Fancy dinner with some friends!
We had sourdough toast and goat cheese with our cocktails, but we forgot to take pictures of those. The cocktail was fresh orange juice, American Honey Wild Turkey, vanilla, and soda water. Kind of like a fizzy creamsicle. Then,
Wilted spinach salad:
Cast iron steaks, mashed potatoes, mushroom cream sauce, and green beans:
And, Pots de Creme, no pictures, but done before here and here.
A noble attempt that failed miserably and ended in peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. These were twice bakes sweet potatoes with roasted corn and black beans in the filling. The recipe called for 4-6 chipotle peppers, but one would have probably been more than sufficient. They were so hot, Meg cried when she tried a bite 🙁
After some pretty dire financial troubles for MGM, the holder of the James Bond franchise, they finally got around to producing and releasing the newest iteration in the series, Skyfall, with Daniel Craig reprising the role in time for the 50th Anniversary of Bond movies. The reviews have been pretty spectacular, and as I enjoyed the previous outings, Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, I expected to be blown away. To be honest, I think it’s a very strong movie, perhaps the strongest in some key areas, but in the end, I still prefer Casino Royale, so far as Daniel Craig Bond movies go.
The movie is centered around an attack on MI6, the British secret service organization Bond works for. The “attack” in question spans multiple components, from collecting the secret identities of agents (and assassinating them), to a bombing, to targeting MI6 officials directly, and so on. In short: someone intimately familiar with the inner-workings of MI6 is out to get them (for reasons you can probably guess…), and it’s up to James Bond to stop them.
The trouble is, many of these attacks are built upon new ways of thinking. A brave new world of espionage that has emerged in the last decade, one that the Sean Connery-era James Bond wouldn’t know the first thing about how to deal with. It is this theme that permeates the movie, possibly most evident from his interactions with the new “Q” (Ben Whishaw), a much, much younger tech nerd who seems like more of a hacker than a gadget producer. There’s even a clever crack about how Q Branch doesn’t make exploding pens anymore, a callback to an earlier era where brute force and explosions were an effective deterrent to terrorists. In today’s world, however, the terrorists don’t have to come within a few hundred miles to wreak havoc: they can do it from any computer screen.
Thus, much of the movie centers around the theme of James Bond being old and broken, useless in a today’s world. At the same time, that “new world” doesn’t know how to deal with a relic like James Bond, so the tension rises accordingly, leading to a few striking action scenes and some strong (and creepy…) moments between Craig and the villain, played by Javier Bardem. To be honest, I wanted a bit more “action” out of this movie, as I thought the previous movies had more “Bond moments” and more spectacular sequences (don’t get me wrong, they’re still there, but there just aren’t as many). At the same time, as is the message for the movie, this is a different time and it calls for a different Bond. Less action, more intrigue, and surprisingly little “Bond Babe” activity. Indeed, Daniel Craig was shirtless for longer in this movie than there were actual romance scenes to hold it in, a far cry from previous films.
In some ways, I see this more as a Bourne Identity-style spy movie, where there are action scenes, but much of it centers on the story and the characters. This isn’t a bad thing by any stretch, but it isn’t necessarily a Bond thing, either.
So, that’s where I fall on it. As a “Bond Movie,” I prefer Casino Royale. As a movie, I think it was very strong, had good writing, had good action, had a good payoff in the end, and had some excellent callbacks to Dr. No. It’s absolutely worth seeing, Craig is still a wonderful James Bond, and the producers have proven they can not only make a whiz-bang action flick, but can also take a more serious look at where in the world the character of “James Bond” fits. If anything, it proves the character is still relevant, but also that an old dog can most definitely learn some new tricks.
These remarks were delivered by me as part of a “testimonial” during our regular church service today. I thought it appropriate to post them here, as well. I’ll probably write more on the subject eventually, but for right now, just know that our regular Sunday morning church service, The Connection, will be ending next week as we consolidate the two regular church services into a single one, beginning officially in January. We have some details to work out on what this service will look like, but in short, what we’ve been doing at Webster Hills for the last few years will cease to be after next Sunday.
Brooke and I moved to St. Louis after graduating college in 2005 so I could start graduate school at Saint Louis University. We were both active in the Wesley Foundation at Truman State University and wanted to continue in the Methodist church after moving. We had a few criteria in the kind of church we were looking for, but above all else, we sought a church that had not only a worship service geared toward more “contemporary” music and liturgy, but specifically a service that did not occur at the same time as Sunday School. Of the churches in the southern half of St. Louis, the only option we found was Webster Hills UMC. While this was the initial reason to attend, we found the congregation to be warm and inviting, the music to be similar to what we knew from our days at the Wesley House, and the opportunities to participate and contribute to the overall mission of the church to be plentiful.
