Matty's Blog

R.I.P. James Gammon 1940-2010

2010-07-19T15:51:00.001-07:00

Sad day, learning one of my favorite character actors James Gammon has passed away today. Aww, I might have to watch Major League tonight in his honor (he was Cleveland Indians manager Lou Brown). He was also in tons of westerns, just saw him in Streets of Loredo on Netflix, but he was in Wyatt Earp and Silverado and tons and tons of other stuff.

Some of my favorite Lou Brown lines:

You may run like Hayes. but you hit like shit.

Come on Dorn, get in front of the damn ball! Don't give me this "olé" bullshit!

Okay Vaughn. They say you're a pitcher, you're sure not much of a dresser. We wear caps and sleeves on this level, son.

R.I.P. dude!

Wonder If They're Good Eatin'

2010-04-21T15:55:00.000-07:00

Bad Joke

2010-04-21T15:43:00.000-07:00

Crazy Lookin' Dog

2010-04-21T15:41:00.000-07:00

Nice Shirt, Asshole

2010-04-21T15:39:00.000-07:00

2010-04-15T15:24:00.002-07:00

Oh, RIP Bea

2010-04-15T15:24:00.001-07:00

2010-04-15T15:23:00.000-07:00

Popsicles

2010-04-15T15:20:00.000-07:00

Oscar!

2010-01-21T14:59:00.001-08:00

Damn Right - Team Conan Unite!

2010-01-14T16:06:00.001-08:00

GAND-ALF

2010-01-14T16:05:00.000-08:00

Sexual Predator

2010-01-14T16:00:00.001-08:00

The Archaeological Method

2010-01-14T15:59:00.000-08:00

Camo

2009-11-20T13:52:00.001-08:00

2009-11-20T13:51:00.001-08:00

2009-11-20T13:49:00.000-08:00

2009-11-17T15:41:00.002-08:00

What My State is Coming To

2009-11-17T15:41:00.001-08:00

2009-11-17T15:40:00.000-08:00

Why Disney is a Bad Influence

2009-11-17T15:19:00.002-08:00

Spot the Musician

2009-11-17T15:19:00.001-08:00

Daaaammmmnnnn!!!

2009-11-17T15:11:00.000-08:00

I can't be bothered with actually sitting through the pretentious, annoying and materialistic trite that is the show Gossip Girl, but that doesn't mean Matty doesn't want to man up on the dynamic duo of Blake and Leighton, preferably both wearing these same exact outfits and preferably both at the same time!

R.I.P. Claude Lévi-Strauss 1908-2009

2009-11-03T14:27:00.000-08:00

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/science-obituaries/6496558/Claude-Levi-Strauss.html

Think Pink

2009-10-18T13:46:00.000-07:00

2009-09-25T17:27:00.002-07:00

2009-09-25T17:27:00.001-07:00

Fatty

2009-09-25T17:25:00.000-07:00

R.I.P. Teddy Kennedy 1932-2009

2009-08-26T16:30:00.000-07:00

7 Days, 45 Beers

2009-07-13T15:51:00.000-07:00

Just returned from vacation, full of friends and beer! My goal was to try as many different beers as possible. And I think I succeeded. Here's my list, chronological, and keep in mind some of these were ordered by Dave or Eric or Sergio and then sampled by Matty. There were definitely some tasty and memorable ones in here. I can still taste the Dogfish Head (very good) and Stone Smoked Porter (interesting but not my cup of tea). Sigh. I love beer!

Coronado Mermaid's Red Ale
Firehouse Hefeweizen
Stone Arrogant Bastard Ale
Alaskan Summer Kolsch-Style Ale
Fat-Tire
Longboard Ale
Ballast Point Yellowtail Pale Ale
Green Flash Hop Head Red Ale
Stone Smoked Porter
Stone Pale Ale
Stella Artois
Tennent's Lager of Scotland
Tilted Kilt Signature Draft
Anchor Steam
Affligen Blond Ale
Grimbergen Double Ale
Dead Guy Ale
Morimoto Imperial Pilsner
Issaquah's White Frog
St. Rogue Dry Hop Red
Rogue Imperial IPA
Issaquah Menage Frog
Rogue's Shakespeare Stout
Rogue's Anniversary Charlie
Rogue's Imperial Red
Dos Equis
Simpler Times Brand Pilsner
Pliny the Elder
Spaten Mai Bock
Reisdorf Kolsch
La Chouffe
Erdinger Hefeweizen
Korbinian Doppelboch
Stiegl
Radeberger
Duvel Green
Dogfish Head Midas Touch
Moonlight Death and Taxes
Firestone Union Jack
Russia River Blind Pig
Firestone Nectar IPA
Drop Top Amber Ale
Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA
Great White Beer
Anchor Steam Summer Ale

Great new funny Website

2009-07-02T16:10:00.000-07:00

I love this site I ran across called "There, I fixed it!". Hilarious!!! Photos like these:

What a Horrible Graph!

