Intelligent Design

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2286756089926250007

Love this video by Guiness. I guess I know where they stand as far as "intelligent design" is concerned. I wonder if this ad aired in the US.

Malibu Hike

We went for an amazing hike in Malibu yesterday: the Sandstone Peak - Mishe Mokwa trail. It was beautiful. There were 360 degree views at Inspiration Point and we had a clear view of the ocean and Catalina. It was a medium level of difficulty hike, and I realized how out of shape I am. My heart definitely needs exercise. The vegetation was very diverse and incredibly lush because of the recent rains. We felt as if we had been transported from the urban machine that is Los Angeles to somewhere far more isolated and pristine. At times, both Sumit and myself felt as if we were in Hawaii again. We also saw a rock climber tackling Echo Cliffs. We stopped midway and had an "Easter picnic" with the friends we had gone with. All in all it was a very enjoyable experience that helped me remember how much I love the outdoors and how much natural beauty abounds around Los Angeles.

PhD Comics and Rain

This comic is from phdcomics.com . It is a funny comic that, unfortunately at times, rings very true to reality.

We've stopped having weekly lab meetings in our lab which is sad. I think they're very useful. Although I have to say, my PI (principal investigator) is not the type to fall asleep in our lab meetings. He's usually very attentive when someone from the lab is presenting. I've been working weekends for the past few months and I still don't know what I'd present if I had to lead a meeting soon. I always feel like I haven't accomplished much in my year at the lab. Certainly not enough to give a whole presentation about.

It's raining again in Los Angeles. This can either be very good for traffic or VERY bad. Usually its very bad. People either drive very slow or aggressive drivers drive very fast because they're annoyed that everyone is driving slow because of the rain and get into an accident with one of the slow drivers. But everyone is also very eager to go home early, so by 6:30 pm, the freeway is completely open. At that time today the 405N (which is never open, not on weekends, not at nights, not ever) was completely open. I actually traveled 2 miles in less than the fifteen minutes it usually takes me. That was very nice. In the other direction, however, traffic was at a standstill. An aggressive driver had probably gotten into an accident with a slow driver further south.

An Engineer Joke

An engineer was crossing a road one day when a frog called out to him and said: "If you kiss me, I'll turn into a beautiful princess".
He bent over, picked up the frog and put it in his pocket. The frog spoke up again and said: "If you kiss me and turn me back into a beautiful princess, I will stay with you forever."
The man took the frog out of his pocket, smiled at it and returned it to the pocket. The frog then cried out: "If you kiss me and turn me back into a princess, I'll stay with you and do ANYTHING you want". Again the man took the frog out, smiled at it and put it back into his pocket.
Finally, the frog asked: "What is the matter ? I've told you I'm a beautiful princess, that I'll stay with you forever and do anything you want. Why won't you kiss me ?"
The man said, "Look I'm an engineer. I don't have time for a girlfriend, but a talking frog is cool."

Recreate Blog

HI..I decided to recreate this blog. I'm moving it away from a semi-professional blog, and just letting it be whatever is on my mind: rambles, rants or raves.

This weekend I saw V for Vendetta. I really enjoyed it. I should've written right after watching it. I had lots of fresh ideas in my mind about it: about terrorism, corrupt governments, vigilantes. The fine line between an idea which calls for anarchy and mass destruction against corruption for a very just cause (if there ever is such a cause for those things) and anarchy and terrorism against government one feels too powerful and controlling. Unfortunately though, those thoughts have mostly faded now. The movie was great. I liked V's character a lot. Natalie Portman...I used to really enjoy her (Beautiful Girls, Heat), but lately she's playing the same annoying role in almost all movies (Star Wars, Garden State, V). I haven't seen her in Up close and Personal though...so I can't say much, but I still think she's got huge potential. I saw bits of Batman Begins again too. I do enjoy the epic good vs bad story. Especially when it's done well. And Christian Bale. Can't decide if he has taken over Michael Keaton as my favorite Batman, but he is great. I guess this became a movie post.

Work is finally going well. I am getting a good amount of protein from this purification so far. It's very promising. It's exciting to go in and know things are happening as they should be without any great surprises or mistakes. I really need to focus on my Oral Qualifying Exams. I've been procrastinating so much that June is looking impossible to get them done by. But they should be interesting. I'm fairly certain that I have my topic down, now I just need to think of experiments.