Break (click on the pictures to enlarge)

The break has been great, hence my conspicuous lack of posting lately. Generally I only post when I'm tired of looking at path notes. I won't bore anyone with long winded stories. I will brag on my brother for a bit for recently graduating magna cum laude from the University of Louisiana in animal science. Some in the know may now think that the 'thumbs up' is a genetically inherited trait in the family, and since I didn't tell him to do it, I may be inclined to agree.

New York was unbelievable, I posted plenty of pictures of that as well and some just around the house at Christmas. I promised I wouldn't bore anyone by being long winded, so here are the pictures:

New camera

Yeah, I went ahead and did it. The old 4 mp kodak served me well but I had exhausted its capabilities. I very nearly bought the canon powershot G9 which is at the extreme high end of the compact camera list. It is 12 mp, has almost every feature you can imagine (most that only the big DSLR's have), and takes great pictures. On top of all of that, its small, which was a big thing for me because a camera you don't want to carry with you is a camera that stays at home.

But I had a change of heart, I finally realised what I was looking for is depth of field, and deep contrast, like you see in the above photo with the coins. Everything fades into the background except for what you want to focus on, the images are smooth and crisp, there's a depth to them. I realised no matter how high on the foodchain I got with a compact there was no way I was going to capture the shots I really wanted because its just a function of the size of the sensor and the distance between lens components. What I really wanted just can't be done in a smaller camera, even one with twice the megapixels, its not physically possible.

So I started looking at the big DSLR's (those big cameras with interchangable lenses) Surprisingly, some at the low end cost little more than an Playstation or the aforementioned G9, really I was only shopping for the very entry level cameras due to cost, the "budget semi-pro" catagory of these things can easily cost you over $1,000. I don't have that kind of dough, so I narrowed it down to two cameras - the Nikon D40, and the Pentax K100.

On paper the Pentax is better, it has image stabilization, it is backwards compatible with all the old lenses, it comes bundled with very powerful software. Whereas the Nikon lacks these features to one extent or the other.

But, I found a great feature on flickr.com. You can view images by the type of camera they were taken with. I viewed the Nikon images and I have to say, there were more than a few that literally made me hold my breath. For some reason the pentax was just underwhelming, the photo's were rich in color but dark and moody and just not as crisp or dynamic. I agonized over whether to go with the camera I had a gut feeling about, or to go with the one that was technically better on paper.

Then I realised - do I even have any lenses that are backwards compatible? No. And I doubt I'll ever even buy another lens in all reality! Scratch that one off the list. Well, what about image stabilization? Good news is, because DSLR's have such a big sensor, they capture the image in a fraction of the time that compacts do, so really image stabilization isn't a big deal when your shutter speed is so fast (it does help in low light though, no denying that). But all in all, its not a HUGE deal in a DSLR like it is in a compact, where shutter speeds are slower and the camera has less weight to steady itself. Scratch that off the list as well.

In the end I decided I wanted a relatively simple camera that takes great pictures. The pentax has HORRIBLE menus and would take forever to learn like reading a technical manual on a universal remote control. The Nikon actually has nice help menus that pop up when your about to take a crappy shot, and makes suggestions in easy to understand language and the menus are simple to navigate. This is a great way for me to learn more about how to work a DSLR. Plus and this is the most important part - I'm genuinely happy with the pictures. I've only just tried it out, I still have only the most vague idea what I'm doing and I'm using just the auto settings but I love the way the photos look already.

The icing on the cake was that on St. Maarten, there is no sales tax. So I got the camera at the lowest price any store had it for in the states, with no tax, plus I was able to haggle for nice free carrying case, and an extra battery that ordinarily runs about $50. I'm quite content, my only regret is that I can't play with my new toy more amidst these finals coming up but I'm sure I'll have plenty of time over the break.

Ben Stiller moment

You know that scene in either a Ben Stiller or Jim Carey movie; the guy is in the bathroom about to wash his hands, looking in the mirror, he turns the cold water knob, you hear a cracking sound and then this geyser of desalinated island water gushes up out of the now exposed valve. He juggles the knob, now loose, from hand to hand as he gets doused. He tries frantically to put the knob back on but all that does is divert the water outward into this spray that drenches his shirt. Nevertheless he tries to hold the knob down over the 2,000 psi jet of water while he tries to reach under the sink to turn off the valve. But every time he tries to reach for it, its too far of a reach so he cant keep his hand over the spray and reach the bottom valve under the sink at the same time. So he clumsily alternates crouching down trying to turn the knob and getting back up to hold his hand over the waterspout, the bathroom floor is now flooding. Yeah, that just happened to me.


