A Reintroduction & Download Festival

The upcoming weekend is guaranteed to bring happiness.

On Friday, I’m meeting up with an old friend for dinner at a restaurant that’s on the Michelin Guide (the deserts are suppose to be ridiculously good). I haven’t seen this individual in three years and it’s going to be really nice to share an evening with her. Afterwards we’ll probably stroll around town. Hopefully, I can convince her to join me to a club. It’s been too long (1 week) since I’ve been out and I’m feeling the need for some par-taying.

Saturday, I’m headed off to the Download festival. I’m actually extremely excited about it. I'm hurt I'm not in Denmark for the Roskilde Festival; I’ve had to keep myself from looking at the program so I wouldn’t become further upset. A couple of bands who I’m looking forward to are below.

Cut // Copy- Hearts on Fire


RJD2- Ghostwriter


Datarock- Fa Fa Fa


Mates of State- My Only Offer

Meeting with MD/PhD Student

The PI is out for a conference this week and I've been helping out a fellow with putting together graphs. I will admit, I have a lot of free time on my hands, a little too much, and I've been trying to keep myself entertained. Today I was able to meet with a MD/PhD student and many questions were answered.

MSTP websites are rather vague and I wasn't sure what the duel degrees would exactly allow. I was told that after the completion of the program, many medical scientist go into their residency. During the duration of this, research is conducted at Happy Hospital. I was glad to hear that research would parallel the residency years. Furthermore, the MD/PhD student told me that fellowship programs are starting to provide "fast track" programs where fellows take less time on internal surgery and focus more time on their specialty. Ideally after training, medical scientist are set to have a clinical practice and a basic research lab as well.

Hardcore, intense, and everything else, but this is exactly what I want to do. I'm excited.

Dr. Helen Fisher: The Brain in Love

I very much enjoy this talk from Dr. Helen Fisher. In her work, she utilizes MRI to look into the brains of individuals who are in romantic love. At the moment, I'm going through a period of nonsense (read: love) and it's great to hear this discussion on why. I especially enjoy the mention of love it first sight and its origin with animals. If you can't get enough, she has another talk on TED.

The Brain in Love

This talk starts slow but soon the information becomes very interesting. More about the Science of Love on the BBC, thanks Dr Confabula
Key Points from the science of love:

• There are three phases to falling in love and different hormones are involved at each stage
• Events occurring in the brain when we are in love have similarities with mental illness
• When we are attracted to somebody, it could be because subconsciously we like their genes
• Smell could be as important as looks when it comes to the fanciability factor. We like the look and smell of people who are most like our parents
• Science can help determine whether a relationship will last

The last key point I am not so sure!

Via ShockMD

On Repeat: Ladyhawke

I've been listening to Ladyhawke nonstop for the past 2 days. There have been so many remixes to her "Paris is Burning" track and for good reason. I must say though, I prefer her most popular track in French ("Paris s'enflamme").

Ladyhawke- Paris is Burning


Ladyhawke- Back of the Van


Ladyhawke Myspace

Feist: "1, 2, 3, 4 Penguins..."

Check out the penguins at 0:49.

Feist Counts Her Chickens on Sesame Street
The 39th season of Sesame Street will premiere on August 11, and Grammy award nominee Feist will be guest-starring. Here's a preview clip of her appearance, in which she performs a reworking of her hit "1234," to apply to counting monsters, penguins, and "chickens just back from the shore." (They're in sunglasses and straw hats.) It's super cute and sweet, but the Count was oddly absent.

Via Jezebel

Hardcore Nonsense: Lava Surfing

Looking for the next extreme, pro surfer CJ Kanuha thought it would be wise to surf along the Kilauea volcano while lava was flowing out into the water. The New York Post has some great photos.

The Hawaiian surfer proclaimed, "The water is well over 200 degrees in some spots and melted the wax on the surfboard. It was an amazing feeling to get so close to the power of the lava.”

Yeah, that is rather ridiculous. The water around who could have easily given the surfer 2nd or 3rd degree burns. Bra, you should totally back down because it would have been a bummer if you wiped-out on this wave; stick to impressing the beach bunnies.

Via Huffington Post

'The Falling Water' Cocktail Making Machine

Spectacular.

For those who don't have access to such a machine as this, here is the recipe for the drink:

- 30mls (1Oz) 42BELOW Feijoa Vodka
- Ch'i or Lemonade
- Long slice of seedless cucumber
- Ice

Cut a long thin piece of cucumber on a diagonal.
Rest it against the inside of a Highball glass.
Fill the glass with ice, add 42BELOW Feijoa.
Top with Ch'i or Lemonade.

Christian the Lion

I love kitty cats.

Thank you Ron.

Clinical vs. Basic

The summer research I’m conducting is different in that instead of doing basic research I’m in the clinical realm. As of last week, my main tasks were to educate myself, run literature searches, and use my little thinking cap to determine the best way to take this project. Given that I’m an undergraduate and that I didn’t know X syndrome from Y syndrome 4 weeks ago, I felt that I was given a ridiculously large responsibility. After several meetings with the PI, we both decided on a course of action and I’m happy to say that he responded well to my recommendations.

The PI that I’m working under doesn’t have the physical existence of a lab, but he does indeed have fellows running around, working on projects. In a way, I do enjoy the space a lab provides because it’s a great way to interact with lab mates. And with this, I have to get use to the fact that clinical and basic researches are both managed differently. Since projects are mobilized by MDs instead of PhDs in this clinical setting, one can’t simply set up an experiment for next week. Really though, this is exactly what I need to see. One of the main reasons why I sought out this PI for a summer research position was to get such clinical research exposure and understand the process.

Oh and next week, I’ll start helping another PI on a project. More the merrier.

Right now though, I have more free time available than what I prefer. I need to remind myself that it’s summer and I should go play outside with the rest of the kids. I think I’m going to start filling up my empty time by exploring the campus and the near by city. I should start reading one of my summer books (Avoid Boring People by James D. Watson). Maybe I’ll write a little review.

Wishful thinking

When I become a successful medical scientist, I'm going to buy this and fill it with some of this and that. Maybe I can drive this around and have this for the weekends and these two things will have there own room. Hopefully, my wife won't mind. Oh, and I'll have a couple of these running around as well and at least two of these. When my midlife crisis strikes at 39 (I'm mature for my age) I'll just buy this instead of doing the normal thing. After I come to my senses, I will find inspiration by moving to here. During this time of productivity, I'll win this and I predict that once it happens I'll become an untouchable like him. At this moment in time, I'll change my profession to do some good. A couple of years later, I'll probably suffer a mild heart attack from yelling at these individuals on the Senate floor. A year after this event, I'll retire and live here. In my old life and annoyed from my normal mode of transportation, I'll rebel and drive this around. It will sadly be the death of me or maybe this. I haven't made up my mind.

J.K. Rowling to Harvard Graduating Class of 2008

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Via: Fwds End: Graveyard of Forwards