Greetings from Melbourne!

So, here's what I've done over the past few days:

I went to see the little penguins at Phillip Island. It was really cold. They swim ashore a couple of hours after sunset, and it was very cold and damp and windy sitting on the shore waiting for them to arrive, but they were very cute so it was worth it. Besides, who knows if I'll ever get the chance to see wild penguins again.

After that, I headed off on a three day tour of the Great Ocean Road and Grampians National Park. It definitely had a different vibe from my outback tour- I was the oldest of the group (good thing I'm so immature), everyone was single, and everyone except for me was a European clubster. So yeah, we listened to trance and techno the entire time. The scenery was beautiful, although the tour was a lot more stop-and-go so we didn't get to do any hiking, which had been my favorite part of the outback tour. But I did go quad biking! A quad bike is a four wheeled ATV, and I got mine up to 50kph- it was such a blast. After the tour ended, we met up in St. Kilda for a night of clubbing, which was actually a lot of fun. And then today I dragged myself out of bed...to go on a wine tour of the Yarra Valley. Hooray for vacation!

Picture time:






I'll post some more when I'm not being charged by the minute.

Are you sick of reading about my vacation yet?

I hope not! Anyways, yesterday I arrived in Melbourne have spent the past day and a half exploring the city's parks, shops, and cafes. I'm staying in a hostel that used to be a convent- it's called The Nunnery. I haven't really done the hostel thing before (well, I stayed in tons of hospedajes in Nicaragua but never shared rooms with strangers) so I was a little but antsy about it, but so far, it's been fine. A lot of people are staying there long-term so it's more like a dorm...a dorm that's full of European hippies.

Melbourne is nice but I'm really looking forward to gettting out and seeing some of the surrounding countryside. I'm going to see the penguin parade tonight and head out on a three day camping tour of the Great Ocean Road tomorrow. Before I left on the trip, a friend who had studied abroad in Australia advised me to spend as little time in the cities as possible, and I'm inclined to agree. Melbourne and Sydney are lovely but not particularly stunning, and what is different and amazing about Australia is the natural beauty of the rural areas. I've heard that the Great Ocean Road is fantastic but it would be hard to top the outback.

Anyways, so far in Melbourne I got my haircut and dyed back to my natural color (I hate having visible roots and celebrities with bad roots are pet peeve of mine. If you have the money, get that shit touched up!)

Anyways, so here are a couple of pictures- me with my new 'do (squinting into the sun) on the balcony of the Nunnery and one of the fun and enormous Queen Victoria Market.

Back in Sydney

I spent the past couple of days in Sydney and managed to take two day trips using the ferry system. Sydney is a huge city with tons of small harbors and bays, and many times, the fastest way from point A to point B is via ferry. On Monday, I went to the Taronga Zoo- it has a fantastic view (the giraffes have the best view of all) and typical smattering of zoo animals plus a large collection of Australian wildlife- lions and tigers and koala bears, oh my. Koala bears are adorable but definitely not the most lively of creatures- they sleep 20 hours a day. The highlight was the free flight bird show, which had the best opening sequence I've seen in a long time. As everyone was sitting around waiting for the show to begin, a white parrot flew down and undid a string to open up the show's banner. Over the loudspeakers, a narration of the aboriginal myth about how the birds got their colors began, only the story was acted out by the birds themselves. I was really impressed- it was like watching a school play only with birds playing the parts instead of children. Next, a trainer came out and brought out several different species which would then swoop around over the crowd. In an unscripted moment, a black-breasted kite hopped over the rail and took a little girl's stuffed animal, which was sort of hilarious. The trainer, who looked slightly alarmed, got him to drop it by offering some raw meat.

Today I took the ferry over to Manly Beach, located just north of the city. It was beautiful and the weather was perfect- I laid around on the beach, swam in a (shark-free!) cove, ate fish & chips, and read about half of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. After a relaxing day at the beach (see goofy picture), I headed back to Kristy and Rodd's house and cooked up a big pot of kangaroo chili. Yum! Kangaroo is a lean, red meat, similar to venison.
Tomorrow morning I'm headed south to Melbourne and the Great Ocean Road. I gotta be honest, I'm really digging this extended vacation thing.

Outback adventure

I returned to Sydney today after a week in the Australian Outback, also known as the Red Center because of the bright red sandy soil, a substantial amount of which I brought home with me on my clothing and in my hair. We spent a day in Adelaide, then one in Alice Springs, and then headed off for a three day camping tour with Wayoutback (highly recommended!). Our group consisted of my former college roommate Kristy and her husband Rodd, a few more Australian tourists, a few European backpackers, me, and two tour guides. I loved it! The scenery was spectacular (oh, the Aussies and Brits use much richer vocabulary than we Americans...I'd be all "cool!" whereas they would say something like "how splendidly magnificent"), the company was excellent, and I enjoyed eating food cooked over a campfire and sleeping under the stars in my swag. I even got a tan, complete with a sock line. Our first day we went to Uluru (Ayers Rock) which was as stunning as I had imagined. I didn't climb it because apparently the Aborigines prefer that people do not, so I hiked around the base instead. Positive: avoidance of tribal curses. Negative: FLIES. I literally had a cloud of them buzzing around my head at all times.