P.S. Don't use the sink in the men's bathroom in the 5th floor study room at the dorms. It done been broke.

Moon Over Marin

Dead Kennedy's? No one? Nevermind. Some shots of the lagoon from the dorm rooftop. I really need a tripod, leaning on railings, holding my breath for 4 seconds, while trying to remain completely still isn't cutting it. These are the only 2 clear ones out of about 40.

If you liked "The Da Vinci Code," you'll like Boards of Canada

Even the first look at the cover strikes a chord of nostalgia with its warm, saturated, out of focus colors. It could be any lost family vacation photo from the late 1970's or early 80's found inside the cover of a book you may have bought at an estate sale, or found at the bottom of a forgotten drawer. Your first listen reminds you of the old 1970's documentary films you may have watched on a rainy day in science class in second grade. Warm, warbled synths, audio samples from documntary films, nature, and cryptic noises barely audible in the background all add a sense of intrigue.


Boards of Canada, appropriately enough, adopted their name from "The National Film Boards of Canada," an educational film producer for Canada in the 70's and 80's. The duo has been recording music since the 80's, they are notoriously secretive to the point that they only revealed in 2005, after 15 years, that they were actually biological brothers.


The allusions to science and nature are abundant in the music and imagery. With titles like "zoetrope," "Sunshine recorder" and "Over the horizon Radar," all actual peices of curious scientific equipment (click links to find out more). My personal favorite title is "Dawn Chorus." A dawn chorus is the sound the sun makes as it breaks over the horizon, the corona and rays of light send radio signals to sensitive radio equipment that scientists say sound like "a huge chorus of birds singing," some say you can even hear what sounds like human voices sometimes amidst the whistles and chirps as the sun breaks day.


Even the track lengths are strangely suggestive. For instance the "Geogaddi" album is exactly 66 minutes and 6 seconds long, and also, if you rip all of the tracks to .WAV format, the total size of the album is 666 Mb (666.8 to be exact). The record label is known by two names, Tourqouise Hexagon sun, and Music70. The hexagon is an undercurrent and you will see and hear many references to it throuought their albums.

What is the signifigance of Music70? B.O.C. has a track called the "The Smallest Weird Number," don't dismiss this as benign. [In mathematics a "weird number" is a number that is "abundant" but not "semi-perfect". Meaning? Take all the "proper divisors" of 70 (i.e. all the divisors of 70 except for 70 itself). They are 1, 2, 5, 7, 10, 14, 35. When the proper divisors add up to more than the original number, the original number is said to be abundant. For 70: 1+2+5+7+10+14+35 = 74 > 70, so 70 is "abundant". Now, if there was some SUBSET of these numbers 1, 2, 5, 7, 10, 14, 35 which added up to 70, then 70 would be said to be "semi-perfect" (or "psuedo-perfect") But there isn't. Try it. You can make 71 by missing out the 1 and the 2, or you can make 69 by missing out the 5, but you can't make 70. I hope that explanation is clear. The first few weird numbers are: 70, 836, 4030, 5830, 7192, 7912, 9272, 10430, 10570, 10792. ] Making 70...the smallest weird number, the name of the record label and also an allusion in the track "Sixty ten." [example taken from unofficial BOC info site]








I had originally thought this to be maybe a jellyfish viewed from underneath, with the sun shining through it. See the rough outline of a hexagon?

