Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Civil war underwear and Indiana Jones
This article regarding Civil war undies is both interesting and informative.
Regarding Indiana Jones. As can be documented, he attended the University of Chicago. A few weeks ago, a package turned up at the University of Chicago, addressed to Henry Jones Jr. Long story short, it's a replica available on Ebay, which, while in route to it's buyer in Italy, fell out of the package and ended up at the University of Chicago. Both the NYTimes and HuffPost have pretty entertaining articles on it.
Also topical and worth a read is Dr. Jones' tenure rejection letter.
Thursday, December 13, 2012
finger jello
This post is concerns finger jello.
i'd never heard of such a thing, but tripped over it yesterday via a Pioneer Woman blog post. (Look, one of the pictures features cattle vaccines stored in the kitchen fridge, which makes me homesick. )
Anyway, finger jello is a very pretty layered dessert, different flavors/colors of jello (including a condensed milk-based white layer) that you cut into shapes or small cubes and eat with your fingers (presumably the reason for the name). There's also stained glass or broken glass jello?!
i'd heard of jigglers, but never finger jello, and did some asking around. My good friend LZ hadn't heard of it, so it's not a upper northeast thing. i also received this gchat this morning:
Lauren: maybe finger jello is indigenous to the 40s?
KateB, a Chicagoan-by-upbringing, associated the name with jello to be eaten with fingers.
Which means that either Kate's brilliant (which she is), had heard of it before, or invented it in a former life. She had never heard of the Jello easter egg molds, which i referenced as a jello-based dessert popular when i was a 'tween. (Our mold leaked. Ugh.) That lead to us both finding a blog post for a gorgeous layered easter egg do-it-yourself thing, and also includes a drill. i personally love recipes that involve actual tools.
The origin of the name is still illusive. The Jello wikipedia page is no help, but did kick up some interesting tidbits. Apparently, there were once savory jello flavors, including Italian salad, celery, and tomato flavors for use in jello molds? There's also the awesome line, "In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Jello's reputation as family-friendly was slightly tarnished by Jello shots and Jello wrestling."
i'd never heard of such a thing, but tripped over it yesterday via a Pioneer Woman blog post. (Look, one of the pictures features cattle vaccines stored in the kitchen fridge, which makes me homesick. )
Anyway, finger jello is a very pretty layered dessert, different flavors/colors of jello (including a condensed milk-based white layer) that you cut into shapes or small cubes and eat with your fingers (presumably the reason for the name). There's also stained glass or broken glass jello?!
i'd heard of jigglers, but never finger jello, and did some asking around. My good friend LZ hadn't heard of it, so it's not a upper northeast thing. i also received this gchat this morning:
Lauren: maybe finger jello is indigenous to the 40s?
me: on what are you basing this supposition?
Lauren: it just seems like it fits in with those savory jello sides with meat, and looks like tiny finger sandwiches
KateB, a Chicagoan-by-upbringing, associated the name with jello to be eaten with fingers.
Katherine: Finger jello? Oh, Jello Jigglers. Extra gelatin, right?
me: you are amazing Katherine: Jello shots!
Which means that either Kate's brilliant (which she is), had heard of it before, or invented it in a former life. She had never heard of the Jello easter egg molds, which i referenced as a jello-based dessert popular when i was a 'tween. (Our mold leaked. Ugh.) That lead to us both finding a blog post for a gorgeous layered easter egg do-it-yourself thing, and also includes a drill. i personally love recipes that involve actual tools.
The origin of the name is still illusive. The Jello wikipedia page is no help, but did kick up some interesting tidbits. Apparently, there were once savory jello flavors, including Italian salad, celery, and tomato flavors for use in jello molds? There's also the awesome line, "In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Jello's reputation as family-friendly was slightly tarnished by Jello shots and Jello wrestling."
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
shaving, badger hair, and edible armadillos.
i was checking the Sartorialist blog today, like i usually do with lunch, and a recent post concerned shaving brushes as a Secret Santa gift. The brush in question was F.S.C. Barber Horn Shave Brush with Best Badger, and being a student at UW-Madison, the Best Badger part caught my attention.
It turns out, there are several grades of badger used in shaving brushes as outlined in wikipedia; good badger is from the underbelly of th badger, and comprises 60% of the hair on a badger. Best or pure badger is the finer hair from about 25% of the rest of the total badger hair, and Super badger is a graded/sorted version of this. The ne plus ultra is Silvertip badger, which have naturally silver tips. These apparently hold a lot more water, and as such, produce a superior lather.
This was mentioned directly to my labmates Ryan and Holly via gchat, with hilarious results.
In answer to your question, Ryan, apparently badger hair available commercially comes from mainland China, where badgers are a crop nuisance.
Holly: dare i ask why you're looking at this site in the first place?
According to a brief search, the Florida Public Media cites" the 1975 edition of the Joy of Cooking describes armadillo meat as light and “porklike in flavor.” Also in that article regarding armadillos as a food source, they can carry leprosy, you should prolly cook your armadillo to 160 degrees before ingesting.
This was mentioned directly to my labmates Ryan and Holly via gchat, with hilarious results.
Ryan: yeah, apparently badger hair is the only thing people use with straight razors
but I dunno where they got these best ones from
yeah, you want that PURE badger too
none of those badger/horse hybrids
me: (shakes head)
amazing.
Ryan: I wonder if there are badger farms like there are with sheep
they just come and shave the badgers every now and then
me: Ryan, you should start one
also, make sure you get good health insurance
Ryan: more like life insurance
me: (my grandfather swears he's seen a badger attack a truck, so yeah)
Ryan: honey badger don't care
THAT'S the brush I want
In answer to your question, Ryan, apparently badger hair available commercially comes from mainland China, where badgers are a crop nuisance.
Holly: dare i ask why you're looking at this site in the first place?
me: yes, terrible shaving problems
Sent at 1:58 PM on Tuesday
Holly: i can see you going for the straight razor over the electric
me: (what? i have a dad and brother who shave. Granted, the dad and brother are blond and barely need to shave, but whatevs)
like, yeah. straight edge forevah
Holly: seems like a pretty fancy gentleman store for that group (no offense)
me: entirely too true
they'd all be like; 'You spent how much on WHAT?!'