The rock itself is striking, rising out of the flat outback terrain, and we got great views of it at both sunset and sunrise. However, I liked the next two sites on the tour even more, even though I had never heard of them before this trip. The first was a different rock formation with a number of domes called the Olgas (or Kata Tjuta) and the second was Kings Canyon, which reminded me a bit of the American southwest. We spent several hours hiking around both sites, and both were quite beautiful. On the road, we encountered some native wildlife including a dingo pup, witchtail eagles, wild camels (not native but fairly common), kangaroos, and an emu family (dad with three babies). Unfortunately, I didn't manage to get any decent photos but I did eat some of these tasty animals (camel, emu sausage, and camel) at Bojangles Saloon in Alice Springs, which is basically the type of establishment the Outback Steakhouse seeks to emulate (there's no I in emulate, but there is an emu). While in the bush, I didn't run into anything scary or deadly with the exception of a redback spider Rodd spotted in the camp toilet- it was promptly squished. Here are a few photos and you can head over to Kris' blog for a more thorough recounting of our adventures. Overall, the trip was a great success... now I'm back in Sydney for a couple of days until I head south to Melbourne and the Great Ocean Road.

Down Under

I made it to Australia. The flight was...long, but not terrible. The plane was packed with middle-aged Canadians athletes on their way to the Masters World Games in Sydney and everyone was quite friendly and pleasant. After a long back-up at customs, Kris met me at the airport and we headed off to explore Sydney- in the pouring rain. The city does have a bit of a British feel to it, and the residents have adorable accents and sure do love meat pies. Here are a couple of photos I took of the Opera House (it really is stunning, and has almost a pearly gleam to it when the sun does come out) and some creepy bats in the botanical garden. I've got one more day to explore the city and then we head off on our Outback adventure- Adelaide to Alice Springs to Uluru (a.k.a. Ayers Rock). I can't wait!

Things I've Been Meaning to Blog About*

1. I spent last weekend in San Fransisco, visiting the fun friends I have there and attending the pig roast wedding reception of Yuki and Jonathan. I had a blast, and every time I go to San Fransisco, I sort of want to move there. Pictures are of the newlyweds, Yuki and me, the pig roaster/go cart that Jonathan built for the occasion, and my lovely hostesses and me at the bluegrass festival. We saw Neko Case and she was great and had amazingly bright red hair.








2. I read a book I loved loved loved- The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Set immediately following WWII, the book tells the story of British author who forms a friendship with a group of residents and bibliophiles from Guernsey, an island in the English channel that was occupied by Germany during the war. Don't let the uncomfortably long name turn you off- it's a charming novel, though admittedly a bit on the girly side, and provides an interesting account of the war from the British perspective.

3. This morning I awoke to find a whole bunch of strange sound equipment on my front lawn. At first I was mad, thinking that villainous vandal had ditched some speakers, amps, and whatnot under the cover of darkness and now I was going to get stuck with the removal. Turns out that new Tom Cruise movie is filming at the house across the street, and some of the equipment was delivered early. Looks like I'll have to schedule in some celebrity stalking tomorrow before I pack for my vacation.

4. I leave tomorrow for my big trip to Australia and I can't wait! I start off in Sydney, where I will be picked spending the first weekend with my college roommate and her husband. From there we go on an outback adventure, then back to Sydney, then I head south by myself to Melbourne and the Great Ocean Road. I'll do my best to update.


5. Interspecies friendship alert!! OMG you guys, this is the cutest one I've seen in a long, long time. Click on the link and prepare yourself for a mental enema of cute.



*Sometimes I think it's okay to end a phrase with a preposition. It's something you're just going to have to deal with.

Nothing happens, nothing happens, and then everything happens.

My week:

Tuesday (yesterday): Get awarded a Ph.D. in Microbiology after six long (and mostly miserable) years of grad school.
Friday: Fly to San Fransisco
Saturday: Attend the wedding reception of Yuki and Jonathon. Pig roast!
Sunday: Turn 32, go to Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, fly back to Boston
Monday and Tuesday: finish thesis revisions and rewrite a scientific manuscript for submission. Oh and maybe try to find a job and a Halloween costume.
Wednesday: leave for Australia!!

Belated links

Interspecies friendship alert! Kristy sent me this story about a cheetah and a mouse last week, and I completely forgot to post it. However, it seems to me that the two aren't exactly friends, they're more like animal neighbors who tolerate each other. Animal frenemies, perhaps.

Last week, I made this recipe for Jerk Pork Chops with Hearts of Palm Salad and Sweet Plantains and it was fantastic! The meal came out delicious, and best of all, it took less than 15 minutes to prepare the whole thing. I used a carribean jerk spice blend from McCormick to season the pork and it was excellent- I was worried it would be too mild but it wasn't at all- it definitely had a kick to it.

The FYIF Song of the Day

I'm making the final adjustments to my thesis defense presentation right now, so I wanted to pick some sort of peppy inspirational song- the type of song that if it come on the radio while you're driving, you'll immediately crank the volume and start singing along.

Like this one:

The Killers- Human

Happy Friday, everyone!

Six years down, one week to go

My thesis has been written and handed out to my committee, and my Ph.D. defense is one week from today. So don't expect a lot of posting this week- even though I didn't think I'd be nervous, I'm starting to freak out, just a little bit.

In other news, my Australia trip is now only two weeks away, and the job search continues- I have an interview today with a scientific publishing group in the Netherlands. Things are looking up!

