Monday, December 6, 2010
King James Dusting Off the Cavaliers
This last Thursday, LeBron James returned to his native soil to play against his former teammates. This may seem like just another trade in the NBA, but Cleveland's fans were the ones that supported him through high school and through the start of his professional career. James received many negative stigmas before and during this event, but anyone in his shoes would do whatever they can to be the best, he is LeBron James. Miami offered him the right price to create a powerhouse of the NBA and he took it. It is understandable to be upset about the trade, but LeBron is not to blame. He is only being the best at what he does scoring an amazing 38 points against Cleveland that night.
Friday, December 3, 2010
No Shave November
This November I did something I've never done before, or at least for an extensive period of time. shave.
No shave November is month long event in which, typically men, don't shave for Men's health. I didn't become aware of its actual meaning until later in the month, but after realizing I'm glad I did it. Mainly because my grandpa was diagonsis with prostate cancer last year. He is fine now, but now I have a higher risk of having prostate cancer, which is almost curiable as long as you catch it early, which their is no reason not too. Doing no shave November has helped me get the word out on Men's health like prostate cancer, my most important audience of course was my family. Sharing the knowledge of preventability and manageability to my younger cousins and brothers is a very important lesson to share. Now I know that they will favor screening instead of fear them, why? probably because it's in the family, but hopefully because of their own responsibility.
No shave November is month long event in which, typically men, don't shave for Men's health. I didn't become aware of its actual meaning until later in the month, but after realizing I'm glad I did it. Mainly because my grandpa was diagonsis with prostate cancer last year. He is fine now, but now I have a higher risk of having prostate cancer, which is almost curiable as long as you catch it early, which their is no reason not too. Doing no shave November has helped me get the word out on Men's health like prostate cancer, my most important audience of course was my family. Sharing the knowledge of preventability and manageability to my younger cousins and brothers is a very important lesson to share. Now I know that they will favor screening instead of fear them, why? probably because it's in the family, but hopefully because of their own responsibility.
Air Borders
What border issue came to mind for Essay three, unfortunately too late, was air borders.
If you think about it, our airport security is our first line of defense from foreign threats. It prevents people from our terrorist watch list from flying into American and it gives heads up to other countries about the potential hazards involved with each person on the list.
Unfortunately, this list is not the best in terms of structure, organization, and emphasism. The list is so broaden to anyone with any terrorist connection, sometimes it just puts people because of a deal they did so long ago with the exchange of a sheep for cash or other resource. Bottom line is that this "list" is not the best it could be. It's funny how they check people from coming to the US, but not so much the packages, especially from countries like Yemen, which to most people is practically a terrorist safe heaven. fortunately, changes are being made to combat this growing problem and new procedures are being implemented to further our nation security. I wish I would have done more research and choose this topic for my research paper, but like I said, it was and idea that came too late.
Bittersweet
It's not a poem about home, but it's a sonnet I have written and thought I could share, being as I've only shared with just a selective few. I call it Bittersweet
Bittersweet
'Tis thy nature to be stun upon you,
As your presence puts a halt to the world;
Every man demanding to be your two;
And with my world, you seem to have made twirled.
Every moment is like sweet ecstasy,
Longing to be near you forevermore.
You are my flower and I your bee;
Sweet as honey, awfully hard to ignore,
And yet you are just my bitter addiction:
Raising my confidence leaving me blind,
Invoking my truth with your deception,
Corroding my deepest sound of mind.
Your presences won't be seen as obsolete,
But more a feeling, I find, bittersweet.
Bittersweet
'Tis thy nature to be stun upon you,
As your presence puts a halt to the world;
Every man demanding to be your two;
And with my world, you seem to have made twirled.
Every moment is like sweet ecstasy,
Longing to be near you forevermore.
You are my flower and I your bee;
Sweet as honey, awfully hard to ignore,
And yet you are just my bitter addiction:
Raising my confidence leaving me blind,
Invoking my truth with your deception,
Corroding my deepest sound of mind.
Your presences won't be seen as obsolete,
But more a feeling, I find, bittersweet.
Guest speaker
This post is my impression about St. Edward's guest speaker PhD Oleg Larionov. He presented his work on, “Total Syntheses of Amphidinolide V and Coraxeniolides.”
