Daze of wine and music

From the AP
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Researchers in England conducted an ingenious experiment with French and German wines sold in a supermarket. (Yes, I know, wine in a supermarket. What will they think of next?)

On alternate days, the store played French music in the background, then German music, and sure enough, on French music days, 77 percent of the wine sold was French; on German music days, 73 percent was German. In other words, you were three or four times more likely to choose a wine that matched the music, according to siliconvalley.com.

The music, by the way, was not subtle stuff. It was a cafe accordion and an oompah band. But at checkout, the customers were oblivious to the hidden persuader. Only one of 44 shoppers mentioned the musical influence, and 86 percent were sure it played no role in their choice, according to the University of Leicester study. Other experiments have shown that classical music can make people buy more expensive wine or spend more in restaurants. So if your neighborhood joint goes classical, you'll know what's up.

Sweetie, you're a silly cow

Speaking of the English and alcohol, we present a dim view of British blokes from Kate Fox, an Oxford-based social anthropologist and author of "Watching the English: The Hidden Rules of English Behavior." She makes it sound like it's a miracle that any mating at all goes on over there.

In Britain, Fox says, flirting tends to be alcohol-fueled to cover up fears of intimacy and rejection. "The British male is either reticent, tongue-tied and awkward, or boorish and crass, and he usually consumes too much alcohol," she told Agence France Presse. "English male flirting tends to be very circuitous and involves a lot of insults rather than compliments. I've had to explain lots of times to foreign friends that 'silly cow' can really be a term of endearment."

We don't know why she felt she had to sugar-coat this.

Asian Valentine's roundup

In most countries, starting with the U.S., the most Valentine's-Day-intense nation of all, the blatantly unfair, double-standard practice is for men to buy presents for women. But in Japan, it's the other way around on Valentine's Day. Women are expected to buy gifts, especially chocolates, for the men in their lives -- not just boyfriends or husbands but bosses and colleagues, too. Do we have something to learn here?

More than 5,000 Filipino couples kissed simultaneously for 10 seconds to set a new world record Tuesday. Manila Mayor Lito Atienza had said the kissing-palooza would be for married couples only, because of the Philippines' conservative Catholic culture, but a casual check found many participants were not married, Agence France Presse reports. So we assume it goes into the record book with an asterisk.

Of all the ethnic and religious groups in Asia, only practicing Buddhists come close to observing the original sentiment of the saint's day, AFP says. "We love everyone," said Hong Kong believer Sally Mui. "It should be Valentine's Day every day." The Morning File couldn't have said it better itself.

More fascinating research

Researchers gave 40 female employees at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign chocolate candies, in either clear or opaque jars, on their desks or six feet away. After four weeks, the women said they were less tempted and ate less candy when it was in opaque containers. Same thing when they had to get up to get some.

All yawningly unsurprising. But the researchers found that the subjects tended to underestimate how many candies they ate when the jar was nearby, but overestimate when it was farther away. Yes, they did.

So, this exhaustive research shows you're better off not keeping candy on your desk! At least, if you're a woman. Read all about it in this month's issue of the International Journal of Obesity.

Parenting is depressing

This study seems to go against the conventional wisdom, although we know some people who can give supporting testimony: Parents have significantly higher levels of depression than adults who do not have children. Even more depressing, empty-nest parents are no less depressed than non-parents. The researchers -- Florida State University's Robin Simon and Vanderbilt University's Ranae Evenson -- theorize that, even after the kids are grown and gone, parents are still involved in their lives and continue to be concerned about them. That has an emotional cost.

The study, published in the American Sociological Association's Journal of Health and Social Behavior, concluded, flat-out, that no type of parent reports less depression than non-parents, Simon said. That is significant because other major adult roles in the United States, such as being married and employed, are associated with enhanced emotional well-being.

Shouldn't they have told us parents this sooner?

Turns out Cheney is not a pioneer

Jonathan Moules in the Financial Times of London: "Never let it be said that the Americans do everything before the British. When Dick Cheney shot and wounded lawyer Harry Whittington during a quail hunt, he was more than two decades and one man behind the U.K. record. In August 1984, during a grouse shoot in northern England, Viscount Whitelaw accidentally blasted the prominent industrialist Sir Joseph Nickerson and the shooting party's loader, Lindsay Waddell. Sir Joseph took one in the arm, and Mr. Waddell spent two days in hospital with leg wounds. Viscount Whitelaw, then deputy prime minister and leader of the House of Lords, was said to have slipped trying to shoot one of the birds, notching up another first for Great Britain in the process."