få et liv indenfor termodynamikkens 2. lov

Når ældre mennesker siger, at verden går af lave, har de jo ret; universet går fra orden til kaos, økosystemer atomiseres, organismer disintegreres og opløses, vore celler er knapt skabt før deres dødsattest kan skrives. Og vi forsøger at skabe orden, sætte verden i kasser, for at skabe et system. Er det vort Sisyfos-arbejde? Er det vores protest over for universet? Over at vi aldrig har bedt om at være til – selvom vi aldrig kunne være blevet spurgt – og vi opfinder politik, religion, kærlighed, kultur, stammer etc. for at have en grund. Selvom alle disse fænomener er forbandet kaotiske. Universets varmedød; den oplysning kunne vi nok have været foruden – eller…?

Forventningens glæde er...

Jeg ville ønske, du aldrig var kommet
så natten heller aldrig var gået.

Og jeg ville ønske, du ikke var blevet
så morgenen heller aldrig var kommet.

Jeg ville ønske, det aldrig blev sommer
så sommeren altid var på vej.

- Henrik Nordbrandt

Being dead...with a brain like chicken soup

Behind the University of Tennesse (US) is a research facility, which is dedicated to the study of human decay. Bodies lying in the sun are being observed and the process of their decay is duly analyzed. The knowledge gained from the observations help to understand the phases of decomposition of human bodies and thus police investigations on foul play.

Mary Roach is excellent in describing the curious lives of cadavers (as crash test dummies, objects of medical students' anatomy classes, plastic surgery updates etc.) in her book 'Stiff', and here's a description from her visit in Tennessee, concerning the physical afterlife of a human being:

"The digestive organs and the lungs disintegrate first, for they are home to the greatest numbers of bacteria; the larger your work crew, the faster the building comes down. The brain is another early-departure organ. "Because all the bacteria in the mouth chew through the palate", explains Arpad (research professor of forensic anthtopology; how cool is that title? ed.) And because brains are soft and easy to eat. "The brain liquefies very quickly. It just pours out the ears and bubbles out the mouth".
Up until about three weeks (since time of death. ed), Arpad says, remnants of organs can still be identified. "After that, it becomes like a soup in there" [...] "Chicken soup. It's yellow."

Apart from losing the urge to eat various kinds of food, you can only laugh at the tabuus or angst of dealing with the physical matters of death mainstreaming the Western world: Dead bodies can have a purpose, they can be funny, and they don't bitch about bad hairdays. In short; the living have a lot to learn from the dead.

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Det svære valg

Med 10 forskellige varianter af Socialdemokraterne, der alle vogter på velfærdssamfundets goder og ikke vover, at tale om komplicerede emner, hvad er det så man vælger ud fra?
Tjah, de unge afspejler vel myten om, at der er forskel på folk i Lidenlund - på trods af, at lighedsprincippet driver middelmådigt ned af væggene i veldæderland; i hvertfald falder deres stemmer i grove træk sådan her:

DF og Soc Dem - elever på tekniske skoler
Radikal - studerende på videregående uddannelser
Venstre - studerende på handelsskoler
EL og SF - gymnasieelever

oplyser DR

Er det udtryk for sociale interesser, at forskellige sociale grupper er så forudsigelige? Er der forskel på os? Eller keder vi os bare så tilpas meget, at det er rart at have nogle modsætninger, vi kan distancere os fra?

Talende blomster

Har dine blomster talt med dig i dag?

"Et japansk firma vil lancere en levende højtaler. De har udviklet en teknologi, hvor planter og blomster kan udsende lyd."
Artikel

...måske har blomster altid haft en stemme, schizofrene har blot en bedre høresans end os andre. Eller måske er blomster åndelige vejledere.

Being dead

"The way I see it, being dead is not terribly far from being on a cruise ship. Most of your time is spent lying on your back. The brain has shut down. The flesh begins to soften. Nothing much new happens, and nothing is expected of you. [...]
Being dead is absurd. It's the silliest situation you'll find yourself in. Your limbs are floppy and uncooperative. Your mouth hangs open. Being dead is unsightly and stinky and embarrasing, and there's not a damn thing to be done about it."

- Stiff, Mary Roach.