Showing posts with label Smell. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Smell. Show all posts

June 6, 2021

Military Might

This was an interesting saying about getting soldiers to their peak performance:

You will breath thunder and fart lightening!

Yep, that's pretty scary stuff. 

Here it comes! ;-)

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)


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February 3, 2021

The Sniffer Isn't Working


Someone really had a premonition posting this sign before Covid!

The sign says simply:

Smell Me!!

The response to this now-a-days would be the person with Covid yelling back:

I can't smell (or taste) anything!

Now frustrated, the other person replies:

But please, please smell me. 

Second person, tries and tries again:

Sniff, sniff--darn, the sniffer just isn't working. 

Get out the smelling salts!

Six months later, I still can't smell a skunk in the same room. 

What type of crazy pandemic is this!  ;-)

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)


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October 21, 2020

Watch Where You Stick Your Nose

This was an interesting sign:

We love it when you stick you nose in our business...

Gee, I sure hope this isn't referring to a manure business.  LOL

In short, be careful into what stink you stick you nose in or know when to mind your own business!  ;-)

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)


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September 15, 2020

Garden of 5 Senses

Garden of Five Senses in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. 

I hear it and I see it, but I can barely believe it.  

I can touch it, and I can even taste it, but that's going too far. 

I can smell it, but in a good way.  ;-)

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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July 9, 2019

Smell The Flowers

Beautiful flowers. 

G-d made them for us. 

Soft petals. 

Magnificent colors.

Fresh sweet smells. 

The sound of rustling in the wind. 

Absorbing the rays of sunshine.

Drinking the rain water. 

Planted in the soil of the earth. 

Magical flowers of life, love, and peace. 

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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April 18, 2019

This Is What You Smell

Great sign at the nut stand at Sugarloaf Festival.
"This Is What You Smell!"

Hot cinnamon pecans or almonds. 

Wow, did that smell nice.

I got a tiny bag of the pecans, and when I opened it, the smell and taste that hot cinnamon really took over. 

Were there other smells present as well?

Probably, but I chose to focus on the cinnamon nuts. 

The other smells will have to wait for their special sign and appropriate attention to deal with it. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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April 2, 2019

On Taste And Smell

Just wanted to share this saying (translated from Hebrew) that I like:
On taste and smell, there is no argument.

What tastes or smells good or bad to one person versus another is not up for debate. 

Each person has their own taste buds and odor senses.

Some people may be more or less sensitive to different tastes and smells. 

So there is no arguing there.

You either like or you don't like. 

That's your prerogative!

Don't make a big stink about it. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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February 1, 2017

Sushi Socks Dating

So this is a novel way to sell socks.

Roll them up and package them like a sushi roll. 

Socks are the colors and textures of various fish.

Not sure why anyone would want socks that mimic sushi...

Unless of course, you feet stink like raw fish!

My wife knows this true story about this one girl that I dated before I met her, and she came over to my parents house and was waiting for me. 

When I got there, she was sitting on the couch and her shoes were off. 

It was after a long day at work apparently, and her feet smelled worse than any fish I could imagine. 

Literally, I think I could've passed out right there on the floor. 

Date was over and quick, and I never forget those sushi feet. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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April 29, 2016

Better Than A Cadaver

So I'm at the doctor's office for a checkup.

The doctor tells me to lie down on the exam table. 

There is also a 3rd year medical student in the room as part of her training. 

The exam starts and there are all these devices for checking things out. 

It's feeling a little tense. 

I jokingly say, "I feel like a cadaver lying here (being studied)."

Then the medical student says, "Oh you smell much better than a cadaver! I just took that class."

Oh, how comforting is that--smelling better than a stinkin' dead person whose been embalmed!

At which point, there is some ridiculous talk about dead people and formaldehyde, body odor, and decay.

This was quite a lively visit, but I hope it was helpful to me and to medical science. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

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March 17, 2016

Exercise It Dirty

So these ladies and gents are exercising underground in the Metro tunnel. 

