Trekkies Bash New Star Trek Film as 'Fun, Watchable'

Trekkies Bash New Star Trek Film As 'Fun, Watchable'

Nonsensical

"Two batsmen scored centuries yesterday"

That's just crazy talk.

A Good Economic Example to Follow

Thriving Norway Provides an Economics Lesson - LANDON THOMAS Jr., NY Times Online, May 14, 2009
Instead of spending its oil riches, Norway saved, and it is now growing in the midst of the global recession.

Ugh, gross

Food Companies Are Placing the Onus for Safety on Consumers
- MICHAEL MOSS, NY Times Online, May 15, 2009
Makers of processed foods have increased their efforts to eliminate pathogens, but with uneven results.

Increasingly, the corporations that supply Americans with processed foods are unable to guarantee the safety of their ingredients. In this case, ConAgra could not pinpoint which of the more than 25 ingredients in its pies was carrying salmonella. Other companies do not even know who is supplying their ingredients, let alone if those suppliers are screening the items for microbes and other potential dangers, interviews and documents show.

Well, three out of four ain't bad

Wow, wow, wow. When US sports pundits admit they think the Stanley Cup Playoffs are more exciting than the NBA playoffs, you know something special is going on.

I'd like to think that my poor predictions have more to do with 15 of the 16 teams had an honest chance of winning. To be truthful, the only second round prediction I got wrong was thinking Boston would beat Carolina. Boston lost to Carolina in overtime of game 7 so it wasn't a bad pick. Anyway, here is my revised predictions based more on what I'd like to happen more than anything:

Overheard

Lady 1: "How are you doing?"
Lady 2: "I've been having problems with electronics and nickels."

An Example of Funded Research

Too Upset to Sleep

As my boss is away, I receive the questions and comments for the math website then appropriately distribute. Tonight someone sent a complaint about a question posted over 9 years ago. It is true that the response needs to be rewritten for clarity but I wish didn't I have to read it. Not that I'm all rainbows and kittens but that kind of negativity makes my tummy hurt.

Did I not get the memo?

Is there no Thursday this week? Woo hoo! Four day work week!

Ok, maybe things will be alright

Even though I will not get full time hours as promised, I have found a bit more work for the summer. My boss from the math education website has a ton of funding so even though he hired someone for the summer, he says he still could find some work for me. The prof who I am doing research for found work for me working on a website for a private elementary school. I also decided to take a class this summer since I have the time.

Now my tummy is starting to get nervous

I found out about a week ago that my summer job will not be full time as promised. Last summer when I was hired the plan was to job share with another student who had one year of school left. They hired me because they wanted someone with several years left in their degree so that I could continue the same research summer to summer. The plan for this year was the work to be full time (as told to me first when I got the job last year and reiterated up until last month). I had a class with the professor this semester who promised me the full time work and he told me as I was handing in my final exam. He said he wanted to give some work to the student who was graduating and I could just ask the math department for part time work like I did last year. WHAATTT! I was offered 3 jobs over the course of this last semester that I would have loved to have. I turned them down because I had already committed to working for this professor. There was another job that I would have loved to have that I could have applied for. The start date for all of these is tomorrow and they've all been filled. I have no idea what I am going to do.

The Wild Side

Let’s Hear It for the Bees
NY Times Online, Leon Kreitzman, April 28, 2009

You can set your watch by the openings and closings of certain flowers, but for real circadian synchronicity, it's the bees.

Lord Stanley's Cup: Round 2 Predictions

Ok, so I got 4/8 correct for my first round predictions. Here is what I think is to come:

Best Joke I've Heard in Awhile

Did you guys hear about that big fire on that golf course in Calgary? Flames everywhere.

Hahahahahaha, sigh.

The Revenge

I forgot about these photos:

Bully

LynnieC's revenge


Shaking our fists at Pense for fooling us into thinking we were almost to Regina.

You know you are burnt out when...

Blond Derek: "What day is the 30th?"
Janny: "We've gone through this already: Friday is Thursday."

Janny's Stanley Cup 2009 Prediction

Now let's see if I can make a better prediction that last year. This year I definitely watched more hockey and kept track of the stats of other teams because my fantasy hockey teams. I feel like my decision is much more informed than previous years but I'm not comfortable about my western picks.

The East:

My beloved Canadiens will not make it out of the first round. I adore them but this is reality folks. Boston has beaten them in every meeting this season. Montreal may win a couple games in the series but no more than 2.

Rangers just don't have the skill to beat the Capitals. Enough said.

Carolina is too inconsistent and doesn't have the goaltending to beat New Jersey. Carolina definitely has the ability to make it to the second round but unlikely to happen.

Philly versus Pittsburgh is definitely the series to watch. It will be close but ultimately Philly is the better all around team.

The West:
San Jose has had a play off work ethic all season. What the results of the other series are inconsequential because the Sharks are going all the way.

Chicago and Columbus are young and lack playoff experience.

Calgary is too inconsistent and has too many injuries right now.

Detroit has inconsistent goaltenders.

Vancouver will have an easy first round but lacks the tenacity to beat any of the teams that could make past the first round.

LynnieC, star of High School Musical 3

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You are not helping your cause, Ma'am

Yesterday I heard Jorge Cham do his presentation on "The Power of Procrastination". If you read his comic regularly, you would know he travels all over the world speaking at different universities. Weirdest part of the talk:

Jorge Cham: "Any actuarial scientists here?"
Random humanities grad student: "Not on this coast"
Jorge Cham stands blankly in confusion for a long period of time.

Fact: Bee are our friends

Creating a Bee-friendly Garden - David Suzuki's April Nature Challenge

We’ve all heard about the mysterious global disappearance of honeybees. Other bee species are also declining, mainly because of habitat loss. You can make a big difference just by creating a bee-friendly space in your garden. (And it’s not hard – bees are easy to please!)

Why should I create a welcome place for bees?
* All creatures that eat plants (including humans!) depend on pollinators.
* 3/4 of the foods we eat – fruits, nuts, vegetables, and herbs – need pollinators to reproduce.
* Creating hospitable homes for beneficial insects in your garden means they are less likely to move into your house.
* You’ll triple the yield of fruit and veggies in your garden – no more lumpy strawberries or shrunken squash!
* Even what seems like a small contribution – just a tiny flower pot or patch – can provide valuable pollinator habitat.