Holly: i'd prefer $50 worth of beef jerky!
me: that has my vote, too
(and is much, much more likely)
even though it'll last, what, an hour?
me: and yeah, as i'll be in Amarillo; jerky for all, and to all a proteinacious night!
Sent at 2:06 PM on Tuesday
Holly: (i read Armadillo, and wondered how armadillo jerky would taste...)
Sent at 2:09 PM on Tuesday
me: mmm, leoprosy.
According to a brief search, the Florida Public Media cites" the 1975 edition of the Joy of Cooking describes armadillo meat as light and “porklike in flavor.” Also in that article regarding armadillos as a food source, they can carry leprosy, you should prolly cook your armadillo to 160 degrees before ingesting.
Saturday, December 8, 2012
PBS remixes, St. Catherine, taffy and spinsters.
As previously posted, PBS is re-mixing clips from its various programs. Older clips include both Mr. Rogers as well as Bob Ross, and now music vids from Julia Child and Reading Rainbow. i'll admit that despite my great fondness for Reading Rainbow, the re-mix sounds a ton like the Mr. Rogers and Bob Ross re-mixes.
The Chazen Gallery here recently hosted a collection from Florence's Uffizi Gallery called An Offering of Angels. Because it's nearly Christmas, and because the collection includes works by guys like Botticelli and Titian, i took myself to see it (of course, in the last 2 hours, of the last day of the exhibit - ain't no minute like the last minute). One or two of the works featured St. Catherine of Alexandria. St. Catherine is dear to me (as is St. Catherine of Siena). Because she died in 305 AD, there are a few variations of her story. However, the gist of it is that she was a noble (princess) and noted scholar, converted a lot of folks, (possibly refused the Emperor Maxentius) and was sentenced to death by spiked wheel. The spiked wheel broke when she touched it, so she was beheaded instead and her feast day is Nov. 25th. Among other things, she's the patron of philosophers and unmarried women.
There's a firework called the Catherine wheel.
She's an early saint, and so there are a lot of traditions associated with her. In France, young unmarried women (woo, spinsters!) fashion a crown and place it on statues of her on her feast day. Women older than 25 who remain unmarried are apparently called Catherinettes, and are said to be taking St. Catherine's bonnet. They are made to wear hats in green and yellow for the feast day (those usually made by friends). In Quebec, the day is celebrated by young women making taffy for guys-of-interest, a tradition stemming from a teacher-nun (also now a saint) who would make taffy to entice her students to show up to class.
A few words on taffy. i've been meaning to make pulled taffy for a few years now, and finally did a week or two ago (slightly late for St. Catherine's Day, and included a guy). There are a whole bunch of recipes out there, but we tested one with glycerin and one without. The batch without glycerin got cooked to hard ball stage, around 280 degrees and was much stickier. The glycerin seemed to add pliability, and increase the temperature range to which you could cook the taffy without it turning into basically hard candy.
Regarding glycerin; i some from a local grocery store (Woodmans, full disclosure). It was in the skin care section, but the back said 99.5% anhydrous and was labeled USP, so we went with it. Follow up included a quick google, and it is safe for human consumption.
Note on the word 'spinster'. Older, unmarried women are historically known as such because spinning wool was a livelihood lucrative enough to allow women not to have to rely on a male. Contained within the wikipedia article is the note that, " Unpopped popcorn kernels have been dubbed "old maids" in popular slang, since just as unmarried women that don't have children, they do not "pop"" Golly.
The Chazen Gallery here recently hosted a collection from Florence's Uffizi Gallery called An Offering of Angels. Because it's nearly Christmas, and because the collection includes works by guys like Botticelli and Titian, i took myself to see it (of course, in the last 2 hours, of the last day of the exhibit - ain't no minute like the last minute). One or two of the works featured St. Catherine of Alexandria. St. Catherine is dear to me (as is St. Catherine of Siena). Because she died in 305 AD, there are a few variations of her story. However, the gist of it is that she was a noble (princess) and noted scholar, converted a lot of folks, (possibly refused the Emperor Maxentius) and was sentenced to death by spiked wheel. The spiked wheel broke when she touched it, so she was beheaded instead and her feast day is Nov. 25th. Among other things, she's the patron of philosophers and unmarried women.
There's a firework called the Catherine wheel.
She's an early saint, and so there are a lot of traditions associated with her. In France, young unmarried women (woo, spinsters!) fashion a crown and place it on statues of her on her feast day. Women older than 25 who remain unmarried are apparently called Catherinettes, and are said to be taking St. Catherine's bonnet. They are made to wear hats in green and yellow for the feast day (those usually made by friends). In Quebec, the day is celebrated by young women making taffy for guys-of-interest, a tradition stemming from a teacher-nun (also now a saint) who would make taffy to entice her students to show up to class.
A few words on taffy. i've been meaning to make pulled taffy for a few years now, and finally did a week or two ago (slightly late for St. Catherine's Day, and included a guy). There are a whole bunch of recipes out there, but we tested one with glycerin and one without. The batch without glycerin got cooked to hard ball stage, around 280 degrees and was much stickier. The glycerin seemed to add pliability, and increase the temperature range to which you could cook the taffy without it turning into basically hard candy.
Regarding glycerin; i some from a local grocery store (Woodmans, full disclosure). It was in the skin care section, but the back said 99.5% anhydrous and was labeled USP, so we went with it. Follow up included a quick google, and it is safe for human consumption.
Note on the word 'spinster'. Older, unmarried women are historically known as such because spinning wool was a livelihood lucrative enough to allow women not to have to rely on a male. Contained within the wikipedia article is the note that, " Unpopped popcorn kernels have been dubbed "old maids" in popular slang, since just as unmarried women that don't have children, they do not "pop"" Golly.
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
there be dragons?
A friend recently posted this article, a wanted ad for a dragon slayer near Oklahoma City, on FB.
(i... know of a virgin we can use as bait, but she'll insist upon getting in the first stab.)
