I kinda suspected I would be sick Thanksgiving break. Too many people I knew had been sick for me not to be. (And, I avoid flu shots like the plague.)

It’s not that bad either. I say it’s just a cold. My mom though always gets paranoid with “just a cold” because I don’t usually breath well when I sick. My mom thinks that maybe I should go to the doctor, just in case, but as far as I’m concerned a) It’s just a cold and b) the doctor thinks I’m paranoid. (I will admit though that breathing is a bit difficult.)

All this however is very frustrating because I wanted to paint a picture for my dad for his birthday and I desperate want to write. I also wanted to give my dog a haircut. I don’t see much of any of those happening this break, especially since it’s already Friday and tomorrow’s Shabbat.

What a disappointment of a break.

i am thankful for:
an amazing God that loves me and provides for me and forgives me for everything, forever, no matter what i do.
family.
a boyfriend who is so much more than just a boyfriend.
the fact that so much of my education has been paid for, even if i am in a lot of debt.
the friends that surround me that are going to be gone next year (let’s not think about that today).
having somewhere to sleep.
my kitties.
the amount of leftovers i get to bring back to the apartment with me tomorrow: a metric ton of turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, turkey gravy, cranberry sauce, 12 cookies worth of cookie dough, and AN ENTIRE APPLE PIE.

painting, stake 2009-no.01, 16″x20″ acrylic on canvas, by alyse radenovic,  at http://www.aelisheva.com

Happy Thanksgiving to my fives of readers. Hope you enjoy your turkey and your stuffing as much as I do.

I’ll be back to writing probably once a day starting next week, but keep in mind I have the entire week off from WSU. So..there.

NoiseSoft Releases the “QU” and “ROOT DELAY” VST Effects
November 26th, 2009.

NoiseSoft announces the release of two new effects, the Qu quad filter effect and the Root Delay effect.

The Qu is a new VST quad filter effect plug-in for Windows. The Qu consists of four separate “all band” filters with five separate controls for each channel (A to D). The individual tuning of our custom filters produces audio illusions and phenomena that can not be found anywhere else; phase and frequency based stereo panning controls mean that a user can dial in effects that contrast across the whole audio spectrum, especially when used with track envelopes within the host workstation.

Controls and features:
- VOLUME: This controls the master volume. Lowest setting is silence and highest setting the maximum output.
- MIX: Controls the mix quantity of all filter sections.
- PITCH (A/B/C/D): Adjusts the affected pitch of each individual filter section from low drones to bell-like high pitched ringing.
- RESONANCE (A/B/C/D): Adjusts the resonance of each filter, from minimal effect to extreme phase shifting and everything between.
- FREQ (A/B/C/D): The frequency control for each filter has custom coded extreme frequency shifting, capable of lo-fi filtering in the low knob settings, all the way to harsh industrial/glitch effects.
- LEFT and RIGHT (A/B/C/D): These are separate controls for left and right phase shifting.
The Root Delay is an echo / delay VST effect plug-in for Windows. The Root Delay is designed for creating dub style echo and filter sweeps as well as other delay effects found in all kinds of modern electronic music. The effect features a delay section with separate adjustable controls for left and right time settings and also a filter section with controls for sweep rate and depth. The delay and filter combination produces everything from granular glitch / idm style processing to sweeping dub style echos and slap back effects.

The Root Delay is an echo / delay VST effect plug-in for Windows. The Root Delay is designed for creating dub style echo and filter sweeps as well as other delay effects found in all kinds of modern electronic music. The effect features a delay section with separate adjustable controls for left and right time settings and also a filter section with controls for sweep rate and depth. The delay and filter combination produces everything from granular glitch / idm style processing to sweeping dub style echos and slap back effects.

Controls and features:
- LEFT and RIGHT: These are separate controls for left and right echo / delay times
(milliseconds from 0ms to 10ms).
- FEEDBACK: knob is for controlling the amount of echos you would like.
From 1 to (almost) infinity.
- RES knob: Adjusts the resonance of the filter, from minimal effect to drone
sound and everything between.
- CUT: Adjusts the filter cutoff. From very metallic to very (sub)bassy.
- RATE: Adjusts the sweep rate of the filter, from about a minute to pseudo granular.
- DEPTH: Adjusts the depth of the filter effect. From light filtering to very dramatic sweeps.
- WET: Controls the volume of the delay and filter effects combined.
- DRY: Controls the volume of the dry signal.

