Ego-trippin

Okay, so while in Louisville over the break, I ran into some people from my old lab at UL. While talking, I found out that a colleague had named her second child with my name. This was somewhat surprising given that she and her husband are from mainland China. It's hard not to be flattered, since I have a hard time believing that they really knew that many people with my name other than myself. Either they were really impressed with me, really liked the sound of the name (which I guess is more of a compliment to my parents), or they realized that their son was going to grow up in the US and be subject to a short attention span and speak in a series of movie quotes. Maybe it sounds a lot like a Chinese name... I don't care, in my head, it's because they want their child to grow up to be like me (God help us all).

Back in the Promised Land...

J and I will be back in the Promised Land (Louisville) on Friday. Unfortunately we have to return to Philly the day after Christmas, but we hope to see as many of our friends as possible while in town. For those of you that are also coming home for the holidays, please let us know if your time will overlap so we can meet up.

Local media without the local...

So I've kind of been reading a little bit on the cancellation of the Joe Elliott Show on WHAS back in Louisville. I remember it was always nice to listen to him cover local issues late at night (9-12 if I remember correctly), driving home from friends' houses or from school. He'd let people call and express their opinions, but largely kept the discussion civil, unlike many modern shows. I'm sad to see that his show is (has?) going off the air and is going to be replaced by a national show that is the epitome of the aforementioned programming. The LEO does a good right up decrying the loss of local control of media driven to educate their readers/listeners to large conglomerates interested in profits here.

I wonder, why do these local powerhouses get bought out so easily by outside interests? Is the money too much for the owners to pass up? Does this have to do with the inability of the children of the owners able to afford the so-called "Death Tax" (or I as I like to think of it, the "What did Paris Hilton do to Earn it Tax") after their parents' passing? I don't really know, but so far we still have NPR, which still does a good job with local issues, even if you have to put up with Terry Gross. Also, I can't help but think of this post by t.

Hey Science, Don't Mess with Texas

I've been following this story the last couple days but this is the best headline I've seen. Maybe I'm biased being a scientist/engineer, but when people act like science teachers advocating to teach evolution (which it looks like she didn't even do), that is not an extremist position. To try and give Intelligent Design (which cannot really be tested by any scientific method) equal footing as evolution is an extremist position (usually pushed by those with no experience in science). And for an administrator with 9 years experience + 27 years experience teaching science in the classroom to be fired (I'm sorry, forced to resign) by a boss who never taught, has a political science degree, and most of her experience is working/fund raising for Bush is deplorable. Please leave politics out of our science class (and preferably out of schools in general).

Best Cover Songs

Now there are fewer things worse in my opinion than being charged a cover charge in order to watch a band do their best to imitate the most popular bands. But when original artists sometimes cover songs and make them their own, I think it's pretty cool. Strangely enough, I particularly like it when female vocals cover male originals (there are only 2 vice versa examples on this list). Here are my favorites that come to mind, who did the cover with the original artists in parentheses, please feel free to add your favs:

Sweet Jane - Cowboy Junkies (Lou Reed/Velvet Underground): I really think this is my favorite cover ever. When I hear it, I still hear the lines from Natural Born Killers, but it's a great song anyway.

The Man Who Sold the World - Nirvana (David Bowie): They played this during their MTV Unplugged set, and it really changed my perception of the band. I was (and still am) more of a Smashing Pumpkins man, but this really opened up Nirvana to me.

Killing Me Softly with His Song - Fugees (Roberta Flack did the previously most popular cover): This song introduced most of us to Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean. Her voice still will still make me stop and listen to any song.

Hazy Shade of Winter - The Bangles (Simon and Garfunkel): From the soundtrack from the 80's Less than Zero, I still think this song rocks.

I will Survive - Cake (Gloria Gaynor): I love both versions of this song, but hearing from Cake was both hysterical and disarming because I guess I never thought about the lyrics until then.

Wild Horses - The Sundays (Rolling Stones): Classic from the prom/penultimate episode of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season III (which combined with seasons I and II were television at its greatest, yeah I'm a nerd). Almost brings a tear to my eye.

