Calling All Ids: Freudians at War
D. D GUTTENPLAN filed this interesting report from Britain in today’s NYT. I have one recommendation for British vacationers in Spain and Portugal, age 18 and above, who are thinking about seeing a psychotherapist. Look up the local catholic priest. He does not charge any money for a talk therapy.
LONDON, May 28 - Who owns psychoanalysis? That question is
at the center of the most recent battle here in the Freud
Wars, the epic (or as the man himself might say,
interminable) struggle over the legacy of Sigmund Freud,
pioneer psychotherapist, cartographer of the unconscious
and former resident of Hampstead, the leafy corner of
Northwest London where the concentration of therapeutic
couches per square mile may be even higher than on the
Upper West Side of Manhattan.
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Twins Reunite After 20 Years
Here is a fascinating story I recently came across again as I started to read a book on what is known about the similarities in behavior of identical twins raised apart.
New York. As soon as Tamara Rabi arrived at Hofstra University, she
noticed the bizarre behavior. People she had never laid
eyes on would smile, wave and greet her as an intimate.
Then, met by Tamara’s blank stare, they would walk away. A
few friends claimed to have spotted someone who looked just
like her. Someone else from Mexico, she figured.
So when a friend of a friend showed up at her 20th birthday
party and could not stop gawking, insisting that Tamara
looked just like his friend Adriana Scott, it was mildly
annoying but not a surprise. As the other guests dug into
ice cream cake, the friend’s friend persisted. Adriana had
also been born in Mexico, he said. Like Tamara, she was
also adopted. And the two young women shared a birthday.
Thus began the real-life unfolding of a fairy-tale story
line, a paradigm that has inspired psychological studies
(nature vs. nurture), movies (“The Parent Trap”) and at
least one sitcom (“Sister, Sister”).
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Science Diet Canine Food
For some people going on a diet used to be a frightingly solitary affair. Do not despair! The end of solitude is here. Thanks to the Science Diet company, your dog can now go on a diet with you. This is a barrier-shattering moment in the relationship between the canine and human races. Canines finally are no longer treated as inferior creatures. Too long have they been discriminated against in terms of equal access to modern dietary and health products.
The mission of the the Science Diet Company is to produce only the best products for your dog. Its promotial materials make this clear: “Nutrient control is the basis of all Science Diet products. Science Diet dog foods are specially formulated to provide proper nutrition specifically for your dog based on age, activity level and physical condition. Does your dog have ‘Special Needs’”?
You can buy Science Diet Dry Dog Food and Science Diet Canned Dog Food at ePatPals.com.
Continue ReadingThe Science of Love
The Economist (print edition) Feb 12th 2004 published an interesting report about what scientists know about the chemistry of romantic feelings.
I get a kick out of you
Scientists are finding that, after all, love really is down to a chemical addiction between people
OVER the course of history it has been artists, poets and playwrights who have made the greatest progress in humanity’s understanding of love. Romance has seemed as inexplicable as the beauty of a rainbow. But these days scientists are challenging that notion, and they have rather a lot to say about how and why people love each other.
Is this useful? The scientists think so. For a start, understanding the neurochemical pathways that regulate social attachments may help to deal with defects in people’s ability to form relationships. All relationships, whether they are those of parents with their children, spouses with their partners, or workers with their colleagues, rely on an ability to create and maintain social ties. Defects can be disabling, and become apparent as disorders such as autism and schizophrenia
Continue ReadingMariage in 17th Century America
Cynthia Rosen filed this interesting report in her Deva Vu column of the Wall Street Journal.
Couples in the U.S. Used to Marry Early,Often and Informally
In a Connecticut village in the 17th century, an unmarried couple moved in together. One day, while out for a stroll, they ran into the local magistrate.
“John Rogers,” the magistrate said, “do you persist in calling this woman your wife?”
“Yes, I do.”
“And Mary, do you really wish this old man to be your husband?”
“Indeed I do.”
“Then by the laws of God and this commonwealth, I pronounce you man and wife…”
Continue ReadingUnite Against the Power Nap Killers!
For the last 20 years I have taken almost daily refreshing power naps. Now the guardians of pseudo disclipine want to banish this smart daily routine from the work place. I fear that we may be returnig to the dark ages of knowledge about human productivity. SUE SHELLENBARGER filed in today’s Wall Street Journal this very troubling report that should be a call to arms for all power nappers around the globe.
