guys if you see the smart chicken brand in the store when you’re buying chicken buy it trust me, you will taste the “air chilled” difference. These birds are tasty, and you can tell it’s better than the standard not “chill” chicken
Can’t believe she’s still doing this
Was scrolling tiktok and saw the creator of the NPC (pinkydoll) live meta still doing her thing
Air dryers v paper towels
Silly chum bucket meme I made to explain how I feel about air dryers
I can’t tell you the relief I feel when I walk into a bathroom and I see that there’s paper towels, it is often the first thing I scan for when I enter a bathroom. I hate air dryers and I know I’m not the only one, a study done in 2008 on european consumers found that 63% of respondents said they preferred to dry their hands with paper towels. Despite that US. Modor Intelligence thinks that the market for air dryers will increase 6% from now to 2028, something I seriously hope doesn’t happen. Air dryers are loud, unsanitary, and less effective at drying your hands.
Mythbusters proved it in 2013 when they did a bathrooms myth episode. In the episode they reported there were 12 million hand dryers in the US alone Assuming the reported number of 12 million is correct and assuming a 6% growth rate in the ten year period from the release of the episode to now we’d have over 21 million air dryers today and potentially 28 million by 2028. Which may be conservative estimate.
In the first part of episode the mythbusters prove that washing your hands with soap is extremely effective at removing bacteria, only water does a pretty good job but will still leave you with some bacteria and not washing your hands does as you’d expect. Later in the episode (can’t find the clip anywhere, probably the work of big air dryer) they run this same water, soap, and no wash test on 16 participants and also tested the difference in residual bacteria in the hands of the particapants after using air dryers vs. paper towels and found that on average, the paper towels removed 71% of the bacteria on the volunteers’ hands, while the air dryers only removed 23%, confirming the first part of the myth. The other part of the myth they tested was to determine if it was true that air dryers actually blow bacteria everywhere by swabbing the area of a paper towel dispenser versus a hand dryer and they discovered they area around the hand dryer yielded much more bacteria than the area around the paper towel dispenser.
Mayo clinic also ran a study on air drying efficacy and made a similar conclusion about hand dryers. Coming to the result that “residual water was more efficiently removed from the hands by cloth towels. After 10 seconds of drying with a single-serve cloth towel, the residual water on the hands was reduced to 4%. With 15 seconds of drying, the residual water was reduced to 1%. However, hot air dryers were much slower and took 45 seconds to reduce the residual water to 3%.” Also adding that “the degree of wetness encourages the survival and transmission of bacteria on the hands” but also, “other factors also influence the hygiene performance of a hand-drying method” Still despite this study giving the gold to cloth towels it gave paper silver and hand dryers came in broze which is to say last place.
Lastly the noise of air dryers, particularly jet air dryers, are obviously noisier than paper towels or cloth towels. According to Redway and Fawdar,the mean decibel level of using a jet air dryer at 0.5 m was 94 dB, which is in excess of that of a heavy truck passing 3 m away. When 2 jet air dryers were used at the same time, the decibel level at a distance of 2 m was 92 dB. Therefore, in washrooms with jet air dryers, the noise level could constitute a potential risk to those exposed to it for long periods.
The way I see it 40% of bathrooms have either paper towel or air dryers and the other 20% give you both options. With this view which ever side you’re on you probably get what you want when you walk into any given bathroom. Althought after this I don’t know how you can still be on team air dryer which we’ve proven is a minority but despite this the dirty noisy buisness of air dryers seems to be poised for growth. I hope one day you guys on team air dryer see the light.
Prius ad it’s quick now
Have you guys seen the new prius ad? I think it’s a great marketing idea. It’s well known among drivers that a prius driver is (at no fault of there own) going to lose a 0-60 race to a fully loaded semi truck, these cars are slow and I’m sure we’ve all been stuck behind a slow prius driver. I’m sure the people at Toyota were also aware and made an ad admiting to this and boasting how the new one is “quick” perhaps intentionally choosing not to use the word fast. This car will not perform well on the track or for more extreme driving, but for the everyday communte this car will at least make merging on the freeway at a speed consistent with the traffic a likely possibilty. An improvement to the previous prius models.
