No girlfriend, no problem.

I am so glad that I do not have a girlfriend right now....let me explain.

Twilight came out on Friday. I have no plans on watching it. So if I can hold out for 2 months, the movie will be out of theaters and my sanity will remain intact.

Across the Universe

So I watched 'Across the Universe' again today. It is quickly becoming my favorite movie. It is rare that I enjoy a musical. Typically musicals are dreary and drawn out, much like getting stabbed in the face by a man with Parkinson's. But this one...well, this one is filled with some of my favorite songs from beginning to end. It is so much better when you can sing along with a musical and not feel like a total git. I do believe that you cannot just sit through a Beatles song and not sing along.

So, I leave you with some lyrics (although it does seem a little silly).

With a little help from my friends:

What would you think if I sang out of tune,
Would you stand up and walk out on me.
Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song,
And I'll try not to sing out of key.

I get by with a little help from my friends,
I get high with a little help from my friends,
I'm gonna try with a little help from my friends.

This is dedication.

A Victorious Chord

I get tired of running into 'fan-boys' of this band or that band. Doesn't anyone appreciate music as a whole anymore? I am not saying that you have to like everything, only that you appreciate the significance of specific bands and what they accomplished. There are several bands/artists that have contributed so much to music, and although I am not necessarily a fan of their music, I recognize what they have brought to the table. This is not a comprehensive list, however I do believe it covers a broad swath so that you get the general idea.

The Beatles
One of the biggest pop groups of all time. They just pumped hit after hit, and even those that did not top at #1 were still classic and revolutionary in music. Not only did The Beatles have an influence on music of the time, the individual band members went on to further that with their own future projects.

Earl Scruggs
Revolutionary banjo player who was part of Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys. He perfected the three finger banjo picking using the thumb, index, and middle fingers. This allowed future acts to increase speed and expand freedom.

Grateful Dead
A band who mixed many genres together into a unique sound. One thing that separates from other bands is that The Grateful Dead focused on improvisation rather than defined sets when performing live. Not only did they create wonderful and influential sounds, they were also advocates of music itself. They are known for having more free concerts than any other band as well as allowing fans to tape their sets provided that the fan did not profit from the recordings.

Michael Jackson
Ignore that he is completely loony. It is a fact though that he not only produced good music, but was an excellent showman. Enough said.

Pink Floyd
Not only did Pink Floyd create songs that had never been heard before, but they took those sounds and put it to a movie, hence: The Wall. A revolutionary piece of music/video has not been seen until 'Across the Universe.'

Garth Brooks
A mixture of country and rock lead to a reprise of country music and brought it back into the popularity with a broad range of songs. Furthermore, I cannot think of another country music artist that has had a true world tour.

Alabama
Country music band that has been influential as a band, as opposed to many country music artists which have acts that are solo. With extensive touring, they have incorporated many different styles of music and styles of showmanship.

Now, I would also like to add some rap, R&B, and a few more genres here. However, I am not as familiar with them and would rather not embarrass myself.

Big Bang Theory

This is one of my favorite shows.

The best part of the show is the jokes. I saw a few episodes with friends, and they didn't get any of the jokes. They had no idea why I was laughing...I just seemed crazy.

I have watched all of season one. I cannot wait until season two. I think that my favorite character is Sheldon, although there is a little of each character in me; which I think why the show is so universal in its appeal to geeks, nerds, and dorks.

Save the world

So I met a girl this weekend while leading a canoe trip and got her number. She was cute and could hold a conversation ... a rare mix around here. I have no idea if she is single or not but she was cool to talk with regardless. I think the best part is that she is not 'normal,' she is more off to the fringe, which I dig. But that is not the reason why I am writing about her, although it would be completely awesome to date her; the reason I am writing about her is that she got me thinking about life in general. She got me thinking about the things that I could do to help others.

So today I picked up a guy on the side of the road; he ran out of gas, he had been walking for over half an hour in the sun with the thermometer hitting over 100 deg. So I gave him a bottle of water, a lift to the gas station and lent him $5 [although I am not expecting him to pay me back, I just hope he passes along the favor].

