col’s blog

i don’t know who the mystery gifter was (it was shipped by an ebay merchant in oregon), but to whoever you are i say thanks & cheers!

• A child born today is part of an emerging global culture. That child carries several passports: they are citizens of their own country. Yet through the phenomenon of mass communications − in particular television − they are also citizens of the planet, sharing a global neighborhood.
• Television shapes our world-view and our futures, and can play a more useful role in support of civil society in emerging markets.
• Television is so pervasive that we often take its impact and importance for granted. Beyond providing entertainment, television vastly increases both the availability of information about the outside world and exposure to other ways of life.

Edward R. Murrow:

This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise, it is nothing but wires and lights in a box.

“While there are many determinants of happiness, whether an individual is happy also depends on whether others in the individual’s social network are happy. Happy people tend to be located in the centre of their local social networks and in large clusters of other happy people. The happiness of an individual is associated with the happiness of people up to three degrees removed in the social network. Happiness, in other words, is not merely a function of individual experience or individual choice but is also a property of groups of people. Indeed, changes in individual happiness can ripple through social networks and generate large scale structure in the network, giving rise to clusters of happy and unhappy individuals. These results are even more remarkable considering that happiness requires close physical proximity to spread and that the effect decays over time.”

James H Fowler and Nicholas A Christakis, “Dynamic spread of happiness in a large social network: longitudinal analysis over 20 years in the Framingham Heart Study,”British Medical Journal, 4 December 2008. Read the full excerpt.

i haven’t made a fuss over the kiddo (my nephew liam) in quite some time. those cheeks are like butta. now, talk amongst yourselves.

occasionally, and sometimes frequently, you receive odd missives and photos from strange men you don’t know. like steve, who today asked me to brunch and sent me this:

i mean, really?

People mag released its “Sexiest Man Alive” issue last week and chose Hugh Jackman. Snore. While I certainly wouldn’t kick him out of bed, he’s not on the “Col’s 10 Sexiest Men Alive” list, that’s for sure. I gave about 5 minutes of thought to who MY top 10 are.

Without further a dude …

10) Ryan Gosling — loved him in half nelson. he’s the mysterious, quiet seeming type. smart too.

9) James Franco — similar appeal to ryan gosling. not as intellectually sharp, but more fun and goofy. loved him in freeks & geeks. also it’s kinda cute that he’s working on an MFA up at columbia.

Christian Bale — I’m hangin’ on to him from years past though I felt he was a bit too smooth in the latest Batman. I’d like to see him rough it up again. come to think of it, i wouldn’t mind roughing him up.

7) Q-Tip — I’ve crushed on him since I was 16. And his new album, The Renaissance, adds flames to the fire.

6) Jason Statham — Tough, sparky little bloke. Reeks of adventure. To quote the Prince song, “I don’t care where we go …  I don’t care what we do. I don’t care pretty baby, just take me with you.”

5) Matt Damon — Smart, clever all-American hottie. Love the Bourne movies and the fact that he keeps somewhat of a low profile and married a civilian.

4) Leo Di Caprio — I resisted Leo in the early years, when he was all the rage around Titanic. Time passed — Gangs of New York … Catch Me If You Can … The Aviator … The Departed. Now, I swoon.

3) Javier Bardem — 3 words: Vicky Christina Barcelona. Aye, Aye Aye.

2) Clive Owen — The dark, brooding, hyper-masculine British hunk.

1) Daniel Craig — The light, brooding, hyper-masculine British hunk.