The Basement

A place for random things and flights of fancy.
  • Mom: I was at this party where a lady told me that I look like Audrey Hepburn.
  • Me: Huh?
  • Mom: I think it has something to do with my new haircut...

The experiment — and others like it — didn’t give Stapel the desired results, he said. He had the choice of abandoning the work or redoing the experiment. But he had already spent a lot of time on the research and was convinced his hypothesis was valid. “I said — you know what, I am going to create the data set,” he told me.

kateoplis: “In 1967, Kathrine Switzer was the first woman to run the Boston marathon. After realizing that a woman was running, race organizer Jock Semple went after Switzer shouting, “Get the hell out of my race and give me those numbers.” However, Switzer’s boyfriend and other male runners provided a protective shield during the entire marathon.The photographs taken of the incident made world headlines, and Kathrine later won the NYC marathon with a time of 3:07:29.” Wiki

kateoplis:

“In 1967, Kathrine Switzer was the first woman to run the Boston marathon. After realizing that a woman was running, race organizer Jock Semple went after Switzer shouting, “Get the hell out of my race and give me those numbers.” However, Switzer’s boyfriend and other male runners provided a protective shield during the entire marathon.The photographs taken of the incident made world headlines, and Kathrine later won the NYC marathon with a time of 3:07:29.” Wiki

(Source: sabino)

Let those who commit crimes like rape feel hunted, feel the burden of guilt and censure. Until we’ve matured as a society to the stage where we can actually appreciate the strength of those who survive brutality, perhaps we should start pinning blame and not forgetting the names of those who commit these inhuman acts. Name the man who kidnapped and raped the little girl fighting for her life. Don’t forget his name the way most of us have forgotten the names of the men found guilty of the gang-rape in December last year. Plaster his face on every surface, physical and virtual. Let him and those like him know that it doesn’t matter who you are or how well you know your victim or the family, there are consequences—legal and social—for being monsters.

wtfevolution: Seems like everyone could use a hug this week. Good thing evolution gave the blue-ringed octopus all those arms.  (Disclaimer: The blue-ringed octopus is venomous. Please do not actually attempt to hug one.)

wtfevolution:

Seems like everyone could use a hug this week. Good thing evolution gave the blue-ringed octopus all those arms. 

(Disclaimer: The blue-ringed octopus is venomous. Please do not actually attempt to hug one.)

When we started running in road races and stuff, I used to get a lot of phone calls and letters from other families that had disabled people, and they were very upset with me; they said, `What are you doing dragging the disabled son through all these races? Are you just looking for glory for yourself?”‘ Dick Hoyt told Sports Illustrated for a story published a few days ago. “What they didn’t realize: He was the one dragging me through all these races.

I volunteered for the ‘More Magazine Women’s Half Marathon’ today. Here are some things I’ve learnt about NYRR and some amazing people who live in New York .

Most people volunteer with NYRR to satisfy the ‘9+1’ requirement to run ‘The New York Marathon’, runners typically volunteer once a year.There are a bunch of people who work as volunteers for every race held by NYRR irrespective of weather or location. They don’t run, they don’t get paid and they don’t get free stuff. My team captain Maria, a grandmother and an ESL teacher living in the Bronx,is one such person. When we asked her what keeps her going, she said, ‘You guys’.

The race track for a half marathon is kept open for 4 hours while that for a full marathon is kept open for 6 hours. Volunteers have to arrive at least an hour and a half before the race begins and stay back to clean up the mess after the track is closed. Eight thousand women registered to run the half marathon today and the average time spent by each volunteer was 6 hours. 

We met this woman in her nineties who also works as a volunteer. She has run three marathons and gets dialysis twice a week.

The race started at 8 am and at 12 pm we were told that there were still 180 people on the race track. We had to shut things down anyway.

I met this guy who’s an ultra runner and has an average mileage of 100 miles per week. I thought he was awesome till he spoke about this 70 year old woman who finished an ultra marathon in around 22 hours.

I feel like such a slacker now.

Bangla New Year or Pohela Boishakh connects all Ethnic Bengalis irrespective of religious and regional differences. Ethnic Bengalis across the world and from all walks of life unite to celebrate the Public or Universal Festival of Bengalis i.e. Pohela Boishakh; it’s the occasion to welcome the New-Year with a new hope of peace, prosperity and goodwill. Poyela Boishakh generally falls on 14thor 15th of April of the Georgian calendar. In Bangladesh, it is a national holiday celebrated around14th April according to the official amended calendar designed by the Bangla Academy. In India, in Indian/West Bengal &Assam it is a public (state) holiday and is publicly celebrated on 15th of April

(via asianhistory)