- I, Caveman
Curiosity released the two episode "I, Caveman" a while back. These episodes have come through the paleo community with some fanfare, because one of the participants was Robb Wolf, a big paleo writer I mentioned in this post. I just got around to watching it this week, and I thought it was pretty cool. I have to be honest, I probably wouldn't have found it to be worth watching or too terribly interesting had it not been for Wolf's participation.
Wolf in many ways stole the show towards the very end when he managed to hit and take down an elk with an atlatl, which was pretty incredible. Upon killing the dear, almost all the participants were overwhelmed at the emotional power of the moment, and I have to admit that my girlfriend (who watched it with me) and I were kind of moved as well. Anyway, if you like Robb Wolf's writing, I think it might be worth checking out. I also thought it was interesting to watch the effect that hunger/starvation had on a group's bonds and level of cohesion.
- Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
I can't say it was amazing, but it was pretty good. I thought the first one was incredibly mediocre and a disappointment relative to its hype. The sequel turned out to be pretty entertaining. I think it might be the best of the movies out right now, but I have to admit I haven't seen most of them and the lineup isn't all that great.
- Derek Boogaard: A Boy Learns to Brawl
This is an interesting series of articles on Derek Boogaard, a hockey player who recently died from a drug and alcohol overdose. He was one of the most intimidating hockey enforcers in the NHL; an enforcer's job is essentially to fight the other team in response to aggressive or unfair play. I thought it was really interesting to look at how he got put in this role. I was also interested to hear about all of the injuries he suffered, including pretty severe brain damage, that was essentially uncared for.
-Trial of Will
This article is written by Christopher Hitchens, a writer who passed away on Thursday from pneumonia related to his battle with esophageal cancer. I am actually in the process of writing several articles, a series related to GERD and esophageal cancer, and an article discussing medical school cadavers and my own relationship with the idea of mortality, so I found this article interesting for having touched on both of those. I could be mistaken, but I believe this is the last article he wrote.
I will admit that I have never had much interest in philosophy, and be forewarned that there is a significant philosophical component to this article. I actually have a close friend who sometimes manages to get lost in philosophical ideas, to the point that it affects his day to day life. I have never understood.
- Letting Go
This one is actually an older article, written by Atul Gawande, but I think it deals with some thoughts brought up in the previous one. Aside from that, it is a very well written and compelling article. That's all I'm really going to say about it, because I think it speaks for itself. It also brought tears to my eyes the first time I read it.
-The Astonishing Collapse of MF Global
I am not trained in economics, nor do I have much of an understanding of big business or how our economy works. All I can say is that I am pretty consistently terrified by how much money some of the big executives throw around or even gamble and how it can trickle down and have an enormous impact on others. I am also consistently frustrated by the fact that in almost every large scale financial scandle or collapse, people look back and tell us that we should have seen it coming years before.
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