The next Pavel Datsyuk!

Check out this amazing goal by a 9 year old hockey player during an intermission activity at a Dallas Stars game!

World Series 2008!

You won't see many baseball posts on the Flying Lion, but I wanted to link to this cool article about the blockbuster trade the Tigers just made with the Florida Marlins. Boy the Tigers are looking grrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat for next year!

Tigers have mastered art of decisive dealmaking
by Jatson Stark

Isis in the morning

This is eerily similar to what she actually does (minus the baseball bat at the end)!

44-7!

Katie's new favorite song:




RAH RAH RAH!

My first live Lions game in more than 10 years, and we stomped the Broncos!

GOOOOOO LIONS! :)

This is too cool!

Try to count the number of laterals in this amazing, dramatic game winning play for a division III football team:

Wah!!!

I'm at a job interview right now!!!

Also, let it be known that on Oct 21, 2007 it was so hot I that had to use the air conditioning in my car while driving in the state of Michigan (and Indiana and Illinois).

Cantaloupe everywhere!

Ahh local news...the actual "Top Headline" this morning on the Grand Rapids NBC affiliate's website:

Highway ramp shutdown, cantaloupe everywhere

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

It sure doesn't feel like Thanksgiving weather! It was in the upper 80's and humid today. Still, on Canadian Thanksgiving I'm thankful that hockey season has begun! The Wings are 2-0-1 and the Griffins are 1-0. It's a good start to the season, and I'm expecting good things from both teams this year.

Also, happy birthday to Jean and Henrik Zetterberg tomorrow! :-)

Photo-a-day goes public

For the surprising number of you who look at my photo-a-day, I've moved July and August to the older photos gallery. However, I (finally) made my picture-a-day galleries public, so now if you are looking at the new pics you should be able to access the older ones by clicking on the public galleries option. As always, if you would like the link to my photos, comment here or email me and I will be happy to provide. :)

Survivorman

I have a new TV show recommendation for everyone: Survivorman! I love this show! The basic premise is that this guy (Les Stroud) gets dumped off in some remote location with hardly any supplies and no food or water, and he has to survive for a week. The cool thing is that he films it all himself. There is no camera crew or anything; he really is all alone the whole week trying to survive with just like a Swiss Army knife and a piece of gum or something.

Les is charismatic and interesting, and he has a lot of survival knowledge and experience. You will be amazed at the things he is able to think up to help him survive. Also, he goes to really cool locations like the Amazon rainforest, Canadian arctic, Arizona desert, African plains, etc.

The shows airs on the Discovery Channel. Also, for those of you with Netflix, Season 1 is available there too. I highly recommend it! :)

Sign we are living in Bizarro World:

The Lions are undefeated and Michigan is winless!

One sentence about the 2007 Detroit Lions

While I am very excited that the football season FINALLY began last night with the NFL season opener (the college games last weekend were still preseason, right? right?????????? please????), I am afraid that I find myself still a Lions fan. Despite the 10 win season predicted by our fearless QB Kitna, my attitude is much closer to that of ESPN columnist David Fleming, who gives this wonderful, one sentence explanation of why the Lions will win fewer than 8 games this year:

"The Lions were 9-7 in 2000 and missed the playoffs by one play (a game-winning 54-yard field goal by the Bears on the last snap of the season) when owner William Clay Ford, the great grandson of Henry Ford himself, pulled his own uber-Edsel and tabbed former NFL linebacker Matt Millen to run the franchise for a cool $3 million a year, despite the fact that Millen would continue to live in Pennsylvania most of the time (the Lions are located in Michigan), that he was legally blind in his eye for talent, that he wore sneakers with suits and that he possessed no actual front office experience of any kind whatsoever, zero organizational skills and, on occasion, the social couth of Britney Spears -- fatal flaws that first showed up with Millen's doomed decision to let interim coach Gary Moeller go in favor of the 49ers unknown and slightly quirky offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg, who has since become a good coach but was overmatched at the time and consequently went 5-27 -- a historic run of ineptitude highlighted by two things: his decision to kick the ball after winning a coin toss in overtime; and the choice of quarterback Joey Harrington as the third pick overall in the 2002 draft; Harrington, of course, was the first in a string of draft blunders by Millen (including, but not limited to, first-round busts wideouts Charles Rogers and Mike Williams) which were then layered by even poorer decisions in free agency that -- because of the current economic structure of the game that places a premium on fortifying your roster with inexpensive, young talent through the draft -- have crippled the the Lions at a rate of two years for every bad draft, which, by my calculations, puts them in the clear somewhere around 2047--something Millen might understand by now had he not spent so much time doing damage control for things like telling Mike Ditka during a radio interview about one of his players who was a "devout coward"; the true definition of which Millen himself conveyed a little later when he told Mornhinweg his job was safe while, behind his back, he was negotiating to bring in former 49ers coach Steve Mariucci, something he did, but only after being fined $200,000 by the league for not interviewing a minority candidate, an egregious error, to be sure, but also another fundamental, fatal, front office flaw considering how Mooch's schemes didn't match well with the personnel Millen had been able to cobble together through years of under drafting and over spending, leading to yet another season of futility, another sickening outburst (after a loss in Kansas City in 2003 Millen shouted a homophobic slur at Chiefs wideout Johnny Morton but kept his job) which led to the first recorded speculation four years ago about Millen's imminent dismissal (when, in fact, no one ever gets fired in this franchise, not even people who can't dress themselves) and then to what I think is the lowest point in the franchise's 77-year history: when Ford himself said he actually was pleased with Millen's drafts and his leadership and scoffed at complaints about Millen's 10-38 start, saying, "the fans, and I don't blame them, are interested in the won-loss record and I guess that's the barometer you judge success or failure by if you're a fan"; well, right, exactly, because everyone knows how unfair and subjective those silly NFL standings can be, I mean, that would be like someone measuring the Lions' heart only by that string of 24 consecutive road losses or something like the Ford Motor Company being judged strictly by its losses, layoffs and plant closings like the ones going on when, in 2005, Millen was given a FIVE-YEAR CONTRACT EXTENSION (the second most shocking thing in Michigan sports history after the App State loss) and Mooch was fired but allowed to continue earning more than $10 million not to coach the Lions -- something most NFL coaches would gladly do for free, just not potential candidates in Detroit like Jim Haslett and Russ Grimm who never received the courtesy of a phone call from Millen after he hired Rod Marinelli, a well-respected coach from Tampa who, nonetheless, led the Lions backwards to 13 more losses (seven of them on the road) and a humiliating 27-10 shellacking by Miami and former Millen scapegoat Joey Harrington on, of all days, Thanksgiving which, at least, inspired fan protests and walk-outs like the Millen Man March as Detroit -- softer (32nd in rushing and 28th in total defense), sloppier (minus-9 in turnover ratio) and slower than ever before -- suffered its sixth-straight losing season under Millen (who is now 24-72 with a league-worst .250 winning percentage during his realm despite once promising to "get out" if he couldn't win it all in five years) which, one could argue, did put the Lions in a position to draft fourth-time's-the-charm wideout Calvin Johnson whose huge frame fits perfectly with the rounded routes of offensive coordinator Mike Martz's schemes, thus giving the Lions the potential for a scary-good offense with a loaded backfield, a better line and three legit, downfield homerun hitters (Mike Furrey increased his catches by, oh, 97 balls in 2006); which, trust me, I know, is like waving a Vernors, a Coney (no mustard, light onions) and some Sanders ice cream under the noses of starving Lions fans, but could still all be for not if Kitna, 34, who got sacked 63 times in 2006, can't stay healthy and Millen's stellar backup plan, someone named Dan Orlovsky (career passing: 63 yards) takes over for the Motor City Kitties: a transaction that likely would lead to what is the only sure bet with the Lions these days: another contract extension for Millen."

Home sweet home!

I'm back at home (and reunited with my cat!) after a nice two week vacation. I accomplished my vacation goal of riding the Seadoo every day (even when it was 62 degrees and raining!, pictured above) and I also waterskiied for the the first time in a few years which felt great! Several of my friends came out to visit for a day, which was fun, and the weather was only semi-bad that day instead of terrible like usual. Finally, we had some excitement our 2nd to last night when a big storm came through and blew our boat away. (We later recovered it.) Now, it is back to real life and back to work. New goal: writing my thesis. My Seadoo goal was a lot more fun!

Read this if you eat meat

The text below is from an article by Gregg Easterbrook (one of my favorite ESPN.com writers). He is discussing the Michael Vick dog fighting situation but in doing so he does a great job pointing out why any of us who eat meat are responsible for cruelty to animals that is equal to or worse than what Vick did.

"Yet I can't help feeling there is overkill in the social, media and legal reactions to Vick, and that the overkill originates in hypocrisy about animals.

Thousands of animals are mistreated or killed in the United States every day without the killers so much as being criticized, let alone imprisoned. Ranchers and farmers kill stock animals or horses that are sick or injured. Some ranchers kill stock animals as gently as possible, others callously; in either case, prosecution is nearly unheard of. As Derek Jackson pointed out last week in the Boston Globe, greyhound tracks routinely race dogs to exhaustion and injury, then kill the losers, or simply eliminate less-strong pups: "184,604 greyhound puppies judged to be inferior for racing" were killed, legally, in the last 20 years.

