PrideBook - A Class Apart

It is the name of a social site, created by a Canadian consultant, specifically for the gays - homosexuals, lesbians, bisexuals and transsexuals. Pridebook.com has less than 2,000 registered users of more than 80 countries; this to me seems a very small number from that many countries. It also makes me wonder once again, something I have been wondering for a long time.

In Yahoo's 360 merely a few month before they closed up, I almost immediately noticed that there were many self defined lesbians, often with the popular phrase 'proud to be' or other proclamation to that effect, attached to their self introduction. Yet I have never come across any gay men there, not a single one so self proclaimed that I know of, nor in Multiply.

I am quite curious. Are there none in any social site? Or they are sufficiently confident and self assured, as they should be, that the condition of their sexuality is not an issue at all in any aspect or field, socially or professionally, that should mark them as different, or a class apart. Another curious thing is many of them, when open about their sexual orientation, often add 'I am proud to be', it's to me like I am proud to have 2 arms & 2 legs. Being gay is not an achievement, simply that's how they are.

Another far greater curiosity of mine is: why the gay community, on the whole, tries so hard to mark special territory for themselves, creating sub communities of all sorts, exclusively for people with their same sexual orientation only. In many countries nowadays, most people have learned to live in harmony with others, whatever their colour, culture, religion, background ... whether they are gay or not. People are just people. All are equal in their social and personal rights.

What is classified as the majority, the heterosexuals, never make special claim or see the need to announce their sexual preference, why do the gay people feel they need to and often do? It gives the impression that they are building walls round themselves, rather than being excluded by the society or prejudice.

Back to Pridebook. It's a free site. It doesn't permit pornography or any sexual explicit photos or total nudity. As there are countries with century long prejudice where homosexuality is still considered a crime. False names and substituted ID photos are permitted.

Tags:pridebook.com

The Magic Bike

Magician and illusionist Peter Marveybest performs Le velo “The Bike” on the World Greatest Cabaret hosted by Patrick Sebastien. I wasn’t really impressed with this illusion until his legs started riding the bicycle by themselves as that definitely got my attention. Glad to see him get himself together and finish the entertaining act in grand style.

Current Mood: Amused

Marvellously Mature & Delightfully Young

** You are marvellously mature when:

• You and your teeth don't sleep together.


• You try to straighten out the wrinkles in your socks and discover you aren't wearing any.


• At the breakfast table you hear snap, crackle, pop and you're not eating cereal.


• Your back goes out but you stay home.


• When you wake up looking like your driver's license picture.


• It takes two tries to get up from the couch.


• When your idea of a night out is sitting on the terrace.


• When happy hour is a nap.


• When you're on holiday and your energy runs out before your money does.


• When you say something to your kids that your mother said to you and you always hated it.


• When all you want for your birthday is to not be reminded of your age.


• Your idea of weight lifting is standing up.


• Your memory is shorter and your complaining lasts longer.


• Your address book has mostly names that start with Dr.


• You sit in a rocking chair and can't get it going.


• The pharmacist has become your new best friend.


• Getting "lucky" means you found your car in the parking lot.


• The twinkle in your eye is merely a reflection from the sun on your bifocals.


• It takes twice as long - to look half as good.


• Everything hurts, and what doesn't hurt - doesn't work.


• You look for your glasses for half an hour and they were on your head the whole time.


• You sink your teeth into a steak - and they stay there.


• You give up all your bad habits and still don't feel good.


• You have more patience, but it is actually that you just don't care anymore.


• You finally get your head together and your body starts falling apart.


• You wonder how you could be over the hill when you don't even remember being on top of it.

** You are delightfully young when:

You are happy to enjoy a 'Mexican Kiss' during the flu alert period, and the French Kiss later.

Tags:delightfully,marvelously

Current Mood: Amused

The Memory Zip

There's nothing one can do about changing the past, but we can deny it, at least to ourselves. We can erase it too all together, as easy as clicking the 'Delete' button. The memory of it anyway, as though it had never happened. This is what the modern science tells us. Hasn't the whole world, at one time or another, tried to erase certain unpleasant occurrences from their memories since time immemorial?

But there's now a new mix of chemical called 'Zip', that would wipe out all your unwanted memories. In the experiments with rats, a dose of Zip completely deletes any memory the animal had up till the present moment. The molecule functions to erase the motoring process, affective habits and geometric knowledge. It's effective, highly specific, and does not destroy any brain cells. It erases effectively and cleanly the very moment it's applied.

The scientists used this molecule of oblivion to study the biologic bases of the memory. One of the big problems not resolved of the classic neurology. It's being considered now the possibility of using it with human patients. The initial idea is to use it to help people forget traumatic experiences in the past but affecting them negatively in the present, like in the case of rape victims, painful loss of a loved one, etc., or to rid them of habits associated with causes that had led them to the use of drugs.

The biggest problem, as is often the case, is the invisible frontier. Why not erase all the painful memory? To do that, or just to modify it, even though concerned only the painful memories, is a possibility full of uncertainties. One thing is that people have aversion of suffering at the moment of experiencing it, quite another is to erase their past, a part of their life, all together. The experiences of pain and suffering are part of the formation of life and of each individual. Many of the unpleasant experiences constitute to a valuable body of knowledge about the world and survival, that one shouldn't forget in certain situations. They also form part of the learning. Or as a reminder. Like the popular saying 'Once bitten, twice shy'? Remembering a bad experience sometimes stops one committing the same mistake twice. Or helps to enhance the new achievement.

My argument is that someone with the chemical in the hand and an insufferable memory in his head, the selective amnesia might thus become an abusive drug in the future or even source of crime

 

Tags:memory,zip

Current Mood: Anxious

Let's Dance

An entertaining compilation of dance clips from various performances that any fan of song and dance should enjoy. The song is “All These Things That I’ve Done” by The Killers.