Elections, Problems, and other rantings

Honestly, at this point I am tired of the elections. I follow the elections quite closely as a matter of principle, but the media is getting ridiculous. I could safely say that 90% of what they report is utter bullshit. Who gives a shit what each candidate is wearing? It is not an issue. If I wanted a stylish president, I would look in GQ or Esquire, not in Congress.

I want a leader that will do what is right for the country as a whole not because it will provide the maximum benefit, but because it is the right thing to do. I am an idealist, I want to see the best in people.

To be completely honest, I think that both Obama and McCain would be a great president. Obama is a visionary to say the least, and McCain is a great moderate that has not had troubles jumping over the aisle. The problem is the rest of government and its politics. Both the House and the Senate are severely fucked. There is too much division and subversion going on that is preventing this country from moving forward. We spend too much money on 'pet projects' and not enough money on things that matter. Right now approximately 1% of the entire US population is homeless. This is sad. How much would it cost to provide the homeless with stable housing, drug treatment, medical attention, and provide them with training and jobs? So far the Iraq war has cost between 500 and 600 billion dollars; could we have solved the homeless problem with that much funding? [The answer is that we could have put an enormous dent in the homeless population.]

At this moment, we have so many problems...but not enough solutions and not enough people that give a damn about things that matter.

Randy Pausch

Today is a not a sad day, but an unfortunate day. Randy Pausch died today at 47 of pancreatic cancer. I never met him in person or even talked to him, but his 'Last Lecture' was truly inspiring. He knew we was dying, but that didn't stop him from living. Amazing, just amazing. He taught more in his dying than most will ever do living. His 3 children may never know the extent of their father's reach...but the rest of the world will.

Link

Video

To cheer myself up

Hooray for defining innuendos!

What is new in my life

So many things have changed in the past two weeks.

I told my mentor that I will not be returning in the fall. So I will be working with her until the end of the summer and then I will be on my own. This is completely uncharted territory for me; I have never been in a position where I did not know what was coming next. So I have started to look for jobs, my family has been sending me postings for job nearly constantly (which is good). Although I have found out that for most of the jobs that they send me, I am not qualified for....unfortunate. So my plan is to apply for substitute teaching and the Peace Corps. I figure that if I am going to take a break from school, I might as well do something worth while.

It has been a while since I last posted. Much has happened in my life in that time. But today, I am not going to talk about me...I just have to get something off my chest: Conservapedia.

I saw a mention of it, and I thought that I would see just how accurate it was, especially since in its own icon it says, "The Trustworthy Encyclopedia." To compare it, I needed another online encyclopedia; for this I used Wikipedia, although not the best....it is a benchmark. So being a scientist, I started with something controversial...something that I would expect to see the most differences; for this I chose 'Evolution.' My assumption was correct, the differences were vast.

First, lets see an excerpt from Wikipedia: "In biology, evolution is the process of change in the inherited traits of a population of organisms from one generation to the next."

From Conservapedia: "Merriam-Webster's dictionary gives the following definition of evolution: 'a theory that the various types of animals and plants have their origin in other preexisting types and that the distinguishable differences are due to modifications in successive generations.'"

Wait, so an an encyclopedia you have to cite the dictionary? WTF? The beginning of the Conservapedia article sounds like the beginning of a high school graduation speach. Well, maybe there is something that is better down the page...

Conservapedia: "The fossil record is often used as evidence in the creation versus evolution controversy. The fossil record does not support the theory of evolution and is one of the many flaws in the theory of evolution.[10]" That little link at the end of the line is not linking to a scientific journal or any sort of publication, instead it is a link to the homepage of a man's personal page. He has a degree in Biology, although he does not say which one...and only passed with a C average. Does he have any publications? No, but he does have a blog on Creationism. Hardly a qualified poster in the evolution page.

The whole Conservapedia seems to be royally fucked on the information side as it is covered in asides and unnecessary political view points.

Sad. Just sad that this is what we have come to; mis-information to settle the masses.

George Carlin 1937-2008

Today is a sad day for the world. George Carlin died. He was a comedian, analyzer of world problems and a cultural icon. He stood for more than just a laugh, he stood for freedom of speech and the end of stupidity (although the latter would leave him without material).