Hunters shoot animals for sport. They do so lawfully, while the manner in which Vick harmed his dogs was unlawful. But from the perspective of the animal, there seems little difference between a hunter with a state game license zipped in his vest pocket shooting a deer as part of something the hunter views as really fun sport, and Vick shooting a dog as part of something Vick views as really fun sport. In both cases, animals suffer for human entertainment. The animal-ethics distinction between Vick's actions and lawful game hunting are murky at best. A first-time offender should go to prison over a murky distinction?

Much more troubling is that the overwhelming majority of Americans who eat meat and poultry -- I'm enthusiastically among them -- are complicit in the systematic cruel treatment of huge numbers of animals. Snickering about this, or saying you're tired of hearing about it, doesn't make it go away. Most animals used for meat experience miserable lives under cruel conditions, including confinement for extended periods in pits of excrement. (Michael Pollan, who enthusiastically consumes meat and fowl, describes the mistreatment in his important new book The Omnivore's Dilemma.) Meat animals don't magically stop living when it's time to become a product; they suffer as they die. One of Vick's dogs was shot, another electrocuted. Gunshots and electrocution are federally approved methods of livestock slaughter, sanctioned by the Department of Agriculture for the killing of cows and pigs. Regulations under the Humane Slaughter Act of 1958 give federal sanction to shooting cows or pigs, or running electrical current through their bodies. Shooting and electrocution are viewed by federal law as humane ways to kill animals that will be consumed. Federal rules also allow slaughterhouses to hit cows in the head with a fast-moving piston that stuns them into semiconsciousness before they are sliced up. Being hit in the head with a powerful piston -- does that sound a bit painful, a bit cruel? It's done to tens of thousands of steers per year, lawfully.

Don't say "eew, gross" about how meat animals are butchered, then return to denouncing Vick. If you're eating a cheeseburger or BLT or steak or pot roast today, there's a good chance you are dining on an animal that was shot or electrocuted. You are complicit. You freely bought the meat, you did not demand Congress strengthen the Humane Slaughter Act. Livestock can be calmed and drugged before being slain. A few slaughterhouses do this, but most don't because it raises costs, and you, the consumer, demand the lowest possible price for your meal. Now about your turkey sub or coq au vin. Federal slaughter regulations apply mainly to large animals, leaving considerable freedom in the killing of fowl. Many poultry slaughterhouses kill chickens by slashing their throats rather than snapping their necks. Snapping the neck kills the bird quickly, ending suffering, but then the heart dies quickly, too. Slashing the throat causes the bird to live in agony for several minutes, heart still beating and pumping blood out of the slash -- and consumers prefer bloodless chicken meat.

Further, the Humane Slaughter Act exempts kosher and halal slaughter. In both traditions, the cow or lamb must be conscious when killed by having its carotid artery, or esophagus and trachea, slashed. The animal bleeds to death, convulsing in agony, as its heart pumps blood, which is viewed as unclean, out of the slashed openings. The delicious pastrami we consumed at a kosher deli, or the wonderfully good beef we could buy at a halal butcher, comes from an animal that suffered as it died.

Yes, Vick broke the law; yes, he arrogantly lied and refused to apologize when first caught; and yes, his actions before and after the dog killings indicate he is one stupid, stupid man. But Vick's lawbreaking was relatively minor compared to animal mistreatment that happens continuously, within the law, at nearly all levels of the meat production industry, and with which all but vegetarians are complicit. There is some kind of mass neurosis at work in the rush to denounce Vick, wag fingers and say he deserved even worse. Society wants to scapegoat Vick to avoid contemplating its own routine, systematic killing of animals. We couldn't all become vegetarians tomorrow: that is not practical. But American society is not even attempting to make the handling of meat animals less brutal, let alone working to transition away from a food-production order in which huge numbers of animals are systematically mistreated, then killed in ways that inflict terror and pain. We won't lift a finger to change the way animals die for us. But we will demand Michael Vick serve prison time to atone for our sins."

Star Wars Hilarity

I'm sure some of you have seen this already, but if not check out this parody of Star Wars from Robot Chicken. It is amazing!

Part 1:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=gzrjAAzJ73w

Part 2:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=T2eg0gM2hHQ

Part 3:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=0wFqHatgAXI

(Less than) 100 days until hockey season!

I missed the start of my annual "100 days until hockey season" countdown. We are actually at 96 days until opening night for the Griffins! Woohoo!

10 best Simpsons Episodes?

http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2007/08/top10simpsons200708

The monorail episode is one of my favorites. I am glad to see that one on there.

I would add the episode with the alcohol ban (which gave us the classic quote: "To alcohol! The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems!")

