That's all folks

I'm tired of blogger, so even though the MuNu site doesn't have all the bells and whistles running yet, I'm going to start posting there exclusively, and the archives etc. will move soon enough. Don't worry about updating permalinks, because this blog is not going away, it'll just be dormant.

So update your blogrolls and RSS readers.

The new site is:
http://caltechgirlsworld.mu.nu

and the site feed is:
http://caltechgirlsworld.mu.nu/index.rdf

great cosmic convergence...

Today started out pretty ok. I got on the bus, I went to work, I finished another chapter of my thesis (Yay!). I even remembered to drop by the student health pharmacy and pick up my prescription. Then it all just went downhill. I had scheduled some time to do some imaging using my co-mentor's confocal microscope (holy crap even it has a wiki! Check it out, the idea is really cool!), but there were 2 problems.
1. It's sort of not working (it works, but it's buggy right now)
2. He wanted to see my sections and he was at a symposium.

Read the rest... »

So I decided to come home. Took the shuttle up to Franklin St. (still standing, BTW) to wait for the main bus under the big shelter, since it was getting darker by the second. Turns out that there's only 1 bus that runs my route during the day, and it was running an hour late because it was in an accident.

Swell.

So some of us took another bus that takes you about .75 miles from the house, but a nice flat walk. And all was well until we got off at the corner...

And the skies opened up.

Thank God I had my umbrella, but I was wearing my too long jeans all cuffed up and my tevas, so I was soaked from the knees down. Not to mention what surely will be a fabulous case of heat rash from where the wet jeans were rubbing on my legs as I squelched along and the blisters from where the water suctioned my feet to the shoes. We get about 3/4 of the way home and I hear the bus, so I hauled ass up to the next stop. By now it was pouring like some kind of freaking monsoon. And this bus stop has no shelter or sidewalk. Ahh, glorious mud. Anyway, I get on the bus and rode to the house and before I could get out of my wet jeans, it had stopped raining. Completely.

TGIF, huh?

Now it's raining again. I don't feel quite so bad....

This is why I will never be more than a large mammal

If you haven't been there yet, you really should drop by Captain's Quarters and bear witness to Ed Morrisey's own version of the South Park movie, starring in the real life role of Kyle's mom (but he's no b*tch!).

Ed is single-handedly taking on the nation of Canada and their idiotic law which allows them to keep the proceedings of public hearings out of the media. How ironic it is that Canadians can't report the goings on, but an American can.

Read the rest... »

Some would object that this law is akin to our rules regarding Grand Jury testimony, but it's quite different (Grand Jury testimony always comes out anyway) This is not an in camera (private) proceeding. These are public hearings, and the Canadian legal system is barring Canadian citizens from reading about what's happening out of worries about what the media coverage would do to a potential jury pool.

Please. Didn't OJ get acquitted? I doubt the Canadian media is any more persuasive than the American media. The people of Canada have a right to know what their government is doing and what the truth is in this matter. Abridging the rights of 12 million (well, ok, more than that) so that 12 individuals will be unbiased is blatantly stupid. I'm sure that there are plenty of people in Quebec who are eligible to serve on the jury who won't have read the papers anyway. Just like here.

Holding the media hostage in a case of government corruption is even worse.

Most of you know just how much I love the MSM, but they have a right to report public proceedings. And people have a right to hear them.

I bet all those idiots who made a run for the border are asking themselves just which totalitarian state is worse, the one with the Chimp for a President, or the one that abridges their rights.....
(cross-posted to the Nu blog)

Remember those changes I promised you?

Well, this blog will be moving shortly.

The new site is up and running, and I will begin posting there as soon as I can get my files imported from here to there... So depending on how long it takes to get the archives transferred, I'll be posting here for another week or so and then yours truly will be moving (or should I say MUving) here:

http://caltechgirlsworld.mu.nu

Drop by if you like, but there's not much content and a few bugs left in the system....

It's Tartan Day!

Yippee!

