Chris Ryan: Self Spectrum

My Doctor, My Dealer.

noreply@blogger.com (ChrisRyanNYC) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 20:46:00 +0000

One of the five core social motives in social psychology is that we, as a people, need to trust our world. We need to see the world as a benevolent place. However, the sad fact is that we can't trust even the highest of professionals in our world. We sit with our ears and eyes glued to the news of the world and every day something comes out that a professional did something horrible and shocking. How can we trust in a world full of people who are motivated by greed?

The short answer is that we can't fully trust our world, but we can become more cautious and weary of the average individual.

Yesterday we saw a doctor, Dr. Conrad Murray, whom people in his community loved and trusted get handcuffed in a court of law and taken to prison. This is a doctor who practiced for several years without absolutely no criminal record but what we discovered during his trial regarding Michael Jackson's death was that this doctor was no better than your average street corner dealer. This doctor stole drugs and was paid on a monthly basis to administer these drugs. I'm not saying Michael Jackson was completely guiltless in the entire situation, but in a way he was. We have to look at this situation at a macro level. This is NOT just happening in Michael Jackson's bedroom who suffered a severe addiction to pain killers and medications that would help him to sleep at night. We have to look at the BIGGER picture!

Rx Nation

We live in a nation that is dependent on prescription drugs. There are prescription drugs for nearly every ailment, condition, non-condition...you name it, they have it. Are we being given RX drugs for our actual medical conditions or are they being handed out like candy in order for doctors and pharmaceutical companies to profit off them? I'd like to think that's not the case but with the alarming number of people dying from prescription drug use we have to start opening our eyes.

We have many good doctors (thankfully more good than bad) but then we have doctors that succumb to the color of money (Now if only there was a drug for that!). Dr. Conrad Murray was accepting $150,000 a month from his high profile patient; that's an astronomical amount for Rx drugs. However, he was taking drugs illegally out of the hospital and administering them illegally. Dr. Conrad Murray crossed a line from professional and ethical doctor to DRUG DEALER with a license to deal. And he's not the only doctor doing this in our country. Take a look at this doctor who made nearly $1.8 million dealing Rx drugs: http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-downey-doctor-painkiller-sentenced,0,7602750.story

Being that so many people are dependent on drugs it's time that there be a more ethical system of checking patients for their "actual" medical ailments and not just giving out a prescription when a client says they have "back pain" or "I can't sleep at night". Doctors have to be more responsible because we now live in a world where street drugs are less evil then prescription drugs. Yes, prescription drugs are killing more people each year than illegal street drugs. And why? Because doctors are getting their patients dependent on these medications when they might have been far better off without them in the first place. Read more about what else Rx drugs have beaten in death tolls: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/10/26/prescription-drugs-number-one-cause-preventable-death-in-us.aspx

The message sent yesterday with Dr. Conrad Murray being found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and taken out in handcuffs from court will hopefully send a STRONG message to doctors that are no better than the drug deals on the street corner. Sure, you have 10+ years of schooling behind you, a license to practice medicine in your state and probably the love of the community, but the really you're just a drug dealer when you cross the line of professional to scum and KILL your patients slowly.

Should our drug war now focus on doctors!? You decide.

-Chris Ryan

HALLOWEEN: The Blog

noreply@blogger.com (ChrisRyanNYC) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 22:03:00 +0000

First off, I don't think Halloween should be a day anymore, I think it should be 3-4 days spread out. Halloween is no longer solely celebrated on one day, it's a matter of days spread out so that people can attend multiple parties, wear multiple risqué costumes and drink themselves into oblivion!

Whatever happened to kids trick or treating? One day Halloween celebrations? Getting drunk off carbs? I feel that I barely see any kids out and about these days trick or treating. Maybe it's just how life in the city is, but even at my CT home there were no trick or treaters. And eating enormous amounts of candy is considered almost as sinful as drinking too much alcohol, however the latter is more accepted nowadays (at least we won't find any razors in our drinks...).

Anyway, Halloween has never been a big deal to me. Dressing up can be fun but I really prefer looking at other people's costumes. What were you this Halloween?? My costumes are always rather clever and/or ridiculous. I was Michael Jackson (at my retro party), Christ Ryan of the Apocalypse (don't ask) and a confused gay baseball player/circuit party boy.

Halloween is more about the scary movies, decorations and making costumes for others so that they look ridiculous/sexy/confused. Take a look at the Grindr costume I helped to make for my roommate:

Martha Stewart's Grindr

Now if Martha Stewart had Grindr, what would it look like? I of course put Grindr's favorite clients on (excluding myself who is a "favorite" at the top next to Martha). Justin Beiber & Bianca Del Rio are just two of the many that made the cut for this shirt.

As for my top ten scariest Halloween movies list, here goes:

10. Seven

No many would consider this movie to be on a list of Halloween "scary movies" since it's more a psychological thriller, but take just one scene that forever sticks in my mind and you will most likely agree; the scene where they come into the serial killer's apartment and find a man tied to a bed who they think is dead, but then wakes up! God, that will always scare me.

9. The Hills Have Eyes

The rape scene is probably the worst for me. To think of men like this coming into your room at night and raping you is pretty horrifying. There are quite a few disturbing scenes in this movie, but this is on of the worst.

8. The Descent

The idea of being beneath the earth and fighting off horrifying creatures that are looking to feast on you is rather scary as hell.

7. Last House on the Left

Yet again another movie with a horrifying rape scene similar to that of the one in "I Spit on Your Grave" (one of the most fantastic revenge movies ever made). Very demented people in this movie, but they get what they asked for in the end. :)

6. Friday the 13th 2

Friday the 13th movies are not usually scary for me since I don't find slasher films scary. However, this one tops the list of scariest Friday the 13th movies. The scene where Jason Voorhees jumps through the window sans hockey mask is rather frightening and disturbing.

5. Nightmare on Elm Street

Another slasher film that tops my list, however Freddy Krueger is one of those slashers that's pretty horrifying as he actually has a rather disturbing personality unlike the other lifeless slashers (Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers, etc.). The scene where Freddy slashes Tina up and down the wall while her boyfriend looks on is rather horrific.

4. An American Werewolf in London

Werewolf movies can be scary or stupid. However, An American Werewolf is the most LIFE LIKE werewolf movie. John Landis creates the most life like transformation from man to werewolf in this movie that I've ever scene. It's fantastically disturbing and yet intriguing all at the same time. To this day no CGI or any other type of filming has made this more lifelike than An American Werewolf in London.

3. Insidious

Several disturbing and scary (make you jump) scenes. The worst for me is the demon standing in the corner of the boys bedroom completely dark and when asked what the demon wants he just points slowly and cryptically to the boy. Yikes!

2. The Shining

This is psychologically disturbing as it details the account of a man who suffers from a personality disorder and lives in a hotel with his wife and child for the winter as the caretaker. The twins in the hallway, the old woman in the hotel room, the creepy backwards "Redrum = Murder" on the walls, the pools of blood spilling through hallways and Jack Nicholson's amazing portrayal of a mad man make this movie rather horrifying.

1. The Exorcist

Still to this day nothing compares to the Exorcist. Religious or not religious, this movie shakes you to the core. Seeing a little girl being possessed by the devil, doing horrific things to her body, saying horrible things to the priests and executing very scary actions (i.e. 360 headspin, crab walk down the stairs, stabbing herself in the vagina with a crucifix, etc.) make this movie top my list. I can't sleep after watching it.

Movies that are just as scary, but didn't make the cut

Halloween

The Ring

Martyrs

Saw (first one)

Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Black Christmas

Dead Birds

Midnight Movie

***What are some of the movies on your TOP TEN LIST?***

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Be safe!

-Chris Ryan

Social Networking (Minus the Networking)

noreply@blogger.com (ChrisRyanNYC) — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 01:25:00 +0000

This warning haunts me everyday...and yes it's a real one.

Facebook had the right idea at it's incarnation however things have changed dramatically since 2004. Facebook has always been two steps ahead of other social networking sites. And while MySpace did surpass Facebook for a bit there, it could not compete with the growing popularity of Facebook. Facebook has laid the ground work for social networking sites and nothing has come even close to surpassing it. And as much as I'd like to see something better come along, I don't see that happening anytime in the near future. Facebook has too much of a market and is connected to too many websites currently with the "sign in with Facebook feature."

