Seriously!

Seriously, how can my team lose to Notre Dame. Everyone who has played ND has destroyed them so far in NCAAFootball. And then my team comes along and loses. WTF! It's so embarassing.

But not as embarassing as USC losing to Stanford.

I have a LAKE!

Being named Sylvia is hard.

Nothing is named after you. People like Jude, Roxanne, Tommy and Gina, Jessie, Danny, Julie, Sharona, Rita, Eleanor Rigby, and the like have songs for them. No one has songs, poems, or anything named after Sylvia. The closest famous person I get is Sylvia Plath, and what is she best known for? That's right, killing herself by sticking her head in an oven.

Thankfully, my old boss from CSULA goes hiking and finds this gem!



That's Lake Sylvia and the Crystal Range in the background. It's super lovely since my niece is named Crystal!

I run gels like that!

Jesus, I didn't know my genotyping/PCR digestions can be used as art. Now I have a new way to decorate my apartment! Maybe next time, I'll do a microarray heat map or something.



The art that is found in science reaches beyond this lame gel. Clearly, the artist have not seen images of the flourescently-labelled mitotic spindle and chromosomes aligned on the metaphase plate like such:



If only he knew what other awesome pictures are being captured within the cells just by labelling the right proteins.

The Boss

My boss tells me today what whiel he was gone at a scientific meeting, he managed to play tennis with John McEnroe and partied on a yacht with The Killers. WTF!

I can only expect my first scientific meeting with him would somehow involve playing horse with Michael Jordan and hanging out wit the Foo Fighters.

Google Irony

I just posted how I love google. I come home, open the latest issue of the Economist on my desk and find this article

Inside the Googleplex

http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9719610

The article talks about the dilemma Google is facing with user privacy. Where people like me love it and would use all their products. At the same time, I'm relinquishing my privacy to them, as they know what pictures I order, what addresses I look up on the maps, and if they can get a shot of me on google earth (god, I hope none of those exist).

Anyhow, Interesting read.

Sweeter than an Iphone

So there's rumors that a GooglePhone, or GPhone is in development and may be launched.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=070831075133.jtwjdcbg&show_article=1

I personally can't wait for them to do it. Everything google touches is golden (practically). I love the search engine, Gmail, Gtalk, Google Maps, and Earth, Google Calendar. Google Scholar and News are something i frequently use. Plus, I'm a great fan of Picasa, its photo editing suite because it's so user-friendly and has just about all the features necessary for less-than-pro photographers like me.

The idea of a Google-loaded phone is a good send. According to the article, features will include "a special version of Google Maps, compatible with built-in GPS, and compatibility with Gmail," Google's email service."

Which is so awesome because I always get lost!

This will be amazing. Google Labs, Good work!

What I appreciate a lot: Good Service

In the last few days, I had to deal with a lot of bureaucratic shit and customer service calls, bouncing from one office to another and subsequently, one incompetent and not very helpful receptionist to another.

It makes me very annoyed when I've been asked to call ahead of time, show up to an appointment, and have the receptionist who was clearly the one I had spoken to, completely not know who I am. I had explained to her that I had just talked to her half an hour ago, and she has no recollection at all.

Then there's the Comcast automated service. I needed to get new cable service at my apartment My roommate was moving out and she was taking the cable service with her. So I called the comcast customer service number and was promptly greeted with a prerecorded "Please enter thetelephone number including area code where you have or want" Well I can't do that...We don't have a landline in our apartment since we all have cell phones. So I punch 0 as a default, since normally, that will direct your call to an operator, who may be able to help me. I do that three times because the damn machine things I'm just a delinquent. After the third time, they forward my call to some other line, which is completely not of help! In essence, I was hung up on. Most insultingly, they tell me to call a number for Time-Warner, ending with "It's very easy, just hang up the phone and dial the number mentioned" I was fuming at that point. Not only was the whole automated service of no help, but it ended the phone call completely patronizing me!

What I appreciate more than ever now is good customer service. The one that is helpful. Where they listen to what you want, and even though they can't do too much to make everything go your way, they can make it a little bit less frustrating.

Here are two examples:

1) Cashiers who ask to see my ID when I swipe my credit card because the signature box on the back tells them to ask. Some people might find this to be an insult, and incovenience, but it's one of the few inconveniences that I will actively encourage. Identity theft is rampant and I dont mind being asked to show my ID. It's out already when I take my credit card out from my wallet!

2) Fidelity. I had an Roth IRA account with Fidelity and after realizing that I am not able to contribute to one due to some really bullshit tax definition. I had to ask a lot of questions to clarify things and these people were so helpful with my questions. Calls were redirected promptly. They always give me their extension so if the call falls through, I can reach them again. It was just great. I loved dealing with them. In fact, they're so good, I will definitely go back to them again!

Oldie but goodie with response!

Two videos today. First is the classic Yellow Fever video.


The second is a very good and funny song. Diana, you'll love the plastic reference.

Unfortunately, Bill Gates is still richer

Why my school is awesome and why they should pay me more!

Harvard's endowment hits $34.9 billion

By Svea Herbst-Bayliss

BOSTON (Reuters) - Harvard University, already America's richest university, said on Tuesday its endowment grew to a new high of $34.9 billion, boosted by bets on emerging markets, real estate and private equity.

Returns for fiscal 2007, which ended June 30, grew 23 percent, significantly above the 16.7 percent gain posted for 2006 and the 19.2 percent gain reported for 2005.

Harvard, whose investments are closely watched in the asset management industry, also extended its run of beating its internal benchmark and besting the average university's investment returns.

The Ivy League school made headlines last month when it lost $350 million after Sowood Capital, a hedge fund run by a former Harvard employee with whom the university invested, collapsed.

What started with problems in the subprime mortgage market quickly spread and pushed global stock markets lower, hurting many funds, including Sowood.

The school said the Sowood loss would have translated into a decline of about 1 percent on a stand-alone basis.

But the portfolio actually gained 0.4 percent in July because of its positioning and strong risk management. John Longbrake, a university spokesman, declined to say how the portfolio was faring in August, as sharp moves in the yen, metals and stocks left some hedge funds with heavy losses and others able to turn July's declines into gains.

Harvard, unlike many universities, still manages a chunk of its endowment in-house at its Harvard Management Company unit. It also relies on outsiders, including HMC alumni, who have launched their own hedge funds, to invest much of the money donated by former students.

The endowment is not a single fund but roughly 11,000 individual funds, many restricted to specific uses like scientific research or the creation of a professorship, the university said.

Mohamed El-Erian, who replaced Jack Meyer as HMC's president in 2006, is an influential emerging markets bond specialist. And for the second straight year, investments in emerging markets posted the year's highest total return.

Since arriving in Boston, where HMC is located, from California where he worked at Pacific Investment Management Co., El-Erian has rebuilt HMC's depleted staff and implemented other changes. HMC said it restructured the allocations it made to external managers, but gave no details. Looking ahead HMC plans to concentrate on under-exploited market segments to help develop new investment vehicles.

El-Erian said Harvard plans to be more transparent about its structure, activities and governance, setting an example in an industry well-known for its secrecy. Next month, a new Web site will be launched, and in October 2008, HMC will publish its first-ever annual report.

The median large institutional fund returned 17.7 percent in the last fiscal year, according to the Trust Universe Comparison Service.

Harvard, located across the Charles River from Boston in Cambridge, relies heavily on its endowment to cover annual expenses and said it spends about 5 percent of the endowment every year on university programs.

Fashion Faux Pas

This past Monday, I wore a green/blue striped shirt to work. When I put it on, I thought to myself, I hope my boss doesn't wear the same shirt I knew he had one b/c he had worn it once before.

Stupid thought, but it came true. Here's the proof.



