CSI and Se7en...

I was watching too many crime-related videos/news over the last weekend, both fictional and real (unfortunately, words will never be sufficient to sympathize with human suffering). In what might seem like an extremely macabre way to do so, I think the makers of CSI preach a fundamental philosophical tenet ;)...that, no matter what we look like on the outside, we are just the same flesh and blood on the inside. The details are pretty graphic of course, even though all the images that are usually shown as part of the autopsy are I assume...just fake! I hope some of you has watched at least one episode of CSI by now with its hard-to-believe story-lines and human bodies dissected like it's a vegetable or something. Go watch it, if you haven't already. It is intelligent crap that makes you wonder why you watched it. But there you go, I let an interesting snippet slip through, about my TV-watching habits. I'm hooked on to silly and over-the-top crime-related TV shows.

As if this was not enough, I watched the 1995 movie...Se7en. But, it was an altogether different experience. I had heard that it is a critically acclaimed movie and I wondered why a thriller is rated so high by critics. Then, I found out. It is a thriller/horror movie that actually transcends both genres. I particularly like movies which engage the viewer with a single emotional thread running through out the story and Se7en has that morbid under-current with some impressive photography to send a few chills down your spine. It has some pretty gory images, but not just for the sake of it. The cast (Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt and Gwyneth Paltrow) is wonderful and the actor who plays the villain (if you haven't watched the movie yet, don't try to find out who the actor is and what the story is...) is too good. You can pretty much guess what is going to happen next as the climax unfolds, but it will leave you with a feeling of dread as the story reaches its end. I would have definitely got scared more, if I had seen it when it was originally released, but that's just me :)...So, 4/4 from me for a real thriller.

I always...

...find these kinds of studies and their results to be quite amusing. Because, in many cases, it's the fundamental error of declaring association as causation. Numbers are thrown at you, particularly percentages, but there is usually no mention of any confounding variables. The article specifically states that little information is available regarding differences in survival among the various types of people who are unmarried, which is perhaps the most necessary evidence to decide whether or not potentially suicidal people should avoid marriage in order to get cancer. I am sure such people would be readily willing to be a part an experimental group in a controlled study. Hmmm, something for the policy makers to think about...

In other health-related WTF news, in a startling revelation by researchers, it was found that smoking ups active TB risk and men are finally catching up in the one area they have been lagging so far. Stay tuned folks, there are more juicy stories coming up.