However it's either time for Facebook to change it's features (and not to the crap we've seen in the past few months) to better serve the online community.

Here's where Facebook falls flat (wah wah):

1. Privacy Features are a major issue for many people. Facebook does say that they have done much to protect users information but I don't believe this to be honest. I think Facebook has ALL our information and has integrated much of our privacy into the algorithm on Facebook.

2. And now the MAJOR problem. Facebook limits our social networking. It basically tells us that we can ONLY know 5,000 people. Yes, that may seem like a lot of people to know, however if we have Facebook over our lifetime the chances of us meeting over 5,000 people is VERY HIGH. Plus socialites meet many more people than the average person, so do celebrities and well-known personalities. We are out constantly meeting people and making connections. And we are asked to STOP connecting after 5,000? That seems a bit ridiculous. Facebook claims that it's a spam issue we face with having over 5,000 connections/friends. Really? I mean if you can produce once of the worlds best algorithms, why can't you do something to prevent spamming while still allowing people to connect with over 5,000 people? It's time to update Facebook. And please don't tell me to add a "fan page", I'm not a celebrity and what you can do on a fan page based on having an actual profile page is limited and not for me. I put my website up as a fan page, but that's about all I will do.

3. "Liking" pages becomes an issue when you have too many friends!? This is the worst of all. So now I can no longer add friends on two profiles, (okay that's fine I created a third) but now I can't even like anymore artists, movies, friends pages, etc. Facebook tells me that I have to delete pages to add more. So now I have to stop showing people that I like something to show them that I like something additionally??? I find this extremely ridiculous considering the amount of things we will like over our lifetime. I've had Facebook for only 5 years and already I've run into major issues to the point that I have to have 4 profile pages.

4. Complicating things makes it worse. Facebook was very easy to use, and yes there were features about it that were annoying, but the constant changes have made Facebook worse! The minute we get used to their new layout, BAM! there's a new one. And the new one gives a thousand more options and confuses the user. Facebook, take some cues from APPLE!

5. GROUPS: Please tell me what MORON at Facebook decided that the best way to get rid of group spam was to create groups that allowed you to PUT everyone in the group without their approval and then make the default setting that you get an email for every post in the group?? Please, please tell me this was not one of your HARVARD graduate employees because an idea this could have only come from a human with the same intelligence as Michele Bachmann (had to).

6. If you're a promoter you know that I don't even have to write out number 6.

***Anything I didn't add? Oh I'm sure there is. SPEAK!***

I love this cartoon below lol

-Chris Ryan

The Next Human Evolution?

noreply@blogger.com (ChrisRyanNYC) — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 05:13:00 +0000

Now this might be crazy but I ask that you actually take the time to read this because I believe that my thoughts on the next human evolution are the most viable. I purposely didn't read much about the next human evolution so that my first thoughts on it wouldn't be influenced by what I read. However, knowing what I know regarding science and the current advancements I think that my theory is well backed.

Hybrid Humans?

Yes, hybrid humans. We will not be fully robots, but we will not be fully humans. As conditions worsen in our atmosphere, as our bodies weaken and as the future calls for more advanced humans, we will enter a world that will drastically change and the humans of today won't be able to survive for very long. We have not hit the climax on the average human age of death but I do believe we will soon and my belief is that the average age of death with actually start to go down as the environment changes. We will have more technology and medical advances, but there will be certain things in our atmosphere that we will not be able to change.

Replace the cells in your body with NEW CELLS

We already see that the human species may see it's first immortal man by the year 2045. Immortal, really? Yes, it can happen and their are medical advances that are being created (have been created) that will aid in making us immortal. Cell scrapers/scrubbers are one of the technological advances that will help to clean out the old cells in our body and replace them with new cells. Sound ridiculous? Well it's already been done on mice successfully!

Print out new organs?!

Yes and it's been done! A 3D Bioprinter can print out new organs and arteries by the use of cells from the organ that's being created. If you're creating a liver, you must use liver cells. More information regarding this amazing technology here: http://www.gizmag.com/3d-bio-printer/13609/

Replacing our body parts with machinery

In the near future machinery will be so advanced that we will be able to make even better (and lifelike) body parts out of extremely advanced machinery that will plug right into our current nervous systems to give us true motion and allow us to still feel pre-programmed feelings. We will be able to lift more, run faster, run longer and virtually never wither away. Our brains will be updated too with micro-computer chips that will make us much more intelligent, improve memory, improve our ability to learn, etc. Don't believe me? Read this: http://www.livescience.com/9699-humans-2-0-replacing-mind-body.html

This all being said, humans are heading into an era where machines and intelligent computers will rule and they will be integrated into our systems making us more intelligent, smarter, faster and more accurate. Hybrid humans will roam the planet. But what will follow? Complete replica human robots that have all the same feelings/emotions as a real human but still a robot? Why yes, I do believe so. Let me know your thoughts!

-Chris Ryan

Do you have Internet ADHD?!

noreply@blogger.com (ChrisRyanNYC) — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 06:02:00 +0000

I do...err...I think.

If there is such a diagnosable term, well then I have it (there isn't just so you're aware). I feel my hand methodically make its way to my mouse on several occasions to change tabs, move around sites and do several tasks at once. If a site doesn't load within the 1.5 seconds before my attention span has ceased, then I move on to the next! Thankfully this doesn't translate to real life, but why does it on the internet only!?

I'm working at DSL speeds and yet I still feel the need to jump, jump, jump!

Thankfully I found an extension that will actually block certain sites for me so that I don't jump to them (only available on google chrome). I have to say it hasn't really worked all that well for me as I find myself unblocking the sites more often than not. I think a good resolution to this would be to have the site LOCK for an hour then allow you to access it again.

The problem is, I jump from task to task and leave other windows (tabs) open and totally forget to go back to them. I actually started utilizing Mac's sticky note application to remind myself of what I'm doing (have to do.) Any other suggestions?!

I think the real answer is to limit my internet time when I'm not doing the million other things. I think we all need to do that. If we're not on our computers we're on our iPhones or iPads or iPod touches or Androids or Blackberrys....AHHH!

Here's a piece of advice; take the time to look up at the world around you! We're here for only a short period of time and even with Retina display the world isn't as pretty on screen as it is in real life.

Quick Test (copy and paste answers in comment if you choose):

1. How many websites do you visit in an hour's time span? (check your history)

2. How many minutes do you spend on each site before jumping to the next?

3. What's the max you will wait for a page to load before jumping to another page?

4. How many other things are you doing while trying to maintain focus on what you're supposed to be doing?

-Chris Ryan

I'm a Criminal Because I'm Gay

noreply@blogger.com (ChrisRyanNYC) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 18:31:00 +0000

This woman is a HERO. Be one too.

Sad, but true. There are parts of the world where it's actually ILLEGAL to be gay. One of these places is Cameroon. Cameroon is in need of help to overturn this law which will help to decriminalize homosexuality. ONE woman attorney, Alice N'Kom, in the country is defending homosexuals in court and asking for YOUR HELP to sign a simple petition that she will submit to the president which will in turn hope to end this ridiculous law in this country and release the homosexuals that have been locked up from prison.

SIGN HERE: http://allout.org/en/actions/cameroon

Further, we're still a long way from equal rights in this country. Take a look at this rather disturbing map of our country, which displays where homosexuality is legal, not legal, life inprisonment and DEATH penalty: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:World_homosexuality_laws.svg

Just imagine going to prison for being born a woman? Or being born with black skin? Or being born with a disability? Or being born a male with brown hair? This is what people in other countries are going through right now. They are being imprisoned for being BORN a certain way. SICK! Help be a HERO.

-Chris Ryan

Avengers Movie Trailer!

noreply@blogger.com (ChrisRyanNYC) — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 23:21:00 +0000

This movie is going to be EPIC! Check out Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Iron Man, The Hulk and Loki in this exciting movie trailer! I can't WAIT for this movie!

Happy National Coming Out Day! Let's Hear YOUR Stories!

noreply@blogger.com (ChrisRyanNYC) — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 18:43:00 +0000

National Coming Out Day is a day that commemorates those that have come out, those coming out and those willing to have discussion about doing so. It more importantly celebrates gay and lesbian rights. The date of October 11th (which happens to be my birthday too, oddly enough) was chosen to celebrate the anniversary of the march in Washington D.C. on October 11th, 1987 that was held for gay and lesbian rights. More information about this nationally observed day is located here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Coming_Out_Day

On June 27th, 1999 I came out, officially. I spent all my youth in hiding my authentic self. I actually wasn't sure though of who I was until my teen years. I thought I was confused about who I was attracted to at a young age and I still found myself attracted to women. While I was still very young when I came out, I was sure of my identity when I officially came out on the date of June 27th, 1999.

