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The Corroboree

CβL

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Posts posted by CβL

  7. Posted · Edited by CβL

    He's obviously extremely upset - he's about to cry, or already has been crying (look at his lip curling). But the fact that he's been listening to the radio - that changes a lot I think. It's filled his head with what's current - he's not like some guy who's been totally cut off.

  8. Posted · Edited by CβL

    Don't cha hate it when someone does something to annoy you, but stays below the threshold where it's enough to truly reprimand them?

    Was at a classical concert the other night... Woman behind me insisted on whispering/talking audibly during it (it's the done thing by everyone to be silent during the performance). Not loud enough, or frequent enough to warrant a "Please be quiet", or an evils - but enough to make me lose my focus a few times too many.

    I was driving home late at night, and the guy right behind me had his high-beams on for kilometres and kilometres. I tapped my brake lights a few times at a few times... nothing. I flicked my headlights a few times... nothing. Just didn't seem to care. I gave him a few flashes as I let him pass in the passing lane.

  12. Posted · Edited by CβL

    Black rice! Apparently it's the bomb, and was only allowed to be eaten by Asian royalty. Please cook this advice with a grain of salt, for 3 hours. ;)

    Black_rice_01.JPG

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_rice

    In ancient China, black rice was considered the finest grain and only served to the Emperor. Therefore, it sometimes is called “forbidden rice,” as it was off limits for the general public[citation needed].

    • Like 2

  13. Posted

    Seriously consider if it's worth it. Even if you manage to survive unscathed - you might begin a crippling addiction that will take years of your life. If you have even a single grain of a thought that it's possible - then it's wildly possible. Your brain will heavily underplay the likelihood of it being unable to avoid addiction. If you didn't want to go for that reason, and just wanted to trade yarns with farmers - then I'm sorry for assuming otherwise. :)

    Give dis a read:

    How Collecting Opium Antiques Turned Me Into an Opium Addict



    :)

    • Like 4

  15. Posted · Edited by CβL

    It looks a little bit like Woolly Nightshade (non-native tobacco plant) too. But as you say the leaves aren't hairy - so it won't be that. There's another weedy plant that it looks similar to, but I don't know the name of (it has multiple small flowers on a stalk, I think they might be yellow [it's not Mullein]).

  16. Posted

    My rope climbing ability skills are not really existent at the moment. But I'm quite fit and quite strong, and have done a lot of hiking (70kms over 4 days, and up and down a 2.5km mountain in 6.5 hours are the most recent two). But I didn't feel truly challenged by either, so there's room to improve. I am actually saving up for a trip at the beginning of 2014, but so far it's to see family (and a girl :wub: ) in Europe - but if that doesn't pan out, then I'll highly consider coming along (in which case I'll crash course train up in the months before). So I'm not just chain-yanking.

  20. Posted · Edited by CβL

    My research that has stalled. I'm researching a particular plant, that contains a particular chemical, that under an extremely simple chemical reaction - should transform into another particular chemical (according to my research). The second of these chemicals, my research has surmised is active in humans. The first chemical - my research has determined, is not (which is also backed by the limited field-testing). There are two stages to my project:

    Stage A) Cultivating this plant in a suitable manner (this will require research and skill with cultivation - there is not much room for error)
    Stage B) Performing the extraction and chemical reaction (initial research indicates this to be relatively simple... but I've probably jinxed it and it'll have unforeseen difficulties)
    Bonus round) Bio-assay?

    Realistically, stage B cannot commence without stage A having been completed. Should my research succeed, I believe there will be available to all - a simple, discreet OTC method to produce a CB1 agonist (let's leave it at that). I'm not a qualified chemist, and there are a few assumptions (relatively benign ones I should think) that nevertheless need to be assessed for Stage B to proceed.

    Now I'd like to comment that due to the nature of this plant, and my location in NZ - it's going to be extremely difficult to perform this anywhere other than NZ. I would prefer to perform it here, but that might make the funding difficult.