Oh yes, to those of you who read my blog and don't know, this is my boss, Raghu Kalluri. He's the head for the Center of Matrix Biology at the Beth Israel Deaconness Medical Center. Because we are mostly interested in the role of the microenvironment in health and disease, the focus of our lab spans most organ systems (we have papers about heart, liver, kidney, angiogenesis, and tumor biology.

The mess behind us is my bench. The kimwips to the left of me helped me through many sneezy days.

My Mad Skills

In high school I worked on the school newspaper. There, I learned to use photoshop, adobe pagemaker. I used to copyedit all the text before publication. All of a sudden, I'm going through a little bit of deja vu.

I used photoshop to edit the contrast of some of my picture from lab. I used illustrator to make my figures. Those programs, all made by Adobe, has certain common functionalities and it just felt like I was getting back into newspaper again. I even remember the key strokes! Instead this time, I'm begging for money to do scientific research.

It's strange.

My Irrational Fear

We all have our fears. Some of us are scared of clowns. Chandler Bing from Friends is scared of Michael Flatley.

My irrational fear are circular things that look organized, but really shouldn't be.

For example, I am scared of hair plugs. I saw a guy with fresh hair plugs a year ago and I got chills up and down my spine. They were pores that were unnaturally aligned, even spaced.

Another thing that gave me chills are the pods on the back of ferns. They're so regularly spaced, but not in any organized fashion.

So yesterday, I was doing some immunofluorescence work and found this. And it scared me a lot.

Reason why Ed is awesome - Reason #30,455

Returning to Real Blogging

Lately, I've been posting links and stories that I find terribly amusing and not so much about me. Clearly as a blogger, I place myself above all others and I love to talk about me because I am the most important, I must indulge my narcissism a bit by once again, returning to my favorite topic of all, ME!

In months past, I had exercised incredible restraint, refraining from both Dunkin' and Starbucks. A can of coffee grounds lasts me three weeks and costs me about a venti-caramel macchiato. That's so much money saved.

However, I've become a sucker for muffins and ice coffee. I stop doing coffee in the mornings at home because the coffee was hot and it was too warm to have hot coffee. Plus, it just doesnt' go well with yogurt and granola or cereal. Instead, I decide to skip breakfast at home, take the first M2 I can get my butt on because I'm already late (a recent knack for rolling out of bed at 9:20) I get on campus at around 10:30 and conveniently between the bus stop and my lab is a little coffee shop. They serve cold starbucks coffee for 1.50 and a muffin for 1.50 (always banana nut or blueberry) As a student, I exercise my Crimson cash and get a 20% discount.

Much cheaper than dunkin or starbucks, I say to myself. However, it's gotten bad. In the last two weeks, I have eaten every breakfast at this coffee shop or at Dunkin' (on the weekends mostly) It's always the two donut+ice coffee combo. Most peopel can resist eating both donuts, but I can not. My once-about-to-be-svelte-stomach has gone to waste. Alas I am undone.

Now I'm trying to get back on track with the coffee. I'll make coffee the night before and put it in the fridge. Or I can just add a crap load of ice to it (as long as I make it super dark) Hopefully, I'll stave off eating that muffins/donuts. That's what really doing me in.

Bad Thai cops to endure Kitty shame

This is too HILARIOUS! Story taken from AP by way of Yahoo!



BANGKOK, Thailand - Thai police officers who break rules will be forced to wear hot pink armbands featuring "Hello Kitty," the Japanese icon of cute, as a mark of shame, a senior officer said Monday.

Police officers caught littering, parking in a prohibited area, or arriving late — among other misdemeanors — will be forced to stay in the division office and wear the armband all day, said Police Col. Pongpat Chayaphan. The officers won't wear the armband in public.

The striking armband features Hello Kitty sitting atop two hearts.

"Simple warnings no longer work. This new twist is expected to make them feel guilt and shame and prevent them from repeating the offense, no matter how minor," said Pongpat, acting chief of the Crime Suppression Division in Bangkok.

"(Hello) Kitty is a cute icon for young girls. It's not something macho police officers want covering their biceps," Pongpat said.

He said police caught breaking the law will be subject the same fines and penalties as any other members of the public.

"We want to make sure that we do not condone small offenses," Pongpat said, adding that the CSD believed that getting tough on petty misdemeanors would lead to fewer cases of more serious offenses including abuse of power and mistreatment of the public by police officers.

Hello Kitty, invented by Sanrio Co. in 1974, has been popular for years with children and young women. The celebrity cat adorns everything from diamond-studded jewelry, Fender guitars and digital cameras to lunch boxes, T-shirts and stationery.

TIE HER TUBES!

First thought: Why did it not surprise me that the husband's name is JIM BOB.
Second Thought: I wished my breeding mice are as good as her.

Arkansas couple welcomes 17th child

By JILL ZEMAN, Associated Press Writer

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - It's a girl — again — for the Duggars. Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar welcomed their 17th child, and seventh daughter, into the world Thursday.

Jennifer Danielle was born at 10:01 a.m. at Saint Mary's Hospital in Rogers, Ark., the Duggars said in an interview. Jennifer weighed 8 pounds, 8 ounces and arrived five days after Michelle's due date.

Less than 30 minutes after giving birth, the Duggars already were talking of having more.

"We'd love to have more," Michelle said, adding that the girls are outnumbered seven to 10 in the family. "We love the ruffles and lace."

Jennifer joins the fast-growing Duggar brood, who live in Tontitown in a 7,000-square-foot home. All the children — whose names start with the letter J — are home-schooled.

The oldest is 19 and the youngest, before Jennifer, is almost 2 years old.

"We are just so grateful to God for another gift from him," said Jim Bob Duggar, 42, a former state representative. "We are just so thankful to him that everything went just very well."

Jennifer joins siblings Joshua, 19; John David, 17; Janna, 17; Jill, 16; Jessa, 14; Jinger, 13; Joseph, 12; Josiah, 11; Joy-Anna, 9; Jedidiah, 8; Jeremiah, 8; Jason 7; James 6; Justin, 4; Jackson, 3; Johannah, almost 2.

The family includes two sets of twins.

Michelle Duggar said that Joshua, Janna, Jill and Jessa were at the hospital, but that the rest of the family planned to visit their new sister later Thursday.

Michelle Duggar said she started feeling contractions Wednesday night and went to the hospital at about 5 a.m. Thursday.

"It actually went fast," she said. "I guess once I started progressing, it went within 30 minutes."

Jennifer was born via a VBAC — or vaginal birth after Caesarean, Jim Bob Duggar said.

The Duggars have been featured on several programs on cable's Discovery Health Network. The next special, the Duggar Family Album, is scheduled to air next month, Jim Bob Duggar said.

Among the "fun facts" listed on Discovery Health's Web page devoted to the Duggars: A baby has been born in every month except June; the Duggars have gone through an estimated 90,000 diapers, and Michelle, 40, has been pregnant for 126 months — or 10.5 years — of her life.

Cantab

Went to the Cantab Lounge in Central the other night. It's a small hole-in-the-wall but they have great live music. A lot of blues and jazz and it's great!

Dammit, They beat me to the punch!

From http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8QMEDE80&show_article=1

Company Rents Pets to Animal Lovers

Jul 29 03:11 PM US/Eastern By LISA LEFF Associated Press Writer

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - From the state that popularized purse puppies, drive-thru dog washes and gourmet dog food delivery comes the latest in canine convenience—a company that contracts out dogs by the day to urbanites without the time or space to care for a pet full-time.

Marlena Cervantes, founder of FlexPetz, bristles when people refer to her five-month-old business as a rent-a-pet service. She prefers the term "shared pet ownership," explaining the concept is more akin to a vacation time share or a gym membership than a trip to the video store.

"Our members are responsible in that they realize full-time ownership is not an option for them and would be unfair to the dog," said Cervantes, 32, a behavioral therapist who got the idea while working with pets and autistic children. "It prevents dogs from being adopted and then returned to the shelter by people who realize it wasn't a good fit."