Note to editors: make sure headline and article say the same thing

The following is one of the headlines on Google News right now. Read the headline, then read the text below it (and the alternate headlines at the bottom).

Eating tomatoes may help prevent some cancers
Food Consumer - 2 hours ago
By Ben Wasserman
A review by the Food and Drug Administration concludes for now that there is little evidence to suggest eating tomatoes and lycopene supplements would reduce risk of many forms of cancers.
Tomato study yields confusing results Canada.com
How Tomatoes Flunked the FDA's Anticancer Test MedPage Today

I love it how the first and last headline completely contradict each other. Is this another example of how the media never seem to be able to report accurately on scientific studies? (See the headline from Canada.com.)

I'll still be eating my tomatoes though...because they are sooo delicious!

Happy 7s Day!

Today is 07/07/07! How fun. I hope everyone enjoys the day. My only regret is that we can never have a 13/13/13. That would be really cool.

4 years since college

Katie W and I recently were discussing how long it has been since we graduated from college. (Katie’s comment: “Lindsey, you could have had two bachelor’s degrees by now!”) This made both of us feel very old. (But notice that Katie is even older than me!) It is crazy to think that it has really been over 4 years since I graduated from college. It got me thinking about all the things I have done in the last 4 years. I’ve:

--Driven my car almost 60,000 miles

--Attended over 120 Griffins games

--Set foot in 3 foreign countries and 11 US states (it will be 12 in a few weeks!)

--Taken blood samples from over 1,200 house wrens

--Attended at least 15 weddings…and 4 funerals

--Taught 3 classes at MSU and attended 11

--Bought my first (new) car, couch, cell phone, and adult-sized bed

--Given at least 10 formal talks about my research

--Moved 9 times (although those were all during the first 2 years after college)

--Used 3 different cell phone carriers and 4 phones

--For my wren project: used 249 nest boxes, 6 assistants, 2 pairs of field pants, and one pair of boots

Happy Solstice!

I'm celebrating the official start of summer by celebrating (counter-intuitively) the end of my summer field season! Woohoo! The good thing about starting your field season earlier than everyone else is that you get done earlier than everyone else! This summer I'm ending a little earlier than usual, even for me, because my Jr. labmate Jean is taking over the 2nd brood. Now there is time this summer for me to start writing that pesky little thing called the thesis...

Also, more good news: my PCR is working! I finally figured out what was wrong (only took me 1 1/2 years) and now my lab tech is making progress on getting my nestling blood processed.

The only sad news of the day is that my good friend Katie L left this morning for her new job (and new husband!) in California. I will miss her a lot. :(

New Phone!

Fyi, my replacement phone has arrived, and I can now contact the world again! :)

My phone is broken...

...so if you need to contact me please use email. Luckily, I got my phone 356 days ago and it has a 1 year warranty, so they are sending me a new one which should arrive in a few days. I feel so out of contact with the world...how did we survive without cell phones? ;)

Fun name link

http://babynamewizard.com/namevoyager/lnv0105.html

I'm not expecting a baby anytime soon, but this website has a really fun interactive graph that shows the popularity of different names over time. (It goes as far back as the 1880s.) You can look at a specific name or parts of a name (for example all the names that start with Li" and you can look at each gender separately or together. I wasted way too much time playing around with it just looking at all the cool trends. :) For instance, the name Jessica had a peak in popularity around the time I was born but has since died off while Emma was popular around the turn of the century, almost disappeared for a while, and now is really popular again.

(Yes I am a nerd.)

Isis' big adventure

I arrived home from the office today to find the screen from my window lying on the grass. Since nothing in the house was missing, it suggested to me that someone had broken out, not broken in. That's right, Isis staged a jail break! I was so worried for her, but luckily about an hour after I got home I saw her stalking around in the backyard. I grabbed some treats and called her to me and amazingly she came! I brought her back into the house safe and sound! Now she keeps sitting by the window and crying though...she wants me to let her back out! I wonder what exciting things she did during her few hours of freedom.

Photo-a-day changes

To completely copy Lisa, I have moved my older photo-a-day photos (from Jan-Mar) into a new folder. (Apparently everyone's internet is not as fast as mine and load times are getting a little long for some. Sorry!) The new pictures (Apr-present) are still at the same link that many of you have. If you would like the link to the old photos, just let me know. Also, if you don't have the link to the current photos but would like it, let me know that too. Just reply to this post or send me an email. Happy Memorial Day!

Tales from the field

I've been seeing a lot of interesting wildlife in the field lately (besides the ubiquitous wrens, adult deer, and ticks). For instance, last week on a cold, wet day Brian noticed a baby fawn curled up in the grass. Of course Jean and I had to whip out our cameras while saying girly things like awwwwwwww! Brian probably wished he had never pointed it out.


