General Questions Thread

[LynnieS]

Oh, hey... It's Ledgem!

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

Is there a way to get rid of my facial hair without having to shave again? I waste about 15 minutes every morning trying to get that annoying moustache off without cutting myself with the damn razor.

(Goodness, I sound like a lolicon-ish Santa.)

There are depilatory agents that basically dissolve the hair, but they are temporary. On the permanent side, you could go for electrology/electrolysis treatment that will kill the hair follicles, but treatment takes awhile - like a minimum of a year, I think. You're also using either heat or electricity, which while still mild, will cause some pain.

That 15 min or so each morning does sound a bit much, IMHO. Unless you are going for (1) a salon-style shave, which can take over 10 minutes, or an absolutely clean shave of all hair stubble with use of a pre-shave oil, a re-lathering and so on? I've tried both in the past, and while the 1st works for a couple of days (where I don't need to shave), the 2nd is a bit useless, I felt.

[Skane]

I used to use razor-blades back in the days of army, when clean-shaven meant as smooth as a baby's bottom. Nowadays, with work commitments and precious little time for sleep, I use an electric shaver for the convenience and time-savings.

When you're still half-asleep and getting ready for work, you can still do a haphazard job with an electric shaver and come off looking decent. Doing so with razor blades would probably result in people asking whether an angry cat slept on your face.

Cheers.

[-KarumA-]

Silly question, how do you call the music genre used in for example the Oncean's Eleven films
sample: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4y46u7r48k
I want to listen to more of this genre but I don't even know what it is called..
I tried labeling it as jazz but that sounds kind of different..

[ChainLegacy]

I've got a big, red facial hair, kind of like the techno Viking's though mine isn't as long or styled as goofily (lol). I usually use a combination of electric shaver, cheap razor blade, and small cosmetic scissors. I hate shaving.

^In my high school you had to shave everyday, and I unfortunately would always come in looking like scarface as a result. Shaving at 6 AM is a nightmare.

Originally Posted by -KarumA-

Silly question, how do you call the music genre used in for example the Oncean's Eleven films

I would call it ambiance music but I'm not sure really. I don't think they have a formal category for it.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Skane

I used to use razor-blades back in the days of army, when clean-shaven meant as smooth as a baby's bottom. Nowadays, with work commitments and precious little time for sleep, I use an electric shaver for the convenience and time-savings.

When you're still half-asleep and getting ready for work, you can still do a haphazard job with an electric shaver and come off looking decent. Doing so with razor blades would probably result in people asking whether an angry cat slept on your face.

Cheers.

I wouldn't mind if that angry cat was Azunyan.

Originally Posted by Ledgem

Aah, it's been a while since I saw the Technoviking... thanks for reviving that memory.

15 minutes? Sounds like you're doing it wrong. I admit that even after all these years of shaving daily or every other day (because in research, nobody really cares how unshaven you are) I still come away with a number of cuts, but they're never very deep. They're the type that can leave an annoying red mark that makes it obvious that you've cut yourself, but I discovered that if you keep something like tissue or toilet paper over them for ~10 minutes, then when you peel it off it'll look as though you were never bleeding in the first place. If your face is damp then it'll stay fixed to your face and you don't have to hold it there.

What razors are you using? I'm using the Gillette Mach 3; I use Gillette or Edge shaving cream, doesn't make a big difference. Gillette sent me a free Fusion, and I've tested it but don't find it to be particularly beneficial. It does hug your face a bit tighter, but I still occasionally cut myself with it (the small bleeds, nothing deep or major). If the Fusion blades cost the same as the Mach 3 blades did then I'd probably switch over to it, but otherwise the Mach 3 works well enough for me.

I use a Gillette Fusion from my army days*. The problem with my face is that it's so even that it is easy to spot a half-assed attempt to shave, and I shave to prevent food from getting stuck on my facial hair. That's why I took so long.

Plus being miserly to the extent of not visiting the barber (due to financial difficulties) isn't helping either because I look like a butchy meganekko with hair that flows over my ears and reaches my neck if I did shave. The last time I cut my hair was three months ago, and now it's growing back to which I can tie a cropped ponytail to look like a butch by next month.

* - The worst memories of shaving : you have to be clean for turnout, and waking up at 5am in the morning without your glasses, in the dark and mistaking toothpaste for shaving cream/camo cream for toothpaste/camo cream for shaving cream means doing something stupid to be the laughing stock of your bunkmates.

[Ledgem]

Originally Posted by LynnieS

Oh, hey... It's Ledgem!

Hey! Always nice to come out of hibernation and see familiar faces! Can you believe that we've been here for seven years?! That's enough time to get a science-based PhD.

Originally Posted by Skane

Nowadays, with work commitments and precious little time for sleep, I use an electric shaver for the convenience and time-savings.

Don't you mean time-shavings? Zing!

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

I use a Gillette Fusion from my army days*. The problem with my face is that it's so even that it is easy to spot a half-assed attempt to shave, and I shave to prevent food from getting stuck on my facial hair. That's why I took so long.

