sMAartblog

3rd of November is like any other day… Here we offer a choice of historical events that took place on Nov. 3, to suit different tastes;-)

1888- Jack the Ripper kills for the last time

1928 – Micky Mouse debuts

1957 – Laika the Soviet dog is launched into space

1971 – first Unix programmer’s manual is released

1992 – Bill-I-didn’t-have-sexual-relationship-with-this-woman-Clinton is elected President of the United States

Avemarie

Ballerine

Conchiglie

Dischi volanti

Eliche tricolori

Farfalle

http://www.archimedes-lab.org/pastashape.html

On October 26 World Pasta Day Conference was celebrated in New York with the focus on “Pasta Meals on Every Family Table.” http://www.worldpastaday.com/

BTW, did you know that there are over 350 types of pasta? Unique in shape, form, colour and consistency?

New shapes are created every day, but there are some extreme shapes that never made it to the market;-)

”In November 1983 Voiello, an innovative pasta manufacturing company in Naples owned by the Barilla group, decided to break the mold, so to speak, and develop  a “modern” pasta shape.  The assignment went to car designer Giorgetto Giugiaro. Giugiaro submitted 12 designs from which one was picked to go into production. Giugiaro named his pasta Marille.

Giugiaro took a very systematic approach to the problem.  He realized that his new design should not absorb too much sauce and should increase its volume in water.  The pasta should be both decorative and palatable (…) Unfortunately, Marille did not remain in production very long -problems were encountered with uneven cooking of various parts of shape;-)”

http://www.quickswood.com/my_weblog/2007/01/designers_pasta.html

So next time you’ll be devouring pasta, recall school geometry classes;-)

In Chinese ideograms one woman under a roof  stands for “quiet”, “peace”,  and “tranquility”.

Three women under a roof means “adultery”, “fornication”, “ravish”

And two women under a roof mean  “pretty”, although some people say that this ideogram also symbolizes trouble.

Despite having almost 40 million inhabitants and being the sixth largest UE country, Poland keeps being a mysterious land for many. And foreigners who do end up in our country (for family or work reasons, or simply travelling around Europe) don’t always feel at home. As our ż-dź-ą-ę-szcz-rz-language resembles encrypted text, our failure to translate tourist information doesn’t really help to enjoy a stay in our country. Nevertheless, there’s already a project created to remedy this situation. It’s [Let’s] Translate Poland (before 2012) whose aim is “the promotion of applied translation and communication for tourism, business and leisure in the urban environment”. By means of this social campaign  Poles intend to “create a comprehensive multilingual environment that facilitates everyday communication for a multicultural society”. To get to know Translate Poland better, visit www.translatepoland.org

When I received a spam-email preaching How to Become an Alpha Male – A Lazy Man’s Guide to Easy sex and Romance- instead of the regular Rolex/Viagra offers, I felt  tempted to check this kind of advice pages for men.

Oh yes, yes, yes!

I found sites related to speed seduction, giving hints on the following (the list isn’t quite complete, it’s only my selection):

• how to approach a woman and get her interested in you (including what to say)
• how to date2-3 women at once
• how to get a woman chasing you all the way to the bedroom and practically begging you for sex

Oh yes, yes, yes!

You can also adopt the alpha male characteristics listening to special subliminal mp3 albums. Some of the examples of subliminal messages include:

• being with me is the best possible choice a woman can make

• I have strong personal magnetism

• I am a powerful man

Oh yes, yes, yes!

But

what

about

an

alpha

female?

(ooops!)

(Source: www.alphamagazine.com.au)

“ Alexandra Shulman, editor of Vogue, wrote in a recent column that alpha female would never get lost on the North Circular, and would look good in a miniskirt. Is she, like Shirley Conran’s Superwoman, all things to all people? Is alpha female someone we like, or admire? Does she even exist? (…)

“Alpha female is pretty exceptional,” says columnist Polly Toynbee. “There are not a whole lot of people trying to be like her, whereas there are a lot of men behaving in the same way, clambering over each other to reach the top of the tree. Those women who do get to the top are mavericks, hybrids and deny that they are like other women. Women do not like alpha female very much, nor do they want to be like her. Women want to be liked, which holds them back.”  http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2003/sep/22/gender.uk

Oh yes, yes, yes?

If your knees are already trembling, have a look at the following 6 signs meaning that you are dating an alpha female

(http://www.askmen.com/dating/heidi_100/137_dating_girl.html)

1. She acts unimpressed by your romantic gestures
An alpha female is used to men chasing her, so don’t be surprised if cliche gifts like flowers and chocolate don’t impress her. Remember this: her expectations are higher than most women’s, so you will have to be a little more original to get her attention.

How to counteract it: Try writing her a personalised letter and leaving it on her windshield, for example. Or make her lunch and bring it to her at work. Whatever it is, be different.

If she still acts unimpressed, do continue to make kind gestures, but don’t go overboard. This type of woman is used to men going crazy for her, and you will stand out more if you can keep your cool.

2. She continues to date other men

Clearly, she doesn’t want to commit. The alpha woman always has several men on the go and likes to keep her options open.

