Another Lousy Day In Paradise

Misandry - Intereresting Video brings to light the real plight of modern men

Lars Hindsley — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 01:00:00 -0500

You may find as I have that SOME elements in this video take the point of misandry too far, there is a reality to the plight men face today. In far too many court cases, or divorce situations in general - men are considered the 'wrong' parent to raise a child simply because they are 'men'. So in that vane, I'd like to share an extension of how men are looked down upon with this video by a British 'man'. Consider that in the U.K. men are still getting a worse shake in custody cases then here in America. So take that into consideration as you watch this video.

Handsome Men's Club

Lars Hindsley — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 07:20:00 -0500

Awesome collection of actors for great comedy bit!

TV and Film Never Get It Right So They Can Entertain

Lars Hindsley — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 12:00:00 -0500

I've been reading that war veterans are upset over this years Academy Award nominee The Hurt Locker. I get it, the continuity is wrong, the story is far fetched and it's generally insulting to war vets.

But what we must all realize, (war vets too) is that it's entertainment. As long as something is plausible then viewers can give a pause to reality and accept the unreal. And frankly to all you war vets, I know you want us civilians to know this film doesn't represent the Iraq War as it truly is. But give most of us credit for knowing the difference between Hollywood and real life. When I watched the character William James strut through enemy fire I knew that man - no matter how big his balls are would do such a lame brain thing in action unless he really just was ready to die and was eventually going to die pulling that crap. In addition, from the simple act of playing paintball week-after-week for years, I've learned you NEVER stand out in the open to take aim. You always shoot from cover. Nobody in ANY armed forces ever shoots from out in the open. I see this in countless films and have to forgive this bravado bull-crap as Hollywood's license to infer a characters bravery. I get it, but it's dumb.

Take for instance that many others go through the same angst when watching things on film that we should all walk out of the theater on but we don't.

Example? Star Wars. You can't have explosions in space. The Death Star, should anything ever be created on such scale, wouldn't explode in flames, let alone any ships.

Then there is TV. Since when do life's problems get resolved in a half an hour ...

American Man who flew plane into IRS building NOT a terrorist

Lars Hindsley — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 01:44:00 -0500

Last week (February 18th 2010) a fellow American committed what some are calling a terrorist act. In his anger towards the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Joe Stack (53) made the decision to fly his own small plane into his local IRS building in Austin Texas. When many more could have died there is thankfully so far, only one victim to die from this act. One victim is too many and that is a certainty. I mean no disrespect to Vernon Hunter the lone death of many victims. Vernon Hunter's son Ken Hunter has gone on record calling the plane crash by Joe Stack into the IRS building 'terrorism'. Stack was so pissed at the IRS he torched his own home leaving his wife and daughter homeless. In the end, many call what Joe Stack did an act of terrorism. It's not. Here is why. A terrorist - as sick as they are represent a cause. And they want to use a terrorist act as a means of causing attention for their cause. They want others to join their cause and be inspired by it to do the same. As far as I can remember, terrorist usually give up their lives with hopes of making their loved ones they leave behind rich because family members are often compensated by the terrorist organizations. If that's true, Joe Stack's burning of his own home doesn't line up with the mental model of a terrorist. Joe Stack was not a part of any grass roots movement or organization to further a cause. His battle with the IRS was specific. While it's true that terrorist flew plans into our world trade centers in September of 2001, it by no means - means that flying a plane into a building is a terrorist act. The act ...

Everything is Everything

Lars Hindsley — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 16:03:00 -0500

Lars Video Pick of the Day - About A Boy: Something to talk about

Lars Hindsley — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 22:55:00 -0500

Great movie about someone taking the fun out of being alone...

Lars' Video Pick of the Day: Hello Saferide - Anna

Lars Hindsley — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 18:32:00 -0500

I think you need to be a parent to appreciate this. And yes peoples... listen to the lyrics if you want to understand the point to this video. Songs are not just beats, strings and keys. ;-)

Movie Review: The Good Guy - A modern take on integrity in love

Lars Hindsley — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 11:04:00 -0500

I'm a sucker for a New York story, especially ones that are actually shot in Manhattan, not just fly-over shots of the skyline or shots across the Hudson or East River implying the story takes place there. Much of The Good Guy's appeal is its authenticity. It's as if Wallstreet met The Fountainhead, on a smaller scale.

The Good Guy is presented as a romantic comedy, but as most romantic comedies being produced these days, it's more of a romantic dramady. Set in the post economic collapse of contemporary Manhattan, as you may expect the Wall Street decadence has not faltered. It's a story of integrity in love set against the culture of downtown New York City. That is Beth (Alexis Bledel), a young and attractive Manhattanite is in what seems a loving relationship, wrestling with her desire for some elements to be better. Her boyfriend Tommy (Scott Porter) is coming up short on taking her away on a vacation as he appears more consumed with work.