Landslide - Smashing Pumpkins (Fleetwood Mac): Screw the Dixie Chicks, all you need is this and the live version performed by Fleetwood Mac and you are set.

I'm on Fire/Losing My Religion - Tori Amos (Bruce Springsteen/REM): My favorite songs by her are covers...

Superstition - Stevie Ray Vaughan (Stevie Wonder): Stevie Wonder originally wrote it for SRV, but decided he like it so much he released his classic version before SRV could. Both are great.

Honorable Mentions:
Hurt - Johnny Cash (NIN): If I didn't think that this song was already perfect the first time Trent and NIN did it, I would have included. This song was loved by a lot of people 6-10 years younger than myself, and I couldn't help but think they were missing out on the original.

99 Red Balloons - Goldfinger (Nena): Nothing better than punk bands doing 80's classics. Once again, both versions are great.

Feel free to add your favorites, I'm sure I'm missing some that I really love.

On Friendship (part 2)

(Ages 14-21ish)

So upon entering high school, only one of my best friends from grade school accompanied me. So I got the great idea to play football (practice started a month before classes) my freshman year to try and meet new people. Now, I don’t think scrawny even begins to describe how small I was at the time. I’ve never had a problem meeting people and making friends, but I really have to say that my attempts were not even remotely successful. I really did not make a single friend from the football team. It wasn’t until a school mixer where I was kind of forced to hang out with different people, that I made new friends. That’s where I first hung out with JBJ (who was looking rather gangsta with either an Alabama or Florida St hat pulled back in Fresh Prince fashion). I don’t remember if RPK was at that dance (not really his style), but I soon started hanging out with him (probably due to the close proximity of the J and K in the alphabet). Now I hung out with a lot of other guys (APB out for Shown), but those two plus Luis “La Machina” (the friend from grade school mentioned above) made up my core friends. A group of friends I am still very close to.

Looking back now, I try to put my finger on the common thread of my friends from high school (and for that matter college). Here is what I came up with, we were all above average students (even though some of us were lazier than others, namely me), we were fair athletes though not stars (except maybe Luis, who could have pitched in college), we were not social lepers as nerds are often portrayed (although JBJ always seemed to spend his life with his foot in his mouth), we came from nuclear families (both parents, siblings, etc…), and we didn’t drink (at least not around me). In college I would include we were largely from Catholic High Schools, although the home life of some of my college friends were less idyllic.

In college I was pretty slow to make new friends; I started initially hanging out with friends from grade school (APB for Dukes) and a friend who graduated a year before me from high school. It was really the summer of my first year in college that I first started hanging with out with Fe-C, The TD Maker, J Alv, and t outside of playing volleyball (the first time I went to his house was for Tommy’s birthday party (his cat) and t spent half the time chasing Tommy trying to put a tie on him). A lot of these people played soccer together and I would go watch because afterwards we would swim at bbbbbb’s house or play Sky Fox and Golden Eye in the Fe-C basement. On Wednesdays the Brothers B would host a 90210 party which would be followed by trips to O’Charley’s for ½ price appetizers. There would always be a few of us in the downstairs dining area of the SAC playing Spades or Mille Bourne (You… might… not drive so well…?). Road trips in either (A) one of the Strati or (B) in luxury (the LeSabre).

By the next spring, when I finally found the courage to ask my Diane Court out on a date, I would regularly do things with a crew of like 8-12 people from this group. She was amazed, and it was fun to always have people around and to go out to restaurants. Everyone got along incredibly well and there was a good time had by all. This, of course, would not last.

At about this time, a few events occurred that would eventually lead to a great splintering of the group. First some new members on the soccer team started hanging out with the group. In particular there was a skuzzy V, who was a walking hard on and really sketchy. Soon after that, there was a breakup of a longtime couple in the group that led to swooping vultures in the friends trying to date the girl (which is just not cool, breaks all kinds of rules among friends http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_Laws, thankfully she was smarter than that). Finally, we all started turning 21. Now, by and large, this crew was all alcohol free (a rarity nowadays), but this changed at this time.