A year earlier, It was almost like a wake-up call. I woke up one morning and decided that I wanted to find someone to love and I decided that that someone would be a man. I had relationships with girls in the past, and most fell through. I could not devote myself to any women and felt that the relationship was superficial. I decided that I was really just attracted to men and therefore would pursue that. I started to meet men off the Internet. I met three in particular that were all very different and gave me incredible insight into gay life. One guy in particular really struck me. He taught me much of what I came to know about gay culture and gay life. He introduced me to places in NYC that I would someday venture when I was of age to do so. He wasn't a lover, but he made me feel comfortable about who I was and he also was the person that made me decide to "come out." The week before Pride, this guy asked if I would like to join him for the Pride Parade. He told me I would get to see a lot of gay culture, nightlife, groups, organizations, etc. I thought this would be great to see and get exposed to. I told him that I would come in to see it on that Sunday. I got up very early on Sunday, June 27th 1999 and took a bus from my father's house in New Jersey to NYC. My father thought it was a little strange I was leaving so early for the city. However, I was so excited that I didn't even think to realize he might wonder why I was heading in so early. I arrived in the city and had one of the best days of my life. I watched the parade from uptown a bit. I saw so many things that made me happy to be who I was. I never realized there were so many people that we're out and open. It shocked me to see how open people were with their sexuality. I started to feel much more comfortable about who I was just by viewing this. We walked down to the village where I was even more shocked (yet happy) about the things I was seeing. I had my day filled with completely new experiences, I was so overjoyed by the complete comfortability of so many that I started to become much more comfortable myself. I headed back to Port Authority to return home. I went to my mother's house two blocks down the street from my father. I got a call not much later from my father telling me to come home because he needed to talk to me. I was very scared by the call, I figured my father had found something out about me. I was very unsure of how my family would react. I never heard them talk necessarily bad about gay people, but also never heard anything necessarily good. I went to my father's house (probably more scared than I had ever been, but I realized that I was ready to come out). My father took me into the living room and sat me down and very abruptly said, "I know where you were today." My body tensed up with nervousness, I started to sweat and my skin went cold. He then stated, "Why were you at the gay pride parade?" and at this point my heart sank into my stomach. I paused for about a minute and said, "Dad, I was at the gay pride parade because...because...I'm gay." My dad looked at me with glossy eyes and said "I've always known and I've always loved you and always will." I then broke down crying. The feeling of "coming out" is one unlike any other. For years you hide who you are and then one day you have the ability to FINALLY admit who you really are to the people that you love. It was such a relief to finally say who I was. I asked my father that he not tell the other family members but about 25 minutes later every family member knew about me. I was actually glad that they did, it made my job much easier. Not one family member was upset about it. I got nothing but praise from every family member.

Coming out was one of the BEST days of my life and I just pray that everyone can experience the joy that I experienced by revealing my authentic self. I know that's certainly not the case for many but I will tell you that coming out is a process. The first person you have to come out to is YOU! That in itself is priceless, special and important. If you're happy and love yourself then that is all that truly matters. If there are people around you that can't accept you for who you are it's because they can't accept themselves; that's the truth. You will find solace in coming out. No one has to accept you, but YOU. Be happy, be proud and be you.

NOW LET ME HEAR YOUR STORIES!

xoxo,
Chris Ryan

Friendly Fires Concert Ticket Giveaway Contest!

noreply@blogger.com (ChrisRyanNYC) — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 19:24:00 +0000

Friendly Fires are playing at Terminal 5 on Wednesday, October 26th and I have two tickets to giveaway! We’re going to do something a bit different for this contest. I’m going to start the contest tonight at 8pm and end the contest on Friday at 8pm. The rules are below, good luck!

The Rules:

You will need to comment on this post with either a unique picture that depicts one of the songs of their new album “Pala” or write a comment that creatively ties in at least four of the songs on this album into ONE sentence (i.e. I was “running away” because I felt so “helpless” until I realized that all I needed was “true love” to “pull me back to earth.” —yeah I know, I’m good). I will then choose a winner from Random.org.

And for those of you looking to purchase tickets, you may do so here:

http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/000046BAA331AD59?camefrom=CFC_BOWERY_CRYANFFIRES

Their incredible "Hawaiian Air" video

NO Love, NO Heart: Homophobia in Jamaica

noreply@blogger.com (ChrisRyanNYC) — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 05:19:00 +0000

After reading an article this week entitled "The Most Homopbhobic Place On Earth?" ( http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1182991,00.html ) I had to write this blog. Jamaica has long been a travel destination for many tourists, a place of beauty and a place where any and all were welcome to relax and have fun. Now it is considered HELL if you're a gay man or woman traveling to the country. Jamaicans believe that homosexuality is demoral and even CRIMINAL! Sodomy is considered punishable with jail time!

My post comes after seeing a despicable video of a many being beaten by several Jamaicans while bystanders stood by, watched and even assisted them in beating this gay man until he was no longer able to even fight and they burned him ALIVE. I won't post this video because of it's graphic and disturbing nature.

You've most likely heard in the news the stories of people like Beenie Man and Buju Banton, reggae stars who spew anti-gay lyrics in many of their songs including "Boom Bye Bye" which is about killing gay men. Buju Banton has been accused of beating gay men, spilling acid on them and burning them alive. He's a despicable example of a human being and trend setter. Thankfully he and his cohorts of reggae stars have been blocked from touring in the US costing them thousands, if not millions, of dollars.

The Face of HATE: Reggae Star, Buju Banton

To be out in Jamaica means to be dead basically. People are in so much fear of coming out in Jamaica due to the hostile nature of their countries residents. Even gay tourists who have travelled to Jamaica have to live in fear as some of them have been killed themselves. And what does the countries police do about it? NOTHING. It's basically not seen as illegal in their country
(http://www.bahamasb2b.com/news/story.php?title=killing-gays-in-the-bahamas-is-practically-legal).

Hated to Death (as many are in Jamaica)

LGBT rights groups are working actively to change this countries policies which sees the highest murder rate of any country. Many are hoping that new prime minister, Portia Simpson Miller, will change the laws in Jamaica making it a more gay friendly place, but that most likely won't be seen for years and years to come. Until then, I urge many to not travel to Jamaica or support a country who is so anti-LGBT. They need to get with the times and see that their anti-gay rhetoric and hate only drives them further into the hole of desolance, despair and the HELL in which they continue to build for themselves.

The Paranormal: What's Real?

noreply@blogger.com (ChrisRyanNYC) — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 06:22:00 +0000

The paranormal is not an easy subject to research by any means. I scoured news articles, the Internet, people's stories, documentaries, etc. for hours and have come up with nothing but conflicting research. If there is a science for the paranormal it is one that has not yet been perfected by any means. In the end it's what we believe. There are skeptics and true believers. I'm going to discuss a few areas of the paranormal; you decide what you feel is real.

Ghosts

I have my own personal doubts when it comes to ghosts. I have to question why ghosts are allergic to crowds? Why there aren't many friendly ghosts? Why they like to visit only certain places? And why people don't question any of this? However, I said I have my doubts. I'm not 100% set on the fact that they don't exist even though I've never seen any scientific evidence. Can science really prove they exist? I'm not sure science can. I think this goes beyond science to be honest. The theory or relativity explains endless possibilities that Einstein laid out for the scientific community. We recently discovered that Einstein may have not been right about what he said and disproving the fundamentals of physics. We can't say that ghosts are not real, but we can't say they are.

Ghosts are defined as the souls or spirits of a deceased person that manifests itself in human form or some other manifestation. Many believers have claimed to have seen ghosts and even some have snapped photographs that they believe are authentic ghosts captured on film. Some have even claimed to capture photographs on video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvKZPA8wFPc ). Many photos/videos have been disproved and there are only a handful that cannot be explained. The following photograph is called "Brown Lady of Raynham Hall" and it is one that has not been disproved or explained yet:

Brown Lady of Raynham Hall

My Family Ghost Story

When I was 8 years old I was living in a house in Rockleigh, NJ. The house was a rather old house and in a very, very safe area that had no crime rate whatsoever. My father, mother, sister and I lived in the house for only a year. However, there were some weird happenings in the house that we were never able to explain.

