My Haloween Adventures

So, instead of waiting around for my neighborhoods inexplicable non-existent trick-or-treaters (except for the kids from across the street), I headed down to Nashvegas for what was surely to be an epic concert featuring two indie rock (I suppose) heavyweights. Observe, and be amazed!




But what do I find once I get there, but a half-empty Ryman Auditorium and a crowd that asks "so who you here for" and looks at you like you're crazy when you answer "well, both are awesome, and I'd pay to see either band, really, but I've seen Drive-By Truckers play when I was in college, so I guess The Hold Steady." Fortunately, the sparse crowd didn't seem to affect either band from kicking ass. And The Hold Steady was in the holiday spirit.

(thank you Flickr and people with better seats than me, I'll never bother taking a camera to a concert ever again!)
So basically, I'm left thinking: what the hell, "Music City"?

My day just got a hell of a lot more interesting.

This morning, a jammed printer was the worst part of my day. No more.
Shots Reportedly Fired on WKU's Campus
this sounds way scarier:
Report: armed men on WKU campus
Basically I'm locked in my building, waiting for the all-clear. But there are still people walking around outside and cars driving down the street like any other day. Which is weird considering now every school in town is locked down, too.
3 pm. update. It's all over.
Hello, CNN! Shots Reportedly Fired On WKU Campus.
Man injured in fight after report of shots fired.
Well, back to work.

GFP! FTW!

Chemistry Nobel Prize Awarded for Glowing Protein Work
here's another cool rundown on some things you can do with GFP.
Of course, I just use it to make E. coli cells that glow on a petri dish for a cool visual aide in class.

R.I.P. SEC Speed

This site is sad to report the sudden and untimely passing of the beloved go-to internet phrase "SEC Speed!" (aka 'esss eee ceee speed!' or some other variant thereof). The speed died of neglect during last night's Mississippi State-Auburn football game, and out of respect to the sensitive nature of those who witnessed it and are still coping with the aftermath, the final score will not be posted here. SEC Speed will be buried at the 50 yard line at Scott Field in Starkville, next to the first bulldog mascot. As always, your continued prayers are appreciated.

(pic from The Wiz)

Stay in school kids?

Or: I'm in the wrong business. Again.

Workers in every other educational group -- including Ph.D.s as well as high school dropouts -- earned less in 2007 than they did in 2000,

From the Washington Post
So this either means that there are less jobs for people with "advanced" (MS and PhD) degrees, or there are more people with advanced degrees now in lower-paying jobs (like those stereotyped history major-barrista types).

Everyone still here?

Not sucked into a black hole? Or transported into another dimension (all that playing Halo and Half-Life has primed me for such an event)? Well then, carry on paying attention to science as little as possible, then.

Why I Was Late for Work This Morning

It's all due to these guys:

More great pics and a review here.
I would come up with some lame pun like "at least I have an excuse from The Boss", but I'm too tired to attempt to be funny.

Dispatches from the American Owl Restaurant

and other random links.
Yes, Beijing has a Hooters. Enjoy the world's creepiest guy at 1:25. You find Hooters too bourgeois for your sophisticated taste? Prefer skinny jeans and obscure crappy bands? Prepare to get taken down a few pegs, hipsters.

An artificial appropriation of different styles from different eras, the hipster represents the end of Western civilization – a culture lost in the superficiality of its past and unable to create any new meaning.

Yikes. It gets more scathing after that.
Plus, a study noticed an inverse relationship between beer drinking by scientists and getting published. One of my old bosses certainly was a good example of this.
If wine is more your style, you could always start a fake restaurant stocked full of low-rated wines and still get Wine Spectator's award of excellence.
And, don't worry, sometimes you don't even need to be a researcher to get noticed by scientific publications. Occasionally, just being attention-whoring hillbilly cut-rate Barney Fife wannabes will get the job done. And finally, with college football season on us, let's look at the (debatable) reasons why college football is way better than the NFL.

The Coolest Thing I've Read All Day

Julia Child. Affable cookbook author, television personality and foodie icon was a spy in the 24,000 member OSS.

An incredible picture

Kottke.org has what is described as "The most beautiful suicide" The pic is from the not-as-idyllic-as-you'd-think 1947 Life Magazine and is mesmerizing in a morbid kind of way.