He wrote 3 books, has 22 comedy albums, 4 Grammy awards, and countless comedy events. He even had the distinction of hosting the very first episode of SNL.

Sleepless

So, it is past 2 am....and I am still awake. It is so hard to fall asleep with so much on my mind.

It seems like I am having some sort of uneasiness about my future. I love science, I love studying science, but I hate the lifestyle of a scientist. I just don't understand the long hours, the low pay, and the huge amount of commitment of education and time. I am tired of having to decide between science and having a social life (with the social life always losing). Where is the balance? Why can't we have the best of both worlds? What happened to old-school science, the kind of science that you did in your free time for the fun of it? Maybe the problem is making a career out of something that I love, taking all of the fun out of it.

Also in my life, my grandfather died on Thursday. The funeral is this Thursday. The family is pretty broken up about it, and I have been the stable 'rock' member of the family. It is unfortunate, he was an awesome man and the stories have gone with him.

It looks like I am not going to sleep tonight, I will be on the road driving my sister to LA in less than 6 hours.

HOLY SHIT!!!

I don't know what to say....

World of World of Warcraft

'Warcraft' Sequel Lets Gamers Play A Character Playing 'Warcraft'

European Union

The European Commission has just announced an agreement whereby English will be the official language of the EU rather than German which was the other possibility. As part of the negotiations, Her Majesty’s Government conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a 5 year phase-in plan that would be known as “Euro-English”.

In the first year, “s” will replace the soft “c”. Sertainly, this will make the sivil servants jump with joy. The hard “c” will be dropped in favour of the”k”. This should klear up konfusion and keyboards kan have 1 less letter.

There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year, when the troublesome “ph” will be replaced with “f”. This will make words like “fotograf” 20% shorter.

In the 3rd year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be ekspekted to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible. Governments will enkorage the removal of double letters, which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling. Also, al wil agre that the horible mes of the silent “e”s in the language is disgraseful, and they should go away.

By the fourth year, peopl wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing “th” with “z” and “w” with “v”. During ze fifz year, ze unesesary “o” kan be dropd from vords kontaining “ou” and similar changes vud of kors be aplid to ozer kombinations of leters.

After zis fifz yer, ve vil hav a reli sensibl riten styl. Zer vil be no mor trubl or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi to understand ech ozer. Ze drem vil finali kum tru!

The Pagan origins of the Christian Myth

[Before] Dionysis turned water to wine.
[After] Jesus turned water into wine.

[Before] Vespatian healed a blind man.
[After] Jesus healed a blind man.

[Before] The good go to the Elysian Fields, the bad to Hades.
[After] The good go to Heaven, the bad to Hell.

[Before] Romulus was the son of God, born of a virgin.{There are at least 4 others like this}
[After] Jesus was the son of God, born of a virgin.

[Before] Every group (Egyptians, Minoans, Spartans, Arians, etc) gets their holy laws from "god."
[After] Christians get their holy laws from "god."

[Before] The Roman god Liber had his flesh eaten by his followers.
[After] Jesus had his flesh eaten by his followers.

[Before] Glycon was the son of the God Apollo, who:
... came to Earth through a miraculous birth,
... was the Earthly manifestation of divinity,
... came to earth in fulfillment of divine prophecy,
... gave his chief believer the power of prophecy,
... gave believers the power to speak in tongues,
... performed miracles,
... healed the sick,
... raised the dead.
[After] Same as above except cross out Glycon/Apollo and replace with Jesus/God.



You see....Christians are not special, they follow the same myths that have been around for thousands of years. I get tired of hearing this 'god is special/jesus is our savior/jesus loves you/the bible is the word of god/REPENT!' crap over and over again. Religion is just a pair of mental shackles to keep people in their place, to keep them sedated. Study after study has shown that religion and intelligence are correlated (with an increase in intelligence = decrease in religion). [Keep in mind that IQ is only one measure of intelligence, but similar studies have seen the same thing in GPA, ACE, SAT, college education, income, and status in their field of work.]

The greatest threat to religion is reason.

