Communication

Both of these are currently hanging up in my kitchen. Probably the only thing I'm going to miss about living in Chapin is the appearance of mysterious messages on a daily basis. At this point, this is the closest I get to communicating with my roommates.

The best part of this one is that we don't actually have a trash can anymore. In response to a few ants crawling around the kitchen, one of my roommates threw away the trash can and posted this note. Apparently putting all your food in plastic bags on the floor is a good way to deter a giant ant infestation.

I've heard from quite a few reputable sources that unplugging a rice cooker that hasn't been turned on for weeks can have disastrous consequences. Two of my roommates are engineering students which may or may not explain this diagram.


At least these weren't written on the refrigerator.

Sarcasm? Not on your life

Here, for no other reason than to prove that Hugh Jackman has been in movies that aren't completely ridiculous and nonsensical, is the trailer for The Fountain.



Yes. I am, in fact, saying that a movie featuring Hugh Jackman becoming a tree and doing space yoga is less ridiculous and makes more sense than Wolverine.

Also, The Fountain is one of my favorite movies ever... Wolverine not so much.

My timely review of X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Shockingly, this movie is as poorly thought out and awkward as its title. I'm no literary expert (although I did read both Angels and Demons and the Da Vinci Code), but a colon and a dash in the same title is just silly.

As far as the actual movie, I'm still wondering why we needed a montage of two Canadians fighting in a bunch of wars as soldiers of the United States. Even better was how that montage was probably the least nonsensical part of the whole movie.

I'll be skipping the inevitable sequels, prequels, threequals, and reboots. For a cinematic (and completely awesome) take on the X-Men check this out. I have all the paperbacks, and yes, you can borrow them.

Theses

I'm sticking with minimalist titles for now. Just so you all know.

Anyways, I went to my labmate's thesis defense a few days ago and and it is was one of the most terrifying things I've ever seen. One of the committee members tore apart all the experiments and proposed years and years worth of replacement research. Thankfully, the other committee members stepped in before things got out of hand. Some of the criticism was valid (and the appropriate analysis is undoubtedly being run as I type this) After over three strenuous hours, we finally have our first lab alumni.

One of my friends outside the biopsych area also defended last week. Her defense reportedly went a lot smoother and involved the highest number of cookies per committed member in the history of planet earth.

A few more of my labmates and friends are defending over the summer so soon I'll know a bunch of doctors who aren't doctors.

Now about my own projects...

Lost is now Twin Peaks...

Well that was quite a finale... shame we have to wait nine months for the next season.



On a not at all related note, I have a meeting with a professor in the theater department later today about a potential cross-disciplinary project. More on that when that develops.

Insomnia, or how I've spent the best days of spring

Regular readers of this blog (both of you) have undoubtedly noticed the drought of posting in the last few weeks. I've been neglecting the blog as well as other trivial matters such as exercising, sleeping, and twittering, because of the usual end of the semester activities. Apparently, despite what everyone told me coming into grad school, there are finals and they are serious business. After I finish typing this I'm either going to finish rearranging my office or head home to get some sleep. I guess the bright side of all the work I've been doing as that I've also listened to a lot of new music in the last few weeks.

According to some of the other grad students, summer is much less stressful than the rest of the year. At the very least, I'm looking forward to the undergrads leaving and finally being able to park on campus. Also, I'll be doing some research or something, but I'm gonna let my brain rest for a few hours before I start worrying about that.

District 9

So this District-9 movie looks interesting...



The director, a guy by the name of Neill Blomkamp, is known mainly for his special effects work and short films. His short films have a pretty distinctive visual style, so it'll be interesting to see how his work translates onto the big screen.

District-9 is based on one of Blomkamp's shorts, called Alive in Joberg. If the film is anything like the short, it'll definitely be worth checking out.