The 911 on Epictetus

Uh..we think this is how he looked..or something

Epictetus was an ancient Greek philosopher in the Stoic tradition, born a slave in Hierapolis in the year 55 AD. Life found him in Rome, where his slave master was Epaphroditus (Nero's administrative secretary). His teacher was Gaius Musonius Rufus, who was consequently a large influence on his thoughts and ideas.  It was kind of a thing for Roman Emperors  to banish philosophers from Rome, perhaps they created too much subversion and free-thinking for a good dictatorship to run. Gaius was eventually exiled and banished..Epictetus remained behind some years and eventually taught others himself, and then he was sent away by Emperor Domitian in 94 AD.

The main two works of Epictetus are known as the Enchiridion and Discourses. Epictetus was ultra practical and humble. He taught that how you respond to an event is what you get, you have more control than you think. He taught virtue is equal to true happiness. Another way to put his approach towards happiness would be your will meeting interpretations of your ideas, and then putting the ideas into practice  Further, to live the 'good life'; master your desires, perform your duties, and learn greater clarity and awareness. That all concerns goodness and happiness and all that la-di-da graham cracker shite, but what of the other side of the coin? Evil. His idea on it was very down to earth and simple, it was not cloaked in too much symbolism of demons and the like. Evil was simply a by-product of laziness, forgetfulness, distraction and ignorance. According to Epictetus, it arrives when we lose sight of our true aim in life.

To dig deeper into his philosophy, there are various books and articles out there in the world to look at. Links to Epi's works online can be found at (among other places):
http://classics.mit.edu/Epictetus/epicench.html
http://classics.mit.edu/Epictetus/discourses.html

Mole Rat Vs. Mall Rat

The naked mole rat is probably one of the ugliest fucking creatures ever. It looks like an old man's shriveled dong with a face and legs. Observe (and try not to puke!)..

Need I saw more or are the pics enough??

Now,  A mall rat is someone who has no life rather than hanging out at the mall all the time, whiling their time away with doing absolutely useless things or spending their money on crap they don't need. They tend to be preteen-to teenage typically, though they can be older or younger. The male mall rats are usually gawky, grungy, slummy or awkward. Either that or they are of the other end of the spectrum- total hipster wannabe poseurs who are mollycoddled and never got dirty in life,  and spend daddy's allowance on the latest shitty Indie group album. The female mall rats are slutty to the max, but it's kind of turn-offish for many males since these females are usually way too young for the level of sexualization they play themselves off as. They are usually bratty and spoiled and incredibly stupid, and often say such phrases as "like, omigawd! " Here's a pic of some mall rats:

So who would you rather be stuck in an elevator with? Mole rats or mall rats?
Note: Mall Rats is also an awesome movie, by Kevin Smith, go see it if you haven't already..

Le Corbusier

He was a Swiss born (1887) French citizen who became a world famous architect, creating buildings all over-including the UN Headquarters in New York. Here are some of the interesting constructions he did:

Dart At The Map: Recife, the Brazilian Venice

Here's some new thing I'm gonna try. Pick a random place and show some pics from there to give one a loose idea of what that place is like.

Masters of Teppanyaki (or Yes, We Have Benihana's)

It's not the latest ninja thriller movie, but it's still exciting. Teppanyaki is a modern stir-fry style of Japanese cuisine cooked on flat top metal grills. In restaurants this is usually done right before the faces of hungry customers, and chefs perform a variety of skilled maneuvers while cooking as part of the entertainment experience.

An example of the layout of a restaurant that serves teppanyaki

 A vague concept of it existed even as far back as the 40's in Japan, but it wasn't this thing that permeated all corners of Japanese culture. In fact, it was much more popular with tourists. The influence spread to other parts of the world, namely New York City with the now-famous Benihana restaurant, circa 1964. As far as I reckon, this would be the real hub where things caught on. Celebrities even frequented Benihana's first location, and now there are dozens of chain locations worldwide. The motto is simplistic and hilarious -"what did you do last night?"
So the gist is, many Americans and Europeans et al 'did Benihana last night' or whatever other teppanyaki restaurant, and then they'd go to Japan with full expectation of seeing the same thing. Though it was bigger outside of Japan before inside, wouldn't it be preposterous to think there'd be not a single teppanyaki restaurant in Japan? My one friend who is Japanese says it's not huge there, but that's not to say they do not exist there!