2009-07-01T16:06:00.001-07:00

Just a Reminder...I'm Still Alive and Still Love Blake!!!

2009-06-19T15:31:00.000-07:00

Ran into her in Vegas last week!!! We are such a cute couple!

I Can See Chevy Chase...

2009-06-19T14:30:00.000-07:00

...going around Paris on one of these things. What ridiculous things Segways are.

Worst Game Ever

2009-06-19T14:02:00.001-07:00

Millions Protesting in Iran

2009-06-19T13:24:00.000-07:00

Pretty awesome if you ask me. And Bush called this whole country part of the axis of evil...when all these free people are getting together in the streets and voicing their opinion so much stronger and louder based upon election outcomes than we ever do here in the states.

Awkward Family Photos

2009-05-21T16:14:00.000-07:00

Simply the best new blog I've found...I'm laughing my ass off!

http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com

No Mo' Breakfast

2009-03-07T14:18:00.001-08:00

Man Arrested for Putting Cat in Bong

2009-03-02T14:55:00.000-08:00

From CNN.com: OMAHA, Neb. - A man who tried to cool out his hyper cat by stuffing her into a boxlike homemade bong faces cruelty charges — and catcalls from animal lovers.

Lancaster County sheriff's deputies responding to a domestic disturbance call Sunday alleged they saw 20-year-old Acea Schomaker smoking marijuana through a piece of garden hose attached to a duct-taped, plastic glass box in which the cat had been stuffed.

Schomaker told deputies 6-month-old Shadow was hyper and he was trying to calm her down. The contraption she had been stuffed inside was 12 inches by 6 inches. Shadow was timid but in good condition Monday at the Capital Humane Society, executive director Bob Downey said.

Schomaker was cited for misdemeanor animal cruelty and paid a $400 fine. He also faces drug charges. He did not immediately respond to phone messages left Monday seeking comment.

Does This Make Sense to Anyone?

2009-02-12T10:51:00.000-08:00

So I am flying out in a couple hours to do some gigs at a casino in St. Louis with our theatre troupe. There are 13 of us flying from California on the trip. But my bosses somehow booked us to fly from Southern California with one stop in Phoenix to then end in Kansas City. That's right, Kansas City, not St. Louis. So they then booked us a bus to take us from KC to St. Louis, clear across the state, something like 300 miles or so. We leave here at 4pm, arrive in KC at 11:30pm, and then get immediately on the bus (or so we're told) to take us to St. Louis. I think it was cheaper for them to get us plane tickets to KC and then rent one bus. Ummmm..........retarded??? Inconvenient? Unnecessary?

This Koala Will End You!

2009-02-12T09:15:00.000-08:00

Long Carrots

2009-02-12T09:05:00.000-08:00

Ewwww!!!

2009-02-12T09:02:00.000-08:00

OMG, the octopussy mom when she was pregnant. Still can't believe my taxes have to pay for her 14 kids!

Happy 200th, You Guys

2009-02-12T09:00:00.000-08:00

I think it's pretty amazing that both Lincoln and Charles Darwin were born on the same day of the same year: February 12, 1809. Cool.

Scarlett Stunning

2009-02-03T15:57:00.001-08:00

I Want

2009-02-03T15:56:00.001-08:00

Here Kitty Kitty Kitty

2009-02-03T15:53:00.000-08:00

A Brand New Day, Baby!

2009-01-21T14:36:00.001-08:00

The Perfect Man For the Job

2009-01-21T14:35:00.001-08:00

2009-01-21T14:33:00.000-08:00

What's Grosser Than Gross?

2009-01-21T14:32:00.000-08:00

Butt flies!!

Separated at Birth?

2009-01-21T14:31:00.000-08:00

2009-01-21T14:02:00.000-08:00

True dat!

2008-12-15T16:23:00.001-08:00

No Words for This

2008-12-15T16:22:00.001-08:00

In the Line of Fire

2008-12-15T16:19:00.002-08:00

Where was Clint Eastwood???