FlexPetz is currently available in Los Angeles and San Diego, where Cervantes lives. She plans to open new locations in San Francisco next month, New York in September and London by the end of the year.

She's also hoping to franchise the FlexPetz concept so the dogs will have housing options other than kennels when not in use. For San Francisco, she's hired a caretaker who plans to keep the dogs at her house when they aren't on loan to members.

For an annual fee of $99.95, a monthly payment of $49.95 and a per- visit charge of $39.95 a day, (discounted to $24.95 Sunday through Thursday), animal lovers who enroll in FlexPetz get to spend time with a four-legged companion from Cervantes' 10-dog crew of Afghan hounds, Labrador retrievers and Boston terriers.

The membership costs cover the expense of training the dogs, boarding them at a cage-free kennel, home or office delivery, collar-sized global positioning devices, veterinary bills and liability insurance. It also pays for the "care kits"—comprised of leashes, bowls, beds and pre-measured food—that accompany each dog on its visits.

Charter member Shari Gonzalez said she was thinking about getting a dog when a dog trainer she consulted suggested part-time ownership. At first, she had reservations.

Gonzalez, 22, never doubted there was room for a dog in her heart. The issue was her life, which included a small, two-bedroom apartment and a full-time schedule of college classes in San Diego.

"I was thinking, 'How is a dog going to bounce from house to house and be OK with that,'" she said. "I didn't want a dog that would come into my place and pee."

Her misgivings were allayed after she spoke with Cervantes, who explained that only dogs with social temperaments were picked for the program and that each would ideally be shared by no more than two or three owner-members.

Since signing up, Gonzalez said a black Lab named Jackpot has become a treasured part of her social network. They spend an average of one day each weekend together. He sleeps at her apartment and she takes him on hikes, to the beach and to parks frequented by other dog owners. The money spent on her membership has been well worth it, she said.

"I never even thought that was a possibility," Gonzalez said. "I thought you either owned a dog or you didn't."

Although she has never seen the doggy day care center where Jackpot spends his off-days, Gonzalez recently met another of his part-time companions, graphic designer Jenny Goddard, 33. Goddard, who is married with a 6-year-old son, said having a dog a weekend or two a month has been perfect for her busy family and encourages them to spend more time together outdoors.

"It's funny," she said. "He is so friendly and immediately playful with us, people are surprised he is a rental dog."

The idea of commitment-free pets is not entirely new, although no one in the United States has tried it with as much drive as Cervantes. Most private animal shelters, for instance, encourage volunteers to become temporary foster families to animals awaiting adoption.

For 15 years, the Aspen Animal Shelter in Colorado has gone a step further with a Rent-a-Pet program that allows residents and tourists in the resort town to take dogs out for a few hours or overnight for free.

"It benefits the homeless animals, keeps them socialized and exercised and in the end they end up getting adopted," said owner Seth Sachson. "The people benefit, too. When a tourist walks around town with a dog, they feel like a local."

Melissa Bain, a veterinarian with the Companion Animal Behavior Program at the University of California, Davis, said she had concerns about, but no hard-and-fast objections to a service like FlexPetz.

On the positive side, it might give people an easy way to test the ownership waters and keep a few dogs from being euthanized, Bain said. Possible downsides would be irresponsible members who treat the dogs like a lifestyle accessory instead of a living thing.

"It depends on the people and it depends on the animal. Some dogs may be fine and some may become stressed because they are moving from home to home," Bain said. "Perhaps they had a good experience with a good part-time owner and then they get shipped back. What kind of message does that send to kids? That dogs are disposable."

Cervantes said the hour-long sessions Flexpetz members are required to spend with their dog and a trainer before their first outing ensures the dogs are going into caring, competent homes.

Her members, who range in age from 5 to 60-plus, include single women in search of security and a conversation starter, Navy personnel who love dogs but are at sea for much of the year, and seniors who live in apartments where dogs are not allowed.

"Usually, our dogs are lavished with attention, and it's undivided attention from our members because it is the only time they have together," she said. "Some people take a dog home and realize, 'Hey, I can adopt a dog.'"

Need I say more

Too Cool!

I can't wait any longer, You'll have to freeze me

NYTimes review of the upcoming Harry Potter.

It sounds so great

------

July 18, 2007

Books of the Times

For Harry Potter, Good Old-Fashioned Closure

By MICHIKO KAKUTANI

So, here it is at last: the final confrontation between Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, the Chosen One, the “symbol of hope” for both the Wizard and Muggle worlds, and Lord Voldemort, He Who Must Not Be Named, the nefarious leader of the Death Eaters and would-be ruler of all. Good versus Evil. Love versus Hate. The Seeker versus the Dark Lord.

J.K. Rowling’s monumental, spell-binding epic, 10 years in the making, is deeply rooted in traditional literature and Hollywood sagas — from the Greek myths to Dickens and Tolkien to Star Wars — and true to its roots, it ends not with modernist, Soprano-esque equivocation, but with good old-fashioned closure: a big screen, heart-racing, bone-chilling confrontation and an epilogue that clearly lays out people’s fates. Getting to the finish line is not seamless — the last portion of the final book has some lumpy passages of exposition and a couple of clunky detours — but the overall conclusion of the series and its determination of the main characters’ storylines possess a convincing inevitability that make some of the pre-publication speculation seem curiously blinkered in retrospect.

With each installment, the Potter series has grown increasingly dark, and this volume — a copy of which was purchased at a New York City retail outlet today, although the book is embargoed for release until 12:01 a.m. this Saturday — is no exception. While Ms. Rowling’s astonishingly limber voice still moves effortlessly between Ron’s adolescent sarcasm and Harry’s growing solemnity, from youthful exuberance to more philosophical gravity, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” is, for the most part, a somber book that marks Harry’s final initiation into the complexities and sadnesses of adulthood.

From his first days at Hogwarts, the young, green-eyed boy bore the burden of his destiny as a leader, coping with the expectations and duties of his role, and in this volume he is clearly more Henry V than Prince Hal, more King Arthur than young Wart: high-spirited war games of Quidditch have given way to real war, and Harry often wishes he were not the de facto leader of the Resistance movement, shouldering terrifying responsibilities, but an ordinary teenage boy — free to romance Ginny Weasley and hang out with his friends.

Harry has already lost his parents, his godfather Sirius and his teacher Professor Dumbledore (all mentors he might have once received instruction from), and in this volume the losses mount with unnerving speed: at least half a dozen characters we have come to know die in these pages, and many others are wounded or tortured. Voldemort and his followers have infiltrated Hogwarts and the Ministry of Magic, creating havoc and terror in both the Wizard and Muggle worlds alike, and the members of various populations — including elves, goblins and centaurs — are choosing up sides.

No wonder then that Harry often seems overwhelmed with disillusionment and doubt in the final installment of this seven-volume bildungsroman. Harry continues to struggle to control his temper, and as he and Ron and Hermione search for the missing Horcruxes (secret magical objects in which Voldemort has stashed parts of his soul, objects that Harry must destroy if he hopes to kill the evil lord), he literally enters a dark wood, in which he must do battle not only with the Death Eaters, but also with the temptations of hubris and despair.

Harry’s weird psychic connection with Voldemort (symbolized by the lightning-bolt forehead scar he bears, as a result of the Dark Lord’s attack on him when he was a baby) seems to have grown stronger too, giving him clues to Voldemort’s actions and whereabouts, even as it lures him ever closer to the dark side. One of the plot’s key turning points concerns Harry’s decision whether to continue looking for the Horcruxes — the mission assigned to him by the late Dumbledore — or whether to pursue, instead, three magical objects known as the Hallows, which are said to make their possessor the master of Death.