(i... know of a virgin we can use as bait, but she'll insist upon getting in the first stab.)
Sunday, November 25, 2012
gummi bears, Jimmy gold, and Gangnam Style
The Adventures of the Gummi Bears was a cartoon of my childhood. The theme tends to resurface every once in a while from the depths of my memory, which leads to my yelling it at odd moments. Tripped over a clip tonight of Alicia Keys singing a version of it on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (previous posts here). Also, youtubing around, this catchy little earworm featuring Jimmy, the Roots and Ms. Jephson with kids' instruments is yet more of what i think i shall refer to henceforth as Jimmy gold (2:40, awesome).
Psy's Gangnam Style music video is apparently the most watched youtube video ever now. Like ya do, i had to wikipedia it; the entry's decent. The most useful bit of information there might be, "The song's refrain "오빤 강남 스타일 (Oppan Gangnam style)" has been translated as "Big brother is Gangnam style", with Psy referring to himself;[24][25] "Oppa" is a Korean expression used by females to refer to an older male friend or older brother."
The backstory is that Gangnam is a trendy, affluent area of Seoul, and thus"
People who are actually from Gangnam never proclaim that they are—it's only the posers and wannabes that put on these airs and say that they are "Gangnam Style"—so this song is actually poking fun at those kinds of people who are trying so hard to be something that they're not.—Psy"
Unrelatedly, this article is titled Pope declares: no donkey at nativity, and angels did not sing.
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
calories, shoes, death cab?
An infograph of various Thanksgiving-associated foods and an equivalent amount of physical activity to compensate for the calories here. This is probably the opposite of mentally healthy, but it IS interesting. Pumpkin pie really isn't as terrible for you as one might think.
Despite the fact that apparently power flats are the new up-and-coming shoe trend (thanks, KellyAT!), i've been looking for heels to wear to my brother's wedding (this one has been getting the most support, but i like the chunkiness of this other one. Special thanks to all who have put up with my shoe sampling thus far.).
If i had a (billion) dollars, i would buy this bracelet for Holly and Jack (and whomever else wants one, though others might prefer a less pokey style). Maybe one day? Also, if i have a (billion) dollars, or at least a real job, i would totally retrofit a wet/dry vac into a foam cannon (more for slip-and-slide and/or cleaning purposes than half-naked danceparty as depicted, but whatever).
Totally been on a Ben Gibbard-associated acts binge lately, stimulated in part by the weather as well as his recent, awesome NPR Tiny Desk Concert that i've had on repeat for the last week. (My favorite version of anything Death Cab? This.)
Despite the fact that apparently power flats are the new up-and-coming shoe trend (thanks, KellyAT!), i've been looking for heels to wear to my brother's wedding (this one has been getting the most support, but i like the chunkiness of this other one. Special thanks to all who have put up with my shoe sampling thus far.).
If i had a (billion) dollars, i would buy this bracelet for Holly and Jack (and whomever else wants one, though others might prefer a less pokey style). Maybe one day? Also, if i have a (billion) dollars, or at least a real job, i would totally retrofit a wet/dry vac into a foam cannon (more for slip-and-slide and/or cleaning purposes than half-naked danceparty as depicted, but whatever).
Totally been on a Ben Gibbard-associated acts binge lately, stimulated in part by the weather as well as his recent, awesome NPR Tiny Desk Concert that i've had on repeat for the last week. (My favorite version of anything Death Cab? This.)
Sunday, November 18, 2012
sugar, tats, Johnny Football, bats and viruses
i really enjoyed this NYTimes article regarding sugar cubes, particularly the quote, "The Rads might well be the Pierre and Marie Curie of beverage-sweetening". i knew that sugar cubes were used as a delivery vehicle for polio vaccines (which might have actually been bad for the vaccine), but had no idea they had LSD connotations (i'm not tossing that one through google).
Moreover, i really appreciated a NYTimes article about the NBA team, the Oklahoma City Thunder. It has a few decent one liners: "Meteorologists in Oklahoma are basically rock stars", "The mayor of Oklahoma City told me that he thinks Oklahomans are humble because of their proximity to Texans, who will never stop bragging about anything." (Raises an eyebrow.) It features Wayne Coyne, beloved frontman for the Flaming Lips and a fantastically colorful character (a pair of those hands may have been mine) . The article mentioned that Kevin Durant (formerly of the University of Texas), has hidden tattoos. There's a lot of speculation as to why these are hidden; i agree with the commentary that these are no one's business but his (despite curiosity for the tattoos themselves).
Speaking of college sports, my alma mater's fooball team is actually, semi-shockingly winning this year. Quite a bit of the credit is being granted to the redshirt freshman quarterback Johnny Manziel, christened "Johnny Football" by fans and of whom there's Heisman speculation. Huh. My true interest lies with basketball; we'll have to see how my boys fare in the SEC.
In brief, Holly's teaching a freshman bio-type class this semester, and designed a class activity wherein a group of about 5 students are given roles like epidemiologist, research scientist, science writer, medical doctor, or wildlife biologist, and must piece together bits of information from these jobs to stop an unknown epidemic. She needed to a group of people to run through this for her and so a few of us were drafted; i got to be the wildlife biologist. This somehow was twisted into whale biologist - possibly by Tyler based on a recent viewing of Futurama featuring a whale biologist. Kelly AT heard about my new role, and mentioned, 'Oh, like in Seinfeld?'; i had to look that one up, too.
As it turned out, my main sample set was bats (if you're looking for viruses, assay the bats. Seriously.).
(via gchat)
me: also, what the hell is a whale biologist doing catching bats?
Holly: YOU were the one who said you were a whale biologist
me: someone said whales
it wasn't me
Holly: bats are like tiny flying land whales
me: i could've sworn it
there's a Calvin and Hobbes towards that
Holly: there's a futurama whale biologist episode
so it was probably Tyler
I do have a very large soft spot for bats, so not terribly out of character. It was actually a really fun activity though Jack and Bryan ended up having an entirely too intense conversation regarding the treatment of encephalitis with steroids and an involved conversation about pig wrangling and various resultant fluids. Also, this all went down in a Panera at 11am on a Saturday morning. We didn't get thrown out, i'd like the record to state.