We begin at the end of the story. Tommy, a young Wall Street hot-shot shows up to his girlfriend Beth's apartment explaining he's had the worst night of his life and in need of his wallet. Meanwhile she won't let him in, she takes it to him at the doorstep then turns him away ...

Equity of Respect

Lars Hindsley — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 23:43:00 -0500

This afternoon I as driving and talking to my eldest son about right and wrong. In an attempt to explain to him the value of what right is to him alone I explained that in life, we all quietly to our self build a resume of respect for our self.

Think about this carefully. What is it that we value from the people whom are important in our lives, from friends and relatives to people that can be of influence in our business lives such as someone that reports to us or whom we report to? People have no interest in maintaining a relationship with those they do not respect.

In life we all build equity of respect from the world around us. What does an athlete want from his peers? He wants to be recognized as being capable or superior or remembered for a feat. He (or she) wants respect. What does a wife expect to earn from a husband if she stays at home to raise children? Appreciation that ultimately is respect. For my son I expressed to him that in life every one of us is on a path in which we hope to build a resume of respect from all of those that come into our life. I explained that I as his father, his brother, his mother, his friends and even his teachers measure him by an unspoken variable ...respect.

You build on this. In time you build a bank of equity; and equity of respect. Have you heard of the term "self worth"? Sure it has everything to do with self-esteem, but it has a deeper meaning. Your confidence and pride in yourself is spawned from the respect you have for yourself. The exception is of course is those people without a moral compass. But for the remaining 99 percent of us, we operate day-to-day in hopes of doing things that garner respect.

Let's explore the issue of moral compass briefly. Without a moral compass, respect is of no consequence. There are times in all of our lives that we let go of our moral compass. The things we do in that time are usually self-absorbed acts, if anything people fear us, they do not respect us for our actions. While it's true we respect power and what can be accomplished from it, we don't respect the entity, we respect the power. In business some people are sharks, they rise to the top by killing everything in their path, they don't care (no moral compass) what anyone thinks as they rise above others. If the law doesn't catch them, they continue to lay waste to everything in their quest for their own gain. They mistake people's respect for their power as respect from them as a person when in fact there is no respect to be had. Only those that confuse their power and misconstrue what they see respect a shark. A shark in the ocean is a whole other story. Everything in the sea respects the shark.

Yes you go to work for a paycheck, not respect. Or do you? If you earn respect doesn't that give you credibility in opportunity for advancement? And who among us goes to work simply to put in 8 hours and go home? The fact is we all want to push the envelope, we work hoping to leverage everything we do into another opportunity for MORE. We all want to go forward and to do so a key component is respect. Respect you gain from others and respect you gain for yourself.

Have you ever let yourself down? How do we often refer to that act? We refer to it as losing a little, self-respect. Yes, there is an equity of respect.

When you date someone what is it you value most from them? Their desire for your body or the respect they have for your mind? And I said value most. Look -- I like a beautiful body as much as the next guy but if a woman is all beauty and no intellect, I'm not going to be able to sustain a meaningful relationship with her. Without respect for a woman's mind, I have no interest in maintaining a relationship. That is the key for ...

You Won't Get It Until It's Too Late

Lars Hindsley — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 13:30:00 -0500

Have you ever refrained from giving someone advice because you know it's beyond they're comprehension of acceptance? No, I'm not talking about telling someone to quit smoking or lose some weight. However those examples would work.

I think a good example is youth. Ever heard of the saying, "the hard way" as in learning the hard way. Some people have to learn the hard way. In youth you can warn someone of the mistakes they are making or the path they are following but it is impossible for your advice to penetrate their level of understanding and acceptance. In a case such as this, all you can think to yourself is: "You won't get it until it's too late."

I write a lot of advice here. I comment for your entertainment. I'm not a know it all although if all you ever did was read my articles you'd think so. So it's important you know I don't run about dispensing advice to everyone around me. I save that for my kids.

We all watch or read the news. We see world events; we often see the future but can't stop it because so many of us have an agenda that only looks over the hood of our car. Yet we all know when driving no one ever looks just in front of our vehicle, we peer down the road. I knew a girl once that was drop dead gorgeous. She ran over guys and felt being a bitch was her right. She didn't have a lot of personality, but she had looks. I warned her, one day your looks will fade and if you don't choose a man early on that is in it for you and not your looks, then later you'll find yourself bitter and lonely even if ...