Harry’s journey will propel him forwards to a final showdown with his archenemy, and also send him backwards into the past, back to the house in Godric’s Hollow where his parents died, to learn about his own family history and the equally mysterious history of Dumbledore’s family. At the same time, he will be forced to ponder the equation between fraternity and independence, free will and fate, and to come to terms with his own frailties and those of others. Indeed, ambiguities proliferate throughout “The Deathly Hallows”: we are made to see that kindly Dumbledore, sinister Severus Snape and perhaps even awful Muggle cousin Dudley Dursley may be more complicated than they initially seem, that all of them, like Harry himself, have hidden aspects to their personalities, and that choice — more than talent or predisposition — matters most of all.

It is Ms. Rowling’s achievement in this series that she manages to make Harry both a familiar adolescent — coping with the banal frustrations of school and dating — and an epic hero, kin to everyone from the young King Arthur to Spiderman and Luke Skywalker. This same magpie talent has enabled her to create a narrative that effortlessly mixes up allusions to Homer, Milton, Shakespeare and Kafka, with silly kid jokes about vomit-flavored candies, a narrative that fuses a plethora of genres (from the boarding school novel to the detective story to the epic quest) into a story that could be Exhibit A in a Joseph Campbell survey of mythic archetypes.

In doing so, J.K. Rowling has created a world as fully detailed as L. Frank Baum’s “Oz” or J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Middle Earth,” a world so minutely imagined in terms of its history and rituals and rules that it qualifies as an alternate universe — which may be one of the reasons the Potter books have spawned such a passionate following and such fervent exegesis.

With this final volume, the reader realizes that small incidents and asides in earlier installments (hidden among a huge number of red herrings) create a breadcrumb trail of clues to the plot, that Ms. Rowling has fitted together the jigsaw puzzle pieces of this long undertaking with Dickensian ingenuity and ardor. Objects and spells from earlier books — like the invisibility cloak, Polyjuice Potion, Dumbledore’s Pensieve and Sirius’ flying motorcycle — will play important roles in this volume, and characters encountered before like the house elf Dobby and Mr. Ollivander the wandmaker will resurface, too.

The world of Harry Potter is a place where the mundane and the marvelous, the ordinary and the surreal co-exist. It’s a place where cars can fly and owls can deliver the mail, a place where paintings talk and a mirror reflects people’s innermost desires. It’s also a place utterly recognizable to readers, a place where death and the catastrophes of daily life are inevitable, and people’s lives are defined by love and loss and hope — the same way they are in our own mortal world.

So Cute!

The Simpsons Movie is about to be out and I just love all the promos they're doing for it.

First is the nice photo-op with all-too-familiar couch with the rest of the Simpsons at local movie theaters

Second is the 7-11 turned Qwik-E Marts.

Now, the Simpsons are featured in Harpers Bazaar modeling the latests in French Fashion.

http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/13886727.html

Another Case of "No Shit, Einstein"

Founds this on Reuters by way of DrudgeReport.com
-------------------

Women drawn to men with muscles

By Julie Steenhuysen

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Muscular young men are likely to have more sex partners than their less-chiseled peers, researchers at the University of California Los Angeles said on Monday.

Their study, published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, suggests muscles in men are akin to elaborate tail feathers in male peacocks: They attract females looking for a virile mate.

"Women are predisposed to prefer muscularity in men," said study author David Frederick of UCLA.

"Most research is focused on what men find physically attractive in women and the career traits women find attractive in men," Frederick said by telephone. "Much less research is devoted to what women find attractive."

He said prior studies concluded a man's desirability was influenced more by his earning potential and commitment. His study found physical characteristics mattered more.

Women were more physically attracted to brawny men, especially for a fling. But when it comes to finding a long-term partner, they tend to pick a regular man over a mate with huge biceps.

"On the one hand, it makes them more sexy to women. On the other hand, it makes women more suspicious about their romantic intentions," Frederick said.

He and colleagues interviewed 99 male undergraduates about their sexual histories. Muscular men were twice as likely to have had more than three sex partners than less-built types.

Frederick and colleagues also asked 141 college women to look at six standardized silhouettes of men ranging from brawny to slender. Most preferred a toned man who was more likely to commit over a muscle-bound man they perceived as more volatile, aggressive and dominant.

That's right outside AHS!

First it was the Beach Boys and now it's Pat Benatar. I never knew 1st St and Main in Alhambra is such a popular venue for such oldies but goodies performers. Classic!

JOAN JETT IS GONNA BE THERE TOO!! Nuts! Oh, I hate myself for loving you!

-------------From TMZ.com---------------
While most of the planet was rockin' to her Madgesty and Dave Matthews at Live Earth this weekend, tiny little Alhambra, Calif. got their best shot at welcoming rock royalty -- Pat Benatar! Hit me!

Queen of '80s rock Pat Benatar played a free show at the city's Summer Jubilee, beltin' out all her hits. Pat and hubby Neil Giraldo still have it, twenty years later! The city's summer concert series loves the '80s ladies; Joan Jett and Teena Marie are up next. Bust out the spandex, hairspray and fluorescent tops!

Flight of the Conchords

Maple Salmon

Stumbled upon the recipe for Maple salmon on allrecipes.com the other day. Since I already had all the ingredients in my fridge, I decided to make it. With it, i added some pesto pasta and sauteed squash and zuchinni as sides. For an appetizer, I made proscuitto and melon. I love proscuitto. I can't wait to wrap other stuff with it.

Overall not bad. the salmon could have been cooked a tad more so it can be more flaky. could have baked the fish in a smaller dish so there would be less loss of the glaze taste. It's a super easy recipe, so I'll be seeing a lot of this again!

Boston never disappoints

Teaser Fireworks during Symphony Half-time with the 1812 Overture
(You gotta have fireworks and cannons with that!)

Being the gung ho person that I am, I volunteered to stake out land for the fireworks show along the Charles yesterday. Arriving at 9am, I found the place packed with people already along the Esplanade.

Luckily, I was able to find a nice spot at the west side of Esplanade that was beautiful. There were enough trees that gave us plenty of shade for the day, but also an unrivaled view of the fireworks barge

So the day began beautifully. From 9 til noon, there was sunshine and nice wind -- altogether a great day to lay out in the sun. From Noon onwards, it was cloudy skies. Howevever from 4 onwards there was sprinkles and some drizzling. Again, being the gung-ho person that I am, I worried if the show would be canceled due to inclement weather. The trees, at this point, became a second blessing. As amateurs, I clearly did not understand the moodiness of Boston weather. To stake out a spot means you'll need to be prepared for the rain. Without full tents and umbrellas, the trees became a wonderful refuge from the drizzling.

As I have mentioned, I volunteered to stake out the land for people in class. Although the initial response was not a full fanfare, I had expected people to show up. Sadly, aside from a few people who were with me, others came and went. I was sad because I had saved a large piece of land for everyone and hardly anyone showed up (maybe under 10). Eitherway, special shout-out to the virology program. Rain had made their spot pretty miserable (as they were unshaded). They joined us and made the part much larger!

The show came on and it was an AWESOME show. We cannot see EVERYTHING in one look. I didn't take pictures of it during the show because it was too awesome to spend time looking into a small screen. I wanted to see every bit of it. Everything was worth it.

Oh yes. Super special thanks to Nate and Alison for being crazy enough to hang out with me all day on the river.




MIT lit up!

I'm rolling in money b/c I'm on Facebook

Found this from BBC by way of phdcomics.com

Social sites reveal class divide

A long-term research project has revealed a sharp division along class lines among the American teenagers flocking to the social network sites.

The research suggests those using Facebook come from wealthier homes and are more likely to attend college.

By contrast, MySpace users tend to get a job after finishing high school rather than continue their education.

Site-seeing

The conclusions are based on interviews with many teenage users of the social networking sites by PhD student Danah Boyd from the School of Information Sciences at UC Berkeley.