Moreover, i really appreciated a NYTimes article about the NBA team, the Oklahoma City Thunder. It has a few decent one liners: "Meteorologists in Oklahoma are basically rock stars", "The mayor of Oklahoma City told me that he thinks Oklahomans are humble because of their proximity to Texans, who will never stop bragging about anything." (Raises an eyebrow.) It features Wayne Coyne, beloved frontman for the Flaming Lips and a fantastically colorful character (a pair of those hands may have been mine) . The article mentioned that Kevin Durant (formerly of the University of Texas), has hidden tattoos. There's a lot of speculation as to why these are hidden; i agree with the commentary that these are no one's business but his (despite curiosity for the tattoos themselves).
Speaking of college sports, my alma mater's fooball team is actually, semi-shockingly winning this year. Quite a bit of the credit is being granted to the redshirt freshman quarterback Johnny Manziel, christened "Johnny Football" by fans and of whom there's Heisman speculation. Huh. My true interest lies with basketball; we'll have to see how my boys fare in the SEC.
In brief, Holly's teaching a freshman bio-type class this semester, and designed a class activity wherein a group of about 5 students are given roles like epidemiologist, research scientist, science writer, medical doctor, or wildlife biologist, and must piece together bits of information from these jobs to stop an unknown epidemic. She needed to a group of people to run through this for her and so a few of us were drafted; i got to be the wildlife biologist. This somehow was twisted into whale biologist - possibly by Tyler based on a recent viewing of Futurama featuring a whale biologist. Kelly AT heard about my new role, and mentioned, 'Oh, like in Seinfeld?'; i had to look that one up, too.
As it turned out, my main sample set was bats (if you're looking for viruses, assay the bats. Seriously.).
(via gchat)
me: also, what the hell is a whale biologist doing catching bats?
Holly: YOU were the one who said you were a whale biologist
me: someone said whales
it wasn't me
Holly: bats are like tiny flying land whales
me: i could've sworn it
there's a Calvin and Hobbes towards that
Holly: there's a futurama whale biologist episode
so it was probably Tyler
I do have a very large soft spot for bats, so not terribly out of character. It was actually a really fun activity though Jack and Bryan ended up having an entirely too intense conversation regarding the treatment of encephalitis with steroids and an involved conversation about pig wrangling and various resultant fluids. Also, this all went down in a Panera at 11am on a Saturday morning. We didn't get thrown out, i'd like the record to state.
Sunday, November 11, 2012
vegetables, pencils and the characer of a happy warrior
Regarding vegetables, my apartment tomatoes and jalapeno have finally decided to produce. Three tomatoes thus far (still green) and one jalapeno (with buds for more). The tomatoes are taking over; i'm eventually going to need a machete to get them out of the window they've conquered. In other vegetable news, i received a text today from LZ asking if cauliflower, turnips and parsnip spark when you microwave them. i've only (inattentively) microwaved cauliflower, but tossed google. It turns out, this is not-infrequent thing, to which trace minerals in the vegetables have been credited.
Furthermore, i learned today that certain fruits/berries need to blet (ripen to the point of rot) before they're palatable. This was via a post for medlar jelly via David Lebovitz's fantastic cooking blog.
"If it drives you mad/ it'll probably pass." - Andrew Bird's Orpheo. He was on the Letterman show the other night, playing a lovely cover of a Townes Van Zandt song. i got Hands Of Glory today (the companion album to Break it Yourself), and it's a very odd, semi-dark album. It came with two pencils. i queried the dude at the music store counter, "Why pencils?", and neither of us had a satisfactory answer. Pencils may be undergoing a sort of Renaissance, with the release last year of a book dedicated specifically to their sharpening (the author is an artisan pencil sharpener, and will sharpen pencils just for you). (Have i blogged on this before?!)
In President Obama's speech following the announcement of the 2012 Presidential election, he referred to Biden as "America's Happy Warrior". Now, this is an interesting term, and required a little research. Apparently, it originates in a Wordsworth poem mostly about Lord Haratio Nelson, "The Character of a Happy Warrior", which, as you might imagine, describes a model warrior. Other resources go into slightly more background; "a jovial "generous Spirit" who fights for a cause or goes through the tasks of life while exhibiting a variety of admirable, often innocent qualities ".
Furthermore, i learned today that certain fruits/berries need to blet (ripen to the point of rot) before they're palatable. This was via a post for medlar jelly via David Lebovitz's fantastic cooking blog.
"If it drives you mad/ it'll probably pass." - Andrew Bird's Orpheo. He was on the Letterman show the other night, playing a lovely cover of a Townes Van Zandt song. i got Hands Of Glory today (the companion album to Break it Yourself), and it's a very odd, semi-dark album. It came with two pencils. i queried the dude at the music store counter, "Why pencils?", and neither of us had a satisfactory answer. Pencils may be undergoing a sort of Renaissance, with the release last year of a book dedicated specifically to their sharpening (the author is an artisan pencil sharpener, and will sharpen pencils just for you). (Have i blogged on this before?!)
In President Obama's speech following the announcement of the 2012 Presidential election, he referred to Biden as "America's Happy Warrior". Now, this is an interesting term, and required a little research. Apparently, it originates in a Wordsworth poem mostly about Lord Haratio Nelson, "The Character of a Happy Warrior", which, as you might imagine, describes a model warrior. Other resources go into slightly more background; "a jovial "generous Spirit" who fights for a cause or goes through the tasks of life while exhibiting a variety of admirable, often innocent qualities ".
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
dominosteine, antibodies and heels
There's always a million and one things to post until i actually sit down to post.
Recently discovered at Aldi (a German supermarket-type store to which i was taken last week by a very insistent friend), dominosteine (or domino cubes, as the package called them). As i'm a huge fan of both gingerbread and marzipan, i couldn't help but get them and they're awesome. The ones i had used persipan, which is like marzipan (i like that that link is specifically differentiated from Marzipan) only with ground apricot kernels used in place of almonds.