Pricing & Availability:
The Qu and the Root Delay are both priced at $14 each, both available for Windows as a VST effect plug-in.

For more information about Qu visit: http://www.noisesoft.com/qu.html

For more information about the Root Delay visit: http://www.noisesoft.com/root_delay.html

Cada vez que se escucha la palabra “verano”, todas las mujeres del mundo se miran al espejo y se dan cuentas que quieren bajar unos kilos para usar ese bikini que tan sexy hace verlas.

Todas empiezan a dejar las comidas muy condimentadas y grasientas, para cambiar a un estilo de vida más liviano, por lo demás se hacen unas fieles seguidoras de  todo lo que dice Light.

Para toda mujer que quiere bajar ese rollito que tanto molesta que más se hace notar cuando se utiliza poca ropa, por lo que el agua se hace su mejor amiga, aunque no es bueno irse a los extremos, ya que es bueno tomar cosas sanas, pero nos excesos nunca son buenos y también no hay que rellenar muchas veces la botella, dado que le salen unos hongos que puede que no se vean, pero que sí se están tomando.

No es bueno hacer esas dietas extremas o esporádicas, o sea las de la luna, la manzana, el arroz o la que sea, dado que puede que se obtenga bajar unos kilos, pero en dos semanas esos vuelven a tu cuerpo y acompañado de otros más, así si quieres hacer dieta, tienen que comer menos, en horas y evitar las grasas, y es fundamental no juntar la carne con fideos o arroz.

 Hacer ejercicio nunca esta demás, pero tampoco hay que esperar de que si se comienza a esta fecha a hacer deporte, para un mes más estarás en tu mejor momento, sino que es algo gradual no todo se hace en un minuto, pero si es posible, disminuir uno o dos kilos, pero si se desea llegar a números mayores se debió empezar antes la dieta.

Un miseláneo de fotografías del tema

Much of Tokyo is covered in concrete and pavement. In the photo above, a low traffic small street has impermeable pavement. There is a wide, unnecessary brick sidewalk in the foreground built to accompany a recent apartment building. Two private residences also have concrete car-parks and cement surrounds. If you look very closely, to the left of the red traffic cone, a canna flower is breaking through the concrete and blooming.

Up close, the flower is brilliant on a sunny November day. Even more remarkable is that the plant has somehow managed to break through the pavement. How did it get there? How does it survive the city’s relentless drive to bury every grain of soil? Do the neighbors appreciate this floral beauty and the power of nature over the built environment?

After the jump, a closer view of the plant in its context.

In the context of such poor urban design ,this brilliant canna flower breaking through provides some hope that nature will regenerate despite our best efforts to displace it.

Yes 2009 is near its closure…a year full of exciting things for many of us….some unfortunate as well and some cherishing as well.

I am writing this post to sign off from WP for a short while. My last term exam is on 5th December and guess what in wee hours of sleepy afternoon. Plan is to commemorate the last night of 2009 on Auckland soil by dining at one of my favourite Italian places – Gina’s, followed by a drive to a location where one can see the brightly lit Auckland city (pics will be shared), then back to our home for more drinks and revisiting memories of 2009.

I am heading to Delhi on 6th . I am really nervous, don’t know why though? I hope I enjoy my first ever trip back home. Will miss the Auckland summer and Xmas and off course gorgeous friends I have here.

Will post the short details of the Indian sojourn in Jan 2010.

Ciao Amigos.

Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year – well ahead in advance.

PS – Vishesh your tag is in my list of things to do …..promise

Some Manchester obscure funk breaks ova there .. where? … in here

Make the End Clear
Ketika Anda akan memberitahukan pasangan anda bahwa Anda ingin mengakhiri hubungan anda, anda harus bersungguh-sungguh dan tegas tentang hal itu. Jangan termakan rayuan bahwa anda akan menakhiri secara perlahan-lahan, misanya diawali dengan mengurangi pertemuan dengannya. Hilangkan pikiran ini, sekali anda menyetujuinya maka anda akan terjebak lagi. Buat keputusan tersebut secara sungguh-sungguh dan berusaha mencari sisi buruk dari hubungan anda, jangan melihat terus sisi bahagia yang semu itu.