In a preliminary draft of the research, Ms Boyd said defining "class" in the US was difficult because, unlike many other nations, it did not map directly to income.

Instead, she said, class in the US was more about social life and networks - how people define themselves and who they define themselves with.

"Social networks are strongly connected to geography, race, and religion; these are also huge factors in lifestyle divisions and thus 'class'," she wrote.

Broadly, Ms Boyd found Facebook users tend to be white and come from families who are keen for children to get the most out of school and go on to college.

Characterising Facebook users she said: "They are in honors classes, looking forward to the prom, and live in a world dictated by after school activities."

By contrast, the average MySpace teenager tends to come from families where parents did not go to college, she said.

Ms Boyd also found far more teens from immigrant, Latino and Hispanic families on MySpace as well as many others who are not part of the "dominant high school popularity paradigm".

"MySpace has most of the kids who are socially ostracised at school because they are geeks, freaks, or queers," she said.

Teenage users of both sites have very strong opinions about the social network they do not use, she noted.

Ms Boyd was wary of drawing too many conclusions from her research and calling Myspace "bad" or Facebook "good" or condemning social networks out of hand.

She wrote: "This division is just another way in which technology is mirroring societal values."

In some ways, Ms Boyd wrote, social networking sites are helping teenagers cope with the stresses of 21st Century life.

"Teens are using social network sites to build community and connect with their peers," she said. "And through it, they are showcasing all of the good, bad, and ugly of today's teen life."

Baa Baa Black Sheep

Got referred to this movie by my friend. Have no intentions of watching it, but the concept is just too absurd.

Sheeps gone wild!

I WAS JUST LIKE HIM

My niece is better anyways

Yeah, another article to respond to.

Here's the article first.
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Two-year-old 'Matilda' becomes youngest ever girl in Mensa

Her parents knew Georgia Brown was bright. After all, she could count to ten, recognised her colours and was even starting to dabble with French.

But it was only when their bubbly little two-year-old took an IQ test that her towering intellect was confirmed.

Georgia has become the youngest female member of Mensa after scoring a genius-rated IQ of 152.

This puts her in the same intellectual league, proportionate to her age, as physicist Stephen Hawking.

According to an expert in gifted children, Georgia is the brightest two-year-old she has ever met.

Parents Martin and Lucy Brown have always regarded their youngest child as a remarkably quick learner.....

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The rest of the article is here if you're interested.

Alright here is my take

According to my psych AP class in HS, IQ is expressed the following way

IQ = Age of Intellectual Equivalent/Actual Age X 100.

Basically, if you're 10 years old, but is as smart as a 12-year-old, you're at an IQ of 120.

So this little girl here is as smart as a 3 year old.

So really, its' all relative. As a reminder, most 3 year olds pick their nose and eat their boogers.

My niece is smarter. She knows how to insult me where it hurts most - by telling me I'm fat. Can "Matilda" do that? I think not!

In conclusion, my niece can kick your ass. She may even double-team with my new future niece/nephew. So bring it, Matilda!

But it's so yummy!

There are times where I will cannot say no to good food while fully aware that it may be bad for me.

There's a paper published in PNAS, a scientific journal, titled "Amyloidogenic potential of foie gras". For those who don't know, amyloid aggregates are a hallmark of Alzheimer's and Mad Cow Disease. In short, this article suggests that there are proteins within foie gras that has the potential to seed these amyloid aggregates.

I guess I'll be taking my chances

Some people should just not mate

Found the following article on Yahoo News.

There are times where I am in full support of full government control over reproductive rights. Some people are just too wreckless/poor/completely and utterly unfit to have children. Here's one of these couples

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N.Z. couple can't name their son '4real'

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - New Zealand authorities have blocked a couple's bid to officially name their new son "4real," saying numerals are not allowed. Pat and Sheena Wheaton said they decided to name their new baby "4real" shortly after having an ultrasound and being struck by the reality of his impending arrival.

"For most of us, when we try to figure out what our names mean, we have to look it up in a babies book and ... there's no direct link between the meaning and the name," Pat Wheaton told TV One on Wednesday. "With this name, everyone knows what it means."

But when the parents filed the name with New Zealand's Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, they were told names beginning with a number were against the rules.

The government office has opened negotiations with the parents about the name under a policy that says all unusual names must be given case-by-case consideration.

"The name has not at this stage been rejected," Registrar-General Brian Clarke said in a statement Thursday. "We are currently in discussions with the parents ... to clarify the situation."

Clarke said the rules are designed to prevent names that are "likely to cause offense to a reasonable person." Satan and Adolf Hitler were proposed names that have been declined, he said.

If no compromise has been reached by July 9, the baby will be registered as "real," officials say.

New Zealand law requires all children born in the South Pacific nation to be registered with the Births, Deaths and Marriages registry within two months of birth.

1408

I'm not a big fan of horror movies.

It's not that I don't like jumps and thrills.

It's just that most horror movies are not well made.
(Caveat: I enjoyed The Evil Dead Trilogy for sake of its sheer absurdity)

Most movies bank on decapitation and blood and gore. I much perfer suspense. See, that's why I liked Ju-On. It scared the living daylights out of me, without any knives, chainsaw, or icepicks.

That's why I'm looking forward to 1408. The trailer looks amazing.

Anyone else game?

I bought this the other day

It's a boat shelf.

Walk Along the Esplanade

I was going to sail today.

Actually I did. Except that I hit the islands. No damage was done. Just needed the ppl at CBI to take me back to the docks. The winds happened to pick up when I was there. While putting the sails away, there were several glorious capsizes. Thankfully, none of them were me.

Look at how tippy the boats are




With my beautiful day on the river cut short, I decided to walk along the esplanade. Here are some pics








I call this one "Left Behind"

Dogs of the Esplanade









Some Random flowers I saw on the way home



Beacon Hill - Where the most classy 7-11 is

Why Ed is Awesome: Reason 412,452

Because he is able to find stuff like this online.



Human Tetris - The funniest movie is here. Find it

The PC term should have been "SUP my ride"

This angry letter to Nature makes me shake my head and give up. Just the fact that this letter has to be written....and pubished. Valid point though.
--------------

Slang's not so slick when you remember its origins

SIR — As African-Americans and as scientists, we are appalled and disappointed in your News Feature 'Pimp my antibody' (Nature 446, 964–966; 2007), which summarizes recent developments in antibody therapy. Despite your misguided attempt to be humorous and socially 'hip', we are dismayed at the cavalier use of the word 'pimp' in a scientific journal, especially one as reputable as Nature.

A pimp is defined as a person who controls and exploits a prostitute. Unfortunately, urban/hip-hop culture (and increasingly, mainstream American culture) has embraced the flamboyant, vulgar and misogynistic pimp lifestyle. This has led to a new, related meaning of the term 'to pimp'. However, no amount of manipulation can remove this term from its immoral origins. That such a headline appeared in Nature indicates the extent to which our society has become desensitized to such imagery. Use of this term in a scientific context is highly inappropriate, because it could be seen as endorsing such a lifestyle.

Although most scientists desire their work to be understood and appreciated by the average non-scientist, inclusion of such offensive slang only degrades the article and the science it describes.

We are especially concerned about the use of such language in an international journal. The United States' multifaceted culture has global influence, but this is one aspect that should not be spread and legitimized. Nature should continue to inspire scientific discovery and inform the international scientific community of noteworthy progress, without promoting disrespectful and demeaning imagery.

Singaporean Fried Noodles and Honey Walnut Shrimp

Yesterday, I woke up and thought to myself, "What am I going to do today?" Now that classes are over, I have a lot of disposable time. So much that I don't know what to do with. Ironically, this is exactly what I've been waiting for since classes started - time where I do not have to think about work once I'm done with it.

