The Life and Times

Man's Best Friend: Priceless Celebrations of Soldiers Returning Home

2013-07-22T15:48:00.000-05:00

I think it is safe to say these videos summarize why dogs can be considered man's best friend.

Check out more videos by clicking below.

Now Playing: Pontoon

2012-11-11T16:42:00.001-06:00

Whether your "yacht" or "pontoon boat" this song describes what would be the perfect summers day out on the lake (ocean/sea what have you). Remember to relax.

Freud on Everyday Life

2012-07-30T16:23:00.002-05:00

Considered the founding father of pschoanalysis, Freud has written numerous books on analyzing and breaking down why we do what we do and think, say, and act like the way we do. "The Psychopathology of Everyday Life" is only one of his books and while dense at times brings to mind plenty of questions to reflect upon as you look at your everyday life and why you act the way you do. Below are a couple of quotes that will make you watch what you say and pay closer attention to what others do.

-Now extensive observations have taught me that words with opposite meanings are, quite generally, very often inter-changed; they are already associated in our linguistic consciousness, they lie very close to each other and it is easy for the wrong one to be evoked.

-If one of the parties involved in a serious argument makes a slip of the tongue which reverses the meaning of what he intended to say, it immediately puts him at a disadvantage with his opponent, who seldom fails to make the most of his improved position.

More after the jump.

-An intention is an impulse to perform an action: an impulse which has already found approval but whose execution is postponed to a suitable occasion.

-Analysis of the examples of forgetting that seem to require a special explanation reveals that the motive for forgetting is invariably an unwillingness to remember something which can evoke distressing feelings.

-In other, far more significant, cases it is self-criticism, internal opposition to one’s own utterance that obliges one to make a slip of the tongue and even to substitute the opposite of what one had intended. One then observes in astonishment how the wording of an assertion cancels out its own intention, and how the slip has exposed an inner insincerity. The slip of the tongue here becomes a mode of mimetic expression-often, indeed, for the expression of something one did not wish to say: it becomes a mode of self-betrayal

Now Playing: Some Nights

2012-07-29T13:55:00.002-05:00

The latest single from the group 'Fun'. Enjoy.

Keep Fighting

2012-07-24T09:39:00.001-05:00

Keep doing what you do and going after that dream.

-JLu

Mayonnaise Jar and a Couple of Beers

2011-11-22T11:25:00.001-06:00

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, a nice little example about all the ones that are important.

Mayonnaise Jar & Two Beers... When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 Beers. A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the stu......dents if the jar was full. They agreed that it was. The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was. The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full.. The students responded with a unanimous 'yes.' The professor then produced two Beers from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed...

Story continues after the "Read More>>"

'Now,' said the professor as the laughter subsided, 'I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things---your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions---and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car.. The sand is everything else---the small stuff. 'If you put the sand into the jar first,' he continued, 'there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Spend time with your children. Spend time with your parents. Visit with grandparents. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first---the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand. One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the Beer represented. The professor smiled and said, 'I'm glad you asked.' The Beer just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of Beers with a friend

Courtesy: Katie Quirk

-JLu

Now Playing: Billionaire

2011-11-15T23:07:00.001-06:00

"I want to be a billionaire so freaking bad...smiling next to Oprah and the Queen"

For everyone who has the goal of making that cover of Forbes magazine (and driving a Mini Cooper) if you're DJ Travi....Here's to you.

-JLu

Steve Jobs: 7 Rules of Success

2011-10-22T07:32:00.001-05:00

Here are the key points from a lifetime of brilliance, success, and putting a dent in the world.
Courtesy: Carmine Gallo - Steve Jobs and the Seven Rules of Success
www.entrepreneur.com

1. Do what you love. Jobs once said, "People with passion can change the world for the better." Asked about the advice he would offer would-be entrepreneurs, he said, "I'd get a job as a busboy or something until I figured out what I was really passionate about." That's how much it meant to him. Passion is everything.

2. Put a dent in the universe. Jobs believed in the power of vision. He once asked then-Pepsi President, John Sculley, "Do you want to spend your life selling sugar water or do you want to change the world?" Don't lose sight of the big vision.

3. Make connections. Jobs once said creativity is connecting things. He meant that people with a broad set of life experiences can often see things that others miss. He took calligraphy classes that didn't have any practical use in his life -- until he built the Macintosh. Jobs traveled to India and Asia. He studied design and hospitality. Don't live in a bubble. Connect ideas from different fields.

See Rules 4-7 by clicking on the "Read More"

4. Say no to 1,000 things. Jobs was as proud of what Apple chose not to do as he was of what Apple did. When he returned in Apple in 1997, he took a company with 350 products and reduced them to 10 products in a two-year period. Why? So he could put the "A-Team" on each product. What are you saying "no" to?

