The thing about Christmas vacation is that everything is rushed and stressed before Christmas, but relatively boring and anti-climactic afterwards. I normally have just antenna t.v., and I've been taking advantage of my parents' Dish Network t.v. while visiting them.
This is what I've learned from t.v. these few days:
1. Surfers in Southern California have a history of being territorial and have attacked other surfers they consider non-locals. I watched a really bad half-hour documentary to learn this on the Documentary Network.
2. There is a battle brewing in New Zealand over milk containing A1 casein versus A2 casein. A study has showed that A1 casein containing cows milk is linked to diabetes, and there are claims that it is also linked to brain development issues (e.g. autism). A2 containing cows milk apparently does not have these links and is closer to the milk made by humans. The battle is brewing because most milk in Europe, New Zealand and Australia is A1 milk and switching over to A2 would mean changing over to Jersey and Guernsey instead of Holstein milk cows. (The U.S. sells mainly A1 milk also)
3. There are scientists who argue for 'geo-enviromental engineering' machines/devices to reverse climate change. They have tested things like CO2 scrubbers and pumps to move ocean water from one part of the ocean to another. What could have been really interesting t.v. turned out to be more crappy semi-science and what I consider to be a really bad idea. Truthfully, instead of trying to create clouds to reduce the warming effect of the sun, shouldn't we just do stuff that works with nature to prevent the need for artificial clouds?
4. You should not wear skinny jeans unless you are a skinny and tall person yourself.
5. 'House' is one of the few re-runs that I can stand to watch over and over again.
6. Ghosts are people who have died and have not passed on. Spirits are people who have died, passed on, and 'return' to us every now and then. Poltergeists are ghosts that are up to no good. And Angels are 'different' beings and were never humans. Getting rid of ghosts in a house is apparently as easy as lighting a few candles and telling them to go away.
Even with a few hundred t.v. channels, it is a struggle to find anything worthwhile as my list above indicates. I'm satisfied with having antenna t.v. and just watching the specific cable shows that I enjoy online at hulu.com or other online t.v. sites. I might miss some stuff like the documentaries on milk production, but I waste a lot less time watching the other garbage.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Dream versus premonition
A few weeks ago I dreamt that I was sitting on a plane that was stranded in the middle of the Rocky Mountains. It had crashed without falling from the sky, but everybody on the plane was fine. While we were sitting around waiting to be rescued, an avalanche of snow fell on top of the plane. The layer of snow above my head was very small so I was able to dig myself out and dug out several other people on the plane.
The dream was vivid but I didn't take it to be much else than a dream--though I did tell people about it the next day.
Then a week later I read in the news that a plane in Denver had slid off the runway and crashed. There were some injuries, but nobody died.
This wasn't exactly my dream but I was a little wigged-out by the similarities.
Last night I had a dream that there was a big flood.
I never dream of disasters. I dream about not being able to find the classroom where I am supposed to take (or administer) a test. I dream about getting a bad haircut and being naked at the grocery store. I can not remember ever having a plane crash, avalanche, or flood dream except the ones that I've had these past few days.
I must be watching too much news. With the weather patterns, it's not too much of a stretch to say that once the snow melts there will be a big flood. Or that the snow is going to cause problems with travel and avalanches.
It's just a weird feeling when a dream becomes sort of real.
The dream was vivid but I didn't take it to be much else than a dream--though I did tell people about it the next day.
Then a week later I read in the news that a plane in Denver had slid off the runway and crashed. There were some injuries, but nobody died.
This wasn't exactly my dream but I was a little wigged-out by the similarities.
Last night I had a dream that there was a big flood.
I never dream of disasters. I dream about not being able to find the classroom where I am supposed to take (or administer) a test. I dream about getting a bad haircut and being naked at the grocery store. I can not remember ever having a plane crash, avalanche, or flood dream except the ones that I've had these past few days.
I must be watching too much news. With the weather patterns, it's not too much of a stretch to say that once the snow melts there will be a big flood. Or that the snow is going to cause problems with travel and avalanches.
It's just a weird feeling when a dream becomes sort of real.
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
Nobel Prize winner versus George Clooney
The weekend before Thanksgiving was the annual retreat for my department at work. The keynote speaker this year was the 2007 Nobel Prize winner in Physiology, Mario Capecchi. Typically famous scientists usually arrive for a talk, give the talk, and then leave. However, Dr. Capecchi was nice enough to stay for the whole weekend! It was an obvious thrill for a lot of people to say that they had talked to, played ping pong with, and bowled with a Nobel Prize winner. He is obviously a great man who has an even more amazing life story.
