All about the internet and how we use it to run our lives, and how it runs ours.  This ends up just being a fretful meditation, hereon know as a “fretitation” on pop culture in general.

Links mentioned:

• Here’s a link to Gwen’s Productivity Guru, David Allen.  For the record, he studied Zen in college but is now into something else.

• An article on the blogger who totally messed with not Northwest, not Delta, but United’s stock by reading a six year old article on the company’s bankrupty.

• The No Depression Online Magazine, or at least the beginnings of it.

• The Peak Condition Project, the coolest project ever.

Books mentioned:

• Kathy Black’s Book, Basic Black.

A talk about how the world seems to break down into dualities, male/female, liberal/conservative, thinking/feeling, intuitive/scientific and on and on.  Plus, the first ever appearance of a guest on our show!  Very strange!

• Here’s the front door for the racism test.  It’s awesome, they make you click a disclaimer that says you may find out some unpleasant things about yourself!  Stare the harsh reality in the face listeners!  You are prejudiced!

• Some more interesting facts about Jellyfish.  Below is a photo Patrick took of a jellyfish in Enoshima.  He’s very proud of it and thinks jellyfish are neat-o.

In this podcast we play a few riffs off of a central theme, that what we perceive is almost entirely manufactured within our own minds and then projected onto the world.   Forgetting this fundamental fact is the root off stress and conflict.

 Links mentioned:

• Ito-en… sponsor us…  We drink a lot of your tea…  just give us some money!

• Kinokuniya Book Store

• An interesting article on how what language we speak determines what we see, as with the blue trees of Turkmenistan.

• If you want to get your Japanese kitchy snack fix, try jlist/jbox.

• Want to check to see if you’re colorblind?  Go here.

• A Washington Times piece about how men and women use their brains differently.

Hey everyone.  Went to edit our most recent podcast and found Gwen’s audio track was stuttery and all over the place, kind of a Max Headroom effect.  It couldn’t be salvaged, even considering the very low standards of Zen is Stupid.

So we’ll do another one some time this week if all goes well.

But the cool thing is that this glitch gives us a “lost episode” that only the hardcore fans will be into.  If you really want to hear it you’ll have to leave an inspired and awesome comment below.  Good luck!  Judging will be totally subjective and left up to our capricious whims, but if we like what you have to say, you’ll get the lost episode delivered to your inbox, along with a bonus Story Time featuring Patrick’s trip to a japanese bath-house.

**Update** I’ve received so many emails about this that I’m just going to post the thing here, warts and all.  The first five minutes are messed up but after that it smoothes out.  The content is sub-par as usual.

-Patrick