a bowl of organic flax flakes with almond milk and reading the New York Times:

1. The "crack baby" scare proved unfounded. Turns out that pregnant women smoking crack doesn't really do permanent damage to the kids. Resilient devils, I've always said. While crack babies tend to be born smaller, they catch up in a few years. But research results on permanent effects are inconclusive. It should be noted that despite the lack of hard evidence against crack smoking while pregnant, no one appears to be recommending the practice, with the possible exception of crack dealers.

2. Although teen pregnancies have increased in recent years, teen sex is actually on the decline. According to the National Youth Risk Behavior Study, 48% of high school students have had sex, compared with 54% in 1991. And the improvement gets more pronounced with younger teens, although the data is not regularly updated. This is in sharp contrast to public perceptions, sensationalized by popular media, that there is a teen sex epidemic raging out of control. Now 48% is still a pretty high number, but the trend is certainly worth noting. And now I'm very curious as to why.

3. Babies instinctively put stuff in their mouths because it's good for them. It turns out that one of the best things for kids is to eat a little dirt, which strengthens the immune system and decreases the chances of future diseases. Dirt contains millions of organism and, most important, tiny worms. I know it sounds crazy, but scientists are attributing the elimination of intestinal worms in developed countries to increases in diabetes, asthma, allergies, Crohn's disease and multiple sclerosis. Three small fixes: Encourage your kids to play in the dirt, don't scold them when they stick yukky stuff in their mouths, and don't make them wash their hands before they eat.

Actually, I learned a few other things as well, but they didn't seem as profound. For instance, four-legged animals walk left rear foot first, then left front, right rear and right front, but about half the illustrations in books, manuals, etc. show this incorrectly. Not really sure what to do with that. Or this one: Tanzania's government recently banned traditional healers (witch doctors) in an attempt to stop the killing of albinos for medicine. To help combat common myths and prejudices, the prime minister has nominated an albino woman for parliament and adopted an albino child.

All the news that's fit to print.

Mind Games

I just read about a new game from Mattel that requires you to move a foam ball with your mind waves, by concentrating upon it. This is very, very cool. And suprisingly affordable at $80. It will be out next September.

The Mattel game is powered by concentration. I am very eager to play it, but dreadful at the same time. Intense concentration has never been my strong suit. Even in chess, which at one time I played passably, my talent was to be able to very rapidly visualize a sequence of moves. I fear that I will not be able to hold my concentration for long, and any ruse of intelligence that I have been perpetuating over the course of my life will be immediately exposed as my foam ball rests motionless.

I recently reread Ender's Game, one of the few science fiction novels I've read and the only one I've really liked. Written almost 25 years ago, it describes the battlegrounds of the future, led by adolescent (or, in Ender's case, pre-adolescent) commanders. And it strikes me, as I read about the Mattel game, that conflicts may well become mind games of sorts, and in that situation, youth would likely prove more adaptable.

But that's a diversion. The idea that you can move stuff with your mind was a parlor trick made famous by Israeli entertainer Uri Geller in the 70's. He did it on television, and lacking the skepticism of adulthood I thought it was mystifying and magical. (Years later I saw Uri Geller perform live at a corporate gathering and was embarassed by his silly and transparent "mentalist" tricks.)

That may well be another diversion. I'm not sure. You see, I'm having a hard time concentrating. Game on.

Life is like Music

Cool thought for the day.

Very good career advice.

Creative Grandparenting

I just ran across this exchange from an old Calvin and Hobbes cartoon and it inspired all sorts of grandparenting ideas:

Calvin: Dad, how come old photographs are always black and white? Didn’t they have color film back then?

Dad: Sure they did. In fact, those old photographs are in color. It’s just the world was black and white then.

Calvin: Really?

Dad: Yep. The world didn’t turn color until sometime in the 1930s, and it was pretty grainy color for a while, too.

Calvin: But then why are old PAINTINGS in color?! If the world was black and white, wouldn’t artists have painted it that way?

Dad: Not necessarily. A lot of great artists were insane.

Freezefest 2009

Last year I had planned to join a group of like-minded intrepid canyoneers in Freezefest 2008, but sprained an ankle in an Arizona canyon just after Christmas AND caught the flu, so sickly and hobbling on New Years Eve, I unfortunately had to pass. This year I was determined to go.

Freezefest is an annual canyoneering event (seventh year) held in North Wash and attended by a group of diehard canyoneers who are willing to brave the cold to enjoy the rigors of winter canyoneering. We all stayed in the unofficial Sandthrax campground, which has no services, although there is an outdoor toilet five miles down the road.

The centerpiece of the event is always a descent of The Black Hole on New Years Day. The Black Hole is one of the wettest canyons around and involves nearly constant wading, numerous long swims and, during this time of the year, the need to manage a couple of inches of ice atop many of the channels. (There are a few ways to manage this--try to walk the ice and hope it doesn't break, belly crawl the ice, or let the lead canyoneer serve as an ice-breaker, busting off huge floating sheets that the followers must push around the force their way through.)

I undertook the venture with some trepidation, concerned that I would be uncomfortably cold spending hours in icewater. Of the thirteen in our group that did the trip, about half had dry suits, and the rest of us neoprene wet suits. And as it turned out, it wasn't bad at all. In fact, it was a blast.

We did other canyons as well: Woody and Woodsie on Dec. 31st. And on Jan. 2nd we descended Cheesebox, another notoriously wet canyon which was also snow-covered. It was often a challenge climbing down these ice-covered canyon walls, swimming and wading through icy channels and hiking through snow, but these added degrees of difficulty actually enhanced the pleasure of the experience.

All in all, I had a terrific time. The group was great, sharing food and gathering around a fire every night. (One of the fun parts about being in the cold is that you must consume an extraordinary amount of calories to stay warm. Everyone ate a lot.) I made a number of new friends that I expect to join in canyons again. During the three days I descended four new canyons and was grateful for the opportunity to see southern Utah wilderness in conditions not often experienced.

I realize that most people would never do something like this because it sounds crazy and uncomfortable. After all, it is called Freezefest. Despite this, if they conquered their fears and tried it, I think most folks would be pleasantly surprised at how much fun it is, despite the cold. I think many things in life are like that.

"Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.
The angels are all in heaven, but few of the fools are dead."
---James Thurber

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