Compassionz! Yay!

From Empathy is What Sets Vegetarians Apart (At Least Neurologically Speaking) in Psychology Today:

The study - in basic terms - investigates this hypothesis by placing subjects into a functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) machine and looking at the "activation" of different brain areas as subjects view a randomized series of pictures. The pictures used for this study included neutral scenes and an even share of scenes depicting various kinds of animal and human suffering.

The first main finding of this study is that, compared to Omnivores, Vegans and Vegetarians show higher activation of empathy related brain areas (e.g. Anterior Cingular Cortex and left Inferior Frontal Gyrus) when observing scenes of suffering; whether it be animal or human suffering.

People will pay for the dumbest things

Part of the fun of researching for my Henry V novel is gathering ideas of kookiness. Since the book takes place in the entertainment industry, and in California, the possibility for kooky characters is great. People can have weird jobs and weird lifestyles.

Like being a baby-naming expert:

According to an article in The Wall Street Journal the professional baby naming business is booming. Anxious almost-parents are paying up to $350 for baby naming consultation that includes phone interviews and packets of name options with name histories, linguistic origins and personality traits, all information that is easily found online for free. The naming "experts" weed through millions of name choices and then deliver a handful of options that fit the parents' vision for their baby. (Psychology Today)

Now there's a job that just about any novelist could do, since we spend so much time thinking over such things. How on earth do you get "certified" for such a thing?? That's a "truth is stranger than fiction" job.

Saaaltyyyy salty salty salty...

Really interesting article on salt in the New York Times. I skimmed most, but the first couple pages have Fun Facts!

As a demonstration, Kellogg prepared some of its biggest sellers with most of the salt removed. The Cheez-It fell apart in surprising ways. The golden yellow hue faded. The crackers became sticky when chewed, and the mash packed onto the teeth. The taste was not merely bland but medicinal.

“I really get the bitter on that,” the company’s spokeswoman, J. Adaire Putnam, said with a wince as she watched Mr. Kepplinger struggle to swallow.

They moved on to Corn Flakes. Without salt the cereal tasted metallic. The Eggo waffles evoked stale straw. The butter flavor in the Keebler Light Buttery Crackers, which have no actual butter, simply disappeared.

...

processed foods, along with restaurant meals, now account for roughly 80 percent of the salt in the American diet. The rest comes from the kitchen salt shaker or occurs naturally in food.

...

In calculating the percent of the daily recommended sodium intake in each serving, companies use the standard for healthy adults below middle age, a teaspoon of salt, or about 2,300 milligrams. But the recommendation for the vast majority of Americans — children, adults of middle age or older, all blacks and anyone with hypertension — is less than 1,500 milligrams a day.

When you make similar recipes at home, the amount of salt you use is minimal compared to these descriptions. I guess because you use more expensive ingredients. If I make cookies, for example, there's some salt in my processed ingredients (margarine) but otherwise you're putting maybe half a teaspoon. And you can eliminate that teaspoon and the cookies will still be tasty.

In something like guacamole the salt makes a big difference, but again, more than 3/4 of a teaspoon and it will taste too salty.

Shows what a difference it makes to your health to sometimes make homemade food. Or at least, you have more control and knowledge. A good reminder for me, because the more I work the more processed food I buy.

Mind you - I don't have a very discerning palate, but there are some foods that I now like much better when homemade. Hummus, cookies, granola--the store bought versions don't taste as good as they used to. Especially cookies! I'm always disappointed by processed cookies, even brands I used to love.

Mmmm. Cooookies.

PS - Steve Bell

It's a few minutes after the last post... figured I'd put on Steve Bell while I read my book, cause I don't listen to him that often. And one of my other favourite lines caught my attention. And also seems relevant to this topic of the changing music business (and is a great quote for all sorts of change):

Some will trust in the things they think they know
They should think again and let them go