My lame post today is going to be a link to a post I found very enlightening about my heritage. I'm told that my Grandfather's people were Scots-Irish from the hills of Tennessee. While I don't know much about them, I found these posts about the Scots-Irish in NC and neighboring states fascinating, and I hope you'll like them too.

Unfortunately, I can't find a family tartan although, according to this website the name dates back to the 1300s... Not a surprise, since most people think the family name is English....

Jet Lag is hardly an excuse

seeing as how we drove to Savannah and back...

But I'm exhausted, and a little slow catching up. Sorry about that.

Here's what I need to say:

1. If you haven't already go here and leave your best wishes for the Lovely Mrs. SMASH, who did some serious damage to her back after a fall from a horse.

That does it, between Da Goddess's back injury and Mrs. SMASH's, I'm not moving to San Diego. EVER.

2. Jim Hake of Spirit of America is in Lebanon, assessing the situation and trying to determine what SoA can do to help. For updates, or to contribute to their efforts go here. Jim's updates with pictures can be found here.

An interesting tidbit....

According to UNC Chancellor James Moeser, the UNC team is not only the National Champs, but they also have the highest average GPA in Division I men's basketball...

You gotta love these guys....

God Loves the Tar Heels

Once upon a time in the Kingdom of Heaven, God was missing for six days.

Eventually, Michael the archangel found him, resting on the seventh day. He inquired of God, "Where have you been?"

God sighed a deep sigh of satisfaction and proudly pointed downwards through the clouds, "Look, Michael, see what I've made..."

Archangel Michael looked puzzled and said, "What is it?"

"It's a planet," replied God, "and I've put LIFE on it. I'm going to call it Earth and it's going to be a great place of balance."

"Balance?" inquired Michael, still confused.

God explained, pointing to different parts of Earth, "For example, Northern Europe will be a hard place of great opportunity and wealth while Southern Europe is going to be lovely but poor; the Middle East over there will be a hot spot." God continued, pointing to different countries. "This one will be extremely hot and arid while this one will be very cold and covered in ice."

The Archangel, impressed by God's work, then pointed to a place. "What's that?"

"Ah," said God. "Chapel Hill, the most glorious place on Earth. I made it from a little corner of Heaven. There are beautiful women and an exquisite campus that is called UNC. The people from Chapel Hill are going to be modest, intelligent and humorous and they're going to be found traveling the world. They'll be extremely sociable, hard-working and high-achieving, and they will be known throughout the world as diplomats and carriers of peace. I'm also going to give them a great and wondrous basketball team swathed in cloth made from the Sky itself. The team will be admired and feared by all who come across them."

Michael gasped in wonder and admiration but then proclaimed, "What about balance, God? You said there would be BALANCE!"

God replied, "Fear not, Michael. Wait until you see the loud-mouth bastards I'm putting next to them in Durham."

Here's your 2005 NCAA Division I National Men's Basketball Champions:

Nothin' could be FINER

Ok, we're back. Finally. And I stopped being sick. Finally.

Chapel Hill is still standing despite this:



and morons like this (this dude actually looks a lot like my friend's ex-boyfriend):

photos by Raleigh News&Observer

According to the local news, 12,000 watched the game in the Dean Dome and 45,000 crowded Franklin St. afterward. 9,000 are in the Dean Dome right now, awaiting the team's return...

32 bonfires, but no damage to businesses or the streets. That's celebrating with class!

We watched from our hotel room in Savannah, and it's a good thing the only neighbors we had were on the far side of the TV, especially towards the middle of the second half!

Jackie, Jawad, Melvin: 8-20 to National Champs. Congrats to our Seniors!

National Champs pictures:
Jackie Manuel wins his last game as a Tar Heel:



And Roy celebrates his first National Championship:





Senior Jawad Williams (Hawkman!) celebrates a great Tournament!



Juniors Ray Felton and Rashad McCants:



And last but not least, the Birthday Boy (Happy 21st Birthday, Sean!)



Congrats to the whole team!

Oh yeah, and one more thing

GO HEELS!!!!

After an amazing 2nd half turnaround, UNC beat MSU 87-71!

