Tag: funny

Changing Daylight Saving Time Might Reduce Obesity

I knew it was because of Daylight Saving Time that I’m overweight! I just knew it! Okay, perhaps that’s a slight embellishment. My slightly-more-than-ideal weight might be partly due to what I eat and how much (or not much) I exercise. But according to a new study at Stanford University, if our government gets rid of Daylight Saving Time, it could provide incredible health benefits:

The researchers estimate that permanent standard time would prevent about 300,000 cases of stroke per year and reduce the number of people with obesity by 2.6 million, compared to biannual changes. Permanent daylight saving time would also be positive, although with a smaller impact.

So it’s the changing of time that matters, and to some degree, having more daylight. So apparently even if the government never changes the system officially, one could just ignore the time change and be less fat. Works for me! I could switch my sleep habits an hour if that helps me be less overweight. That would surely be easier than eating healthy and exercising more! 🙂

So far I’m having fun with this. However, it is an actual scientific study, and they used mathematical models to simulate this, trying to find the impact of time policies on light exposure and circadian rhythm (your body’s internal clock). But I’m skeptical. Normally I’m all for the use of math and the scientific method, but I think those numerical claims are vastly exaggerated. There might be a real benefit — I’m not arguing that — but preventing 2,600,000 cases of obesity? Whatever.

If we’re not going to change Daylight Saving Time, I’ve got some ideas to improve it, which I’ve discussed before: a better way to fix Daylight Savings Time. Most people would be for one of those plans, I think, but so far it has been ignored.

As far as reducing obesity in America (which is a big problem), I wish changing the clock would be a solution. But I think the best solution is still eating less and exercising more. That strategy is no secret, but perhaps we need a fresh approach to promoting it… (I have an idea, which will be in a future post.)

Halloween pics – funny, cool jack-o-lanterns

It’s the law…
This is awesome. I don’t know if someone actually made this or not, but it looks great.
When you want Halloween to be cool…
They aren’t pumpkins, but this works really well.
I was saving them for the holidays, honest.

To see our archive of funny pictures, here’s the link to the series: “Funny Pictures“.

a story about that which needs no story

I’ve been thinking about resuming the “Funny Pictures” series. Does this warrant an explanation? Who knows? If you care, read on; if not, just enjoy the pictures. Whatever makes you happy. I’ll mix some pics in with the text, since it would be weird to talk about funny pictures without sharing some.

Sharing pictures from other sites seems like an awkward fit here, since I try to post original content. Anybody can copy pictures and share them. Yet there is still a collection of funny pictures I’ve saved over the years. Perhaps the people who enjoy my original posts will also enjoy the funny pictures, since they were curated by me and thus follow the same brand of humor. (This is assuming that somebody actually likes my original posts… I enjoy writing them, so doesn’t that mean there ought to be some people out there who would also enjoy them? I can dream…)

Alf was a TV show character in the ’80s. I wonder if the woman has any clue. Either way, more funny stuff ought to be hidden at political events, which tend to be devoid of humor.

BTW, this isn’t to take the place of original content. I’ll still post the same number of original articles (however infrequent that has become), and there are already many in various stages of readiness.

Maybe real butter should be called “truth”, in this context.

To see our archive of funny pictures, here’s the link to the series: “Funny Pictures“.

I have a dinosaur in my backyard

It’s true! I saw a real-life living dinosaur, and it was starting to build a nest where I didn’t want one, so I confronted it and scared it away! I battled a dinosaur and lived to tell the tale! Afterward, it glared at me in seething anger, but I glared back, and it chose to retreat to the neighbor’s yard, so I let it go. I actually defeated a dinosaur! (Yeah, there’s a lot of things you don’t know about me!)

This isn’t my backyard. It would be neat if it was, but mine is somewhat less dramatic, with much smaller dinosaurs. Mine also has considerably less mountains.

So how can I say this and claim it’s true? Do you think this is some embellished memoir? Well, according to some scientist, it’s true. Check this quote out:

“Today’s birds evolved from dinosaurs, which makes them every bit as much of a dinosaur as T. rex or Triceratops.” ~ Steve Brusatte, paleontologist

I suppose someone could make that argument, but it still sounds silly. Granted, I’m no paleontologist nor an ornithologist, so I didn’t have any voice in debating what to call them. But still, I have a voice, and I’m writing in my corner of the internet on a blog that’s had over a million pageviews, so I have some reach, and I’ll share my opinion anyway. (Always glad to share my ignorance. I’ve got plenty.) Maybe it would be better to just say modern birds descended from dinosaurs. (I still don’t know that that’s true, but it sounds better.) It just sounds wrong to say that I have dinosaurs in my backyard… And it takes away from the mystique of dinosaurs.

But if you want to play along with that thinking, you can tell people you have a dinosaur in your backyard. Or that you’re stronger than a dinosaur. Or that you’ve killed a dinosaur. Or that you’ve eaten a dinosaur. It could be a fun conversation piece. Try it (with people who appreciate humor).