Philip Larkin
They fuck you up, your mum and dad.
They may not mean to, but they do.
They fill you with the faults they had
And add some extra, just for you.
But they were fucked up in their turn
By fools in old-style hats and coats,
Who half the time were soppy-stern
And half at one another's throats.
Man hands on misery to man.
It deepens like a coastal shelf.
Get out as early as you can,
And don't have any kids yourself.
This short-film made by a 17-year old film-maker Kiri Davis (NYC) is winning awards and stirring up a storm of controversy across the United States.
At parties, people often ask me what I do. Normally I answer that I simulate molecules on a computer. Most people seem satisfied with that answer, after all, it's only an ice-breaking question (people are secretly hoping you answer something along the lines of "sex-worker" or "published novelist").
But once in a while, I'll actually get someone who really wants to know. Then, I'll give an impromptu explanation, complete with flying arms and sound effects.
But really, the best way to understand what I do, is to look at the results of a simulation. And here is one of the simplest simulations using the techniques of molecular dynamics, the neuro-peptide enkephalin in a box of water molecules:
A stiff Vice President campaigns on his administration's legacy of unprecedented prosperity. Looks terrible on TV. Bows out, following a disputed vote count. Then, two terms later, with no incumbent in the race, he re-enters the fray. Promises to change the course of a disastrous war founded on lies. And charges to victory. I'm referring, of course, to the 1968 campaign of Richard Milhous Nixon. But four decades later, history has a chance to repeat itself for Albert Arnold Gore. .... [more]
My intentions are pure
But my gaze begins to wander
As the voice drones on and on
It is the nature of the Speaker
to Speak
And his words pour forth like raindrops
But try as I might I can only
Focus on the space between the words
The voice drones on and on
He pulls out a handkerchief
Dabbing one round silvery bead of sweat
That has appeared on his high shiny Brow
All the meanwhile
The voice drones on and on
My concentration is my friend
But my friend is weak
I wish it were made of steel
Instead of one-ply toilet paper
My mind is easily scattered into the eight corners of the room
The voice drones on and on
My mind drops my body
But not in a good way
The voice drones on and on
Looking up at the scorching white of the overhead
An errant pointer scurries across my eyes
The screen flickers
The power is cut
A universe dies
But the voice drones on and on
I look into my cup of tea
And see some people swimming
I swirl my cup
Making waves and minor storms
I look carefully and see
That they are mostly accountants
Treading tea in pin-striped suits
Some are frightened, others just smile
And wave
I wave back
If they could they would advise me
Of fantastic opportunities
I could invest in the toaster
For example
After a time my thirst takes hold
I raise the cup to my lips
Surprised, I see that some
Are hanging onto the rim
But undeterred I take a sip
The liquid swirls around the accountants
As they wash down my throat and
I barely notice them
Like the 37th decimal place of π
I feel the tea slide
Some of the accountants no doubt will try to
Abseil back up my windpipes
But that would be as futile
As filling in a tax return
I read 49 books, 3 short of a book a week, which in my books, is close enough. This year, I got to read some contemporary poetry. I also revisited some old friends. I also spent an ungodly amount of time wiping Proust and Pynchon off my classics reading-list.
On people who like Joanna Newsom:
"It's like people who say they love nature but you can't imagine them camping because their haircuts are too complicated."
~Brianna Toth (new flatmate)
I live in California, ergo, I must do some kind of exercise. My chosen sport (or anti-death activity) is football, or as they call it here, soccer. For convenience, I play it indoors. Some people I play indoor soccer with are very good, some are average. And then, there's Zinedine Zidane:
"Make injections and decapitations quicker and easier with Braintree's DecapiCones®.
...injections can be made directly through the film!
...DecapiCones® restrain post-decapitation kicking and prevent personal contact with feces and urine.
...Animals enter readily, heading for the breathing hole at the small end. Then you simply roll and squeeze the large end closed.
...For decapitation, hold at the rear and insert the small end into the decapitator."
Get it quick before it goes, for mice (or gerbil) fetishists:
Comes with everything you see: Complete small-mouse, double-section, fixed Racks with Hepa Filter/Blower Module; Cages; Wire Screens; Water Bottles; Cage Filters; and Identification Tags. 11 cages high, 7 cages on each side of shelf.
wefeelfine.org is one of the most unusual websites I've come across. It's a trippy animation. It's a social network. It's a place to tell the world how you feel.
Why do I love les chantueses françaises so much? See following, this girl sings from her id:
How do 2 proteins come together to form a complex? Although we can sometimes determine the crystal structure of a complex, this only gives us a static picture, the end product of a dynamic process.
To provide a glimpse into how two proteins come together, Tang and co-workers, in the paper "Visualization of transient encounter complexes in protein–protein association" Nature (2006) 444:383, devised a brilliant scheme to capture the alternative ways that two proteins bind together in solution.
The key idea is that these Mn2+ ions induce a magnetic response in EIN where the magnetic response (ΔΓ2) of the backbone H atoms in EIN depends on the distance of the H atoms from the Mn2+ ions. The magnetic response ΔΓ2 (red dots) for each backbone H atom in EIN is plotted below:
The black line in the figure above is the ΔΓ2 calculated from the crystal structure of the complex of EIN bound to HPr. The measured ΔΓ2 (red dots) show a number of peaks that deviate from the black line. These peaks correspond to transient binding sites of HPr to other parts of the EIN surface.