Now for me personally, my closer friends were not one of the vultures, so I kind of ostracized myself from that group. I began to avoid any and all contact with V, especially after he went after a friend’s older and younger sisters. And I don’t drink, so even though I don’t really have a problem with people that do, I’m not going to have much fun at parties that are based on drinking (which explains why to this day I despise games like Beer Pong and bars that close their kitchens early).

I slowly withdrew so that in the end (in about a year and a half) I largely hung out with t, the TD Maker (who became known Captain Shootdown for not agreeing to random “great” activities that t and I wanted to do), J (of course, my Diane Court, and you should never doubt Lloyd Dobler), Jen-by-another-name, or teammates of J. I separated so much from the group that I never really saw when Fe-C escaped the group. From the original large group, that is the relationship I regret losing the most. But nowadays, I see some of the same issues from the splintering in the problems I have making friends today…

I'm old...

Played a game of 3 on 3 basketball yesterday, and 3 volleyball matches. Went 2-2 on the day, but mostly right now I just feel old and sore. I need to get in shape.

Open call for podcasts

So J recently gave me a Shuffle for my birthday, and I've started listening to different podcasts during the day while doing lab work. I really like NPR's Talk of the Nation as well as ESPN's PTI. I've tried a few others, but don't like them as much as the aforementioned two. Anyone else listening to podcasts? Any that you particularly like? I'm usually stuck doing cell culture work a couple of hours a day, and it helps pass the time.

Youtube rules

Someone forwarded this to one of the football official associations to which I belong. You have to get to the explanation the referee gives for the penalty...



And then, finally there's a halftime show that appeals to my generation (and maybe a little bit younger)

Airplane etiquette

When did it become acceptable to rush down the aisle to the front of the plane as soon as the plane lands so you can be the first off? This happened to us on all three of our flights for the Thanksgiving Break and I have noticed it a lot more lately. I think this is the Southwest-ization of our airways where everyone thinks that everything is a free-for-all. Now I'm all for bypassing someone who seems to be surprised that the plane has actually landed, but this is starting to annoy me. On one occasion, the lady had so much stuff that we were stuck in our seats and could not retrieve our own bags, and therefore were passed by 5 others from the rear before J had to block the aisle so we could get out.

Segmented Society

David Brooks, an often conservative columnist for the NY Times, wrote about the fractioning of music into subgenres and the lack of any bands that span many age and ethnic groups yesterday, read it here. After reading it, my wandering thoughts are below...

While I cannot comment on the overall musical depth of knowledge of current musicians, I can't really say that I can totally agree that the lack of bands like Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band and Rolling Stones are necessarily a sign of our declining national experience. While I do think that the prevailence of pop performers (let's be honest, we can't really call these American Idol type people musicians) who do not (1) write their own music and (2) know how to play an instrument is disturbing, I think there are still many cases of music bringing people together.

I find this especially relevant since I went to my first breakdancing competition this weekend (as an audience member only). While the competitors were all male, their ethnicity ran from Asian, African American, Hispanic, Eastern Bloc, to suburban white. The DJ played mostly things that I didn't really recognized, but a free dance intermission was prolonged when the DJ started playing James Brown (universal and timeless). There was also a point were he played a mambo tune (interesting to see many of the breakdancers not sure what to do with that, but many of the ladies started taking the lead).



Every once and a while, you still get to see the melting pot in action, and it's quite incredible. While I still see the segmented society that Mr. Brooks speaks about in his column, I'm not sure that music is either a symptom or a cause of it. I often feel that there is a lack of shared experiences, or a lack of recognition of these shared experiences, in our culture today.