Brain Drain

So I have been reading on the brain drain in the central valley. Link: Valley Notebook

It is quite sad just how pronounced it is. In the San Joaquin Valley only 14% of people over 25 have at least a bachelor's degree compared to the rest of the state of California at 28%.

So what does the San Joaquin Valley have to offer, Fresno in particular (since it is the 'big city'):
~~Well, it is in the middle of the state. Four hours to LA, four hours to Sac and San Fran. Two hours to the ocean, two hours to the mountains. In the middle of everything. The problem with this is that you have to go somewhere else to do something. Why should you be in the middle of everything when you can pick one thing that will have most of what you want anyways? With gas at $4.50 a gallon, who is going to drive that far?
~~The housing is the cheapest in the state. This is a positive, especially if you want to own a house. However, who wants to own a house that has nothing of value around it? Do we have lots of culture? No. Do we have major universities? No. Do we have a good public transportation system? No. Is there a thriving job market to support a family on? No. Then what is the point of owning a house, if there is nothing of value around it? It is like having a 3 story mansion, but it is located in the middle of the city dump. Pointless.
~~Lower crime rate? Not exactly. Both Fresno and Kern counties had a similar or higher rate of crime per 100k people than Los Angeles in all categories (2005). Where is the incentive to stay? Why not pick a county like Orange, Santa Clara, or Santa Barbara to raise your kids? They have lower crime rates, more cultural and job opportunities, and major universities nearby.

So how do we keep people here? How do we bring people in? How do we stop the tide of people leaving?

My fish has eaten your fish?

This is utter bullshit. It seems that the Discovery Institute has released another psuedo-science paper. It never ends with them does it?

Anyways, a quick summary of the paper. They took protein structures and compared them to Han (Chinese) characters with a computer program. That is it, that is the whole paper. They couldn't even account for 3D folding, they changed the topology of the proteins to make them fit the characters. An example of their bullshit work is below. At least there is an upside, they were able to write out (in 'Chinese') "My fish has eaten your fish" [the image below is not it] using proteins.


What is wrong with these people?!? Why is this ignorance allowed to continue?

Techno?

This is the reason why I listen to rock and metal...it has purpose. First of all, who buys techno? Second of all, who listens to techno enough to want to buy it? Thirdly, who listens to techno?

Spoon Genetics

Genius, pure genius. This shows the dangers of genetically modified utensils. Lets just stick with our GM crops and we should be fine. For those non-science people who are scared....utensils do not reproduce, so you are safe.

Slurpee goodness

So I had my first slurpee in about a year....which means that summer is officially here. No one can resist the perfection that is slurpee. It is nice and cold, and makes your tongue the color of happiness. Today I had the razberry flavor, next time I am going for the classic coke unless the banana flavor comes back. :-)

House sitting

So I have now been house sitting for a week. I must say that it is quite boring here as it is far too quiet. There is no one to talk to as well. I am kind of getting a feeling for what it is going to be like living completely on my own with no roommates. I am not sure that I like it, it is just too lonely.

Maybe when I have my own place, I will have to get a pet that loves me back...the gecko is not into cuddling, and the plants are not exactly sane friends.

Well, five more weeks of house sitting....perhaps it will grow on me.

Elevator Madness

So, I have been talking about having a card game in the elevator for quite some time, just because it is so odd and unexpected. Finally I got my wish! A few of the grad students and I played a few games of 'Set' in the elevator. We dragged in a table and some chairs from the lobby and put it in the elevator. From there we enjoyed the game. They were a little uneasy about the whole situation, but I am not sure why.

The next elevator invasion I am looking for is a band practice...

This makes me sad.

Due to gravitational effect of the Moon, the energy of Earth's rotation is slowly being absorbed by the Moon. Hence Earths orbit is slowing down approximately by 2/100ths of a second per century, thus making each and every new day the longest day on Earth.

Just when I thought that things were getting better...

So I saw the movie "Indiana Jones."

I was just underwhelmed. Indy never felt like he was in danger, he was always ahead of things. It just seemed like everything was going through the motions, with no real feeling like the old movies. The ending seemed kind of empty as well. All in all was it worth the $10 for the ticket? No, it wasn't. Would it be worth the matinee price? Yeah, I would pay $7.

