Just a brief update...
Some dear friends have moved to Florida, and now have easy access to exotic fruits. The last time i was in town, they introduced me to rambutans, which look like small, particularly hairy alien eggs, and once peeled, remind a person very much of a grape that tastes like combination of cherry and peach (complete with tiny pit). Apparently, rambutans belong to the curiously-named family of soapfruits (sapindaceae), so called because sometimes the roots/foliage contain saponins and latex. (The threat 'to have ones mouth washed out with soap' would be much less terrible if the soap in question was actually rambutans.) Longans and lychees also belong to this family. Also, maples and buckeyes belong in this family, though those, of course, are known for other products.
Jack and Leslie, here is a clip to the 'I Like Bananas (Because They Have No Bones)' song that i kept singing on that shopping expedition.
Since we're on the subject of fruit, i came across an ad the other day for 'jelly apples' This did not reference apples used to make jelly, but rather a product similar to candy apples, only with a softer coating akin to caramel. Apparently, " Jelly apples became popular at Coney Island as a seaside treat many
years ago and are well known in New York and on the East Coast of the
United States ", as stated by a jelly apple manufacturer. Can any East Coast folks confirm this?
A common phrase 'the whole shebang' typically refers to the entirety of something, but what is a 'shebang'? Looking further into this, the exact origins are somewhat obscure, but the earliest reference is in a 1920s poem by Walt Whitman.
'Christmas factor' is a term i came across the other day while doing some (science) research. Apparently, it's a coagulation factor that was discovered as lacking in a man named Stephen Christmas, who was (thusly) a hemophiliac, with the specific form (B) called 'Christmas Disease'. Anyway, this caught my attention mostly because i read of an antibody made against it, for further research, meaning that somewhere there is a tube labeled 'anti-christmas'.
My brother texted me today to ask about some plush toys from our youth, Popples, which turned into a ball-shaped plush via folding into a pocket (his turned into a soccer ball, and mine ended up as a teal-and-white striped ball). He said he had just seen an infomercial for something called Pop Out Pets, a similar type plush that flips into three separate animals (reference this, but warning, there is a video clip that starts automatically). Anyway, i was minorly relived that they weren't billed as 'vintage' or 'retro', as i'm not yet ready to feel that old.
Here is a really interesting fact page regarding various facts about the Atlanta airport, including the fact that they average 230,000 passengers daily, and that there are 30,000 parking spaces (of which i'm pretty sure i got one of the last 10 free spaces available on Thanksgiving morning).
One of the webcomics i have read every morning (okay, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning) for the past decade is xkcd. i have been pleased to lately read that it's getting more popular as the STEM fields become "cooler", and there have been three different interviews with Randall Munro appearing recently to promote his new book, one at the NYTimes, another in the Wall Street Journal ( i was delighted by his mention of Calvin and Hobbes comics), and a different one with the awesome astronaut Chris Hadfield.
Something amusing that i tripped over the other day was this analysis of the hazards James Bond faces in his line of work, as set forth in a CDC blog post. (Another CDC awesome blog post is their zombies attack emergency prep sheet from a few years back, and a more recent 'teachable moments' update featuring Walking Dead shots, which includes the awesome line "Being true zombie fans, we love The Walking Dead on AMC, so much so that
we’ve looked past the fact that they blew us up at the end of the first
season and we assure you that our work here at the CDC continues").
Saturday, November 28, 2015
Sunday, November 8, 2015
SATX treats, V/R, auroras, World Polio Day, space beer
In other news, a Dutch neuroscientist has determined the most upbeat playlist (featuring mostly '80s hits, due to their fast tempos).
While i was home, i made sure to enjoy local confections; my faves usually include either pecans or coconut. However, something local is chamoy, a topping consisting of fruit stewed with acid, salt and chilies, "Mexican chamoy is prepared by first packing the fruit in either dry salt or a brine. Occasionally, this brine is acidulated with vinegar. This draws out the natural moisture of the fruit by osmosis. When the fruit has been sufficiently dried, it is separated from the brine and is sold as a snack known as saladitos, literally 'little salty things.'
Meanwhile, the salted fruit brine created in this process is seasoned to taste with chile powder, becoming chamoy. This liquid may be further reduced, or thickened with pureed fruit, to achieve a variety of consistencies.", from the wikipedia article. It also comes as a powder, made with citric acid, and eaten either as a seasoning or straight up (licked from one's fingers or palm). Either version of chamoy are frequently served on a variety of things, including other fruit, on various frozen desserts, and in the street snack tostilocos, which consists of chips (tostitos, doritos, etc) covered with a variety of things (sort of like a even-more-terrible-for-you frito pie), including " cueritos, cucumber, jícama, lime juice, Valentina hot sauce, chamoy, tajín chile powder, salt, and "Japanese peanuts" " (reference here). All of those are snack foods in their own right. Cueritos are fried pork skins. Japanese peanuts are peanuts which have a crunchy, sweet and spicy covering made mainly of wheat or soy flour, and are pretty addicting.
The start of the school year reminded me how popular Lisa Frank items were in middle school, and it turns out, she is an actual person who runs her company out of Tuscon, Arizona.