Snuggie Season

With the chill in the air this past week, it seems that this brief summer has passed by, and everyone is starting to pull out those fall sweaters, jackets, and....Snuggies! Oh yes, it's Snuggie Season. Just this week, I received two Snuggie-related emails from friends (thanks Jess and Meg!)... so you can continue to count on DCoE as a reliable source for news stories related Snuggies and interspecies friendships. If I ever come across a story about a polar bear and a husky who wear animal Snuggies and are the best of friends, why, my head might explode with the awesomeness.

So here are the links:
Snuggie fashion show!
and Snuggie Sutra (um, yes it's what you think it is, but the link is safe to click)

And because it's Friday, time for the song of the day:
Last night, I saw The Polyphonic Spree at the Paradise. If you're not familiar with them, the picture pretty much says it all. They are a huge orchestral rock group who dress in robes and play trippy music that sounds like a blend of ELO and the Hair soundtrack. At this show, they had 21 members on stage, including a flautist, six back-up singers, and a guy rocking out on a harp. And the best past was that it was sponsored by Southern Comfort, so it was free admission with two free drinks! I've avoided SoCo since it led to an unfortunate Patriots tailgating experience circa 2002, but I had a mixed drink with SoCo, ginger ale, and lime, and it was actually quite tasty. Southern Comfort is sponsoring shows in several cities this fall, so if they come to yours, I definitely recommend going.

Without further ado:

The Polyphonic Spree- Lithium (Nirvana cover)

Reviews: One movie, one book, and one show

Movie: The Informant!
Last week, I went to a sneak preview of the new um...how would I describe it? Offbeat comedy? movie my Steven Soderbergh. You know, the one starring a somewhat nerdy, somewhat portly version of Matt Damon. Based upon a true story, The Informant! tells the story of Mark Whitacre, a midwestern biochemist turned corporate exectutive in the billion-dollar industry of corn-derived food additives. Uncomfortable with the illegal price-fixing schemes his company involved him in, he starts working for the FBI as an informant and proves surprisingly effective despite his apparent incompetence in regards to discretion. As time goes on, the FBI (and the audience) learn that Mark may not be quite as naive as he comes across. I saw the movie knowing virtually nothing about it, and was quite glad for that, so that's all I will say. The Informant! is essentially a character study of an interesting and deluded character, and Damon absolultey nails the lead role. It's best described as an unusual movie and a highly entertaining one at that. The Informant! is funny as hell, in its own special way.

Book: As some of you know, I'm part of a Book Club with a few other Boston-area bloggers. We've done the classic classics (Wuthering Heights) the American classics (To Kill a Mockingbird) and the campy classics (Valley of the Dolls). This month's selection solidly falls into the third category: oh yes, we're reading Flowers in the Attic, by VC Andrews. It's the terrible tale of four siblings kept prisoner in the attic of a huge mansion by their cruel grandmother and their selfish mother, whose vanity far outwieghs her concern for her children's well-being. The novel is gripping and very creepy, and I felt so bad for the kids. On the positive side, now I finally know how the Dresden Dolls got their name.

Show: Last weekend, I went to the Donkey Show- a disco-themed performance visiting Boston from its home base of New York City. I had a great time. There is very little of an actual show; it's basically a giant disco dance party with a few scantily clad cast members covered in glitter flitting about. I felt like I was in a non-porny scene from Boogie Nights. And they even played my all-time favorite disco song. I'd definitely recommend it, but definitely go to the later show (8:00 is far too early for that amount of spandex) and have a cocktail or two first.

Links!

Well, I couldn't call myself a blogger if I didn't acknowledge Patrick Swayze's recent passing. I fully admit to loving everything about the movie Dirty Dancing, and here's a little movie montage tribute. I distinctly remember Christmas of the year it came out- my sister Kerry got a boom box and a cassette tape of the Dirty Dancing soundtrack and I was soooo jealous.

In other death-related news, everyone at my workplace is obsessed with the Yale grad student murder case and in a separate incident, a Johns Hopkins undergrad killed a prowler with a samurai sword.

Update

Oh hi, I'm still around, just busy. My Ph.D. thesis defense is two weeks from today, so I'm swamped with the final preparations and graduation paperwork, in addition to starting my job search.

Ideally, I'm looking for a position that:

1. is science-related, but in an applied and interactive setting (industry, public health, and government labs) rather than traditional academia. My background is in microbiology and infectious disease.

2. is awesome.

3. pays well.

So let me know if you hear of anything :)

List #42...Things I’ve Always Wanted To Do

I assume everyone has things they’ve always wanted to do. I don’t mean significant, noble undertakings like climbing Mount Everest or saving orphaned children or writing a blog. I’m talking about trivial things, inconsequential things, like “I’ve always wanted to take a flying karate kick and bust open a piñata.” Or “Man, someday I’m going to walk by a fire alarm and just pull the sucker.”

Well, I have a few, and some of them I’ve actually done. And it was quite satisfying. To wit:

1. Walk up a down escalator. (Honolulu airport, 2002)
2. Spray a fire extinguisher. (Laboratory safety training, 2005)
3. Burn a couch. (Okay, I didn’t actually pitch it in the fire myself but I was there to witness it. Peace Corps reunion, 2009.)

But there’s one more item on my list that remains elusive, even though I’ve had ample opportunity:

4. Pull the emergency shower in the laboratory. Every single time I walk by that thing, I just want to pull it! Something about that dangling pull handle is just so…inviting. Problem is, there’s no drain underneath, so if you do pull it (so I’ve heard), tons of water rushes out and gets all over the floor and makes a huge mess. But hey, if my upcoming thesis defense goes well, let’s just say you probably don’t want to be standing underneath it when I walk by.