Looking back in my life, I can think of 3 moments of "where were you when..." that people my age can look back to. (1) The Challenger exploding (I was in my 2nd grade classroom with Mrs McGwirck (SP??)), (2) OJ's verdict and his Bronco chase (Verdict - Mr Wunderlin's Calculus class), and (3) 9/11 (GE Appliance Park, Dishwasher building, most info came to me on my pager news system since the web was ground to a halt as everyone tried to get on news sites). It's interesting that I think that (1) and (3) are probably a very similar experience for all Americans not from the areas hit (obviously different for those who knew/lost loved ones), but (2) appears to be a very different experience based largely on what race you are. There's still a large schism when it comes to race (and in many ways class, IMO) in this country and I often wonder about how that affects us socially and politically.

For T

In remembrance of t, I sometimes get tattooed for volleyball games.

On Friendship (part 1)

I have decided to write on a more serious topic of friendship, what friends have meant to me through the years, and just my generally feelings on the subject of friends and making friends. These are mostly my thoughts or ideas that were spawned through conversations with others, mainly t. These are maybe better described as essays (although I am very out of practice in the art of essay writing), and these definitely more thought out than my usual ramblings (but not nearly coherent enough). Part 1 will be about childhood friends…

“I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?”

The above quote is from Stand by Me. I always thought it was a very apt description of the friends I had from about 10-14 (especially for a suburban kid with no real problems).

Since I lived kind of far from school I had neighborhood friends and school friends, only occasionally did they overlap. But the dynamics were great. The summers were spent in the neighborhood playing baseball (usually with a tennis ball or wiffle) in the backyard or “The Field” (the local huge open field that seems pathetically small when I revisit nowadays). Playing basketball in nearly any driveway (this was standard in KY, heck I think my brother got his included in his mortgage). Swimming with friends in backyard pools. I know we eventually had Nintendo, but I have little memory of playing those games with friends.

At school, it was a matter of who you ate with at lunch, played games with at recess, and which team you were on for basketball and baseball (although I gave up on that pretty quickly). I was never one of the cool kids, but I had good friends and never experienced the ridicule of being a nerd as depicted in 80’s film.

From my 10^th birthday, I have a picture with my three best friends. There was John from the neighborhood with Brian and Brent from school (we thought we were the Beastie Boys according to Austin D). By the time I was 11 all three had moved far enough away that I could only see them on special trips (very rare when you are that age). I thought at the time that it was going to be horrible.

But getting new friends at that age is easy. One friend moves out, another moves in a few doors down. It’s easy to make new friends at school.

You have sleepovers and your discussions are not that different from the ones in Stand By Me. Who would win in fights of your favorite cartoon characters (Snake Eyes was a badass compared to Storm Shadow)? Favorite baseball (I loved Ozzie Smith, I don’t care how much better a hitter Ryne Sandberg was) and basketball players (no fair, I grew up in the Jordan era, there was only one answer). Starting to notice the girls. Quoting Hot Shots, Airplane, Caddyshack (wait, I still quote these movies religiously). I guess we didn’t wonder down the tracks singing “Lollipop.” But I think it’s amazing how well this movie captures friendship, the feelings at the transition to adolescence, and how kids talk to each other.

There’s an innocence there that is lost with growing up that is captured in that movie. I often wonder about this lost innocence. When is it lost for the poor, the abused, those that have lost loved ones? And when it is lost at a young age, isn’t that a tragedy? I often found some of the stories my mother had from teaching at a downtown Louisville elementary school incredibly depressing. I grew up in a world that was sheltered from problems of drugs and violence. And how does this difference in how people are raised make it difficult for us to relate? (maybe these are questions for another blog, because I’m rambling off subject here)

I have a hard time pinning down what was most important for friends at that age. Proximity was obviously important, and I guess for me, interest in sports, movies. There were kids in the neighborhood that I didn’t really like, and I’m not sure why. Even the friends I still have from that time, the relationship has changed. People grow up, the problems are real, and we now have responsibilities. But at least we still have Hot Shots and the Naked Gun.

NOTE: APB for Brent W and Brian D, have no idea what happened to them.

The Mellon Collie that should have been...

