Where’s Wilkinson Sword?
They said I can't have anything sharp, but just look at this! Bwah-ha-ha!!
The “Everything” Sampler Pack from West Coast Shaving
When I started wet shaving in 2008, I ordered a small sampler pack of five kinds of blades from West Coast Shaving, and when they ran out, ordered 100 of the Derby “Extra” blades. It took over two years, but I finally used them all up. I was very satisfied with the Derbys, but was craving a little adventure (I want to be more like the Old Spice guy), so I ordered the “Everything” pack with 15 kinds of blades (but no Wilkinson Sword?!). By the end of 2010, I’ll know if the Derbys have met their match.
Helvetica - PERIOD [nanoblog]
Just watched Helvetica again tonight via Netflix and found my favorite clip (Michael Bierut) on YouTube.
Mirror Neurons, or Why I Can’t Dance
The other day I was watching a TED Talk by neuroscientist Vilayanur Ramachandran describing the function of “mirror neurons” in the human brain. These neurons are like the motor neurons (which fire when you move), but mirror neurons fire when you merely watch someone else moving. Amazing; that’s empathy at the physiological level. As Ramachandran said, “They must be involved in things like imitation and emulation, because to imitate a complex act requires my brain to adopt the other person’s point of view.”
Fine, but I don’t think I was born with any mirror neurons. Let me illustrate.
Over the last week, I’ve been trying desperately to imitate a “complex act,” viz., a video of the great drummer Peter Erskine playing brushes. He explains every stroke and sweep, all the while moving in slow motion, and I still had a remarkably difficult time imitating it. The experience reminded me of my ballroom dancing days where learning each step was a painful process that took months. I can’t believe it’s this hard for everyone. I should distinguish between the first stage of learning a movement and the subsequent practicing of it until it becomes “natural” (or in the case of my dancing, merely less grotesque). I expect practicing to take lots of time; my frustration is only with the first stage.
Admittedly, Ramachandran doesn’t say that mirror neurons make imitation easy, just possible, so maybe my expectations are just too high. On the other hand, I can imitate things by ear pretty easily, so I imagine others can pick up things by eye just as easily. What I do seem to have, at least, is the perseverance to keep trying until I get it. I guess we are each blessed with an unevenly distributed set of gifts—weakness in one area is compensated by strength in another.
Comments
Your deadline has passed... what's the verdict? :-)
Posted by Anne on January 12, 2011 at 7:27 PM