Dr. Capecchi was born in pre-World War II Italy and when he was very young his mother was taken by the Nazis to Dachau for protesting the Fascists. From the ages of 4 to 9 he lived on the streets of Italy starving. His mother was released after the war and spent a year searching for him. She found him in a childrens hospital/orphanage where all of the children were naked and their daily meal consisted of a cup of coffee and a crust of bread. Apparently his mother gave him his first bath in 6 years when she found him. They then came to the U.S. to live with his uncle (mother's brother) and aunt in Pennsylvania. As Dr. Capecchi described it, he passed through Ellis Island on a Sunday and started school on a Monday. It was the first time in his life that he had been to school and he did not know how to read or write, nor did he know English. It is obvious that his family cared a lot about him and helped him get a proper education. He ended up doing his PhD under James Watson (of double-sided DNA Nobel Prize fame), and eventually took a professor position at the University of Utah where he did his work on homologous recombination in eukaryotes and created gene knock-out mice. This technique basically allows us to make mice with specific genetic mutations (i.e. mouse models) that cause and/or mimic diseases like cancer, obesity, and Parkinson's.
With all of this, Dr. Capecchi is a really nice man. I think a lot of people were intimidated by him the first day of the retreat. I saw him walking around the posters by himself and pretty much sort of isolated because people were afraid to talk to him. But as the weekend progressed, people got over their fears and were excited to get some face time with him. It was sweet.
The retreat ended with a talk given by Jorge Cham, the comic strip artist for PhD Comics. Being more of a grad-school pop-culture talk, his talk was entertaining and not intimidating. It was the cotton candy ending to a meat and potatoes weekend. When I spoke to Jorge during the book signing, he seemed sort of defensive about the fact that he is now a comic strip artist and not a practicing engineer. It makes me wonder how long he is going to keep this up.
The title of this blog is 'Nobel Prize winner versus George Clooney'. The Nobel Prize winner is obvious, but what about George Clooney? Last weekend I was hiking in the hills close to where I live and as we came down from the hill towards the houses, my sister said that George Clooney lives in that area. As we were walking past one house, I heard people playing basketball. The house had a huge court in front that was wrapped in green tennis court netting. My sister and I distinctly heard a man talking while playing basketball. Yup, that man was George Clooney.
If I were hosting a dinner party and had to pick between Mario Capecchi and George Clooney, Mario Capecchi would definitely win the invite... but I guess that it would be okay if George Clooney hung around for drinks afterwards ;)
Dr. Capecchi was born in pre-World War II Italy and when he was very young his mother was taken by the Nazis to Dachau for protesting the Fascists. From the ages of 4 to 9 he lived on the streets of Italy starving. His mother was released after the war and spent a year searching for him. She found him in a childrens hospital/orphanage where all of the children were naked and their daily meal consisted of a cup of coffee and a crust of bread. Apparently his mother gave him his first bath in 6 years when she found him. They then came to the U.S. to live with his uncle (mother's brother) and aunt in Pennsylvania. As Dr. Capecchi described it, he passed through Ellis Island on a Sunday and started school on a Monday. It was the first time in his life that he had been to school and he did not know how to read or write, nor did he know English. It is obvious that his family cared a lot about him and helped him get a proper education. He ended up doing his PhD under James Watson (of double-sided DNA Nobel Prize fame), and eventually took a professor position at the University of Utah where he did his work on homologous recombination in eukaryotes and created gene knock-out mice. This technique basically allows us to make mice with specific genetic mutations (i.e. mouse models) that cause and/or mimic diseases like cancer, obesity, and Parkinson's.
With all of this, Dr. Capecchi is a really nice man. I think a lot of people were intimidated by him the first day of the retreat. I saw him walking around the posters by himself and pretty much sort of isolated because people were afraid to talk to him. But as the weekend progressed, people got over their fears and were excited to get some face time with him. It was sweet.
The retreat ended with a talk given by Jorge Cham, the comic strip artist for PhD Comics. Being more of a grad-school pop-culture talk, his talk was entertaining and not intimidating. It was the cotton candy ending to a meat and potatoes weekend. When I spoke to Jorge during the book signing, he seemed sort of defensive about the fact that he is now a comic strip artist and not a practicing engineer. It makes me wonder how long he is going to keep this up.
The title of this blog is 'Nobel Prize winner versus George Clooney'. The Nobel Prize winner is obvious, but what about George Clooney? Last weekend I was hiking in the hills close to where I live and as we came down from the hill towards the houses, my sister said that George Clooney lives in that area. As we were walking past one house, I heard people playing basketball. The house had a huge court in front that was wrapped in green tennis court netting. My sister and I distinctly heard a man talking while playing basketball. Yup, that man was George Clooney.
If I were hosting a dinner party and had to pick between Mario Capecchi and George Clooney, Mario Capecchi would definitely win the invite... but I guess that it would be okay if George Clooney hung around for drinks afterwards ;)
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