How To Keep A New Year's Resolution

Lars Hindsley — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 01:01:00 -0500

I don't want to come off like a motivational life coach. This plan is really how you do it. It's simple.

If you want to reach any goal, it can't be a mere vision quest. OK... if it's one goal you have burned into your psyche then yes, that's a vision quest. The New Year's Resolution is different.

First off, most of us have a few resolutions. You can have as many as you want, but the key to each and every one is WRITE IT DOWN.

We've all heard that before. It's not the key to keeping your resolution. The key is to make yourself accountable. To do this, POST your resolutions for all to see. No, not on your MySpace page ...Well maybe. It depends on how personal it is.

No. You post it in your cubical at work, or on the fridge at home. When others see your goals, you are now accountable. Now let's use an example, one all of us can relate to. A new job. Let's say in this coming year you want a new job. Road map it. By January 10th you'll have your resume completed, or updated. Whichever. Then you set small goals. Each week you promise yourself that the resume will be sent out to no less than two new prospective employers per week. If after three weeks you are not hired you will send it to no less than 5 or 8 prospective employers. You make a goal of no less than one interview per week. These are all bullets under your listed resolution/goal.

Let's say it's lose weight, or just plain eating better. For instance last year I gave up donuts. This year I intend to minimize my chocolate consumption. One dark chocolate bar per day and only if ...

Which is Better Iphone or Gphone running Android?

Lars Hindsley — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 20:56:00 -0500

It's An Operating System - Not A Phone

First you should know what you are choosing is not a phone as much as you are choosing an operating system or OS. The term for these phones today is "smart phone".

The iphone uses Apple's existing platform OS X. This benefits users allowing the iphone to live in harmony with Apple computers. You don't need to install any aftermarket software to get the iphone to communicate with your computer, as long as it's an Apple computer.

Apple's core foundation of technology is that they own BOTH the hardware and firmware (operating system). Both are integrated at production level. However buying an iphone is not so good with Windows products. There are workarounds, but that's another story. Apple makes one iphone, other than increased memory and upgrades Apple's phones are all iphones.

Next is Google's Android. It's the operating system Google created. Many people ask the question, What is a G-phone or G-Phone? The answer is simple. Any phone running Android is a G-phone. So you could own a G1, G3 or any number of phones made by different manufacturers featuring Googles' Android, they will all be G-phones because they run Android. In short, a phone running Android is a G-phone.

Like Apple, Google has integrated their world with the Android phones and leveraged their strengths of Gmail, YouTube, Google and more to give the phone so much power. In fact if you buy a G-phone, you MUST have a Gmail account or create one in order to get through the start up phase of using a G-phone. There is NO way around it, period. Conversely iphone leverages their strength of itunes with their Mp3 player features (ipod) built right in.

If you use Gmail and most people do, this becomes amazingly cool, but we'll get to that.

Both Have Distinct Strengths

Convergence is a buzz term you should be aware of if you are not already. For years we waited for someone to build a phone, camera, GPS, PDA, Mp3 player, and gaming system all in one device. At one time PDA's (Personal Digital Assistants now known as Smartphones) like the Palm, Clie and Microsoft Mobile were the forerunners. The iphone and Android blew them into ancient history and are now the powerful front runners.

Yet both have their own strength. The iphone's strength is itunes as the iphone doubles as an ipod. Let's face it, when most people didn't even know what an Mp3 player was, they owned an Ipod. Go into a store, and they have Mp3 players segregated from Ipods, but they are really the same! In short, Apple set the standard for a great device with both perfect form factor and ease of use. Having that service in an iphone gives the iphone the big advantage in this area. The G-phone (Android) has an Mp3 player but it pales in comparison overall features.

The Android's strength is the power of Google pushing it along and that's a big push from a big world of resources. The buzz word for this is "cloud". Google owns Youtube, Gmail and more. You can ...

Movie Review: Avatar James Cameron

Lars Hindsley — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 04:03:00 -0500

Every director has a Sci-Fi on their to-do list of film genre's.   James Cameron wasn't satisfied with Terminator. In fact he has a others, but Avatar may be his best film making achievement yet when it comes to pushing the envelope on what is possible in film.   In fact technology took years to evolve and make his vision of Avatar possible. He scrapped the idea of filming Avatar on the heels of Titanic specifically to allow the film industry to mature and make his vision possible.