They have grabbed the banister underneath and are doing pullups. 

However, the tunnels are really ick!

Often a sheltering place for the unfortunate, homeless, and sick trying to get out with their belongings from the cold or rainy weather. 

And the smell of urine is not uncommon even with the CCTV cameras at either end, 

Nice to workout and toughen up, but this is more than a share of morning wash up or hand sanitizer can deal with. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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September 8, 2015

Smelt It Dealt It

As kids, there always used to be someone who would run around holding their nose, and yelling at the smallest sign of someone's flatulence...Eew!

In turn, the other kids would all chime in: "The person who smelt it, dealt it!"

Might as well push the responsibility where it rightfully belongs--uh, maybe. 

This is what kids do--they are not politically correct in the slightest!

Are adults any better really?

I've seen grown men and women start holding their noses and waving their hands in front of their faces when someone is stinking up the local air.

In particular, this happens quite a bit on places like the crowded Metro and elevators...going down. 

People are unforgiving when the air is foul. 

Personally, I am very sensitive to bad smells and hot air--my A/C is running full blast all around the year...even in Winter, seriously!

When I saw this sign in a storefront window that said, "Free Smells," I thought to myself, gee we got enough smells to last a lifetime, and that's why fresh air and nature is so appealing to the good 'ol olfactory senses. 

Free smells...unless it's fresh flowers or some savory dish to eat--you can have it--free or not, I frankly don't give a damn.  

My personal belief is that an odor is far more likely to cause you a gag sensation than put a refreshing smile on your ugly face. 

Good etiquette, keep your smells to yourself. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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August 11, 2015

Cholent Stew - Not Just A Game

So I can't believe they actually made a "strategy card game" about cholent. 

The only strategy that I know of with cholent is to make it hot, goopy, meaty, and savory. 

Cholent is a beef stew typically eaten for Shabbat lunch. 

Basic ingredients: beans, barely, potatoes, fatty fanken meat, sometimes a kishka is thrown in, onions and other veggies, salt, pepper, and lots of savory spices. 

Usually it cooks in a crock pot overnight. 

The sephardim call this dish Hamin (instead of cholent) and typically put in some hard-boiled eggs as well. 

With cholent, you can essentially throw in the kitchen sink as long as it add to the heartiness and flavor of the dish. 

Eating cholent is such a tradition that it is almost considered a special mitzvah to do it. Ah, would that make it commandment #614? 

When cholent is served at the kiddish (the meal after Shabbat services in synagogue), it is usually the highlight where everybody gathers around with big laddles to dig in and get the nice portions of meat bopping around in the stew or often sunken to the very bottom to be found and surfaced by the lucky lunch patrons. 

In New York, my friends used to have a running joke that there was a secret ingredient the Rebetzin used to make it so good--what it was, all bets were on. 

The biggest problem with cholent are the loads of beans ("the musical food") and the most unpleasant odor-filled aftereffects--and of this we will not speak again! 

What type of game can you play with cholent? You can probably just toot out the answer when you're ready. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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January 25, 2015

Size And Smell

So apparently data mining can be used for all sorts of research...

In the New York Times today, Seth Stephens-Davidowitz tries his hand with google search results to better understand people's feelings about sex. 

Though Stephens-Davidowitz doesn't explain how he gets these google statistics...here are some standouts:

As you might have guessed, the biggest complaint from men--and women--is that they don't get/have enough sex. 

For both (as you might imagine in a primarily--95%--heterosexual world), traditional surveys show that it's about once a week.

However, the author says this is exaggerated (yeah, is it surprising that people exaggerate about this?) and it's actually only about 30 times a year--or once every 12 days.

So there are a lot of search on "sexless" or "won't have sex with me."

Observing that "sex can be quite fun," he questions, "why do we have so little of it?"

And he concludes that it's because we have "enormous anxiety" and insecurity about our bodies and sexuality.

Again, you probably wouldn't need data mining to guess the results, but men's biggest worry is about their penis size, and one of women's most toxic worries--a "strikingly common concern"--is about the smell of their vagina.

