Short blog today folks as it's been a busy weekend. Yesterday facebook finally was fruitful as I caught a free ticket to see The Lion King musical (thanks Jules!). I saw the broadway production 7 years ago in Toronto and eventhough I knew what to expect, I still suffered a little Stendhal syndrome with the opening ensemble act. Watching those animal costumes walk onto the stage is breathtaking. If you have the chance to see The Lion King musical - by all means go!
This week's episode on something sciencey Sunday - a guest video! I know that this isn't directly from me, but honestly it's too good to pass up. My fellow colleagues Matt and Roz have been up to madness on the floor above me with their August 1st video. Truth be told... I've been caught dancing to both songs in the lab. And secretly, I've always wanted to use the emergency shower like so.
First off - okay, from now it's a personal goal of mine to attend a Comic Con. Yeah, it's primarily a gathering of mostly middle age people who can be categorized as fanboys. But I do like conventions of this type. Attending one makes me think, "Well at least I'm not THAT weird." Although you may think this is a place for only comic swapping, it's now also the launching of upcoming blockbuster movies. Examples include Iron Man 2 and Twilight's sequel (I'm only in interested in the former, not the latter). This was also the venue that James Cameron launched his next movie "Avatar". Considering that the last movie Cameron made was Titanic, it makes it a pretty big deal that he launched his next film here. The vibe is so big this year that the media is dubbing the event HollyCon due to the presence of so many Hollywood stars. One preview that tugged on my memory is Disney's remake of TRON. I honestly forget the plot in the original movie - all I remember watching a dark movie full of blue lights and speed chases. But that's about it. The remake looks stoked enough that I'll spend my $15 on it one night.
Finally summer has arrive! Though I'm not enjoying being *too* warm at night despite the efforts of my floor fan. It's a sign that I'll always be Cdn - I just like temperate weather. 25oC is my max temp. But with the summer-like weather means various outings with people. In fact Wed to today, I've been out with friends nightly, sipping cold cider on patios and enjoying some summer food. Today I have a deck party to attend to continue the tradition.
There's also another tradition with hot weather: BBQs. More specifically hot dogs. I like hot dogs. I try not to think what's really in them. Though of recent years, I purposely buy those "all-beef" kind. However "beef" is still ambiguous.
This is all leading to this week's episode of Something Sciencey Sunday. BBQd hot dogs are the best. But there's an invention of the roller grill that you often see hot dog wieners being cooked. I think this is the source of where a scientist had the inspiration when faced with the problem of how to continuously rotate Western gels overnight for washing. In fact, I can see the certain scientist going out and purchasing a wiener roller for this purpose BEFORE the engineers developed the "scientific" roller (which means inflated price for the same piece of equipment). I will give the engineers credit that this roller does rock in two directions (y plane and z plane) rather than one direction. Oooooh, ahhhhh eh?
You might be wondering what's this purpose? To develop gels properly, the longer washings are with buffers to rid background developing, the better the gel looks to discern any results. Such washings require constant rocking back n forth of solution over the gels which can be rolled up in those conicals tubes. This machine makes it a godsend for the poor grad student who would have to spend his/her entire night rocking the gel back n forth manually.
Not much time to post this past week as I've been in the midst of moving to my new lab as mentioned before. During this process, my former lab members have been circling my bench, calling dibs on several items that I've "invented" in the lab over the years. Sure there's an thesis regarding my data that will soon grace the bookshelf for which "generations" will use as groundwork for their own experiments. But currently what my former labmates are more concern about is inheriting my legacy signature items. So today's something sciencey Sunday I give you the most sought for items from my shelf:
First up - Nanc's Amazing Transformation Miracle Machine (pat pending). This goes with that transformation procedure I mentioned last week. Within the incubator you need to place bacteria with plasmid... you need something to hold the bacteria with plasmid... enter the miracle machine. I believe all labs that I've worked in have one of these around which I fashioned. Yes, it's really kimwipe tissues in a small beaker. BUT FOLKS, there's a miracle that I've bestowed onto the vessel which gives it magic. Just ask anyone who's needed the transformation to work in a flash!