What is that you ask? We've all seen the integration of live actors interacting with celluloid painted characters like in 1988's Who Framed Roger Rabbit? or even as far back as 1945's Gene Kelly dancing with cartoon character Jerry of Tom and Jerry in Anchors Away.   Of course there is the poorly executed interaction between CGI (computer generated imagery) generated Gungan's and live actors in the recent Star Wars films shot in the early 2000's. That CGI work was designed developed and implemented by ILM (Industrial Light & Magic). Eventually better CGI came about in films like Lord of the Rings where WETA far and away out-performed ILM in seamless human & CGI interaction. In Avatar, WETA has been teamed up with ILM. Thankfully ILM's shoddy work in Star Wars does not take place in Avatar. That's important as hell because Avatar's entire story hinges on you accepting the world of Pandora as a real environment. Sadly if the film has any flaws it's some of the environmental experiences that remind you this is a film. The most glaring example is that when the humanoid characters step on or touch plant life, the plants respond with a burst of light, from fingers touching foliage to feet walking on branches. Despite it's flaws Avatar holds up nicely in most every aspect.

Avatar is far and beyond anything ever seen on screen to date. The integration of live actors and CGI (computer generated imagery) is flawless and never in question in terms of suspending disbelief.   Seeing the film in IMAX 3D is a must and completes the immersive experience. What is more is the 3D used in Avatar doesn't employ the hokey objects flying off screen at you tactics used by predecessors, instead it's used for depth of field.   The reality is the principal characters portrayed in CGI by Sam Worthington (Jake Sully) and Zoe Saldana (Neytiri - at left) are not merely voiced but they did in fact act out their roles in the film process.

Now that you've got the lowdown on the hype, what of the story? Plausible, but like all science fiction action films, many things are stretched. From the over the top pro-eco environmentalist message which goes as far as to employ the harmony of Zen-like principals to the insulting cliche' treatment of Marines making them out to being no more than

Balance

Lars Hindsley — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 16:26:00 -0500

When the pendulum sways in one direction, eventually it swings back in the direction of its opposite and thus the balance of the universe is maintained.

I believe in balance. I've seen it in action, yet often it takes place in a time frame that doesn't agree with our own needs. Yin and Yang play out similarly but that is more of an understanding that without bad there is no good, and that light and darkness live in harmony etc... The sweet is never as sweet without the sour. The prisoner cherishes freedom when it returns more than the man who has enjoyed it all his life. The greater the injustice the greater the justice when it is served, a balance inevitably takes place.

Balance is something I've found is crucial in the lives of man. Look at relationships. People find each other because they balance each other out. Strong personalities find softer ones and somehow they compliment each other and balance each other out. Two type-A personalities can also co-exist because there is something between them that allows them to even each other out, where neither one is above or beyond the other. Of course many times this doesn't work but that is because they lack the balancing component needed to produce harmony between them. This is really how it works for any relationship. Where harmony is predicated on differences, the differences are what allow balance to take place between two people that co-exist in such peace.

Balance in nature is obvious, the food chain, the weather, you name it. It all has a precise balance between each component to make life work.

If you are a steady reader here or just know me personally you know I'm big on positive energy. I surround myself with it. I play volleyball at a gym and have great friends there. But I also listen to music while I play so that I can tune out the people that are rude. I ...

Excerpt from: Mantrap

Lars Hindsley — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 04:07:00 -0500

You may have seen here in the past I'm writing a book. Three to be exact. One is Mantrap. It's autobiographical. I've come to realize that I need to offer the reader in that story some background. I've been writing the back story for some time. I'd like to share an excerpt of it. I may share more.

There is a reason for this too. If you are a reader of my blog. I've always asked you to visit my sponsors. Well in this case I don't request that at all. I want you to PLEASE leave comments. I want your feedback, I don't care what it is, just offer your thoughts.

What is Mantrap about? It's a story of a man whom for all his apparent street smarts is used by a foreigner for the soul purpose of having an baby and leaving him. Due to possible legal concerns that could arise from this, Mantrap will most likely have all the names and locations changed.

So with that I offer you this small excerpt from the chapter, "Younger Days" chronicling a time in my life:

Yeah my list of hundreds of girlfriends was in fact mostly a list of girl friends. I was famous for wasting my time talking to really beautiful girls that really only needed to talk to me about music and innocuous things but never to date. What guy hasn’t gone through this experience? I’d say half my list of girls were those that put me in the friend zone and I was too stupid to realize I was never breaking through.

In terms of male relationships, I had a few buddies. I wasn’t blessed with wit and the lack of guy friends in my earlier youth meant I wasn’t entirely in the know of how to manage friendships. For instance in my Sophomore year of school I met Dana. This guy was an oddball. Everyone thought he was cool by his ability to make them laugh. He had a charisma that made him excel at using people for his own gain. This took time to evolve so early on I was his sounding board. So I thought I was lucky when we became a duo of sorts. He latched onto my odd interests and I was glad to have a friend. My kick was the spy lifestyle. I was into spies and detectives. Not the hokey James Bond of the 70’s through 90’s but the throwback spy.