What a waste

So, talented young Alabama linebacker (and loudmouth featured here before) Jimmy Johns has found himself in a little spot of trouble with the law. I'll let Curtis here explain:

Or maybe something more...contemporary


Cocaine, exstacy, driving without a seatbelt, what won't this guy do?
http://blog.al.com/rapsheet/2008/06/jimmy_johns_arrested_and_charg.html
What's that you say, raising pitbulls on the side? Why the hell not?
http://www.tidesports.com/article/20080625/NEWS/46761593/1011
Plus style points for dealin' at the football facilities.
http://blog.al.com/live/2008/06/police_jimmy_johns_sold_cocain.html
All this clearly resulted in an unprecedented Fulmer Cup windfall.
http://www.everydayshouldbesaturday.com/2008/06/25/fulmer-cupdate-rooooooooooooll-taaaaahde/
So in retrospect, and with stunningly clear hindsight, I'm glad he went elsewhere for his fancy advanced book learnin'.
Old Crow, take us out!

A sad day for comedy

Things I love: pessimism and humor.


Plus, some thoughts on the Gulf War (the one that lasted a few days)


Something tells me he would have gotten a kick out of this:
Ex-Traffic Cop Says He's Jesus.

I'm feeling a bit lightheaded. Maybe you should drive.

Just got back from my first ever trip to Las Vegas To put it mildly, it was interesting. Since the ACM Awards were last Sunday, my flight from Nashville was full of people from the country music industry, which was interesting. The whole Vegas thing can be overwhelming. The obvious differences from there and wherever you live are obvious from the moment you step off the plane.
With hideous payout rates, they're like flypaper for total suckers.

I made my way to my subdued, understated accommodations.


My room? It's somewhere behind the enormous guy in the straitjacket. I'm sure it's purely coincidental.






But if it was good enough for the guy that helped make the place a world-class destination,













and good enough for a famous journalist and inspiration for this post's title, it's good enough for me, too.




And look who was waiting to greet me in my room!


Fortunately, my time spent in the room was limited. There was plenty to do. Like gawk at the fountains in front of the Bellagio (which looks suspiciously like the Beau Rivage back home)

If spending money like it's going out of style is more your thing, you could go to a certain expensive hotel (complete with expensive shops) and check out an expensive show.



Or, while at that same location, if you know exactly where to look (and it's nowhere near any other restaurants there), you can do what I did and have the best meal of your life at Bouchon.

Was it worth walking past at least a dozen other dining options to eat here twice (take note, jealous foodies)? You bet it was. A French Restaurant operated by a California chef in an Italian themed hotel where a Mexican guy called me "monsieur" when he brought out my food. It was all-American-ly fantastic. I even kept the menu.

Or, if such high-fallotin' options just aren't your thing,there are plenty of places to slum it and let your inner partying frat-boy out.

Translation: please come in our establishment if for no other reason than drinking games.

And lest you think that I didn't do what made Vegas famous while I was here, I was lucky enough to be hanging out in the sportsbook section of Caesar's Palace for the Preakness Stakes, which was really cool.


Apologies for the poor quality. A security guard told me to "make it quick" with the picture there. And in case my horrible Kentucky Derby pics weren't indicative enough: I am not good at sports betting. This trend continued for my NBA pics, too.
So, that sums up my first Vegas experience. Not pictured things include a guy getting kicked out of Margaritaville for jumping in the big blender, Pete Rose and Gordie Howe signing autographs at the shops in Caesar's (I have a knack for running into controversial sports figures) and the old eastern European (presumably) hooker hitting on me while I was playing video poker.

Your Derby 134 Wrap-up

Sure you know how it ends, but you haven't been treated to mundane infield pictures yet! Greetings from a still sunburned and not still hungover anymore viewer of the 134th run for the roses. Observe clutched in my sausage fingers the worst Derby picks ever.


My horses finished from 6th through 14th. Fortunately, I'm cheap, so I only lost the monetary equivalent of two juleps. I also didn't make any money off the filly, so I can sleep with a clear conscience (more on that later). The day turned out to be a lot nicer than the previous day, but the infield was incredibly muddy in spots. You can find mud wrestling pics out there in the internet, but I'm way to highbrow to look at share them.


Like I mentioned a few years back, the infield crowd can be overwhelming






I'm sure to the rich people next to the spires, we looked like ants. But behaved much less socially productive.