I'm told that Chapel Hill went crazy, although only about half the people who were expected to turn out on Franklin St. after the game actually did so..... I guess they listened to Roy, huh?

Speaking of Roy...

Not only is he a great coach, but what an entertainer!

We need a Montage:


Speaking of entertainers, Sean May still can't dance:

But he can celebrate...

... and so can Roy!






















But here's the best picture of the night, tells the whole story.....



Oh yeah, and in case you people in Illinois were confused, let Roy tell you where the Tar Heels are ranked:

all photos AP for ESPN

Well, we're here...

Arrived in Savannah last night for the ICOSR meeting, and I'll be here until Tuesday. Free Wi-Fi in the business center of the hotel, so limited and interrupted blogging until we return to the glory of our own wireless network!

Yesterday was probably the single windiest day of my life, and I've been through at least 4 hurricanes. With the hurricanes, the winds tend to peak and then decrease, and rarely last more than a few hours. Yesterday's entire trip was conducted under wind gusts around 45 mph. The signs in the middle of the freeway were wobbling in South Carolina.

The hotel is right on the river, and we have a river view, so it's been fun watching the ships go by and seeing the whitecaps. Since the convention center is on the other side, we've been riding the ferries across.

I should be at the conference right now, but I got some kind of stomach thing from the coffee at the meeting and I came back to the hotel... Going to get some more rest, and then maybe go out and see the sights. In fact, I felt better on the damn ferry than I do right now. Ugh.

We're going to try and meet up with this guy later (assuming I feel better).

Pictures after I get them dumped onto the hard drive.

Memories of John Paul II

As we wait to hear that the Pope has left this world for the next, I'm reminded of so many things. Technically I've been alive through the tenure of three Popes, but given the fact that I'm 28, this Pope has always been the face of the Catholic church for me.

I was not quite 2 years old when John Paul I died, but I remember the hoopla surrounding his death just a month after his election, and then the election of John Paul II. I remember when he was shot, and I remember when he met the man who shot him and forgave him. I remember the introduction of the "PopeMobile" and how funny we thought it was.

But my favorite of John Paul II's actions as Pope has always been his apology to Galileo on behalf of a church that took 400 years to admit that it was wrong.

After today I won't get to use my favorite joke rhetorical question anymore: Is the Pope Polish?

As we posted yesterday

Pope John Paul II is fading fast. If you pray, say one for a great and faithful servant of God.
The story is here.

His heart and kidneys are failing, and it has been reported that the Pope has lost consciousness, probably from complications of the infection he has been suffering through.

The Cardinals have been called, and the Pope is not expected to last through the night (it's night in Rome now).

Update: Reuters, FoxNews, and CNN are now reporting that the Pope has died. Rest in Peace, Father Karol. Or perhaps not. Seems that was a premature announcement.

Here's one of my favorite pictures of John Paul II, with a marsupial friend. The photo was taken on his trip to Australia in 1986:

From sydney.catholic.org.au

How Cool am I?

I got email from Roy Williams! Of course, 12,000 other UNC students and staff did too...

---

From	athletics@unc.edu
Date	Friday, April 1, 2005 1:06 pm
Subject	FORMAL NOTICE: from Coach Roy Williams

Dear Carolina students:

Thank you for your continued support throughout this basketball season. Both our men’s and women’s teams were undefeated at home this year, and you played an exciting part in that success. We appreciate the passion you display for Carolina Basketball.

We wish all of you could attend the Final Four, but I’m pretty sure we will be able to hear you all the way out in St. Louis.

Please remember to cheer and celebrate responsibly. Our players know their actions on and off the court represent the University, and your actions also will be conveyed to a worldwide audience. Regardless of the outcome of the games, let’s show everyone what Carolina class is all about!

Thanks,

Roy Williams

---

Translation for the undergrads:
Thanks for supporting the teams this year, but when we win, don't burn down Franklin St., ok?
Thanks.
Love,
Roy

No Joke...

This week's recipe "Karn Evil" is up at Texas Best Grok.

Thanks to John for hosting! Go check it out!!!

New State Mottos

Stolen from a Tall Dairy Beverage:

A little something to amuse and/or offend everybody ....

