Two Ted Talks for a better life and a longer one at that!

As I was stumbling through my laze filled day of boredom, I fell back my favorite activity: browsing through Netflix and adding things to my ever growing 'Instant Queue'. Yes, I actually do spend more time adding things to my queue rather than watching them. This is a very curious behavior and I found that it reflects on my other activities as well. For. e.g. I love acquiring books whenever and wherever I can. Every time I see a book sale or discount store or even a interesting e-book online, I quickly procure it, feeling good about the whole process, envisioning myself reading the book and becoming smarter in the process (I truly believe that every book you read makes you a better person even if just by a tiny bit). However that has only led my stocking of a huge number physical and virtual books, which are still unread. But coming back to my current state, I'm enjoying my temporary single status (my wife is in India for a month) by slobbing throughout the day and in general being a bum. And due to my aforementioned habit, my Netflix queue has bloated to this:

Anyway, moving on, today I came across a collection of Ted talks in Netflix clubbed as a series called 'Lifehack' and put in the 'Recently Added' queue. I thought that was extremely cheeky and clever of Netflix to know find free video and content from Creative Commons to boost their sometimes weak library. Nothing wrong with it and there can never be enough mediums to bubble up and curate for good Ted talks. So the two videos that I want to talk about and recommend are as follows:

Amy Cuddy: Your body language shapes who you are

(Since Blogger doesn't allow meet to easily embed videos from other websites, the link above is from Youtube. But here is the actual link to the Ted page if you want to get more details.) 

The power of body language is no secret. Research has proven time and again that the way we portray ourselves physically affects how others perceive us and this in turn impacts decisions that they make. This is also quite common in the animal kingdom where they use body language to display their strength of weakness and this is turn is a impacts who others in the group or even enemies react. This also plays an important role in giving rise to empathy. Contrary to popular perception, empathy is not a uniquely human emotion. Animals depict it quite often in their own communities and it turns out that not only is it affected by body language for animals, but the same is true for humans too. For e.g. if someone opposite you is smiling, you tend to smile back an'd the same way if someone looks depressed or sad, you'll feel that way and probably wont be smiling anymore.

Amy talks quite a bit about that but she's more interested on how body language affects our own persona. She points out how a lot of people sometimes 'fake it till they make it' when it comes to acting strong or in control. But interestingly faking it can actually slowly get you 'becoming it'. It turns out that this phenomenon is caused by the difference in the balance of Testosterone and Cortisol. And positive body language is the critical to controlling that balance. So go ahead and watch that video and once you're done join me stretching the arms wide and feeling good and strong.

Jane McGonigal: The game that can give you 10 extra years of life

Amy's talk is incidentally a nice segue-way to Jane McGonigal, a game developer who talked about how a few little things can make us more resilient physically, mentally, socially and emotionally and that in turn can increase our lifespan by up to 10 years. If this doesn't pique your interest instantly, I don't know what can. The concept itself is very intriguing but Jane also shares a painful episode of her life which got her into researching into this topic in the first place. Its an extremely moving story but also a very inspiring one about how you can take control of life and look for solutions, no matter how dire the circumstances may feel. And she ended up creating an app out of the process to share the science with others. Here's the website: Superbetter.com. Go check out both.

(And here is the link to Jane's video on Ted.com)

p.s. : If anyone is interested, here is the list of movies on my Netflix queue

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Untitled

The scribblings of Kerouac
       the wailings to Ginsberg
the ramblings of Synder
       the sly bastard, NC
the nymphs, LuceAnne and Carolyn
       the beats were weird
I don't understand,
       I don't pretend to be
But I know this
I want to write, I want to break free
I want to cry, I want to howl
I want to offend, I want to spit
I want to run, I want to strip
I want to climb, I want to jump

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Are Free Credit Reports A Fantasy? - Pennies for a dollar

At some point or another, each one of us has encountered an ad claiming: "Free credit report". 99% of time, there is nothing free at the other side of link. The FTC actually requires the big 3 credit agencies to provide a free credit report each year. But they have all managed to bury it so deep in their websites that its literally a treasure hunt to find the right website. If after having done all of that, you manage to get hold of your credit report, you would be then disappointed to know that your credit score is no where to be seen. Welcome to the world of subterfuge involving dishonest practices by companies and websites where they are all out to rip you off of your money to get something that they owe it you for free.