Recently, I've been very lazy with cooking. So I decided to spend this weekend cooking. Yesterday, after going into work for a little bit, I went to the supermarket to get some ingredients. Might as well work on self-cultivation, you know!

I finally set my epicurean ambitions into motion today. Here's what I've made

Singaporean Fried Noodles


This dish still needs some work. Mainly, there's very little flavor unless you add some soy sauce. That's all perfectly okay, but it masks the light hint of curry flavoring and spiciness this dish calls for. Also, will use less vermicilli next time. There's too much of it and I'm not able to make it as flavorful. Also, cook onions longer before adding everything else into the mix

Honey Walnut Shrimp



One of the more staple dishes in Chinese restaurants, especially when it comes to 10+ - people family dinners. Aside from the deep frying of the shrimp, it is also surprisingly easy to make. Yes, my apartment smells like oil

----

So after making all this food, I'm actually not that hungry and I'm eating this for dinner




Irony....*sigh*

I'm boycotting Dreamworks

Here's a headline that I found just a moment ago
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Film Producer Says More Shreks to Come

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Seriously, people need to stop making shitty sequels that AREN'T funny. The first one was good. But then it spawned several knockoffs (Hoodwinks) and two really bad sequels. Just like how some people should never be allowed to have kids, it's time the studio stop.

This is the reason why Dreamworks sucks and is always gonna be behind Pixar. Everything Pixar makes is gold because it has heart. They've made a string of awesome movies. Even the more mediocre ones in Pixar standards (ie A Bug's Life and Cars) are winners if they were put out by any other studio. The key is that they make movies with GOOD STORIES. And they don't kill it with no-plot, single note sequels. Remember Toy Story 2? Yes it was a sequel, but it was DAMN good!

So here's my plea

1) Studios, please have some innovation. I know there's a business imperative, yadi yadi yada.

2) Steven Spielberg, STEP UP! You didn't make a ET2 because you had a backbone. Somethings are just better as a one shot deal. Dreamworks bears your name (the S in Dreamworks SKG). Give it something, even if that backbone is ridden with scoliosis.

3) Parents, please be a bit more discriminating audience. Your three-year-old is not going to give a damn what movie they see, as long as there are talking animals and some song. So don't be the moron that takes them to those movies just because it's released in theaters. You're the ones that's going to suffer through 2 hours of really lame plots and ho-hum drama. Put The Incredibles on loop. Or make them watch more Dora the Explorer. At least they'll learn something valuable.

So there is a god

Paris is no longer on house arrest. She's back to the big house. This was prompted by 400+ angry emails/phone calls.

It feels like my job

I'm reading the classics on the discover of estrogen. This little bit reminded me of what I do when i collect urine from my mice.
----

...Doisy isolated the female sex hormones, estrone (Theelin) and estriol (Theelol), from hundreds of gallons of human pregnancy urine. The first two JBC Classics in this set represent this work. Doisy told the following story about collecting the urine.

One driver, while making collections of urine, committed a traffic violation, and the policeman who glanced in the back of the car and saw the bottles with amber fluid thought he had caught a bootlegger. He would not believe the driver so he was invited to get in to sample the amber fluid. After pulling the cork (summertime and the preservative had evaporated) and sniffing, the cop said, "My God it is urine! Your job is bad enough without getting pinched for it—drive on."

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Life as a Grad Student: 1. How to Kill Time

One of the smaller things that I love about science is that the hours are your own. For the most part, no one cares when you come or when you go, as long as you have results. Unless you have a very demanding/anal-retentive boss, of course. None of this 9-5 nonsense, even though I voluntarily put in 9 to 7 or even later hours.

With that said, even though I am, more or less, finished with everything I intend to do today, I am reluctant to just go home. For one, it's only 3p, and I should sit here for another two hours. Second, I signed up for a sailing class at 6p today and it's 2 blocks from work.

So what do I do with all this extra time. Those who chat with me at work (that's you Diana and Shana) know that I run through a list of usual suspects for procrastination.
In no particular order, this included crosswork puzzles, check out Drudgereport and Perez, and blogging.

With these options exhausted, I've decided to move on to something useful. I'm reading scientific papers that appear interesting. I've intentionally avoided papers within my field, mostly because that would constitute being productive, and god forbid that from happening.

Today, I stumbled upon Journal of Biological Chemistry's classics section. This is a section where they feature the seminal papers that establish the field of biology as we know it today. The coolest part about it is the overview and the summaries of the paper chosen. With the luxury of hindsight vision, the authors of these highlights put these classic papers into context, both discussing the career development of the legendary scientists involved, as well as some of the quirkier parts of the papers (ie experimental pitfalls, hubristic claims, etc)

Today, papers published 6-7 years ago are considered as ancient relics, banished to those claustrophobic journal stacks, never to be revisited since they're not on Pubmed. These classics highlight a nice departure from this attitude, allowing us newbies appreciate the historical development of biology as we recognize it today

I bet it's just a broken nail

I was so enjoying how Paris Hilton is jail. Until this morning, when she was released for "medical reasons". WTF, did her super mutant cesspool of VDs flair up? Now she's on house arrest. Celebrities are completely getting away with all kinds of crimes.

Harkening back to some awesome old school Daily Show

Grey's Anatomy is holding down the fort

I'm seeing a slow seeping change with my TV taste.

Today, I stumbled upon "The Deadliest Catch" marathon on the Discovery Channel. The show chronicles several teams that are capturing crabs in the Bering Sea. The swells are huge, the temperature cold, but the payout is HUGE. It's pretty amazing to consider all those crablegs I ate in Vegas came from these guys risking their lives. Altogether, it's pretty awesome.

The point of this is that my taste in TV is skewing towards a dude-like disposition. Man vs. Wild looks AMAZING to me. I would love to watch that show. I already love Mythbusters, and I can't wait until Planet Earth goes on DVD.

Meanwhile, the only girly show that I watch is Grey's Anatomy. And that's getting lame. I'm no longer connecting to the characters anymore. Izzie gets on my nerves every episode with her whining. Meredith was always on my nerves because she's self-centered and immature. Christina, I like her zestiness...but for some reason I dont care for her a lot. Cally is the only girl that I like on that show. She's down-to-earth, and actually sane. Of course, there's McDreamy who always holds down the fort for me.

I'm simply feeling this imbalance. I think Project Runway needs to come back on soon! Otherwise, I may not be able to flip the channel when UFC comes on.

I Tacked!

I did it. I made a turn upwind. I'm no longer an ambi-turner.

So Sad, but so true

An old labmate once said that we laugh at PhD comics because otherwise, we'd cry over their incredibly accurate depiction of grad student life.

The latest issue hits the mark again.

I'd like my meat to bleed and moo.

I found this article from Reuters about making meat in a lab. The motivation behind these efforts argues that this approch would be more eco-friendly and can feed more people.

It's difficult for me to fathom how this can possibly be both eco-friendly and feed more people. I dont have any numbers to back up my argument, but taking into consideration all the technology that must go into a meat-producing laboratory, I'm fairly certain that it is more wasteful than letting the cows roam and eat whatever grass they can find. The amount of humans hours to be put into developing, maintaining, and assuring the quality of these lab-produced meats also calls the method into question.

To think that my next slab juicy steak will come from a petri dish is not that appetizing
Just let my cows roam free and let me eat them as they are.

------------------------------

Dutch try to grow enviro-friendly meat in lab

By Reed Stevenson

UTRECHT, The Netherlands (Reuters) - Dutch researchers are trying to grow pork meat in a laboratory with the goal of feeding millions without the need to raise and slaughter animals.

"We're trying to make meat without having to kill animals," Bernard Roelen, a veterinary science professor at Utrecht University, said in an interview.

Although it is in its early stages, the idea is to replace harvesting meat from livestock with a process that eliminates the need for animal feed, transport, land use and the methane expelled by animals, which all hurt the environment, he said.