Your Lover Asking Questions
Apabila pernyataan anda didengar oleh peasangan anda, tentu dia akan bereaksi tentang pernyataan anda tersebut. Banyak pertanyaan-pertanyaan “romantis” yang akan dia lontarkan, seperti bahagianya kalian selama ini, menyenangkan dan ada pula yang berjanji akan menikahi anda. Semua akan merek alakukan untuk menhentikan keputusan anda tersebut. Apabila pernyataan dan pertanyaan ini muncul, alihkan pembicaraannya, dan segera akhiri percakapan dengan dengan berbagaiu alasan yang dapat anda lakukan. Jangan membuat diri anda terlena dengan kalimat yang dilontarkannya dan membayangkan segala yang indah waktu anda lakukan bersama dia. Apalagi anda seorang istri ? Pikirkan segera keluarga anda. Hindari percakapan bersama mereka khususnya di malam hari atau di saat anda sedang sendiri atau ingin ditemani seoerang teman.

If You Lose Train Of Thought
Jika Anda mulai kehilangan mengendalikan pikiran anda dan mulai berpikir kembali tentang pertanyaan kekasih anda, dengan menghayal walau tidak ingin menjawab, Anda harus segera menjawab “bahwa semua sudah berakhir”. Dan apabila anda sudah menikah, pikirkan keluarga anda. Jika Anda mengulangi seluruh percakapan ini lagi, sekali lagi alihkan percakapan tersebut, biar perlu buat dia merasa kesal untuk menghubungi anda.

Let Them Know Things Will Change
Hal terburuk di sebuah lingkungan kerja setelah berselingkuh dengan seorang rekan adalah Anda berdua memperlakukan satu sama lain berbeda, atau bahkan tindakan secara kasar dapat terjadi, setelah semua urusan ini selesai. Anda harus pastikan bahwa Anda anda sudah berubah dan tidak akan memperlakukan mereka seperti biasanya. Hal ini memang akan sulit pada awalnya, hindari percakapan berdua, lakukan di depan orang banyak. Anda bahkan mungkin tidak ramah kepada mereka. Jika urusan telah berlangsung selama beberapa waktu, akan sulit bagi kalian berdua untuk mengubah kebiasaan lama tapi ini adalah hakikat perubahan, dan perlu ketegasan dan dia harus tahu bahwa semua sudah berubah.

Tell Them It’s Permanent
Hal seperti ini sangat sering terjadi, disaat kita jenuh di rumah, Atau sedang shuntuk. Kita akan membayangkan kekasih selingkuh kita. Ada dorongan didalam diri untuk bertemu dan berhubungan dengan dia lagi. “Jangan Lakukan Itu “. Sescara umum dua orang yang pernah berhubungan dan pada saat berpisah, kadang anda ingin menghidupkan kembali hal itu semua. Tunjukan kepada dia bahwa tidak ada ada lagi yang penting dan tidak ada lagi peluang untuk mereka. Perpisahan ini adalah perpisahan secara permanent

Be Aware Of Your Tone Of Voice
Untuk sementara anda mungkin akan merasa sedih dan putus asa dalam waktu yang lama, Apabila mantan anda adalah partner kerja anda atau memilikihubungan bisnis tertentu. Anda tidak perlu menjadi dingin dan membuat mereka merasa seperti kotoran/sampah, namun bila situasi menuntut hal itu, anda mungkin perlu bersikap tegas dengan mereka dan membuat jelas bahwa urusan sudah selesai. Anda harus menghindari pertemuan dengan mereka untuk beberapa saat. Anda dapat berusaha merubah letak ruang anda mejahui dia. Habiskan waktu anda di kantor bahkan setelah jam kantor berkumpul dengan teman-teman anda

If They Keep Pushing
Jika mantan kekasih anda masih bersikeras untuk tidak ingin berpisah. Anda akan perlu untuk mengakhiri percakapan biar perlu tutup semua jalur komunikasi dengan dia termasuk email. Kadang-kadang mereka mungkin tidak menerima hal-hal dan berpikir anda tidak serius dengan perpisahan. Mereka mungkin akan terus menghubungi anda dengan panggilan telepon, email atau pesan melalui teman. Rubah semua jadwal kegiatan dia. Habiskan waktu anda dengan teman, saudara bahkan keluarga anda, di tempat dimana kalian biasanya bersama. Tunjukankepada dia bahwa anda sangat bersungguh-sungguh. Apabila mereka terus memaksa anda, mintalah bantuan teman dekat anda yang dapat member pengertian atau perbuatan yang lebih keras kepada dia. ANda harus Tega dalam hal ini.