A NYTimes article regarding hashtags, interesting.
So, while watching the results of yesterday's presidential election, a (limited) general survey was done on a roomful of scientists regarding the differences between the antibody binding protein A and protein G. These seem to be that protein G binds to the fc/fab portions of antibodies much more tightly, but protein A was discovered first and is cheaper, so gets some use.
i happen to be a fan of high heels, though i rarely wear them. However, it's curious that extremely high heels tend to be associated with ladies of the night. Asking urban dictionary (semi-nsfw) supports the theory that this is because they tend to strongly attract male attention. Hmm.
Recently discovered at Aldi (a German supermarket-type store to which i was taken last week by a very insistent friend), dominosteine (or domino cubes, as the package called them). As i'm a huge fan of both gingerbread and marzipan, i couldn't help but get them and they're awesome. The ones i had used persipan, which is like marzipan (i like that that link is specifically differentiated from Marzipan) only with ground apricot kernels used in place of almonds.
A NYTimes article regarding hashtags, interesting.
So, while watching the results of yesterday's presidential election, a (limited) general survey was done on a roomful of scientists regarding the differences between the antibody binding protein A and protein G. These seem to be that protein G binds to the fc/fab portions of antibodies much more tightly, but protein A was discovered first and is cheaper, so gets some use.
i happen to be a fan of high heels, though i rarely wear them. However, it's curious that extremely high heels tend to be associated with ladies of the night. Asking urban dictionary (semi-nsfw) supports the theory that this is because they tend to strongly attract male attention. Hmm.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
coffee rings and catapults, courtesy of Holly.
In brief, i just received an email from Victoria's Secret with the subject "Be the sparkliest one at the party!". As i've mentioned to Holly, i do not feel as though i relate to a large percent of my gender. Giving it more that 3 seconds thought, i've now unsubscribed.
Moving on, this youtube clip regarding coffee rings was forwarded to me by Holly. i frequently notice it as i pay attention to my coffee mug tasseography, and do notice that the coffee from the single serving dispensers, for whatever reason, particularly displays this effect. i guess it might involve the manufacturing of the coffee serving cup things gives rise to round particles? i'll post a picture tomorrow. Note on coffee rings; there have been several Nature papers out regarding the general mechanism and altering it's effect (with nods to application in printing, biology, etc). It's a thing.
Which brings us to the differences between a trebuchet and other catapults, namely in that a trebuchet uses a raised counterweight to provide force. There's a surprising number of catapult designs, and wikipedia states that they all are strongly related a crossbow, mechanistically.
Update, my coffee mug:
Moving on, this youtube clip regarding coffee rings was forwarded to me by Holly. i frequently notice it as i pay attention to my coffee mug tasseography, and do notice that the coffee from the single serving dispensers, for whatever reason, particularly displays this effect. i guess it might involve the manufacturing of the coffee serving cup things gives rise to round particles? i'll post a picture tomorrow. Note on coffee rings; there have been several Nature papers out regarding the general mechanism and altering it's effect (with nods to application in printing, biology, etc). It's a thing.
Which brings us to the differences between a trebuchet and other catapults, namely in that a trebuchet uses a raised counterweight to provide force. There's a surprising number of catapult designs, and wikipedia states that they all are strongly related a crossbow, mechanistically.
Update, my coffee mug:
Friday, October 26, 2012
football stadiums, movies, pullups, crown braid
i recently had a conversation with Tyler regarding the size and intimidation of football stadiums. The stadium at my current institution is very midwestern friendly/bowl style, and while it holds 82,000, doesn't feel super imposing. The stadium from my undergrad institution only holds 8,000 more (at least, 90,000 people have crammed into it, and i certainly believe it), but dominates the landscape completely.
The Wachowski sibs (of The Matrix) have a new movie coming out, Cloud Atlas, co-directed with the guy who did Run Lola Run. i really liked Run Lola Run when i saw it at a friend's house in high school, even to the point of even awkwardly staying around to finish viewing the movie with her dad when she fell asleep. Anyway, there's an excellent New Yorker article featuring the sibs and the making of Cloud Atlas.
A friend posted National Geographic's Top 10 cycle routes on FB the other day, interesting.
Found this article regarding pullups and women on the NYTimes the other day (in short, pullups are used as a fitness measure, but might not be a valuable metric). Despite the fact that they tried to remain objective, i feel a little insulted that this was even studied.
Full disclosure, i spent an embarrassingly long time attempting to put my hair in a crown braid this morning, and was foiled mostly due to hair length, lack of coordination, and arm cramps. It has become a thing; i WILL conquer the crown braid. Hopefully by Halloween?
The Wachowski sibs (of The Matrix) have a new movie coming out, Cloud Atlas, co-directed with the guy who did Run Lola Run. i really liked Run Lola Run when i saw it at a friend's house in high school, even to the point of even awkwardly staying around to finish viewing the movie with her dad when she fell asleep. Anyway, there's an excellent New Yorker article featuring the sibs and the making of Cloud Atlas.
A friend posted National Geographic's Top 10 cycle routes on FB the other day, interesting.
Found this article regarding pullups and women on the NYTimes the other day (in short, pullups are used as a fitness measure, but might not be a valuable metric). Despite the fact that they tried to remain objective, i feel a little insulted that this was even studied.
Full disclosure, i spent an embarrassingly long time attempting to put my hair in a crown braid this morning, and was foiled mostly due to hair length, lack of coordination, and arm cramps. It has become a thing; i WILL conquer the crown braid. Hopefully by Halloween?
Saturday, October 20, 2012
a couple quotes
Note regarding semantics; i was raised to use the term 'a couple whatever' to mean more than one, less than 5. Others use the term to mean specifically two. Pretty much all agree that 'a few whatever' is more than a couple, but to me, between 3-7ish, and others, 3 solid. Interesting, baffling, and seems to vary geographically (with the fixed number being more west coast).
For Holly, a quote from Marcus Aurelius, via climber Will Gadd's blog, "“Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.”"
