Author: andy

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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”…

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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”…

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Les Stroud is my Idol

“Oops…my squirrel is burning…”

— Les Stroud

So, there was a show on Discovery Science Channel in 2004 that’s now being re-run on the regular Discovery Channel called “Survivorman.” We first discovered it as a stripped down, half-hour version of the full-lenth, hour long TV show about Les Stroud (Wikipedia? & Official), a guy who is dropped off in the wilderness with his camera equipment and a pocket knife and then left alone for a week. Recently, the Discovery Channel started showing the full-length versions on Friday nights, so we’re getting to watch a few that we missed, as well as watch the rest of the episodes that we have seen.

It’s just crazy what this guy does… For example, “this week’s” episode, Les is left in Canyonlands, Utah with a mountain bike and his pocket knife. He cannibalizes the bike for parts (uses tubes to drink wanter and stoke fires, uses the inner tube to act as a canteen when he rarely found water, used the frame as part of his shelter, etc.), used ancient techniques to set up traps to catch animals, and built shelters to help withstand the 15 F nights (i.e. cold, if you don’t have a sleeping bag…which he didn’t…).

So yeah, if you can, you should record this show and watch it. Or if you’re at home on a Friday, check out the Discovery Channel. w00t!

P.S. Nathan, next summer, we’re going to get dropped off in Alaska. We’ll have to eat Grizzly Bears to survive. It’ll be stupendous.

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Cousin’s visiting…

Jonathan’s visiting while he does a brief internship here in St. Louis. He and Sam are getting along quite well. …and by “getting along, ” I mean that Sam likes to chew on his hand.

It’s hysterical.

😉

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Cousin's visiting…

Jonathan’s visiting while he does a brief internship here in St. Louis. He and Sam are getting along quite well. …and by “getting along, ” I mean that Sam likes to chew on his hand.

It’s hysterical.

😉

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…and you must know…

We (Brooke, Lisa, Jo and I) played mini golf tonight and I made two holes-in-one…the latter of which brought in Jo’s and Brooke’s balls as well…

I rule…? 😉

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And then, an update…

So I’m at the lab, killing time until my 96-well plate is ready to be read… Figured now was as good a time as any to update the world on happenings…

Brooke and I went up to Hannibal for last weekend to visit with family and friends… Saturday was really good in that we got to shoot off fireworks, had an excellent dinner via Brooke’s Mom, and I got a lovely sunburn whilst laying on a raft in their pool. Overall, a successful weekend! My parents came into St. Louis on Monday night for some BBQ and we made some really good ribs. Brooke put them in the crock pot for a good 6 hours along with brown sugar, paprika, and just about everything else on the spice rack. They were some of the best ribs I’ve ever had, honestly…very tender and tasty… It was also good to be my parents for once! We didn’t really do anything for the actual 4th of July holiday, however. The weather wasn’t terribly cooperative in St. Louis…but we didn’t really feel like going anywhere, either. It ended up being a relaxing day, which is all I could really ask for.

Otherwise, my Biostatistics class started on Monday (yes, July 3rd…seriously…who starts a summer class the day before the 4th?!). While I’m telling myself that extended knowledge of statistics is useful for my chosen career path, I just have to wonder if reminders of Confidence Intervals, hypothesis testing, and SPSS are really worth 3.5 hours of class twice a week… Needless to say, I’ll be ranting about this waste of time for the duration of the class (another 5 weeks remain…).

I guess it’s time for the weekend again… I think Brooke is heading up to Louisiana, MO (Ma’s garage sale…) on Friday, so I’ll need entertainment Friday night (’cause Sci-Fi Friday doesn’t start up until next weekend). Keep me posted.

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Review: Superman Returns

Brooke and I saw “Superman Returns” tonight and I’d place it up there with “Batman Begins” as a great way to rejuvinate a movie series.

The film gets started pretty quickly, apparently taking place after “Superman II,” and incorporating plot devices that end up supplanting the generally worse latter two movies (which I doubt many people will mind).? Essentially, Superman has been gone for 5 years and things have changed such that Superman needs to join the world again and get back to truth, justice and the American way…and as usual, Lex Luthor (in an excellent performance by Kevin Spacey) is around to screw it up with yet another dastardly scheme that threatens the well-being of Earth.

So, the movie overall was really good. The acting was awesome, the special effects were top-notch (as to be expected from a Bryan Singer movie), and the plot in general was strong. I really liked all the little plot points that Singer tossed in that pay homage to the original. The opening credits and ending sequences were very much the same as the original movie and even some lines were ripped from the original script. With that in mind, if you have access to the original film, I’d recommend you see it before watching this movie. You may want to watch the second also, but at least watch the first.

I only had two “complaints” about the movie, but they are pretty minor. First of all, the ending was kinda drawn out. Without giving anything away, the last 15-20 minutes were somewhat unnecessary and could have been resolved differently, in my opinion…but I can live with it… Secondly, the action scenes were good, but they weren’t up with “Spider-Man 2” and the like. Honestly, there isn’t much that could be done. While Spider-Man bounces around and swings all over the place, Superman just flies in straight lines and punches people. So, while watching a movie like “Spider-man” is very dynamic and engaging, the action scenes in “Superman Returns” are somewhat lacking. On the other hand, it is very badass to see him rescue a plane as it plummets toward Earth and land it in a baseball stadium…and to see him take a bullet in the eye and not flinch… I’m just saying that the action was good, but wasn’t particularly impressive as compared with “Spider-Man” (but I can’t see any way that could have been resolved without changing decades of history and lore).

That said, I think the movie was really good and well worth watching…so worth watching that I intend on seeing it again in IMAX 3D once Josh gets back from Virginia…and I’ll tell you about that after I see it…w00t!