douche bag (plural douche bags)
   1. A bag for holding the water or fluid used in douching.
   2. (vulgar, pejorative) A worthless person.

meme (plural memes)
   1. (philosophy) Any unit of cultural information, such
                   as a practice or idea, that is transmitted
                   verbally or by repeated action from one
                   mind to another. Examples include thoughts,
                   ideas, theories, practices, habits, songs,
                   dances and moods and terms such as race,
                   culture, and ethnicity.
   2. (philosophy) A self-propagating unit of cultural evolution
                   having a resemblance to the gene (the unit of
                   genetics).

About 3 or 4 years ago I started using the word “douche bag” again.  I don’t know where I picked it up, but I bet it was part of a meme.  The term was coined by Richard Dawkins in his book The Selfish Gene.  As stated above, a meme is similar gene in that it transmits information to a biological entity, namely a portion of the human race.  Fads could be seen as memes, especially true fads that start organically.

One night I was apparently dreaming and talking in my sleep, which was keeping my wife up.  She shook me to try to wake me up and apparently I called her a douche bag.  From then on we have been using the term.  I remember using the term in the 80s when it was popular, but could not recall having heard the word since then.  But I subconsciously picked it up somewhere.  I had been affected by a meme.

Douche bag is now making it into mainstream usage.  I have heard it used on a couple of television shows including How I Met You Mother, which is famous for popularizing terms (see: cougar).  It has gotten to the point where we have decide that the term needs to evolve.  We now use “d-bag” or just “douche”.  “Douchebaggery” has also become popular in my house and I am trying to popularize it amongst my friends.

Perhaps “rad” will make a comeback.  Its a great word and the title of a wonderful movie.

NPR’s Fresh Air program has posted a great interview with Frank Partnoy about the history of derivatives. Mr. Partnoy worked in derivatives when that segment of the industry was still very young, and got out about 15 years ago. He then wrote a book called FIASCO: Blood in the Water on Wall Street.

Its very interesting how many people screwed the American people on deregulation.

I buddy of mine that served in Afghanistan sent me a link to this article.  He said news like this really warms his heart.  It really is a feel-good story (at least the first few paragraphs) and illustrates natural selection at work.  Strapping a bomb to your chest or hanging around with people that strap bombs to their chest dramatically increases your likelyhood of getting blown up.  Thanks for the link, Dave.

The Oklahoma State Legislature is investigating the University of Oklahoma for hosting a speech by Richard Dawkins.  Dawkins is a rather famous biologist and author.  The Legislature is upset because Dawkins was there to speak about evolution.  You know, one of the most scientifically backed theories of all time.  You know, the one with mountains of scientific research and evidence.  You know, the theory with so much evidence and research supporting it that many scientists refer to it as the “fact of evolution”.

I suppose these douchebags in Oklahoma will be telling us the world is flat next month.

I usually try to stay clear of celebrity news, but a story this week has caught my attention.  Natasha Richardson, wife of Liam Neeson and an accomplished actress in her own right, died yesterday from a head trauma she received while skiing.  The incident reminded me of something that happened to me when I was 16 or 17.

In high school I didn’t really participate in sports.  I was in the Astronomy Club.  I was in National Honors Society.  That’s right; I was a nerd.  But during the winter I was also a snowboarder and I wasn’t too bad.  This was circa 1990.  At that time snowboarding was just starting to take off.  A lot of resorts still didn’t allow snowboards on their slopes, and some near my hometown in Wyoming had only just started allowing them.

My cadre of snowboarding friends spent weekends in the Big Horn Mountain Range, an off-shoot of the Rocky Mountains in Wyoming.  We hung out at a tiny resort at Meadowlark Lake. The resort itself was on nation forest land, so you could ride anything you wanted to ride. Snowboards were always welcome there as long as I could remember. I think the resort was called “High Park” back then, but I could be high.
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As you can see from that aerial view, the resort is not big. If you look closer you will notice a rock outcropping along the ridge of the resort. Those were the cliffs we foolishly jumped off on our snowboards.

The first time I jumped was exhilarating. I jumped from a 20′ cliff into powder, and was at the bottom of the hill in about 2 minutes. I was so excited I just cruised straight down the run. A few weeks later we were back and everyone was jumping from the cliff. Soon this was something we did every time we went. Well, until one day. We hadn’t been to Meadowlark Lake for a few weeks and it had been warm, and then snowed in our absence. We all got off the lift and hiked up to the top of the cliff. I strapped in and headed down the short run leading to the drop-off. I remember being in the air, then I remember being at the bottom of the mountain. The rest I have been told by friends.

I landed in a couple of inches of powder sitting on what was basically packed snow and ice. My head slammed down into my knees. I crumpled over and passed out. Apparently I became functional enough to get up and tell people I was OK, and wheeled off into the back country with the rest of the group. I apparently did a log slide and a couple of other jumps along the way down. When I got to the bottom I was just standing around and a friend asked me if I was OK. I didn’t remember that he had come up with us. I asked, “When did you get here?” I sat next to him in the car on the way up, so this got everyone’s attention. That is when I was sent into the lodge to rest. That was my last run of the day.

I did end up jumping from a higher cliff later, but we always checked to make sure there was powder. And none of us were wearing helmets. I guess I could have just as easily brained myself right there that day or any of the other times we did really stupid things, and not it made it any further into my life. It really brings things into perspective when you read about a tragedy like the one reported in the news this week. The next time I go snowboarding I am wearing a helmet.