From Mario Testino, a fashion photographer with work currently exhibited at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, "“Photographers are like cowboys. The quicker you draw your gun, the more likely you are to survive.These moments exist for a split second. This picture could have been nothing the second before, or the second after.”"
The man has it completely correct, and this is a nice bit of simile for the sentiment reflected in the 'the best camera is the one you have with you' theory. This is why i drag around at least one camera with me at all times. i realize i'm not the best photographer, but you never know when a shot will present itself.
Karl Metzler is a highly successful trail runner who recently did an interview with the magazine Trail Runner. Regarding the barefoot shoe trend, " Minimalistic shoes are for folks who buy into fads and salesmen. People should, in my opinion, run in something with cushioning. I see lots of folks start a race in little shoes, then drop because their feet are destroyed. ". I think it's nice to a.) hear this from a professional runner in b.) a trail magazine. Additionally, as far as crosstraining goes,
(grins) i appreciate a little bit of orneriness in people during interviews.
Speaking of orneriness, this is one heck of an idea; instead of asking a celebrity for a picture with them, this guy gets them to take a picture of him (with his own camera, of course). (Astounded and slightly delighted by the audacity).
For Holly, a quote from Marcus Aurelius, via climber Will Gadd's blog, "“Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.”"
From Mario Testino, a fashion photographer with work currently exhibited at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, "“Photographers are like cowboys. The quicker you draw your gun, the more likely you are to survive.These moments exist for a split second. This picture could have been nothing the second before, or the second after.”"
The man has it completely correct, and this is a nice bit of simile for the sentiment reflected in the 'the best camera is the one you have with you' theory. This is why i drag around at least one camera with me at all times. i realize i'm not the best photographer, but you never know when a shot will present itself.
Karl Metzler is a highly successful trail runner who recently did an interview with the magazine Trail Runner. Regarding the barefoot shoe trend, " Minimalistic shoes are for folks who buy into fads and salesmen. People should, in my opinion, run in something with cushioning. I see lots of folks start a race in little shoes, then drop because their feet are destroyed. ". I think it's nice to a.) hear this from a professional runner in b.) a trail magazine. Additionally, as far as crosstraining goes,
"Do you do any cross training?
No, I drink beer.
What is your favorite beer?
The brown kind. "
(grins) i appreciate a little bit of orneriness in people during interviews.
Speaking of orneriness, this is one heck of an idea; instead of asking a celebrity for a picture with them, this guy gets them to take a picture of him (with his own camera, of course). (Astounded and slightly delighted by the audacity).
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
toast, friends, chocolate and nobel laureats, and nsfw cooking blogs.
One 'this, that, and the other' sort of posts.
While at my graduate program's retreat this past weekend, i toasted one of my classmates with a Scottish toast ('Here's tae us'), then mentioned that i usually hear it in my head as in a Boondock Saints-like accent (specifically the mother (sort of nsfw)). i fully realize that the Boondock Saints leads portray Irish characters (NOT SCOTTISH, i'm very aware those are completely distinct), but regardless, in my head, the toast comes with their mum's accent. Anyhow, i tracked it all back, and it is indeed a Scottish toast attributed to Robbie Burns.
Apparently, the person who places last in the Tour de France is is a somewhat coveted spot referred to as the lantern rouge, so named for the red lantern that French train conductors hang on the caboose to easily reference that none of the train has come unconnected.
This is a rather well-written post from NPR's MonkeySee blog regarding the adults and the term 'best friend', with specific instances drawn from the movie My Best Friend's wedding. i suppose i particularly liked it because i'm super fortunate in having several close friends, and that makes the idea of a best friend sort of sticky sometimes.
Another dispatch from NPR, this one regarding a rather striking correlation between the amount of chocolate a country consumes and their number of Nobel Prize winners. (i'm particularly fond of the part starting"One rainy afternoon, while stuck in a Katmandu hotel, Messerli got to playing around with the data.", because that's a very science thing to do; you're stuck in a hotel, so... for funsies, let's crank through some sort of data!)
i did not know that Andy Warhol was apparently a rather devoted, practicing Catholic.
More on the not really safe-for-work front, LZ recently made some Habanero Brownies of Doom ("the Doom is pineapple") based on a recipe from this equal parts hilarious and offensive cooking blog. The brownies are reportedly pretty decent-though-surprising, and i'm setting it here for future reference. Another equal parts funny and offensive post is this piece entitled, It's Decorative Gourd Season....
While at my graduate program's retreat this past weekend, i toasted one of my classmates with a Scottish toast ('Here's tae us'), then mentioned that i usually hear it in my head as in a Boondock Saints-like accent (specifically the mother (sort of nsfw)). i fully realize that the Boondock Saints leads portray Irish characters (NOT SCOTTISH, i'm very aware those are completely distinct), but regardless, in my head, the toast comes with their mum's accent. Anyhow, i tracked it all back, and it is indeed a Scottish toast attributed to Robbie Burns.
Apparently, the person who places last in the Tour de France is is a somewhat coveted spot referred to as the lantern rouge, so named for the red lantern that French train conductors hang on the caboose to easily reference that none of the train has come unconnected.
This is a rather well-written post from NPR's MonkeySee blog regarding the adults and the term 'best friend', with specific instances drawn from the movie My Best Friend's wedding. i suppose i particularly liked it because i'm super fortunate in having several close friends, and that makes the idea of a best friend sort of sticky sometimes.
Another dispatch from NPR, this one regarding a rather striking correlation between the amount of chocolate a country consumes and their number of Nobel Prize winners. (i'm particularly fond of the part starting"One rainy afternoon, while stuck in a Katmandu hotel, Messerli got to playing around with the data.", because that's a very science thing to do; you're stuck in a hotel, so... for funsies, let's crank through some sort of data!)
i did not know that Andy Warhol was apparently a rather devoted, practicing Catholic.
More on the not really safe-for-work front, LZ recently made some Habanero Brownies of Doom ("the Doom is pineapple") based on a recipe from this equal parts hilarious and offensive cooking blog. The brownies are reportedly pretty decent-though-surprising, and i'm setting it here for future reference. Another equal parts funny and offensive post is this piece entitled, It's Decorative Gourd Season....