How about the rest of you? Any silly things you’ve always wanted to do? Leave them in the comments.

Lastly, even though it's still Thursday, here is your Friday song- two for the price of none!

Inspired by the cooking post below:

Talking Heads - Pyscho Killer

Bonus track: The Beatles (not remastered) - Michelle (see what I did there?)

Recipe: "Snapper" Veracruz

A while back, a friend emailed me a link to a cooking website called Rouxbe (which after months of pronouncing it "rocks-bee" in my head, I just now realized it's supposed to be a play on the cooking term roux, so it should sound like "rube." These mistakes happen when the extent of one's French is essentially limited to Pyschokiller lyrics.). Anyways, you have to pay to have full access to all of the site, but there are a ton of recipes and cooking videos available for free. I've been meaning to try out this recipe for Snapper Veracruz for a while but didn't want to cook a whole pan of fish for myself. I had guests on Tuesday night, so I gave it a whirl. I ended up using cod instead because there wasn't any snapper at the supermarket, but the recipe said it was fine to substitute any mild, white fish. And I omitted the bay leaves because, to be honest, they sketch me out. Aren't you supposed to not eat them? Why would I add something to a recipe that needs to be removed later? What if I forget and eat one? Stop messing with me, bay leaves!

Anyways, my Cod Veracruz came out great. It was extremely easy to prepare and tasted delicious- the olives and the jalapeños added a nice flavor. Even the one person who isn't a big fan of fish ate and enjoyed it. I forgot to take a picture but my dish did look exactly like the official portrait from the website.

Nica 20 Reunion

I spent Labor Day weekend at my Peace Corps reunion at the Hasselmann Family Farm in Illinois. There were 19 members of Nica 20 Agriculture, and 11 of us attended along with assorted spouses and children (and one suegra). We all had a fantastic time... perfect weather, beautiful scenery, and a great chance to catch up with old friends. You know how with some friends you don't talk to them for years, and then you get together and it feels like not even a day has passed? Well, it was like that. (Except for all of the kids and babies, but I've gotta say, Peace Corps volunteers produce some adorable and well-behaved children.) I've been a city mouse for the past several years, so it was a nice change of pace to spend a few days in farm country. We ate fresh eggs and delicious meats from the farm, we mowed hay (as in stacked bales into a hay mow), went on a hayride, had a bonfire (complete with a burning couch!) and threw a Nicaraguan party featuring piñatas, tortillas, gallo pinto, and Flor de Caña. A special thanks go out to Scott and his wife Nena- they did a wonderful job as hosts and put a lot of work into making the weekend a huge success. Oh, and if any of you in the Illinois area are looking to support your local farmers and enjoy fine meats, definitely check out the farm website listed above- most products, including the brats (no trip to the Midwest is complete without them), are Animal Welfare Approved.
Some pictures:

Ten years later

In September of 1999, I left for my Peace Corps assignment as an agriculture volunteer in Nicaragua. I was 21 years old, fresh out of college, could barely speak Spanish, and didn't really know squat about agriculture, but I was chock full of idealism and ready for adventure. The next 27 months were full of ups and downs- one day you're watching baby sea turtles hatch at the most beautiful beach you've ever seen, and the next day you've been pickpocketed on the bus and you've got giardia. But despite all of the frustrating parts, Peace Corps was by far the most rewarding thing I've done in the past ten years. I learned another language, lived in another country, and did hundreds of things I never imagined possible. I owned a horse. I swam in waterfalls and hiked in woods populated by howler monkeys. I lived with a Nicaraguan family for two years in a small house with a dirt floor. I played soccer on a team that traveled around the country in an old cattle truck. I vaccinated chickens and hitchhiked on the Pan-American highway. Most importantly, I met wonderful people and made amazing friends.

To celebrate out ten year anniversary, several of my fellow agriculture volunteers are gathering at a very appropriate place, the Hasselmann Family Farm in Illinois, which belongs to my friend Scott (the guy in the well in the photo). I leave tomorrow and I can't wait!

Have a great Labor Day weekend, and here's a song for your download enjoyment:

Quiero Ser Poeta by Jarabe De Palo. It's a great song from one of my favorite bands.

Lastly, here's a long-distance dedication video that goes out to the members of Nica 20 AG who are unable to attend this weekend. For everyone else, if you don't know what a ranchera is, well, you're about to find out.

Yelpin' It

One thing I have trouble with as a consumer is auto repair. Let's be honest- I know almost nothing about cars, and it's immediately apparent to mechanics that I know almost nothing about cars. Which makes me paranoid that they are going to take advantage of me, because, hey, easy mark and all. For many years, I went to Emerson Auto Service near my old apartment, and they seemed to do a fine job for a decent price. However, when I moved, I decided to try out another garage that was closer to my work- Mike's Auto Repair. I went in there for an oil change, and the mechanic called me up with dire news and a laundry list of repairs that needed to be done- thousands of dollars worth of work (keep in mind that I drive a 14 year old minivan that is probably worth around 2K at best.). He told me that I had a broken axle that needed to be repaired immediately because it was extremely dangerous and I was lucky I hadn't totally given way yet. I agreed to the axle job and tire rotation and was unplesantly surprised when the bill came to $500. I gave him the benefit of the doubt but didn't like the pressured upsell, so when I got my car inspected today I went back to Emerson. Nice and easy, $29, no problems. Since I was in the old neighborhood, I stopped by to visit Ern and Pat and told them The Tale of Two Garages. Turns out Pat had tried Mike's once and the EXACT SAME THING happened to him! He went in there for an inspection and was told that he had a broken axle in need to immediate replacement. Suspicions confirmed, I was miffed! I decided to join Yelp to give Mike's a bad review, and looks like I wasn't the first. I also showed Emerson some love (or at least, strong like). Emerson Auto Service, my minivan will stay loyal to you for the rest of its road-worthy days.

