Hell Night

Last night, I attended the legendary Hell Night at the East Coast Grill in Inman Square. Basically, fans of spicy food are treated/tortured to some of the hottest cuisines imaginable. It's hard to get a reservation, but my roommate Ern somehow snagged us a table for six. The picture on the left is of us in happier times, at the bar, before the peppery products entered our systems. We started off with a flaming drink (see blurry picture) and spicy ribs, taquitos, and buffalo shrimp for appetizers. The taquitos certainly had a little kick to them, but OH MY GOD THE SHRIMP. They burned!
For an entree, I ordered the Jamaican grilled skirt steak. It was hot, damn hot. I tried my best to scrape off the peppery sauces, to no avail. I sought comfort in the side items of fried yuca and jicama salad, but alas, they were tossed in the devil's own seasoning.
The only thing that saved my stomach lining were the sides of cornbread (the waiter offered jalapeno cornbread, but we wisely chose the plain) and fried plantains. No one dared to test the hottest item on the menu, the Hell Pasta. I had been considering it until I read a review on the Hot Sauce Blog that describes people vomiting on the table after eating it. Um, I think I'll pass. The others suffered through their main courses as well, and naturally, I was all "You look like you're going to barf! Quick, let me take a picture for my blog." I don't look so bad in mine, until you realize that my face is the same color as my fuchsia sweater, and my lips are not normally that, um, plump. Capsaicin...even better than collagen injections!



The first casualty of the evening was Pat, who had the salmon, which we all confirmed was the hottest item at our table. I thought I had recovered, until, at 4:30AM, something terrible happened in my lower intestines. That's all I'm going to say about that. Overall, it was a fun night and a definite culinary adventure, but I would not recommend it for the faint of taste bud. I love spicy food, but this was almost too much for me. (Almost? Who am I kidding? I almost needed to buy a pair of these.)

Links

Despite the strike, the Annual Web-Goddess Oscar Contest is up and running. I actually think last year was a slow year for movies...I thought No Country For Old Men was awesome, but I haven't seen any of the other nominees for Best Picture.

Here's a science blog run by the graduate students from Mrs. V's lab at the CDC. I loved their list of You Know You're A Biologist When...

Weekend Report

Friday- Went out for drinks after work at Kingston Station after work, where they have absinthe on the menu. I was tempted to order it, but chickened out at the last second. Maybe next time. Afterwards, I met up with friends at The Liberty Hotel, a building that once had a far more infamous name, the Charles Street Jail. The prison was closed in 1990 and the property bought by Massachusetts General Hospital. Despite a luxorious renovation, it still retains the large dome and bars on some of the windows. There are two venues inside- Alibi and Clink. We went to Clink, the less clubby of the two, but it was still way more pretentious than the types of places I normally frequent. When I arrived at 9:30, a line had already formed out front. I was suprised by the wide age range of the crowd- early twenties to sixties- which orovided for high comedy when a gray-haired dame clearly in her fifties sent a drink over to a 23 year old guy in our group. I'm not kidding. That's beyond cougar. Something about the set-up, with the domed roof, relatively bright lighting, and spaciousness reminded me of the cocktail hour at a wedding reception. We had a lot of fun people-watching, but eventually relocated to the more pedestrian Hill Tavern, where I proceeded to drink three beers during what I have decided to start calling the witching hour...the hour leading up to last call.

Saturday- Woke up feeling groggy, ran a bunch of errands, went to the lab, then played soccer. Spent the majority of the day attempting to purchase Red Sox tickets, in vain.

Sunday- Went out to breakfast with friends at Mel's Commonwealth Cafe in Wayland. My love for Portuguese muffins has been rekindled- now, I have to figure out where I can buy them. Spent most of the day running errands and doing lab work, then went to trivia night at the 21st Amendment. It was fun but painful - we ended up in a tie for first place, and the tiebreaker was a question on....Christian musicals. Um, so we finished second.

In other news, I learned from Caity that New Kids on the Block are going on tour. Wow.

And, lastly, I'll end with a link to the funniest thing I saw last week. You owe it to yourself to look.

Welcome to the Boston Red Sox Virtual Waiting Room!

PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT PATRONS ARE SELECTED FROM THIS VIRTUAL WAITING ROOM ON A RANDOM BASIS FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO PURCHASE TICKETS.

We are experiencing very high demand. As a result, all requests for seats cannot be served simultaneously. Please be patient, and your browser will be refreshed in:


This sucks.

Let the Book Club begin!

Today is the start of the inaugural Divine Comedy of Errors book club. Here's how it's going to work: The book is Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie. I picked up a copy last night, and it's longer than I expected, but it's divided into three sections, which makes it easy to split it up for Book Club purposes.

You have until next Friday to read the first section, Book One. In my edition, that's pages 1 - 133. Totally doable, right? Next Friday, I'll put up a post with my thoughts and commentary, and everyone can discuss in the comments section.

If you are participating, leave a comment here, just because I'm curious to see who decided to give DCOE Book Club a try.

Happy reading!

Netflix

I watched One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest last night. I can't believe Jack Nicholson is now in movies like The Bucket List. Unless maybe he wrote "star in a cheesy buddy film with Morgan Freeman" on the list of things he wanted to do before he died.

Wow.

There are two possible explanations for this article about Mitt Romney on the campaign trail:

A. It actually happened.

B. The Onion's sinister plot to seize control of the New York Times has finally succeeded.

List #37...Ski Resorts Whose Names Sound Dirty

1. Sugarbush
2. Sugarloaf
3. Titcomb
4. Crotched Mountain
5. Smugglers' Notch
6. Mad River Glen
7. Butternut
8. Big Squaw
9. Cockaigne
10. Peek'n Peak

You knew there was a reason why you read this blog.

Weekend Report

Friday- Watched the Celtics defeat Philadelphia with my friend Jen. The game was pretty close until the C's blew it open during the 4th quarter. All the tickets I have are for weeknight games, so it was fun to go on a Friday- the crowd was extra wild (read: drunk).

Saturday- It was Lisa's 30th birthday, so a group of us went out for dinner at Ole to celebrate. The restaurant itself is very lively, and the margaritas and guacamole were delicious. I had the enchiladas, and they were okay, but my quest for a great Mexican restaurant in Boston will continue. I liked Ole, but after reading so many rave reviews, maybe my expectations were set too high. I absolutely love Mexican food, but unfortunately, it seems the one cuisine that Boston does not do well. I prefer the Aztec in downtown Framingham or Acapulco's in one of its suburban locations to anything I've had in downtown Boston. If you have a suggestion for good Mexican in/near the city, let me know!
So, back to Lisa's birthday...I am currently obsessed with the "retro" setting on my new camera and took a series of portraits.

Birthday girl:





Birthday entourage:









We finished the night at the Playwright, and I had a great time catching up with friends and welcoming Lisa to Club 30.

