drummer

these sort of women used to go to JAMAICA for the "big members" , whether they will tolerate the small thai members remains to be seen

The Jamaicans may be too big and the Thais too small....but the right fit at home just doesn't know how to get it done!!

It seems to me, that the difference between men and women when it comes to this sort of thing is that it is a heck of a lot easier for a woman to get laid that it is for a man. The worlds oldest profession notwithstanding, of course. So I reckon that the market for said service will always be bigger for men than for women. Of course, I know plenty of women who appreciate skill and determination....

"You can talk about how its not the size of the vessel that matter, its the motion on the ocean, but it sure takes a long time to get to England in a rowboat" Jeff Foxworthy

A guy from Texas and a guy from Jamaica were taking a piss next to each other when the Texan said "Your wife's name is Wendy, too huh?" "What are you taking about, mon?" "Oh, I'm sorry- I just couldn't help but notice the 'W' and 'y' tattoo'ed on your member. I had my wife's name, Wendy, tatoo'ed on mine, but when he's not at attention you can only see the 'W' and the 'y'" The Jamaican laughes and says "Oh- no. Mine says "Welcome to Jamaica, have a nice day"

depends on how good a mate your friend is...   Theres a word for girls that go round a group of lads, and that is slag 

And what is the derogatory word for a man that goes round with a group of girls?

Hero? Just joking There is a bit of a double standard, but "'monger" , "butterfly", and "yellowcab" all work.

Reminds me of the woman who put her wet poodle in the microwave to dry him out...

Interestingly enough I saw a programme on the Beeb where a Thai man had,had his penis severed and tied to a helium balloon,and let go, by his wife.It was never found again.True story.The outcome of all this is that he ordained as a monk-presumably without the missing part.

----> insert silly joke about him not being him no longer being whole in mind. <----

Actually, this seems to be closer to the truth,  as pessimists generally have a more accurate picture of reality than optimists. 

Would you like to justify that one? It was a claim in a book, I believe, by some psychologist whose name I can't remember. Probably helped sell a few copies...

Something I learned in class. It been a few years, but I remember something about college students being tested for optimism/pessimism, then made to do predictions on whether they won a game or not.

It makes a lot of sense to me. Success isn't easy. Optimism is a lot more *useful* in a lot of ways, but pessimism tends to be more accurate. Life ain't a bed of roses for most people.

Of course, you take pessimism too far and you are distorting reality, too. Its not like pessimism is always right, its just that tends to be right more often than optimism. Me, I'm a I'll-believe-it-when-I-see-it optimist.

Of course, all this depends on your definition of optimist vs pessimist....

Hmmmm. That does seem to be very, very close. One thing described in the book is a complex feedback loop, whereby the mind modifies the body state and visa versa.

The method you describe to deal with emotions jives with another thing I have read - how meditation can produce repeatable, consistent brain states (with PET, fMRI scans) With the new revelation that even one specific experience can actually modify the physical structure of the brain, it is a short step to guess that meditation can modify the structure to produce a more helpful, positive, effective brain- and the initial reports from the research looks rather promising.

At least from my own experience, emotions don't get sublimated, but knowledge can- leading one to "overreact" to the straw that breaks the camels back. Freud had some awfully interesting ideas- but they just don't seem to make complete sense.

It seems to me that asking whether Thai people meditate is a little like asking whether many people go to church in '.Christian countries'. The answer is of course that only a minority do.Most Thai people pay the Buddha homage in order to achieve gain or 'chok dee' (good luck).Or to make merit in some other way-but not in order to achieve enlightenment.The Buddha is seen as something external to be venerated and prayed to,rather than being someone that we can all aspire to.That is,that we all have the potential for Buddhahood in this lifetime.Whether this is due to incorrect teaching,or understanding of what the Buddha taught-or just the convenience of adopting consumer Buddhism is another question.

Beat me to the punch. Thais are really not very different in form in function than anyone else. Think about all the westerners you know who pray and apply that to LoS. Think about how many of them are honest about it, and how many are going through the motions, and how many just don't care. My feeling is that the numbers are going to be pretty similar- organized or not.

There is another factor that might skew this hypothesis, though. Meditation has a utilitarian aspect that can motivate people to do it. While praying can be a form of meditation (think about "Hail Mary"s), I rather suspect that most prayers are not as, useful, as a good meditation session.