For me spies and detectives were the ultimate in what men could be. It required you to be utterly self-assured of whom you were because the world around you could never know who was on the inside.

To say a spy is a man that lives a double life is too easy. Sure a man such is this is a cool loner. Sure he is alone too, but a spy lives an isolated life by choice; in order to be free of confusion. Regardless of their setting they could be in a crowd but alone in their mind. That isolated individuality allows them to focus on seeing the world around them on a deeper level. They could be married and their wife wouldn’t even know them. Every word uttered by a spy is meant to protect him, his double speak keeps him safe from harm while communicating. The lexicon of a spy is fueled by shrewd intellect.

Hollywood rarely captures the true essence of a spy. These men live the greatest life of sacrifice, they do what they do for money and their country and if they are caught behind enemy lines, they are lost in time because their own country will deny they exist. Ultimately the cool loner lifestyle has little if any appeal outside of a movie or book. The real men living these lives are stoic. Somehow nature programmed them to be unfeeling and without the same need for human companionship they rest of us enjoy.

While in my opinion the hardest job in the world is that of a spy, there is also the cold hearted view detectives take on the world. Similarly to a spy, these men are no nonsense. Of course they have seen it all; in fact they also see things everyone else overlooks. Oh yes, they ‘see’ it all. A detective won’t look at a woman, he’ll hear her words. Not just the words she says but the force of those words. He knows if she believes in her words. Detectives will watch you cross the room and see the power in your step, your confidence or lack thereof.

These are the men I admired at age 16 and Dana appreciated my perspective and began to share ...

Lars Video Pick of the Day: The Waiting Game - Swing Out Sister

Lars Hindsley — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 01:50:00 -0500

Love is a hard word folks. Some of us never get to experience it once in a lifetime. I've often wondered if the fate of Rick in Casablanca, or Heathcliff of Wuthering Heights is to be how I will live out my days. To these inspiring characters that can endure the price of love I pay homage to the idea that love is worth waiting for, even if it never comes again...

Oh... and I love that Corrine and Andy juxtaposed the sentiment with an upbeat sentiment. And yet somehow when Corrine sings these words, you can hear the sincerity of loss in her voice. These next few verses are some of my all-time favorites. They stand on their own even without song.

For if you should ever change your mind
I'll be there just call my name
Until then I'll be playing a waiting game...

All you left me was emptiness...
Now every day seems the same
Your gone but I'm still playing the waiting game.

Lars Video Pick of the Day: 1901 - Phoenix

Lars Hindsley — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 03:12:00 -0500

Props to my son Declan for digging this one up. Enjoy!

Romance

Lars Hindsley — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 02:29:00 -0500

You know, romance is a time sink.

It is. While it can be great fun to have someone make you feel good about being alive, why do we live for that feeling? I'm glad to be alive period. I used to think that the friendship and admiration a woman could bestow upon me was a big deal.    To what end does it serve?

I've heard you have to 'work for love'. Why? Why does anyone have to meet up to expectations or work for affection and love?   Men and women are wired differently. Men accept women for what they are or they do not. Women, like men on the surface and quickly stir up the minutia of their paleolithic underpinnings of superficial desire by criticizing a man at every step for not being perfect in every category.

I've had a great life. I've done a lot. I had some great relationships, and not so great ones.    The relationships I've experienced help make me who I am now. The value of what I am is a collection of my life experiences.   My ex wife used to condemn me for ever having dated before her. I thought, "What the f?" So I had to bury and forget every story of what I had gone through as it related to a woman. I had to box up and crate all my past photos if they had an ex-girlfriend or girl 'friend' in them.   It was a strange demand, but I accepted it. I accepted my ex-wife faults and all.

Was it wrong of me?   Who knows. But here is what I do know is 'right' now. I may find romance again, and if I do, it will happen without pressure and I won't have to work for love. Otherwise romance is a time ...

Teen Text Messages

Lars Hindsley — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 10:00:00 -0500

There are 10 text messages you need to pay special attention to:

1 8 Oral sex

2 PAW Parents Watching

3 143 I love you

4 182 I hate you

5 KPC Keeping Parents Clueless

6 LMIRL Lets meet in real life

7 420 Marijuana

8 ADR Address

9 ASL Age/Sex/Location

10 Banana Penis

http://www.teenchatdecoder.com/

Mens Advice - Know When It's Over

Lars Hindsley — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 18:40:00 -0500

A man should always know when he's lost. In fact, most of us do. It's the coming to terms with it - the accepting the reality of it that we almost always miss.