I always thought that Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness was an overly-ambitious mediocre album with too many b-sides or crappy songs surrounding a core group of songs that would have made a pretty damn good album. Help me create the 10-14 song album that should have been. * and bold for songs that make the cut, + for songs that could, N for songs that don't have any business on a major album. Feel free to agree, disagree, suggest. After we choose songs, we can get the mix right. I have 9 songs that I think definitely make the cut.

From Disk 1:
N 1. "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness" – 2:52
* 2. "Tonight, Tonight" – 4:14
+ 3. "Jellybelly" – 3:01
* 4. "Zero" – 2:41
* 5. "Here Is No Why" – 3:45
* 6. "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" – 4:18
+ 7. "To Forgive" – 4:17
+ 8. "Fuck You (An Ode To No One)" – 4:51
N 9. "Love" – 4:21
N 10. "Cupid de Locke" – 2:50
+ 11. "Galapogos" – 4:47
* 12. "Muzzle" – 3:44
N 13. "Porcelina of the Vast Oceans" – 9:21
N 14. "Take Me Down" – 2:52

* 1. "Where Boys Fear to Tread" – 4:22
+ 2. "Bodies" – 4:12
N 3. "Thirty-Three" – 4:10
N 4. "In the Arms of Sleep" – 4:12
* 5. "1979" – 4:25
+ 6. "Tales of a Scorched Earth" – 3:46
* 7. "Thru the Eyes of Ruby" – 7:38
N 8. "Stumbleine" – 2:54
* 9. "X.Y.U." – 7:07
N 10. "We Only Come Out at Night" – 4:05
+ 11. "Beautiful" – 4:18
N 12. "Lily (My One and Only)" – 3:31
+ 13. "By Starlight" – 4:48
N 14. "Farewell and Goodnight" – 4:22

Last day in my twenties

So I turn 30 tomorrow. But as Dilbert (and Greg) said something like "Just because someone arbitrarily decided on a base 10 numbering system, doesn't mean that I should celebrate their milestones."

Anyway, I haven't noticed any changes. I'm not sore after playing vb for 4 consecutive days, and I have two football games this weekend. I was assigned to my first playoff game in the Philadelphia Catholic League for tonight, so that should be exciting.

Here are some pictures of a squirrel I saw walking into school the other day. Sorry about the quality, it was my camera phone...


Hehe, a squirrel riding a bike.

Rules for Halloween.

1) If you are not wearing a costume, you don't get candy. (exception, if you are dragging younger siblings or are a mentor to a younger kid, then it's okay)

2)Don't just wear your costume. Be the costume. There's more candy for high entertainment value.

3) No reaching in the basket that is in my hand and grabbing a handful.

4) Since I have a variety, it's okay to try and find the one you prefer, but at a reasonable pace. It's not the biggest decision of your life.

Now that have stated my rules, I'm a pushover, and I usually don't follow through. Any advice or additional rules?

Who's that Spartan in my tepee?

It's me, It's me!

I'm sure J appreciates me posting this picture. We were the hit a this party that was mostly suburbanites and their kids. Apparently all the kids have seen the Best of Will Ferrell.

Is it 1950? Where's Joseph McCarthy?

So we get emails periodically for different scholarship opportunities, and this one caught my attention because the email made sure to highlight that you had to be a citizen of the US and:

Is this the Joseph McCarthy Scholarship fund? This was a stipulation in the donor's will, so maybe they died in the 50's before communism was viewed as a failed ideology (or at least in my view). I thought about applying and using the evidence that I hate soccer as proof of my capitalist tendencies (there are no such things as ties). Anyway, I just thought this was kind of funny, and I haven't seen language like this and wondered if this was common in the 50's and 60's.

Where's Ralfyves

Like "Where's Waldo" but without the alliteration and with black and white vertical stripes. I think I'm in like 3-4 pictures, one of them is the last one on the first page and is the only one where I'm not way back in the background.

http://flickr.com/photos/8172647@N06/sets/72157602561503956/detail/

It's Official, Rob Loves Goats

I love the fact that despite the fact that I am going to turn 30 in a couple weeks, my friends still find the time to perpetuate a joke from high school on each other. See if you can find out Rob's dirty little secret, now known to the nation. For those of you not in the know, Rob went by Bobby for about all but 4 months of his life, which is of course when we met him. To this day, I think we are the only ones that call him Rob. For whatever reason he decided he liked to chant "Let's go goats" instead of Colts, and obviously this was because of his love of goats...