Don't expect anything great and you will be fine.

Update!

Again, with the exclamation point title.

Anyways, it has been a while since I posted last...much has happened since the last time. I went to my father's this weekend, it was good to see the family again. My sister's boyfriend met the extended family for the first time....it was interesting, although he handled it well.

My PI is in Japan for the next 6 weeks, so I have a lot to do while she is away. My undergrad will be starting his work on Monday (tomorrow). Still on the science end, I have been reading a number of books on fish biomechanics and writing a bit on them as well.

On the personal end of my life, I am still single. It is not that bad, I have a good group of friends, and have been keeping myself busy with work. I just don't want to end up like many of the biologists who are either divorced/divorcing through grad school or hopelessly single.

To all of the people going elsewhere for the summer (Maria, Christi, Sierra, Jourdan, etc.): be safe, and have a good trip there and back.

T shirt!

This shirt is awesome...time to save money. :-)

The IT Crowd

There is a great show that I was introduced to a while back called "The IT Crowd." The show is great in all it's geekiness.

The idea of the show is that a woman lies about her computer abilities and is placed as the head of the IT Department. Obviously the employees of the IT Dept. see right through her but are able to cope with it. The guys are the stereotypical nerds that you would find in an IT Dept and the combination with the computer-inept rest of the business drives the hilarity.

For the observant nerd, little tid-bits of nerdom are visible [like in the picture above you can see the number '42' and the original Nintendos in the background].




"Have you tried turning it off and on again?"

Over the past few weeks something has been rising in me, before it had merely been a low rumble. It was something that I could only faintly hear within my head. But now, for some reason that I am not sure of, I am unhappy with the world outside my mind.

For many years I have been a Buddhist, following the original teachings in an attempt to better my life. One of the main teachings was to follow the middle path [which I talked about briefly before in an earlier post]. So I have not become a vegetarian like many other Buddhists, but instead eat a variety of food.

There is something still missing in my life, and I think it is the cause of my unhappiness -- I feel trapped. People should not be slaves to their job. Why do we have to work 40 hours a week? Do we really need all of this stuff? Why are we not spending more time with our families? What have we gained living this life?

Is our own greed keeping us from living the life we could be happy with?

Karma!

This is my second exclamation laden title only to highlight that karma is a cold harsh bitch.

The story says that a motorcyclist flipped off the cops then sped off while doing a wheelie. Well, that motorcyclist crashed and is now in the hospital. :-)

Original Article

Wizard!

So it seems like a substitute teacher was allegedly fired for performing a magic trick with a toothpick in the classroom. I am not sure of the validity of this claim, but nonetheless made me chuckle.

It reminds me of a dialogue from "Arrested Development"

Michael Bluth: So this is the magic trick, huh?
George Oscar 'Gob' Bluth: Illusion, Michael. A trick is something a whore does for money...
[sees children watching his magic]
George Oscar 'Gob' Bluth: ...or candy!

Original Article

Growing plants

So, I have found a new hobby that I have been working on. I took up indoor gardening. I would like to do some outdoor gardening, but as the house is not mine since I rent, I do not see the value of investing in something that I cannot take with me.

Anyways, I never thought that I would have a green thumb. When talking with my mom about it, she smiled and told me that I must have gotten it from my grandmother, who I don't really remember, but I do remember seeing the fruits of her labor as a child....her garden was beautiful.

Right now, I am growing:

Jacobs Ladder

Begonias

Dahlias

The Middle Path

I had a friend ask me what the 'middle path' was. For those of you who know me well, you know that I am a Buddhist. The middle path is one of the main teachings of Siddhartha Gautama. The middle path is the practice of non-extremism, moderation, avoiding self-indulgence, and opposing self-mortification. The idea is to live a balanced life.

So now you know.

Beware the Believers

This video is hilarious!

You may notice Dawkins, PZ Myers, among others. Whoever made this has some talent.

Public Education

I have been discussing this idea with a few of the faculty here at the university, let me know what you think.