A man should know when he's lost and that he should walk away with dignity. The price of your dignity is measured by how well you accept the inevitable.

And for what it's worth, the sooner you accept loss, truly accept it ...the sooner you move on, start again and perhaps win that next race. As I wrote this short philosophical piece a song came to mind. No this is not a video of the day post. It just fits. The song is Human Race by Red Rider. It's in my top ten list of all time favorites - and for a reason. I'll include the video and the lyrics. Call me a romantic fool, I've thought of these words many times in my life when tough times surrounded me. We are only as strong as we decide we can be.

So remember, when you've lost a battle - whether it was being fired from a job, losing an argument with an adversary, losing a lover, or whatever it is. It takes a strong man to admit to himself it's time to cut your losses and move on.

Human Race

I can see it on the road ahead
Running hard I'm here
But I could be there instead
Many houses with the lights on
Silhouettes behind the shades
Beside fires
I'm sure that I saw you in one
I loved you but,
That was way back then
Now I'm alone outside
And I face the wind
The rain washes me thin

Knocked me down and I got back up
And I got myself back in the race ...

Advertised Internet Secrets Revealed

Lars Hindsley — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 03:10:00 -0500

The Secret to White Teeth

The Claim: You need to pay the advertiser for the secret to white teeth. Usually the claim is a mom discovered this secret for under $5.00. Well, it's true. And you most likely have it right in your cabinet now.

The Truth: Pay for the results and you'll be told to use EasyWhite and DazzleWhite Pro which are highly regarded as a scam operation if you visit many consumer activist sites. Many variations of the name exist and none are to be trusted.

The actual secret is Brush with baking soda and peroxide. It's not the brushing that whitens your teeth either; it's the exposure to these active agents. Two natural whiteners are carrots and strawberries. It's suggested to drink Tea through a straw but who does that? Just brush your teeth if possible after drinking tea or be prepared at day's end to brush with baking soda and rinse with peroxide.

Leaving the peroxide in your mouth longer allows the active agent to whiten however it will make your gums tender. Results are fast, just keep at it. You should also note that you don't want to actually BRUSH your teeth with baking soda. You want to apply the baking soda to your teeth with a brush but don't brush vigorously as it is abrasive and will remove the enamel from your teeth if you are not careful.

Stemulite - Natural Alternative to Steroids

The Claim: Ads and loaded articles explain that Stemulite is alternative to steroids (anything is an alternative to steroids). Stemulite ads claim steroids don't build muscle they blow it up, and it's not permanent. Not true. The ads also claim Stemulite uses natural muscle repairing ingredients to help the body repair the micro tears from weight lifting so you build ...

Lars Video Pick of the Day: Ignorance is Bliss - Jellyfish

Lars Hindsley — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:38:00 -0500

I listened to this song for a good ten years making great inside joke references with friends about the fact it's a song written around a video game in the vane of a Broadway musical. It seems this B side tune by Jellyfish had some loyal lovers of unique and fun stories because after playing this song to my boys, I should have known that one day they'd search it out on YouTube. I never thought there could be a video, after all the band broke up in the early 1990's.

Here is the deal. It's a song based on the Nintendo characters King Bowser Koopa, Princess Toadstool, and Mario & Luigi. It's sung from the perspective of King Bowser Koopa. He's monologing to Princess Toadstool his master plan. It's just good fun. The video is a good representation of the story. It could be better, but at least it's out there for us all to enjoy.

WAKE UP miss toadstool
It is I your one and only king Bowser Koopa
I'm a turtle as you see a little slow and a little green
But on the whole I'd say super duper

Princess toadstool I know your frightened ooh ooh
but if you knew just why your here your fear would just be heightened so lets just say ...

Demi Moore's Body Replaced By W Magazine

Lars Hindsley — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:05:00 -0500

In a recent high profile row, Ralph Lauren took flack for blatant outrageous Photoshopping of models. But this has not reformed the industry. Instead, magazines like W have simply decided to jam more false images of how people look down our throats. After all, who is to stop them?Check out what it appears to be 36 year old Anja Rubik's superimposed body... scratch that - her body was attached to Demi Moores for the sake of a better cover image. You have to wonder, did Demi even wear the same Balmain dress?There has to be an extreme effort to put forth to take a woman that is 47 and make her look like a woman much younger. The answer may be beyond Photoshop, it could very well be full body replacement with the use of Photoshop. Representatives from W claim 'nothing unusual' was done but of course that means nothing because Photoshopping is standard practice in the industry. The blogsphere has gone nuts questioning if the photo is retouched. This writer asserts the photo is both retouched with other significant changes.The story is evolving by the minute. Demi being the high-tech tweeter has joined the fray and insists in a tweet: Here is the original image people my hips were not touched don't let these people bullxxxx you!I've always been a big Demi Moore fan. I mean no disrespect in any way, there seems to be a great body evidence (no pun intended) that the body in her photo is not her. Offering up a photo she received from W magazine isn't the same as the original photo before any staffer touched it. Perhaps she can clarify this and put he matter to rest. Until then, a lot of speculation will continue. If nothing else people are ...