One night while laying on the top bunk of my bunk bed, with my sister on the bottom bunk, my sister awoke me after having come back from the kitchen extremely frightened. My sister shook me, screaming as she did. My sister told me that there was a man with a green shirt, long black hair and an object in his hand standing in our living room. Our living room was entered through a door-less opening from the kitchen. It was rather dark at night in the living room but the moon shown through the sliding glass doors usually which helped to illuminate anything that might have been there. My sister said the reason she went to the kitchen was because the water was running rather loudly. She said the man stood there and moved his arm slightly but then she ran immediately to wake me. I went out to my parents room with her, we awoke them and brought them to the kitchen/living room. The water was on (very weird) but there was no one there and no one had unlocked the doors. I passed off the story as my sister was dreaming or she saw something that wasn't there. The next day I went to school. I sat down in my seat for class next to my best friend at the time, Leah. Leah looked upset and scared. I asked Leah was was wrong to which she replied "I'm scared, I had something weird happen to me in my house last night." I was a bit startled and afraid to ask at this point. I asked Leah what happened and Leah said "I heard someone downstairs from my room really late at night, I got up to go see what was going on downstairs because I thought my mom was asleep. I started to walk down the stairs and the noise stopped. I peaked down and saw a someone with long black hair and a green shirt, they were holding something too, I didn't see their face though. I woke up my mom and we went downstairs together but the doors were locked and no one was there." My mouth literally dropped. Leah had no contact with my sister (my sister was younger). Leah had no idea what had happened in our house last night as she had no way of knowing. To this day no one can explain what happened that night and since then I've been a believer that the paranormal may exist.

Are ghosts real? It's what we make of the situations we experience and hear. There is NO scientific evidence of ghosts but as I've said I'm not sure there can be. Here's a site that explains some of the ghost photographs that we typically see online: http://www.ghostresearch.org/ghostpics

My own experience of Astral Projection

I, myself, have projected astrally before. Whether it had been a dream or figment of my imagination it was extremely (and frightening) real. I laid in my bed one night and went to sleep. A few hours later I found myself awake. I was outside my body and looking in my room. I could see myself asleep but I saw things in my room that didn't quite look the same as when I left. I then saw a weird figure enter my room. It was at this point that I opened my eyes in my real body but laid paralyzed in bed. I could not move but I still saw this creature coming toward me. At the top of my lungs (and I tried hard for a while) I was able to finally scream and my father entered the room. Nothing was there obviously but it had been the most real experience of my life. I have had 2-3 others since then, but nothing as frightening as that.

U.F.O.'s & Aliens

UFO's are REAL. Why? Because there are certain objects that we have seen in the sky that we cannot explain. No, they are not all flying saucers!! There are objects that have been tested by the government and objects that we can't explain fly overhead. Let's take this footage that is claimed to be authentic (but unexplained, of course): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiEzWHVZskk

There are all those claims that UFO's were discovered around AREA 51. Well guess what? That's true because the military was testing new aircraft's for their own use. People that saw these couldn't explain what they were. However, no one at Area 51 has yet either.

The strangest evidence (and most credible) comes from that of professional Astronauts. During Apollo 11 astronauts saw a UFO flying close to their rocket in an intelligent flight pattern. They reported this back to NASA. No one could explain what the astronauts saw, but said that one should take it very seriously considering these are trained professionals who actually saw a UFO in space!

This site lists the 5 pieces of evidence that suggest extraterrestrial life is real: http://www.paranormalhaze.com/5-pieces-of-evidence-that-suggests-intelligent-alien-life-exists

The thought that we are the only ones in this astronomically large universe is pretty ridiculous if you ask me. I'm not suggesting there is factual evidence of intelligent life beyond us but maybe the life out there is in another galaxy and they are incapable of reaching us yet like we are of reaching other galaxies. If they are able to reach us, maybe they are scared to identify themselves. Let's turn the tables. If we went to another planet and knew there was life on it, I think we would be scared to approach it in fear of how that life might respond to us. Most likely if we saw an alien walking toward us we would react very adversely.

Bigfoot, Lochness & the Yeti

Unfortunately there are so many spoof videos and photographs on these "monsters" that we really have no way of knowing if they are real or fake. There have been very few images and/or evidence that can't be explained somehow. However, the Yeti holds most credible of the three monsters. Wildlife expert, Sir David Attenbourough, to this day believes the Yeti exists. A photographed footprint taken in 1951 shows this:

This is an authentic footprint found at 19,000 ft.

Sketch of a Yeti seen recently roaming the Himalayas

The hair specimen found from the footprint proved that it was not that of a bear but of an ape like animal. That evidence is pretty conclusive and holds merit.

Bigfoot has been taken in several photographs which usually end up being a man/woman in an ape costume. One dressed up as Bigfoot was even shot and killed! The only film that has been widely contested is this one of Roger Patterson's taken in 1967: http://paranormal.about.com/od/bigfootsasquatch/youtube/yt_patterson_bf.htm

Here's the photograph to accompany that:

Photograph of a Bigfoot in 1967 (real or fake?)

To date there has been no DNA evidence to prove than any of the footprint samples or hair samples are that of a an ape-like creature.

The Lochness monster is claimed to be real in this video: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x89u9k_paranormal-tv-best-photo-evidence-o_shortfilms

However, many scientists are very skeptical of this evidence. Many claim the photographs could be doctored. There are many photos including this one that have proven real:

Photo of The Champ Monster (Lake Champlain)

ESP

The most conclusive test done on ESP was that of psychologist Daryl Bern, a professor at Cornell and very respected psychologist. He ran an experiment that tested people's abilities to see in the future by showing people digital images (mainly non-erotic) and then popping some erotic pictures in the mix. Students were able to guess when the erotic pictures would show up 53.1% of the time. There are many reasons why this experiment may not have worked though. And there is no conclusive evidence that ESP is real or not real. More information from that study here: http://healthland.time.com/2011/01/12/wait-esp-is-real/

Many believe that there are talented psychics that can see into the future and hold what we call "precognition." While there are many skeptics who believe it's all just a lucky guess. My question is: if there are real psychics why are they not working for the government? Military? Or WEATHER CHANNEL? I mean seriously.

And Harvard scientists have claimed to rule out that ESP does NOT exist with this study here: http://www.science20.com/news_releases/is_esp_real_harvard_scientists_say_they_have_settled_the_debate

Well I've written enough here. It's time for YOU TO WRITE YOUR STORIES! Please, I'd love to hear if you have any evidence or even just your stories!

-Chris Ryan

DADT is over officially! Look at this wonderful COMING OUT video LIVE!

noreply@blogger.com (ChrisRyanNYC) — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 19:12:00 +0000

There isn't a more wonderful way to celebrate the repeal of DADT than having a soldier (cute one at that!) come out to his father LIVE on camera! This is a MOVING video. It brings me back to when I was 17 years old (not that long ago, haha!) and told my father in the living room of our house. Just saying the words "Dad, I'm gay" broke me into tears. And then to hear my father say "I love you and I always will no matter what or who you are, it's now time to be your authentic self." Those words meant the WORLD to me. Seeing how much it meant to this soldier and that his father kept saying that he loves him no matter what is wonderful. Homosexuality is normal, remember that.

Here's the news article that broke this story: http://www.aol.com/2011/09/20/soldier-comes-out-to-father-on-youtube_n_971994.html

And here's news on a march that occurred to celebrate the repeal: http://westhollywood.patch.com/articles/dont-ask-dont-tell-repeal-ceberated-with-march-and-rally#photo-7850846

See...things DO get better!

Only Love,
Chris Ryan

My Message To Gay Bullies, the Parents, Teachers, Faculty & Friends of the Deceased

noreply@blogger.com (ChrisRyanNYC) — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 01:36:00 +0000

This is Jamey Rodemeyer. Jamey was a 14 year old kid from Buffalo, NY. Now he is a corpse lying six feet underground because he was bullied by pathetic cowards and virtually ignored by all of those surrounding him. Just days before his death Jamey was on the receiving end of hateful cyberbullying posts like "Jamey is stupid, gay, fat and ugly. He must DIE!" and "I wouldn't care if you died. No one would. So just do it, it would make everyone WAY more happier!"