This is the only glimpse of the Derby we got from the backstretch




So we "missed out" on seeing Eight Belles collapse and the resultant horrible ending.



For us, the worst part was the non-moving mass of people jammed at the exit for an hour. The crowd wasn't that bad, except for the drunk idiots next to us that kept getting into a fight. At one point, this one guy got jumped by two jerks who smashed a julep glass over his head. Of course, at this point the multitudes of law enforcement that had been around all day were totally non-existent. I would have taken a picture of the carnage, but I was too buy trying to not get batshit-crazy-belligerent-drunk-hick blood on me or my friends (with mixed results). Frankly, it was slightly less jarring than rubbing shoulders with OJ.

Well, that was an interesting wake-up call

I experienced my first earthquake ever this morning at 4:38 AM. The rumble woke me up, and the feeling reminded me of when I lived right next to the railroad tracks. I've spent my whole life in "tornado alley" and have had to batten down the hatches for a hurricane before, and this was...different.
An Earthquake Rattles the Midwest.
But wait, there's more. About the time I was posting this, there was an aftershock
Yes, the earth moved for me
This showed up in my Google Reader asThunder Under Louisville (kudos to whoever came up with that one)
5.2 Rattles U.S. Midwest

More second round shortcomings?

So, my Dogs get the privilege of playing 1 seed Memphis today. When you play your way into the 8 seed, that's what happens. The game will feature loads of defense. Memphis has an awesome offense. State's has a disturbing tendency to be hit-or-miss. There's a slight chance State wins. But we can always dream. And now, a cheap shot from the Memphis-UAB post-game shenanigans.

Play of the Tournament by the Hilltoppers!

Woo hoo. Even the science and engineering nerds in the building were yelling when this went down. Sadly, I had just stopped watching (and went back to my actual job) when it happened.

The 12 seed does it again! I'm in the only town in America where this doesn't help my bracket at all! Time to celebrate and hope my 'Dogs can keep up the streak today.
Oh, and here's some instant analysis as this thing is tearing up the 'net right now.
With Leather
The Quad
The Big Lead (which WKU ironically squandered during the second half)
EDSBS (Orson writes about hoops?)
Storming the Floor
King Kaufman's Sports Daily
Awful Announcing
Deadspin
Hell, even my mom just e-mailed me a story about this.

A Day Late, Buck Short Tourney Wrap-Up

First, enjoy St. Patrick's Day

Georgia wins the "Tornado Tournament" on their arch-nemesis' home court, too. They equaled their conference win total for the season in just three days. Sure, I cackled when they took burst Ole Miss' bubble. I snickered when they outlasted Kentucky. I swore at the TV when they beat State. And I found myself rooting for them in the finals against Arkansas. If they lost, they weren't even eligible for the NIT, they were considering firing their coach last week, and now they're in the big dance, as one of the six teams in from the "weak" SEC. For my questionable bracket picks that no one will read, and fewer should pay attention to: I like 10 seeds Davidson, St. Mary's, 11 seeds Baylor (and maybe St. Joe's), and 12 seeds Temple plus my homer pick WKU. Also, look for State to beat Oregon on Friday and then lose in all-too-typical nailbiter fashion to Memphis. Plus, congrats to Gordon, Rhodes and Varnado for making another all-SEC roster. And while you're watching the first round games, and are wondering when a game is really over, here's a handy guide for you (complete with a calculator).

What. The. Hell?

So, that was an eventful, suspense-filled game.
Mississippi State Beats Alabama 69-67 in OT. Other than the thrilling overtime action, not much notable happened, except for the 'nader that passed through downtown Atlanta, making a mess of the Georgia Dome and surrounding areas, forcing the league to postpone the UK-Georgia game until today. The rest of the tournament games will be played at Georgia Tech in front of "400" fans of each team (plus the band and cheerleaders), which will no doubt piss off tons of the SEC's notoriously even-keeled fanatics. Watching the UK game now, it's kind of surreal seeing a conference semi-final played in an intra-squad scrimmage type of setting.

You can't get away with this kind of thing

...even if you do live in Pearl.

from the way-funnier-than-LOLcats failblog.

And finally, how does a team accurately commemorate the ten year anniversary of Bryce Drew Day? By getting upset in nail-biting fashion again (and that Valpo game was a decade ago? I feel ancient now).