A quick walkthrough of the experience. You sit down, the decor and presentation are impeccable (at least if it's a good teppanyaki joint). You'll probably be with family or friends in tow, the rest sitting all around you or across from you are total strangers. It's kinda one big happy family communal-like feeling, but it could also truthfully be kind of closed off in spirit. I guess it depends what you bring to the table. There is opportunity to chat up strangers here, but it can also feel weird sitting by or looking at people so close who may well ignore you just as well as you would them (like people stopped at a traffic light exchanging glances, ie).

Mmm good.

You let the server girl know what type of food you want. It's usually a meat base (squid, salmon, chicken, beef, etc) with vegetables and rice thrown in for good measure. There's a good chance you'll be able to order sushi and other types of Japanese food as well, though they won't be cooked in front of you on the grill (cooked sushi, are you serious?) You may have to wait until some others get their meals cooked before yours is, and it ends up being a game of patience. With 'normal' restaurants, you know your food is off somewhere in the kitchen being prepared and you'll have to wait, simple. It seems a bit more tricky and tantalizing when the food is being made so close in front of you!

I theorize most teppanyaki chefs are pyros..

 
 The chef will do crazy drumming and rhythms with his cooking implements or juggle or flip them around. He may juggle eggs, do heart shaped mounds of steamed rice or miniature onion volcanoes. If you start to fall asleep great bursts of flame may wake you up and you'll recoil. The chef can be quite a trickster or joker figure. "Want to try some [fancy] rice?" he'll ask. You reply yes and hold up your plate and he'll put a single grain of rice on the plate with a "haha!" This is not for people who are stuffy or extremely regimented or with no sense of humor!

The chef may pretend to pour pepper in your drink, or steal your chopsticks. The freshest ingredients will be used and you'll enjoy a delicious meal cooked right before your eyes. Prices may be slightly dear, but if you factor in that it's practically dinner theater rolled into the price of just the dinner alone it's a steal of a deal. It is the chef really who is the highlight. Not only is the food prepared so deliciously and masterfully, it is done with humor and joie de vivre. There's something to be said for that. If we all learned to cook (or do other everyday things) with the same spirit, think about where we'd be.  A better place that's for sure.
It's lightyears ahead of zombie catatonia grubby minimum wage "do you want fries with that?"

My Dream Bride..

She'll be gorgeous looking with a curvaceous body that is light and easy to lift up in my arms, but she'll be strong and able to travel many roads. She'll have a nice dainty neck though not too anorexic or thin.  She'll never disagree or argue or get in the way, never make unnecessary buzz or gossip or noise. Overall, her disposition would be that of a tame yet fierce tiger. She'll be tastefully decorated and ornamented. Probably she'll be of the Comanche tribe. I'm thinking a swamp ash body with free mojo worked in on a honeyburst premier finish with a flame top.  Her binding will be tight and impeccable. Her neck- quartersawn hard rock maple in a Classic C or Modern U or V...smooth as satin with a gun oil finish. A standard headstock complete with Schaller locking tuners and graph tech nut. Her fingerboard..maple with stainless steel medium jumbo frets. A dual fulcrum vibrato bridge with DFS upgrade. White pearloid pick guard and white pickup covers. Perhaps even black pearloid with black covers for more of a mysterious darker side, maybe even a mirror pick guard. Z coil pickups with integrated Variax/13 pin technology will top it all off. She will be fine tuned and ready to rock!

Fuxored Thing

This was from a pop up ad..hahahah. Weird.

I feel like this woman's tits are going to give me an epileptic seizure....argh.