She Has No Fear, Which Is Dangerous

Near the opening of David Lean's epic movie, Lawrence of Arabia, we view Lawrence with non-coms in the mapping room of British HQ, Cairo, during WWI. As if damning the British class-system, Lieutenant Lawrence (Peter O'Toole) strikes a match to light a corporal's cigarette, then very slowly closes his finger and thumb upon the flame. His face is very attentive while the sergeant and corporal watch, fascinated, as Lawrence extinguishes the flame. The corporal then tries the trick with a burning match but drops it in pain. He complains that it hurts, to which Lawrence answers, "Certainly it hurts."

"Well what’s the trick then?" asks the corporal.

"The trick," says Lawrence, "is not minding if it hurts."

The scene serves as a metaphor of what neuroscience has learned about pain.

Around the World in a 1928 Graham-Paige

Top speed 40 mph. After driving their way through Africa, the Zapp family has another continent on their to-do list--Europe. "For the last 13 years, Herman and Candelaria Zapp have traversed the coasts of South and North America, Asia, Australia and Africa in their 85-year-old vehicle which has also been their home. Along the way they have covered almost 200,000 miles and visited more than 40 countries. Oh and they've also had four kids--all born in different countries.

In the Middle of Siberia the Train Left Him Behind

True story. You are a Frenchman riding on the Trans-Siberian railway and you find some Russians who befriend you and ply you with drinks. The drunker you get, the more you like these guys. They are great pals. Then your pals tell you that there is no more vodka. At the next whistle stop they push you, thoroughly soused, off the train to buy more. You are dressed in pants and T-shirt and you don't know where you are. You look at the departing train as you shiver. It is thirteen degrees below zero (-25C). Far away, now, speeding down the track, your pals have taken the money from your wallet and flushed the billfold down the toilet. You speak no Russian and are in the middle of nowhere. What are you going to do? More

It's Not A Reality In Russia

"The fundamental premise for most Western reality shows is what people in the industry call ‘aspirational’: someone works hard and is rewarded with a wonderful new life." They have tried reality shows in Russia and things are different.

The Lonely Crowd of The 21st Century

"Americans, plugged in and on the move, are confiding in their pets, their computers, and their spouses. What they need is to rediscover the value of friendship. . . .

. . . today 'friends' are everywhere in our culture—the average Facebook user has 130—and friendship, of a diluted kind, is our most characteristic relationship: voluntary, flexible, a 'lite' alternative to the caloric meshugaas of family life.

But in restricting ourselves to the thin gruel of modern friendships, we miss out on the more nourishing fare that deeper ones have to offer. . . .