NASCAR and FOX you are on my list!

Tonight there was supposed to be a re-airing of the hilarious season premiere of "King of the Hill". Instead the stupid NASCAR race ran long and FOX pre-empted "King of the Hill" to show an entire hour of The Simpsons and Family Guy (both reruns). And after the race was finally over, the announcers had to recap the race for 20 minutes. I am really mad a FOX because I know other stations (like CBS) does not pre-empt shows (they will show all of "60 minutes" no matter what!)

"He has A.D.D., Luanne, he wasn't hit on the head with a coconut." - Hank Hill

Towards the cliff of insantity

So I get an email update from the United Nation Foundation called the UN wire. It has articles about public health, economics, and environmental issues from all over the world. Anyway, I have been following this crazy story about the president of Gambia (Yahya Jammeh). He has claimed that he is curing people of HIV/AIDS with a natural herbal cure. Apparently he goes around to hospitals and give patients herbal potions and rubbing them with and herbal paste. And now he has dismissed the UN official from Gambia ( Fadzai Gwaradzimba) for being criticizing the cure. (You can read the whole article here ). She also warned that this claim may encourage people of West Africa to engage in "risky behaviors". In my opinion the validity of his claims is about equal to saying there is no such thing as a chemical imbalance and that mental illness can be cured with exercise and vitamins.

"And I ask you, Lord, to take this man's hiccups to heal him!" - TV Evangelist

Intrigue in the lab

As I mentioned in my last post, the freezer melted down. Now there is this question of how it happened. Jim (the PhD student that I work with) thinks that someone was rearranging stuff in the freezer (which was packed to the gills) and then overworked the compressor when the freezer was trying to cool it down. I am inclined to believe this specifically because I could tell that things have been moved around. One of my fellow grad student (Ian) joked that he was going to collect forensic evidence to determine what happened (I'm not sure what evidence there would be). So this whole catastrophe has at least made it more interesting in the lab.

"Do it, you monkey boy! I'm the boss of you!" - Jimmy

In case I missed chopping away at a glacier

This morning, I went to the lab to start doing PCR and found that the -80 freezer was not working. Not only did I get to move all the boxes and samples but I got wipe out the entire freezer as well as do my PCR and purification. So my day was pretty busy. And the rest of my week will be busy as well. I have two plates I need to make to send for sequencing this week. I also will be collecting rat blood and preparing to my in vitro exposure experiment this week as well. So wish me luck that I won't go crazy this week.

"Explode Bobby! Stick of dynamite!" - Hank Hill

Just because I'm going for a record number of posts in one day

You Are a Life Blogger!

Your blog is the story of your life - a living diary. If it happens, you blog it. And make it as entertaining as possible.

What Kind of Blogger Are You?

BOBBY: I hope Grandpa treats the baby better than he treats you.
DIDI: Oh, he will, Bobby. Until the baby crosses him.

Just In Case You Didn't Know

What Catherine Means

C is for Calm A is for Abstract T is for Tame H is for Hip E is for Extraordinary R is for Romantic I is for Influential N is for Natural E is for Energetic

What Does Your Name Mean?

"Don't buy inferior Arrow Girl cookies! What are they offering? Oatmeal? That's for breakfast. Mint? What are you, sixty? Dog poop? What kind of flavor is that for a cookie? Oh, my mistake, that's their peanut butter."- Bobby Hill

A New Theory

In music there is a thing called a sophomore slump in which the second album is not as good as the first album. I think there is a similar thing in television but it a junior slump (the third season). There are three shows that I watched that had or are having a poor third season. The show "Alias" had two really strong season and then everything went to pot in the third season due to mismanagement of situations put forward at the end of the second season. "Lost" had such a phenomenal TV-altering first season. It really helped create a resurgence in serial dramas that are highly character driven (compared to procedural dramas like "CSI:" and "Law and Order"). But the third season just isn't as good (and it seemed like the writers don't seem to have a larger picture in mind). And the last show is "Veronica Mars". The first season featured a spunky of main character and was funny and highly enjoyable. And know in the third season the show has not only lost its spark, but the main character is coming off as a judgmental bitch. All I know is that if I ever create a TV show, I am only going to have two seasons. It just seems like some shows start to run out of gas after a couple years.