P.S. This is supposed to be an animated jpeg of that guy throwing his shoes at Bush. If it doesn't work, just use your imagination.

Um...?

2008-12-15T16:19:00.001-08:00

Some Beautiful Blake for a Rainy Day

2008-12-15T16:03:00.000-08:00

Moustache + Mullet + 1989 = Sexy

2008-12-09T16:35:00.000-08:00

I really can't decide which one is sexier. They're both just quite sublime. My new favoritist blog out there today?!? Sexy People!!! IT IS SO AWESOME. Trust me, you have to visit.

American Beauty

2008-12-09T16:27:00.001-08:00

The truth hurts. We're a credit/consumer monster.

How They Shot the Godfather

2008-12-09T16:23:00.001-08:00

A great little article, I'm assuming a snippet from the Godfather Family Album. Damn interesting stuff...I especially love candid movie photos of actors' downtime or shots like this of Sonny getting ready to get shot all to hell at the toll booth. The Family Album is selling for 400 pounds, which is how much American $? 600 or so? Yikes!

Passive Aggressive Notes

2008-12-09T16:16:00.000-08:00

A delightful new blog I've found. Definitely worth a check every once and a while. Passive Aggressive Notes.

Fugly or Pretty

2008-11-25T15:30:00.000-08:00

I can't make up my mind. I found these Katy Perry pictures on a guilty pleasure website of mine called gofugyourself.com. So very ugly (or fugly) celebs on this site. Case in point is Katy Perry, who at times seems very fugly, but then surprises me. So I can't make up my mind. Anyway...here she is.

It's Not a Tumor - Doctors Find Worm In Woman's Brain Instead

2008-11-25T15:05:00.000-08:00

Check out this amazing (true) story and the video that accompanies it! It's so awesome!!! Here's the link!

My Worst Nightmare

2008-11-25T14:56:00.001-08:00

KILL IT!!!

GET A FLAMETHROWER!!! BURN THE PLACE DOWN!!!

UGH!!!!!!!!

KILL THEM ALL! FOR GOD'S SAKE!!!!!!! THEY CAN'T BE ALLOWED TO SPREAD!!!

Happy Friday

2008-11-21T14:48:00.001-08:00

Palin's Turkey Massacre

2008-11-21T14:44:00.000-08:00

Where else did you think turkey dinner came from? Still, a bit shocking to see her just nonchalantly chatting while Slaughterhouse guy kills Tom the Turkey in the background. Sigh.

Um...getting ready for Thanksgiving? Wanna make a bet this guy was winded after picking up his bird?

2008-11-21T14:28:00.000-08:00

There's Someone For Everyone

2008-11-21T14:22:00.000-08:00

Our 44th President!

2008-11-06T16:06:00.000-08:00

Hint: Not the white guy.

7 Wookies Just Because

2008-10-30T16:28:00.000-07:00

My Governor (shudder)

2008-10-30T16:27:00.001-07:00

2008-10-30T16:26:00.000-07:00

A Letter

2008-10-30T16:16:00.000-07:00

Had this published today in our newspaper, in regards to a previous Letter to the Editor from a student who had a position that gay marriage was somehow innately immoral. Proposition 8 is perhaps the second most popular thing going down on Nov. 4 (aside from Barack vs. John of course).

I doubt I’ll be the only one responding to Kristen Steeve’s confusing and convoluted letter regarding Proposition 8 (Letters, Oct. 15), so I will try to be as brief and direct as possible. Steeve leads us to believe by her letter that her moral beliefs were not conditioned by social situation but rather acquired in utero. She uses both murder and gay marriage as offenses to her moral code. As you may well imagine, this connection has left some of us in the philosophy department chomping at the bit.

Is it only the act of gay marriage that Steeve finds immoral or the people themselves? It must be a wonder to Steeve that Massachusetts, which has had legalized gay marriage for almost five years now, hasn’t completely burned to the ground. After all, if gay marriage really is immoral, there must be some proof to show for it in a state that has had it legalized for close to half a decade. Yet, Steeve presents no evidence.

Back here in California, Steeve has a moral dilemma to confront when considering the case of San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis. This elected, openly gay DA — the first in the nation and also the first Jewish and female DA in the county’s history — just this past weekend announced she had married her longtime partner. If Steeve is correct, what a dilemma that the voters have entrusted the prosecution of nearly all the county’s felonies to such an immoral person!