On several tracks there are subliminal messages when the track is played in reverse or slowed down. In fact in at least one instance the music is layered so that if you play it in reverse at regular speed you hear one thing, and if you slow it down 3x you hear another in the same exact spot. [If you take the track 'You Could Feel the Sky' and play it in reverse you hear the phrase "a god with horns" repeated, along with crackling fire sounds, as though some sinister ritual is taking place. However, slow down the reversed section by a factor of 3, and new and disturbing details will become apparent. The sibilant S at end of "horns" is resolved as a woman's screams, and a tolling church bell can be heard in the background.] (They deny being satanists but are in fact very interested in Wiccan beliefs which have to do with nature and the natural order of things such as math and patterns, the numbers predominant in their work seem to have more to do with the underlying mathematical principals and patters that you see every where in nature). [taken from an unofficial BOC info site]




The most interesting thing I find about them is that on one track contains a 'phonetic palindrome,' if you remember what a palindrome is, it is a word that is spelled the same way forwards and backwards like the name "Hannah," or the word "racecar." So it follows that a phonetic palindrome is a word or phrase that *sounds* the same when you play it forwards or backwards. Wrap your head around that for a minute and try to think of a word/phrase that sounds the same way whether you say it forwards or backwards, I can't even think along those lines. But here is an example, the phrase "new moon."



I hope I've bored the hell out of you, there's a lot more of these easter eggs on their tracks. If you see me at school in the rotunda, 10 minutes before test time with my ipod. I'm probably listening to BOC ...well either that or Notorious B.I.G.

Samples:
Pete Standing Alone
Slow this bird down

Lazy Sunday (click photos to enlarge)

This weekend after the behavioral science exam, I was too hopped up on Red Bull to even consider taking a nap. So instead I decided to go for a drive on the French side of the island and take a few pictures before meeting a couple of people for dinner at Lee's (try the lobster stuffed mahi there, its great). The French side, for those who don't know, is a million times better managed and cared for than the Dutch side. The roads are nicer, and it just seems like people take pride in preserving the natural beauty of the island. A stark contrast to the tourist smorgasbord, and traffic jams that you see on the Dutch side. Saturday of course was another edge-of-the-seat finish for LSU, despite something like 15 penalties and 4 turnovers they still managed to best Alabama. On Sunday the slacking continued with hike to a very remote beach known appropriately enough as 'wilderness,' after driving down a dirt and rock road through a goat pasture, you have to park near Cul du Sac, and hike around a hill that is fairly steep and rocky in places and round a rocky outcropping. Once you get there the beach is covered with big chunks of coral about the size of small bowling balls. I took a couple pieces home as bookends. The first picture is from that beach, there was only one lone person I could see for a mile in either direction.

Anse Marcel


Marigot

Kids on the Marigot bridge

Also, I'm looking to maybe buy a new Digital camera. I'm looking for a 8+ megapixel that shoots well in low light without a flash, has image stabilization and a viewfinder so if anyone has advice on that, it would be very much appreciated.

The Whitest Kids U Know

This is one of the funniest things that I've seen all month, I've been watching this comedy group's videos for a couple of years now, they are called The Whitest Kids U Know, they had a show on Fuse last season I'm not sure if it got renewed. Youtube some of their video's, Here's what really happened to Abe Lincoln.

Dorm Rooftop Panorama

A mind shattering 360 degree panorama from the roof of the AUC dorms, click to enlarge

Today me and pharm got to know eachother quite well, it is "Antillian Day," which gives all the locals a break from their grueling 15 hour a week work schedule. For AUC 4th semesters, it is a much needed respite who's sole utility is cramming for pharm on Tuesday.

Whew...

Thursday and Friday's test came and went, personally I thought the Path was difficult, I walked out of that one hoping that I hadn't damaged my grade beyond recovery. Later when I went to pick up my grade report however I was pleasantly surprised. Although I had a second to thank the gods who had smiled upon me, I still had only about 24 hours to master the material for our second of two Behavioral Science exams.
We discuss a lot in that class, one topic was on domestic abuse, and one of the cardinal signs of abuse is that the victim feels they deserve the abuse, and it is part of our job to first convince them that they do not deserve the abuse, in order that they begin to work to help themselves. For some odd reason I always have the urge to do things that are completely inappropriate during class (I don't, but I sit there and think about it in 'Scrubs' like asides in my mind)

Me: (straight faced) "Dr. Johnson, but what if the woman DOES deserve the abuse?"

Dr. Johnson: "hmm...What do you mean by that? Tell me more." (As she says this she cocks her head to the side wearing an understanding countenance. This is a technique doctors call "facilitating" and "non-verbal cues")

Me: "Well, what if you spend all day breaking your back down at the county mill, TRYING to support the family, and she can't even provide a hot meal for her husband!? Plus, look at this place! Seriously, what does she do all damn day!? It's a mess! I think the only thing that will make better is coming home drunk and yelling...If you have any better ideas though...."