How to counteract it: The only way to deal with her wandering eyes is to do the same. In other words, fight fire with fire and continue to date other women until you discuss otherwise.

How to handle her if she never calls you back, always insists on paying her share, is demanding, and more…

3. She’s hard to reach

The alpha female is a busy woman, or at least she is very talented at making you believe that. She likes to have you at her beck and call and wants you to work around her schedule.

How to counteract it: Don’t become the last-minute, just-in-case guy — that won’t earn you any respect in the long term. Make sure she realizes that you have your own commitments by not working entirely around her schedule. Do continue to pursue her if you think you have a shot, but be casual when you call. And definitely don’t call more than twice before she calls you back.

4. She insists on paying her share of the bill
If she always insists on going Dutch, she might be pulling one of her fancy alpha tricks. Why? Because if you never treat her, she’ll never owe you anything. Nada.

How to counteract it: Continue to offer to pay on dates, but if she seems adamant about paying her share, don’t insist. If you want to avoid the whole awkward bill-splitting moment, tell her you’ll take her to your “secret spot” and bring along a picnic to surprise her.

5. She is demanding

She continuously asks you for favours and you are eager to do them for her. Sound familiar? The alpha female is used to having men pursue her and give in to her every whim. But as tempting as it might be to jump every time she tells you to, do not allow yourself to become her puppy dog.

How to counteract it: Keep your dignity and do only what you feel is within reason. You will earn yourself far more respect in the long run if you don’t jump through all the hoops she sets out for you.

6. She is sarcastic and condescending to you

If she constantly talks down to you and makes rude or mocking remarks, you need to defend your honor and fight back with equally witty comments. You never know what the alpha female might say, so you always have to be “on” and ready for verbal combat.

How to counteract it: Use a negative hit only when absolutely necessary (something mildly but not overly insulting). This will throw her off balance and threaten her feelings of control. However, if your exchanges are consistently negative and disrespectful, you’re probably better off moving on; you shouldn’t have to put up with her abuse.

If it does not work… well, try to love her. Perhaps she is into non-alpha males after all;-)

Swine flu still echoes worldwide. While governments and pharmaceuticals preach pandemy, we should recall that swine influenza is not new: it was first proposed to be a disease related to human flu during the 1918 pandemic, when pigs became sick at the same time as humans. The first identification of a flu virus as a cause of disease in pigs occurred as early as in 1930. Later on,  between 1997 and 2002, new strains of five different genotypes emerged as causes of influenza among pigs in North America. In 1999 in Canada, a strain of H4N6  crossed the species barrier from birds to pigs, but, fortunately, was contained on a single farm.

Taking into account that it is estimated that 146,357 people die each day all over the world (http://www.wholesomewords.org/missions/greatc.html#birdatrate) and looking at WHO data concerning death causes http://www.who.int/research/en/ (let’s mention only malignant neoplasms, cardiovascular diseases,  and nutritional deficiencies) perhaps we should relax a bit recalling  A. A. Milne’s tender Piglet?

Or, if you feel more catastrophic, let me introduce you to Zhu Bajie, one of the characters of the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West. He is called Pigsy or Pig in many English versions of the story.

Zhu Bajie looks like a terrible monster, part human, part pig.  He tends to get into trouble because of his laziness, gluttony, and his propensity for lusting after pretty women. His buddhist name Zhu Wuneng means  pig who rises to power. On the other hand, his nickname is Bājiè which means eight commandments and is supposed to remind him of his buddhist diet. On the other hand, in the original Chinese novel, he is also called dāizi, meaning idiot.

Are we going to get fooled?

A whistling woman and a crowing hen are neither fit for God nor men

After coming back from Mexico, speaking mostly Spanish and feeling the Mexican way of life for a year, I needed to reintroduce myself into European thinking and re-translate my culture code.

Or, rather, I thought I’d have to, but then I re-realised we can always count on the males. Some aspects of their behaviour are wonderfully universal.

Let’s take street-whistling (macho men favourite sport) as an example.

Men shout and whistle at women both  in Mexico,  in Poland, although the way they do it differs slightly. The Mexicans normally do not say things openly;  they let you pass by, and only then, they whisper: Adiós; I love you; Güerita (a tender way to call you paleface), etc.

In Poland (as far as I have experienced) this kind of behavior is, if not restricted to, more popular for construction workers. They whistle and shout, and compliment you in their idiosyncratic way – far more openly then in Mexico, and mentioning specific parts of your body.

(A curious thing, there are even some forums on the internet on why construction workers whistle at women. Some answers I’ve found include “it’s a trademark of what construction workers do and are”, although there are women who have also noticed “a lot of whistling gardeners”).

There are also some youtube movies that teach you how to chiflar (whistle) properly:

On the other hand, one of further education UK colleges had to protect construction builders from wolf-whistling girls, doing this “in a reversal of traditional gender stereotypes” (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2174531/College-girls-banned-from-whistling-at-builders.html).

And you, dear male-readers, have you ever been wolf-whistled?