Sunday- Are you ready for some football? (I miss the old NFL intro.) Well, I was. We drank, we ate, we watched the first game, we drank more, we ate more, we watched the second game, we stayed up until 2AM playing trivial pursuit. Here is some commentary about the games:

-Go PATS! The game wasn't their best or most exciting performance, but they got the job done. Kudos to Maroney for a great running game. I don't even want to say anything about the Superbowl for fear of jinxing them, but I'm looking forward to it.

-Defensive Coordinator Dean Pees has the funniest name in professional sports.

-I really wish the Packers had won, just for the fact that Brady vs. Favre is basically any female NFL fan's dream match-up. Now we're going to be stuck looking at Eli, Peyton, and Archie for the next two weeks.

-Eli has picked up his brother's most annoying habit. Whenever a receiver fails to make a catch (even if it's a poorly thrown pass), he acts like a total baby- glares, rolls his eyes, flings his hands up in frustration. Way to support your teammates, idiot. Would Tom ever act like that towards Randy? No, he'd be like "That's okay, Randy, I'll just throw you a touchdown pass on the next play. Want to grab some food after the game or something?"

- You'd think someone would have made Giants coach Tom Coughlin put on a ski mask or something. Did you SEE how red his face was? "I'm glad my team is going to the Superbowl, but I'm not going to be able to coach the game because my fucking face froze off and fell on the ground somewhere outside of Lambeau Field."

My new emo album...

This meme (I still hate that word) is popping up all over the place, but I first saw it on Kristy's site.

Create your own emo band album:

1. Generate your band name using this Random Wikipedia Link.

2. The album title is the last four words from the last quote on this page.

3. The cover art is the third photo in this set.

Fun!

Note, if want to set this up on your own blog, the Wiki random link is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
(for the other two, you can just copy and paste the http.)

Things I'm Into Lately

Jenny started this list last Friday, and Caity gave hers, so a week later, here is my list of things I've been digging lately.

1. DCOE book club! We have a winner, everybody. The first selection will be Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie. If you want to participate, you have until next Friday to acquire a copy.

2. Poland Spring Sparkling Water (Lime Flavor). I haven't been drinking much soda lately, and sometimes plain water gets a little boring. I recently discovered citrus flavored sparkling water, and I love it! However, I'm trying to cut down on my use of plastics, so I've been only buying it as a rare treat.

3. Boston sports. For obvious reasons.

4. My new hairdryer. I bought a new Conair on sale at Marshalls, and it's so much better than my wussy old one. So maybe now my hair won't look like shit all the time.
Old way of blowdrying hair: bbbbbrrrrrrzzzzztttt..... God, this is taking forever.. ....bbbbbrrrrrrzzzzztttt.. .my hair's still soaked... .(10 minutes later)bbbbbrrrrrrzzzzztttt... ..fuck it, I give up.
New way of blowdrying hair: WHRRRRRRRRRRRRZZZZZZZZZRRRT. Done!

5. Science! Graduate school has its ups and downs, and a lot more downs than ups: failed experiments, confusing data, disastrous thesis committee meetings. I've had a pretty good week- got some information that should help me with a new experiment that I've been struggling with lately, and I attended a couple of interesting talks that made me feel enthusiastic about research again. In somewhat related news, here's a pretty good article on the Presidential candidates and evolution. The author makes a couple of good points- it matters what the candidates think because we don't live in a theocracy, and also because shouldn't we want a President who has demonstrated the ability to analyze data? The article does flub a couple of points though- the author pegs the Democratic candidates as "theistic evolutionists," which is incorrect. Believing in God and accepting evolution as fact does not mean that one believes that "God has somehow guided the process of evolution." For example, I that tides are caused by a gravitational interaction between the Earth and the moon, but I am not a theistic tidist who thinks that God guides the process.

He also failed to mention the biggest reason why our President's belief on evolution matters: The United States has the best biomedical science in the world. The best funding, the best equipment, and most of the best people. Yes, there are some good labs in Europe, Asia, and Australia, but overall, the U.S. is where it's at. On my floor at work, there are scientists from Japan, China, Brazil, India, Colombia, Georgia (as in former USSR Georgia), and Canada, and that's just scratching the surface. Do you know why they're all here? Because the best science happens in the United States, and everybody knows it. Can you imagine electing a leader whose policies will impact the NIH budget (the major source of funding for research on cancer, diabetes, and infectious disease) who openly rejects the fundamental tenet of biology? I hope not.

Rachael Ray dumped by DD

Although I know several people who openly despise her, Rachael Ray never particularily bothered me. I did think she was an odd choice for a Dunkin' Donuts spokesperson, though.

Looks like the affair has ended bitterly...Rachael Ray's image has been wiped off the face of DDs, reportedly for rudely demanding Starbucks while on the set of a DD commercial:

So a friend of mine was on set last week as Rachael Ray filmed her latest Dunkin' Donuts commercial. According to her, Rachael stormed onto the set and snapped at everyone. Not news, I know, everyone knows she's actually a gigantic asshole. BUT! I am also told she took one sip of her Dunkin' Donuts coffee, yelled “What is this shit? Get me MY coffee,” and would not continue until she was given “her” coffee — i.e., Starbucks.

As for a replacement, I nominate Kevin Garnett. Patriots and Sox players do tons of local endorsements...(anyone seen Welker's ridiculous furniture commercial?) why not get the Green in on the action?

via Universal Hub

For thrifty readers

A couple of my friends recommended paperbackswap.com as a source for free books. Basically, you join, you register the books you currently have and are willing to give away, and you accumulate points (either by mailing books out or listing 10 that you are willing to mail out). You have to pay for postage for the books you mail out, but you receive books for free! Once you have points to spend, you can search for books you want and either order them (if they are currently available) or put them on your wish list. Both of my friends who use the site swear by it.
If you do sign up, please use me as a reference (hooray for points!). You can either use my account name - eileend- or my email address - emd3737 at hotmail.

Lastly, remember to vote on your choice for the upcoming DCOE book club!

Good thing Gisele is so tall

The New York Post planted a Jessica Simpson look-alike in the stands at Giants Stadium in an attempt to distract Dallas quarterback Tony Romo. Heh. Don't get any ideas, San Diego.

And now for something totally different:
The Worst Science Stories of 2007: STATS Dubious Data Awards

(For the record, though, I would support a ban on plastic water bottles, but not for "toxic chemicals," just because they create so much trash. Remember the floating continent of trash?) I think my training as an empirical scientist has led me to view stories like the ones mentioned in the article with a large dose of skepticism. Show me the experimental data with controls, or I probably won't believe you.
(link courtesy of Tom)

The Joy of Text

It took me a while to warm up to text messaging. These fingers? Not so nimble. I am a slow and typo-prone texter. And you know how sometimes your phone predicts ridiculous words once you type in a couple of letters? It makes me laugh so hard that sometimes I keep them. Like, instead of "we're at trivia." you might get a text from me that says "we're at urinary."