For the next several years, our experience with the band, service, and church as a whole evolved to encompass not only participating in the music, but the altar design, management of the media system, and more. In short, just about everything that goes on before and after this service, we have had our hands on at some point or another. Ultimately, we were involved in leading the band on an interim basis between our previous worship director, Yanela Sheets, and Ryan Gibbs, a period that also saw a re-envisioning of the service and this space, including the introduction of more comfortable chairs, carpets, the crosses, and other facets that has hopefully made this space and worship service more inviting to the regular congregants and newcomers alike.
To say that this service has meant a great deal to my family would be an understatement. Between 2005 and 2010, we put ourselves into what evolved into The Connection, and The Connection and its congregants became a part of us. However, in 2010, we moved to Iowa after I completed my graduate work, yet our new church home never felt quite the same. Webster Hills was still where we belonged. And as fate would have it, the opportunity arose to return to St. Louis in late-2011, and thankfully, there was still The Connection, with open arms for any and all who wished to participate.
I keep using the term “participate” because Brooke and I feel that one of the great strengths of this service, over just about any we have ever attended, is that everyone can contribute in their own way, everyone can come as they are, and everyone is welcome. In some ways, it’s the embodiment of Jesus’ most profound teachings: all people are welcome at the table, all they have to do is take that step forward and accept it.
As many of you know, this service will be ending next Sunday. While it disappoints me greatly, at the same time, I trust that the spirit this service has embodied will continue to thrive, just in another form, at another place, at another time. The opportunities to contribute toward the body and soul of this church are still plentiful, and as the sun sets on The Connection, something new is on the horizon, something that can and will do great things.
It’s been said that the night is darkest just before the dawn. Apparently, that phrase comes from the English theologian, Thomas Fuller, though honestly, I know it from Harvey Dent in “The Dark Knight.” Regardless, it’s a phrase that comes to mind in thinking about endings like this one, and the potential beginnings yet to come. Brooke and I have always sought to contribute as best as we can, using whatever talents we have available to us. The Connection afforded us that possibility, and we are eternally grateful for it. Though this service will be ending soon, we will look upon it fondly as some small thing we could do, together, to help bring others closer to Christ.
Yeah, yeah, I know this happened almost a month ago now, but I’ve been meaning to post something about my trip to New Orleans and just haven’t had a ton of spare time to get it done. Better late than never, eh?
It’s been almost three years since I last attended the annual Society for Neuroscience meeting. On previous occasions, I’d gone to San Diego (2007), Washington, D.C. (2008), and then my last one in Chicago (2009). Ever since starting grad school at SLU, I’d heard stories about “the last one in New Orleans” (that will go undescribed here…), but unfortunately, due to Hurricane Katrina, the SfN meeting couldn’t return on schedule.
That is, until 2012, when, coincidentally, I had my next chance to go.
Taking a step back, the reason why this conference is held in a few specific cities is that there are only a few specific cities capable of hosting about 28,500 conference attendees. New Orleans was one such city, and taking it out of the rotation meant that Chicago had to be substituted, as it had a conference center large enough, and also enough hotels within a reasonable distance to hold all those people. Unfortunately, Chicago’s conference center just isn’t in a very good location and its overall configuration isn’t ideal for this particular convention (the locations of stair cases, the number of floors, etc). The logistics of handling 28,500 people can be handled much easier in New Orleans, San Diego, and D.C., at least so far as I’ve seen.
Regardless, I flew down on Friday, October 12th and returned on Wednesday, October 17th. I presented a poster during the very first session, Saturday afternoon, and had a bit more traffic than I expected to have, as most attendees are arriving on Saturday and/or Sunday and could easily miss my poster. Still, it was nice to get it out of the way early, freeing up additional time for the rest of the week. Overall, I attended some good talks, wrote plenty of notes, and got a few ideas on new experiments to run.
Of course, this is New Orleans, after all, so the meeting wasn’t where all the fun was had. I was splitting time between lab members from here at Wash U, and others from SLU. Mostly, that split depended on what time of the evening it was: if it was early, it was the Wash U crowd, and if it was late, it was the SLU crowd. One important exception was Friday night, after watching the Cardinals win Game 5 of the Wild Card Series against the Washington Nationals, we stayed out a bit late. That weekend, there was a BBQ & Blues Festival going on, so we stopped by for some good food and tunes on Friday and Saturday evening for dinner. They had it set up with a series of tents hosting a variety of different wares, and then a live stage with different musicians taking their turns.
I should remind you that Brooke and I took a trip to New Orleans in 2005, just after we got married and before Katrina rolled through, so I had already done much of the “touristy” things you’re supposed to do on a visit to the area. This time was more focused on the food and night life (and science, of course… :-)). I still stopped by Central Grocery for a muffuletta, had some Pasta Jambalaya at Crescent City Brewhouse, and had Po’ Boys from a few different vendors. Needless to say, the food was spectacular.
I tried an oyster, though. That was, perhaps, the absolute worst thing I have ever ingested. Never. Again.