Second item - the Magic Formula. Of note, I didn't invent the actual magic formula solution, but somehow my creative "zing" added to the success whomever decided to use this solution. I'm kinda like the rabbi in the meatmarket, I'm often asked to "bless" the reagent to make it kosher. Now this may not sound scientific, having miracle machines and magic reagents. But when you're in the lab at 3AM with a pressing deadline, whatever your beliefs are, a lil' prayer and magic can't hurt things.
Not all of my tools of trade are remaining in my old lab. In fact I have a few (three to be precise) personal sciencey items that I tote from lab to lab: an inoculating needle and two culture spreaders. The inoculating needle is a standard tool, platinum wire attached to a handle, used to stab bacteria culture into solid media. This was a gift to me from my first microbiology lab instructor. For the spreaders, as the name implies, these tools enable microbiologists to evenly spread bacteria culture onto an agar petri plate. Normally, the spreaders are fashioned out of slender glass rods and often referred to as "hockey sticks" (I kid you not). However my spreaders are extra special as they are made out of a light tin alloy and were specially fashioned for me by my first lab mom, Kat, when I was just a budding microbiologist. You can't buy these spreaders anywhere, they are one of a kind, and I often have to ward off fellow labmates from stealing these two "hot" commods.
I haven't posted music of late but that doesn't mean I haven't been listening to tunes. "New Soul" by Yael Naim was first introduced from the Mac's airbook commercial. The jingle stuck in my head from the first time I saw the TV ad. Given my current job status, I've been thinking about this song more as I'm a new soul in a new lab (strange world) hoping to learn about new things (give and take). And also, just like the song says, "finding myself making every possible mistake..." fits the mood perfectly. Ehhh, I'll get the hang of it eventually.
This past week I started in my new lab which will be my home for at least the next 14 months. The lab is just 5 doors down the hall from where I did my PhD studies. In the manner of 2 weeks I've gone from a senior expert on one bacterial system to a junior lab tech with no experience on another bacterial system. But my new lab doesn't treat me as a junior, they keep mentioning, "you're a post-doc". Someday maybe I'll figure out what exactly does that mean! Yeah, I know that I have been taught how to think like a PhD, but the implementing stage is in the infancy stages. I guess it's kinda like a newly minted fresh MD in his/her first surgery... although they have all the credentials, you kinda don't want to be their very first patient. The good news is that within this new lab I'll learn new research skills that I'm lacking. My expertise so far is anything with gene expression and nucleotides. But for glycoproteins, sure, I know what they are, just working with them not so much. It'll be nice to pad my CV with more skills for future job prospects, plus I'm always up to learning new techniques.
I haven't chatted much about hockey although ball hockey has been on-going over the summer. Right now we're winding up for an array of marathon games before the quarter-finals begins. It trinkles down to a game every other day for the next 10 days or so, busy busy.
Today is Sunday and since Transformers are back in theaters, an old but relevant pic. To put new DNA into a bacteria, we often do a procedure called "transformation", where we shove a new circular pieces of DNA into bacteria, thereby transforming the bacterial cell to express new genes it didn't have before. This happens in nature, so we scientist are making use of an uptake system that was already there. With a name like "transformation", this is bound to be linked. Often I even make those classic transformer morphing sound effects. Definitely DNA in disguise.
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11:59 PMThursday, June 25, 2009
This week is a tough week to be a celeb. First Ed McMahon earlier this week. I think "Heeeeeeeeeeeeere's Johnny" was one of the earliest catch phrases embedded in my youth. Now I can forsee the heavens having a late night show with the duo together again. This morning I awoke to the news of Farrah Fawcett losing her battle to cancer. But that news was not even a few hours old when the world learns that Michael Jackson died from a heart attack.