Previously, I hadn't been too sold on Yelp (I've heard some shady claims that they delete negative reviews) but now it's growing on me. Just wondering...do any of you use Yelp? Any positives or negatives about the site you'd care to share?

Van envy

For the past few years, I've been a secret admirer of a particular vehicle. It's a bright orange old VW van. It has curtains and a sink. I covet it. I don't know who owns it (someone awesome, presumably), but I often see it parked near my work and when I lived in South Boston, I would also see it in that neighborhood. So it's clearly driven by someone who frequents the same areas of the city that I do. A couple of times it's driven past me as I've been out running and I've tried to catch a glimpse of the driver, to no avail. Although I'm curious, I kind of like the fact that the van maintains an air of mystery. Silly as it seems, whenever I see the van I consider it a good omen, a sign that I'm going to have a great day. Today I parked right behind it! Oooh, a lucky day indeed.

Links!

Animal links:

Dog Snuggies! (via Chris)

The best interspecies friendship EVER! I don't care if the photo is fake; I love it. (via an anonymous commenter)

Friends in the news:

My former coworker Elena was a model for Boston Magazine's sexy scientist fashion shoot.

Boston Band Crush interviews Chris Mulvey, who will be participating in tomorrow night's One Night Band show at the Middle East. It's an event where local musicians will be teamed up randomly in bands of five and given exactly one day to come up with a set to play that night.

And lastly, the Friday song of the day:
I and Love and You, by the Avett Brothers.

Happy Friday, everyone.

Rest in Peace, Teddy Kennedy

You know, I was going to write a long and thoughtful post about the death of Ted Kennedy, who was one of my favorite politicians and my senator since I turned 18, but I'll leave the extensive coverage to Boston.com obituary page. I feel fortunate to have a Senator who actually represented me- almost every single time an issue I felt passionately about came to the Senate floor, I would look up the voting records to learn that Ted Kennedy had voted exactly how I would have.

His personal flaws were legion, and many of my older family members never forgave him for Mary Jo Kopechne's death (although I hate how it's often a knee-jerk response in an political discussion....Ted Kennedy supports universal health care...."but but but Chappaquiddick!"). However, in my lifetime I have seen no champion of human rights and liberal causes like Ted Kennedy.
He could have retired and lived a comfortable life decades ago, but instead he dedicated over forty years of his live as a public servant, working to make things better for ordinary Americans and acting as an outspoken advocate for more marginalized groups in our society- poor people, immigrants, gays, etc... This 1990 article from GQ has a nice summary of his legacy:

Even a partial listing of the major bills in whose passage Kennedy has played a part is impressive. Whether you admire them or not, these are the measures that transformed—mostly liberalized—America in our time: the first Immigration Reform Act; the Voting Rights Act and its extensions; the Freedom of Information Act; the Gun Control Act; the Campaign Financing Reform law; the Comprehensive Selective Service Reform Act; the Eighteen-Year-Old Vote law; the Occupational Safety and Health Act; the War on Cancer bills; the recodification of federal criminal laws; the Bilingual Education Act; the Fair Housing Acts; the Age Discrimination Act; the Airline and Trucking Deregulation bills; the Job Training Partnership Act; the South African sanctions; and the Grove City Civil Rights Restoration Act.

Far more than either of his brothers, who were lackluster senators, Kennedy, over the past three decades, has been responsible for changes in the complexion of this country and in the lives of its citizens. He has been an ally of blacks, American Indians, the poor, the sick, the aged, the mentally ill, starving refugees worldwide and immigrants. He has been an outspoken liberal, unafraid to take the controversial positions—on issues such as busing, abortion, gun control, the Vietnam War (late but forcefully), the nuclear freeze and capital punishment—that other senators clearly avoided.

Senator Kennedy spent his career standing up for the little guy, and we're a better country because of it.

The comedian, the sex dream, and the coincidence.*

As previously mentioned, while I was in New York for the weekend, two friends and I went to a comedy show featuring two correspondents from The Daily Show. The show was hosted by Adam Lowitt**, a producer on the show, who also did some stand-up of his own and was quite funny. The next day, one of the aforementioned friends texted me to say that she had a dream about the host of the comedy show. A sexy dream.

Cut to this afternoon- I left work early for a doctor's appointment and stopped by the Brookline Booksmith to pick up the book I supposedly read for Book Club, which I was hosting. (let's not discuss the fact that I was buying the book mere hours before the meeting.***) Anyways, so my slacker self just paid for my purchase when I noticed a guy who looked so familiar to me. It took me a few seconds to place him, when suddenly I realized he was the host of the comedy show I had seen in Manhattan on Saturday night. Internally, I debated going up to him and saying hello. Hey, he was funny, and I felt that the coincidence of me seeing him in New York then in Brookline two days later warranted mention. But would that be really creepy? And should I tell him my friend had a sex dream about him? That would probably be creepy. In the end, I went over and said hello and told him that I had just seen him on stage in NYC. He was nice and was with his sister, whom he was visiting. I opted not to tell him about my friend's dream.

