While writing an essay on evolutionary biology...

... I had to look up the following words:

basal--pertaining to, situated at, or forming the base
pectinate--having narrow divisions like the teeth of a comb
concatenate--to link together in a series or chain
concomitant--accompanying in a subordinate or incidental way
stochastic--randomly determined
speciose--consisting of a number of species; (or according to the OED: Beautiful, lovely)

Verbal GRE, here I come!!

BOS is a POS

200 U.S. Dollars = 98.0921085 Brittish Pounds
(courtesy of Google calculator)

Sorry to start this week off with a rant. It's no secret that the dollar to pound exchange rate is shite and keeps getting worse. I needed to change some money today and decided to only change enough to last me a couple weeks, so I wouldn't accidentally overspend (which can easily happen when you have a thick wallet). I went to the shopping centre after class and approached the Bank of Scotland. I asked for the current exchange rate, and was informed that it is about 2.188. Yikes, just yesterday it was about 2.14! No thanks I said, and walked next door to inquire the same question. I asked about 5 places what the rate was, because (for some reason) there was a row of travel agencies and other exchange bureaus next to the bank. All of them had rates between 2.2 and 2.3, some had commission fees for traveler's checks, so it looked like the BOS was my best bet. I return to the teller and signed my traveler's cheques. 86 pounds?? What? Unexplicably, the total to be paid to customer was 5 pounds less than the sterling value. I ask if there was a fee because they were traveler's checks. Oh no, there's no fee. Then why is there five pounds fewer? Oh, it's because you're not a member of the bank. Do you want me to proceed? Oh, too bad, I already have. See, it's already gone through. I guess I should have told you that before. Ha. You didn't want that $10 anyway, right? Fucking hell. Doing a little arithmetic reveals that the effective rate of the BOS is... ta dah: 2.315. In other words, worse than ALL of the other places I had decided not to go. And that, my friends, is why Bank of Scotland is a Piece of Shit.

I know 5 pounds is nothing to quibble over, and I certainly realize there a lot of people in worse financial positions than myself. But this episode really irks me because I try to be sensible with my money and I actually shopped around to try and find the best rate. I'm just tired of being ripped off.

wanna talk about... POP art!?

The Andy Warhol exhibit at the National Galleries was amazingly fun! It was one of the highlights thus far of my time in bonnie Scotland.



Silver Clouds: Best movie EVER! Playing with the balloons (until we got told off).

Details of the gallery: (This laundry list may not be of particular interest to anyone but myself. I'm recounting the exhibits so that I can remember what I saw that day.) The gallery's neoclassical ionic columns are obscured with stacks of six foot tall Campbell's soup cans, advertising the exhibition. Inside the museum was a room of oversized cases of canned goods (soup, heintz ketchup, Del Monte, apple juice, etc) and other household items like Brillo Pads.

In a corner room that we nearly overlooks was a Death and Disaster exhibit. Prints such as a tire on a foot, 'Gangster's Funeral,' an operating room scene with a doctor and a nun, and a man who was thrown from a car onto a telephone pole.

The largest room in the gallery was covered with cow wallpaper. There were prints of giant burgers, paratrooper boots, a large pistol, and Repent, Sinners! Everything was in multiples.

The skull room featured several prints of large, brightly coloured skulls. The shadow of the skull had the profile of a baby, encapsulating both birth and death. The wall paper of the skull room was the Washington monument.

The portrait room had brown walls and two of every portrait arranged in a chequerboard fashion. Portraits I recognized were Dolly Parton, Judy Garland and Liza Minelli. There was a cool one: Self Portrait (Strangulation).

Another room had the famous Marilyn screens. The screen print was adjacent to the brightly coloured painted print. Twenty five Jackie O's were on the opposite wall. There was a filmed portrait of Edie someone... basically a silent film of her face, slowed down so that each movement was noticeable. From her swinging chandelier earrings to her dramatic blinking eyes with long lashes. It was mesmerizing to watch.

The children's room had silvery fish wallpaper, and the prints were hung at the eye level of a young child. The images were prints of toy packaging. There was a display case with the actual toys and their boxes as well.

The last, and best, room upstairs was Silver Clouds. An empty room with a high ceiling and two rotating fans attached to the walls. Large silver balloons (the size and shape of pillows) were floating around, some near the ceiling, some on the ground. The sign instructed patrons to "Interact GENTLY with the Art." And that's what we did. For a long time.

Downstairs the first room had several ink drawings, many using a ball point pen. Some that I remember include Foot with Flowers and Butterflies, as well as many of boy's faces. There were also paintings of Mick Jagger and a few self-portraits.

In the next room were photographs. Ofthen there were six copies of the photo, stitched together with a sewing machine. One was the inside of a taxi (COUGH, SNEEZE), and one of Grace Jones being painted, tribal style.

The last room had a few nude photos, including one of a woman standing in a shell (like the Botticelli painting). There was a photo of a small dog next to a pool with an antenna headband on, and another of a boat on the ocean with a torso in the foreground. There were also several artifacts and knick knacks in display cases. One I liked in particular was a fan letter written to Andy Warhol, asking him to do a show in the UK. It started off: To Andy Warhol (if possible). The fan also asked if he knew Bob Dylan's address.

karaoke revolution from my bed

This picture seriously cracks me up. Look at that dork on stage! (I meant me, not the disc jockey.) My mouth is opened so wide you can probably see my tonsils.

Angela and I decided karaoke could be our abroad tribute to rotation, which is this week. She did Love Shack and I sang my karaoke revolution favorite, Hey Jealousy.

Home Sweet Home

This is where I live. Turner House aka "T-unit." Right at the base of an extinct volcano, Arthur's Seat. (Remember, Angela and I hiked there?) Also, check out those MS paint editing skillz. My excuse: the mouse is for right-handed people.


A view of the Pollock Halls from Arthur's Seat. I live in the one that's right in the middle by the road.


The view from my window (facing the opposite way of Arthur's seat). Not so spectacular, but you can see the dry ski slope on the hill if you look closely.

Fancy Dress

Not quite Eagle vs Shark... but pretty darned close.
My and Andy's costumes for the Semi-Naked Safari Monster Party. I think we should get the prize for best use of tape and cardboard.


(Caltech) Beaver


Stegosaurus (check out those radiative plates!)

Seeing red again...

Here's a link to Angela's Hair Dyeing Photo Documentary. I tried to dye her hair purple. Apparently I give off an air of knows-what-she's-doing-ness when dyeing hair, which might not be a good thing. If you remember a certain incident circa 2005 involving my own purple hair...

I'm in ur blog...

...writing ur posts.

LOL.

I'm serious about that subtitle...

Guess what I'm eating? Pitta and houmous. Yeah, you heard me.

School's in session!!

18-Sep-07 through 21-Sep-07

My first week of classes. It's like the first week of classes at Caltech. Except nothing like that in the slightest. (That's a good thing, me thinks.)

After a pre-term schedule re-vamp, my schedule is pretty cool: two biology and two geology courses. None of those pansy hum classes.

Structure and Function of Proteins is a 3rd year biochemistry course with a very descriptive title.
Evolutionary and Ecological Genetics is a 3rd year genetics course. I think it's my favorite.
Aquatic Systems is a 3rd year geology course about nice stuff like lakes and rivers.
Natural Hazards is a 2nd year geology course about scary stuff like tsunamis and earthquakes.