Much of the public is quite ignorant about science; it is not bad, they just don't know the ins-and-outs. My plan is to have monthly seminars on general biology subjects. We have Cafe Scientifique, but that is on current topics on science, which is nice....but the main difficulty is not with current science....it is with the basics.

'meh'

There appear to be a few words that have an abundance of meanings; most of these depend on context or expression. Pretty much it is an expression of indifference. Since 'meh' is such a more than a word, and closer to an expression it is more fluid and dynamic when using it in speech. In fact, you can use it in almost every context.

Coming Soon!

Blogs on:

Expressive Words [such as "meh"]
Graduate School
My new gardening project

Creationism Lecture

I just got back from a 'creation science' lecture. I am disappointed, there is no other word for it. It was billed as a scientific look at 'creation science,' however it was merely 1 hour and 45 minutes of a hodgepodge of out of context quotes plus another 15 minutes of misrepresented, incorrect, outdated, or poor science. The idea that evolutionists are somehow purposely misleading the public (while still holding beliefs contrary to what they say) is ridiculous. I have never seen such twisting of words from great scientific minds like Dawkins, Crick, and Gould.

The science that was present was very old. The most recent experiment covered was 1980. Just plain sad. For those who are non-science people reading this, rarely does a scientist use material from almost 3 decades ago unless there is no other alternative and if they do use that information, it is backed up by more recent publications. [Normal scientists often have a cut off of 5 years old, serious scientists in vigorous fields have a cut off of approximately 2 years.] When questioned on his lack of recent research and blatant oversight of advances in genetics with the discovery of Hox genes, transposons, gene inversion, genetic transfer between chromosomes, and all of the other intro-level biology concepts....he had nothing to do but dance around.

The speaker had a PhD in Education, but was speaking as an authority on science as a geologist. If you are going to speak as an authority on a topic, it is vital that you have some sort of proper credentials. A doctorate in education is not the same as a doctorate in the sciences. The rigor is not the same as that found in science. True he did have memberships in several geological organizations, but it is completely valid to have membership in something and still not be accepted in the field.

The final nail in the coffin was that the science presented was completely false, and has been proven false as it has been used over and over by creationists yet they have not adapted their scientific arguments. The same faulty arguments on the bacterial flagellum, the peppered moth, and the lack of transitional forms was the only 'science' that the speaker could muster. When questioned on it, and proven incorrect with not only basic logic but also scientific studies....he merely skirted the topic as 'science mantra.' Sad, just sad. If you are going to claim proof of your position by scientific means, then use sound science.

There is far too many points that need to be covered here, so when I get a little more time to update this, I will add it on here. Time to go read a new science paper. :-)

Things have been quite hectic this past week. Went to a conference this past week and had to present two research posters. One was on Mycobacterium smegmatis [a species similar to tuberculosis] and the other was on fish biomechanics. I was extremely tired afterward but couldn't sleep as I had a grant proposal due the next day on the metabolic costs of maneuverability in fish. Finally this weekend I was able to sleep.

I spent Friday night going to the movies with the girlfriend. "Forbidden Kingdom" was okay, nothing special. The fight scenes were good, but it was not really worth the $10 a ticket. I would pay $3 to rent it, but would not spend the money to go to the theater again.

Last Lecture

I just saw the interview with Randy Pausch on ABC. I had seen his 'Last Lecture' about six months ago, and even now his words are just as inspiring as they had been then.

If you haven't seen it yet, then try this link.

And although I doubt he will ever read this blog, "Thank you."

This weekend

I must say that I really just wasted this entire weekend. I did absolutely nothing, even though I have so much still to do. The girlfriend was gone all weekend, preoccupied with an upcoming interview. I spent all of Sunday watching the entire 'Lord of the Rings' series that came on tv.

What a waste of a weekend.

I really want to do this.

It would be quite awesome to have my entire bedroom filled with those playpen balls.

You have to love xkcd. There is actually now a website called Wet Riffs

I just found out that they posted my friend's picture up too!!

Check this out, it made me laugh for quite some time.

Without patriotism

Recently I had a wonderful discussion on patriotism. Patriotism is not necessary freedom and peace. It is more likely that identification and celebration of belonging to a group is going to lead to a reduction of freedom and peace.