I also suspect that seeing the Buddha as something external is something that is going to be the natural state for people- at least a large portion of societies anywhere and with any religion/philosophy etc. I'll bet you anything that it existed before western philosophy had much of an impact.

I just wanted to see what people around here think of a book "Looking For Spinoza" by Antonio Damasio. Has anyone read it?

Although I dropped out for other persuits, I studied neurophysiology for a few years and have been an avid follower of info as it comes out- I found this book to be utterly fascinating. It puts forth a very specific, testable, reasonable and simple mechanism and purpose for emotions. I have only a very basic understanding of Buddhism, but many of the concepts seem to jive with general Buddhist thought that I am familiar with.

Heres a very basic summary:

Emotions are body states. Your brain measures how much adrenaline you are pumping, heart rate, sugar level, etc etc and creates a 'body map' You then look at the 'body map' and percieve what emotion, or mix of emotions best seems to fit - so "feelings" are your minds perception of your body state. Many of the basic mechanisms seemed to fit, like three levels of emotions interacting to lead to a plethora of feelings. I hesitate to go to far in, because frankly, I need to reread the book to be able to explain it fully, but it seemed to resonate with Buddhism, if that makes sense.

I have a lot of respect for Buddhist thought- especially when it comes to mental issues, so I'm quite curious to hear what people think.

Thanks

Note that Jesus did not lay down prescripive rules as his message was not primarily social - he believed that the end of the world was imminent and his ethics (leave your father, mother, wife; give all your possessions away) reflect such short-term expectations.

I don't think you can use the apocalypse argument- many societies advocate giving away all your posessions. Some societies old that the more you give away, the higher your social status becomes. they certainly aren't giving away things because 'you can't take it with you'. The tradition is in India, too, although for different reasons. Practically speaking, giving to the poor / not valuing personal posession has so many utilitarian advantages that its a surprise when its *not* part of religion... (He was right, though- the Romans basically ended the Israeli/Judean world a few decades later)

On a broader point, maybe some would claim that anyone who goes to the point of suicide is mentally ill?

It is very hard to make that case even if lawyers

use this reasoning in court every day. I say this

in light of the supposition that most if not all suicides are

committed by people trying to escape problems they

feel they cannot face or overcome. This seems to me

an exceedingly rational act. So how can they be viewed

as mentally ill ??

Unless you hold the opinion that all life is sacred and

must never be taken arbitrarily, then a person choosing

to end their pain rather than dealing with it is acting in

a perfectly rational manner in spite of their intense

emotional pain.

Comments solicited.

You can argue that anyone NOT wanting to commit suicide is mentally ill....

Actually, this seems to be closer to the truth, as pessimists generally have a more accurate picture of reality than optimists.

On the other hand, mental illness is defined by any personality trait that is so pronounced that it interferes with the normal operation of day to day life. Emotional pain, depression, anxiety etc that leads to death might just qualify. Especially considering that by far, most suicides don't arise out of uncommon conditions.

Great quote! I'm new to the board, so this is prolly an old topic- but many aspects of Buddhism are spot on scientifically. Meditation, in particular, is likely to become very fashionable in the next decade or so, when much fo the research currently being conducted gets published.

I guess I did misunderstand, but from re-reading your post, I can see why... You do make it sound like this a huge problem. Simple answer, don't see her (much) Don't put aside other things to hang out with her. If she makes a move, then say you are just friends! Easy as pie, mate. No problems. Unless you are interested in her and have no willpower. Then don't see her at all.

I must say, I agree. In cases like this there is no way for your friend to give permission. You will be creating an enemy for life- no matter what he tells you. Your reputation among the entire circle of friends / people who find out about it will drop, too- in some cases considerably.

You are going to find lots and lots and lots of choices. Don't choose this one.

She heard there was a guy there that was hung like this...

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(Please don't mind all the periods.... everything seems to get left justified automatically) (must be html!)

Funnier than 2 monkeys performing an Omish version of Hamlet, it is.

George Bush drew up his Iraq outline.... Then he colored it in.

.............

While on a state visit to England, George Bush meets the queen and proclaims, “As I’m the president of America, I’m thinking of changing how my great country is referred to. It should be called a kingdom.”

The queen replies, “I’m sorry, Mr. Bush, but to be a kingdom, you have to have a king in charge, and you’re not a king.”

