[NOTE: In honor of Valentine's Day, a repeat of a previous post. Happy Valentine's Day to all!]
Wendy Hill, a psychology professor at Lafayette College, is interested in kissing—the science of it, that is. Her research found that kissing (of the romantic variety) has a measurable effect on certain hormones:
[Hill's team] found that kissing reduced the levels of cortisol, a stress hormone, in both sexes. But levels of oxytocin, a hormone linked to social bonding that they expected to be boosted by kissing, only rose among the men.
For women, a romantic atmosphere (dimmed lights, mood music) helped raised their oxytocin to the level of the men’s. Ah, women. So very demanding! Especially on Valentines Day—which happens to be today, folks.
And then there’s chocolate:
In 2007 British scientists measured the brain and heart activity sparked by passionate kissing, but found it was less intense that the stimulation produced by eating chocolate.
Speaking of mood music, and kissing:
[ADDENDUM: The recession is romantic---who knew? And kissing is even more widespread than one might think; it's practiced by 90% of societies.]
Previously a lifelong Democrat, born in New York and living in New England, surrounded by liberals on all sides, I've found myself slowly but surely 
February 14th, 2010 at 4:42 pm
B Cast- 2/12 http://www.breitbart.tv/the-b-cast-interview-was-obama-a-committed-marxist-in-college/comment-page-1/#comment-4246631
This is a long interview but well worth it. I especially liked the part where he said he thought Barry was gay. If people want photos of Barry and his roommate, then they won’t be convinced. The roommate showering money on Barry really only means one thing. Barry wasn’t asexual afterall.
Barry as the dogmatic marxist didn’t surprise me in the least. Also, interesting was Barry’s lack of identifcation as black contrary to “his” book.
February 14th, 2010 at 4:46 pm
http://www.breitbart.tv/the-b-cast-interview-was-obama-a-committed-marxist-in-college/
I hope this link works. If not C & P.
February 14th, 2010 at 6:59 pm
I can be replaced by chocolate? There may be some ego damage here; I was kind of hoping for something more substantial.
February 14th, 2010 at 10:35 pm
Will Hollywood ever make films like this again? B & W, no car chases, no profanity, no overt sexuality — no, they’ve surely forgotten how to do this.
Thanks for the comment on kissing, Neo. Sorry to learn that a dim bulb and music are more effective for a woman than my lips. That’s a comedown. F
February 15th, 2010 at 12:29 am
Ah, yes. Valentine’s Day, my favorite day of the year.
/snark
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Abbu5hcH0kk
February 15th, 2010 at 1:16 am
> In 2007 British scientists measured the brain and heart activity sparked by passionate kissing, but found it was less intense that the stimulation produced by eating chocolate.
So, what you’re saying is, the optimal thing to do for Valentine’s day is a chocolate kiss…?
February 15th, 2010 at 2:03 am
> no, they’ve surely forgotten how to do this.
Oh, come now. They’ve done lots of great RomComs in the last couple decades. They’ve done fewer overt romantic dramas, I grant, but the audience has changed, too.
Some examples that particularly come to mind involve Robert Downey, Jr.:
Only You
Heart and Souls
Chances Are
Granted, those three are 15-20 years old, but it does show that they can make excellent romances, still — you don’t have to go back 70 years to find one.
February 15th, 2010 at 9:12 am
Obama Sings to his Favorite Valentine
I’ll be taking this down soon, but people seemed to get a kick out of it.
February 15th, 2010 at 10:00 am
And now you know why I always bring my women friends chocolate, even if I don’t have ulterior motives.
February 15th, 2010 at 1:36 pm
# F Says:
Sorry to learn that a dim bulb and music are more effective for a woman than my lips. That’s a comedown.
In other words, leftie couples only need to provide the music – since there are already a couple of dim bulbs around.
February 16th, 2010 at 9:48 pm
Hmmm! British scientists you say. Would they have been from the University of East Anglia…?