Sebagian disadur dari : http://www.doccool.com/

I am home! I’m on break, I’m on break! YAY!!!!!!!!! It is really nice to be home and get away from all the stresses of college and not have to be super duper busy for a few days. I will be home from yesterday (last night) to Sunday which is going to be really relaxing. I went back to my old high school today to visit a couple of teachers, but mostly to visit friends that are seniors or even as low on the totem pole as sophomores. They were really excited to see me. It was a great feeling. I just wanted to add this post real quick, but I have to run! I’m going to see New Moon at 4:30 and I know it’s going to be really crowded! So more later!

Bboy France 2009

Tu m’excuseras pour le retard, je n’ai pas une minute à moi! Bref, c’est mon blog donc je m’en fous, je fais ce que je veux! je te prie de m’excuser, ôh cher lecteur fidèle! Mais après tout, un mois après l’événement, c’est pas la mort…

Commençons par le commencement. Je t’ai présenté l’événement, voici le bilan:

Tout d’abord, le B-Girl France.

Alors, comme je te l’ai dit, j’ai pas pu être présent ce jour là, mais mon acolyte Zac, alias Valentin, y était. Donc, d’après ses impressions, il y avait du lourd niveau level féminin. Selon lui, du beau spectacle malgré un public endormi dans de beaux petits fauteuils trop confortables.

La gagnante: B-girl Manuella de Figure 2 Style. Elle remporte la victoire face à Mi-mouche; respect à Mi-mouche d’être arrivée en finale en partant des qualifications. Mi-Mouche qui mise tout sur l’originalité et la musicalité, et ça a payait. Manuella qui mettrait plus d’un mec à l’amende .

Au passage, on remarquera le très bon battle Manuella contre Soso, avec le petit kick discret de Soso , prenez en de la graine et troquez vos talons pour des baskets: Rejoignez les b-girls, on en manque!

Passons maintenant au B-Boy France, auquel j’ai assisté avec Hélène, Zac et Charlotte, sa soeur. Après mon kiff de l’année dernière, j’attendais vraiment cet événement. Bilan de cette édition:

Premier mot qui me vient à l’esprit: BOYCOTT !!  Ouais, c’est malheureux à dire, d’autant que c’est un évènement avec du potentiel. Je vais pas faire durer le suspens plus longtemps: Abdel de 59 Krew représentant Grande-Synthe (la ville organisatrice), eux mêmes organisateurs (dont son frère: Lascen) se retrouve une seconde fois en finale. Le public, composé à 75% de racailles-wallah et de poufs pucelles, participe honteusement à ce boycott. Des chauvins qui ne se manifestent que lorsqu’on aperçoit Abdel. Oui, je suis un peu agressif dans mes mots, mais c’est simplement parce que je suis déçu. Je me mettrais sûrement beaucoup de monde à dos en faisant ces accusations, mais le peu de b-boys présents dans le public le confirmera, de bons danseurs se sont fait éliminés alors qu’ils méritaient sûrement de monter plus haut. Et moi, je trouve cela dommage. Oui, n’y voyait là aucune haine ou jalousie, juste de la déception…

Pour parler des événements positifs qui ont relevé le niveau:

• Le vainqueur: Keyz de Original South King, qui à fait un bon battle.
• Deux passages parfaits de Meda, même si ce battle fut le parfait exemple du boycott, mais bon, on retiendra quand même sa performance.

Et enfin, mes coups de coeur:

• Une excellente prestation de Bob de Zygomatik. Je l’ai découvert, mais franchement j’ai super bien kiffé, au même titre qu’Hélène. Musical, original, énergique, rien à dire. J’adore .