George Bush thinks for a moment and then asks, “How about a principality then?”

The queen replies, “Again, to be a principality, you have to be a prince, and you’re not a prince, Mr. Bush.”

Bush thinks long and hard and comes up with another option. “How about an empire?”

Getting a little annoyed by now, the queen replies, “Sorry again, Mr. Bush, but to be an empire you must have an emperor in charge, and you are not an emperor.”

Before Bush could utter another word, the queen offers solace. “Don’t worry, Mr. Bush, under your leadership, America is perfect as a country.”

.........................

As a squad of American soldiers was patrolling the Iraqi border, they came across a badly mangled dead body. As they got closer, they found it was an Iraqi soldier.

A short distance up the road, they found a badly mangled American soldier in a ditch on the other side of the road, struggling to breath. They ran to him, cradled his blood-covered head and asked him what had happened.

“Well,” he whispered, “I was walking down this road, armed to the teeth when I came across this heavily armed Iraqi border guard. I looked him right in the eye and shouted, ‘Saddam Hussein is an unprincipled, lying piece of trash!’”

“He looked me right in the eye and shouted back, ‘George W. Bush is an unprincipled, lying piece of trash too!’”

“We were standing there shaking hands when the truck hit us.”

.......................

President Clinton looks up from his desk in the Oval Office to see one of his aides nervously approaching him.

"What is it?" sighs the president.

"It’s this Abortion Bill. What do you want to do about it?" the aide asks.

"Go ahead and pay it," says the president.

.......................

George Bush trips and falls over a bridge railing while jogging one morning. Before the Secret Service guys can get to him, three kids who are fishing pull him out of the water below. He’s so grateful, he offers the kids whatever they want.

The first kid shouts, “I want to go to Disneyland with my friends!” and George replies, “No problem. I’ll take you on Air Force One.”

The second kid says, “I want a new pair of Nike Air Jordans,” to which George says, “I'll get them for you and even have Michael sign them!”

The third kid says, “I want a motorized wheelchair with a built-in TV and stereo headset!”

Bush, looking perplexed, utters: “But, son, you don’t look like you’re handicapped.”

The kid answers, “I will be once my dad finds out I saved your sorry ass from drowning.”

So this polar bear is talking to his dad one day, and he asks "Dad, am I a full blooded polar bear? I'm not, like, part koala, panda, or grizzly or anything?"

The dad says "No son! You come from a long line of proud, pure polar bears! Why would you ever ask such a thing?"

The kid says "Cause I'm ###### cold!"

Hahahahaha. Hahahahaha. Hahaha. Ha. That reminds me. I have some parking tickets to pay for. And I have to get some new tires...

A pirate walks into a bar with a steering wheel attatched to his crotch.

The bartend says, naturally "Whats the deal with the steering wheel attatched to your crotch?"

The pirate says "Aaaaahhhr! Its driving me nuts!"

banana= กล้วย "kloo-ai" (please do not pronounce it incorrectly now I think you know why! )

I have some female american friends who repeatedly misordered a banana shake, and were wondering why the guy behind the counter started laughing so hard he could no longer stand...

I'm not sure, but I think there is indeed a years probabtion. Chok dee khrap

Maybe this guy could have been a little more enterprising!

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...orocco_penis_dc

I look/dress completely un-gay, but i do get hit on by those shoe and shirt selling gay guys at Robinson *every* time i walk by. While i don't have anything against gays, it gets kind of annoying, so now i ignore that part of the men's clothing section and just walk through the women's underwear section on my way to the 3rd floor. 

Well, I guess we now know what women have to face virtually every day of their lives, eh?

Haha... I've learned the same thing from working as a taxi driver. You all know guys who will hit on anything with tits... There are gay guys like that, too. When I started working as a cabbie I was hit on for the first time by guys. I don't give a flying canadian goose either, but it is quite annoying. I know I don't come of as gay, even before my 20% gayometer reading So those guys must hit on *everyone* (or maybe everyone who doesn't act like they're gonna punch 'em?)

Aye! You see stuff like that from time to time in Portland, but then its the style these days. Not so much in BKK, at least what I've seen. My dad replaced the hood ornament on his mercedes with a plastic Jesus statue last year (as per the song)

Do you know why set breaks are limited to 15 minutes?

So you don't have to retrain the drummer....