Mood: Physically tired - and to the pervs who may misinterpret that: "I wish" *sniffle*
Currently listening to: My Favourite Game - The Cardigans

This is gonna be another semi-rushed post, due to the same reasons as yesterday's and i apologise beforehand for any graamatical mistakes 'k? ;)

Right, 'Dear Diary' time again:

Next to nothing happened in the morning (i was unconscious) and i spent most of the early afternoon watching my brother play Grand Theft Auto 3: San Andreas. One thing about that game - my brother and i can't understand almost half of what the characters, with their 'hood' lingo are saying!!! Its like they're from a different planet or something... i mean YOU try figuring out what this means when spoken quickly by some hispanic guy with a heavy accent: "Yo BITCH, I needs a Jacksn' a Lincon, An sum ones. Don't gots all day, bitch."

Thank GOD i found a decent (albeit a tad limited) Gangsta Dictionary online...

I don't know - does this mean that i'm too refined (hah!), too old, or that i just need to watch more MTV?

I STILL despise R&B in general.

Ah... now where was i?

Oh yes... so anyhow, i spent the majority of the afternoon at the gym and in the pool followed by my weekly Wednesday futsal (which is basically 5 a side indoor soccer for those of you who don't know) with Gib, Kenny, and a bunch of people who turned out to be my brother's friends. This was my second time there (sans Leonard and Gulshan) and this week's session proved to be a lot better for me. Whereas i was a complete and utter embarassment to my team the previous week (which is really saying something given the state of the team - read Leonard's review of the day) i managed to snag no less than 5 goals over the course of this week's sitting!

HUZZAH!!! :)

Okay, okay, admittedly most of them were garnered in super-cheesy Van Nistelrooy style (aka, just happening to be in the right place at the right time and just generally being a huge 6ft 4in annoyance to their goalie and defence) AND i might not have mastered such useful concepts as 'passing' or 'shooting' but, dammit, my positioning is AWESOME.

Er... Its just what happens 85% of the time AFTER i get the ball that still causes my teammates to roll their eyes in despair. ;)

Yup, more room for improvement but hey, what do you expect from a guy who hasn't touched a soccer ball in 10+ years?

Well, that was my day - i think i have just enough time to post up some articles of interest (including the Female contraceptive SPRAY article as promised to some) before i get dragged out of my seat in protest...

But first - ein quiz (courtesy of Yo)!!!

What Social Status Are You?

(aside: Shouldn't that be 'What is your Social Status'? Ah well...)

You scored as alternative. You're partially respected for being an individual in a conformist world yet others take you as a radical. You have no place in society because you choose not to belong there - you're the luckiest of them all, even if your parents are completely ashamed of you. Just don't take drugs ok? What Social Status are you? created with QuizFarm.com

Too late. *sniffle*

Come to think of it, with everyone and everything extohling the virtues of 'Being an individual', isn't being an individual today conformist in nature? Hell, you even have 'models of individuality' to follow... *groan*

On to the articles then...

World's First Spray-on Contraceptive

Full article here.

THE world's first spray-on contraceptive is to be tested by Australian women.

As easy as putting on perfume, the fast-drying spray would be applied to the inner side of a woman's forearm once a day, ending the need for pills, implants or injections, researchers said.

The first phase of the clinical study will take place in Sydney and be completed by Christmas.

It is expected a contraceptive spray could be available to the public within four years and cost up to about $25 a cycle.

Cool huh? :)

Delivery Service Greases Palms

Full article here.

For years the nuts and bolts of bribery have been the bane of many a Russian's life. In a country where corruption is often the only way, a clumsy attempt at passing a brown envelope has left many red-faced and floundering.

But now a Moscow-based entrepreneur has started a service that aims to put an end to the headache of how and where to grease a corrupt official's palm.

Advertising on the internet, the founder, who goes only by the name of Sergei, has started a bribe delivery service. It guarantees to pass on a customer's back-hander without risk or embarrassment.

Sergei offers his services along with an e-mail address: vzyatka@moscowmail.com. (Vzyatka is Russian for bribe.)

His typical fee is 50 per cent of the value of the bribe. Once a deal has been agreed a contract is drawn up between the client and Sergei's company for "courier services".

It was only a matter of time before they came up with this... On the other hand, could this be a business opportunity just waiting to happen in South East Asia? ;)

And look! They even provided their email address! ;p

More Proof That Left-Handers Are Bastards

I found this so interesting that the whole article has been reproduced below but you can find the original here.

Scientists believe they may have discovered why left-handers are so common, despite suffering disadvantages when it comes to handling tools, disease risk and historical prejudice in predominantly right-handed societies against the 'cackhanded'.

Because this trait is substantially inherited, and because it can be a disadvantage, scientists have puzzled for years over what it is about being left-handed that helps survival, or the ability to reproduce.

Now it seems that left-handers are more likely to thrive in a violent society. A French team reports today in the Proceedings of the Royal Society: Biological Sciences that because they are in the minority, left-handers have a strategic advantage in fights.

The reason is not that they are innately superior but that their opponent is likely to be more used to combat with right-handers, according to Dr Charlotte Faurie and Dr Michel Raymond of Université Montpellier II, France.

The team was inspired to carry out the study by the observation that, in a right-handed society, left-handers have an advantage in sports such as fencing, tennis, cricket and baseball.
They reasoned that "interactive sports in western societies are special cases of fights, with strict rules, including in particular the prohibition of killing or intentionally wounding the opponent".

Thus it could be that being left-handed in a right-handed society may have offered an advantage in fights. "If this is true, then the advantage of being left-handed should be greater in a more violent context, which should result in a higher frequency of left-handers." They decided to test their idea. Earlier studies have shown the number of left-handers in the Kreyol people of Dominica, the Ntumu people of Cameroon, the Dioula-speaking people of Burkina Faso, Baka people of Gabon, Inuit people, and the Eipo people in Irian Jaya, New Guinea.

When the team studied the rate of murder in each society, they found "a significant positive correlation between homicide rates and left-handedness frequencies."

The Dioula had a homicide rate equivalent to one hundredth of a death per 1,000 people per year, while the Eipo had around three deaths per 1,000 people. And the percentage of left-handers was 3.4 per cent and more than 20 per cent, showing how left-handedness thrived along with aggression.

In societies, being able to win fights meant more than killing opponents, enabling warriors to gain status, and impress women.

A study by the same team of 600 students found that the same forces are at work today in sports, which they describe as "ritualised fights". Competitive athletes, particularly men, have more sexual partners than their couch-potato peers. Because left-handers often have a competitive advantage in sports, they are more likely to enjoy this benefit, said Dr Faurie.

However, left-handers face disadvantages. Statistics suggest reduced life expectancy, smaller body size and immune system disorders, she said. "But it seems to be true that they are more frequent among some professional categories as musicians and mathematicians," said Dr Faurie. "Our team showed that they have some socio-economic advantages (like a slightly higher income)."

*yawn* Too sleepy to comment...

zzz