5. Create insanely different experiences. Jobs also sought innovation in the customer-service experience. When he first came up with the concept for the Apple Stores, he said they would be different because instead of just moving boxes, the stores would enrich lives. Everything about the experience you have when you walk into an Apple store is intended to enrich your life and to create an emotional connection between you and the Apple brand. What are you doing to enrich the lives of your customers?

6. Master the message. You can have the greatest idea in the world, but if you can't communicate your ideas, it doesn't matter. Jobs was the world's greatest corporate storyteller. Instead of simply delivering a presentation like most people do, he informed, he educated, he inspired and he entertained, all in one presentation.

7. Sell dreams, not products. Jobs captured our imagination because he really understood his customer. He knew that tablets would not capture our imaginations if they were too complicated. The result? One button on the front of an iPad. It's so simple, a 2-year-old can use it. Your customers don't care about your product. They care about themselves, their hopes, their ambitions. Jobs taught us that if you help your customers reach their dreams, you'll win them over.

Japanese Multiplication

2011-08-22T10:15:00.000-05:00

No need for a calculator, long drawn out equations and overall basically no math at all (maybe a little addition). Just be able to count and have a little artistic ability, check it out.

JLu

Check out the video after the jump.

Self Defense by Bas Rutten

2011-06-04T19:24:00.000-05:00

With another UFC event happening tonight this video is a friendly reminder of how you might defend yourself should you ever get approached in the wrong way at a bar/concert/or just walking down the street. I do believe however you need to not only repeat his physical movements but also the language he uses along the way. Can't say I didn't learn something, might have been useful in my bouncer days.

-JLu

Work vs. Worth Ethic

2010-03-15T18:44:00.000-05:00

How often have you heard, “That kids got a great work ethic,” or “If you only had the work ethic to go along with all that potential.”

It’s been all too often I’m sure. People are praised all the time for having a great work ethic and for constantly working at something. But is all that work worthwhile? Is the time that’s being put in worth it? Is the product at the end of all that work going to advance you or make you better or are you just working for the sake of working? Is it just “at” something or “towards” something? Did you set a goal before hand to get yourself somewhere? I hope you did or you just spent a lot of time working and sweating for little or no result.

Now don’t think having great work ethic is a waste of time, I would never knock anyone who puts in their blood, sweat, tears, hard-work and time in for something, I live that part myself. But what can you do to change that work ethic to worth ethic? Still putting in the grind and the hours but making sure you’re getting something out of it and that it’s going to do you wonders in the future. It might be going into a workout with a set goal in mind to make that work worthwhile. Reading not only for work or because you have to but actually applying it or focusing on reading that is worth something in your life whether it personal or business related. Even hopping on Facebook, can you make that worth your time? I almost guarantee that you can, you just have to explore the way to make it happen.

Don’t just work for the sake of working, life’s to short, make it worth it and maybe you might actually enjoy it along the way.

Goal Setting

2010-01-17T21:04:00.003-06:00

"Have you ever tried to put together a jigsaw puzzle without having seen the picture of what it represents? That's what happens when you try to put your life together without knowing your outcomes." -Anthony Robbins

Do you know where you're going? Do you have all your dreams mapped out? It goes beyond New Years resolutions. Take time, sit down, write them down and begin putting the pieces together.

JLu

On seeing the 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning

2009-07-09T22:53:00.002-05:00

A nice little love story for you to read if you're bored in class or at work or just happen to be Facebook stalking someone and need something interesting to look at. ;-) Enjoy.
-JLu