Luckily, the United States of America, in working theory at least, is neither a theocracy nor a society that allows for the discrimination of individuals based upon outdated cultural or religious fears of difference. Instead, this country is dedicated to the proposition that all men and women are created equally. After all, there’s a reason why the county courthouse doesn’t discriminate based upon gender, sexuality, race, creed, etc. when selecting juries. Quite simply, the United States of America is blind to such differences of biology and situation.

Steeve is also wrongly under the impression that “might makes right” in this country. She claims the voters have already decided in a majority to outlaw gay marriage and obtusely claims that “society,” in a fifth graders’ definition of society, has already made up its mind on the issue. Thankfully, the Constitution protects minority groups from illegal, persecuting laws decided on by that majority.

Many opponents to Proposition 8 correctly cite the 1967 U.S. Supreme Court decision Loving v. Virginia, which overturned the commonwealth’s interracial marriage ban, as an example of the fine checks and balances system we have at work here to protect our liberties. Yet, according to Gallup in a poll conducted in 1968 after the Supreme Court gave its ruling lifting the ban, only 20 percent of Americans agreed with the court’s decision. Twenty percent! In other words, an “overwhelming” majority of Americans would’ve voted against civil liberties and entrusted the government to dictate to its citizens what race of person they could marry.

Speaking 40 years later, I can’t fathom having my government telling me that I couldn’t marry someone else just because she was Asian, Chicana, African-American, etc. Yet if Proposition 8 passes, the California Constitution will be changed to officially ban loving couples from marrying solely based on the differences they may have from the “majority” of this state.

In conclusion, I’ll leave you with U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren’s written opinion on Loving v. Virginia back in 1967 and hope that you join me in voting “no” on Proposition 8: “The freedom to marry has long been recognized as one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men. Marriage is one of the ‘basic civil rights of man,’ fundamental to our very existence and survival.”

-Matty

Been a Long Time

2008-10-30T16:15:00.001-07:00

since I've posted. Hard to believe it's less than a week until the election. Change is coming, baby!

2008-09-25T15:39:00.001-07:00

This is the TV Show That Has Come to OB

2008-09-05T14:49:00.003-07:00

Viewers beware!!!

Um...

2008-09-05T14:49:00.001-07:00

Religion Against Free Speech

2008-09-05T14:48:00.000-07:00

Billy Joel's Daughter is Scary Ugly!!!

2008-09-05T14:47:00.001-07:00

Last FBOFW Strip

2008-09-05T14:42:00.001-07:00

I haven't been happy with the strip since the whole Elizabeth/Anthony plot line came about last year. It was, in my opinion, just a cop out to tie up the series nice and neat. Also somewhat disappointed that Grandpa Joe gets hospitalized, can't make the wedding, but then somehow will recover in the imaginary world until he dies off in the distant future. Weird. She should've tied it up with him dying at the end. Or, better yet, have him go to the wedding and when the priest asks if anyone objects to that geek Anthony marrying Liz, have Grandpa get up and have a heartattack. That woulda been perfect!! But regardless of my criticisms, congrats to Lynn Johnston and her staff for all the hard work they put into that script for the last 20 some years.

Gordon Lightfoot is a Rock

2008-08-27T00:17:00.000-07:00

An awful week for Matty so far. In chronological order, 1) my computer has trojan viruses in it so it's broken and can only operate in safe mode (the 'with networking' option allows me to have limited internet accessibility and I am surprised it even let me log onto blogger, not sure this will even post) so I need to wipe the hard drive and restore it but I somehow lost my restore disk so I'm trying to borrow one from someone and either that will work or I'll have to buy a new computer, then 2) I got a $40 parking ticket today, on my own campus, because I parked illegally for, literally, 20 seconds to drop something off at work early in the morning and 3) had to tell a girl with which I have a complicated, to say the least, history, that not only do I not want a relationship with her but I don't think we can really be friends either, and as of right now it's only Tuesday. This sucks.

My rock and relief is Gordon Lightfoot music, which soothes the soul and has an honesty and humble message to it lyrically as well as instrumentally. I own something like 9 Gordon albums on old records so listening to them on my record player does some good for the soul. Right now I'm leaning on Daylight Katy from the Endless Wire record and Summertime Dream from its namesake album. Eerily sad but beautiful songs, even Summertime Dream which is about taking an afternoon nap while working at a mill and daydreaming, but there's still an underlying current there of being stuck in a situation where one has to work at a frickin' mill all day and the only respite is some afternoon dreaming. Sigh, thanks Gordo. Let's hope the week gets better.