I do a quick shave broken up into roughly four regions: right cheek/jaw/neck, left, chin/under the lip, above the lip (usually having to go over each region with three to four strokes, although you're supposed to be able to do it all in one pass... yeah, right). Wash off excess shaving cream, do a check in the mirror, run your hands over some regions to verify that it's smooth, and shave off anything extra (there are one or two really small regions that I always have to go over again).

It's possible that you're being too much of a perfectionist about it. Don't rush, but don't treat it like you're painting fine art It's going to grow back either way. Also, shaving against the grain (if you're not already) can help to speed it up.

My first razor was an electric one, and I didn't like it. I found it easier to use and harder to cut myself with compared to the "manual" razors, but it just wasn't getting close enough.

[LynnieS]

Originally Posted by Ledgem

Hey! Always nice to come out of hibernation and see familiar faces! Can you believe that we've been here for seven years?! That's enough time to get a science-based PhD.

Hah hah. And here you are, happily married now. While I'm running around from country to country, and not yet settled down.

Originally Posted by Ledgem

I do a quick shave broken up into roughly four regions: right cheek/jaw/neck, left, chin/under the lip, above the lip (usually having to go over each region with three to four strokes, although you're supposed to be able to do it all in one pass... yeah, right). Wash off excess shaving cream, do a check in the mirror, run your hands over some regions to verify that it's smooth, and shave off anything extra (there are one or two really small regions that I always have to go over again).

I shave while in the shower since the hot water helps to soften the stubble, and also makes cleaning up much easier. I myself shave twice - once with the grain (downward on the facial area and upward on the neck) and once against the grain (just the opposite). There usually isn't much left outside of the jawline that needs to be cleaned up afterward.

You might also want to get a good shaving brush, SaintessHeart, since the circular brushing motion with it helps to lift the hair up slightly, but these days with the fancy multi-blade shaving kits, it's more of a morning ritual, IMHO. I still like and use mine, though, even though it's now almost 10 yrs old but still in very good shape.

Originally Posted by Ledgem

My first razor was an electric one, and I didn't like it. I found it easier to use and harder to cut myself with compared to the "manual" razors, but it just wasn't getting close enough.

The newer electric razors are better at cutting close than before, IMHO, but I don't much like them still. For some reason, I end up with more ingrown hair on the face after using one, and those are a huge pain to deal with.

[TinyRedLeaf]

Is it me, or has the testosterone level gone up a tad much here?

Let's see if the pendulum can be swung the other direction. I never, for the life of me, understood why girls insist on going to public bathrooms together. It can't be for, ahem, "business", so it can only mean that they are seeking time out to plot gossip behind the guys' backs.

True or false?

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

Is it me, or has the testosterone level gone up a tad much here?

Let's see if the pendulum can be swung the other direction. I never, for the life of me, understood why girls insist on going to public bathrooms together. It can't be for, ahem, "business", so it can only mean that they are seeking time out to plot gossip behind the guys' backs.

True or false?

It is a girl-companionship thing. They feel more secure in numbers than guys, and tend feel more lonely when left alone. Guys on the other hand tend to be more independent.

Another alternate explanation could be related to Mugivision™ at work....

[Larthak]

Originally Posted by -KarumA-

Silly question, how do you call the music genre used in for example the Oncean's Eleven films
sample: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4y46u7r48k
I want to listen to more of this genre but I don't even know what it is called..
I tried labeling it as jazz but that sounds kind of different..

Oh, this one's a bit complicated...It sure is jazz, but jazz has a whole army of subgenres. That said, you should try Jazz Funk.

Examples: 1, 2 (this one a little bit housy), 3.

Hope I helped.

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by -KarumA-

Silly question, how do you call the music genre used in for example the Oncean's Eleven films
sample: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4y46u7r48k
I want to listen to more of this genre but I don't even know what it is called..
I tried labeling it as jazz but that sounds kind of different..

"jazz" includes Benny Goodman Big Band, Thelonius Monk weirdness, New Orleans blue jazz, ragtime waltzes, bebop, etc. Frank Sinatra sung jazz, so did Doris Day. Its almost like saying "rock" - the label communicates very little. Music that uses blue notes, improvisation, polyrhythms, syncopation, and swung notes (to borrow from Wiki).

I'd probably call this "funk" jazz or "electronica" jazz... but that's probably a religious discussion.

[ganbaru]

Is there a clear distiction betweem erotic and pornographic ?

[Ledgem]

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

Is it me, or has the testosterone level gone up a tad much here?

That's what my wife tells me!

OK, I'll stop with the jokes now...

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

I never, for the life of me, understood why girls insist on going to public bathrooms together. It can't be for, ahem, "business", so it can only mean that they are seeking time out to plot gossip behind the guys' backs.

True or false?

Girls also go to the bathroom to do things like fix their makeup, and may like receiving input/help from each other. It's also a gossip spot. Not all girls are comfortable with going to the bathroom with other girls - those are probably the ones who are using the bathroom for the same reason that we males do.

Originally Posted by ganbaru

Is there a clear distiction betweem erotic and pornographic ?