The King of Pop is dead... long live the King of Pop
Personally, I've always enjoyed the music but not the person. So many scandals and overblown cosmetics changes made me lose respect for the superstar. But his music and dance moves changed the music industry and that will be his legacy. Hmmmm, I think I'm going to listen to the Thriller album later.
This week's something sciencey Sunday is early as this weekend I'm busy watching my oldest friend get hitched AND my youngest Greek niece get baptize. Busy weekend it shall be. However not to fear, the brain juices were flowing and I managed to sneak in another SSS installment. This week: debunking a colourful myth.
Mucho happening with me outside of work. It's a nice change, I think I'm going to enjoy being a non-student! Ball hockey has been good this week, we've managed to pull ourselves into the mid-standings rather than being at the bottom of the list. So happy campers there.
I did something totally weird today - I went swimming. Waaaay back in my tender years I used to swim professionally, being part of a city swim team. But at that same time,the docs speculated that the swimming was causing my hearing loss and I was forced to stop. Since then, I didn't swim much. Not that I don't enjoy swimming, I sincerely missed the feeling of pushing water with my palms and floating. But as for social swimming, I wasn't the best one to be with. Especially with those Marco Polo games. It was always one-sided:
MARCO!
(silence)
I said, MARCO!!!!!
(more silence)
HUUULLLOOOO? MARCO!!!!!!!
You get the picture...
So, swimming is often done alone and it's just for exercise sake. It felt good, I think I'll try to put in a morning or two every week. It's a nice change up from kick boxing that I'm doing with the Wii.
Other things, tonight I was treated to an evening of Andrew Lloyd Webber. The local arts theater put on a production of several faves from Andy. We heard a cast of 30 or so sing the big ones from Cats, Evita, JC Superstar, and Phantom. For the most part, it was a good mix of songs and the folks put on a great show. My only quipped, they rushed through my fave Phantom song too quickly. "Think of Me" is a slow memorable tempo, but eh... I'm just remembering it from when I saw Phantom 15 years ago. If you ever have the chance to see any of Andy's productions, treat yourself to a show. A little culture never hurts anyone.
For something sciencey Sunday... just a picture today folks. Here's what we do with freezer frost after defrosting the -20oC freezers. Who says scientists can't be creative?
It's been a busy past 60 hours for a very eventful three days.
So first... without any further ado, it's official: I'm a Doctor (ehhhh... that title still hasn't set in!). The whole experience of defending remains surreal. It's NOT something I recommend for those with a faint heart. Seriously, I don't remember much details, you just go into a mode in which you hear yourself talking, it sounds kinda smart, but still you can't believe you're saying it. But after nearly 3 hours of questioning and 10 minutes of pacing outside the meeting room while they decide my fate, my boss opened the door with a smile and a congratulations. I think it's the first time I hugged her. Twice, even in one night. In fact, I hugged all of my examiners... twice.
People have asked about the feeling and honestly I can only relate it to "this little part of my life" scene in the movie "The Pursuit of Happyness". There's not many good and wonderful moments in my life, but when a rare moment comes, this is what it feels like. I think I even clapped while walking alone to my car after the day was finished. Since then, I can't keep this smile off of my face.
My boss gave me a great party on Friday night. I spent Saturday de-stressing and enjoying time with some good friends. Today there's another party in my honour. Not just for the doctorate, but also because it's my birthday. Yesiree, eventful weekend it is.
Being Sunday itself, time for another "something sciencey Sunday" blogpic! Today, Congrats to the Cloning Queen.
Cloning Queen is a parody that I wrote to ABBA's "Dancing Queen". As one of my skills is cloning, the lab adopted this nickname for me ever since, so it was a fitting poster to greet me after I was awarded my Doctorate. Of note, yes, all those binders are full of thesis revisions. Joy joy joy! But I remember thinking in the defense when they asked me to include some discussion about something, "I'd even clean your house if you want!"
Last night after becoming tired of reading some of my thesis (it's definitely not a page turner! I doubt any thesis really is), I started to fall into the land of nod when:
CLICK!