For men, they actually google questions about genital size more often than they have questions about any other body part; in fact, more than "about their lungs, liver, feet, ears, nose, throat, and brain combined."

So much for health consciousness versus machismo pride. 

The funny thing is apparently women don't seem to care so much about this with only about 1 search on this topic for every 170 searches that men do on this. 

Surprising to most men, about 40% of the searches women do conduct on this topic is "complaints" that it is too big!

Not that size doesn't matter to women, but for them it's about the size of their breasts and butts--and again, bigger being generally considered better.

In this case, most men seem to agree. 

Another issue men are concerned about is premature ejaculation and how to make the experience last longer.

However, here women seem to be looking for information about half and half on how to make men climax more quickly on one hand, and more slowly on the other. 

Overall, men are from Mars and women from Venus, with lot's of misunderstanding between the sexes.

The conclusion from this big data study...everyone calm down and just try to enjoy each other more.

Amazing the insights we can get from data mining! ;-)

(Source Photo: here with attribution to Daniel)
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September 29, 2013

Smellicious

This past week in the office we had an etiquette offense. 

Someone had some lunch that was smell-eeeee!

The whole suite was reeking from it.

First one person runs up to me as I enter the suite and says, "Did you smell it?"

Just getting over a cold, I say innocently, "Smell what?"

Then as I head down the hall, even the sniffles doesn't protect me from whatever's been cooking in lunch-land.

Ick--it's like a combination of day old leftovers that have been warmed over with a foul fishy smell combusting the whole work area. 

Next, I see one guy running around the cubicles with a air freshener--spraying and spraying--everywhere. 

Followed by a lady, with a similar aerosol, sticking her head in the offices and giving a spritz or two or three. 

Colleagues were gathering to discuss the stink and venture guesses as to who the culprit was that would invoke such horror in the office. 

Jokes and mild-mannered innuendoes followed to sort of lighten the mood of the folks that had been working extra hard the last few months. 

The stick stunk for almost 24-hours, but despite the bad smell in the air, the gregarious mood made up for it--as it was just another event we could bond around--the smell, the sights of the people running around with air fresheners, and the good-natured ridicule on who would offend and break the professional code of conduct--and leave everyone gasping for breath. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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March 4, 2012

Sniffing Out Cancer

Metabolomx
A few years ago, researchers found that Dogs could actually identify people with cancer at a 99% accuracy rate by simply smelling human's breath. 

One of the problems with this diagnostic method though is that hospitals and doctors offices have not been inclined to house and care for these animals in medical facilities treating people.

Technology to the rescue and this one has no dog in the fight...

The Metabolomx is a computing machine with attached breathing tube that can be rolled over to a patient who breathes into it for just 4 minutes to can get a diagnose on the spot.

This is very different from current methods and is without painful and intrusive tests (such as biopsies) or waiting weeks for lab results to come back and be read by your doctor.  

The machine captures and analyzes the chemistry of the person's exhaled breath in the form of aerosolized molecules and determines it's "smell signature".

According to Bloomberg BusinessWeek (5-11 March 2012), by comparing the sample smell to the biomarkers for cancer, the Metabolomx has already achieved an 80% success rate for detecting lung cancer.

A newer version of the machine is 100 to 1,000 times more sensitive, which should greatly improve accuracy, hopefully hitting at or above 93%, which will make it viable for commercial use.

The Metabolomx is envisioned be able to detect and differentiate between various types of cancer such as lung, breast, colon, and more. 

Moreover, this technology is not limited to just cancer--but other companies such  as Menssana are testing it with tuberculosis and pediatric asthma.  

Further, another benefit of the Metabolonx is that is can not only be used to diagnose cancer, but to signal reduction or elimination of the cancer with various treatments.

I hope the next step for technology like the Metabolomx is to not only detect the cancer, but be able to "zap it" and rid it from our bodies--then we'll have a technology that can really snuff out the cancer.

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