R.I.P. LeRoi Moore of Dave Matthews Band

2008-08-20T11:41:00.001-07:00

This is sad. Apparently he died of complications from an accident he had a few months ago. Sigh.

Say It Ain't So!!!

2008-08-19T12:57:00.000-07:00

The whole bigfoot find and press conference last week was a hoax?!? Just ruined my day.

2008-08-19T12:53:00.000-07:00

I Love the Olympics

2008-08-19T12:52:00.001-07:00

Johnny Depp Looks Awful

2008-08-19T12:51:00.002-07:00

2008-08-19T12:51:00.001-07:00

Dumbass

2008-08-17T21:42:00.000-07:00

2008-08-17T21:39:00.000-07:00

80's Video of the Month

2008-08-17T21:25:00.000-07:00

Bad-ass Joan Jett and the Blackhearts...

I Think I See This Guy Around Campus

2008-08-17T21:20:00.000-07:00

Finley the singing dog croons the UB40 hits

2008-08-17T21:17:00.000-07:00

Finley, a lurcher, was talent-spotted by his owners Chia Richardson and Perkin Bosworth two years ago when he startled guests by singing along - after a fashion - to the Mill House bed and breakfast stereo.

His tastes are unexpectedly specific - he refuses to sing along to anything other than the hits of 1980s cod reggae outfit UB40.

"He just howls in certain parts of certain UB40 songs," said Ms Richardson, 39, adding that "sometimes he even gets it in tune".

She went on: "When nobody is around he likes nothing more than to sing to himself all the time. It's only UB40 songs though, which we have always found strange. We used to listen to them a lot when we first met and it's UB40 that he only seems to like."

From Arbroath.

Old Olympics

2008-08-17T21:08:00.000-07:00

Phelps, Foucault and Philosophy

2008-08-15T15:49:00.000-07:00

Let's see, just about two weeks to go before school starts for the fall semester and since I'm planning on declaring my thesis sooner rather than later, I've gone ahead and begun my research. I'm trying to make headway through Michel Foucault's Madness and Civilization and at times it ain't easy. Like Derrida he illustrates through history, but since most of his references seem to come from French literature I'm more often than not without a clue.

On another note, like most philosophers, I'm concerned with just what is "the good" and if there is some objective "goodness" in some things apart from our own experience and colored glasses. In particular different aspects and bodies in society.

Truly, I'm not really the largest Olympics fan out there but I'll watch it if it's on, and lately I've been following the USA baseball team, which has lost 2 out 3 but has, as the lone college representative, our SDSU kickass pitcher Stephen Strasburg who on Wednesday night 1 hit those low Dutch countries. This kid is phenomenal. I hope he sticks around SDSU for his junior and senior year instead of entering the draft.

Back to philosophy. I'm concerned, as well, with the concept of normalcy. What's normal??? In ethics, in being, in mental state, in physical representation, etc??? Predominantly I'm interested in the philosophy of biology in how things got the way they are (the human body for example) and whether in being so it has some sort of goodness to it. Or purpose and destination to it as well, but that's a whole different conversation. No one really much believes anymore that we're evolving "to something" like a ship sailing toward the horizon. There is no Hegelian absolute truth we synthesize, and we as beings are just situations who happen to be. But we (society and philosophy at times) continues to revisit the question: are minds or bodies supposed to be a certain way?

Like in Foucault when he talks about mental illness, madness is really deemed as such by the populous who consider themselves 'normal', really by a majority vote. So of course the question can be posed like a 'might makes right' argument considering a community's view towards individual actions or inaction or thought or, in the case of normalcy, what those community members look like.

So the Olympics, naturally, seems to be a gathering from each country their biological elite to compete against each other at the highest level in specific fields of expertise. These are the best of the best, but precludes those who acquired their elitism through 'illicit' supplements or additions...but not discounting those having a 'naturally' occurring low lactic acid level or a 6'3" body with a 6'7" arm span like Michael Phelps, because there's nothing he could do about it. He is just naturally like that. As all the reporters say, he was "built to swim".

The male body is rarely objectified in pop-mass media so it's been interesting to listen to conversations from colleagues and random people I overhear (both women and men) who have commented on Phelps and how they'd love to have 'that' to take home, and do such and such or whatever. It seems like to these people he has become the ultimate physical representation of a man. And as a representation of the sex, as perhaps the ultimate rep, they would consider him, of course, a 'good' thing.