It was loud enough to alert me... me, being the stone Deaf chick. I often sleep with one aid in to help wake me up in the morning (I had an early ball hockey game), but still it's ONE aid in. I passed it off as me hearing things, nuzzled back down with my cat close by, closed my eyes...
THUMP!!
Ok. Definitely something there. At first I thought it was my pipes groaning for some gawd knows reason. Checked on my thermostat, things alright. Fine. Whatever. Get some shut eye girlie you need to be wakey wakey tomorrow...
CLICK!
WTF? Now I'm thinking something of the rodent species. My place is clean, but of late my walk up flat has had too many "accidents" of the pest kind. Also this reminded me of a recent tale by Jules and the chipmunk that lives within the walls of her flat. So I peer around my bedroom. Can't find evidence of anything with four legs other than my cat (who is now pissed off at me for rustling around the room so much). I start thinking it might be my d-day nerves, get over it... try to sleep. Then listen to continuous: CLICK! THUMP!! KNOCK!!!
Ugh! I'm reminded of Kermit's song "In quiet of the evening" song now. But soon I noticed that my window is open. Hmmm, maybe it's coming from outside. I take a quick glance into the dark abyss, no one around. Closed the window. Sounds no more! Yay! I fall asleep.
7 hours later...
4 cop cruisers...
1 officer taking my statement.
Apparently someone last night was firing off a shotgun and then left the gun in the field across from my flat. "Click" my ass! The poor Constable who got the luck to interview the deaf witness.
"Click? That's what it sounded like?? Just click??"
"Well, you must understand I was only half aided. Often it was a "thump", but seriously, I'm not your prize witness obviously."
He smirked.
Luckily no one was hurt, nor was there any property damage. The officer assured me that this is most likely an isolated incident (yeah, they always tell you that). I asked him if I hear any more "clicks" at night and see someone, should I contact the police? Apparently I was humouring him majorly with his boyish smile (gotta admit, I like a man in an uniform) and he answered, "Most definitely."
So excitement last night. Some hick shooting off his/her shotgun. Yesiree, I've definitely moved into a cowboy province. Maybe it's their version of the welcome wagon? Yeehaw?
Edit: the story finally hit the news, apparently there was property damage (shots fired through windows) and the suspects were from my apartment complex... great, Hillybilly for neighbours.
Something new that I'm going to try here. Since this IS a Mad Scientist's blog, I'm kinda seeing that I don't talk much about science other than my recent job quests and thesis. But if I start rambling about the latest E. coli stress response paper, I'm sure readership of this blog will cease to exsist. I could talk about being a science geek, but Matt and Roz has that corner well under control. So how about something with pictures? I consider myself an amature photographer and seriously considering taking photography courses as soon as I finish this Ph.D. With the digital age, photography as a hobby has become less expensive. Though I agree that film captures something that pixels cannot. No matter, I'm going to start posting a picture/movie of something sciencey (oooh new word!) every Sunday (hence the tag). It'll be from my real life around the luuuub or elsewhere that strikes me as "science". So here's something for you check on this blog weekly.
This week: Fun with Dry Ice
I remember as a kid thinking that dry ice was the coolest invention of modern science. Now since I'm a scientist, seen marvels of the biological world, worked to unravel genetic mysteries... dry ice is still and always remain very cool. Every now n' then, we have perishables enzymes mailed to our lab in which the package comes with 2 lbs of dry ice that's basically useless to us. Oh what to do??? Throw it in the sink, turn on the water and presto! Cool fog to play with.
Short blog today folks as it's been a busy weekend. Yesterday facebook finally was fruitful as I caught a free ticket to see The Lion King musical (thanks Jules!). I saw the broadway production 7 years ago in Toronto and eventhough I knew what to expect, I still suffered a little Stendhal syndrome with the opening ensemble act. Watching those animal costumes walk onto the stage is breathtaking. If you have the chance to see The Lion King musical - by all means go!