* Oooh, a racy title. I like it.
** Hey Adam, in case you Google yourself, welcome to my creepy blog.
*** The book was Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston, whose apartment in Harlem I coincidentally walked by this weekend. The first two chapters were really good, and I tried to make up for the fact that I didn't finish it with this delicious nicoise salad:

Things I Did This Weekend

- ate sushi

- rode the Lucky Star to NYC (recommended! I usually take the Fung Wah but decided to try another bus line...cheap, clean, and efficient. Works for me.)

- attended a 1st birthday party in Brooklyn

- visited a friend in Harlem

- went to a stand-up comedy show featuring two guys from the Daily Show (Larry Wilmore and Wyatt Cenac). It was appropriately humorous.

- saw the new Quentin Taratino movie, Inglourious Basterds. Highly recommended! Set in WWII France, the moive has two main plot lines- one features a group of Jewish soldiers (led by a hammy Brad Pitt) terrorizing Nazis. They're good fun and all, but more captivating story centers on a young French woman (played by Mélanie Laurent) who is coerced into showing Nazi propaganda films at the cinema she owns. Overall, Inglourious Basterds was less goofy and less gory than I had expected- the reviews I read made it seem like it was totally over-the-top ridiculousness, which it wasn't at all. (At least not for a Tarantino movie. But Schindler's List it definitely ain't.) Austrian actor Christoph Waltz steals the show as the villian, a cunning and sinister SS henchman. Oh, and a significant portion of the movie was in French or German with subtitles, which I didn't mind but wasn't expecting.

- ate an an Arby's in Connecticut on the way home. Arby's is like the bastard child of a McDonald's and a Subway. Not recommended.

Movie Reviews

I hadn't been to the movies lately (aside from The Hangover, nothing earlier this summer really piqued my interest), but this week I saw two newish releases, both of which I liked a lot.

1. District 9 is a sci-fi movie about aliens, with a twist. Unlike most blockbuster action films, this one's not set in New York City or London, but in Johannesburg, South Africa. The premise is an overt allegory to apartheid: when a large number of insect-like aliens (quickly dubbed "prawns") become stranded in the city, they are sectioned off from the human populace into a large slum-like refugee camp known as District 9. The movie is set up as a faux documentary about a government employee Wikus Van De Merwe, a friendly, bumbling clerk assigned to lead a prawn relocation project. Like most humans, Wilkus has a palatable disdain for the creatures, but he also understands their language and behavior. The day of the operation, something goes awry, and the second half of the movie becomes something of a Kafka-esque character study. Overall, I liked District 9 and found it to be interesting, creative, and entertaining.


2. Julie & Julia is based on the story of a blogger named Julie who decides spend a year cooking every single recipe in Julia Child's first cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. The movie contains two interwoven stories: Meryl Streep portrays Julia, who while living in France with her diplomat husband, decides to enroll as a chef in the famous Cordon Bleu cooking school and discovers her true calling, cooking and the teaching of cooking. Decades later, Amy Adams plays Julie, a frustrated writer stuck in a cubicle and an apartment she hates in Queens, who takes on the Julia Child cooking project as a way to get herself out of a slump. Meryl Streep is a delight to watch in the film- she absolutely nails Julia's voice and mannerisms, and I must admit I preferred the Julia plot line to the Julie one. Julie could be annoying at times, with all of her self-pity and narcissism (maybe her being a blogger hit a little close to home.... Do I act like that? Wait, don't answer that.) and the chemistry between her and her husband couldn't match that of Julia and Paul Child (played by Stanley Tucci). And the movie was a tad on the long side. That being said, I did really like the movie, and it definitely inspired me to try out some of Julia Child's recipes...if I can find any that don't require a ton of butter.

My Song is Better than Your Song

Lately I've been digging the music of Those Darlins, a Tennessee-based group of three singing and guitar playing gals backed up by a male drummer. Their music has an old-fashioned quality to it that I enjoy, and look how fun and adorable they are!

Wild One- Those Darlins

Recipe: Zesty Greek Couscous Salad

My sister Kerry gave me a zucchini and a bunch of cherry tomatoes from her garden, so I decided to use them in a recipe for Zesty Greek Couscous Salad that I found on the back of a box of couscous in my pantry. It's a great summer dish- super easy to make, tasty, and served cold. And it would have made for a healthy meal had I not decided to complement it with a hot dog. Hey, don't judge.

Oh, the humanity

Or: Things I Found At My Grandmother's House, Part 3.

My current abode is riddled with strange, old books. Some are pretty cool, like an edition of The Count of Monte Cristo with my grandmother's signature and the year 1937 signed on the inside cover. Some are pretty random, like a coffee table book about disasters:



Page after page of New York Times covers featuring all sorts of catastrophes, beginning with the great Chicago fire of 1871. (Hi,the Irish? Obsessed with death.) It made for some morbid page-turning, until a friend noticed this subheading on an article entitled "Noted Men Lost on the Titanic":



Major Butt on the list? Disasters be damned, that's some funny stuff.

UPDATE: More on Major Butt!

Outback Adventure

So, I haven't quite completed my thesis, or submitted my manuscript for publication, or lined up a job, but thanks to my old roommate, I do have an outback trip planned for October! Kristy, her husband Rodd, and I are going on a weeklong adventure- first to Adelaide, then to Alice Springs (the hotel...OMG feeding wallabies? yes!), and then we're going on a camping tour. I can't wait! I've always wanted to go to the Australian Outback...ever since I ate at that steakhouse place. (Just kidding) I think it caught my fancy years ago because of two books I read:

The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough and A Town Like Alice by Neil Shute, both of which I recommend highly.