We've also had some non-target captures in our mist nets, including a ferocious cardinal that kept trying to take bites out of Jean's fingers (pictured below), a catbird, and some near misses by other birds like chickadees and sparrows.


Yesterday I had a great day for wildlife viewing as Jean and I saw two birds that we are 95% sure were juvenile bald eagles!!!! They were much bigger than the red tailed hawks that we usually see and a uniform brown color (unlike the golden eagle which has a lighter colored head according to my bird book.) The head also looked very eagle-like and not much like a hawk at all. Unfortunately they flew away before we could get the camera out. I also saw the pair of sandhill cranes that have babies right now and we had a fun encounter with a snapping turtle who was not happy about me standing so close to get a picture!


It is a good thing the wildlife was so interesting yesterday because aside from that I had a very crappy day in the field. First, my severe seasonal allergies kicked in several weeks early (hopefully they still will only last a week or two like usual) and my nose was like a faucet all day! It was miserable. To top that off, my spectrometer (a crucial piece of equipment) broke! And then the Wings lost later that night to be eliminated from the playoffs one round short of the finals! :( (Although my head was so messed up from being totally clogged by snot and then by the allergy medicine I took when I got home that I wasn't really feeling much of anything at that point.)

Luckily, today was better. Claritin is a miracle drug, and I borrowed a new probe for my spec from my generous labmate until we can order another one. There are 47 nests with eggs now, and I expect them to start hatching on Monday!

Happy Birthday Isis!

Thursday marked the 2nd anniversary of the day I picked out Isis at the Humane Society! I've been so lucky to have this wonderful cat in my life for two years!

Isis' birthday cake: treats with catnip sprinkles!

Isis' birthday present: she destroyed the feathers after about two minutes!

Funny math song

For my math geek friends, check out this song (courtesy of Mike):
Mandelbrot Set by Jonathan Coulton

The boys are back in town

My male wrens are finally starting to arrive en masse! (The picture above is the view looking straight down into a nest box with some sticks that a male wren has placed there to begin construction of his nest.) The males were about a week late, so I was starting to get worried. I'm guessing that the late snowstorm we had slowed them down some. But, as of Sunday I had 28 (out of 68) boxes where a male had begun nest construction. I expect more males every day and that the females will be returning sometime next week.

Hockey Playoffs Update

Red Wings:
The Wings won game 5 today 5-1, giving them a 3-2 lead in the series! Game 6 is tomorrow in Calgary. The home team has won every game so far, so the Wings will try to change that tomorrow! I was disgusted by Calgary's dirty play at the end of the game today once the game was out of their reach, including the backup goalie swinging his stick like a baseball bat into one of our players and another one of their players cold-cocking one of our guys in the face. What a bunch of thugs. GO WINGS!


Griffins:
The Griffs won tonight too 4-1, tying their series with Manitoba at 1-1. Now we have 3 games at home this week (Mon, Wed, Fri), so I'm looking forward to some exciting playoff action. If anyone wants to tag along to a game just let me know, as there will be plenty of tickets. GO GRIFFS!

GO WINGS AND GRIFFINS!

Least surprising scientific study results of the year

Abstinence-Only programs don't work

"A long-awaited national study has concluded that abstinence-only sex education, a cornerstone of the Bush administration's social agenda, does not keep teenagers from having sex..."

I feel so much safer now

I can't help but think of the Simpsons episode where the dolphins took over the world...

Navy shows off anti-terror dolphins

Congrats National Champion Spartans!

The Michigan State University hockey team just won the national championship game 3-1 in a come-from-behind victory over favored Boston College! GO SPARTANS! Incidentally, a Red Wings prospect (and future Griffin?), Justin Abdelkader, got the game winning goal for the Spartans.

Game recap from ESPN.com

12 Angry Lindseys

Bah! I just got summoned for jury duty! Now if this had happened in say October it would only be a mild inconvenience. However, my date is right in the middle of field season and while I could probably spend half a day at the court house, I CANNOT actually get put on a jury during field season. At least not and still be able to graduate. There's something on the form about asking for a deferral or excusal or whatever. Has anyone had to do this before? Any tips on getting out of it (or at least getting them to move my date to after field season is over)?

More memes

From Tina's blog

Surprise surprise...