From the results of a series of similar experiments, Tang and co-workers reconstructed the most likely transient binding sites of HPr to EIN. The alternate conformations of HPr are shown as a density map (green) in the following image. The actual binding site of HPr in the crystal structure is shown in blue, and EIN is shown as an eletrostatic surface map (red is positive, white neutral, blue is negative):
The alternative conformations of HPr bind to positively charged parts of the surface of EIN. However, near the actual binding site, there are few alternate conformations, even though the surface around the actual binding site is also strongly charged.
Tang and co-workers conclude that it is very easy for two proteins to stick together, drawn by simple electrostatic attraction. But this binding is weak. To explain the absence of alternative conformations around the actual binding sites, they argue that once the HPr binds close to the actual binding site, there is a large energy funnel that forces the HPr into the actual binding site.
This is the first study to show, experimentally, that two proteins can transiently bind anywhere through electrostatic interaction, a truly significant result.
What does the the membrane that wraps around our cells look like? We know that the membrane is choc-a-bloc full of proteins, but we can't see them directly because the level of detail is too small for our electron microscopes to look at, without destroying the cell.
Is there a way to re-construct the mosaic of proteins that normally stud a membrane? In "Molecular Anatomy of a Trafficking Organelle" Cell (2006) 127:831, Takamori and co-workers studied the synaptic vesicle - a little bubble wrapped up in membrane that carries neuro-transmitters from one synapse in the brain to another. 
This image is somewhat reminiscent of the vibrant watercolors painted by David Goodsell, which were created using some deep intuitions about protein density and oodles of artistic license:
If I were to tell you that recently, I went to an experimental modern dance piece , you might raise your eyebrows. If I were to tell you that the piece explored trans-gender issues in a social activism festival, you might even start to smirk. And if I were tell you that it was brilliant, you would roll your eyes around and around until I could only see the whites of your eyes. Well, I went to, saw, and vastly enjoyed Sean Dorsey's "The Outsider Chronicles", as part of the ManiFestival (Dance Brigade's Festival for Social Change) in San Francisco.
The most significant artistic choice that Dorsey made, was to perform the dance pieces over a spoken word performance. I had never seen this fusion of spoken word and dance before. By engaging the audience through a series of beautifully written story, Dorsey had highlighted a fundamental problem with most forms of dance that I have seen - although kinetically enthralling, most dance is intellectually dis-engaging. To fully engage in a scene, I think it is imperative that we get under the skin of the characters on stage. Dance alone cannot tell such stories. With spoken word, character and dialog are refracted onto the movements on the stage.
The miracle of the "The Outsider Chronicles" is that Sean Dorsey is every bit as good a spoken-word performer as he is a dancer. There were six beautifully written stories, full of vigor, life and humor. There was a piece about the first time he kissed a girl. Another was a poignant piece about the drive of a couple to have an emergency meeting with his father. These spoken word pieces could easily stand on their own. Here, they formed the platform on which the dance unfolded.
The stories and the dance dove-tailed as we see flying bodies act out the conflicts and confusions of the relationships embedded in the stories. The spoken dialogue gave flesh to the movements. Movement and intention become one. I could felt the stories wash over me, kinetically, bodily. Reflecting on this, I realized that the vacuity of much of traditional ballet was due to the inherent limit of dance to convey rich emotional experience. Whereas seasoned ballet enthusiasts already know the story of the ballet that they will see, and hence can interpret the actions on the stage, there is no such recourse for a novice. In "The Outsider Chronicles", Dorsey cuts through that incomprehensibility by merging voice with dance.
I was also enthralled by the lighting and staging. The staging was spare, allowing the rather imaginative use of light to cut through the space. Slabs of light were used to conjure up a conjugal bed, another to project the interior of a car free-wheeling on a road-trip. In another scene, a wash of vertical light conjured up a bath-room on the front of the stage.
Dorsey examines the line from desire to the fulfillment of a fully-realized self-identity. His stories document his struggle to engage with the world, though specific to trans-gender issues, there is a universal dimension to his story. The strength and compassion in the way he recounts his past, makes his struggle heroic. In the last piece "Creativity", Dorsey laments a moment in his youth where he missed a chance to seize the moment and declare himself, and pit himself against everyone around him. But if he failed in that moment in the past, he has more than made-up for it in sublimating his story into a muscular work of art.
I know the cute factor to this video will drip through your computer screen and onto the carpet. But I really, I couldn't resist posting the daily adventures of penguin shopper, Lala-chan:
I was just reading about Verónica Michelle Bachelet Jeria, the current president of Chile. Her biography is phenomenal (from wikipedia):
Bachelet—a surgeon, pediatrician and epidemiologist with studies in military strategy—served as Health Minister and Defense Minister under President Ricardo Lagos. She is a separated mother of three and a self-described agnostic, which sets her apart in a predominantly conservative and Catholic country. A polyglot, she speaks Spanish, English, German, Portuguese and French.