Dr. Johnson: "..."

Me: "I mean seriously, you know the phrase 'rule of thumb?' You know that that comes from ..."

Dr. Johnson: (interrupting) "See me in my office."

Obviously I don't condone that sort of thing, but that class is all fuzzy and warm and understanding to the point of almost being sickening.

I also found out this week that my professor for Path, a Harvard Medical School grad and Mayo clinic intern, was also a star contender on the Nickalodeon show "Double Dare." Oh yeah, you heard me right, not only did he excel at Harvard Medical School, but he can find 5 red flags in a baby pool full of pudding in less than 30 seconds provided he has goggles! His family scored the highest score of the season one year and Mark Summers still calls him now and again for medical advice.

Also, I'm thinking about going to New York over the break in December so if anyone has advice on that, email me and let me know. Music wise, this has been a great week for me as well. Jose' Gonzalez, Jens Lekman, and Band of Horses all came out with new albums I'll post some videos in a day or two for anyone that wants to take a gander. Also, LSU lost last night to a 17th ranked Kentucky, moving us down from #1 to #5 in the AP polls. Now Ohio and S. Florida are at the top, which I guess if every team you play could be beaten by a girl scout troop, its pretty easy to remain undefeated. Even though we looked a little sluggish, we still carried a 5-1 team into triple OT. An upset none the less.

Friday night we went to the "White Swan" Chinese restaurant in Simpson bay, its down that side road across from Island Video. I highly suggest it, I'm sure General Zsao puts "General Zsao's chicken" on his list of top 5 lifetime accomplishments right up there with his military conquests, and if he doesn't, he should. I think having a chicken dish named after you is the highest honor a Chinese citizen or commander can hope to achieve in his or her lifetime.

Tein's henchman #1: "General Tein, the people of China would like to show their gratitude for bringing our people good fortune, and many U.S. tuition dollars! We propose a 40 foot golden likeness of you to be erected in the new 'Tein-a-min' square!"


Tein: "Hold that thought, how about you just rename 'chicken and broccoli' to 'Tein D-lite?'"

Tein's henchman #1: "Done."

Local weather may be linked to napping

(click to enlarge)

Dark clouds threaten to push distant mountains and hills into the sea, as seen from this harrowing dorm-laundry room perch.

Weather and the overwhelming bulk of 1,354 Path II power point slides, has been linked to a recent sense of hopelessness and impending doom for some 4th semester AUC students. "Dude, this blows," cited one student as he sat at his kitchen table updating his blog and listening to the Deftones instead of studying. The weather on St. Maarten has been blamed for the recent surge in naptime to a staggering 2 hours a day of prime study time. Some fear it may lead to future unemployment and depletion of critical freeze dried coffee reserves. I will be sure to keep you posted as this crisis develops.

The Freshman Clap (no cephalosporin required)

Let me preface this brief post by saying that, no, I have not recently acquired a gonococcal infection whose euphemististic moniker's origin has been relegated to the pages of obscure history.

Today we had what has become one of my favorite things about AUC, the freshman clap. Every semester, the 2-5th semesters, faculty, and staff (whoever isn't working or in class, that is) gather in the rotunda to set up tables with refreshments and cheer on the first semesters as they emerge from the anatomy lab and their first medical school exam.

This is all a surprise for them of course.

I can remember emerging from Dr. Berisch's first test feeling like I had been hit by a train; so it takes you quite by surprise when you walk into the rotunda feeling tired and defeated and you're suddenly surrounded by a room full of whooping and applause. I think it's one of the few signs of solidarity we have at AUC. Traditions are difficult to maintain when your students only spend a brief 20 month stint in basic sciences, but I'm glad we have it:

Also, look for me at the Red Piano (piano bar) in the near future, we have decided to do a piano rendition of Dr. Dre's "B#tches aint Sh#t." We had a good time there this weekend, perhaps too good on my behalf. I have selectively neglected to post several of the pictures of me interupting my friends and their dates being "that dude," with a wide smile and big thumbs up...

Interesting scraps of info over the weekend

The highlight of this weekend was of course the severe beat down LSU issued to VT this past Saturday. It has many people (albeit many of them are probably LSU fans) saying that we may take over the #1 spot in the AP polls. Mostly this is rabid fan, saber rattling but, they did look good out there, VT was not allowed to score their one and only touchdown until 100 minutes into the game.