International Men's Day November 19th

Lars Hindsley — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:17:00 -0500

Are you taking care of your man? Well, here is a chance to show him how much you appreciate him. Why? Because November 19th is International Men's Day.

In the spirit of equality and less gender discrimination against men, the idea is somewhat new. In 1999 the day was launched posthumously in Trinidad and Tobago.

International Men's day is meant to showcase the unheralded achievements of men such as being good husbands, or fathers. The United Nations has gotten behind the event to offer gender balance, celebrate mens achievements and promote an anti-sexist environment.

Folks ...If you know me. I think these days are mostly a crock. See my previous article where I take issue and I complain about International Woman's Day. BUT and this is a big BUT, (not butt) if we are going to promote an International Woman's Day, then it's good that men get one too. What's next? International Short ...

Lars Video Pick of the Day: The Sound of Crying - Prefab Sprout

Lars Hindsley — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 05:16:00 -0500

And if you're listening up there... you could consider this a prayer...

Once again Paddy McCloon thoughtfully protests to God in heaven. But for me, when this song came out I had a blast with it. I was married. My eldest son was just a little one, and my youngest - just a baby. My wife would come in and one would be upset and the other started balling. I'd laugh. She'd be stressed but I'd be amused. The words to this song came to mind and I'd just blurt them out in laughter... "Once more the sound of crying - is number one across the Earth!"

So as you listen to this tune. Imagine if you have kids how when they cry, you just have tell them. "Once more the sound of crying is number one across the Earth." Because if you are a parent, you gotta know, sometimes the tears just come. Usually because a little one has decided they want something they can't have or just want a bottle. Call me silly. It's just how I handled it. Hey, my kids don't cry now. I think they turned out just fine. ;)

As for the song.... Great message too. I wonder if God hears all of Paddy's commentary in music.

Bonus Vid: If you Don't love me...

Private Thoughts

Lars Hindsley — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 02:33:00 -0500

I think when we are single we hope to meet someone ...we envision meeting someone that makes us trip over our own thoughts. To meet that person, we need to somehow jump into an environment that takes us outside our own comfort zone. Somewhere that despite how great we may think we are, that person we want to meet is so much better. Heaven forbid we actually accomplish this, because really - few of us ever do. But if we should accomplish meeting that person in that environment we would doom ourselves because we would trip over own own thoughts.

I'll get to the answer soon. Let me digress.

Hey you are reading this so let's just assume you are cool with getting deep on you at the moment. After all, for me today is a special day. Nope. I'm a jack-ass I won't tell you why. But let me just tell you that it's a day that's made me think about mortality and the reason why people ...

The Best Paper Airplane You Can Fly Is Free - The Sky King: How to Make your own Sky King

Lars Hindsley — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 01:34:00 -0500

We've all made a paper airplane, usually we have two choices. The long jet, or the short stunt plane. Neither flies all that great. What if you could combine the two for a snub nosed paper airplane that actually flies GREAT!

(Aside from the instructional video below - the Sky King Instructional Diagram of at right is larger file, right click and save if you want larger printable image)

That's just what Takuo Toda of Japan did April 11th 2009. His origami paper airplane design combines the best of various designs into a super airplane known as the Sky King. His invention was recognized in 2009 by Time Magazine as one of the year's top 50 inventions. Toda knows a lot about inventing a great paper airplane, after all he's chairman of the Japan Origami Airplane Association. "Since I was about 4 years old, I’ve been able to make really good paper planes and commit the steps to memory." His ambition has resulted in the Sky King (a.k.a. the Toda Fold), a paper airplane which in April 2009 was flown for a record 27.9 seconds at a competition in Hiroshima. "I'd been trying to break the record for 11 years," said Toda, 52. "I finally got it." It's not Toda's only plane design, he has over 700 in his resume. He's even got various paper airplane instructional books published. He hopes one day to reach a flight time of 35 seconds which he has accomplished in practice.

Anyone that has ever tossed a hand glider paper airplane has hoped for longer flight time. People have tossed paper airplanes off the anything they could climb. As a kid who hasn't stood on a balcony or roof of their house and tossed a plane? Adults have thrown them off tall buildings. There is an unconfirmed story in paper airplane circles that in the U.S. a paper airplane was thrown off a mountain. The person drove drove a half an hour downhill to a lower parking lot and the paper airplane landed at the same time he arrived.