Bully Concert – Marquis theater Denver, CO
Two days ago I went to a concert at the Marquis theater in Denver, CO to see the band Bully. Marquis theater is a smaller venue which I love because they’re more intimate and fun in my experience than a band with a stadium concert. Bully is a band based out of Nashville, Tennessee and the musical project of lead vocalist and guitarist Alicia Bognanno. The genre is alternative rock. I’m not sure how I found this band but I love a few songs and that’s basically the threshold for me to consider going to a concert. The logic behind this is if I have 3-4 songs from a band that I like if I see them live the chance they don’t play at least one of those is very slim. They played all the hits so I was pleased with that.
Doors opened at 7PM but the show didn’t start till 8PM. The opening act was a band called Bev-rage and the drinks. The lead for this band is a male who performs in drag and is called Beverley hence the name. The sound for these guys is 90’s punk rock. Think NOFX. I will say it seems there audio was louder than the main act but also had better mixing. Leads voice came out clearly which was not the case with bully as sometimes the leads voice would be drowned out by the instruments. But these things happen. Overall this was a good opener and they rocked hard for 30 minutes and got the crowd going.
The band played all the songs I liked and even graced the crowd with a cover of Jane says by Janes Addiction. Honestly I love covers and wish bands would do them more. Like weezers cover album is one of there best albums, some of my favorite nirvana songs are covers. Covers can be better than the original too. They played, feel the same, milkman, runnin, trying andI remember, all the hits and songs I knew well before going to the show, most of the rest was other things I didn’t know but still liked, when feel the same came on I joined the mosh pit and went a little crazy. I usually avoid moshpits but it was really fun, most alive I’ve felt all year, and was the most animated I was the entire show, really love that song. Concerts are the most fun thing I can do I literally love them. Overall this was a good 2 hours of music and I’m glad I went. Truth be told I almost sold the ticket because I’m broke as hell and have social anxiety. But I went to the show alone, felt fine chatted up some strangers danced and overall had a good time. After the show I got home safely in a taxi and called it a night.
Overall I’d recommend going to see bully if you like Alternative rock music. I thought it was a great show and the crowd had great energy. Glad I went. One thing I did like was this discordant chord thing they did in between every song. Cool way to go into a song.
When I look into my crystal ball and think of the future…
I can’t help but think of cybernetics. We’ve seen prostheics really advance over the last decade, in another 10 years who knows but it may be trendy to say goodbye to your perfectly normal fuctional arms or legs or both in exchange for cybernetic prosthetics. I do really think people in the future will in some for or another have wires and circuits in place of bones and veins. In the movie 2001 a space oddysey we are warned of the potential dangers of AI but we are also are shown a black box which to me represents the next step in evolution of our species. The first time we see the box it is amongst early hominids and although intially scared of the black box when they make contact with it they are suddenly inspired to make tools, rapidly advancing the species. Later in the film the monolith appears on the moon this time I believe the advancement is left to interpretation. I reference this because I believe that we as a species are close to this next advancement of our evolution and believe that AI/technology will help us reach it.
Barcelona Trip
Now on to the second leg of my europe trip, what can I say, I loved Barcelona. The design of the city makes it extermely walkable, long courtyards, fun playful design, and the works of gaudi were the highlights. One of my friends was a big fan of the siesta and would like to go take a post lunch nap so I didn’t do as much sightseeing or take as much photos as I would have liked. Here are some of the highlights.
Park Guell – A beautiful park with some real neat design. I really liked how this, like a lot of other gaudi’s works were so playfully designed. A nice walk for about 1.5 to 2 hours. You do have to pay for a ticket and I’d advise doing so ahead of your trip as Ive heard that they can sell out. You also get some great views of the city.
Opium – This was the best of many clubs we went to, I did also like Razzmatazz on Wednesday, that is the day to go, everyone we spoke to gave us that day It was nice but I did not like it more than Opium, which is closer to the beach.
Picasso Museum – I would absolutely recommend this museum. Chock full of the world famous Spanish artists works. A deep and interactive museum that will take at least an hour to go thru. Also shout out to the beautiful and unforgettable Anna from Brazil who I meet during my stay at the museum.
Guell Palace – Another and the only other Gaudi work I saw. This was nice and also literally steps outside of my hotel so doing this happened to be very convienent for us.