Friday, October 12, 2012
legs, costumes, clothing sizes.
And, while i should be wrapping things up on a Friday, a bit of a post.
i want my legs to look like Anna Dello Russo's at 50. (And we can forgive her the pink heels with the red dress; she's editor of Vogue Japan and they do their own thing over there.)
While researching my Halloween costume this year, i came upon this great movie smash-up image. Also, thinking of getting these boots this weekend, 'cause i've been stalking them for at least 5 years (and stealing my younger cousin's at family gatherings). Anyway.
The Lumineers' self-titled album has been in my head for a week solid, with a nod to both Pandora (during the past month) and Asuka (who put a copy of Flowers in Your Hair in the mix she made me for the Chicago trip). i'm reasonably certain i've sent relevant tracks to most of you, so you all know this.
The Chicago trip was enjoyable, speaking of, but not as effective as hoped. Asuka PR'd by 11 minutes (!!) with the marathon, and tolerated being dragged to Zara and Topshop (so i could figure out their sizing systems for ordering purposes).
Clothing sizing systems are ridiculous. i'm a pretty solid 2 here in the States, but a 6 in most European sizes, and a Zara medium. Looking into it, anthropometry is, literally, the measure of (a) man. Wikipedia's clothing size charts are pretty fascinating, and size zero gets it's own wikipedia entry (frequently being "measurements of chest-stomach-hips from 30-22-32 inches (76-56-81 cm) to 33-25-35 inches (84-64-89 cm)".). (sigh)
Interesting NYTimes article here, as followed from wiki references.
i want my legs to look like Anna Dello Russo's at 50. (And we can forgive her the pink heels with the red dress; she's editor of Vogue Japan and they do their own thing over there.)
While researching my Halloween costume this year, i came upon this great movie smash-up image. Also, thinking of getting these boots this weekend, 'cause i've been stalking them for at least 5 years (and stealing my younger cousin's at family gatherings). Anyway.
The Lumineers' self-titled album has been in my head for a week solid, with a nod to both Pandora (during the past month) and Asuka (who put a copy of Flowers in Your Hair in the mix she made me for the Chicago trip). i'm reasonably certain i've sent relevant tracks to most of you, so you all know this.
The Chicago trip was enjoyable, speaking of, but not as effective as hoped. Asuka PR'd by 11 minutes (!!) with the marathon, and tolerated being dragged to Zara and Topshop (so i could figure out their sizing systems for ordering purposes).
Clothing sizing systems are ridiculous. i'm a pretty solid 2 here in the States, but a 6 in most European sizes, and a Zara medium. Looking into it, anthropometry is, literally, the measure of (a) man. Wikipedia's clothing size charts are pretty fascinating, and size zero gets it's own wikipedia entry (frequently being "measurements of chest-stomach-hips from 30-22-32 inches (76-56-81 cm) to 33-25-35 inches (84-64-89 cm)".). (sigh)
Interesting NYTimes article here, as followed from wiki references.
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
going the distances, and gran fondo origin
30 minute break this afternoon involved:
Calculating the mileage per week one would need to run (presumably over a lifetime, let's say 30 years) to equal the distance between the Earth and the Moon (238,900 miles, averaged between the two apogees), you'd have to run 153 miles/week.
LZ wanted to know if it was a do-able life goal. Short answer, not really.
i'd say it's reasonable to say that most of us range around 15-25 miles/week, pending race schedule. Let's say 15 miles/week, over 30 years you'd run 23400 miles. Nothing to sneeze at, for sure. The circumference of the Earth at the equator is 24901.55 miles, which is roughly 15.9 miles/week over 30 years, so that's a tiny bit more workable.
She also linked this picture of an otter, whom i imagine saying, 'oh, you!'
And then this happened via gchat with BryanS, as he cycles and i've been reading too many cycling blogs:
Calculating the mileage per week one would need to run (presumably over a lifetime, let's say 30 years) to equal the distance between the Earth and the Moon (238,900 miles, averaged between the two apogees), you'd have to run 153 miles/week.
LZ wanted to know if it was a do-able life goal. Short answer, not really.
i'd say it's reasonable to say that most of us range around 15-25 miles/week, pending race schedule. Let's say 15 miles/week, over 30 years you'd run 23400 miles. Nothing to sneeze at, for sure. The circumference of the Earth at the equator is 24901.55 miles, which is roughly 15.9 miles/week over 30 years, so that's a tiny bit more workable.
She also linked this picture of an otter, whom i imagine saying, 'oh, you!'
And then this happened via gchat with BryanS, as he cycles and i've been reading too many cycling blogs:
me: question
Bryan: answer
me: what's a fondo?
as in the Italian cycling term gran fondo?
Bryan: i am not sure
internet says distance or endurance
me: googling yeah
i'm simply curious as to the origin of the term
"The Gran Fondo or Open is derived its origin in Italy and is commonly translated "Big Ride""
hrm
Bryan: google translate says fondo is bottom
me: big bottom.
(raises an eyebrow)
it seemed to have many definitions based on context
Bryan: most of them seems to be depth related
me: hm
Bryan: sooo, i guess endurance kind of fits
going as far as possible
me: particularly hilly races?
no
to the depths!
thank you,.
Bryan: we're a good google team
if only i could get a paper on that
me: meeeee, too
Sunday, September 30, 2012
google map-y, fall colors, inbreeding and eye makeup
Illustrations in the style of Google maps originally done by this guy. Yes.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle reboot? i've apparently been living under a rock.
A fall colors (autumnal leaves) report for Wisconsin kept current by the WI travel board.
From Dr. Hawks' blog, one of the most entertaining quotes i read last week, and it regarded inbreeding. (i'm not particularly worried about marrying any of my relations, but it just happened to be an entertaining quote.)
Interesting eye makeup here, for those who might be into such things.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle reboot? i've apparently been living under a rock.
A fall colors (autumnal leaves) report for Wisconsin kept current by the WI travel board.