So to raise a classical argument which 99% of the time deals with women's bodies, by granting Phelps as a candidate for ultimate man (at least physically, and maybe then not including his teeth), where does it leave the rest of the gender? Interesting to think about since usually we're talking about Adriana Lima here and how viewing her as just an amazing body isn't a realistic representation of women since the average woman doesn't have legs 4 feet long. So what I'm getting at is this question. Is there an inherent problem in considering either Michael or Adriana as a top rep for being the ultimate physical specimen of each gender? And, perhaps more importantly, whatever the answer to that previous question, can we consider each of those two candidates physically GOOD? And if so does that make the 'average' or 'normal' man or woman "not-as-good" as Phelps or Lima, or maybe even just "not-good"? The Olympics, and perhaps Mike's 6 (and counting) gold medals seem to think so.

Our health services office has a slogan which reads "love every body", and I agree that no matter if you're short or tall or fat or skinny or have an enormous forehead, your body is ok and even perhaps 'normal', so long as you are healthy. And not obese. But when compared to what we put up there on a pedestal as the best of the best in these Olympic games, how can we remotely argue that Guido Gino (pictured below) is as "good" a specimen of a man as Michael Phelps? Realistically, Gino is what the average man looks like. A bit overweight, maybe 5'8", losing hair on his head with plenty growing everywhere else. But who wants Gino? Polling 100 straight women and gay men, how many would choose Gino over Michael? They've both got gold but normal loses here. Am I wrong?

Manta Ray Appear on San Francisco Sidewalk

2008-08-15T15:30:00.000-07:00

Really weird scene today in San Francisco on Market and 4th as a manta ray suddenly appeared on the sidewalk.

Who knows how it got there? From these photos it looks like it was all wet so I wonder if some type of waterspout delivered it in a quick downpour or more logically if some schmuck had caught it fishing, put it in a bag and then dropped it off downtown. Anyway you look at it though, it sure seems fishy. This person at Experience Project has more.

This Weekend

2008-08-14T15:43:00.000-07:00

After two consecutive weekends at Del Mar and a pricey pub crawl through OB, I've decided to save some $ and focus on the following this weekend:

1. Sunbathe to work on my pathetic tan (pathetic because it's mid-August and I'm still white).
2. Workout
3. Read

Sound boring??? But it won't cost a dime!! I could add sleep to that list but I actually think I may be up fairly early this weekend. We shall see.

A Really Addicting Game

2008-08-14T15:42:00.001-07:00

Bubble shooter, it's really fun. Click here to play if you're bored.

Mark Your Calendar! Bigfoot Found!!!

2008-08-14T15:32:00.001-07:00

A historic day tomorrow, Friday August 15 at 12 noon at the Cabana Hotel in Palo Alto, CA. Bigfoot researchers have called a press conference there to present the physical body of a specimen of bigfeet as well as DNA testing proof and photographic evidence of live bigfeet spotted around where the body of this bigfoot was found. Below is a photo of it they've released to the press...on ice!

I'm excited about this and tomorrow should be a glorious day. Finally, proof!! I better not be let down. To keep up on the press conference, check out this website which I guess belongs to the dudes who found the dead bigfoot in the woods of Georgia (U.S.A. not Caucasus). More to come!

From the "No Duh" Files

2008-08-14T15:26:00.000-07:00

From an MSNBC report:

For the first time, scientists have proven that "beer goggles" are real — other people really do look more attractive to us if we have been drinking.

Surprisingly, the beer goggles effect was not limited to just the opposite sex among the ostensibly straight volunteers recruited for the study — they also rated people from their own sex as more attractive.

Scientists in England gave 84 heterosexual college students chilled lime-flavored drinks that were either non-alcoholic or given a dose of vodka equivalent in alcohol to a large glass of wine or a pint-and-a-half of beer.

After 15 minutes, the volunteers were shown photos of 40 other college students from both sexes. Both men and women who drank booze found these faces more attractive, "a roughly 10 percent increase in ratings of attractiveness," said researcher Marcus Munafo, an experimental psychologist at the University of Bristol in England.

The researchers also asked volunteers to rate their mood, "and there were no differences on those measures in the alcohol group compared to the no-alcohol group," Munafo added. "This suggests that the effect we observed wasn't due to a general change in mood."

It did not escape Munafo that the results are rather obvious.