And as a result of this (and I'm sure countless other threats/cyberbullying/etc) Jamey was found dead outside of his house over one week later. He made a point to write on Sept. 8th that "No one in my school cares about preventing suicide, while you're the ones calling me [gay slur] and tearing me down." The people that standby and watch this happen and doing do anything are just as much the criminals as those committing the crimes. As angry as I am, this is not about the anger. This is about doing all we can to ensure that this kind of thing is prevented. Bullies should be expelled from schools after their FIRST anti-gay remark. Not their second, not third, not fourth...FIRST. And if the continue their anti-gay bullying they should be put in a juvenile detention center or a bootcamp to set them right. I will let the gay bullies know that "IT DOES NOT GET BETTER FOR YOU, IT GETS WORSE." And as for the school faculty, open your god damn eyes. Yes, you are not a mental health clinic but do you honestly think you couldn't have done more to prevent this? Did you do anything when Jamey was being bullied in class? Did you do anything when he was being taunted in the lunch room or outside? No, you didn't. Why? Because they're just kids? No they are CRIMINALS and should be treated as such. And PARENTS, if you're aware that your child is on the receiving end of anti-gay bullying then REMOVE them from the school. If you have to home school them or put them in a private school for god's sake do it. And the friends, be there with your friend at all times. Call your friend, even if you have to do it 12 times a day, let them know that you are there for them!

And this is the video that Jamey created promising people it gets better. It's literally too heartbreaking for me to even watch a second time:

I don't know Jamey Rodemeyer but I wish I had. I wish I could have talked to the faculty at his school about the bullying he was receiving or pushed them to do something about the bullying that they were obviously ignoring. I wish I could have talked to his parents to tell them that their wonderful son was going through so much pain and shown them the wonderfully positive video he made. I wish I could have talked to Jamey's friends to tell them how they could have helped Jamey get through his days easier. But most of all I wish I could have been Jamey's friend, because I swear on my life I would NEVER have let this wonderful teenager kill himself.

If you ever see anyone being bullied, even if you don't know them, for the love of God please, please HELP THEM. Please be the voice of those that are afraid to talk and please be a friend to those being bullied.

-Chris Ryan

CreativitY

noreply@blogger.com (ChrisRyanNYC) — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 05:28:00 +0000

Creativity is what drives me, it's what inspires me and it's what attracts me. Creativity is the orb within us all that keeps us young, fresh and motivated. Everyone has the ability to be creative, it's just to what level is that creativity within us. Can we actually measure creativity on a level of 1 to 10? Can we assess what level exists within us? I personally believe that we can do that. Based on a series of questions that one would put together and ask we could develop a questionnaire that would allow us to measure the level of creativity within a person. I have developed my own questionnaire that I will reveal in my next blog.

But what does that actually say about us? Does that mean we'll be more productive human beings? Does that mean that we'll create more? And what does creativity really entail? Does it mean that it must be something unique or can it be anything?

I tend to think that creative people are more intelligent in nature. I believe that creativity is a facet of intelligence. I also believe that creativity drives us to be more productive as human beings. The one thing it definitely does do is give us inertia to do more and I believe that it generates positivity. To be creative has many meanings, but it means that you hold an attribute that only a small percentage of humans hold.

I have many creative outlets that I often utilize. I write songs, poems, stories, blogs, paint, play guitar, create events and more that I can't necessarily think of at the moment. I absolutely love the process of creation and if I can have someone to bounce my ideas off, even better.

For all of you who read my blog, I'd love to know what your creative outlets are and what you're working on at the moment or what you do on a regular basis to CREATE. Let's create TOGETHER!

-Chris Ryan

Monogamy Doesn't Exist

noreply@blogger.com (ChrisRyanNYC) — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 16:21:00 +0000

Now let me preface this blog by saying this is NOT a blog about my experiences or anyone I know. This is a blog about the reality of monogamy. And the reality is; it does not exist within a long term context. There is short term monogamy. I think we need to clearly define each of these so that we can change the current climate of monogamous couples. It's not a bad thing, nor a good thing for our future. It's just the current climate (if not past, and probably future state) of the times.

Monogamy refers to a form of marriage in which an individual has only one spouse at any one time. However, monogamy may also refer to the more general state of having only one mate at any one time and as such may be applied to the social behavior of some animals.

If I were to go on the street and ask people how many people they know to have been completely monogamous their entire lives, I'm sure I would meet VERY few people that could say that they have. And even if someone did say, "well my parents or my grandparents have been monogamous their entire lives", how would they really know that to be 100% true? Monogamy may have existed and may still exist for some, but I do feel that it will slowly come to an end. It's valued in many cultures and in some people are imprisoned or punished if they aren't monogamous. But why is there such a desire for both men and women to act on their sexual desires without much regard for the consequence? Of course there's the feelings of guilt and the worry that you'll be caught, but the adventure and desire overrides those feelings for both men and women.

How many of you have cheated or thought of cheating? How many of you have even emotionally cheated? When I say monogamy doesn't exist, I don't mean this in strictly a sexual way, I mean it both sexually and emotionally. If a man is married and starts seeing a woman, taking her to dinner, taking her on trips, sleeping in the same bed but never doing anything sexual (not even kiss) wouldn't you consider that cheating? Most people would say YES.

It's very difficult for us to be monogamous. And even more so in the gay community. Why more so in the gay community? Because we're MEN and we're driven by our libido's. And on top of that we're surrounded by all MEN! This complicates things much further for those seaking sexual monogamy. As stated by doctors and professionals in this article, men are much more sexual than women: http://www.webmd.com/sex/features/sex-drive-how-do-men-women-compare

The heterosexual community seems to try much harder at being monogamous but it's only a matter of time before a married couple will experience their first infidelity. Yes, the older generation may not seek to have sexual experiences outside of their marriage but I believe that's a matter of "availability" and "ability." A lot of older men would love to be with younger women, but how many younger women are going to get with an older man? And if they do, will the older man even be able to perform?

The gay community also has many couples (like myself) that have try/tried hard to be monogamous but I have to admit that I do not know ONE long term couple that has been completely sexually monogamous and emotionally monogamous. The older couples usually have some arrangement in which they get to have sex outside their partnership/marriage or sex with others together. I still don't know one older gay couple that have been completely sexually monogamous to each other throughout their entire relationship.

And if you don't believe what I'm saying why don't you take a look at this recent article in TIME magazine: http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/01/25/does-monogamy-even-exist-anymore-not-for-young-people/ . The trend is growing. It's only a matter of time before not only the action, but the word doesn't exist.

Let me also state that location is a variable. A couple living in the backwoods of North Dakota are much less likely to have infidelities than a couple living in New York City. Why? Availability and temptations are less. You need to have those variables in there. While location is a variable, location does not change desire.

Now don't get me wrong, I do believe in short-term monogamy. I believe that couples in a relationship for a few years, could in fact remain monogamous for the time being. Let me reiterate that when I say it doesn't exist, I mean it doesn't in the long-term sense. Youth today are much more sexually promiscuous than they were years ago. Why? I believe a lot of that has to do with media. For example, after watching the show "Skins" I can see why a lot of young kids think it's okay to have many sexual partners. It's surprising to me the amount of sexual promiscuity that is shown on television today among young kids. Surprising but not completely shocking!

So prepare yourselves and understand, you will have partners, they may not be monogamous and/or you may not even want to be monogamous. Learn to think outside the box and be more realistic about your long term relationships. If you believe you can be completely faithful your entire life, please let me know if you feel the same way twenty years down the road.

-Chris Ryan

My Diet, Work Out Regimen & Slowing the Aging Process.

noreply@blogger.com (ChrisRyanNYC) — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 05:10:00 +0000

I've been constantly asked to blog about this over the years and I've been apprehensive to reveal all my secrets, but I will share a few here.

Diet

6 out of the 7 days of the week I eat healthy foods. I eat a lot of Thai food (chicken, cashew nuts, green curry), Mexican food (salads, organic foods & chicken), lean meats, vegetables, salads, nuts, water, *green tea* every day, dark chocolate and the occasional glass of wine. Alcohol has played no roll in affecting my body negatively in any way. My liver enzymes are extremely healthy and my liver is in perfect condition. I do suggest that no one binge on alcohol and watch their consumption.

Vitamins

Multi-vitamin, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Calcium, Fish Oil w/ Resveratrol (ingredient found in red wines, that kills free radicals), Selenium (cancer preventative), Vitamin B-12 and Baby Aspirin (protects against heart disease).