From Dr. Hawks' blog, one of the most entertaining quotes i read last week, and it regarded inbreeding. (i'm not particularly worried about marrying any of my relations, but it just happened to be an entertaining quote.)
Interesting eye makeup here, for those who might be into such things.
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
non-context observations, heels, biker ID
Intermittent agitation. Try to say it 5 times fast.
Curious snippets of conversation lately, with the outside observer who resides in my head snickering along: With a labmate, upon being thanked for wearing a (particular) shirt (His comment was something like, 'i appreciate that you're wearing your shirt today', and my immediate response was, 'Well, it's a bit chilly without it'), "Thank you and you're welcome." To LZ, regarding acquisition of a swimsuit, "And it's a long story ending in triathlon."
Saw some wandering bands of students playing Humans v/s Zombies on Sunday night. Guess it's that time of year. i was a tiny bit surprised to see an article regarding it appear in the campus news email, though.
Other things; random links about high heels: t-rex heels (via BOTH LZ and Holly), and pixletated heels.
And finally, a curious arc from fb this morning regarding an astoundingly awesome bike (cyclist) blog, which almost immediately yielded this pretty hilarious article(fave part? okay: "In fact, there's a traditional rivalry between Roadies and Mountain Bikers, which leads Mountain Bikers to do extremely irritating things like try to race Roadies who are simply out for a ride, which, if you're a Roadie, is sort of like being goaded by a hillbilly while you're browsing an art gallery."). Additionally, i'm glad i'm not the only one who thinks bikers resemble flocks of birds - bright plumage, fast, lightboned, in aerodynamic-ish formations, etc.
Furthermore, anyone heard the new Mumford and Sons album? i've been youtubing bits and pieces for a while now, but not the whole thing, together and polished.
(i frequently break my own heart.)
Curious snippets of conversation lately, with the outside observer who resides in my head snickering along: With a labmate, upon being thanked for wearing a (particular) shirt (His comment was something like, 'i appreciate that you're wearing your shirt today', and my immediate response was, 'Well, it's a bit chilly without it'), "Thank you and you're welcome." To LZ, regarding acquisition of a swimsuit, "And it's a long story ending in triathlon."
Saw some wandering bands of students playing Humans v/s Zombies on Sunday night. Guess it's that time of year. i was a tiny bit surprised to see an article regarding it appear in the campus news email, though.
Other things; random links about high heels: t-rex heels (via BOTH LZ and Holly), and pixletated heels.
And finally, a curious arc from fb this morning regarding an astoundingly awesome bike (cyclist) blog, which almost immediately yielded this pretty hilarious article(fave part? okay: "In fact, there's a traditional rivalry between Roadies and Mountain Bikers, which leads Mountain Bikers to do extremely irritating things like try to race Roadies who are simply out for a ride, which, if you're a Roadie, is sort of like being goaded by a hillbilly while you're browsing an art gallery."). Additionally, i'm glad i'm not the only one who thinks bikers resemble flocks of birds - bright plumage, fast, lightboned, in aerodynamic-ish formations, etc.
Furthermore, anyone heard the new Mumford and Sons album? i've been youtubing bits and pieces for a while now, but not the whole thing, together and polished.
(i frequently break my own heart.)
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
common nicknames, fitness studies, bombs-n-beer
While we're on the subject of language....Peg or Peggy is frequently a nickname of people named Margaret, as Bill is for William and Bob for Robert (Dick used instead of Richard is less common these days, but anyway,) and i've always been curious as to the logic behind that. Googling away, my personal theory includes Cockney rhyming slang, but the internets seems to like consonant mutation better.
Kelly AT shared a rather interesting link arc of her own today, culminating in the super interesting and prolly-never-able-to-be-repeated study of the effects of starvation diets, done in the '50s in Minnesota (even more interesting, participant involvment apparently an alternative to the draft). She came upon it through links in an article on the ridiculous (fitness-related) stuff that comes out of Paul Ryan's mouth, including the claim of having between 6-8% body fat. His debunked claim of a sub-3 hour marathon has incited the wrath of the running community something fierce, and there's been a ton of recent articles regarding people lying about their now-easily-checked race times pop up in various places; an article today in the Times here, the original Runner's World Ryan thread here, and a semi-related one a few weeks ago in the New Yorker about a man who even went so far as to make up an entire race (with other "people" and their times). Sheesh.
Also fitness related/along the same lines as the starvation study, only with exercise, a recent article in the Times reporting a study indicating that moderate amounts of exercise will decrease weight more (teehee) than large amounts.
From NPR via LZ, a study of beer safety following nearby nuclear explosion. "As for radiation, they checked, and found that bottles closest to ground zero were indeed radioactive, but only mildly so. Exposure, the authors say, "did not carry over to the contents." The sodas and beer were "well within the permissible limits for emergency use," which means, says Alex, "It won't hurt you in the short term."
Kelly AT shared a rather interesting link arc of her own today, culminating in the super interesting and prolly-never-able-to-be-repeated study of the effects of starvation diets, done in the '50s in Minnesota (even more interesting, participant involvment apparently an alternative to the draft). She came upon it through links in an article on the ridiculous (fitness-related) stuff that comes out of Paul Ryan's mouth, including the claim of having between 6-8% body fat. His debunked claim of a sub-3 hour marathon has incited the wrath of the running community something fierce, and there's been a ton of recent articles regarding people lying about their now-easily-checked race times pop up in various places; an article today in the Times here, the original Runner's World Ryan thread here, and a semi-related one a few weeks ago in the New Yorker about a man who even went so far as to make up an entire race (with other "people" and their times). Sheesh.
Also fitness related/along the same lines as the starvation study, only with exercise, a recent article in the Times reporting a study indicating that moderate amounts of exercise will decrease weight more (teehee) than large amounts.
From NPR via LZ, a study of beer safety following nearby nuclear explosion. "As for radiation, they checked, and found that bottles closest to ground zero were indeed radioactive, but only mildly so. Exposure, the authors say, "did not carry over to the contents." The sodas and beer were "well within the permissible limits for emergency use," which means, says Alex, "It won't hurt you in the short term."
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