Blog of Josh Hall

Have you ever heard of the miracle fruit?  It is a plant that produces berries that make sour taste sweet.  The effect lasts for about 30 minutes, and you can eat a lemon and it will taste like lemonade.

Its use was discovered in the 18th century in West Africa.  In the 1970s, there was a push to have it become a food additive, but it ultimately failed.  Many point the fingers at the sugar industry, and even the government, since this would replace the need for artificial sweeteners and sugar in foods and drinks.

You are able to get it in pill form as a dietary supplement, but it’s not labeled a sweetener.  That said, you can get the plants to grow at home and tasting parties are becoming more and more popular.  There’s also a lot of new research going on for the applications to those with diabetes.

read more:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_fruit

http://www.instructables.com/id/Growing-Your-Own-Miracle-Fruit/

There should always be a point or objective to arguing. Arguing for the sake of arguing or even pure self entitlement is just silly and possibly destructive. If you can’t offer a potential resolution on your own, or if you can’t think of something the other side can offer to resolve the conflict, then you’re not ready to begin the argument. You should be prepared to identify the problem and offer peace, otherwise, you’re just complaining.

This goal is certainly not very likely to happen, but the idea of it really appeals to me.  If I was ever capable of making a large donation to a university or institution, I’d love them to name the building “Josh Hall”.

Nothing is universal. What works for you may not work for others. What’s also important here is to remember to think objectively and inversely. ie: What does not work for you, may work for others. An example of this would be the modern social networking tools out there. Just because you don’t use RSS feeds, twitter, or even facebook, doesn’t mean that other people find them extremely efficient and useful. People’s values are different.

What is the most universal human characteristic?  Fear?  Laziness?  This question comes from the movie Waking Life.

There are some awesome collaborations out there. Mash ups also abound and are wealthy in awesomeness. Some of these can be considered mash-ups, but the fact that both artists involved actually came together to perform it make it awesome in a whole new way.

10. Michael Jackson & Janet Jackson – Scream : This shatters previous standards of awesome on so many different levels. Never again will 2 individual pop powerhouses be siblings and only cross paths in such an epic way as this.

9. Babyface & Eric Clapton – Change the World : Babyface’s solo artist career was short lived, but he remained a powerful force in the background of the early 90s music scene. This was a great step forward for young people who weren’t familiar with Clapton too.

8. Eminem & Elton John – Stan : Blew the stereo-types out of the water with this 2001 Grammy performance. I missed Dido, but that was up there too.

7. Moby & Gwen Stefani – South Side : I think time has a lot to do with this one. Both were peaking in their careers and the song seemed to fit perfectly in both of their individual careers.

6. Puff Daddy and Jimmy Page – Come With Me : I took Puff Daddy with a grain of salt when he broke out after Biggie’s death, but man, did he prove me wrong. He had some high style and some reigning class.

5. Finger Eleven & The Alkaholiks – Daaam : Maybe I’m biased, but I think it’s an awesome cross genre collab.

4. Aerosmith and Run DMC – Walk This Way : A musical first where the two bands crossed genres and did it well.

3. Jay – Z and Linkin Park – Numb/Encore :Following DJ Dangermouse’s mashing of Jay-Z, these two put the theory to practice, in an awesome way. I truly regret not seeing them in Philly for the FREE G8 concert.

2. USA for Africa – We Are the World : Almost too much going on here, but it was just right. The All Star collaboration done after 9/11 is a close competitor, but none of those people had staying power.

1. Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson – The Girl is Mine : This song is the last remnant of their relationship. It’s awesome to see these two powerhouses come together, but then inevitably destroy each other.

Honorable mentions:
Warren G & Nate Dogg – Regulators : Classic song, but neither made it big enough to call it an epic match of collaboration.

Santana & … Anyone : There are some great collaborations there…but they all have Santana, which tells me 1 thing. Santana has no talent besides playing terribly flashy guitar solos over basic melodies.

Rockwell & Michael Jackson – Somebody’s Watching Me : Not really much of a collaboration, but the fact that someone as big during that time as Michael Jackson, lending his voice and melody to some no name dude remains a mystery. Perhaps it will remain that way.

Further reading: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammy_Award_for_Best_Pop_Collaboration_with_Vocals