• Alabama - Hell Yes, We Have Electricity.
• Alaska - 11,623 Eskimos Can't Be Wrong!
• Arizona - But It's A Dry Heat.
• Arkansas - Literacy Ain't Everything.
• California - By 30, Our Women Have More Plastic Than Your Honda.
• Colorado - If You Don't Ski, Don't Bother.
• Connecticut - Like Massachusetts, Only The Kennedy's Don't Own It Yet.
• Delaware - We Really Do Like The Chemicals In Our Water.
• Florida - Ask Us About Our Grandkids.
• Georgia - We Put The Fun In Fundamentalist Extremism.
• Hawaii - Haka Tiki Mou Sha'ami Leeki Toru (Death To Mainland Scum, Leave Your Money)
• Idaho - More Than Just Potatoes... Well, Okay, We're Not, But The Potatoes Sure Are Real Good
• Illinois - Please, Don't Pronounce the "S"
• Indiana - 2 Billion Years Tidal Wave Free
• Iowa - We Do Amazing Things With Corn
• Kansas - First Of The Rectangle States
• Kentucky - Five Million People; Fifteen Last Names
• Louisiana - We're Not ALL Drunk Cajun Wackos, But That's Our Tourism Campaign.
• Maine - We're Really Cold, But We Have Cheap Lobster
• Maryland - If You Can Dream It, We Can Tax It
• Massachusetts - Our Taxes Are Lower Than Sweden's
• Michigan - First Line Of Defense From The Canadians
• Minnesota - 10,000 Lakes...And 10,000,000,000,000 Mosquitoes
• Mississippi - Come And Feel Better About Your Own State
• Missouri - Your Federal Flood Relief Tax Dollars At Work
• Montana - Land Of The Big Sky, The Unabomber, Right-wing Crazies,and Very Little Else.
• Nebraska - Ask About Our State Motto Contest
• Nevada - Hookers and Poker!
• New Hampshire - Go Away And Leave Us Alone
• New Jersey - You Want A ##$%##! Motto? I Got Yer ##$%##! Motto Right here!
• New Mexico - Lizards Make Excellent Pets
• New York - You Have The Right To Remain Silent, You Have The Right To An Attorney...
• North Carolina - Tobacco Is A Vegetable
• North Dakota - We Really Are One Of The 50 States!
• Ohio - At Least We're Not Michigan
• Oklahoma - Like The Play, But No Singing
• Oregon - Spotted Owl...It's What's For Dinner
• Pennsylvania - Cook With Coal
• Rhode Island - We're Not REALLY An Island
• South Carolina - Remember The Civil War? Well, We Didn't Actually Surrender Yet
• South Dakota - Closer Than North Dakota
• Tennessee - The Edyoocashun State
• Texas - Se Hablo Ingles
• Utah - Our Jesus Is Better Than Your Jesus
• Vermont - Ay, Yep
• Virginia - Who Says Government Stiffs And Slackjaw Yokels Don't Mix?
• Washington - We have more rain than you do
• West Virginia - One Big Happy Family...Really!
• Wisconsin - Come Cut The Cheese!
• Wyoming - Where Men Are Men... And The Sheep Are Scared

Heh.

I'm not a Catholic, but

Pope John Paul II has been a big influence on my life. His example of Christian charity and selfless service is one all Christians can follow. Now it appears that the former Karol Józef Wojtyła is at the end of his days. CNN is reporting that the Pope was given last rites today.

"VATICAN CITY (CNN) -- Pope John Paul II was given the last rites of the Roman Catholic Church late Thursday night as his health deteriorated, a Vatican source has told CNN.

The pope is suffering from a high fever caused by a urinary tract infection, the Vatican confirmed Thursday -- one day after revealing he had been put on a nasal feeding tube for nutrition

The pope is taking antibiotics, a Vatican spokesman said."

The NRO has a lovely tribute to the Pope and the meaning of his last days of service here.

(h/t Michelle Malkin for the NRO link)

Update: The Pope appears to be rallying yet again. Yay for good antibiotics!

