Month: July 2006

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Suck it, BP…

So, I watched “The Daily Show” tonight…Jon Stewart was kind enough to point out some information that came out today based on the quarterly earnings of BP (British Petroleum):

Last quarter, BP made $55,000 in profit.

Every.

Minute.

Seriously. wtf?!?!

For those that don’t know, a “quarter” lasts 3 months, and there are 1440 min in a day, 43200 in a month, and 129600 in three months. Multiply that times $55,000 and you get approximately $7.1 billion in profits.

Can someone please explain to me why I’m paying $3.05 a gallon right now?

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I Forgot…

But, I had my first gambling experience last weekend. My parents came down for their anniversary (26!) and so I met them at Ameristar for dinner. We ate, then Dad gave me $20 so I wouldn’t feel guilty wasting away my own money. Mom and I went to the penny slot machines where we bet 5 cents a time. We changed machines every so often since Mom has a policy of not losing more than $2 to a single machine. Mom kept losing, but I won $13 and some change on one machine, then lost about $5 of that to end up with $10 more than I started with. So, woohoo to me! Plus, it was quite entertaining to see my parents away from the way I normally see them and to spend some time with them by myself..it made me feel very grown-up!

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Mmmmm…hobos…

“Yeah. before the role [Venom], I went out and killed a hobo with a hammer just [to] kind of get into [it], and it worked. All of a sudden, people were treating me differently.”

— Topher Grace

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My New Favorite

So, today I went to a GardenRidge store in search of an umbrella cookie cutter. Not only did I find exactly what I was looking for, but this store was like Brooke heaven! It has tons of cheap crafty things, lots of stuff on sale (like all of their candles 75% off), and an amazing section of kitchen gadgets and things I wish I have room for, but alas don’t. Anyway, that’s all…just wanted to let you know.

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Hell Freezes Over

Monopoly

So, I was looking at Engadget this morning and saw this lovely link… Apparently, Parker Brothers is “phasing out” the “old school” versions of Monopoly that used paper money, since many (if not most) people are now using plastic to pay for things. It’s apparently going to be a “while supplies last” sort of deal, but I guess it’s a sign of the times…depressing as it may be…

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3.30.07

Big posting day already on the blog, but when I found this, it simply couldn’t wait….

On March 30th, 2007…a new “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle” movie is being released…computer animation…

w00t!!!

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*sigh*

I must say…I’m being paid to sit here in Biostatistics class…

…but I don’t think I’m being paid enough…

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I like A/C…

So, last Wednesday night, our power went out due to a storm that hit St. Louis. According to weatherpeople (who know more about such things than I do), the most destructive storms to directly hit St. Louis have come from the northeast. Usually, when a storm or rain is heading toward St. Louis from the west, the heat from all the concrete (among other things…) dissipates the storm before it really hits with much force. When a storm comes from the northeast however, it’s open season on the city…and that’s exactly how this one worked. Before it hit, there were warnings in effect for, like, two counties in Illinois. All the sudden, it’s storming and we’re getting 80 mph winds. wtf…

Anyway, the storm knocked out power, presumably due to fallen trees more than lightening strikes… Luckily for us, the power was back on ~18 hrs later, on Thursday around 1:00 pm. According to STLtoday.com (run by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch), there are still almost 300,000 people who are without power. AmerenUE is expecting that full restoration will happen sometime on Wednesday, nearly a full week later.

So yeah, I was out of town for the weekend visiting the Lewis family in Chattanooga, TN, so I didn’t see much around here. Brooke hung out here, so she gave me updates whenever possible…thankfully, she wasn’t stuck without A/C for long… If you know anyone living in the St. Louis area, check in with them and see how they’re doing. Otherwise, be happy that you had air conditioning for the past week, ’cause there were a good half million people around St. Louis that didn’t…

Sure makes me appreciate the situation in New Orleans last year…can’t even imagine…

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Why we publish…

So, whenever our department at school has a seminar speaker in town, we (the grad students) get to have lunch with them and chit-chat about what we do, what they do, research in general, etc. This guy, Dr. Christopher Ellis, is from the University of Western Ontario and is in the Department of Medical Biophysics. Anyway, coming from Canada, he’s exposed to a relatively different research and academic environment than we are, so he had a few fresh perspectives on scientific research in general.

The thing that struck me most, though, was a story he told us about a class awhile back where he asked graduate students: “Why do we publish papers?” He said the responses were very interesting, ranging from “To get grants” to “To get a good postdoctoral fellowship (i.e. job).” He couldn’t remember if anyone said “To further our understanding of science.”

His point, as he then told us, was this: researchers create knowledge, and that’s something to be admired and respected.? While promotions and funding are important, we should never forget that we’re finding new things out that no one has done before.

Regardless, I had just never heard to anyone refer to research as “creating knowledge.” Certainly an interesting concept, realizing that for all the knowledge and information that there is on Wikipedia and in the Encyclopedia Brittanica, there’s still more to be found.

Sounded pretty cool to me, I guess… 😛

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Review: PotC – Dead Man’s Chest

So, picture the end of “The Matrix Reloaded” and you’ve basically seen the whole of “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest“…well…not exactly…? (note: let me preface by saying that, unlike many, I thought “Reloaded” had many merits and was overall a decent movie, yet could have been executed a bit better.)

“Dead Man’s Chest” starts off a little while after the original flick and we find Elizabeth and Will Turner about to get married…until they’re both arrested for setting Capt. Jack free in the first movie.? Will, in exchange for Elizabeth’s and his own freedom, is charged with finding Jack and bringing “an item” (that I will not elaborate further upon) to the new baddie in town, Lord Cutler Beckett of the East India Trading Company (amongst others).? And then we get lots of sea battles, land battles, funny moments, and even a few sad ones…

…but, perhaps, what’s most key is that, in the end (without spoiling much), you’re set up for a third movie.? Sound familiar?? Where “The Matrix” could stand on its own, “Reloaded” and “Revolutions” must be viewed in tandem.? They were even filmed back-to-back, the same with “Dead Man’s Chest” (and the upcoming “At World’s End” next summer).

So, overall, I thought the movie was pretty good with top-notch effects and acting…even a decent (albeit long) plot.? Johnny Depp certainly fit into the role of Capt. Jack Sparrow like a glove fits on a hand, and was certainly a joy to watch, and the screen time was more evenly distributed between Depp, Knightly and Bloom this time around.? My only complaints, really, consist of the aforementioned “Matrix treatment” of the trilogy and the length.? The movie’s 2.5 hrs long.? Remember how long “Reloaded” seemed at points?? Same with this one.? There are plenty of scenes that could have been shortened to half their original length and still get the same effect…that, or cut out one or two digital effect shots to shave a minute or 15…

So yeah, if you liked the first one, you’ll probably need to see this one.? On the other hand, if you’re looking for a movie trilogy that has many of the same characteristics, but is already out on DVD, check out “The Matrix”…