• Un superbe show du Wanted posse, Babyson et Junior. C’était pas prévu dans les guests mais très agréable surprise. Deux très bons danseurs qui ont fait un beau mélange de break et de new style. Personnellement, je vous le recommande .

Voilà, l’essentiel est dit. Toutes les vidéos des battles et des shows sont en lignes sur le blog, et ça c’est toujours spécialement pour toi petit lecteur, merci qui? .

Pour le reste, tout est dans le podcast:

Peace.

Well I guess more like 4 days left in break.  All I’m thinking of is how am I going to survive 5 weeks for winter break when I can’t see myself getting through the next 5 days? Hell, after 5 hours yesterday I was ready to pop a cap in someones ass heh.  I guess it’s not as dramatic as I’m making it but gosh, coming home is soooo hard! I’m just thrown all responsibilities of the house and grrrrrr it’s enough to make me go crazy.

Another thing that I dislike about coming home is the lack of stuff to do.  Sure my school is in the middle of nowhere but I’m within jumping distance of my friends.  Getting together with peeps at home takes effort.  And planning.  Kind of hard to be really spontaneous when you have to A) drive to see ppl and B) drive places to go out.

Guess I’m in a whiney kind of mood today.  This morning I was just bumming around, you know procrastinating on my GeoPhysics paper by randomly surfing the net.  Nothing makes me feel worse then being idle but I had a bad case of inertia.  No matter how hard I tried to move and actually do something all I kept doing was watching The West Wing that was on TV and then the Law and Order marathon once it started.

I think it’s the whole rebounding from sleep thing.  I got 9 hours last night! It’s like since my body has been clutching onto any hour of sleep I’ve gotten lately at school the opportunity for more has me in a coma.  I don’t think I moved once last night! As nice as it was I was more than tired getting up.

But what do I do when I need to wake up? Yup, I run.

As much as I dislike my suburbia hometown it was really nice getting to run through it.  Not to say that it wasn’t tough: my hometown is wicked hilly.  At least compared to the town my school is in, I felt like I was running through the Appalachians or something.  The first mile was tough and my whole body was reeling from ‘em.  Since this place could not really be defined as hilly my body did a really quick adjustment and the rest of the run felt great.

So naturally (I’m sure y’all could’ve seen this a mile away) I ran 9.3 miles.  I think it’s my (new) favorite distance.  It’s a nice round number in the metric system, 15k, takes over an hour to complete and isn’t double digits so it doesn’t make me feel excessive.  Just far enough to feel tired but not enough to knock me out for the rest of the day.

After two slowish runs already this week I was very happy to be slightly slower than goal “easy” pace.  I had thought that with the hills I would have been running wicked slowly.  The weather was foggy and upper 40s so I never felt like I was overheating but I didn’t feel cold either.  The fog actually felt kind of good and prolly helped me stay cool too.

Likely kept me going through the last miles. As I mentioned the first few miles were tough as I adjusted to the “hills” (and gosh what am I going to do when Boston training starts and I really need to get used to hills?!) but the last few miles felt like I was on firrrrrre (well not really because like I was just saying that I felt cool haha) but there was a noticeable pep in my step and I could feel a difference in my pace.

Ending a run strong is maybe my favorite thing. And helped me get over my earlier whiny-ness.  Granted that did nothing to get over my avoidance of my work, as evidenced by my current NCIS marathon (and since they’re on DVD I don’t have to even watch commercials ahah).

But I’m still feeling antsy, so maybe a trip into Boston? First I’d need some ppl to want to as well but hopefully *something* happens tonight.  Send good vibes my way ppl!!

Eight years ago, on a cold February Sunday morning, I lay in my futon bed with a headache as big as China. I was dehydrated and couldn’t breathe without hacking up a cough. My throat felt like I had barely escaped from a fire the night before. You see, the night before I celebrated my birthday. I drank and smoked like a rock star and that morning was paying for it. It was the worst I had ever felt and I vowed on that day, never to smoke again. And I am proud to say, I never bought a pack again ever.

