October 2009 – linsenbardt.net

October 28, 2009

Travels: Part I

Brooke and I were in different parts of the Midwest last week (or even two weeks ago, almost). Here’s the first post relating to all that – Brooke’s will follow once she pulls pictures off the camera.

So, I went to Chicago this year for our annual Society for Neuroscience meeting (I only took a few pictures, but here they are if you care…). We decided to take the train this time around, as something of a change from the typical “hop on a plane” experience. To be honest, the trip up there via Amtrak was actually pretty nice compared to flying Coach on an airplane: you get much more leg room, slightly more comfortable seats, AC plugins for your laptop (if you want to watch a movie, for example…no WiFi available, sadly…), roomy bathrooms, and a full-service snack car. The trip was a bit over 5 hours, so it was basically as long as a car ride, but quite a bit more comfortable.

Anyway, we made it to Chicago and got off at Union Station. Once there, we found a taxi and started heading toward it. A “gentleman” grabbed our bags and put them in the trunk of the car. At this point, Dr. Macarthur got in the back seat, and we both noticed that the driver of said car was still in the car, making me wonder who this guy was. He then demanded a tip. I was, of course, rather confused by this whole situation, not being used to taxi service in major metropolitan areas, but Dr. Macarthur was kind enough to get rid of him for me. Once we started driving, Dr. Macarthur told him “Palmer House Hilton” as the destination. The driver was talking on his cell phone (which he wasn’t supposed to do…), and a few minutes later, we made it to the Hilton Chicago. Not where we wanted to go. Then Dr. Macarthur tried explaining this to him, and he actually argued with her about it. She was not pleased about this, of course. Long story short, he ended up turning off the meter so we weren’t double-charged, so that was a bit better… My first exposure to “Chicago,” proper.

The conference itself was pretty good. Over 30,000 attended, making it pretty crowded. I wasn’t a huge fan of McCormick Place (the convention center), as it seems pretty poorly laid out (multiple levels, funky entrances, etc.) and not in an area populated by any restaurants, making lunch a bit difficult. We saw some interesting posters and heard a talk from Dr. Francis Collins, the current head of the National Institutes of Health. My presentation wasn’t until Wednesday afternoon, the final day of the conference, making me wonder if anyone would still even be around to see my stuff. Thankfully, I garnered some interest and got to present it multiple times…not as many as last year, but still, much more than I’d expected.

So, we left Wednesday afternoon, again via taxi. This time, the driver didn’t come to a complete stop at a stop sign, so we got chased by a cop on a 4-wheeler (yes, they have those in Chicago…with sirens…). The cop was on a power trip, taking advantage of this poor Asian guy that spoke little English. When the cop went back to his 4-wheeler to input the license and registration information, the driver made the unfortunate choice of getting out of the car to go talk to the cop, who then proceded to yell at the driver: “GET BACK IN THE VEHICLE! DO NOT EXIT YOUR VEHICLE!” He knows better now, I guess… Considering how many people don’t come to complete stops at stop signs, I kinda felt sorry for this particular driver, as he was actually a much better driver than the vast majority of taxi drivers out there, weaving in and out of lanes. How about you cops on 4-wheelers try picking up some of them, eh?

Finally, we hop on the train for the ride home. About 5 minutes north of Joliet, IL (which is around 30 minutes outside of Chicago…), we stopped to allow freight traffic to pass by. Well, they couldn’t re-start our train. Apparently, one of the computers wasn’t rebooting properly (probably running Windows Vista…). We spent 2 hours sitting there waiting for the train to get going, and during that time, we were low on power as they’d shut the engines down. Without power, you a). don’t have lights (making reading difficult) and b). don’t have snack car service, as you can’t use the cash register and can’t use the microwave. They never actually re-started the train, but instead waited for the next train from Chicago to come down and attach itself to us, so we ended up having two trains heading down to St. Louis, making two stops at each town on the way because there were two trains-worth of people trying to get to their destinations. Thankfully, Brooke was kind enough to pick us up 2 hours later than planned (12:45 am…).

So, that was my trip. There were more good things than this (restaurants, some sights, etc.), but these are the more interesting aspects to report.

October 17, 2009

Let’s Do The Locomotion

So, tomorrow I’ll be embarking on my first train ride. Not to say that I haven’t used light-rail metro systems, but this will be the first Amtrak system that I hit up. I’ll be leaving (eeeaaaaarrrly…) for Chicago to attend this year’s annual Society for Neuroscience meeting. 2008’s was in Washington, D.C. and 2007’s was in San Diego, so Chicago is considerably less interesting to me, but perhaps a train ride will make things a bit more interesting.