The winds are changing....

Winter gives way to Spring, the NCAA tournament winds up another UNC basketball season, I'm going out of town (Sat- Tue for a conference, don't worry, there should be blogging opportunities since the hotel has wi-fi), I may get a job offer soon (fingers crossed), and changes may be coming to this blog....

Details to come, perhaps next week......

SOOO wrong

From the referral follies:

This blog is #7 on Yahoo! Search for "misformed testicles"

And I don't even have any....

Wednesday House Blogging

Last night's House pushed all my buttons. You want to know what I look like? Did you see the ep. last night? Well, that little girl was me at 10. All the things they said to her, all the things she went through, all the things her mom said to try to make her feel better? That was me too. I had her ass beat though, I was smarter than all of the little turds who made fun of me, so I could at least take comfort in the fact that they would hate me anyway.

Deb already made this comment over at Ith's, but it's worth repeating. The girl's mom was right, diet and exercise isn't the answer to everyone's weight problem. And BTW not everyone who's fat is out of shape. Until shortly before I was diagnosed with RA I could do just about anything I wanted. I played golf, tennis, volleyball, and softball. I'm no marathon runner, but I know people (not skinny) who've trained for and run marathons and not lost an ounce.

Chase was already top of my list to get fired. All the foul things he said last night just pushed him even farther above Foreman. In fact the ONLY thing I like about Chase besides his accent is the fact that Patrick Bauchau plays his dad (and played Sydney in The Pretender). Good for Cameron for standing up for herself last night, for her job, her feelings for House, and her integrity. And didn't we all know that Chase was the little birdy singing to the boss? He was always far too much of an asskisser for my taste. Duh.

Speaking of bosses, someone needs to boot Vogler. I vote that House infects him with some mysterious disease and then must save his life. That's the only way that odious SOB will figure out that he needs to keep House's merry little band intact.... Arrggh. He's so slimy, especially for a guy with no hair. Ewwwww.

April Fools Day

Not just for kids.

I love to pull silly jokes on April Fools Day, and one of my favorite things to do is to serve food that isn't always what it seems. I've seen other people do this for a dinner party or kids party, but it's fun any time of year. Here's one of my favorite "not dessert" recipes:

Meatloaf Cake

You'll need:
* Two round cake pans
* Your favorite meatloaf recipe (see below)
* Mashed potatoes
* Ketchup (or whatever condiments you like with meatloaf: mustard, BBQ sauce, etc)
* Cherry tomatoes

Prepare your favorite meatloaf recipe as you normally would, but, before baking, divide the mixture into the two round cake pans and pat it flat. Bake as usual, but shorten the cooking time (these thinner meatloaves won't take nearly as long to cook). While the meatloaf is in the oven, make a batch of mashed potatoes, adding a little extra milk to them and whipping them with an electric beater until they are fluffy and spreadable. When the meatloaves are done, invert one of them onto a round plate. Cover the meat with a thick, even layer of mashed potatoes. Place the other meatloaf on top of the potato layer, and finish frosting the "cake" with the remaining potatoes. Garnish with halved cherry tomatoes to look like cherries. Just before serving, decorate the top of your crazy cake creation with ketchup. You can use it to write a personalized message to the hungry gang at the dinner table, or just a simple "Happy April Fool's Day!"

Here's a simple meatloaf recipe that gets rave reviews at my house:

Simply Delicious Meatloaf

1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1/2 cup Italian seasoned dry bread crumbs
1 egg, beaten
1 can (10 3/4 oz.) Campbell's Golden Mushroom (Cream of Mushroom works too) soup
1/4 cup water

1. Mix beef, breadcrumbs, and egg thoroughly. In medium baking pan shape firmly into 8 x 4 inch loaf pan.

2. Bake at 350 deg. F for 30 minutes. Spread 1/2 can soup over top of meatloaf. Bake 30 minutes more or until meat is no longer pink (160 deg. F)

3. In a small saucepan mix 2 tbsp drippings and remaining soup and water. Heat through. Pour over meatloaf. (omit this step for meatloaf cake)
Serves 6
Get more April Fools food ideas here.