"Keeping animals just to eat them is in fact not so good for the environment," said Roelen. "Animals need to grow, and animals produce many things that you do not eat."

Developed nations are expected to consume an average of 43 kg per capita of poultry, beef, pork and other meats this year, an amount that rises around 2 percent annually, data from the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation shows.

Asked whether people would be repulsed by lab-grown meat, Roelen said he believed there would be enough demand, as much of what people eat today is already extensively processed, from the feed that animals consume to the conditions under which they are raised and the preparation of meat after slaughter.

"I can imagine that some people will have problems with it," he said. "People might think it is artificial. But some people might not realize that some part of the meat they eat is artificial."

Research is also under way in the United States, including one experiment funded by U.S. space agency NASA to see whether meat can be grown for astronauts during long space missions.

But it will take years before meat grown in labs and eventually factories reaches supermarket shelves. And so far, Roelen and his team have managed to grow only thin layers of cells that bear no resemblance to pork chops.

Under the process, researchers first isolate muscle stem cells, which have the ability to grow and multiply into muscle cells. Then they stimulate the cells to develop, give them nutrients and exercise them with electric current to build bulk.

After perfecting that process, scientists will then need to figure out how to layer tissues to add more bulk, since meat grown in petri dishes lacks the blood vessels needed to deliver nutrients through thick muscle fibers.

And then there is the question of fat, to add flavor.

Pretty Sweet Weekend...and it's not even over yet

I'm having a blast this weekend. Thought I'd share the awesomeness

It's been a wonderful couple of days here in Boston. The weather is amazingly warm. Thursday and Friday was pretty miserable, completely muggy and hot.

Thankfully on Friday night, my friend Alison invited some girls over to her apartment to watch the first season of Entourage. I had not watched the show before, but have heard great things about it. Let me say that it did not disappoint. I was hilarious. The worst of all was that I know of all the places that they visit. I squealed witih joy when Drama was sipping from a cuup which I recognized was from In N Out. Then, there was another scene where the guys were having brunch at Urth Cafe. One of my best memories from undergrad was at Urth Cafe.. They have the best desserts there.

Saturday started with an awesome pancake breakfast, hosted by the ever-awesome Dave Rhee. He went all out with the toppings, fresh fruits, etc. Although he's usually a stickler for culinary superiority, he opted for insta-pancake mix. The pancakes came out amazingly magnificently thin yet soft.

Then, we all walked to the Hatch Shell for Earthfest, a hippy, Whole Foods sponsored outdoor concert. Guster and KT Tunstall played. It was a little bit of a walk, but the sights and sounds of Boston's Back Bay kept us occupied. When we got there, the place was PACKED. Luckily, we found a little spot underneath a tree, a bit far from the stage, and just camped out there for a few hours. Just enjoyed lovely company of my classmates and the nice weather.

After that, went out later that night to Sissy K's, but went home early b.c the strobe light was giving me a headache.

Today, I slept til noon. Alison and I went shopping at H&M. She had a 25% off coupon. So I walked to the one at Newbury and met up with her there. I bought this really simple black jersey dress that fits amazingly well, a white skirt (b/c it's summer!), a three halter tops. I may return one of them since I know realized that i'd never need that many halters. But they were super cheap....I'm torn. I also picked up two hand bags. One looks like a large brown canvas tote (but stylized), the other is a medium black purse. It's simple and should serve as an important intermediate from my small black clutches. You know, when you want to carry more than just cell phone, keys, and wallet, but dont want something too big.

After that, I went to lab for a bit. My mice were super cooperative, so I got to leave there earlier than normal.

As I was walking home, I came across this stash of used books on the sidewalk. The owner had marked it as free. I went through the stack and found a couple of gems. Brought home two David Sedaris (Naked and Barrel Fever), and a couple of random titles. Maybe i'll read the others eventually.

On the way back, an old friend called. It's great to catch up with him.

Finally, I spent the rest of the night at a friend's place with their impromptu barbeque. They ventured into making banana cheesecake icecream. Came out surprisingly well!

Plans for tomorrow include dinner at Masa and outting to the MFA for the Edward Hopper exhibit (on sale for $6)

Hopefully, I'll wake up early enough for a jog. I had intended to exercise more this week, but because the weather had been miserably hot during the week, and I'm also feeling sick and coughing a lot, I haven't done anything. That's why I've been trying to make up for it by walking everywhere possible. Today was a perfect day to run, but I was running out of time

What's in store for the upcoming week? It's the Genetics Retreat in Newport, RI. Rumor has it that there will be a lobster dinner. I can't wait!

I've Caved

I was quite staunched about it. I thought I can hold out until marriage. But I couldn't. I just made a facebook profile. I've lost a little respect for myself.

Got jetlag? Get a boner!

Got this as part of a news update from Drug Discovery.
------

Viagra cures hamster jetlag
Little blue pill might help people shift their body clock forwards.
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Here are my questions
a) Why would you do that to a hamster. What's the motivation behind the experiment?

b) Is it really useful at all? After a long flight, sleeping it off is not enough?

Daily Show Hottie

Although I'm ready to offer my uterus to Jon Stewart (Hear you me. Come Nov 27, when I will attend a Daily Show taping), I may take it back and give it to this guy. After all, pretty looking guys who HAPPEN to be freaking fighter pilots are hard to come by on the Daily Show.

That was my Prof on Colbert

Was watching Colbert Report last night and found out that one of my professors from UCLA, Jared Diamond, was on. It's not a stellar interview, but hell, I know that guy. One degree of separation from Stephen Colbert!

867-5309

Amazing Story
-----------

Plumbers fight for famous phone number

LINCOLN, R.I. - One-hit wonder Tommy Tutone made the phone number 867-5309 famous in the band's 1982 hit single, which uses the digits over and over in its catchy refrain.

Now, a Rhode Island company and a national firm are battling over the right to use the number, which doesn't reach the "Jenny" that Tutone sings about, but could find callers a decent plumber.

Two years ago, Gem Plumbing & Heating of Lincoln, R.I., trademarked the phone number in the early 1980s hit, which reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Gem acquired the number in Rhode Island when its original owner, Brown University, gave up 867-5309 after growing weary of the constant prank calls.

Gem's number works in the 401 area code in Rhode Island and the 617 area code in southern Massachusetts.

But Florida-based Clockwork Home Services, also a plumbing company, uses a toll-free version of 867-5309 in New England. They argue a company can only trademark a vanity number, like 1-800-FLOWERS.

Gem won round one in its legal fight over the number when a federal judge in Boston recently barred Clockwork from using the number in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, effective this week. But Clockwork's lawyers said they would fight on.

Tommy "Tutone" Heath told The Boston Globe that he'd prefer if neither company used the number.

"It's ridiculous," said Heath. "If I wanted to get into it, I could probably take the number away from both of them."

I met Watson!

I met Nobel Laureate Dr James D. Watson! Yes, THE WATSON OF WATSON AND CRICK. I had been warned of his visit ahead of time. So I ditched work to go hang out and just hover around waiting for the sighting. Raghu ushered us into his office, where Watson had been spending his day. There, he shared all these stories about other VERY famous scientists and other odd thoughts. The man is known for his outspokenness.

So sweet of Raghu to have us meet him.

Being the nerd that I am, I brought two of his books for him to sign. It wasn't that I was greedy. I just couldn't decide which was the better book. The first one, "The Double Helix" is more traditional. The other, "Genes, Girls, and Gamow" was less scientific and more about his stories after the discovery. Yeah, I got them signed. I'm happy for that, but it wasn't my original goal. I wanted an autographed Bobblehead. How sweet that would have been.