We basically decided that, rather than waiting at the airport and flying, we may as well take the 5.5 hr train ride instead. As I understand it, these trains have quite a bit of leg room (compared to the Coach area of a plane) and a snack car, so it should be more comfortable.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to the trip. We’ll probably get a chance to head by a few “sights” while in Chicago, as it seems that there is relatively little to see at the meeting on Monday and Tuesday (I present late on Wednesday). It looks like they put the majority of Parkinson’s-related research on Saturday (when I’m not there) and Wednesday (while I’m also presenting it), so we’ll probably dabble a bit in some posters and then go to Shedd Aquarium or something.

This will also be my last formal presentation of data at a meeting like this, certainly while a grad student at SLU. I at least think I’m going out with some good work, and the poster looks pretty. I’ve got some fluorescent images on there to add a bit more color to otherwise boring graphs (I had Brooke help me with some of the color choices, of course, as my Mom saw fit to give me color-blindness…).

Also, as this is my last trip as a grad student, I’ll also be hitting up the NeuroJobs portion of the conference, seeing if I can land a job somewhere. I’ve sent the resume to a few places, but haven’t really concentrated on it much yet because of various school-related things, and, well, doing experiments and such. After this week, I’ll be hitting that up in earnest.

Regardless, it doesn’t look like the busy-ness of the last few months is going away anytime soon. Guess I should get used to it.

October 12, 2009

Soup!

Last week, in an attempt to cheer ourselves up amidst 3 days in a row of rain, my coworkers and I went out to lunch at The Piccadilly a few blocks from our office. The food was great, especially the beer cheese soup. So, last night, I tried my best to recreate it and did a pretty good job, if I do say so myself. I wasn’t expecting such great results, so didn’t take any pictures, but here’s the recipe anyway:

1. Make a rue in a big pot (my enameled cast iron is great for this). Melt about 4 tablespoons of butter over medium heat, then add about 2 heaping tablespoons of flour to the butter, stir, and let cook until it doesn’t smell like raw flour and turns a golden brown color.

2. Add 1 bottle of beer (we had an Oktoberfest in the fridge, but I think a pale would be awesome too) and a cup or so of chicken broth to the flour/butter mixture, keeping the medium heat going. Bring to a boil until it begins to thicken, then add 1/2 cup to a cup of cream, half and half, or milk (depending on how rich you want your soup to be).

3. Lower the heat a bit and add 3 cups of cheese (something with a lot of flavor, especially with a darker beer, like the sharp cheddar I used). Stir together, adding a spice cabinet raid (I used white pepper, mustard powder, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, chili powder, and a tiny sprinkling of nutmeg) of whatever sounds good. Keep stirring until the cheese is incorporated and not stringy.

This recipe made enough for two dinner sized bowlfuls and enough for my lunch today.

October 11, 2009

Review: Zombieland

First of all, $9.25 is far too much to charge for a matinee showing, regardless of “Digital Projection” or what have you.

Secondly, “Zombieland” is one of those movies that I probably would have paid little attention to normally, but it’s been awhile since I’ve seen one in theaters and Brooke was (surprisingly) willing to go along and see it (likely in return for Wild Cherry Pepsi and Sno-caps).

Anyway, “Zombieland” is about a group of strangers that meet up randomly whilst traveling across the southwestern United States after a zombie outbreak has brought civilization to a screeching halt. Unlike your typical George A. Romero zombie movie, this one takes a more humorous look (a la “Shaun of the Dead“). The movie is surprisingly funny, with plenty of creative ways to kill zombies throughout. And the humor is genuinely funny, rarely forced – even Brooke was laughing throughout (though, admittedly, not as much as me). You actually kinda care for the characters throughout, which is more than I can say for most other zombie movies. This is probably the best movie Woody Harrelson has been in that I can remember, and certainly the most amusing.

I mean, the climactic end takes place in an amusement park. Just think about all the fun you could have with zombies at the carnival. 🙂

There’s not much more to say about it, really, without giving away the more surprising bits of the film. It’s not a movie that I plan on buying, but I’m quite glad I saw it. It was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon: a fun, and entertaining ride.

October 8, 2009

Closest thing to a baby we could find…

edie_snugglie

Brooke had a 20% off coupon for Big Lots burning a hole in her pocket, so we went by to look up car seats and any other baby toys we could find. We found one car seat that looks promising, but they certainly didn’t have much selection (not unexpected).

However, Brooke did find a Snugli, which she thinks I’ll be wearing eventually. Brooke’s planning on using a Peanut Shell-style sling, but as I wouldn’t be caught dead wearing one, this Snugli thing will have to work.

Anyway, we aren’t having a baby until February, so how does one test out the new toy? Well, we find the next best thing: an unsuspecting beagle.

Needless to say, she didn’t last long in the Snugli. Maybe I’ll try it again using the pug down the street.