For all of you that has tried to learn to drive a stick shift:
"The left brake's not working!"-Dale Gribble

Money is so wasted on the wealthy

So I just finished watching the most amazing film on "Independent Lens" called "Motherland Afghanistan" (click here to go to the website for the film). Afghanistan has one of the highest rate of maternal mortality during childbirth in the world and the second highest rate of infant mortality. In the film, the filmmaker's two doctor parents return to Afghanistan to help improve conditions in the hospitals, specifically for women's hospital (the husband is an OB/GYN and the wife was a GP). The couple visits two hospitals in the film. The first one is Rabia Balkhi, which is located in Kabul and receiving assistance from the the US department of Health and Human Services (in what was renamed the Laura Bush Maternity Ward). Before they left for Kabul, the doctor submitted a list of needs to care for the patients and help train the doctors (he never received any of the supplies he asked for). I could not believe the conditions of the hospital. The patients have to bring some of the needed supplies with them to the hospital (and there was one seen when the doctors had to sort through the suture material to find some that was not rotten and would break when they were stitching someone up). The doctor eventually left because he was convinced that he wasn't making a difference (plus not having supplies didn't help). He return two years later to another hospital run by the Shuhada Organization which was much cleaner and better run than the Kabul hospital. The Shudada Organization is run by Afghans specifically and is working to educate women and girls about their rights and how to protect themselves. So watching this film made me really think about what women face all over the world. I feel privileged to not only live in a country that recognizes women's rights but to be part of a family that really appreciates strength in women. And of course, the film made me want to donate money to help the work done by this organization. Which brings me to the title of this blog. With some exceptions ( like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation), most rich people do not donate enough money to charity (in my opinion). Why can't someone like Donald Trump or Paris Hilton donate half of their money to charity? I know that if I had the means I would donate a lot of money to charity (especially considering that one of my dreams is to create a foundation like the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and fund lots of programs on PBS). I guess I just don't understand owning lots of buildings and homes; you can't live in 3 houses at once.

"All I see is a crying drunk and a mean sissy."- Hank Hill

A Small Musical Milestone

So I officially have more than 1000 songs on my iPod (1001 to be exact). I'm not sure if I should be proud of the fact that I have/know that many songs. When I first got my iPod, I thought "There is no way that I will every have 1000 songs, I don't even know that many songs" but I guess I was wrong. And I'm sure at this point I own about 40-50 CDs so I have access to more than 1000 songs. The things is, I can stand doing the most crappy jobs as long as I have music to distract me. Its doesn't matter if the job is mind-numbing tedious and lasts for hours, just give me some good music and I am fine.

And on a completely unrelated note, I was adjusting a link to Robert Osborne on a previous post and so I looked up Turner Classic Movies and then read about Sydney Pollack who used to host "The Essentials" on Saturday night (He also directed "Out of Africa" and "Tootsie" among others). Turns out he was born in Lafayette, Indiana. How cool is that?


"Tell you what, if you play some catch with your old man, I'll buy you that album you want by those guys I hate." - Hank Hill

"All this time I thought I was an "extra extra large," but that's why my clothes never fit right. Turns out I'm a "medium!"- Bobby Hill

Alien encounters

So I just finished watching "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" on TCM (that movie won an Oscar for best art direction). It made me think about the fact that most movies that involve alien/human encounters, the aliens are not peaceful (think "War of the Worlds", "Signs" and "Independence Day". ) I think that it is really interesting that two of the three Spielberg movies featuring aliens, the aliens are peaceful (and look child-like, this means you E.T.). Except of "The Day the Earth Stood Still" most movies made before Close Encounters featured malicious aliens. And a most movies after Close Encounters and E.T. also have more malicious aliens than benign aliens. Maybe directors and producers think that more people will see a movie with an "us vs. them" theme versus cooperation between humans and aliens.

"This record is all Bill's got. Should we rock-paper-scissors to see who keeps him from killing himself in the bathroom?" -Dale Gribble

Happy Valentine's Day!

Have a nice day everyone! This is the 100th post of this blog! Who knew I had so much to write about?

"If you leave, she wins. And dating is all about who wins and who loses."-Hank Hill

Also: In one week, there is an episode of "The Office" directed by J.J. Abrams, who created one of my favorite shows: "Alias" and wrote "Regarding Henry".