Takuo Toda's greater goal is to drop an airplane from orbit in space and NASA has approved it. Still, Toda has some stiff competition in that area as Andy Chipling, president of the Paper Aircraft Association has already dropped a paper airplane from 7,000 feet which was performed from a hot air balloon high over Kenya in Africa. He and the balloon operator were already at 5,000 feet above sea level so in reality they were 2,000 feet up. Perhaps his toss from a para glider may have been more monumental. What makes it special is those planes have survived the drop. No one knows if a the planes dropped from the International Space Station will survive even though they'll be treated with a special glass coating to protect them in re-entering Earth's atmosphere.

Like the paper airplane you made as a kid, the Sky King is made of a single sheet of paper, which can be a your basic oblong notebook sheet or copy sheet (8.5 x 11).    You won't need any tape or glue either.

Fly it inside and you'll think, nice. But since you won't have a flight-hanger to toss yours in, you may not get the same results as Mr Toda. You may even think the Sky King is not much different than other paper airplanes. Take it outside and it will really impress you. You'll get long flight time results.   Here is a video of how to make the Sky King courtesy of Wired...

Movie Review: Moon - Sam Rockwell's Stellar Performance

Lars Hindsley — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:22:00 -0500

Sometimes great movies hide outside our orbit. The studios released Moon in limited release in the usual places, L.A. & N.Y. Moon has won various awards, Best Euro Fantasy Film, Best Film at Sitges International Film Festival, Best New British Feature, Silver Hitchcock from Dinard Film Festival and Golden Athena from Athens International Film Festival. So why didn't the savvy theater-goers of these two great cities give Moon enough buzz for wider release?

The reality is Moon is a pensive and thoughtful film. It's hard to market sci-fi films in the first place unless they are action related. Sure it's a sci-fi with a twist, but it is more of an intellectual journey with appropriate special effects to support the story. Moon was destined to miss the big screen. Don't miss it on the small screen!

Moon is a one man show; unless you count the moon-base computer guide, GERTY portrayed by Kevin Spacey a second man. Yet as the story unfolds and other characters are exposed we come back to the same point, Moon is a one man show. Now I hate to give away plot points in reviews because - and especially in this case, it would make the story less enjoyable for you if you are looking to peel back the layers of what you see for the first time on your own.

The premise is simple. A man (Sam Bell) is working on the moon alone. Similar to Robinson Carouse in that he is stranded for a period of time and yearns to be with his family again. Sam has a wife and child and does all he can to fill his time in an effort to finish his three year contract and return to Earth to be with them. His days are filled with repetition so ultimately he does everything almost like a machine despite his outward enthusiasm which he uses to mask his ever-growing longing to go home to his wife. It becomes evident Sam feels no joy in any task...

Movie Review: 500 Days of Summer

Lars Hindsley — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:00:00 -0500

She holds his hand and it breaks his heart.

Now you tell me what is wrong with that sentence? What's wrong with that thought? Yet it is true.

500 Days of Summer is not a love story. It is. It is that story that every guy has buried inside his soul where we all think that only we know romance. It's that story of how we think we are all so special and more unique than anyone else. It's the story about how we believe the myth our mother told us that one day we will find true love.

It's a story about true love. The problem is it's about the truth of love.

Have you seen Casablanca? No... 500 Days of Summer is not Casablanca. It is however a story that delivers the truth of love in the same way Casablanca does. It gives you that kick in the teeth twist that only real life could deliver. It gives you that obvious answer you can't see because you are too busy seeing things the way you want them to be, not as how they really are. It's delicately told story with some hard hitting truth. Oh... did I mention this is classified a 'romantic comedy'?

Hollywood can be evil. Songs can be evil, books and stories... so evil. They all indoctrinate us to believe that each one of us is going to find that one special person that above all others will not forsake us, and make us feel loved. 500 Days of Summer is a reminder that the harder you search for that true love, the harder it is to see what love is.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a compelling leading man. He plays Tom Hansen a young twenty-something that has for all his life felt that regardless of his ...

Words of Instinct - Bête Noire

Lars Hindsley — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:13:00 -0500

Some free advice to those of you thinking that only you know suffering. Only you have it hard. Life sucks, blah blah blah. Your girl left, you lost your job, or whatever it is, you have resolved to have forgotten how to enjoy the simple concept of breathing in and out.

Here is the answer.

While you are living in that dark place, life is passing you by. Each moment, each minute each day that you live in your bête noire the world around you leaves you behind. You can be a part of it, or miss out on what it offers. It is - what you make it.