Work Out Regimen

Work out 4-5 days a week. I do certain muscle groups each of those days and run nearly every day. I use the eliptical a lot to reduce the stress on my knees or kangoo which reduces the stress on knees/joints by 85%. Thanks to Mario Green! When lifting weights I don't overdo myself and I maintain overall tone in my body, but don't look to get too much bigger.

Aging

First thing is I've been using anti-aging products on my skin since I was 18 years old. I use Retin-A (helps to reverse photo-aging aka skin discoloration from the sun). I use shampoos that don't have certain ingredients that cause damage to the hair. I use a system of prescription skin creams that help to produce collagen and keep the skin tight and free of discolorations. I try to prevent the sun at all costs, however I have tanned on occasion because the sun does actually have good affects on the skin and helps to produce Vitamin D. However, it seems that my body is getting younger feeling as I've gotten older and that my overall appearance is as well. It's odd, but noticeable by my doctors, friends and family. My chem tests show that I have the body chemistry of a 17 year old. It may not be odd as of yet and things may start to change once I hit my 30's, but as of now I've seen no transformations whatsoever.

There are a few more secrets that help to prevent all of this, but those are the top ones that I won't reveal.

If you have any questions regarding my regimen please feel free to ask. I'd love to hear your comments.

-Chris Ryan

The 2011 VMA's -- A Stunning Disappointment Of Music Direction & Poor Programming

noreply@blogger.com (ChrisRyanNYC) — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 15:48:00 +0000

Okay the last few posts were a bit heavy...let's ease it up for a while and talk about why the 2011 MTV VMA awards show was such a major disappointment to me and millions of other viewers. It's not enough to say "The VMA's sucked this year." Why did they suck? There's several reasons and I've listed them below. The internet is littered with negative reviews of the show and if this is any indication as to where music is going in the future, we're in trouble folks.

First off, Lady Gaga is a genius, true artist and undoubtedly an extremely influential performer. As I've said in the past, she's not the first for anything, but she is an innovator and a voice for our community which is why I respect her so much. However, that opening performance was pitiful. There was very little artistic aspect behind it and the transformation into Jo Calderone was a rather questionable artistic move in itself. The one good thing that Gaga did was bring Brian May on stage to play guitar on her song "You and I." The song has a very Elton John "Tumbleweed Connection" feeling to it which is why it's growing on me, but Brian May amped up the song 10 notches and made it feel like...well..a Queen song. The performance itself was very lackluster...oh and did you see Gaga fall on her ass? Oops.

And what the hell happened to the Britney Spears, out of this world tribute performance by Ke$ha, Madonna, Janet Jackson, Nicki Minaj, Lady Gaga & Katy Perry?!? Why would MTV start such a rumor and then not even deliver ONE of these performers in the tribute (well the "why" is obvious)?!? The tribute performance was one mash-up from hell to an artist that certainly deserved more than that. Britney came before any of the girls that attended the show on Sunday night. While Britney did get awarded the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard award, she got a tribute that probably should have gone to Ke$ha instead. Next time you want to play Janet Jackson and Madonna songs in your video promo for Britney's tribute, be ready to deliver what those stars are worthy of.

The rest of the show was extremely dull minus Adele's performance, Bruno Mars and Chris Brown. These are all excellent performers that are in it for the ART and not the payoff or because they are solely interested in artistic expression. More people should pay attention to what Bruno Mars and Adele are doing especially as these are artists that are in it for the long run. Adele's soulful, painful performance of "Someone Like You," not only moved me but forced me to download her entire album. Adele is up there with the likes of Janis Joplin and Aretha Franklin. We need to focus our musical direction more on artists like this that will actually help to change the music industry. Chris Brown's performance was outstanding. As we saw, Brown and Mars took cues from their greatest inspiration, Michael Jackson who coincidentally had his birthday the following day. Coincidence? I think not.

Anyway, next time you want to put on a VMA show MTV, give me a call. I could probably do a better job putting this together than your seasoned "in the know" producers. Ha!

-Chris Ryan

A Response from Philip Cooper, Research Scientist, RE: Where Are The Cures?

noreply@blogger.com (ChrisRyanNYC) — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 15:43:00 +0000

“Untitled” – by Philip Cooper

This is a response to Chris Ryan’s article entitled “Where are the Cures?” Chris asks why there are no cures to diseases such as cancer, Parkinson’s, A.I.D.S and Alzheimer’s when technology has greatly advanced and millions of dollars have been spent in drug discovery and medical research. These are valid points and something that everyone would like to know the answers to, including those in the industry. However, reality isn’t that simple. Everybody knows of a close relative or friend who has, or is, suffering from one of the ailments mentioned above. It is hard to see our loved ones suffering from such diseases being unable to help them and to then look upon the pharmaceutical industry and ask: Why aren’t you helping us when you can?

People believe that pharmaceutical companies are satisfied with only producing drugs to treat and manage ailments instead of producing cures, as they believe that more money can be made from extending the lives of patients so that they continue to use their treatments for many years. People believe that this is a financial reason alone. I aim to disprove this notion.

So why are there no cures today? The simple answer is, that for many diseases, we still don’t know how to. Medicine is one of the newest fields in sciences. Physical, mathematical and chemical sciences have a good many years head-start on understanding their laws and mechanisms compared to biology. Mathematical equations were formulated in Ancient Greek times hundreds of years before we even knew that the brain was the most critical organ in the human body. When physics and chemistry scientists were making huge advancements to their knowledge in the 1600’s, medical science and biology would probably be described as voodoo in today’s society. Humanity simply didn’t know what it was doing in the medical world.

Modern medicine only took its first steps in 1928 when Alexander Fleming accidently discovered Penicillin. Before then we had no cure for bacterial infections. During the 1900’s modern medicine has begun to pick up its slack. The structure of DNA, our “building blocks of life”, was only discovered in 1953 and the human genome was only mapped in 2003 – we still don’t know what it all does. Parkinson’s disease was first described in the 1810’s, and it took another 100 years to discover that it was a disease of the brain. Alzheimer’s was only first described in 1901 and it took until 1977 until researchers had a better understanding of the symptoms. H.I.V., the virus that goes on to develop A.I.D.S., was only discovered about 30 years ago.

To first create a cure, medical researchers must fully understand the disease they are trying to cure. Researchers still don’t know why some people develop Parkinson’s disease and others do not. Modern medicine still doesn’t know why some people develop asthma. Medical research is still in the very early stages of developing its footing.

In a modern world where software companies can re-release tablet computers and mp3 players every nine months with newer and better capabilities; and in a world where we can travel across the Atlantic in seven hours, the general public expects to be also cured of cancer and A.I.D.S.. Such is that the medical world needs to play catch up to satisfy our fast moving ways of life. In order to satisfy these modern day desires, research is doing what it can to appease them by treating the diseases the best they can. Researchers know how to slow down cancer, researchers know how to keep viral levels low, and they know how to fight the symptoms of brain altering disorders such as Parkinson`s Disease, so these therapies are given to maintain a healthier and prolonged life. Isn’t that, in itself, amazing considering we didn’t know what A.I.D.S. was 25 years ago? Why do we demand so much more from pharmaceutical companies than others? Why aren’t we demanding the flying cars from car companies that we were promised in the 1960’s, or demanding communications companies that we should be teleporting ourselves right now?

What about stem cells? If they work to cure people of A.I.D.S , why aren’t they used for everyone who is suffering? People believe that the banning of stem cell research is another way for drugs companies to maintain people on treatment than cure. Firstly, it is essential to realize that there are many different types of stem cells. It was only the use of embryonic stem cells that were banned from being used in studies in which federal money was funding. In fact, science has actually re-programmed cells to become embryonic stem cells without the need to use a human fetus. However, embryonic stem cells are not the same as bone marrow stem cells. Bone marrow stem cells are used in medical research, but the use of them is extremely limited. Complications can arise during bone marrow stem cell transplant such as body rejection and death. The risks almost always outweigh the benefits.