I still think calling is generally a faster and more polite means of communication, but texting is starting to grow on me. Except when I'm driving. I fully admit to chatting on my phone while behind the wheel, but drive-texting is too much for me to manage. And, it does piss me off when you're hanging out with someone and and he or she keeps playing with his/her phone. Pay attention to me! I'm right here! (Yes, I'm the middle child. Why do you ask?) However, texting can be quite handy, like when you're meeting someone at a noisy bar, or you're riding the bus and don't want to be all Little Miss Cell Phone Talker. Or, you and your friends are all watching the same sporting event (in different locations) and can text amusing commentary back and forth.

So, last time I went to Verizon to renew my cell phone contract, I asked about a new plan that would include texting. The salesman was in his early 20s and probably hangs out at The Place and other post-fratty type venues. He described one that would allow me to send and receive 250 messages and photos a month.

Me: "250? Are you sure that's enough?"
Salesman: "Hold on, let me look up your account."
(pause)
Salesman, with obvious disdain: "Yeah, there's no way you'll ever even get close to that." Like I was a big loser who didn't have any friends. How dare I think I might start receiving and sending more texts?
Me: "I'M POPULAR!" Just kidding, I didn't really yell that. I hung my head in shame and agreed to the 250 plan.

Cut to this month's Verizon bill. An extra $16.72 charge for Data. Data? WTF? I inspected the bill a bit closer. Guess who got charged because she exceeded her text and picture limit? That's right. ME. So suck it, condesceding Verizon salesboy.

Weekend Report

Friday- Went out after work on Friday with a bunch of coworkers. Apparently, it's been a while since I went out after work on a Friday, because I had completely forgotten how crowded all of the bars get. We determined that it would be impossible to get a table for 12 of us, so a few of us split off and had dinner at the Pour House (So cheap! who care what it tastes like? The beers are big, too.) and then reunited with the others at Bukowski's. I tried a couple of different beers, but liked La Fin Du Monde the best.

Saturday- Headed down to Woonsocket, RI to visit my friend Colann. She had a few friends over and we watched the Pats game, then hit the town. First, we went to River Falls- who knew Woonsocket had such a cool bar? Not I. Then, we went dancing at Fifty's in Bellingham. It provided the sort of ridiculous people-watching only available at suburban nightclubs. Anyone remember Polly Esta's in Framingham? Sort of like that. I danced with an old man wearing a vest made of silver sequins.

Sunday- Took advantage of the calm before the storm to go for a long run along the beach. Ran errands and did some lab work. Watched Infernal Affairs, the 2002 film on which The Departed was based. I liked it, and it was fun to compare it with The Departed. Some of the scenes were virtually identical, although there were some minor variations in the plot, like the fact that there were three female characters instead of just one.

Divine Comedy of Errors Book Club

Since several of you expressed interest, let's give this book club a try. I've come up with a list of contenders for our first selection. You can vote for your choice in the comments.

1. Out Stealing Horses, by Per Petterson.
"As a 67-year-old, Trond moves to an isolated part of Norway to live out the rest of his life quietly. After meeting his closest neighbor, he is forced to confront things from his youth that he'd spent years avoiding."

2. Geek Love, by Katherine Dunn.
"The story of the Binewskis, a carny family whose mater and paterfamilias set out — with the help of amphetamine, arsenic, and radioisotopes — to breed their own exhibit of human oddities."

3. Gilead, by Marilynne Robinson.
"In 1956, toward the end of Rev. John Ames's life, he begins a letter to his young son, an account of himself and his forebears." Winner of the 2005 Pulitzer Prize.

4. Midnight's Children, by Salman Rushdie.
"Born at the midnight of India's independence, Saleem is handcuffed to history by the coincidence. He is one of 1001 children born that midnight, each of them endowed with an extraordinary talent." Winner of the 1993 Booker of Bookers (best Booker prize novel of the past 25 years).

5. True History of the Kelly Gang, by Peter Carey.
"Indentured by his bootlegger mother to a famous horse thief (who was also her lover), Ned saw his first prison cell at 15 and by the age of 26 had become the most wanted man in the wild colony of Victoria, taking over whole towns and defying the law until he was finally captured and hanged." Winner of the 2001 Booker Prize.

The winner will be announced on Friday.

In the news

Are any of you sun sneezers? Does looking at a bright light make you sneeze? Scientific American explains the photic sneeze reflex, also known as Autosomal-dominant Compelling Helio-Ophthalmic Outburst syndrome (ACHOO). Just reading the article made me want to sneeze.

This news isn't as recent, but I kept forgetting to comment on it over the holidays. Score one for the papists: Tony Blair is now a Catholic.

And here's a more recent story from the UK. Imagine meeting the love of your life, marrying, and then discovering that your new spouse is actually....your twin. The twins were separated at birth and adopted by different families, unaware of each other's existence. Sounds like something straight out of Days of Our Lives.

My new favorite website: The Morning News. Their political commentary is particularly entertaining, and I look forward to reading more coverage as the primaries continue.

There Are Two Types of People in this World

There are people who look at sugar bowl lids and see a sugar bowl lids.









Then, there are people who look at sugar bowl lids, laugh, and pose with them in a very inappropriate manner. At your wedding.















Bonus Photo: "Everywhere I look, something reminds me of her."

Just for fun

If you played soccer for Brazil, what would your name be? Find out with the Brazilian Soccer Name Generator.

Mine's Eileinho, which is pretty close to an old college nickname of mine (Eileeño, because, like El Niño, I am a chaotic force. Especially when it came to the tidiness of dorm rooms.)

(via The Late Adopter)

Also, someone recently suggested that I start a DCOE book club. Would any of you be interested? We'd (meaning myself and potential members...no, I haven't started using the royal we.) decide on a book, give everyone a week or so to obtain it, then wait a couple more weeks for a big discussion post.

In the comments, let me know if you'd be game for this and if you have any books you'd like to read. If a few people express interest, I'll give it a shot.

Book Review: The Road, by Cormac McCarthy

I just finished The Road, last year’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Cormac McCarthy. Most of McCarthy’s books are modern Westerns, and although The Road is written in his typical stark style, the plot is more akin to 28 Days Later than any of McCarthy's prior writing. A father and a son walk through a burned and barren world, struggling for survival as they head south to (hopefully) a warmer climate. Despite a few flashbacks, we don’t know exactly how the world ended, only that it did. All that remains are charred cities, mummified corpses, and grey skies. No more plants, no more sunshine, no more animals. The protagonists do their best to avoid other humans, many of whom turned to murder and cannibalism once the stocks of canned goods were depleted. So, yes, the setting is as bleak and depressing as hell on Earth, but at the same time, it’s a story of hope, perseverance, and the love between a father and son. The son is an especially amazing character- born after the apocalypse, he has no knowledge of our world, no society to become a part of, and no reason to be good, but he is, much to the wonder and admiration of his father.