And of course, there's this. Oh Elaine Benes, you're my hero.

My song is better than your song

The demise of WBCN this week left me feeling nostalgic for the days when they were a great radio station that played songs like this:

6'1" - Liz Phair

Happy Fajita Friday, everyone! I woke up early to get some steaks marinating using this recipe.

Links!

Three items that have nothing to do with each other:

1. Like all good Massachusetts democrats, I'm a big fan of the Kennedy clan and was saddened by the recent death of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the founder of the Special Olympics, which began as a camp Eunice hosted at her own home. Inspired by the tragic treatment of her sister Rosemary (who was born mildly retarded and further incapacitated after a lobotomy...horrific), she strove to improve the lives of the mentally retarded and change the way society treated them at a time when children with intellectual disabilities were commonly kept behind closed doors or whisked away to institutions. The New York Times has a great article about her life and accomplishments. Regardless of your political beliefs, I highly recommend reading the article- she seems like a great lady who dedicaded her life to helping a group of people who needed an advocate.

2. Legendary Boston rock station WBCN has gone off the air. Although I hadn't listened to the station much over the past several years (their quality had definitely gone way downhill a while ago), WBCN was a staple of my teenage years. I listened to Charles Laquidara on the Big Mattress every morning before high school. The big winner here is WFNX, now the only modern rock station left on the dial in Boston. Unfortunately, the big losers are fans of diversity and choice in radio...over the past few years, Boston radio has lost WBOS, Hot 97.7, and now WBCN, the result being more homogenous radio with less local flavor and a lot more of the same Top 40 songs. For the last four days on air, WBCN brought back all of the old DJs and let them play whatever music they wanted and talk about whatever the felt. And do you know what? It made for excellent radio. Too bad they couldn't have kept it up. Somewhere, Peter Wolf is shedding a single tear.

3. Lastly, remember how I attended my college reunion in June? Well, my friends and I are on the postcard advertising next summer's reunion. So look for us in your mailbox, Class of '00. Note the ridiculous poses:

Movie Review: Murderball

Now that I finished Season 5 of The Wire (sigh...I'm sad it's over), I'm now back to chipping away at my extensive Netflix queue. This weekend, I watched Murderball, the 2005 documentary about quadriplegic wheelchair rugby. The film is less about the sport than it is about the players, and these atheletes are indeed compelling subject material. The main character of the film is Mark Zupan, a high school jock who became paralyzed after being thrown from the bed of a pick-up truck driven by his best friend. Zupan instantly breaks down preconceived notions of what handicapped people are like- he has tattoos, a goatee, and a sexy girlfriend. In spite of the wild persona, he's dedicated to his sport and his teammates, who also love the sport for the focus it has given them and the friendships they have forged. Most of the players became paralyzed as a result of some sort of accident that resulted in a broken neck, and it is impossible to imagine what these young men went through, emotionally and physically, as they adjusted to life in a wheelchair. The film does give us a glimpse in the recently injured Keith Cavill- a handsome former BMX biker leaving rehab to come home to an apartment now fitted with ramps and a handicapped bathroom: "this sucks," he comments.

Another storyline follows Zupan's former teammate and current adversary, Joe Soares, an American who became disgruntled when he was cut from the squad and took a job as the head coach of rival Canada. Joe was left paralyzed from a childhood bout of polio but is a force of nature- intensely competitive and self-absorbed, he initially comes off as an asshole, but as the movie progresses, he becomes more sympathetic and almost likeable. Of everyone featured in Murderball, it's the unassuming and friendly Bob Lujano who is the most inspirational character. As a child, he had all four limbs amputated and still manages to excel in the sport, saying that he goes through life using what he has, and patiently answering questions like "how do you eat pizza if you don't have any hands?" from children in post-game meet and greets.

One of the best aspects of the film is that it's not cloying or overly didactic- it lets the players, their situations, and the sport speak for themselves rather than providing a series of Hallmark moments. What their participation on the USA wheelchair rugby squad means to them is apparent. In addition to practicing and competing, the murderball players serve as ambassadors of the sport and of paraplegics in general, interacting with fans and the media, and holding informational sessions and rehabilitation centers. Towards the end of the film, they meet with soldiers who lost limbs in the Iraq war, most of whom are shockingly young.
I don't normally watch documentaries but I really enjoyed Murderball and would highly recommend it. It's a fascinating and uplifting portrayal of a group of people and a sport I really knew nothing about.

The $5 pita that wasn't

A few months ago, a Mediterranean restaurant called South End Pita new opened up near my workplace. It's an ideal spot for lunch, in that it's close to the lab, relatively cheap, and specializes in tasty pitas. A couple of Fridays ago, I went with my coworkers and I had the kafta, a spiced, ground beef mixture. It was really tasty, but a couple of my friends ordered the lamb and recommended that. I saw a sign advertising $5 pitas on Monday, so my friend Julian and I decided that we would return on Monday and try the lamb pita for $5. So Monday arrives, and my labmate Julian and I walk back to the restaurant, which has a sign out front that says "Mondays Any Pita $5." We had called ahead to place our order and I went to the counter to pick it up. Two five dollar pitas and two drinks should have come to about $13, but our total was $18 and change. "What? Aren't pitas $5 on Mondays?" I asked the girl at the register, with a slight edge to my voice. "Oh, not the lamb pita, just the other ones." My eyes flashed and Julian shifted his weight and threw me a glance, nervous that I was about to make a scene. So I begrudgingly paid $7.50 for my $5 pita and left. And do you know what? I wish I had made a scene. I'm still pissed about it. Part of me was like "oh, they're a struggling small business, it's only a $2.50, and this lamb pita is delicious" but a larger part of me is upset on principle. You can't hang a sign outside your establishment that says "Any Pita $5" and then not honor it.