What Be Your Nerd Type? Your Result: Science/Math Nerd (Absolute Insane Laughter as you pour toxic chemicals into a foaming tub of death!) Well, maybe you aren't this extreme, but you're in league with the crazy scientists/mathmeticians of today. Very few people have the talent of math and science is something takes a lot of brains as well. Thank whosever God you worship, or don't worship, so thank no deity whatsoever in your case, for you people! Most of us would have died off without your help.
Drama Nerd
Social Nerd
Literature Nerd
Musician
Gamer/Computer Nerd
Anime Nerd
Artistic Nerd
What Be Your Nerd Type? Quizzes for MySpace

Hmm ok...




Which of Henry VIII's wives are you?
this quiz was made by Lori Fury

Movie meme

From Nancy's blog...

1. Name a movie that you have seen more than 10 times.
Star Wars (all 3 originals)

2. Name a movie that you've seen multiple times in the theater.
Lord of the Rings (all 3)

3. Name an actor that would make you more inclined to see a movie.
Johnny Depp

4. Name an actor that would make you less likely to see a movie.
Any of the Wayans brothers

5. Name a movie that you can and do quote from.
Clue, The Princess Bride

6. Name a movie musical that you know all of the lyrics to all of the songs.
Phantom of the Opera, several animated Disney movies (Beauty and the Beast, the Lion King, Aladdin...I had the soundtracks when I was a kid!)

7. Name a movie that you have been known to sing along with.
See above

8. Name a movie that you would recommend everyone see.
Dogma

9. Name a movie that you own.
Gattaca

10.Name an actor that launched his/her entertainment career in another medium but who has surprised you with his/her acting chops.
Will Smith

11. Have you ever seen a movie in a drive-in?
No

12. Ever made out in a movie?
No

13. Name a movie that you keep meaning to see but just haven't yet gotten around to it.
The Godfather

14. Ever walked out of a movie?
No

15. Name a movie that made you cry in the theater.
Forrest Gump

16. Popcorn?
I prefer something sweeter.

17. How often do you go to the movies (as opposed to renting them or watching them at home)?
In the summer (when good movies are coming out) probably every other week. Only every three to four months in the winter.

18. What's the last movie you saw in the theater?
The newest James Bond movie (It has been a while!)

19. What's your favorite/preferred genre of movie?
Sci Fi/Fantasy/Action Adventure

20. What's the first movie you remember seeing in the theater?
The Little Mermaid

21. What movie do you wish you had never seen?
Scary Movie

22. What is the weirdest movie you enjoyed?
Moulin Rouge

23. What is the scariest movie you've seen?
Silence of the Lambs (I don't watch many scary movies.)

24. What is the funniest movie you've seen?
Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Happy 10th Anniversary!

It's been 10 years since one of the most memorable hockey games in my lifetime. "[N]ine fights, 11 goals, 39 penalties, 148 penalty minutes, one hat trick, one "turtle" and two Stanley Cup champion goalies duking it out in an overtime thriller." It fueled the flames of a great rivalry and launched the Wing into their `97 Stanley Cup run (and also Cups in `98 and `02).

Happy anniversary to Red Wings, Avalanche
by Thomas Neumann

Lets go Red Wings!

I heart Joss Whedon

The Legacy of Joss Whedon
by Anthony Letizia

Ten years ago, on March 10, 1997, the cult television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer premiered on the now-defunct network The WB. Based on a unsuccessful motion picture of the same name, no one gave the show much of a chance at the time, especially since no one was giving The WB much of a chance to begin with. But succeed it did, for seven seasons, in many ways changing the television landscape — and for the better — in the process... (click on link above for more!)

Favorite non-Simpson?

Coolest Non-Simpson 'Simpsons' Characters

My favorites from this list are Sideshow Bob, Kodos, and Mr. Burns. I'd also add Ralph and Duffman, although they didn't make this particular list.

An Epic Journey

Okay, maybe not epic, but I still had a heck of a time getting home from Rochester on Monday!

For those interested, here are the details:

For reference, it took me 8 hours to get to Rochester when I went out there on Saturday. (It would have been 7 1/2 but I spent a little more time at the border than I was planning on.)

On Monday, I left Rochester at 11:30 AM. The roads were clear, the weather was good. I made it about 20 minutes down I-90 and suddenly ran into completely stopped traffic:

I didn't think this was so bad at first, I mean sometimes you have traffic jams. However, 1 hour and 45 minutes later when I was still sitting in park in exactly the same spot, I felt a little more unhappy about it. However, I did do every single puzzle on the puzzle page of the USA Today that my hotel had given me that morning. Finally, after almost 2 hours traffic got moving. I finally found out what had caused the highway to be completely closed for almost 2 hours:

It was an accident that occurred during a whiteout involving 14 semi-trucks. You can see some of them in this picture on both sides of the road. Remember, this is 2 hours after the accident happened. However, after I got past this accident things went smoothly. There was no wait at all at the border, and in Canada I had about 2 hours of driving where it was even sunny. However, once I got on 403 going inland I met a familiar sight:

This time the car in front of me has an Ontario license plate! Yes, once again a highway was closed because of an accident. This time, they directed everyone off the highway (which took over an hour for me to get to the exit.) So, I was in the-middle-of-nowhere Canada with no idea where to go and the highway closed. So, I improvised. I had a guy from Ontario following me (and I have a Michigan license plate so I obviously didn't know where I was going so I have no idea why he was following me) and together the 2 of us wandered around the back roads for several miles until I finally found my way back to the highway, where it was open! My Ontario friend gave me a triumphant wave as we got back on the highway and moving. Our enthusiasm was short-lived, however:

We had only gone maybe 2 miles (~4 km, since we were in Canada eh) and right where 403 joins 401 we had traffic at a dead stop again. Yes, for the 3rd time on my trip home my highway was closed because of an accident resulting from a whiteout! Then I spent 2 hours sitting on 401. (The pic above is the view behind me from my side mirror.) I went a total of about 1 mile in those 2 hours and finally got to the exit where they were once again kicking everyone off. Luckily there was a truck stop by this exit, (although it was basically chaos because EVERYONE was stopping there,) but I did get to pee and get gas. Then, as I was coming back out to my car trying to decide what to do next, I noticed a heavenly sight: cars were moving on 401 again! I hurried back on the newly re-opened highway and headed for Michigan.

Unfortunately, the whiteouts were not done, and I had to go 25-45 mph for about 60 miles to try to avoid becoming another whiteout accident myself. Then, about 10 miles from the border, it totally cleared up! Michigan welcomed me home! I still had to get all the way across the state, so I didn't actually make it home until 1 AM. So my trip turned into a 13 1/2 hour ordeal. The lesson: uh...it sucks when they close the highway you are traveling on, but it sucks more when they do it to you three times in one day. Thats about all I got from it. Oh and when you are on a road trip, make sure you pee and eat when you get a chance, cuz you never know when you will have to sit in park on the highway for hours.

The Madness of March

McDonalds directly on my way home from campus + Shamrock Shake Season = INEVITABLE!


Actually I've already had 3!

I even got Tom to try one today. The even scarier thing is that I'm about to go on a road trip where I'll actually have to stop at fast food places anyway. Now might be a good time to buy stock in McDonalds! ;-)

In other news:

March certainly had that "in like a lion" thing down today. We had thunder and lightning, rain, freezing rain, sleet, hail, and snow. Here's hoping it means that during nest boxing time at the end of the month the weather will be lamb-like.

My birdfeeder count:
~Junco
~Goldfinch
~Black capped chickadee
~Tufted titmouse
~Nuthatch
~Cardinal

It's about time!

Women players to earn equal pay at Wimbledon

Ummm...

Another chocolate is good for your brain article.

Katie, what are the chances of getting another chocolate order in? :-)

Amazing Race!

In honor of Amazing Race Allstars starting tonight (8 PM, CBS) I was thinking about my all-time favorite TV shows:

Drama:
1. West Wing
2. Grey's Anatomy
3. Buffy
4. Veronica Mars
5. (tie) Lost (the first season) & Firefly (which I only saw after it was canceled)

Comedy:
1. Simpsons
2. Colbert Report
3. Scrubs
4. Arrested Development
5. Seinfeld

Reality/Game show:
1. The Amazing Race
2. Jeopardy
3. Flip This/That House, Property Ladder
4. Iron Chef

Comments? Additions? Deletions? Cries of rage?

C-c-c-c-old!

I got home from the office this afternoon and thought...hmmm it feels cold in here, I think I should turn up the heat. I went to go check the thermostat. It was 58 degrees. (The thermostat was set at 68.) I called maintenance. The guy came and made loud noises in the basement. He went back out, got in his truck, and left. Bad sign. I bundled up. He returned later, made more noises, and finally I heard the heater starting! Good sign! The house got warm again.

I went to a hockey game. The Griffins won! I got home and thought...hmmm it feels cold in here. Bad sign. I went to go check the thermostat. It was 48 degrees. BAD SIGN. I called maintenance. He told me to try turning the switch on the furnace on and off. (Isn't that what you do to your computer when you don't know what is wrong with it and don't know what else to do?) I turned the switch on and off. The furnace started. Good sign? The house is finally almost warm. I just took my coat off two hours after getting home.

It is 7 degrees outside. If I don't ever post again it may be because the heater died again and I froze in my sleep. :(

Did I mention I'm hosting a party tomorrow night? I'm sure my guests won't mind if the house is 48 degrees...

Oh the weather outside is frightful...