This is why dogs bite the hand that feeds them...

So Halloween is coming up, one of J's favorite holidays. So she saw this at Target and had to buy it. Yes, that is Max dressed up as Yoda. I view this as pet abuse and worry about what's going to happen when we have kids (no time soon).

Blogging...

Okay, so I'm considering doing a blog. I'm not going to go into anything about why or my plans, because I anticipate that they mostly be rants. So I'll just launch into something on my mind...

Simple rules for volleyball (some of these are universal, some are specific to IM and social clubs where there is a huge disparity in talent within teams and between opponents):

1) Always play to win.

You are not allowed to get mad at me for being competitive.

2) Reciprocity: If player A is in the front row and gives a good pass, then player A gets the set.

I never feel as jack up as when I'm about 5 feet behind the 10' line and give a perfect pass and can make a huge approach for the third hit. I feel like I'm jumping an extra foot off the ground and I swing with authority. Setting anyone else is tantamount to treason for the pass I just gave you. (PS, use common sense, if I have to dive or pass it 25' off the net, I'm not going to make it)

3)Feed the Bear: If player A is the stud on the team or has consistently put the ball down all game. Player has the right to receive all (non-forced) sets until they are dug or make a hitting error. If said player is consistently the best swinger, they should be set at every (non-forced) opportunity when the game is on the line.

I don't mean to force the ball if the pass is bad, but if you have an option to go any hitter, I never understand why people don't "feed the bear" if the bear consistently gets you points or puts pressure on the opposing defense. Sometimes setters out-think themselves. Also, setters should decide who the bear is, not the hitters. Sometimes hitters think they are great just by cranking the ball hard, but always right at the defense. When the game is on the line, all you need are points. I don't care if you tip it.

4)One great play deserves a rally: (need a better name) If player A digs the opposing player's huge hit or dives to make a saving play, you must do whatever is necessary to keep the point going.

There is nothing worse than making a great play only to see the rest of the team watch and give up on the play. Sometimes digs are not perfectly passed balls, but that doesn't mean that someone can't keep the ball up. Don't watch me play volleyball and dive around the court, help me out a bit would you?

5) Serve the ball in the court

Okay, so everyone misses a serve no and again, that's fine. But if you have a "hard serve" that you hit in the court <50% of the time, you need a new serve (and I don't care if it is underhanded). You can't just give up serving opportunities.

5a) You are not allowed to miss a serve on game point. End of story.

5b) Unless you played vb regularly (>2 times a week) in recent history, your toss on you serve should not be more than 4-5 feet high. You will not be consistent, and you will blame you toss and not the fact that you have never learned how to play.

5c) If you are seriously outgunned by an opposing team, you are allowed to miss 'serves of aggression' trying to force passing errors. Serves of aggression include serves that are <2 ft out and the opponents are forced to decide whether it is in or out. They do not include serves that hit the net and do not go over, or are clearly out.

6) Drawing blood from an opponent is a good thing.

7) Once it's funny, twice it's silly...: you don't get a third chance.

If you have just shanked two serve returns, you are not allowed to get angry when I overplay you and take the third ball. This is something I've notice college teams do well, if they get really bad results from a formation or attack twice in a roll, then it is scrapped. Bring in a new passer, pinch out a passer, cross you hitters, whatever just don't keep trying the same thing expecting different results (def of insanity).

8) Look at your Opponents: See how they are lined up, who's hitting, where are the weak spots?

There is no reason to set the 5'6" lady swinging against a 6'4" guy when your male hitter is swinging against a female block. See that before the play.

9) I don't set in coed.

Unless you bring me Logan Tom, Misty May, etc... don't ask me to set in a coed league.