This week's Carnival of the Recipes is hosted by John of Texas Best Grok, so get those recipes in to recipe-dot-carnival-at-gmail-dot-com by 12 AM EST Thursday night!

Blogger Sucks

I apologize for any inconvenience Blogger may have caused you over the last 12-18 hours. Comments and Permalinks appear to be working again.

Arrrgh. Must change soon. After I get back from my conference I'll have to figure something out.

The Bill of No Rights

I loved it, and I hope you will too:

The following has apparently been attributed to State

Representative Mitchell Kaye from GA.

"We, the sensible people of the United States, in an
attempt to help everyone get along, restore some
semblance of justice, avoid any more riots, keep our
nation safe, promote positive behavior, and secure the
blessings of debt free liberty to ourselves and our
great-great-great-grandchildren, hereby try one more
time to ordain and establish some common sense
guidelines for the terminally whiny, guilt ridden,
delusional, and other liberal, bed-wetters.

We hold these truths to be self-evident: that a whole
lot of people are confused by the Bill of Rights and
are so dim that they require a Bill of No Rights".

ARTICLE I: You do not have the right to a new car, big
screen TV or any other form of wealth. More power to
you if you can legally acquire them, but no one is
guaranteeing anything.

ARTICLE II: You do not have the right to never be
offended. This country is based on freedom, and that
means freedom for everyone -- not just you!
You may leave the room, turn the channel, express a
different opinion, etc., but the world is full of
idiots, and probably always will be.

ARTICLE III: You do not have the right to be free from
harm. If you stick a screwdriver in your eye, learn to
be more careful, do not expect the tool manufacturer
to make you and all your relatives independently wealthy.

ARTICLE IV: You do not have the right to free food and
housing. Americans are the most charitable people to
be found, and will gladly help anyone in need, but we are
quickly growing weary of subsidizing generation after
generation of professional couch potatoes who achieve
nothing more than the creation of another generation
of professional couch potatoes.

ARTICLE V: You do not have the right to free health
care. That would be nice, but from the looks of public
housing, we're just not interested in public health care.

ARTICLE VI: You do not have the right to physically
harm other people. If you kidnap, rape, intentionally
maim, or kill someone, don't be surprised if the rest
of us want to see you fry in the electric chair.

ARTICLE VII: You do not have the right to the
possessions of others. If you rob, cheat or coerce
away the goods or services of other citizens, don't be
surprised if the rest of us get together and lock you
away in a place where you still won't have the right
to a big screen color TV or a life of leisure.

ARTICLE VIII: You don't have the right to demand that
our children risk their lives in foreign wars to
soothe your aching conscience. We hate oppressive
governments and won't lift a finger to stop you from
going to fight if you'd like. However, we do not enjoy
parenting the entire world and do not want to spend so
much of our time battling each and every little tyrant
with a military uniform and a funny hat.

ARTICLE IX: You don't have the right to a job. All of
us sure want you to have a job, and will gladly help
you along in hard times, but we expect you to take
advantage of the opportunities of education and
vocational training laid before you to make yourself useful.

ARTICLE X: You do not have the right to happiness.
Being an American means that you have the right to
PURSUE happiness -- which by the way, is a lot easier
if you are unencumbered by an overabundance of idiotic
laws created by those of you who were confused by the
Bill of Rights,"

ARTICLE XI: This is an English speaking country.
We don't care where you are from, English is our language.
Learn it or go back, for good, to the hole you came from.

Think about it.

(h/t JT at the Beagle Express)

Some things just make you happy...

Like finding that you've already got the data you had set aside the day to get so you can go out to lunch with your Darling Husband.....

Like finding a favorite blogger is back....

Like watching your team get to the Final Four.....



(AP Photo/David Duprey from ESPN.com)


It's been a pretty good day!
(Note-- this was last night. Blogger ate my happy post until this morning! I hate Blogger.)

That Mockingbird just wouldn't sing

So FrankJ bought SarahK a diamond ring!

Go here and here to congratulate blogdom's newest betrotheds!