Although The Road wasn’t my favorite of Cormac McCarthy’s works (I’m partial to the border trilogy.), it’s a great book and deserving of the Pulitzer. Certainly not for the squeamish, though- there are some vivid descriptions of atrocities most horrible. It will draw you in and punch you in the stomach at the same time. I was approaching the end of the book while riding the bus and I had to put it away until I was in the comfort of my own home. I wasn't sure if it would be heartbreaking or happy or both, but I wanted to savor the last few pages in a place other than the #10 bus. A wise decision on my part.

Now that I'm bookless, does anyone have any recommendations?

When Bad Things Happen To Good People

Two blogs in particular, one by my former roommate Kristy (God, I think I'm the only one who still calls her that and not Kris.) and the other by another ND grad and former resident of our same dorm, Brigita, eventually inspired me to start my own blog. Brigita closed up shop after she had a baby, but has recently started blogging again.

Because she has cancer.

It's shocking, it's terrible, and incredibly unfair. I don't even know what to say, other than to admire her courage and to hope for the best.

Weekend Report

Friday- Worked late (part of my Graduate in '08! campaign), then went home and drank a bottle of wine and watched Love Actually with my roommate.

Saturday- Worked all day (see above campaign), then played soccer. My team won, in part due to my dirty tactics on defense. I used to be an aggressive but squeaky-clean player, but in a co-ed league, I must confess that I get a bit chippy when marking up on guys with a noticeable size advantage. In this game, I was covering a guy who was about 6 inches taller and 90 pounds my senior. He elbowed me in the chest at one point (totally by accident, but still, I was pissed), so I proceeded to elbow, kick at, knee, and tug on his jersey throughout the rest of the game. It's very rare for refs to call a girl vs. guy foul, so I never got called. As one of my teammates put it: "You could have pulled a 2 by 4 and whacked him over the head with it, and the ref still wouldn't have called anything." Whatever. We won. After that, I met up with some friends at Improv Asylum in the North End. I had never been to an improv show before (please forgive me, Tara D!), and I really enjoyed it. The format was similar to an episode of "Whose Line Is It, Anyways?" and so, so funny. There were mostly couples in the audience, so I would recommend it for a fun date night. After that, we went to a bar in the North End whose name I can't remember , but it was an alliteration.

Sunday- Went to a family lunch at my aunt, uncle, and cousins' house in central Mass, then met up with visiting college friend Teri and some friends at the Beehive. So fun! I love that place more every time I go. This time, we were the random people who show up at 5:30 on a Sunday (Early Bird special?), but we had a great time sampling drinks and food and chatting with the excellent waitstaff. The question of the day was "Where is the Strait of Magellan located?" and the whole bar got involved. No Googling- leave your answers in the comments.

Waxing Politic

Alright everyone, here's my take on the 2008 presidential election. Those of you who know me either in real life or through reading this blog are probably aware of the fact that I am very liberal Democrat. Since Dodd and Biden are already out, and Richardson is likely next to fall, I'll opine about the top three.

Edwards- Didn't like him when he was running for VP (when he wasn't going on about the Two Americas, his speeches were a little rah-rah-get-the-terrorists! for my tastes), don't like him now. Besides, he made his fortune as a medical malpractice attorney, and I am of the opinion that American society is far too litigious and have trouble supporting someone who made a career of suing doctors. But that's a rant for another day.

Barack Obama- He's new blood, a liberal like me, and a damn fine orator (watch Iowa victory speech here) to boot. I think he'd make a good President. However, I am not voting for him in the primary.

Divine Comedy of Errors endorses......

Hillary Clinton! She's far more conservative than I, and both her campaign tactics and association with Wal-Mart are a tad shady. And a lot of people hate her. So, why am I voting for her? I'll give you three reasons, two of which are admittedly superficial.

1. She's a woman. Seriously, America, are you planning to be the last country in the world to elect a female leader? Even Bangladesh has elected a female Prime Minister. Some people claim to oppose Clinton because they dislike the notion of a Bush Clinton Clinton Bush Bush Clinton dynasty. Well, how about mixing up the ongoing dynasty of white male Presidents...we're currently at 42 for 42. (Yes, Obama would also break that streak, so there's another plus for him.) Let's just go ahead and get it over with, so I never again have to listen to or read another inane "Is America ready for a female President?" discussion.

2. Bill. He's awesome. He's been the best President of my lifetime, and I would love to have him around the White House again. And if anyone could be the country's first First Gentleman with grace, style, and aplomb, it's Bill Clinton.

3. When it comes down to it, Congress does a majority of the lawmaking and overall running of the country. One of the most important roles of the President is to serve as a figurehead and a representative for our country in the global arena. I think Hillary would great at this. She's poised, intelligent, able to negotiate, an experienced politician, and a strong leader.

And just for fun, here's my take on the Republicans:

Mitt Romney- Can't stand him. Once a throwback fiscal conservative, he has since adopted the anti-immigrant, anti-gay stance that helped to elect Bush a second time. I don't think he has a chance of winning- he wouldn't even carry the state he governed, and he's a Mormon, which like it or not, is generally considered a weird religion. I won't, however, call him a Flip-Flopper, because I don't necessarily think it's a bad thing for a politician to change his or her mind. As Colbert poignantly said of Bush, "He believes the same thing Wednesday that he believed on Monday, no matter what happened Tuesday."

Rudy Giuliani- Sort of crazy, talks about September 11 a lot. Somehow, I doubt that Middle America would vote for a thrice divorced New Yorker.

Mike Huckabee- Sort of has the "Politicians, they're just like us!" average-guy thing going for him, just like Bush. And yes, the Chuck Norris ads were pretty funny. But he's stupid (um, the man does not believe in evolution! WTF???) and bigoted (once advocated confining HIV positive Americans in quarantine camps). The prospect of him leading our country terrifies me.

John McCain- If the Republicans were smart, they'd nominate McCain, because he'd win. He'd probably make a good President, too.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see how the next few primaries turn out. Just do me a favor, Red States. No Huckabee. Please?

How to Opt Out of Junk Mail

Do you get a lot of junk mail? Specifically, pre-screened credit card offers? I get a ton of these, like 2 or 3 a day. That adds up to a buttload of credit cards I don't want, and certainly don't need (two maxed out Mastercards are plenty, thanks.), not to mention a lot of wasted paper.

I'm trying to be a bit greener...in the environmental way, not in the jealous or Kermit the Frog sentiment of the word. Did you know that there is a continent-sized mass of plastic debris floating in the Pacific Ocean? I kid you not- read the article. Frightening. I blame Hawaii.

Anyways, the good news is that you can opt out of those credit card offers for five years. Here is the scoop from the Federal Trade Commission (Protecting America's Consumers!).

You can either call this number 1-888-5-OPTOUT (or 1-888-567-8688 if you hate translating letters into phone numbers like I do.) and use their automated system, or go online to optoutprescreen.com . I tried the telephone number first, but they wanted me to enter my social security number, and I didn't feel comfortable doing so. On the website form, providing your social security number is optional.

Now don't say you never learned anything useful by reading DCoE...

2008, and still no flying cars.

Happy New Year, everyone!