I'll show you, South End Pita! I'll write a scathing blog post about your false advertising practices! So there!

RIP, John Hughes

The writer and producer of the quintessential 80s teen movies, John Hughes, died of a heart attack at age 59. Of all of his movies, Ferris Bueller's Day Off and The Breakfast Club were my two favorites.


Here's a sweet story from a blogger who had John Hughes as a pen pal for several years of her childhood.

My song is better than your song

I don't exactly why, but certain singers or groups always make me think of summer- Tom Petty, Sublime, Bruce Springsteen, for example.

So on a beautiful August Friday, and sticking with this week's Americana theme, today's song is from Springsteen's Seeger Sessions album:

Old Dan Tucker, by Bruce Springsteen

enjoy!

Concert Review: The Big Surprise Tour

Last night, I went to the House of Blues to check out The Big Surprise Tour, a bluegrass-themed show (Well, not technically bluegrass- folk/Americana/alt-county would be a more accurate categorization) with four acts: Justin Townes Earle, The Felice Brothers, the Dave Rawlings Machine featuring Gillian Welch, and Old Crow Medicine Show. Each act played their own set and were eventually joined on stage by the rest of the performers, so a lot of the show was essentially Gillian Welch and Thirteen Dudes. I hadn't been to the House of Blues before, and basically, it's a roomier verison of Avalon. I was kind of surprised that they tour down the Avalon and Axis and spent a year to build something that looks... just live Avalon.

The show opened up with Justin Townes Earle (the son of Steve Earle), who played a fun, high energy, old-timey set. His act had a timeless quality- the tall, lanky Earle, dressed in a suit and performing traditional Americana music would seem just at home on a Kentucky stage in the 1950s as he was in Boston in 2009. He clearly relishes being on stage, in a good way- he chats with the crowd and brings other musicians into the fold with ease.

The Felice Brothers came on next, and although I like some of their songs, they didn't meld well into the lineup- their music was by far the most indie of the night, and the slower songs zapped the energy from the crowd. It didn't help that there was a long break after their set. They did have an cool accordian player and an entertaingly spazzy violist/washboardist.

Next up was Dave Rawlings with Gillian Welch, and they were great! The king and queen of the modern alt-country scene, Rawlings totally rips on guitar and his voice blends perfectly with Gillian's. I had never seen either one live before and was very impressed. They played a relatively short set, but did come back on stage at the end.

Old Crow Medicine Show were last to perform, although all of their members had appeared with the previous acts. Led by fiddler and vocalist Keith Sector (in absurdly tight jeans), they played a set filled with their trademark old-time string band music. And oh yes, the crowd went nuts for their final song, Wagon Wheel. I'll never get tired of that song. At the end of the night, all of the musicians returned to the stage for the encore, which included Gillian finally getting in the spotlight with "Look at Miss Ohio" and an fantastic group cover of ACDC's "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock N Roll)." (YouTubed here) Overall, it was a great night of indie folk music and a chance to see a multitude of talented performers.

Update: here's an nifty article from the Wall Street Journal about the tour. (thanks, Dan!)

and lastly, the Boston Globe's review of the show.

Links!

For history buffs... John Quincy Adams, the sixth U.S. President, kept a journal in which he jotted down daily updates of only a line or two in legnth. The Massachusetts Historical Society is now publishing the entries from his diplomatic trip to Russia on a Twitter feed. Cute idea. Read the story and sign up to follow JQAdams_MHS on Twitter here.

And here's a fun video of the song Lisztomania by the band Phoenix set to a montage of 80s movies. Aw yeah, Duckie! (via DBC)

I'm down with OPP*

Say hello to Toby, my parents' new puppy. He's a black lab mix.

*Other People's Pets. I like animals but am really not up to the repsonsibility of having my own pet. But man, puppies are pretty hard to resist.

Book Review: Valley of the Dolls

Blogger book club with Andy, Sarah, Caity, and Amanda is still going strong...this month we chose a perfect summer read, Valley of the Dolls, by Jacqueline Susann. One glimpse at the cover pretty much tells you all you need to know about the book- written in 1966, the novel tells the story of three young women who move to New York City with big hopes for fame, fortune, and love. The classy Anne is a secretary turned model, Jennifer is a sexy, platinum blonde film star, and young Neely is the true talent of the three- a performer with a amazing voice and a tendency to self-destruct. The "dolls" referred to in the title are the prescription pills the women all turn to at different points in their lives. The three main characters were reportedly based on Grace Kelly, Marilyn Monroe, and Judy Garland. The book was an enormous commercial success, but the movie version starring Patty Duke as Neely and Sharon Tate (who was later murdered by the Charles Manson family) was panned by critics. We watched it last night and it was campy good fun. If you're looking for a entertaining book to read I highly recommend Valley of the Dolls- it's full of the timeless drama of success and failures in life and love.