by Haruki Murakami

One beautiful April morning, on a narrow side street in Tokyo's fashionable Harujuku neighborhood, I walked past the 100% perfect girl.
Tell you the truth, she's not that good-looking. She doesn't stand out in any way. Her clothes are nothing special. The back of her hair is still bent out of shape from sleep. She isn't young, either - must be near thirty, not even close to a "girl," properly speaking. But still, I know from fifty yards away: She's the 100% perfect girl for me. The moment I see her, there's a rumbling in my chest, and my mouth is as dry as a desert.
Maybe you have your own particular favorite type of girl - one with slim ankles, say, or big eyes, or graceful fingers, or you're drawn for no good reason to girls who take their time with every meal. I have my own preferences, of course. Sometimes in a restaurant I'll catch myself staring at the girl at the next table to mine because I like the shape of her nose.
But no one can insist that his 100% perfect girl correspond to some preconceived type. Much as I like noses, I can't recall the shape of hers - or even if she had one. All I can remember for sure is that she was no great beauty. It's weird.
"Yesterday on the street I passed the 100% girl," I tell someone.
"Yeah?" he says. "Good-looking?"
"Not really."
"Your favorite type, then?"
"I don't know. I can't seem to remember anything about her - the shape of her eyes or the size of her breasts."
"Strange."
"Yeah. Strange."
"So anyhow," he says, already bored, "what did you do? Talk to her? Follow her?"
"Nah. Just passed her on the street."
She's walking east to west, and I west to east. It's a really nice April morning.
Wish I could talk to her. Half an hour would be plenty: just ask her about herself, tell her about myself, and - what I'd really like to do - explain to her the complexities of fate that have led to our passing each other on a side street in Harajuku on a beautiful April morning in 1981. This was something sure to be crammed full of warm secrets, like an antique clock build when peace filled the world.
After talking, we'd have lunch somewhere, maybe see a Woody Allen movie, stop by a hotel bar for cocktails. With any kind of luck, we might end up in bed.
Potentiality knocks on the door of my heart.
Now the distance between us has narrowed to fifteen yards.
How can I approach her? What should I say?
"Good morning, miss. Do you think you could spare half an hour for a little conversation?"
Ridiculous. I'd sound like an insurance salesman.
"Pardon me, but would you happen to know if there is an all-night cleaners in the neighborhood?"
No, this is just as ridiculous. I'm not carrying any laundry, for one thing. Who's going to buy a line like that?
Maybe the simple truth would do. "Good morning. You are the 100% perfect girl for me."
No, she wouldn't believe it. Or even if she did, she might not want to talk to me. Sorry, she could say, I might be the 100% perfect girl for you, but you're not the 100% boy for me. It could happen. And if I found myself in that situation, I'd probably go to pieces. I'd never recover from the shock. I'm thirty-two, and that's what growing older is all about.
We pass in front of a flower shop. A small, warm air mass touches my skin. The asphalt is damp, and I catch the scent of roses. I can't bring myself to speak to her. She wears a white sweater, and in her right hand she holds a crisp white envelope lacking only a stamp. So: She's written somebody a letter, maybe spent the whole night writing, to judge from the sleepy look in her eyes. The envelope could contain every secret she's ever had.
I take a few more strides and turn: She's lost in the crowd.
Now, of course, I know exactly what I should have said to her. It would have been a long speech, though, far too long for me to have delivered it properly. The ideas I come up with are never very practical.
Oh, well. It would have started "Once upon a time" and ended "A sad story, don't you think?
Once upon a time, there lived a boy and a girl. The boy was eighteen and the girl sixteen. He was not unusually handsome, and she was not especially beautiful. They were just an ordinary lonely boy and an ordinary lonely girl, like all the others. But they believed with their whole hearts that somewhere in the world there lived the 100% perfect boy and the 100% perfect girl for them. Yes, they believed in a miracle. And that miracle actually happened.
One day the two came upon each other on the corner of a street.
"This is amazing," he said. "I've been looking for you all my life. You may not believe this, but you're the 100% perfect girl for me."
"And you," she said to him, "are the 100% perfect boy for me, exactly as I'd pictured you in every detail. It's like a dream."
They sat on a park bench, held hands, and told each other their stories hour after hour. They were not lonely anymore. They had found and been found by their 100% perfect other. What a wonderful thing it is to find and be found by your 100% perfect other. It's a miracle, a cosmic miracle.
As they sat and talked, however, a tiny, tiny sliver of doubt took root in their hearts: Was it really all right for one's dreams to come true so easily?
And so, when there came a momentary lull in their conversation, the boy said to the girl, "Let's test ourselves - just once. If we really are each other's 100% perfect lovers, then sometime, somewhere, we will meet again without fail. And when that happens, and we know that we are the 100% perfect ones, we'll marry then and there. What do you think?"
"Yes," she said, "that is exactly what we should do."
And so they parted, she to the east, and he to the west.
The test they had agreed upon, however, was utterly unnecessary. They should never have undertaken it, because they really and truly were each other's 100% perfect lovers, and it was a miracle that they had ever met. But it was impossible for them to know this, young as they were. The cold, indifferent waves of fate proceeded to toss them unmercifully.
One winter, both the boy and the girl came down with the season's terrible inluenza, and after drifting for weeks between life and death they lost all memory of their earlier years. When they awoke, their heads were as empty as the young D. H. Lawrence's piggy bank.
They were two bright, determined young people, however, and through their unremitting efforts they were able to acquire once again the knowledge and feeling that qualified them to return as full-fledged members of society. Heaven be praised, they became truly upstanding citizens who knew how to transfer from one subway line to another, who were fully capable of sending a special-delivery letter at the post office. Indeed, they even experienced love again, sometimes as much as 75% or even 85% love.
Time passed with shocking swiftness, and soon the boy was thirty-two, the girl thirty.
One beautiful April morning, in search of a cup of coffee to start the day, the boy was walking from west to east, while the girl, intending to send a special-delivery letter, was walking from east to west, but along the same narrow street in the Harajuku neighborhood of Tokyo. They passed each other in the very center of the street. The faintest gleam of their lost memories glimmered for the briefest moment in their hearts. Each felt a rumbling in their chest. And they knew:
She is the 100% perfect girl for me.
He is the 100% perfect boy for me.
But the glow of their memories was far too weak, and their thoughts no longer had the clarity of fourteen years earlier. Without a word, they passed each other, disappearing into the crowd. Forever.
A sad story, don't you think?
Yes, that's it, that is what I should have said to her.