Again, last time around, Brooke was still falling asleep around 9:00 pm (well, she still does, to a degree, but she can stay up later now than she used to…), so we didn’t really stay out late. This time, however, I was hanging out with night owls, so we hit up a variety of different establishments up and down Bourbon Street and, believe you me, I was genuinely surprised at the number of people out at 2:00 am on a Sunday night in mid-October. I can’t imagine what it would be like during Mardi Gras. The number of folks we saw in Soulard for a single day for Mardi Gras in February was probably approaching what I was seeing on a given weekend in October in New Orleans, and I don’t think the number of people was directly related to the number of geeky scientists that also happened to be in town.
Regardless, I had a really fun time down in New Orleans. The city seemed a bit nicer than it was in 2005, the populace seemed genuinely happy to have us all there (28,500 people bring in a lot of sales tax revenue), and I think the conference, as a whole, was glad to go someplace warm, instead of Chicago. It was great to hang out with good friends in a different setting, learn some new stuff at a large science conference, and “get away for awhile” (though, Brooke did a good job potty training Meg in my absence!!). I hope I get the opportunity to go back sometime!
Weird dinner, but I needed you to know that it’s not all balanced and beautiful meals around here! The rest of the homemade pretzels, fried eggs, and applesauce. So we covered the salt, grease, and sugar food groups…
Another potty-training weekend meal! Waffles with berry syrup. Meg wanted regular syrup instead of that “red stuff.”
Mexican soup to use up some leftover odds and ends. Finally, Meg LOVED the “abacado” I put on her plate!
I love snack meals: salami, cheese, homemade pretzels, apples, mustard, and some pickles! When Andy was out of town, Meg and I had this several times in different arrangements.
I usually reserve the month of October to partake in some “scary movies,” but this month has been a bit busier than usual with me being out of town for a conference and the Cardinals being in the playoffs. As they so spectacularly collapsed at the end of the NLCS, I’ve got a bit more time to catch up on movies I’ve been waiting to watch…
However, I did find the time to watch the second season of “The Walking Dead,” as it appeared on Netflix a few weeks ago. The third season has just started on AMC.
The reason I find this concept so fascinating is perfectly encapsulated in the tagline to the third season: “Fight the dead. Fear the living.” The story of The Walking Dead is essentially the same one that’s been told for decades in other zombie movies: an unexplained infection causes the dead to start walking, eating the flesh of the living, leaving a limited number of survivors to fend for themselves. The distinction with this particular story is that much of the focus is on the survivors, not on the zombies. Indeed, there are lengthy portions of the show (as in, 40 out of 50 minutes) that don’t involve zombies at all: the story focuses on whether the survivors can work together, whether they support each other, or whether they are willing to sacrifice another human in order to save themselves from “the walkers.”
“The Walking Dead” actually began as a comic book in 2003, written by Robert Kirkman. I have never read the comic, though it continues to this day with over 100 issues. It seems like many transitions from comics to other mediums, be it video games or movies, suffer because the interpretation by the new producer does not translate the original intentions of the author. It took decades before Marvel and DC took a long, hard look at how their material was being portrayed in other mediums and actually put the effort into ensuring their properties were represented in the spirit they originally intended (think the difference between Adam West’s “Batman” series versus Christopher Nolan’s “Batman Begins“).
In “The Walking Dead,” Robert Kirkman is an Executive Producer, giving him some say in how the story is portrayed and how the feel of the comic is translated into a television format. The series was developed by Frank Darabont, best known for his work directing “The Shawshank Redemption” and “The Green Mile,” both of which also set in the deep south, much like “The Walking Dead” (which is filmed in Georgia).
Alongside the TV series, I have been playing “The Walking Dead” adventure game. An “adventure game” is a bit different from many other traditional games in that it’s more focused on story and less on action. There’s absolutely “action” at points, and “quick response”-kinds of reactions, but much of the game is like the TV show: conversations with other characters where you choose what to say and who to say it to. In some instances, you can make a friend or make an enemy, and the words you choose, or the people you choose to save (you are frequently given a choice between one survivor and another: you can’t always save both) affects the course of the story.
This game is released “episodically,” so each episode is released every month or two and lasts about 3 hours. Four episodes have been released so far, with the fifth and final episode releasing next month. This story is completely new, not coming from the comics or TV show, but is still set in the same world with the same themes. In that way, it’s nice because it doesn’t try to re-tell a story you already know (thus affecting your decisions as you play the game), but also introducing new characters and new problems in the same world. The critical reception has been pretty spectacular.
So that’s “The Walking Dead.” It’s a fascinating world to interact with, though definitely gruesome and violent. But if you go into it wanting to experience the relationships between survivors that just happen to be fighting a zombie apocalypse, there’s a lot of enjoyment to be had. The first season is 6 episodes long and the second season has 13 episodes, both of which are available via Netflix Instant.