Until a few months ago that is, when my crisis started. I had reached a point where I just could not figure out what to do. I was crying and weeping and just could not calm myself down. I got to the point when I had to ask myself, “What will make you sane and get you through this moment? What will keep you from killing yourself right now?” And to me, and it is a different thing for everybody, smoking had always been the thing that I turned to when I got to such a low point. It was what got me to calm down and take a moment and just be present. For some it could be a stiff drink, a dozen donuts, or a shopping spree. For me it was smoking. So I did it. I went to the closest Walgreens, bought a pack, and smoked a cigarette.

And I admit, I  bought two more packs to get me through lower lows these past few months. I gave myself a break. I thought, it is better to have a crutch to get through these horrible days, than to be perfect and not have a crutch and go crazy. I took it easy on myself, I gave in to myself and I let myself have what I wanted, even needed. I think at some point in our lives, when we need to, we should give in to ourselves. In our darkest times, we need to stop and think about what we need to get us through it. If you need to spend $1000 on clothing to save yourself, do it.

But know when it is time to stop. Know when the break needs to be over. For me that break is over now. I need to stop smoking now, before it becomes a full blown addiction again. Before it spirals out of control. Now it is becoming less helpful and is on the brink of being harmful. And so, while it is still easy to stop, I have stopped. I no longer need my crutch. It has done its job. It has gotten me through my darkest times.

I hope that for you, when you are going through a tough time, that you are able to stop and think about what crutch you need to get you through, and that you let yourself have that. But I also hope that at some point, when you are healed, you are able to gracefully lay the crutch down.

I’m feeling generous today, so I’ll give this pack 3.5 hot dogs out of 5  This one was a lot better than my last pack of Sterling I opened a few months ago.  Sterling is usually a good product and not too expensive considering how many hits you get in a single pack.

TRISTAR sent over an early Thanksgiving present yesterday and supplied me with a blaster of their new 2009 Prospects + product.  You can find these at many retail outlets such as Wal-Mart and Target.  For full hobby boxes be sure to check your local card shop or favorite online dealer.

Design:

TRISTAR has really improved the design of this year’s Prospects +.  Last year’s base cards seemed a little over done with the chrome like finish and what looked from a distance like a die cut design.  ’09 Prospects + returns to a simpler design that contains color in the background versus just plain white which has been done before.

Price:

You should be able to find these blasters for between $10.00 and $20.00 at places like Wal-Mart and Target.  That seems about right for the average blaster box.

Hit Quality:

You can’t expect to get a ton of hits, if any, from a blaster box.  Have blasters been known to yield big hits in the past?  Sure.  Is it possible to pull autographs and relics from blasters?  Absolutely.  But it is much harder than your standard hobby box, especially a decent hit.  Hobby boxes of ‘09 Prospects + yield 9 hits on average.  Blasters on the other hand don’t guarantee anything.  You get one pack with 20 cards.  I didn’t pull any autographs or relics but thats what you expect from a blaster.  I like the Stephen Strasburg Crystal Ballers which are retail exclusive and can be found in 5 different color variations.  I pulled the green version from my blaster.  For some reason they remind me of an insert that could have been pulled from the 90’s.  They also have that sketch card look to them.  Be sure to look for Obak update cards within this product too.  Obak was probably my favorite retro product this year.

Overall:

Overall, I give this product 3 baseballs out of 5 (1=poor & 5=perfect).  Prospects + will always be a great contender against other prospect based products like Bowman.  If your looking for guaranteed hits, I would suggest spending the extra money for a hobby box.  These blasters are great for that prospect collector who is looking for that quick fix.

This one is truly wacky.

A bit of etymology:

Certain cars with this body style have historically been called a shooting-brake, a British term. A few models are referred to as a break, using the French term (which is sometimes given in full as “break de chasse”- literally “hunting break”). A common German term for this type, Kombi, is also sometimes used. Volkswagen’s proprietary name for a Kombi is Variant, Opel sometimes uses the word Caravan, BMW uses Touring, Wartburg used Tourist, and Audi’s examples are traditionally called Avant. Fiat often uses the term Weekend, while Alfa Romeo uses Sportwagon and Mazda uses Estate. Some British makes under BMC used Traveller or Countryman for the type. Peugeot and Land Rover have sometimes used “station wagon” even in markets which use British English (source).

Interesting factoid: the CX was apparently a favored mode of transport by Manuel Noriega (source).