Congrats to the Bulldogs

(from the Clarion-Ledger) You know, I'm flattered Charles, but lots of people have the same reaction when they realize that's the scene of my graduation. Moving on.

Good job on winning the West. Here's to a good showing in Atlanta and a decent seed in the tourney. Now, if I might have a word with my alma mater: Please, try and make it past the second round of the tournament this time. I've seen you blow it at that point in every conceivable way. Lose to an upstart big-name program playing closer to home than they deserve (Texas), let a scrappy bunch of underdogs hang around the whole game to win at the last second (Butler, damn 12-5 match up), have a red-hot team shoot lights out the whole day (Xavier), play a big name close the whole time, only to fall short at the end (Duke). I've seen it all. Sure, some of those teams were better than this group (talent-wise and record-wise, at least). I'm even willing to put my $ on the line and keep you out of the second round in my office pool. That's right, my superstitious ass will take a dive on this one, just meet me halfway.
Also, enjoy this article featuring some of the "greatest" infractions in SEC history on this list. If we all try really hard, I'm sure we can trump the Big 12 in terms of shadiness (assuming Oklahoma and Nebraska don't go on some crazy 1980's style binge).

Didn't see that one coming (but neither did anyone else)

So, nothing like a relaxing evening at home...listening to a heartbreaking overtime loss. Hopefully State has got the buzzer-beater loss out of their system BEFORE the tournament this year. How the hell do you make nine three pointers in a row? After missing the first six attempts? It's not human. Oh, how quickly I forgot that the benevolent, all-knowing creator hates my sports teams:

My teammates did a great job of finding me when I was open, and God took care of the rest.

Riiiiight. I'm sure Yahweh also caused State to shoot 15/28 of their free throws.
Hopefully they can demolish LSU in Starkville, and get a few wins in the SEC tournament. I just don't want to be a 5 seed. Yes, even as a scientist, I'm that superstitious when it comes to that kind of thing.
Well, at least I'll always have boneheaded moves by the Raiders to keep me entertained. 50 million for a tackle on some of the statistically worst SEC defenses EVER? Okay. Care for an underachieving, injury-prone receiver while you're at it? Sweet.

Breaking bold new ground

and posting from work
Something I wouldn't have done at the old job.
Speaking of the former employer...

A statistical look at why football games on CBS seem to take forever.

Take a gander at the hexapus (because the name sextapus would send eighth graders into giggling fits)

And tonight, I'll be listening while the SEC West champ Bulldogs play the Top 25 ranked Vanderbilt. For some reason, the game isn't on TV, I guess the SEC decided that two teams with winning records,and a stake in the final standings isn't as much of a ratings draw as some underachieving big-name schools.

Some post game stuff

Hey! It's a Bloc(k) Party!

And now for the Varnado SportsCenter Highlight reel:


Fooled around, got a triple-double... beat UK (apologies to Ice Cube) I'd have to say it was a good day.

The ten block performance was either an incredible defensive accomplishment or a total hack fest that warrants a Congressional investigation, depending on how much of a UK partisan whiny homer fanatic one is (not the writers, KSR is a solid site, it's the commenters).
So, now State finds themselves 3-0 with a weekend showdown against longtime hoops foe Bama, and then a huge game against an amazingly good Ole Miss who hasn't won in Starkville for a long time.

Random amusing stuff

at least for me.
Okay, first off we have the perfect fashion complement for a preggers teenager from a crazy family complete with a GED study book.





















(hey, she's got to be kinda rich, so way to live up to one stereotype)

Anyway, this next gem has made a few internet rounds this week (I first saw it here) and comes from a documentary film called "Year of the Bull" chronicling a Miami-area high school football team
Sweet mother-of-pearl, this thing is intense, and has an incredible amount of F-bombs per minute.


I played in high school for what I thought were some football-crazed small towns. The only thing we had to worry about was a peeved coach grabbing our facemask and getting the occasional wayward drop of dip spit launched our way. These "molders of young minds" really crank it up to 11. Getting form tackled and dog-cussed (except for the normal "you ladies hitting sounds like gnats pissing on cotton" type of comments) wasn't on the radar for us. But hey, they won the state championship and we didn't, so different strokes for different folks.
And now I'm off to watch State face off against UK. Somehow MSU is a 9 point favorite. And that makes me incredibly nervous.