In the presentation, Larionov discussed the series of steps taken in his research. Larionov began with recognizing the synthesis of Amphidinolide in marine plant life. The minuscule amount derived from nature provided reason in forming total synthesis of Amphidinolide. The process of total synthesis was completed in a series of systematic steps. The first step included “a sequence of ring-closing alkyne metathesis” binding with cycloalkyne and ethene to form the macrocyclic skeleton. In return, the vicinal exo-methylene branches were developed. The process was successful in total synthesis and had direct correlation with the “cytotoxic marine natural product amphidinolide V.” The works of Larionov provides further intuition for later projects involving ring-closing alkyne metathesis.
Listening to Larionov speak was somewhat a demo of what I know I’ll be able to understand either eight years from now, or potentially four years from now. The in-depth knowledge implemented, has me look forward toward my years in graduate school; knowing one day I’ll be able to speak fluid in scientific theology. This presentation has also showed me the amount of time and dedication that has to be put into a research project. Even though Larionov research turned out successful, I am sure there have been a lot of flaws along the way. I am also sure some researchers could not fix these flaws and are force to go back to the drawing board, but you know I think that’s what drives scientist and researchers. If I’ve learned anything from this presentation it is a researcher, in any field, has their own motivation to research and wants to educate others in their interest.
In the presentation, Larionov discussed the series of steps taken in his research. Larionov began with recognizing the synthesis of Amphidinolide in marine plant life. The minuscule amount derived from nature provided reason in forming total synthesis of Amphidinolide. The process of total synthesis was completed in a series of systematic steps. The first step included “a sequence of ring-closing alkyne metathesis” binding with cycloalkyne and ethene to form the macrocyclic skeleton. In return, the vicinal exo-methylene branches were developed. The process was successful in total synthesis and had direct correlation with the “cytotoxic marine natural product amphidinolide V.” The works of Larionov provides further intuition for later projects involving ring-closing alkyne metathesis.
Listening to Larionov speak was somewhat a demo of what I know I’ll be able to understand either eight years from now, or potentially four years from now. The in-depth knowledge implemented, has me look forward toward my years in graduate school; knowing one day I’ll be able to speak fluid in scientific theology. This presentation has also showed me the amount of time and dedication that has to be put into a research project. Even though Larionov research turned out successful, I am sure there have been a lot of flaws along the way. I am also sure some researchers could not fix these flaws and are force to go back to the drawing board, but you know I think that’s what drives scientist and researchers. If I’ve learned anything from this presentation it is a researcher, in any field, has their own motivation to research and wants to educate others in their interest.
The glory days of animation...
I can still remember when cartoons entertained. When writers sculpted witty and original plots one frame at a time to create family friendly programs actually worth tuning in to. These were golden times. These were the days when cartoons like Dexter's Lab, Johnny Bravo, and Ren and Stimpy ruled air; and stations like Cartoon Network kept their worth in society. These days are gone. Seeking a chuckle or two, I sat and watched the modern day cartoon a few Sundays ago, but found myself fairly disappointed. I thought to myself, "Is this what it's come to?" I felt violated by the crudeness of the humor on what is supposed to be a children's television show. It was loud and obnoxious and something I probably wouldn't even have like as a boy. Then it dawned on me. "Maybe I'm just too old. I've probably just grown out of my favorite past-times". So I went to the world wide web in search of episodes of my old favorites. I was able to unearth old episodes of my cartoon of choice, Dexter's Laboratory. I was in stitches. The freshness of the humor really surprised me. It was incredible to see how the creators are able to use the idea of a boy genius to educate kids in science and language arts while simultaneously cracking them up. Today's animators need to re-watch these shows and take notes. And maybe once again they will be able to put some worth while toons back on the tube.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Turkey Trot
It was Thanksgiving morning and as I was turning to the parade on my TV I realized I agreed to run the turkey trot with my siblings. In past years I ran and enjoyed the turkey trot but since college life has been a bit more busy than high school I have not ran as much as usual. Plus the city of Austin or whoever came up with the turkey trot decided to make it a 5 mile run instead of a 5k (almost a 2 mile difference). I like the idea of the turkey trot more than I actually like it. Basically you are burning the massive amount of calories that you are going to eat up later in advance. If you have never been to the Thundercloud turkey trot it is a sight to see. No where else can you find a group of people dressed up as indians yelling and chasing a person dressed up in a turkey costume. About three miles into the race I was feeling very fatigued, I was seconds away from stopping when I saw a little girl skipping in front of me like it didn't even faze her. I had to keep going, I was not going to let a little girl embarrass me like that. After the 4 mile mark I started to notice dogs passing me and that was the point where I gave up, I had to stop running. All in all I had a great time with my siblings plus 18,000 of my fellow Austinites. Next year if you are in town for Thanksgiving I strongly encourage you to make your way to downtown Austin to participate in the turkey trot.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)