Aside from this, I tried to study a bit and covered ground in pharm, but path is certainly going to get some attention this week. The main bulk of Sunday morning was spent on searches on Wiki. Some interesting topics covered: medieval plague doctors, French polynesia (Bora Bora and Tahiti) in the South Pacific, the popular (in Sweden) electronica group "the knife," and the soon to be worlds tallest building in Dubai- Burg Dubai.

I also included a picture of a huge cypress tree I found near Bayou Plaquemine by my house, this thing I would assume is probably 12 -15 feet around or so, I took the moose for a walk in the woods by my house over break and snapped a shot, keep in mind that at the angle the picture is oblique and isn't even taken at its widest part.

Yes, Northerners and Californians, I live within walking distance to a swamp. I also have been ticketed for capturing an alligator. I did not however take a riding lawnmower or canoe to school growing up.

Soon to be the worlds tallest building (by 2009) Burg Dubai, in...well, Dubai; will surpass Taipei 101 and the Sears tower by a wide margin. On the right is a size comparison comparing it to the former WTC and the planned Freedom Tower in NYC.

"Medico Pesta," Latin for 'Creepiest doctor outfit in history.' These guys went around during the plague in Europe, most weren't even real doctors, the real doctors knew that they couldn't fight the disease and often got out of town. The mask's beak was stuffed with herbs that were thought to purify the air (of course we know now that the plaque was transmitted by fleas), on the mask also were crystal eyes, and a stick to poke at plague patients. I think I've found my Halloween costume. (Steal it and you well be smacked on the head with a stick, by a guy in a bird mask.)

On a side note the reason I found this is I was reading about a band I like "the knife," who rarely appear in public, when they do they wear mask, they have no musical training, they are rumored to be siblings, and in 2003 they won every category (yes, that is 6 Grammy's in one year) of the Grammy's in their home country of Sweden... but told them to just blow off. There has been some GREAT music coming out of Sweden the past 5 years: Jens Lekman, Jose' Gonzalez, and The Knife just to name a few.

"The Knife," also pretty creepy.

The Jerk

"And that's it and that's the only thing I need, is this. I don't need this or this. Just this ashtray. And this paddle game, the ashtray and the paddle game and that's all I need. And this remote control. The ashtray, the paddle game, and the remote control, and that's all I need. And these matches. The ashtray, and these matches, and the remote control and the paddle ball. And this lamp. The ashtray, this paddle game and the remote control and the lamp and that's all I need. And that's all I need too. I don't need one other thing, not one - I need this. The paddle game, and the chair, and the remote control, and the matches, for sure. And this. And that's all I need. The ashtray, the remote control, the paddle game, this magazine and the chair. "


A fellow AUC blogger's page has seemed to have a toilet-tropism lately so I feel it neccesarry to add my own story. I walked in to the upstairs bathroom in the rotunda a few weeks back. As we all know, there is an indescribable smell up there sometimes, its not a normal bathroom smell. I honestly think its something like a dead rat in the ceiling, it is absolutely horrid, but only on certain days strangely enough. In any case, being tired during finals and it being midnight or so, you realise you haven't spoken in hours and I tend to sometimes make ridiculous small talk with people I barely even know; I think just to hear myself speak. So I make my way to the smelly 2nd floor bathroom and not thinking about what I was saying, I exclaim to the gentleman washing his hands "GOD! what is that smell huh?!" He looks at me in the mirror, obviously uncomfortable..."uh...I uh, I don't know. You know bathrooms...urine-y smell maybe" I waft towards my nose with a contorted look on my face, "No... No... its not urine....I think it smells.... like a dead animal or something....” Obviously I wasn't thinking that this guy may have just finished a very private moment in there and I was looking like a complete jerk calling him on it. I press on, “I mean really, this is TERRIBLE...Jeeze...It stinks in here....they need to like, decontaminate the ceiling or something....” He quickly shuffles over to the paper towel dispenser pulls two towels out and walks out quickly. I shrug, face the head and think, “what was THAT guy's problem....” As I finish up, it finally occurs to me. I should just keep my mouth shut when I'm going on so little sleep in the future.