I returned today from a relaxing 5 day stay in the Berkshires. Good friends, good food, a fireplace, a lot of booze, a couple of snowstorms, and no plans whatsoever...it was great. For New Year's Eve, we hosted a little party with some friends from NYC who had rented a house up the road from ours. 2007 went out with a bang- lots of champagne and fireworks, followed up by a couple ill-conceived glasses of port consumed by yours truly. 2008 came in with a whimper: I spent the entire day in my pajamas eating nachos and watching a America's Next Top Model marathon. Whatever, don't judge.

I suppose I should pull together some sort of sweeping, insightful end-of-the-year post, but I don't have the energy at the moment, so here are some photos instead, including one creepy new year's moustache:

Wicked Awesome Studio Portraits

Despite the hilarity, I do believe that my collection of awkward photos could give some of these a run for the money.

Did you click on that link? Because it you didn't, you owe it to yourself to go back and do so. I'm not kidding.

via Metafilter

Stockbridge

I'm spending the extended New Years weekend in Stockbridge, MA with some friends. We have a fireplace, a lot of alcohol, and some fireworks.



For the record, throwing fireworks into the fireplace may be a stupid idea, but damn, it's fun.




We've been taking turns cooking dinner, and on my night, I made New Orleans Style Shrimp cooked in tinfoil packets. So easy! So delicious! Gaze upon the shrimpy goodness:

Elementary school short stories

After the San Fransisco Zoo incident, I was thinking about tigers, and I suddenly recalled a short story I read as a child entitled "The Lady or the Tiger?" It then occurred to me that during elementary school, we read the same short stories over and over. I don't know if the repetition was due to the fact that the school only owned one set of short story books, or if there just aren't that many good ones appropriate for that age group in existence. Note to aspiring writers: the elementary school audience could be yours for the taking!

The one we read every single year, without fail, was "Charles" by Shirley Jackson. A young boy entertains his mother will daily accounts of his mischievous classmate, Charles. During the parent-teacher conference, she learns (SPOILER ALERT!) that there is no Charles, and the devious juvenile is none other than her own son.

In the aforementioned "The Lady of the Tiger?," a princess watches as her lover stands in an arena in front of two doors. He has been arrested by the king, and as punishment, is forced to choose between the two doors. Behind one stands a beautiful woman ready to become his bride, and behind the second lurks a vicious tiger. The princess knows the location of each, and signals to him which one to open. He opens the door. Is it the lady or the tiger?

Lastly, there was one story that we only read a couple of times, but I found it particularly haunting. It was a science fiction tale by Ray Bradbury (strangely enough, seeing as how I love fiction and am a scientist, I don't really like most science fiction.) about a group of schoolchildren on a colony on Venus. One of the girls was a social pariah, because she had actually grown up on Earth, a fact that made the other children envious. On rainy Venus, the sun only comes out once a decade, and none of them had ever seen it. The day the sun was scheduled to come out, they locked the Earth girl in the closet as a prank, but then forgot about her and left her trapped inside while they went out to frolic in the sunshine. What cruelty!

It's kind of funny how memory works. I can never seem recall where I left my keys, but as for something I read twenty years ago, I can remember it in vivid detail.

A toast to the happy couple

Last night, I hosted a dinner party in honor of my sister and her fiance, who are in town for the holidays. I made individual pork pies from a recipe on The Pink Shoe Cookbook, and they were meaty delicious. If the sign of a successful dinner party is multiple guests spending the night at your apartment, well, I guess you can mark this one down as a success. Maybe the double champagne course wasn't such a great idea, after all.

When tigers attack

Holy crap....a tiger escaped from her cage the San Fransisco Zoo and attacked three people, killing one of them.

I think the sheer insanity of the story precludes my need to make additional commentary.

Fantasy Wrap-Up

This fall, for the first time ever, I played fantasy football. And I almost won it all. My brother-in-law Adam organized a league of his friends, and Eri's fiance and I also joined (although neither of my sisters participated). We did the Yahoo version, which is pretty easy, and I signed up for the the automated draft because I was attending a wedding while it was scheduled. I did some manipulations- moved Randy Moss way up the list because I predicted he would have a great year with the Pats (and how right I was! That move certainly paid off.) and blacklisted a couple of my least favorite players: Terrell Owens and Peyton Manning. I know, I know; it's bad policy to ban good players from your fantasy team for personal reasons, but I'm too much of a sports fan to stomach rooting for someone who is a nemesis of the actual team I follow. I ended up with a solid squad- Moss, Chad Johnson, Joseph Addai- and later traded for Brett Favre and Dallas Clark. At the end of the regular season, I finished in first place. I had a bye for the first round of playoffs, and then lost in a close semi-final to none other than Ryan, Eri's fiance.

I enjoyed my first season as a fantasy football manager and will do it again. I'm a Patriots fan, but I like watching any decent NFL game (unlike baseball, where I will watch the Red Sox, but that's pretty much it), so it was fun keeping up with my players. Although it does change a little bit how you view the game- for example, I was at an airport bar watching a Giants game and my tight end Jeremy Shockey caught a long pass on the one yard line. The Giants fans cheered, whereas I shouted something akin to "Score the touchdown, you stupid motherf*&^r!" The other patrons were alarmed. I know some people get a little too obsessed with their fantasy teams, but it was a minor time commitment for me- just keep track of injuries and performance, and set the lineups the day before the first game of the week. Another positive is that it is really fun to talk to other fantasy owners about their teams, with the negative being that the non-fantasy owners listening will become bored to the point of tears.

Due to my success at NFL fantasy football, I joined and NBA fantasy league set run by commenters on Dan Shanoff's sports blog. Since I am a huge NBA fan and actually know a lot about basketball, having played it dreadfully for many years, I thought I would do well. I used my normal method of selection, barring players I can't stand (Kobe Bryant and Jason Kidd...I have a strict No Rapists, No Wifebeaters policy.) and ended up with a talented team: LeBron, AI (I'm okay with weapons and marijuana charges), Tony Parker, Tracy McGrady. A formula for success? Not quite. In our league, points are tallied daily, so you have to adjust your lineup every day based upon who is playing that night. I just can't keep up, and end up resetting my lineup only two or three times a week. That, and the injuries can be killer. I'm currently in last place with little hope of climbing out of the hole.

I think I've learned my lesson- the NFL is made for fantasy football, but as for the NBA, I'm better off just watching the Celtics.

Holiday Weekend Report

Friday- Attended the 30th birthday party for my hometown friends Yuki and Kevin. We had a great time, although the celebration was quite different from the last they had a joint birthday party- that one was at age 21 and featured the near decapitation of Kevin due to the guillotine-like action of a minivan sliding door.

Saturday- Slept in, shopped, went for sushi at Zen in Beacon Hill, which has become one of my favorite sushi places.

Sunday- Yuki, Jonathan, and I went to the planetarium at the Museum of Science, which was more like a $9 nap for Yuki and me. Then, we headed to Framingham for dinner and visits with the high school gang. After dinner, we went out to Lucky's for Sinatra Sunday.