Photo credit: ifa.zweitakt

- Gyro

ΛΟΝΔΙΝΟ. Μια ολόκληρη άγνωστη «κοινωνία» θαλασσίων ειδών ανακαλύφθηκε στα βάθη του Ατλαντικού ωκεανού, εκεί όπου το φως του ήλιου δεν φθάνει ποτέ. Μεταξύ των θαλάσσιων ζώντων «θαυμάτων» που εντοπίστηκαν από επιστήμονες που εργάζονται για την Απογραφή της Θαλάσσιας Ζωής- πρόκειται για έναν οργανισμό που «επιθεωρεί» την πανίδα και τη χλωρίδα των ωκεανών- ήταν ένα γιγάντιο ον που μοιάζει με χταπόδι, θαλάσσια όντα με πτερύγια που μοιάζουν με αφτιά ελέφαντα, καθώς και μικροσκοπικά οστρακόδερμα που λάμπουν σαν χρυσά κοσμήματα. Οι θαλάσσιοι βιολόγοι έμειναν έκπληκτοι μπροστά στην ποικιλία των ειδών που ανακαλύφθηκαν κατά τη διάρκεια μιας υποβρύχιας αποστολής σε βάθος 5.000 μέτρων από την επιφάνεια της θάλασσας, όπου έχουν πλέον εντοπιστεί συνολικά 17.650 είδη του βυθού.
Ενα από τα πιο παράξενα είδη που βρέθηκαν ήταν ένα σπάνιο δείγμα ενός χταποδιού με πτερύγια το οποίο ονομάζεται κοινώς Dumbo, καθώς κολυμπά κουνώντας ένα ζευγάρι πτερυγίων που μοιάζουν με αφτιά ελέφαντα. Το συγκεκριμένο είδος έλαβε ωστόσο την ονομασία Jumbo Dumbo, καθώς μπορεί να φθάσει σε μήκος τα δύο μέτρα και σε βάρος τα έξι κιλά- πρόκειται για το μεγαλύτερο δείγμα τέτοιου είδους θαλάσσιου ζώου που έχει εντοπιστεί ποτέ. Το Jumbo Dumbo συνελέγη μεταξύ 1.000 και 3.000 μέτρων κάτω από την επιφάνεια του Ατλαντικού ωκεανού, σε μια υποβρύχια οροσειρά γνωστή ως ΜεσοΑτλαντική Ράχη.
Στην ίδια περιοχή βρέθηκαν και άλλοι οργανισμοί με μέγεθος μόλις λίγων χιλιοστών οι οποίοι τρέφονται με θαλάσσια… απομεινάρια (από νεκρό πλαγκτόν ως υπολείμματα από κουφάρια φαλαινών).
Στο πλαίσιο της αποστολής οι επιστήμονες χρησιμοποίησαν αυτόνομα, μη επανδρωμένα υποβρύχια για να εξερευνήσουν τον σκοτεινό βυθό του Ατλαντικού σε ακτίνα αρκετών χιλιομέτρων. Σε αυτά τα μεγάλα βάθη εντόπισαν, για παράδειγμα, ένα παράξενο, μακρύ πορτοκαλί ον που μοιάζει με ψάρι και το οποίο ονομάζεται Νeocyema (πρόκειται για το πέμπτο δείγμα του συγκεκριμένου είδους που ανακαλύπτεται σε παγκόσμιο επίπεδο). Συνέλεξαν επίσης περί τα 680 δείγματα μικροσκοπικών ζώων που ονομάζονται κωπήποδα και ζουν μέσα στα πλαγκτόν, ωστόσο ήταν σε θέση να ταυτοποιήσουν μόνο επτά εξ αυτών. Τα υπόλοιπα φαίνεται να είναι νέα είδη για τους ειδικούς, συμπεριλαμβανομένου ενός το οποίο έλαμπε σαν… χρυσό.
O πως ανέφερε ο Ρόμπερτ Κάρνεϊ από το Πολιτειακό Πανεπιστήμιο της Λουιζιάνας που ήταν εκ των επικεφαλής του προγράμματος, «προκειμένου να επιβιώσουν στα μεγάλα βάθη τα ζώα ανακαλύπτουν πολλούς και διαφορετικούς τρόπους προσαρμογής. Υπάρχει μεγάλη έλλειψη πληροφόρησης σχετικά με την “άβυσσο” των ωκεανών. Πολλοί πίστευαν ότι είναι αφιλόξενη σαν την έρημο. Ωστόσο αποδεικνύεται ότι πολλά είδη ζουν εκεί».