It depends on who you ask. If you asked me, I'd say that erotic just refers to sexuality in some manner, but it could be in any form - text, language, a pose, etc. Pornographic implies something of a visual nature (video or image) involving sex - either the act of, or the body parts that are involved.

If you ask the dictionary:
pornography |pôrˈnägrəfē|
noun
printed or visual material containing the explicit description or display of sexual organs or activity, intended to stimulate erotic rather than aesthetic or emotional feelings.

erotic |iˈrätik|
adjective
of, relating to, or tending to arouse sexual desire or excitement.

Thus, pornography falls under the umbrella of erotic, I suppose you could say.

[TinyRedLeaf]

Originally Posted by ganbaru

Is there a clear distiction betweem erotic and pornographic ?

That's actually a very difficult question to answer satisfactorily. It happens to be one of the key concerns in the philosophy of art. More specifically, what is "art"? How do we judge something to be beautiful; can there even be such a thing as "objective beauty"?

We usually associate "erotic" with something that is artistically beautiful, for example, Botticelli's Venus. She commands your attention by her very nudity, yet there is nothing vulgar in her demeanour.

At the same time, some critics condemn Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut (1999) as "an old man's wet dream". One could arguably call the film a work of art (even if it's not among Kubrick's best) exploring and pushing the limits of society's acceptance of sex, but there are several scenes in the movie, the mass-orgy scene, for example, which could come across as pornographic. The movie even skirted dangerously with child sex, by playing up the sexual desirability of the then 16-year-old Leelee Sobieski.

Objectively speaking, "pornography" is as what Ledgem described, a display of sexual attributes or activity simply to stimulate an erotic response. It doesn't make any pretense about being "artistic". Even so, such a definition can quickly run into problems, because "pornography" can sometimes be "artistic", depending on how the director or photographer approached the subject.

So, in the end, the attempt to label something "pornographic" or "erotic" often says more about the society or individual doing the labelling, than it does about the subject itself. It's a curious thing, society is.

[SaintessHeart]

I was wondering if I got my economics wrong because I couldn't convince a friend of mine that the diploma that we are taking now won't make a difference in our future pay.

He says that if we upgrade our diploma to a degree we will be able to find a job with a higher pay, I said it doesn't work that way in the job market due to another incoming bearish sentiment of the world economy. I related the idea to that of the Giffen goods in which the graduates to be hired are the products, companies hiring are the consumers.

There are two different graduates in this case, one of which are more expensive degree holders, another is the relatviely cheaper diploma holders. Despite the correlation of Supply, Demand and Price, as in which

- Diploma holders are hired instead of degree holders as they are relatively cheaper
- Demand for cheaper Diploma holders go up, thus the price increase
- However the individual wage requests by Diploma holders are still cheaper as compared to Degree holders

thus combined with the effect of a bearish market, Diploma holders become Giffen goods and the Degree holders are left in the fray without a job.

What I have told him is that not to see the degree as a way to a higher pay, but rather as a bomb-shelter until the economy stops being so choppy. He claims I am talking bullshit and calls me unrealistic, and he's not the only one who had said this to me.

Is there something wrong with my concept? Anyone with a strong Economics education background help me out?

[-KarumA-]

The question is not if you can get a higher payroll what matters is getting a job in that sector. Or at least.. since I get confused by your wordings.. never heard of Giffen goods before.. bla bla bla

Anyway you can get a good diploma and think you can easily earn a lot of money, the question is whether or not the market with jobs has enough spots open for you. If there is no work in your sector you are screwed anyways and have to work on maybe the same level as a cheaper diploma holder.
Problem with the economy now is that there are hardly any jobs in some sectors and areas, companies do not easily hire new people as in situations like it is now it is better to hire someone with perhaps the same degree but with a lot more experience.

[FateAnomaly]

I think the problem is that you think all "consumers" go for cheaper "products". Richer "consumers" will naturally pay more better quality "products" if they think it is worth it. However, irregardless of it being a diploma or degree, if you are merely mediocre among your peers, don't expect too much. Better is a relative term.

[Kudryavka]

Originally Posted by Arbitres

I've recently thought up a question.

What causes loneliness? It's something I can't seem to grasp. Some people don't feel lonely when they themselves aren't around other things (animals, other people, plants, etc)

So I reiterate: What causes loneliness? Is it psychological-biased or envrionmental/nurture-biased?

I believe loneliness to stem from a person's psychological being. Like you said, some people feel at ease when alone, and others can feel totally isolated when in the middle of a group of people. I think that it relies on how much a person feels a need for companionship. It may also vary directly to how in- or extroverted a person is. Intros are fine alone, and extros seek attention.

[Zu Ra]

Originally Posted by ganbaru

Is there a clear distiction betweem erotic and pornographic ?

Erotica can be Visually Appealing i.e. Art .... while Pornography is just Vulgar

What is Erotica is and What is Pornography is dependent on ones perception . The main difference is the artistic appeal . There is a thin line separating these two ..

Regarding perception, check up the video of Duran Duran - Girls on Film (Uncensored) on YTube

[greedyisgood]

Do guys who had experienced sex becomes less interested in watching porn or talking about porn with his friends?