Winter is here with a vengeance! I think it is trying to get back at us. It is saying "I know you managed to keep me away for longer than usual this year...you had a green Christmas, it was 40 degrees and sunny in the middle of January, but I finally managed to get here and now you are going to pay!!!" We have a blizzard warning today and they have already canceled the home Griffins game that was tonight. DARN YOU WINTER! MESSING WITH MY HOCKEY!!!! And it doesn't look like it will get any better soon. High temperatures are forecasted to be in the single digit with continuing snow for a while. I know that the groundhog didn't see his shadow, but I have trouble believing spring is right around to corner!

So, since I don't have a hockey game to go to anymore tonight, I have time for one of my sporadic updates about what is going on in my life:

I went to the MOST AWESOME TALK EVER at MSU on Wednesday night. Jorge Cham, the author of PhD (Piled Higher and Deeper) comics came to MSU!!!! (Check out the link under the "links" list to the right. Also check out my photo-a-day site for a picture of Katie W and me with Jorge afterwards!!!!) His talk was amazingly funny! It was basically a survival guide to grad school. Everything he said had us rolling in the aisles because it was so funny and so completely and perfectly true. He really helped us realize that we are not alone in the unique struggles that grad students face. I was reminded not to give in the to guilt of how there is always something I should be doing, that procrastination is a good coping mechanism, and that no one is ever really happy with their thesis, so I shouldn't be putting so much pressure on myself. (Oh also that F=ma. You don't argue with F=ma!) And I laughed harder than I have laughed in years.

And...on a related note, I gave a talk at KBS about my research on Friday. All of us grads are required to do this each spring. My talk went well and I got some good positive feedback. Also I've very happy that I'm done with it! To celebrate, Katie W stayed overnight and we had a great time hanging out, playing games with our friends (the hat game and doko...I lost doko like usual but was MVP of that hat game...where the East Coast babies beat the West Coast babies twice in a row!), and then veging and watching movies today. And playing with Isis of course, who betrayed me and slept with Katie like usual!

It has been a busy but good week, and I'm looking forward to watching DA BEARS take down the Colts tomorrow!

Picture-a-day 2007

My picture-a-day pictures are up! Email me or comment here if you would like me to send you the link.

Let me just say that Shutterfly and Flickr suck! I tried them both first, but Picasa (Google's photo thingy) is the way to go if you are putting pictures up online! It is leaps and bounds ahead of the others imho. (And I'm not just saying that because I blog on Google's blog thingy! Notice I tried the other 2 first before I even got to Picasa. The first two just didn't satisfy me!) :-)

Get out of the way Isis, I'm trying to take a picture of the cardinal!

I realize that I haven't blogged in a long time. So what's new with me lately?

I finally got some cardinals at my bird feeder! However, as you can tell from the photo above, my efforts to document this fact photographically have so far been fruitless.
My extensive, tremendous species list for this winter now sits at 4:
~Black capped chickadee (2)
~Tufted titmous (2)
~Nuthatch (1)
~Cardinal (3)
All 8 of these birds show up every day. They are going through my seed like crazy!

I have been teaching this semester, and so far it is going very well. I have really missed having this sense of meaning to my weeks. The downside of course is that I am really busy (hence the lack of blogging.)

I'm giving a talk about my research plans for the summer in 2 weeks, so I guess I better figure out what those plans are soon eh?

I'm also working on getting my photo-a-day photos online. Hopefully I will have them up soon.

Comment grab bag

Happy New Year!

Sports comments:

I just watched the ceremony by the Red Wings to retire Steve Yzerman's #19. Stevie Y was the best leader ever in hockey. He was a great captain, player, and person. He is the ultimate example of a humble, decent, and classy athlete.

The Griffins played two amazing games at home this past weekend. Each of our goalies recorded a shutout against the #2 team (Hamilton, 2-0 shutout by Liv) and the #1 team (Rochester, 3-0 shutout by Jimmie Howard) in the division. In addition to solid goaltending, our team defense and motivation actually showed up! The Griffins have been really streaky this year (with exactly a .500 record right now) but if they play like they are capable of this may be a good year after all!

Headline on ESPN.com: "Lions to keep prez Millen despite continuous losing". The losing has technically not actually been continuous, it just feels that way.

The Lions couldn't even lose when they are supposed to! With their upset win against Dallas on Sunday, they lost the #1 draft pick. (Although, see previous comment for why it wouldn't have mattered anyway.)

And I don't even want to bring up the Rose Bowl... :(

Non-sports comment:

I am going to (at least attempt) a photo-a-day project for 2007. Once I get a few more I'll post a link. Does anyone know of a good photo-hosting website for me to use? The only one I know of is Shutterfly, which I'm just figuring out how to use and I'm not sure if I like it.