Why Ed is Awesome: Reason 2435

I was chatting Ed last night.


hum on duckie: like you said, you were born in the wrong century
hum on duckie: i mean decade
hum on duckie: century would be bad
oddlyhayden: yeah, i hated the turn of the century
oddlyhayden: i wouldn't have liked it
hum on duckie: what's wrong with working in horrid conditions and being paid shit?
hum on duckie: its like doing research


Oh SNAP!

Colbert's got his own K POP video

So terrible, but so true. Love the last line. "Rain, I'm gonna be all over you like egg on a bowl of beebimbop"

Daily show clip

An Office joke on the Daily Show

Forward to about ~1:45

Michael Moore makes UCLA look bad

Michael Moore's face is plastered all over the web today because he is being investigated by the US Treasury. In the picture, he's smugly wearing a UCLA cap. This makes my school look bad. USC is the school that's normally associated with criminals. Not UCLA. I hate the association.

But I'm not an ambiturner

Most of you know my handicap with directions.

Now, apparently, I share a common trait with Derek Zoolander of Zoolander fame.

I went sailing after work today. It was a light wind day, so I took the boat out on my own again just for some practice. As it turns out, I dont know how to tack (turning left or right heading upwind). I would get decent momentum, but end up stuck in the middle of the water when my boat is facing directly into the wind. I would change directions a bit and try it again.
This happened a few times before I would give up.

So to turn, I would jibe (meaning turning left or right heading downwind). I would do a full turn so it'd end up going the right direction

Here's in illustration of what happens.


I'm so lame.

Sailing

I took the boat out on my own yesterday. I didn't do too well, but I didnt capsize. So in all, a learning experience. Yay!

This is why I need to make anti-aging polar bears

I can't believe there is an article about this. Found this on Drudge Report

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Knut Steadily Getting Less Cute

It's a tragic fact of life. Celebrity polar bear cub Knut, now almost five months old, is gradually mutating from a fluffy porridge-lapping cub into a heavy bruiser with a penchant for meat off the bone. But the visitors are still flocking to see him.

Knut is looking more like an adult every day.
Knut's days of extreme cuteness are numbered now that he has acquired a markedly longer snout and weighs a chubby 17 kilograms (37 pounds), twice as much as when he first appeared before an adoring public five weeks ago.

"His teeth are sharper and he's stronger, he still gets porridge but we now feed him beef on the bone occasionally," the zoo's bear expert Heiner Klös told SPIEGEL ONLINE. "He's calmed down a bit, he doesn't potter around as much as he used to and he's happy to sit on his own more often. But he still wanders back to his keeper to tank up on security."

Knut's faithful handler Thomas Dörflein has taken to wearing long-sleeved shirts or pullovers and gloves to protect himself when he handles Knut. But the polar bear cub immediately obeys when Dörflein has had enough and tells him to stop biting him with the stern command "Aus!"

Klös said it's impossible to predict when Knut will be able to sleep on his own without a keeper by his side, or when he will be too dangerous to handle closely. "At the moment handling him is no problem and we don't have a timetable in that regard."

Even though he's getting bigger every day, the crowds are still pouring in to see him. More than 25,000 people visited the zoo at the weekend.

Meanwhile, the extensive range of Knut merchandise was increased last week with the launch of a porcelain Knut by venerable Berlin-based china manufacturer Königliche Porzellan Manufaktur Berlin.

Procrastination Entry: Bands that I wished I can see live

Once again, I've resumed my normal position in front of my laptop. Of course, I have work to do. But am i doing it? Partially. For me, any attempt at workis always coupled to regularly interrupting procrastination.

So what kind of procrastinating have I done so far, you ask? Well. I've already checked my email 5 times in the past hour. Yes, all 4 accounts! My usual gossip blogs have not updated since I've last checked. Plus, Matt Drudge has nothing interesting posted either. I did one set of crunches on my newly inflated exercise ball. After that, I decided that my purple AE tshirt doesn't look too good with my khaki skirt, but is amazing with my denim skirt. Plus, I really need some new flats because ragged old running shoes aren't too flattering with a cute tshirt, mini skirt ensemble.

Now that all these avenues of time-wasting have been exhausted, I'm ready to talk to you, my loyal readers. Yes, all three of you.

I'm going to share with you several bands that I would like to see live, but probably won't get the chance to. (Don't you feel lucky!)

1) Garbage

Garbage had some success in the mid-late 90s with songs such as Special, When I Grow Up, and Stupid Girl. Despite commercial success with their first two albums (Garbage and Version 2.0), their other two albums fail to reach much of an audience. Their albums are generally of the same vein - highly produced, guitar-driven rock songs largely powered by the awesomely haunting voice of its lead singer, Shirley Manson. The exception lies in their third album, Beautiful Garbage, which mixed it up a bit. Still the same emotionally tumultous, angst-ridden lyrics, but with a slightly more pop sound. Their last album, Bleed Like Me, marks a return their tried-and-true roots.

I got the chance to see them two summers ago at San Diego's Street Scene. It was amazing. I'd love to see them again, but I don't think it's happening. The band are on hiatus. Shirley's also recording a solo album.

2) Save Ferris

Again, another 90s band. Again, with a female lead singer. Save Ferris was a pretty popular Ska band headed up by Monique Powell. They're probably best known for Goodbye and their cover of Come On Eileen. With an energetic sound and even better vocals, Save Ferris produced two albums. Both albums are tons of fun to listen and sing to. For crying out loud, they have an entire song dedicated to spam! Of course, one of the real gems is the very low-key Let Me In.

I know people who have seen them play at a KROQ show at the Santa Anita Racetracks back at home. I personally have not. Unfortunately, the band has broken up. I think Monique has some side projects still, but I'm not too sure.

3)Travis

Travis was the next IT band from the UK. That was until they were usurped a year later by Coldplay. Regardless, they have some really mellow songs, somewhere between Blur (minus song 2), Wilco, and Snow Patrol. Well written and well played. They have three albums, I think. I only have one of them, but I've listened to the other two and they're pretty much the same sound, and still good.

I don't know where they are right now. So I'm not sure if I'll ever get to see them.

4) The Wallflowers
Most people know them by their one big hit, One Headlight. I also know them by their second album, Bringing Down the Horse, and their third one (Which I can't remember the name to). I actually own their first album, which sucked. My friend was supposed to get me Bringing Down the Horse, but bought the wrong one. Oh yeah, a small claim to fame? Jakob Dylan, the hot son of Bob Dylan, head the band and he actually sounds good. Surprise, surprise!

Again, I dont know their status right now. They haven't had an album out in a while. Perhaps indefinite hiatus also?

Sailing

I just got my solo rating today. THis means I can go out sailing on my own on a light wind day.

Civilization

I bought Civilization III before returning from spring break, and have been playing it on and off ever since. Generally, I love games where there aren't quests or goals. You just move on your own pace. Games like SimCity, SimHotel, Lemonade Tycoon are generally games that I enjoy. (For whatever reason, I actually dont like The Sims. I think it's lame trying to recreate a good life for a stupid character on the computer. I rather expend that effort on making me have a life.)

Anyhow, the point of this post is to talk about how difficult Civilization is. I have yet to obtain any victory. I run into the tendency of overextending myself or not establishing my cities at places with resources.

My neighbors also hate me. They always declare war on me and I end up losing militarily. If I beef up my military, it'll drain my poor treasury. I can spend more time finding a good starting location, but that would mean other people are already taking up the land while I'm still roaming.

Long story short, The game is really hard for me right now. Perhaps I should consider a lower difficulty setting, but that would mean being lame. I'll try it a couple more times. After that, I'll start resorting to online resources.

Are you FUCKING KIDDING ME!

Wow. What happened in Virginia Tech is tragedy. This video has set a new low in exploiting national tragedies, almost as much as the constant invoking of 9/11 by the current administration.

McCain Interviews

McCain was just on the Daily Show. Some really good exchanges. Part II is especially good.