Christmas- Family, church, food, presents, friends, relaxation, the usual. It was great. Hope you all had a nice one, too.

Merry Christmas!

And now, a holiday YouTube sensation: Indiana University Men's A Capella does the 12 Days of Christmas. The best part is near the end, so make sure you watch the whole thing.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

Facebook: Yay or Nay?

I never really jumped on board the social media trend. I signed up for Friendster several years ago, but didn't put much time into it, and I don't think anyone uses it anymore. Myspace didn't pique my interest- primarily because of their terrible design- clashing colors, ugly fonts, business, ugh! It makes my eyes burn, and I'm not even that particular about layouts. That site must be like kryptonite for graphic designers. Plus, isn't it mostly for teenagers?

Last week, one of my coworkers showed me his Facebook page and I must admit, I was intrigued. The layout is rather serene, and people I know actually use it. A lot of them! I had fun perusing friends' pages, and I'm now considering setting up my own. However, a part of me feels that I spend enough time screwing around on the internet (namely, this blog and all the blogs I read), so do I really need another portal for procrastination? Probably not.

So, I'm asking for opinions and feedback. Do you use Facebook? Do you like it? Do annoying people from your past start contacting you, or is it a good way to reconnect with people you actually like?

Should I, or shouldn't I?

Related: a humorous essay from The Morning News about Facebook

Post Buffet

Okay, there are several things I've been meaning to post about, but haven't had the time or been willing to put forth the effort into doing so. Hence, the Post Buffet:

- My friend Mulvey's band Muy Cansado is playing tonight at the Greatest Bar. All the cool people will be there. Will you?

- New Blog! Trend Vigil, by a friend of a friend with whom I am friendly.

- Attended the Celtics first home loss last night. Bummer. On a positive note, there's an interesting article on ESPN on the Celtics and the misconception that they are a historically white team.

- I watched the news the other night and finally saw some presidential candidates' commercials. Here's how they went:

Hillary Clinton- Worked to get health insurance for members of the National Guard. Okay, Hillary has been a proponent of health care reform for a long, long time, so she has some credibility there. The National Guard aspect was obviously intended to make her seem patriotic and whatnot, but such is the norm for these sorts of ads.

John McCain- Low taxes, cut wasteful spending, a man you can trust. I'm on board with that- fiscal conservatism isn't my cup of tea, but some people really go for that. And even we liberals dislike taxes.

Barack Obama- Change, hope, a better future. Okay, sounds nice.

Mitt Romney- Against giving drivers licences to illegal immigrants. Opposed granting children of illegal immigrants in-state tuition. Promotes English only in schools. That's it? That's his message? What a fucking asshole. Playing upon people's bigotries to garner votes is a despicable (and frankly, a bit racist) tactic. Not to mention hypocritical, given the source. What's his next ad going to be about, how much he hates gay people? Fuck you, Mitt. And you were a lousy governor. (Okay, I'm fired up right now. Apologies for the language.)

- Went to dinner at India Quality in Kenmore last week for the goodbye party of my coworker Vaishali. It was SO GOOD. I really do think I could live on naan alone. Then, we all went out to karaoke and I sang a duet of "A Whole New World" (from Aladdin) with my coworker Vibhu, and it was awful. Oh, did I say awful? Because I meant AWESOME. (all caps is the new black, btw.)







- A couple of years ago, some science friends formed a Spanish-speaking club called Spanish Table (a.k.a. mesa de espanol). The original goal was to help Americans interested in learning Spanish, but it morphed into a monthly (or so) get together of scientists from Spanish speaking countries living in the Boston area, with a couple of interlopers like myself. This week, we got together at a friend's house in Chestnut Hill and had such a great time- empanadas, wine, and champagne to celebrate the holiday season. Pictures below:

What the World Eats

I have a ton of things I've been meaning to post about, but haven't had the time. This, however, is fascinating:

One week's worth of food from around the planet.

Egypt's food looks pretty good to me.

Chad, however, is heartbreaking.

Rodents of Unusual Size?

They exist! Several new species have been discovered in New Guinea, including a giant rat and a pygmy possum.

I must admit, though, the rat in the photo doesn't look that much bigger than the ones I've spotted lurking around the streets of Boston.

Weekend Report

Friday- My cousin Myles came to visit and we went out to dinner with some friends and then saw The Golden Compass. I read the books last year and had been looking forward to seeing the movie, especially after I learned that Daniel Craig would be playing a lead role. In the first episode of the trilogy, the protagonist, a young girl named Lyra (living in a parallel universe with a strong resemblance to an English university) embarks on a mission to save her kidnapped playmate, encountering gypsies, witches, and polar bears along the way. Normally, I am not a big fan of the fantasy/sci-fi genre, and the movie on its own would not have won me over- low on character development, high on cheesiness. However, having read the books, it was fun to see how certain aspects were adapted for the big screen, especially the daemons (in Lyra's world, people's souls live outside their bodies in the form of an animal companion.) The acting was solid, especially Dakota Blue Richards as Lyra, and the clothes were fantastic, Nicole Kidman's in particular. All in all, I'd recommend The Golden Compass to fans of Pullman's books (even though they might be disappointed by certain plot alterations) and fantasy/sci-fi fans, but not to the general public.
After the movie, we stopped by a party, at which Myles was about 12 years younger than most of the attendees. One of the funniest moments was when Myles was subjected to some standard adult small talk: "So, what do you do?" His answer: "Um, I go to high school."

Saturday- Slept in, went out to lunch, tried unsuccessfully to purchase a shovel in not one, nor two, but three Boston locations (sold out everywhere! although you'd think I'd already own one.). Had dinner with the grandparents and finally completed the shovel quest at the Natick Home Depot. Then, soccer, pizza, and beer.

Sunday- Lounged around indoors for most of the day, then my roommate Ern and I went to watch football at The Junction. On our way home, we took a detour to the Black Thorn and stumbled upon Customer Appreciation Night. Next thing you know, our pictures ended up on the singer's website- apparently he took a shining towards Ern because she is up at the top of the page, whereas I am down below the guy pretending to use his pint glasses as eyeglasses. Guess what I didn't do? Shovel my car out, which lead to it being encased in a prison of frozen slush come Monday morning. I used my new shovel to hack away at it (good thing I bought the sturdy metal one) for about a hour, at which point a giant man who wanted my parking space got out of his truck and finished the job.

This just in.....

MY SISTER ERI AND HER BOYFRIEND RYAN GOT ENGAGED!!!!!

Hooray!

Friday link fun

The Boston Herald sure does try, but nobody does inappropriate headlines quite like the New York Post. Yikes!

Best/Worst title for a cookbook.

Awesome t-shirt that I just bought. (thanks, MJ!)