So where’s all the money that was raised for the “Walk for a Cure” event going? Donations to charities for medical research almost always go to academic research facilities. It would be seen as being unethical for a private pharmaceutical company to accept such donations as legal matters may arise. Bias and unfair advantages to one disease being researched over another might be seen by the general public, for example. Charities may demand positive and rewarding results when results from studies may be impossible to achieve and then sue. Monies raised from charities do not go to “useless studies” with no results. They go to important academic facilities, usually funding graduate students through training and their own research projects. These scientists are the future of medical research and their projects are usually novel and ground breaking and pushing the boundaries of medical research further. So even though the money raised for completing that 5 mile run doesn’t cure cancer, it has played an essential part in the direction of a cure. The money is not wasted. Academic facilities service the medical research as prominently as the pharmaceutical industry. It is surprising then, that there is not more outcry from the general public in why they are not producing as efficiently as other fields of science – especially when it is the tax payers money that is going towards the majority of their funding! Why are the pharmaceutical industries the ones solely targeted and bashed by the public and media?

It appears that in today’s modern society we are expected to loathe big corporations. We are told to hate oil companies for abusing our addiction to fuel and told to detest pharmaceutical industries for profiting from our bad health. Why are they allowed to profit? Pharmaceutical companies are just like any other business; they offer a service to the general public, which then pays them for their product, which then causes them to make a profit. Whether it’s a fast food chain, a software company, or an airline, it’s their objective is to make a profit as they are a business and not a charity. The same is true for a pharmaceutical company. Is it unfair to expect them to spend billions of dollars on producing a product to give it away for free or to break even? Where is their incentive to continue? Where does the money for reinvestment for future drugs come from? Drugs are expensive to buy, yes – but they are very (very) expensive to create and manufacture. Inability to afford drugs is not the pharmaceutical industries fault. It quite possibly lies with the insurance company or government’s refusal to subsidize.

For every compound that is released to the general public, over one million were discovered, researched, tested and then discarded. Drug companies are not evil. They do want to find cures, they are researching on cures. There is a lot of excellent research going on behind closed doors, the researchers who work for them are passionate about the science, they are not money-making oil tycoons, but are science loving researchers who want to better the world with their ideas and research. The industry keeps a lot of things secret as these researchers don’t want their ideas stolen by other scientists working for other companies. Just as software companies keep things close to their chests, so do pharmaceutical companies. That is not to say that pharmaceutical industries don’t share information, because they do. The industry has realized that for modern medicine to advance and play catch up it needs the assistance from academic facilities and universities. Many successful collaborations, have taken place and are ongoing, between the industry and academia. It is not a selfish industry.

The pharmaceutical industry is seen as the “big bad wolf” of the medical research world in making huge profits year after year with apparently nothing to show society for it. However, this isn’t the case; in fact there are many reasons that we should be thankful for the pharmaceutical industry. How many of us, or know of someone who, regularly use inhalers to control their asthma? How many of our parents, or ourselves, are on anti-cholesterol medication to reduce the risk of a heart attack or stroke? Although these treatments don’t “cure” the diseases, when taken appropriately and changes to bad life styles are implemented, these treatments can be viewed as cures.

The taboo that pharmaceutical industries are evil is incorrect. They are not delaying finding a cure to maintain patients on their treatments which mask the symptoms of diseases. There is a genuine race going on to be the first to cure cancers, cure Parkinson`s Disease, and to cure A.I.D.S. – the diseases themselves need to be better understood so that the right cure can be found.

Medical researchers haven’t cured every disease yet – but they will!

Disclaimer: Philip Cooper has been a medical biology researcher for 10 years having gained a PhD in pharmacology from Imperial College, University of London; completed a post-doctorate at the University of Pennsylvania and is currently a research scientist for Johnson and Johnson. He has over 10 peer-reviewed published articles in high-ranking medical journals related to translational medical research specializing in pulmonary pharmacology.

Where are the CURES?

noreply@blogger.com (ChrisRyanNYC) — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 17:52:00 +0000

Why is it that there is STILL no cure for CANCER? HIV? ALZHEIMER'S? PARKINSON'S?

Millions of Americans and Foreigners suffer year to year from these diseases and disorders that eventually kill them. With technology advancing and huge sums of money being donated every year it's shocking that we STILL do not have a cure for any one of these. We'd like to blame it all on the fact that we just haven't been able to discover a cure yet, but I think it's more than that.

I'm not one to EVER believe in Government conspiracies and in this particular case it's more than just the government here. I largely believe that pharmaceutical companies are behind this. And I'm not the only one that thinks that. Even NY Times researched this exact belief and found some shocking discoveries that will leave you bewildered and confused.

Pharmaceutical companies find "treatment" a much better option than a "cure." Why? Because treatment costs money over time and is an assured investment that will grow in the future for pharmaceutical companies. Cures are not fiscally beneficial for any pharmaceutical company. Treatment over time = more money in pharmaceutical companies pockets. Why do you REALLY think stem cells aren't being used to cure/treat hundreds of diseases? It's not all about religion folks.

And ever wonder about all those "walks", "runs", "benefits", etc? All the money that we have donated to "Walk For a Cure", "Relay For Life", "AIDS Walk", etc. usually go to small research projects which are deemed useless according to the New York Times. We rarely see anything from these small research projects because it isn't their focus.

Your money doesn't always go where it should...

And it only gets more and more convoluded from here. Drug companies usually own the rights to any drugs they produce and normally their biggest payout comes from the pharmaceutical companies, and guess what the pharmaceutical companies don't want from them? You got it, a cure. Does this make sense?

And people HAVE been cured! Take for example this man from San Francisco who in June of this year was reported to have been cured of AIDS: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/first-man-functionally-cured-hiv-214038940.html

And why isn't this story getting more notice in the US? Sure Steve Jobs is getting a lot of press but how about this Dr. Choi who has created a medicine that prolongs the lives of terminally ill cancer patients. Do people with money get better treatment and better options? http://www.koreaittimes.com/story/16465/nexia-another-possible-breakthrough-steve-jobs

Of course this would have to go through numerous years of clinical trials before it was ever FDA approved due to the risk of transplant. However, why only ONE man? Yeah, it may be a dangerous procedure but don't you think there are more people out there that would be more than willing to try this in order to cure themselves?

The good news is that there are scientists that search far and wide for cures, usually at the bottom of the sea where *new* species thrive. Their bodies chemistry is foreign to us and may hold the key to unlocking the cures to so many diseases we have out there now. The keys are out there, we just have to find them and pray that pharmaceutical companies mass produce the keys and help to find cures, not just treatments.

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

-Chris Ryan

Happy Birthday Madonna! The 20 Reasons Why I Love You!

noreply@blogger.com (ChrisRyanNYC) — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 05:57:00 +0000

Happy 53rd Birthday Madonna!

I chose this cover because it means so much to me. I know that it sounds rather cliche but Madonna is a role model to me and one of my favorite artists ever. This is the first album I really listened to of hers and when I say it kind of changed my life, I mean it. This album spoke to me like few albums have. Listening to this album made me decide to come out, it changed my beliefs in religion and made me a forever fan of the reigning queen of pop music.

20 Reasons Why I Love M A D O N N A (And Why YOU SHOULD):

20. She rolled around in a wedding dress on the floor for her MTV VMA debut and flashes the audience. First time ever done. http://goo.gl/HVJak
19. Madonna curses over 20 times on live TV on the Letterman show in 1994. http://goo.gl/8n7Q
18. Madonna teaches the world why Kabbalah rocks. (including every celebrity in Hollywood)
17. Madonna starts the religious controversy when she releases the "Like A Prayer" video.
16. She dates hot guys 25+ years younger and makes it look easy. Take a look at her last: http://goo.gl/dW32N
15. Madonna kisses Britney Spears and Christina Aguielera on stage and gives a big "f" you to anti-gays. http://goo.gl/3RttZ
14. Madonna has sold more than 300 million records worldwide and is recognized as the world's top-selling female recording artist of all time by the Guinness World Records.
13. Madonna is considered one of the 25 most POWERFUL women in history by Time.
12. Madonna won the Golden Globe for her stunning performance in EVITA.
11. Madonna brings Michael Jackson as her date to the 1990 Oscars. http://goo.gl/8UxHt
10. Madonna has broken the record twice for female top-grossing tour. Not only that, the women has reinvented the way stage performance is done and has taught a lesson to all female artists.
9. Madonna has influenced nearly every female pop artist. She's especially influenced a current female pop artist that has not been modest about showing it. You probably already know without me saying!
8. Madonna hangs herself from a cross during her Confessions tour and at her tour stop in Vatican City they asked her to not do this, but yeah, she still did. http://goo.gl/HDiw1
7. Madonna is the FIRST female music mogul and businesswoman with nearly 100% control of all her assets. And you've never seen this woman break down ONCE. Sorry Britney.
6. Madonna releases Truth or Dare and basically makes fun of Warren Beatty and Kevin Costner on camera.
5. Madonna has donated to countless organizations, charities and world AID.
4. Madonna is a HOT mother of three children.
3. Madonna works out 3 hours a day and it shows. Even her 20 something dancers say they can't keep up with her!
2. Madonna creates the SEX book. Vanilla Ice even shows up in it. And she shows her love for gay bath houses. Men proclaimed their fear of her after this. http://goo.gl/Wv1ej
1. GAY ICON. Madonna has been in our corner since day ONE. She's done countless things to proclaim her love of our community including air the first video ever to show a gay kiss/sexual act. http://goo.gl/etH1C

I could have listed 100 more reasons but these are my TOP reasons. ADD YOURS!