Been doing a fair amount of corresponding with folks who are military lately, and noticed that their closing salutation is occasionally 'V/R,' followed by their name. Looking further into it, it seems that this stands for 'Very Respectfully', and apparently there is a whole chain of command thing built into this closing. The most comprehensive internet answer that i was able to track down reports that " the abbreviation V/r (and the "r" is generally lowercase although I've seen it both ways) is drawn from military usage. It is very common in Navy email communications. If the sender is junior to the receiver, the proper closing is V/r. If the sender is senior to the receiver, the proper closing is just /r. Also, military emails to civilians often use /r (but you might get a V/r if you're lucky!). "
In all my time in WI, i never did see the Northern Lights - usually the cloud cover was too bad on the nights where we were expected to have a strong chance of seeing them (side note, there is a site that will tell you the probability of seeing the aurora borealis in North America, forecast-style). Recently, the family T was taking in the stars, as they are wont to do, and caught the 'Lights. Kelly AT apparently found this Slate article describing a resort in Finland that features glass igloos wherein one can view the 'Lights while remaining unfrozen.
Recently (Oct. 24th), it was World Polio Day. The Gates Foundation is a strong supporter of the efforts to completely eradicate polio (so close!!), and as such, put up a marvelous post to his blog detailing efforts, etc. Even better, the xkcd webcomic artist Randall Munroe did a spot-on comic for the event, which i'm probably going to have to use for lab meeting in the near future.
Finally, because this is getting to be a really long post (i've been saving stuff up for, like, a month, but moving and lack-of-ample-home-internet have been hindrances), a recent conversation about the call for new US astronauts.
While i was home, i made sure to enjoy local confections; my faves usually include either pecans or coconut. However, something local is chamoy, a topping consisting of fruit stewed with acid, salt and chilies, "Mexican chamoy is prepared by first packing the fruit in either dry salt or a brine. Occasionally, this brine is acidulated with vinegar. This draws out the natural moisture of the fruit by osmosis. When the fruit has been sufficiently dried, it is separated from the brine and is sold as a snack known as saladitos, literally 'little salty things.'
Meanwhile, the salted fruit brine created in this process is seasoned to taste with chile powder, becoming chamoy. This liquid may be further reduced, or thickened with pureed fruit, to achieve a variety of consistencies.", from the wikipedia article. It also comes as a powder, made with citric acid, and eaten either as a seasoning or straight up (licked from one's fingers or palm). Either version of chamoy are frequently served on a variety of things, including other fruit, on various frozen desserts, and in the street snack tostilocos, which consists of chips (tostitos, doritos, etc) covered with a variety of things (sort of like a even-more-terrible-for-you frito pie), including " cueritos, cucumber, jícama, lime juice, Valentina hot sauce, chamoy, tajín chile powder, salt, and "Japanese peanuts" " (reference here). All of those are snack foods in their own right. Cueritos are fried pork skins. Japanese peanuts are peanuts which have a crunchy, sweet and spicy covering made mainly of wheat or soy flour, and are pretty addicting.
The start of the school year reminded me how popular Lisa Frank items were in middle school, and it turns out, she is an actual person who runs her company out of Tuscon, Arizona.
Been doing a fair amount of corresponding with folks who are military lately, and noticed that their closing salutation is occasionally 'V/R,' followed by their name. Looking further into it, it seems that this stands for 'Very Respectfully', and apparently there is a whole chain of command thing built into this closing. The most comprehensive internet answer that i was able to track down reports that " the abbreviation V/r (and the "r" is generally lowercase although I've seen it both ways) is drawn from military usage. It is very common in Navy email communications. If the sender is junior to the receiver, the proper closing is V/r. If the sender is senior to the receiver, the proper closing is just /r. Also, military emails to civilians often use /r (but you might get a V/r if you're lucky!). "
In all my time in WI, i never did see the Northern Lights - usually the cloud cover was too bad on the nights where we were expected to have a strong chance of seeing them (side note, there is a site that will tell you the probability of seeing the aurora borealis in North America, forecast-style). Recently, the family T was taking in the stars, as they are wont to do, and caught the 'Lights. Kelly AT apparently found this Slate article describing a resort in Finland that features glass igloos wherein one can view the 'Lights while remaining unfrozen.
Recently (Oct. 24th), it was World Polio Day. The Gates Foundation is a strong supporter of the efforts to completely eradicate polio (so close!!), and as such, put up a marvelous post to his blog detailing efforts, etc. Even better, the xkcd webcomic artist Randall Munroe did a spot-on comic for the event, which i'm probably going to have to use for lab meeting in the near future.
Finally, because this is getting to be a really long post (i've been saving stuff up for, like, a month, but moving and lack-of-ample-home-internet have been hindrances), a recent conversation about the call for new US astronauts.
Bryan: i saw
it's tempting
me: gosh
advanced degree in biology and all that
Bryan: i don't have 20/20 sight
it is correctable to 20/20 though
me: lasik
yup
you're a triple threat, too: plants, yeast AND virology
Bryan: gs-11 though gs-14
gs-11 is $51,298, not too shabby
me: but, if you lived in space, think of how much you could save in rent?
Bryan: tons
and on food
and on beer
pretty minimal space expenses
me: you could develop space beer!
Bryan: i don't see why it wouldn't work
me: (nods enthusiastically)
2013, will have to search for the follow-up
me: why did an 11yo develop a beer assay?
Bryan: i don't know
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