Restaurant Review: The Red Fez

Every December, the boss takes the lab out to dinner. Somehow, I always end up choosing the restaurant. It requires some thought: good food, good drinks, expensive enough so that it's a treat for the grad students, but not so expensive that the boss notices and gets annoyed, takes reservations, seating for bigger groups, vegetarian options, somewhere we haven't been before. In the past, we've done Tasca, The Black Rose, and Cottonwood Cafe.

This year, we stayed local and went to The Red Fez in the South End. It's listed as Middle Eastern/Mediterranean cuisine, but I believe that the owners are Turkish. When I called to make the reservation and said my name, the man on the phone got all excited and asked me if I was Turkish. Apparently something that sounds like Eileen is a Turkish name.

First off, the drinks. Amazing, delicious cocktails. They make a mean mojito, but I prefer the Brazilian version, the Caipirinha. They make it the right way, with a Brazilian rum called cachaça. I've been to places that try pawn off a vodka-based drink as a Caipirinha, and it angers me.

Now, onto the food, and, you guys, it was SO GOOD!

We started off with the Hot Mezzes combination appetizer platter, which made me think of Jenny and her use of the phrase "hot mess."

For an entree, I had an eggplant and tomato dish called mussakaa, and it was crazy delicious. I also tried some of the salad and tasted a couple of my co-workers meals (I'm an unabashed food sampler) and everything was very tasty.

I'd been to the Red Fez for drinks before, but never eaten there, and now I can't wait to go back.

On an unrelated note, there is a huge snowstorm in progress! Yay!

Phase I

I have entered the first phase of Christmas shopping, the one when you go shopping for other people but end up buying things for yourself.

Related: My new coat. (as worn by a model, outdoors)




(as worn by me, in a laboratory)

New Neighbor Letdown

You know when you're a kid, and a "SOLD" sign replaces the "For Sale" sign in the neighbor's yard, and you get all excited imagining who is going to move in? Okay, maybe not all kids did this, but I sure did. Maybe they'll have kids my age to play with! Maybe we'll be allowed to sled in their backyard! Maybe they'll have an Atari and be allowed to eat sugary cereal and when I go over their house it will be awesome! Maybe they'll build a pool and let everyone in the neighborhood use it! Even if they don't have a kid, maybe they'll have a puppy that they'll let me watch when they go on vacation!

Inevitably, the new neighbors turned out to be childless, puppyless, and poolless retirees.

I feel a similar burst of anticipation when a new business moves into my neighborhood. Maybe it will be a delicious burrito place! Maybe a cute and affordable clothing boutique! Or a bookstore!

Over the past couple of years, not one, but two 7-11s have opened up on my street. (BO-ring. We already had a Store 24.) Last week, the signs for a new store went up....and.....it's.....Edible Arrangements. Maybe they should rename it Inevitable Sighs of Disappointment. Because when am I going to want to an purchase an expensive decorative container filled with fruit, cut into shapes and skewered? I'll tell you when. NEVER.

Song of the day

This morning, I was setting up for a rather tedious and dull experiment, and tuned in to KEXP online.

Suddenly, the sweet sounds of 80s retro pop emerged from my speakers, and made me oh so happy!

Mp3: Age of Consent, New Order

That and a second cup of coffee put me in a fantastic mood. No, it doesn't take much.

Interspecies Friendship!

A kitten, a crow, and Alan Thicke?
Seeing is believing.

Weekend Report

Friday- Caught Cake at the Orpheum, which was a lot of fun. I had never seen them before, and it was especially fun to see them on a Friday night show with everyone in the audience in party mode. They were the last of four bands, so their set wasn't that long, but they did play several of my favorite songs: Stick Shifts and Safety Belts, Sheep Go To Heaven, and Short Skirt, Long Jacket. In addition to the music, lead singer John McCrea asked the audience trivia questions, taunting people for incorrect responses and giving away trees as prizes for correct answers. (example: What state has the highest percentage of people who walk to work? The answer may surprise you.) It would have been nice to hear a few more songs, but overall, they put on a very enjoyable performance. Here's the Herald review of the show.

mp3: Sheep Go To Heaven

Saturday- Busy day. Attended my niece Maggie's first birthday party, played soccer, and went to a Colombian holiday party at Carolina's.

Sunday- Lounged around in my bathrobe writing Christmas cards, then went over Phil and Sue's to watch the Pats game. Is there any greater man love than the one shared by Tom Brady and Randy Moss? I don't think so.

My Almost Accidental Cameo

The film Real Men Cry is currently being filmed in South Boston. Yesterday morning, I saw the crew, trucks, and lights on I St., around the corner from my apartment. I walked by to check it out, but it wasn't all that exciting, so I went back home. A few hours later, I was headed out the door, carrying my soccer gear and a giant present wrapped in pink paper for my niece's birthday. I opened the door and immediately froze: at the bottom of my front steps, there were about fifteen camera, lighting, and sound people, and they were rolling. One of them caught my eye and motioned for me to stay still. Turns out that they were filming a scene in which Mark Ruffalo walks down Broadway, past my front door, and I almost stumbled into the middle of it with my giant pink present. I watched for a little while- Mark Ruffalo seems just like a normal guy (Stars, They're Just Like Us!), albeit handsomer than most. Then, I had to ask everyone to move so I could get my car out, which was slightly embarassing because my vehicle is a ten year old minivan with a University of Notre Dame decal and faded Celtics and Red Sox bumper stickers (kinda oozes with local authenticity, though, so maybe it will make the final cut).

Time Waster of the Day

In preparation for the upcoming Patriots vs. Steelers game, a Steelers fan created this game, in which Roethlisberger takes on an arsenal of Pats enemies. Even though the creator is clearly rooting for the wrong side, it's still pretty funny. For example, enemy Randy Moss shoots pot leaves.

via, quite surprisingly, metafilter

Men Are From Mars, Women Are From That Planet Where People Take Shirts off the Normal Way

In addition to the whole Y chromosome thing, I have discovered a key difference between men and women. This observation was first made while I was out at a bar with a male friend, and a guy standing near us pulled off his sweatshirt.

Male Friend: Look! That guy just took his shirt off the girl way!
Me: The girl way?
Male Friend: You know, the sexy way!
Me: The sexy way? What are you talking about?
Male Friend: You know, grabbing it from the bottom front and flipping it up over your face.
Me: That's not the girl way; that's the normal way.
Male Friend: No, it's not. The normal way is grabbing the back of the collar and pulling it forward over your head.

Thus, I became aware of the gender differential involved in shirt removal. It seems to be fairly consistent: girls remove shirts from the front, pulling them backwards, whereas guys grab their shirts from the back and pull them forwards over their heads. Which seems like a very cumbersome way to remove a shirt, if you ask me.