-CR

Never Judge a Book By It's Cover. Seriously, don't!

noreply@blogger.com (ChrisRyanNYC) — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 18:39:00 +0000

This image is apropos due to the simple fact that millions immediately judged her by her appearance...until she sang and became the biggest selling artist of 2009 and the fastest selling female UK artist...ever.

I can't begin to tell you how many times people judge me based on my profession. Okay, so I throw some parties and I like to party. However, people fail to see the fact that I'm a hardworking grad student with a very good head my shoulders. I'm going to be a doctor of psychology by the time I'm done and plan on having my own office in which I will counsel the many clients I already have lined up. On top of that, few know that I'm an associate psychologist in a hospital during the day. A job which takes much patience, understanding and background knowledge. I'm also a dreamer as well. I have ambitions to write my own music album, travel the world, go on many adventures and create as much as possible during my time on Earth.

We can't all be perfect...

World's ugliest dog...poor thing. Might be ugly, but the owner says it's the sweetest dog they ever had.

I've made mistakes. I've judged others by my first impressions or by what I perceived them to be. I've realized that I've made mistakes because I've missed out on good opportunities to get to know someone. I should have given more people more chances. Nowadays, I try not to judge anyone and give everyone the benefit of the doubt. I often hear people tell me I'm too nice. People think that I should be more objective and discriminate against others. Why? Why on Earth would I do that? Sure, there are people that won't ever step foot into my life because I feel they have no moral character, but why would I discriminate against someone just because how they look or their economic status? I like to get to know people based on WHO they are, their qualities, what they believe in and their drive.

I'm not going to make this a long blog, but in short I'd like you to take a second to really think about what I've said. Try your hardest to not judge others and for god's sake, give people a chance. You'll be surprised how many more friends you make when you actually sit down to talk to someone and realize that there may be people you never thought you would have liked, but actually those may be the people you end up LOVING.

-Chris Ryan

Decoding +-W|O^R*K<>

noreply@blogger.com (ChrisRyanNYC) — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 17:37:00 +0000

Do you do what you love? Are you happy with what you do? Like really happy?

Can you see yourself at this job for the next 5 years? Do you wake up happy to go to work?

If you answered "no" to any of these questions you're in the wrong job.

Do you care more about monitary income than happiness? Do you equal what you make to your level of happiness?

If you answered "yes" to any of these you're going to end up very unsatisfied with your life.

In order do know what we really want to do we have to know what we're really good at and what really interests us. Right? Well partially, if we all did what just interested us there would be no waiters, retail workers, etc. Sometimes we have to do what we can in order to get by. So what is it you're really good at? Or what do you think that might be?

Is an office setting really for you? Sometimes the environment you work in says a lot about whether or not your productive enough. People that work at home are more productive and less stressed. Take a look at this article/survey: http://boston.cbslocal.com/2011/07/20/survey-working-from-home-more-productive-less-stress/

And then other times we do what we love and the rest comes? Does it really?

Well I do believe if you work very hard at something and don't give up, your passion can become your full time job. Look at all the musicians, actors, etc. who have made it? Look at all the doctors, neurosurgeons, astronauts, etc. That's not easy work, but they worked hard and now are doing the jobs they love. And on top of that they are making good money at what they do!

Even doing what you love isn't always easy. There are always sacrifices you have to make in life but as I always say; it wouldn't be work if there wasn't a little "stress" somewhere in the equation.

What if you just don't know what you love? What if there are many things you'd love to do?

None of us can quite afford the time or money of trial and error. We have to really sit down and over the advantages/disadvantages and likes/dislikes of certain jobs. In order to do that we have to be aware of what it is we really have a passion for in life. For example, if your passion is music, it may not be the best option to start recording your own music right away because of the time and money but it might be good to get a job in a recording studio. Get a feel of what the industry is like and still get to be around what you love (in this case music) and get PAID all at the same time!

If you're a finance major, apply for an internship with a financial firm, work for a bank or CPA and see if you really enjoy the field. One can't really know if they are going to love something unless they try it. Right?

Follow these steps:

1. Ask yourself: what do I love? What interests me? What can I see myself doing for many years to come?
2. Then go down a list of jobs and look over the descriptions for each. Decide what the advantages and disadvantages are for each job. Rate the jobs by scoring different aspects of the job (hours, interest level, environment, location, etc) on a 1-5 scale with 1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest. Whichever job comes out with the highest score is probably the job you should really look into.

I have not seen this method fail yet.

Take the time, it's worth it for everyone and anyone. Even if you're deciding that the major and career you picked just aren't for you.

-Chris Ryan

Oh and PS do what you love.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

For Beauty; There Are No Secrets.

noreply@blogger.com (ChrisRyanNYC) — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 00:49:00 +0000

Let me preface this blog by saying that this is ONLY based on PHYSICALITY.

Do you consider yourself beautiful? And if so, why?

Is beauty in the eye of the beholder?

Or is beauty a universal standard?

I tend to think it's a bit of both. I think that while some people are just plain beautiful, others are just not beautiful. It may sound harsh, but some are just not beautiful at all. And of course there are those that are beautiful to some and ugly to others. So maybe beauty is just in the eye of the beholder.

What makes someone beautiful?

Genes, a matter of aesthetics and good facial/body structure in my opinion.

Do I consider myself beautiful? I do consider myself to be handsome. Of course there are things I would change if I could, and I can.

I don't think age plays a role in beauty at all. Anyone at any age can look beautiful. I think Sean Connery is a prime example as he was named one of People magazine's sexiest people at nearly 60 years old.

My secrets to youth and beauty

**USE SPF Skin Cream: The sun is the NUMBER ONE reason why we age externally**

Since I was 18 years old I've done the following:

1. Good skin care regiment that includes moisturizing, SPF when outside and anti-aging creams since I was 18 y/o.
2. Drinking lots of green tea and water.
3. The use of Retin-A (reverses photo-aging which is damage from the sun)
4. Taking multiple vitamins since I was 18 y/o
5. Exercise and running on a consistent basis
6. Obagi skin creams (which have dramatically improved my skin)
7. Teeth whitening
8. 1 visit to the Chelsea Skin & Laser Center (they will tell you all you need to know about good skin)
9. Keeping young, fun, energetic people around me in my same group. It keeps things fun, less stressful and enjoying!
10. Yoga

I'm sure I'm forgetting some things but this is basically the gist of what I do to keep young and fresh!

-Chris Ryan

Sex with an Ex

noreply@blogger.com (ChrisRyanNYC) — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 20:19:00 +0000

Does it perturb you?

Do you get in bed with your past?

Fire is desire and the water tames it

The past always lies within us and beneath us

The snake sleeps but awakes for survival.

Is it taboo?

Do we not speak of it?

Do you hide your secret brain?

I shine what's beneath like a label on my jacket

I shut my eyes but continue to see.

Do we forget the past?

Do we live consistently in the present?

Do we think too much about the future?

Create what you feel and think what you steal

Write it in the sky and open the doors to culpability

The past remains, the present marches on and the future explodes around the bend...

Tay Gay?

noreply@blogger.com (ChrisRyanNYC) — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 19:45:00 +0000

As if the rumors weren't already out there for Taylor! He was seen in LA with Dustin Lance Black & Gus Van Sant.

I don't really understand why anyone really cares that much if he's gay or not gay. Is it really going to affect us? Do you really think he's going to want to date you all of a sudden? Let the man be!