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An Italian Minister has recently called to reduce lunch breaks to increase productivity (News results for Italian lunch break). In a world where capitalism reigns, and self-got-gain is the only gain; what possible reason could there be to expect anyone to even consider productivity for the sake of the economy? Isn’t this the core principle of communism? If it has got to the point where we need to forfeit our lunch to boost production, then who is this production benefiting? Having a high GDP is obviously a good thing for individuals, but if to get the GDP high enough we need to stop eating – there must be something very wrong with the way this is going…A high GDP really isn’t the aim of an individual it is the by-product of entrepreneurial activity.

I’m only a matter of hours from Thanksgiving break, which honestly isn’t much of a break in the global perspective, but I’ll take it. We’re two weeks out from the end of the semester and I’m incredibly grateful for the ability to have 5 whole days to just crank out some end of semester projects, grading, and hopefully some cleaning. (Fingers crossed).

As we are getting down to the crunch time here, I am more and more often reminded that a PhD is a degree of persistence. To some extent being here is about how “smart” you are and how well you can produce evidence of your knowledge. However, what I’m learning is that the level of intelligence you have really just plays into how low it takes you to get the work done. It’s a persistence game.  If you’re intelligent enough to be here, you’re intelligent enough to finish. So I’m focusing on finishing (or at this point just really starting).

So, I’m working on just persevering through to the end of the semester. 3 major papers/projects, 1 exam, and alot of reading and grading to go. Here’s to hoping the turkey doesn’t kill my academic inertia.

Ah, finally a break from my studies. Well, a bit of a break. Technically I still have stories that I need to write, but…

Jamming out to Lady Gaga. Ah, a delicious guilty little pleasure hidden in my MP3 player. Yeah, you know what I am talking about. When I strut more than usual, when I walk with a distinct dance-like rhythm, chances are that one of my guilty pleasures is pulsing through my headphones. Chances are that I am exercising every ounce of control to stop myself from bursting into song and dance.

Now all I want to do is drink and dance. What can I say, I am a sucker for kick’n beats and synths…and rum =D

Boom, bump that track!

On my first three day break (Nov. 13-15), me and a few others (Keith, Karl, Yolanda, and Sally) made our way to Death Valley National Park in California.

BUT we needed a car.  Long story short, by the time we figured out the rental car situation and a few frustrating trips to the airport, it was already 2:30pm on Friday Nov. 13.  We decided to leave early on Saturday morning.

Bright and early we headed off to a geological treasure trove of the west.  Death Valley is definitely a different kind of barren beauty.  We saw salt flats and LOTS of just DRY open spaces.  Also, I was surprised by the plethora of the colorful canyons and rocks.

Our first stop was some salt flats.  And YES I did taste the salt!  Next we hiked Golden Canyon. Even though I am not exactly the avid climber I did some mild bouldering (climbing rocks basically).

After a securing a campsite for the evening and some lunch, we found the Mesquite Sand Dunes.  These aren’t the HUGE (over 700 feet) sand dunes of Death Valley but were still fabulous. 

That evening we decided to literally sleep under the blanket of stars.  It was a beautiful star filled sky that I’ve only seen once before in my life in south western Virginia.

So we laid down a tarp and determined to fall asleep looking at the stars.  However, the wind really picked up during the night and I was VERY thankful for my amazingly warm sleeping bag!

Sunday we headed to some look out points.

Yeah I have a Princess Leah thing going on...it was VERY windy and cold!

As the wind got to us and the day wore, we left in the early afternoon so we could stop at Ash Meadows on our way back to Vegas.  Ash Meadows in protected land that is the natural habitat for pupfish and other wildlife.  Pupfish and quite a few species of wildlife are found nowhere else in the WORLD and this land went through quite a struggle to escape development.  It is unique because there are hot springs here and water is extremely rare in the southern Nevada desert area.

Hot Springs in Ash Meadows!

From November 16-23 I’ll be on an 8 day tour!  Four days flew by as I mentioned before, but 8 days is going to be quite an experience.