Christmas Eve

Well, it's Christmas eve in Ontario. Time to talk about this webpage with interesting t-shirts. My friend Michelle pointed this out to me, it's Threadless.com. Some of my favorites (not that I would wear them all) are MP(3), What Would Macgyver Do, French Army Knife, Yo-Fu, Afternoon Delight, Vikings are just Swedish Pirates and Loch Ness Imposter. I was shopping on Queen West in Toronto where t-shirts were going for $55 a pop which makes these ones at $15-$17 (probaby American) a steal.

Stereo Pictures

The HAV 3C protease, in 3D. Remember those magic eye pictures where you had to stare at a picture out of focus and hope to see the hidden image pop out at you? Well, there actually is a practical application of my magic eye skills. In my area of science they often determine the structure of a molecule through a process called X-ray crystallography. A protein that I work with is called HAV 3C and my collaborators at the University of Alberta have determined the structure of the protein. They published the structure and here is an image of it in three dimensional glory. So, if you cross your eyes in just the right way while staring at the picture you can look at the 3D structure of my protease. It might be easier looking at the larger image. Good thing I spent all those hours perfecting my eye crossing skills.

Hair

I recently cut 4 inches of hair off, and while it still looks like I have long hair it doesn't feel like it. Anyway, I just posted this picture so I can use it as my blog picture and not have to host it elsewhere.

Charlie Brown Tree

Well, my parents always joke about getting a bad Christmas tree (mainly my father who has great fun in finding ever tackier decorations) and now they have carried the joke one step further. So, here's a picture of the tree in the living room and it is it a sad one. Of course, I realize it's better than what many people get, but still. Turns out this is the joke tree (a result of some judicious trimming of a tree on our farm) and we will have fun running around in the woods for a while finding something good (read, Carly likes).

Vancouver Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving in Vancouver. I couldn't make it to Chilliwack for the family dinner so we put together this dinner really quick. It was my first time roasting a turkey and there were 10 people for dinner. A great turnout, a great meal and tons of help! Sarah made bread pudding which was excellent and proof yet again that she can cook.

The Fringe

Vancouver Fringe festival is all over (except for best of fringe). The Fringe festival is a theatre festival where small groups of performers put on small productions. I saw two shows this year: Quantum Physics: the musical and BoyGroup. Quantum Physics was just what you expected, songs about quantum physics. Very funny, very witty. BoyGroup was very entertaining, about the rise and fall of a boy band. Hilarious, it's in best of the fringe. Well, I'm lucky to live in Vancouver and have a chance to see these productions.

Movie Filming

Well, yesterday they were filming Hollow Man 2 in our department (I heard it was a straight to video release - no surprise). It's a movie about an invisible assassin (Christian Slater) after a biologist (Laura Regan). So Christian Slater was hanging out in the entrance to our lab before chasing Laura down the hallway. Best line "Wow, so there really are such things as buffers" while looking in out glovebox. Both actors were really nice and talkative and asked questions about the lab between sprints. The director sent a makeup artist to work on Laura Regan in our lab with instructions "Don't touch anything.... except her face". When I had to walk through set to get to the incubators and freezers this man would walk in front of me shouting (with a grin) "Microbiologist coming through. Important experiments, watch your back. Innoculations coming through". Hilarious! I asked Christian Slater if he wanted to join the lab since he kept coming back and he said he didn't want to do that much school. In the end he signed my lab book. Experiment 21.12, book 6.

Good book

Well, it's been a very long time since I've posted. I just finished a great book called "A short history of progress" by Ronald Wright. A book about collapse of human civilizations when they've degraded their environmental base. My favorite quote is: "Wealth can buy no refuge from pollution; pesticides sprayed in China condense in Antarctic glaciers and Rocky Mountain tarns. And wealth is no shield from chaos, as the surprise on each haughty face that rolled from the guillotine made clear". Do I think a big change is coming, certainly, on the span of decades not centuries. Do I think humanity can learn from it's past mistakes and make the necessary changes. Nope. Just read Margret Wente's column in the globe and mail. Or talk to most of my relatives who can't comprehend the 'ghettoness' of taking the bus. Or my current favorite, the man I met who bragged about never taking the bus and cracking open a beer on the ride home in Vancouver.

April Birthday

Birthday trail ride. Well, here's the group that went out. We had fantastic weather and the ride went up trails that are definitly hiking, not Sunday stroll trails. The horses were going over bare rocks, across a stream that went up to their bellies, through the woods and across log bridges. Perfect weather and a great dinner afterwards.

Hermit crab molting

My jumbo hermit crab molted about a week ago. You can see him all pink in his shell. He has discarded his original carapace which is the darker red thing at the bottom. I moved him to a new tank to keep him away from the other crabs since he molted on the surface and I hope that he recovers.

Hermit Crabs

I have two hermit crabs - Achilles and Henry. Yesterday I found Henry with a new shell, he had molted and ate his old one except for two rather macabre looking legs hidden in the substrate. So that's great, I can keep the crabs healthy enough that they molt. I'll post a photo later.

So what are hermit crabs? They are rather popular kids pets in the states but there are a few places that sell them in Vancovuer. These are terrestrial animals that are relatively easy to care for. They can pinch hard if they are threatened but then again, dogs can bite hard too. They are also really cool to watch as they move around, totally alien compared to mammal pets. If you want to see more go to http://www.crabstreetjournal.com/.

Vancouver riding

This is a really neat picture of me at my riding lesson in Vancouver. It was taken at just the right time.

Chinese New Year

Finally, after being in Vancouver for several years I made it out to the chinese new year parade in Chinatown.

Just something

Well, I've given in and started a blog. I like blogs so I can keep track of what my friends and family are up to every once in a while so that's what this is for. Just some pictures and stuff.