Honorable mention – Try Cava, Spains version of champagne. Not to shabby. The food and the culture were the real highlights. I really enjoyed seeing the archtecture of Anton Gaudi who has several large projects throught barcelona. I did not get to see the sacrada familia sadly. Barcelona is also incredibly walkable and safe, even alone at 5AM I did not feel scared, although I did see some questionable things on this walk, we wont talk about that here. Overall I really enjoyed Barcelona and really think its a special town, it gave me new york city vibes but with an even stronger emphasis on public spaces to use however people see fit. Did see a lot of skaters.
Dublin trip
So I mentioned earlier I would talk about my first ever Europe trip, which was ten days and 2 countries. I started my trip in Dublin Ireland. I wanted to go day by day but I’ll instead just talk about the highlights and what I thought of them. All pictures are my own.
Kilmainham Gaol – A jail in Dublin with amazing history and a famous list of convicts, including Joseph Plunkett and many others involved in the 1916 easter uprising (famously called bloody sunday also the title of the irish band U2’s song). Almost didn’t go here, was totally unplanned and needed to get a ticket, I am lucky I arrived early in the morning and even though I didn’t have a ticket I was able to get in the upcoming tour and boy am I glad, this was actually my favorite museum in Dublin, so much history and an amazing building. My guide Daisy was also very attractive which was pleasant but honestly I think this is an absolute must for anyone visiting Dublin.
Temple Bar – I went here twice, once to eat lunch and later in the same day to drink. This is definetly the most popular area in town for drinking and was very busy on the friday night I went, but as the night went on I saw a group of girls, who seemed to be local huffing nitrous oxide ballons and that was enough for me. I left shortly after and did not return except to pass through. I still liked this area as it is the party area in town and has the best nightlife and honestly was having a good time until seeing these girls. As someone who has battled with addiction it made me very uncomfortable to see this. Plus drink prices in this area are higher than other areas as it is a very touristy part of town. If your’re in this part of town stop by bunsen for a delicious burger.
Phoenix Park – absolutley massive park near dublin, I rented a bike and barely did it all in an hour, probably should’ve rented for 3 hours and just given it back after 2 and at least done the whole thing but oh well, did get really luck and saw some very freindly deer, I didn’t have food but it didn’t matter I was still able to get very close to them.
Guiness Brewery and tour – this was a pretty nice tour for being self-guided, there’s some interesting things to learn like the imagery of the harp and the toucan and other animals. that have become symbols of guiness, or that they are the only brewery to roast their own barley, which makes for its distinct color and flavor I also learned a butt load is an actual unit of measurement (125-150 gallons, depending on where you are in the world). You do get a free beer at the top, and it offers some great views of dublin, I went a bit crazy in the merch shop here, I love guiness as a beer and enjoyed the tour, which takes 30 minutes or so to really soak it in or a few minutes if you just run up the stairs to get a “free” beer at the top which I can’t blame you if you did.
Dún Laoghaire – That’s not pronounced how you might suspect. I came here on my last day and took the DART train. I did not have to wait long either time for a train. It was several stops and took roughly 20 minutes to arrive. It was a rainy day the day I arrived so it was very calm and quiet, I did dip my toes in the very cold water, which is what I really wanted to do anyway, as I like to touch water in every place I visit. I ate a lunch at a mall near the railway and got ready to leave.
Jameson Distillery tour – This is a tour with a guide, you will also get a free drink coupon you can enjoy your drink before, during or after the tour. You also will get a few tasters at the end of the tour. I would personally prefer this tour to the guiness one it terms of value.
Frank Ryans/Fidelity bar/Brogans/collins barracks – honorable mention places I’d recommend.
Overall I loved Dublin, It was totally not on my radar at all but I really think its a nice town with a lot of rich history, a tradition of of fighting for independence, being the first country to legalize gay marriage in 2005, exceptional quality in brewng and distilling, and some absolutely massive sea gulls (of which I did not photograph) I loved dublin and it was an unexpected treat, 5 days was the perfect amount of time there I was able to do and this was mostly everything I did in the 5 days, I hope one day to return to Ireland’s beautiful coasts again.
Its sad to admit this but I fall in love very quickly. I’m already thinking about our future after the second date.
Exploring Life's Canvas: Juan Socarraz's Musings and Adventures 