The Power Nap’s 15 Minutes Is Over
An Unlikely Fad Gets
A Rude Awakening
After a brief “power napping” craze in the late 1990s, workplace napping has retreated to the corporate closet. When David Oboyski of Kansas City, Mo., suggested starting a naproom at his previous job at a public-relations agency, citing research on how naps aid the bottom line, his boss and co-workers just laughed. “It became a running punch line,” he says. Luckily, “being the ‘nap guy’ didn’t hurt my career, but I learned my lesson and never brought it up again,” says Mr. Oboyski, who is now a self-employed marketing consultant.
Continue ReadingLong live the Murmann Brewery!
I learned today that there is a Murmann brewery in Germany. Shirley Maclaine claims to have lived before as a different person. If Shirley’s views on reincarnation are correct, I may have founded this this small little brewery in Untersiemau in 1862.
The only evidence I have for this is my joy of “Weissbier.” My liking of this wheatbear has grown even stronger after I read that scientists are increasingly coming to a delightful conclusion: a little bit of alcohol every day is good for you. On that note, let me say: Prost!
Visit the Murmann Brewery.
Ali
An interview with Will Smith, in which he described all the preparations that he went through to play “The Champ,” intrigued me enough to rent the video despite the fact that the film was a failure at the box office. I did not get beyond minute 15. This film bombed not because it was too good for the masses but because the film is not watchable even for die hard Ali or Will Smith fans. Who are the people who approve these kinds of scripts?
Mystic River
After launching a frontal assault on intelligent film making with “The Bridges of Madison County”, Clint Eastwood redeems himself with this beautifully directed psychodrama. Mystic River explores the complexities of human relations, following three kids from the playground to the difficultities of living an adult life in the very same neighborhood in which their experience with the vagaries of life started. The film keeps you at the edge of the seat because you realize that any second one of the characters may take a step over the edge and fall into an deep abyss from which they may never be able to return. Eastwood assembled a great cast of actors who show off how well they kwow their craft.
New Film Review Section
7/27/03. I have migrated to new software which will be much more user-friendly.
Here is also my old favorites list:
Favorites 2002-3
Talk to Her
Adaptation
The Pianist
About Schmidt
Gangs of New York
My Big Fat Greek Wedding (funny comedy)
Top 5
1. Cinema Paradiso
2. Death in Venice
3. Godfather I and II
4. Casablanca
5. Henry the V
Previously featured Top 5 (1996)
1. En Coeur en Hiver
2. Angels and Insects
3. Shattered
4. Casablanca
5. In Line of Fire
British:
Henry the V
Braveheard
Remains of the Day
Howards End
Othello
Russia:
Burnt by the Sun
Russia House
Gorky Park
Hunt for Red October
Germany:
Nowhere in Africa (Nirgendwo in Afrika)
Lola Run (Lola Rennt)
Nobody Loves me (Keiner Liebt mich)
Men (Männer)
Das Boot
The Voyager
Cafe Bagdad (Out of Rosenheim)
Hanussen (Brandauer)
France:
Cyrano de Begerac
Germinal (Depardieu)
Tout les Matins Du Mond
La Femme Nikita
Indochine
The Lover
Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Recent Version)
Toto Le Hero
Horseman on the Roof
Schweden: Pele the Conqueror
Italy:
Death in Venice
Cinema Paradiso
Spain:
Talk to Her (Brilliant)
All About My Mother
Abre Los Ojos (Open your eyes. Remade as Vanilla Skies)
Belle Epoche
Goya
Mexiko:
Like Water for Cocolate
Frida
China:
The Last Emperor
Raise the Red Lantern
Ju Dou
New York:
Manhatten Murder Mistery (Woody Allen)
6 Degrees of Separation
The Age of Innocense
Don Juan de Marcos
War Time:
Schindler’s List
Au Revoir Les Enfants
Europa, Europa
The Tin Drum
All Quiet on the Western Front
Spike Lee “Joints”:
Mo better blues
Do the right Thing
Jungle Fever
Other Films:
Secret Burning (Fay Dunaway)
Hook (cute)
How to Make an American Quilt
Jesus of Montreal
The Mission (Robert De Niro)
Death and the Maiden (Polanski)
Copy Cat (Weaver)
Patriot Games
Silence of the Lambs
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
On the Golden Pont
A few Good Man
The Day of the Jackal
Midnight Express
The Player
Ghost
Shawshank Redemption
Kiss of the Spider Woman
Fatal Attraction
Reality Bites
Lord of the Rings (Part 1)
Mulin Rouge
Artistic Documentary
Vincent or Van Gogh
10 Short Film on Glenn Gould
Watergate (PBS Documentary on Nixon)
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