= December 2007 = Main = February 2008 =
Here's a new winegrowing region for us to try, courtesy of Chris and Cathy, who've recently returned from Southeast Asia:
Quoting the back of the bottle, "Introducing you a natural blend of Roselle and Pineapple. The best time to enjoy our wine is either before or after meal to be such a good appetizer and food digester." To be fair, I was once pleasantly surprised by a bottle pineapple wine from Hawaii, but... roselle?
Encore Karaoke on California St. gets high marks for being awesome, but I must protest the fact that a few songs were clearly played out-of-sync with the lyrics on the screen. Steve's attempts to croon Candlebox's "Far Behind" were sabotaged by this technical oversight. Candlebox's people should really write a letter or something.
I love Kayak as much as the next guy, but since when is Philadelphia International a New York area airport?
Who remembers what a THAC0 is?
I noticed a new weapon on Man's arsenal against the common cold in the Safeway today: "anti-viral" facial tissue. I was of the belief that aloe-infused tissues were the absolute pinnacle of snot-absorbing technology, but apparently not. These things "kills 99.9% of cold and flu viruses!", boy howdy.
Now see here guys, we'll overlook the unintentionally bold scientific claim that viruses are "alive" and therefore capable of being killed, but I took a look at the active ingredients and was a little underwhelmed. All you're giving us is a middle ply soaked with citric acid and sodium laurel sulfate... lemon juice and - wait for it - soap.
I've long been mocked for the frequency with which I wash my hands, but it seems to me that the potential buyers of this product could more effectively fight their sickness by reallocating some of their virus-killing-tissue money into a bar of soap and a bottle of OJ. And then just make a point to not smear their used, virus-soaked normal tissues on their friends and loved ones. Am I wrong?
Wellsir, it's back to work in my most-empty lab here in Berkeley, and if we aren't all blown away by NorCal's version of a "winter storm", big things are on the horizon. This will be, we really really hope, my last semester in grad school. So the to-do list is short and simple: get a job, write my thesis, get married. And that's it! Wish me luck.