= Such Stupid Things =

Well, I'm glad that's over with. I achieved my modest goal getting >1 questions at the end of the talk. In addition, we totally demolished the 5 gallon mini-keg last night, (apparently called a "Corney" keg -- who knew?). We had earlier discussed the full quarter keg, but decided it too ambitious. Hindsight, etc. etc. Thankfully Ross and Tim stepped up to the plate for an eleventh-hour trip to Safeway. Ice-cold Keystone Light was our reward.

All in all, I'd say it was a successful Wednesday.

Posted by Jeff at 09:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The colloquium is tomorrow, and Marie and I decided to have some people over afterwards for a little post-talk shindig. So we went to BevMo to pick up a little 5-gallon keg of oat soda.

As we're wheeling the keg out to the car, who should we pass in the parking lot? None other than Dr. John Prausnitz. That's right, the National Medal of Science-winning ChemE god who will probably be sitting in the front row saw us wheeling around a keg of beer. He knows! So... I guess we have to invite him to the party now.

But... what was he doing at BevMo in the first place?

Posted by Jeff at 08:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

I read a little internet blurb the other day about Season 4 of Project Runway, which won't be premiering until the fourth quarter of 2007. It got me thinking about the current sorry state of reality television... I'm still watching far more than I should, but I just don't care like I used to. To be honest, the miniature killer is the only TV character I'm really rooting for these days. But, because I know you care, Mr. and Mrs. Internet, here's the quick run-down:

-- Top Model is really what keeps me in the TV game. I suppose I'm rooting for the weave-less Brittany, but she lost a great deal of cred complaining about her memory problems last episode. Early in the season I made the ridiculous assertion that Dionne would win it all. Maybe I should stick to my guns.

-- Right after Top Model airs the Pussycat Doll show thing. Marie's a big fan... I was antagonistic for a while, but I've come to embrace it in recent weeks. It's basically a re-telling of American Idol, but in some male fantasy world. Plus, Li'l Kim sits on the judging panel! One of her sparkling gems of critical insight was to tell a contestant (and former stripper) that she seemed "too trashy". I suppose Kim would be the expert. Anyway, I hate her bangs, but Chelsea's too adorable not to have my vote.

-- I haven't watched a lick of Survivor this year, but did you know that Yao-Man works for the Chemistry department here at Cal? I see him getting coffee all the time, so clearly he's my favorite. Yes, people have asked who wins, and no, he isn't talking. To the grad students at least.

-- Finally, I've caught a few episodes of American Idol, but my interest has declined precipitously since last season. I hate to sound vain, but without a cute woman to root for I'm completely lost. The show, however, seems to be doing alright, even without my support. It's amazing, I know, but based on the fact that the VH1 video countdown I just flipped through boasted the fact that three of the top five spots were occupied by Idol alums, I'll just assume they'll get by without me.

On a related note, I did an image search for Haley Scarnato this morning. The results, after the cut, really surprised me. (Don't worry - totally sfw).

Posted by Jeff at 09:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

There's a little thing we do here at Berkeley in the fifth year of our ChemE PhD. It's a departmental seminar... not unlike a thesis defense, only it isn't graded. The main perk of doing a good job is that it keeps professors from asking combative questions and making you feel like a steaming pile of wasted research grants.

I bring it up, because it's my turn next Wednesday, and I'll likely be spending the better part of the coming week preparing. I've already made a good deal of progress on some critically unimportant aspects of the talk: learning new tricks in Adobe Illustrator, meeting .PNG, my new favorite image file format, and finally obtaining a pirated copy of Helvetica.

The content may be light, but the talk will be pretty. They've gotta give me that.

Posted by Jeff at 09:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

It was basically paraphrasing the "I can't hear you, I'm wearing a jacuzzi suit!" quote from Milhouse's mom, but I never found a computer with internet access to post it. I thought it was clever at the time, but the moment is gone.

So to sum up, I was on a beach in Waikiki, and all I wanted was a laptop with wifi. In another life, I might have found that upsetting. But... nah.

Posted by Jeff at 08:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This summer's travel season kicks off in earnest this Friday, when Marie and I will make the trek to Hawaii for Calvin and Kerry's wedding. I know, I know - it's going to be dreadful, but we push on. It's not exactly a destination wedding, as Kerry grew up in Honolulu. I guess they tossed a coin, and Calvin's homestate of Rhode Island lost.

Travel-wise, the past two years have seen a preponderance of nuptial trips to non-exotic locations spanning the American northeast. Two thousand seven, however, is playing out a bit more in Marie's and my favor. There's the aforementioned event in our fiftieth state, followed in August by Bill and Lexie getting hitched a mere three blocks from our house.

But the BIG trip will be this summer's centerpiece: the long-discussed and finally actualized trip with Marie's family to the Philippines. We already have a list of things to bring back from the States for her family. The requests include dried cherries, spam, and packets of Knox gelatin. Theses are the freedoms we take for granted, people. Savor them. Anyhow - I'm sure I'll be blogging more on this later as details develop, but the plane tickets are bought, so it's ON. Dengue fever, here I come!

Posted by Jeff at 10:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, the family's here and all is well. They brought some exciting gifts from the Southland...

Apparently the Science Guy and Stan Sitwell have a gentlemanly competition going over whose solar cells can sell more power back to PG+E. Seriously. Just another day in Studio City, I suppose.

ANYway, I'm off for some ubertouristing. I forgot how much Ellen loves Full House, so Alamo Square might just have to be on the itinerary. Adios!

Posted by Jeff at 09:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It took him almost five years, but my dad is finally coming out to California to visit. He's already here, in fact, with the whole family in tow, driving up the coast from Uncle Bill's house in Santa Monica. So pops, my step mom and my brother and sister should be rolling into the East Bay around dinnertime.

It's been a struggle to come up with kid-friendly ideas, so I'm not yet clear on what we're going to be doing. Henry and Ellen are I think too young for my standard beer-and-burritos tour of San Francisco. So... what then?

The Cable Car Museum will be featured prominently, I think. Maybe that giant model of the Bay Area watershed up in Marin? Umm... Thai food? My dad always had a thing for coconut ice cream, afterall.

Posted by Jeff at 07:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Thanks for the kind words, all. I'll put up some pictures or something soon.

I thought I should also mention that if any of you are in need of something small and glimmery, I had a very good experience with Apollo Diamond. They combine my love of science with my general distaste for perpetuating globe-wide horror and so forth. So until Superman commercializes his squeezing-coal-into-precious-gems business, think about giving them a call. You won't save a whole lot of money, but you'll feel better about yourself.

OK. Preachiness ending... now. Anyway, someone once told me, diamonds aren't forever, as they can barely stand up to strong oxidizing conditions. Silicon carbide, however...

Posted by Jeff at 04:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)