Lets start with a fun exercise. Someone told you, "Hey, you don't have to pay for your credit report. You can get it for free. The FTC mandates it". You go ahead excitedly and search for 'Free credit report'. Here's a screenshot of what you would see. Now tell me amongst all the results (sponsored & otherwise) which ones are actually free. Hint: There is only one

To continue reading click here

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Unchained Django, Bloodied Tango

About two thirds in to the movie, Leanardo Di Caprio's character in the movie, Calvin Candie, an sadistic plantation owner, wonders aloud:

“I've been surrounded my entire life by black faces. I only have one question: Why don't they just rise up and kill the whites?”

At which Christopher Waltz, playing Dr. King Schultz, chuckles, “Who knows what could happen!”

Django Unchained is essentially a full-blown story of that one single thought, a twisted fantasy where Tarantino imagines Black people seeking retribution and this is a bloody one at that. Not unlike Inglourious Basterds, where Tarantino decided to revisit history to wonder how it would have been if the numerous attempts on Hitler's life had succeeded. It is a sort of guilty pleasure, and in these revisionist versions Tarantino in his own way has tried to right the wrongs of the past. This time around he goes after the most shameful era of American history: the pre civil war time, when Black Americans were bought and sold as slaves and treated worse than animals. And nowhere was it more rampant than the deep South, which is where this movie is based.

Briefly, Chritopher Waltz is a bounty hunter who frees Jamie Foxx from his slave owners and enlists his help to find 3 criminals on the run. In return, he promises to help Foxx find his wife, who was sold to another plantation owned by Leonardo Di Caprio. How the 2 bandied brothers-in-arms set out to find Jamie Foxx's wife, played by Kerry Washington, forms the the rest of the story. 

As always with all Tarantino's films the characters are a bunch of weird and quirky people, who speak memorable lines all the time. Tarantino's greatest strength in my opinion is his screenplay writing skill and in particular his dialogues. He loves crafting scenes, where characters talk about seemingly mundane things with a deep undercurrent of tension running along. Remember Samuel L Jackson's (who also an small but interesting part in this film) famous scene from Pulp Fiction where has a very innocuous conversation about burgers and coke with a terrified guy before violence erupts

And of course, Christopher Waltz's famous opening interrogation scene in Inglourious Basterds, where he shuffles between 3 languages while very politely and disarmingly turns a French peasant into a squeaky coward, who is forced to reveal the hideouts of his Jewish neighbors, is another classic example of this style. Django has, at least, a couple of similar scenes. 

Tarantino's inspirations clearly come from the classic spaghetti westerns tropes: the weary travelers, bounty hunters, the outsiders on a mission, revenge. In this case, his twist being the setting, which concerns the practice of slavery and its evil manifestations. But with that territory comes the necessary violence, although some may disagree whether the gore is justified. Tarantino himself is no stranger to visceral action and the spilling of bodily fluids and parts that are seeped in crimson. But it may not be for everyone, especially those with weak stomachs. 

Django in many ways is a typical Tarantino film and yet is probably one of his most straightforward ones. The movie is fairly linear and the storyline doesn't have that many surprises, but it stays entertaining throughout. This one is a special holiday gift for his devout fans.

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Shakthi

I dream of a silent moment, peace amidst the chaos,

Amidst the muddied waters, clamoring crowds.

My moment of glory, failure, and infinite solitude

As I lay awake next to you, my fear melts away

I'm content, I see happy, I'm but thankful to thee

Unbridled love, unrepentant passion, brimming with anger

I'm proud, I'm amazed, I secretly admire thee

My woman is Shakthi, my woman is thi*

p.s. *thi is fire in tamil

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