So it's not just a clever name

I think Ted Turner is getting really lazy. It used to be just running "A Christmas Story" for 24 hours on TBS. Now, TNT is showing 24 full hours of "Law and Order" this coming Monday (which starts on Sunday night at 10pm). Which means all I have to do is get Ted Turner to by the rights for "King of the Hill" and then my wish for a station showing 24 hours of "King of the Hill" is one step closer to coming true. I love "Law and Order" so I am total looking forward to Sunday/Monday. I think what I love about that show is that the episodes are self contained. So if you miss an episode, it doesn't matter, you are going to totally confused when you watch the next episode. I read that more network are trying to develop more self contained shows ( I guess it's sort of an alternative to "Lost"). But, on Monday there is a 12 hour "King of the Hill" marathon to celebrate 10 years of "King of the Hill". As a result, I'm conflicted but I will be doing lab work on Monday so it may be completely moot.

"Now all we need are three more of those, four wheels, an engine, some kind of frame and a cassette radio, and we've got our death car!" -Bobby Hill

my mom is cooler than yours!

I got my Valentine's Day package today, which I believe makes me the first one! But I don't want to spoil the surprise, so I won't spill too much; all I will say is that mom sent me the best DVD which my sisters as well so perhaps I could be persuaded to send it to one of them (or bring it with me sometime!) In other news, there is a winter storm advisory in place until Tuesday afternoon for my county. The local news station have the warning running at the bottom of the screen as well as a map of the effected areas. But they don't show the entire state and it seems like every county in Iowa is the same size rectangle and since I am not good with my Iowa geography yet, I just looked it up at the NOAA website instead. So I think I will curl up with some tea and watch my new DVD.

AGENT: There's a catalog shoot tomorrow for Caulfield's of Texas. They're launching a new line of clothing called "Gravitas."
BOBBY: I want that account.

This conversation serves no purpose

I have been meaning to post an new entry believe me! The main problem that I have is not having anything to write about. I've been busy in the lab for most of the week, so I have been running PCR, gels, and sending 96 well plates for sequences (which I get to repeat again next week). As a result, the highlight of my week has been watching some movies on Turner Classic Movies. I saw "Lilies of the Field" on Thursday, which I really enjoyed . What I love most about watching movies on TCM is the intro to the movies by Robert Osborne. I love that he isn't too serious when he is introduces the movies (which isn't hard for movies like "Muppets take Manhattan"). I learned that the producer of "Lilies of the Field" used he is house as collateral for a loan to get the movie made. I made a list of the movies that I want to catch during the month, so I'm sure that I will write about those movies as well (which includes a Joseph Cotton movie that I have never seen).

"I have personally seen Tommy and Rollo kill a gopher with a pigeon."-Dale Gribble

Wants to have a snow day that will turn its parents into kids

This morning I woke to about 4 inches of snow on the ground with snow still falling. My first thought was "Great a snow day, no class." Then I remembered, I'm an adult. I miss snow days. It was always a happy surprise to wake up and then find out that you have the whole day to yourself and no classes. And then go play outside for hour before coming back inside to the warmth and hot chocolate. Now all I think when it snows is "Great, now I have to scrape my car and its going to take forever to get to the lab because people can't drive in snow." Actually traffic wasn't too bad, I think people know to expect snow every year so they at least know how to drive in snow. And, the city did a pretty good job of plowing the major roads.

"Okay, I have been through this before in Montana. Nobody lick any flagpoles!"- Peggy Hill

"If you want, I can show you how to make a bomb out of a roll of toilet paper and a stick of dynamite."- Dale Gribble

Being a weirdo is completely optional

So I am home on the farm to watch the Superbowl (but mostly to see my parents and do some laundry). We had some friends over for the game which meant that I helped mom make about 3 time more food than we needed. One dish that we made was pork curry bites with homemade naan. I convinced mom that we could make the naan instead of buying pita bread. We baked the naan on griddle and it was great. And, since we are swimming in eggs, I made my signature dessert of angel food cake. Angel food cake is one cake that I know I can make reliably so any time I have a chance to make it, I do. When I go back to Iowa, I will be starting my in vitro work on the effect of PCB on the immune system, specifically cytokines. So I will be spending a lot of time in the lab. But the good thing is it is time for "31 Days of Oscar" on Turner Classic Movies, which is probably one of my favorite times of the year. I already know what I will be doing next Friday, watching "The Muppets Take Manhattan".

"We could be your backup band. "The Dale Gribble Bluegrass Experience." -Dale Gribble