Concert Review: Cold War Kids and Spoon

Last night, I attended the WFNX holiday concert at the Orpheum. The lineup included Spoon, Cold War Kids, Against Me!, and Mute Math. Feat was also listed on the ticket, however, I did eventually figure out that Feat is in fact short for featuring, and not a band. We arrived in time to catch the end of Against Me's set, and were perplexed by the refrain to their song The Ocean: "There is an ocean in my soul where the waters do not curve." What? Curve? That doesn't make any sense, and it doesn't even rhyme. It gets worse, folks, check out the full lyrics here. Sharks and dolphins? Estuaries? Really? Yes, I realize that I am a big jerk for making fun of a band's lyrics, but whatever. Your favorite band sucks.

Things took a turn for the better when Cold War Kids , an indie rock band from Long Beach, CA (birthplace of Snoop Dogg and yours truly) took the stage. I like their music but had never seen them live before, so I was really looking forward to their performance. They exceeded my expectations. I was most impressed by the musical talent and stage presence of lead singer Nathan Willett, who plays guitar and piano on several tracks. (piano + rock music = awesome) The songs with piano sounded excellent, especially my favorite, "We Used to Vacation." They ended the set with an chills-inducing version of "Saint John." So, yes, we went from a band that sings about dolphins to one who sings about death row and alcoholics destroying their families. Our seats were in the third row right in the middle of the stage, so I could have taken some good photos, except that flash photography was forbidden. I turned my flash off and took the photo that you see here, but when I tried to take another one, the flash went off, and not just a one-and-done; it was on some crazy red-eye setting that was all flash-flash-flash-flash-FLASH!, thus drawing the ire of not one, but two, angry security guards. I didn't want to get thrown out so I put my camera away. (The Spoon photo was taken by a friend with better camera etiquette.)

Lastly, Spoon took the stage. I saw them back in October and it was nice to see them up close once again. They performed most of the same songs, but this time had a horns section on stage with them, so that was fun. They played for about an hour, and by the end of their set, it was like a thousand degrees inside the Orpheum. Nevertheless, they sounded great, and seeing them and the Cold War Kids was well worth the price of admission.

Downloads (right click and "save as"):

Cold War Kids:

We Used to Vacation
Saint John

Spoon:

You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb

Weekend Report

Friday- Went out to dinner for a friend's birthday at Greek Corner, a Greek (duh) restaurant in Cambridge. It was great! We ordered some sampler plates of appetizers and they were delicioius, especially the spinach pie and the caviar. I had lamb kebabs for dinner (yum!) and tried Retsina, traditional Greek wine flavored with pine resin, which tastes much better than it sounds. The staff were all competent and friendly, and the fact that we were such a big group (about 14 people) didn't cause any problems. It's a little bit of a hike from downtown Boston, but I would definitely recommed it for anyone in the mood for some tasty Greek cuisine.

Saturday- My soccer team had our end of season party, with a pink holiday theme to match both our uniforms and the time of year. There were several spectacular pink outfits present: a pink blazer, a pink bathrobe, a pink velour jumpsuit...all worn by men. We also had a Yankee Swap that was a lot of fun. While I was in Mexico, I bought a pink lucha libre mask for the occasion, and it was a popular present. Not quite as popular was a decorative set of about 30 tiny dead birds, although by the end of the night, the majority of them were either hidden in the apartment or used to adorn partygoers. I ended up with a pink headband, pink wristbands, and pink shoelaces, and I was quite pleased. So pleased that I stayed up until 5AM drinking Pinkles Punch.

Sunday- When I finally arose, at noon, I felt like crap. One cup of coffee and shepherd's pie later, courtesy of the Playwright, I felt hells better. Spent the rest of the day in the lab, then had dinner in Framingham with my parents.

Math and Rap, Together at Last

Graphical interpretations of rap lyrics. This one was by far my favorite:

Scared by Santa

In the boston.com photo gallery of children with Santa, 50% of the kids look absolutely terrified. And those frightened little faces make me laugh and laugh. (apparently my heart is two sizes too small.)

Santa is a pretty freaky guy, though. I wouldn't want to sit on his lap, either.

A question for the ladies

(also applies to long-haired men who blow out their 'dos....I'm looking at you, Bronson Arroyo)

I need a new hairdryer. Mine sucks. It takes forever to dry my hair, which is why I always give up somewhere during the process and end up with damp hair that's destined to poof.

If you have fallen in love with a specific make or model of hairdryer, please let me know in the comments. Thanks!

We now return to regularly scheduled programming.

Book Reviews

Well, I'm back from San Diego, and in addition to a lot of eating, drinking, and lounging, I also did a fair amount of reading.

1. Accordion Crimes, by E. Annie Proulx. Pulitzer-Prize winning author Proulx takes on the vast topic of immigration in America by tracing a little green accordion through a series of owners. In the 19th century, an Italian immigrant crafts the instrument and brings it with him to New Orleans, where he is soon murdered by an anti-Italian mob. Over time, the accordion changes hands, from Germans to Poles to Cajuns to Mexicans and even French-Canadians, travelling to Texas oilfields to Chicago to Maine, and each chapter tells the story of the current owners. The premise is simple and interesting enough, but the execution left much to be desired. This book was a bear to get through. Proulx's America is a harsh and brutal nation, rife with evil and devoid of beauty. Her writing is vivid and technically flawless, but I had trouble sticking with the book, and in the end, I wish I had abandoned it after the first chapter. It's page after page of cruelties, murder, violence, rape, incest, molestation, and tragic accidents. Do your psyche a favor and skip it.

2. Can I Keep My Jersey?, by Paul Shirley. After the Debbie Downer of the Accordion Crimes, I was in the mood for something lighter. Fellow basketball fan Jason lent me a book by Shirley, a former college star at Iowa State attempting to make it in the NBA. I had read a couple of articles by Shirley in the past (he has written for ESPN and Slate) but didn't know that much about him. Shirley has been descibred as a basketball journeyman, and the book reads like a journal, following him in and out of the NBA, American minor leagues, and European league teams in Spain, Greece, and Russia. To the reader, it's immediately obvious that Shirley is both extremely intelligent and, at times, fairly humorous. However, I didn't like the book that much. I was hoping for more juicy insider gossip, but the few specific anecdotes doled out are not at all surprising (Shaq is friendly, Kobe is an asshole...who would have guessed?). And, man, does he WHINE!!! His litany of complaints never ceases- the food is terrible, the hotel sucks, NBA players are hypocritical idiots, the league is biased against white players, etc...I understand that it must be frustrating to have little to no job security, but it's hard to muster up sympathy for someone who does turns down a $200,000 offer to play in Barcelona for a year. Hell, I'd gladly clean toilets in Barcelona for a sum like that. Parts of the book were entertaining, but overall, I was left wondering why he still plays basketball, if he seems to hate everything about it so much.

3. A Model World and Other Stories, by Michael Chabon. The last book I read was a collection of short stories by one of my favorite authors. The first half of the book contains numerous individual stories, and the second part all feature the same protagonist, a suburban boy whose parents are in the process of divorce. Due to the format, the stories are nothing like the sprawling and meandering novels for which he is known. However, it's a quick and enjoyable read, filled with unique and believable characters. I preferred the second section of the book, which reads more like a novella than the occasionally curt tales of the first half.