    In terms of the funding - most of it will go towards stage A. Some prototype propagators will need to be made and tested (small ones), and for stage B one cheap reagent will need to be procured. I'm willing to disclose more in private, but for risk of intervention I won't disclose in public (until the project's momentum is too great to stop ;) ).

    Immediate requirements:

    * Advice from adept chemists and biologists. Enquire via PM if you'd like to help. :)

    • Like 5

  22. Posted

    I've started to move the cacti (still in their pots) to sit on the new garden bed, as I haven't really figured out how I'm going to lay it out yet.

    I'm now thinking I'll arrange them so that each plant is similar to its neighbours (so they change smoothly in appearance) and the slowest and shortest cacti are at the front (so they don't get their sun blocked by the quicker ones).

    I have selected about 5 seedlings that are going on the accelerated pathway to get big for the garden too - Peruvianus (BK08612.4, BK08612.9, EG Wild-collected), Psycho0 x Pachanoi, Beauty-big-golden-spine pachanoid from bit's open - but it's extremely hard to decide (maybe a second garden would help? :devil: ).

    • Like 4

  23. Posted

    Woman sheds 45kg on energy drink diet

    By Alice Neville

    4:00 AM Sunday May 24, 2009
    drink8.jpg
    Brooke Robertson once weighed 105kg. She is now slim, but has a weak heart.

    A young mum has told how she lost 45kg in eight months by drinking nothing but 10 to 14 cans of Red Bull a day.

    Brooke Robertson shrank from 105kg to 60kg during the drastic diet but said she ended up in hospital after a minor heart attack and has had ongoing health problems.

    "I know it doesn't sound too good, but I don't regret it because I got to a weight I was happy with," said the 23-year-old Auckland mother of one.

    Robertson put on weight while carrying son Keir, now four, but said she didn't make a conscious decision to go on a Red Bull diet.

    "I just started drinking it. I wasn't sleeping, I wasn't eating - I was exhausted.

    "I just continued to drink it because it's an appetite suppressant and I noticed I was losing weight so stuck with it."

    A handful of dry Honey Puffs was usually her only solid sustenance during the 2006 diet - alongside 800-1120mg of caffeine and 275-385g of sugar a day from the 250ml cans of energy drinks.

    Robertson said she shook constantly but managed to keep her addiction secret from family and friends.

    "They didn't really know the extent of what was going on. They couldn't work out why I wasn't sleeping too well, but they put it down to the stresses of raising my son. I kept it secret but in the end they were quite concerned."

    Two weeks in hospital cured Robertson of her addiction.

    "I managed to wean myself off it by being in hospital for that long but I had severe withdrawals - sweating, nausea, shaking. It was an addiction. The doctors stated that."

    A Red Bull spokesman denied the drink was addictive and said there was "scientific evidence that caffeine is not addictive".

    He said it was available in 148 countries "because health authorities across the world have concluded that Red Bull is safe to consume".

    But Red Bull is banned in Norway, Denmark and Uruguay because of health fears.

    The full-strength drink was allowed into France only last year after the country lifted a 12-year ban, and then only because of pressure from the European Union. Until then a taurine-free version was sold.

    In 2008, researchers from the Royal Adelaide Hospital found just one can of Red Bull could increase the risk of heart attack or stroke.

    They found that within one hour of drinking it, people developed symptoms normally associated with cardiovascular disease.

    Earlier this year, 21-year-old student Chloe Leach died in an English nightclub after drinking about four cans of Red Bull and several vodka-based caffeine drinks.

    Doctors found the caffeine could have triggered a rare heart condition.

    Robertson now maintains her 60kg figure in a much healthier way - through exercise and a Weight Watchers diet.

    Three years after quitting the Red Bull diet, the cafe worker says she still suffers from the effects.

    She has a heart murmur, gets severe pain and cramping in her stomach and bowel and suffers anxiety attacks.

    Her doctors told her to stay off Red Bull and other caffeinated beverages, but Robertson admits she still drinks it occasionally.

    "I can have one and my heart starts and I get the shakes, so I try not to. It's the same with coffee."

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10574199

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