snowy holidays

continuing with the holiday spirit - here's a popular christmas song, especially for those of us living where winter is the season of christmas. i heard irving berlin's white christmas a few weeks ago performed by the halle orchestra and sung by tenor alfie boe. i'm not a huge fan of opera singing, but the words of the song felt so true to my situation this year, that i unexpectedly started crying, right there, alone in my seat at the royal concert hall! doesnt look likely that we'll have a white christmas in my part of the UK, but i'm still comforted by hearing the soothing bing crosby and marjorie reynolds sing this beautiful song!

space disco

get your fill of space news at the 82nd carnival of space at space disco. dave mosher summarized the carnival in this nice video!

something cool

one of my favorite xkcd comics is available as a big signed poster! awesome.

winter vegetables

the day after thanksgiving, i received a huge box of fruit and vegetables that i signed up for from eden farms. i was a little burnt out on cooking, so i took a few days off from food preparation to eat my thanksgiving leftovers, all the while mulling over what i would cook. my favorite of the series was a butternut squash and carrot stew with quinoa pilaf, which was pretty close to the recipe i found at in my box.



my favorite part of using a "veg box" is that i cook very fresh produce that represents what is just to the point of ripening in my part of the world as i eat it. the winter vegetables are hearty roots and thick-leaf deep green greens, and those are exactly what i'm in the mood to cook right now! i dont want salads, i want stews, and curries, and hefty meals that will keep me warm amid this chilly british rain! yum!

tchaikovsky's nutcracker suite

to get into the holiday spirit, listen to the brilliance of tchaikovsky's nutcracker suite, composed in 1891 and 92. here are videos of the piece performed by the berliner philharmoniker. the conductor, seiji ozawa, is also quite entertaining!



my favorite movement from the first part is the dance of the sugar plum fairies, starting around 3:40. and in the second video, dont miss the flower waltz, starting around 4:00, which includes an ethereal harp solo.

life's too short to drink bad coffee

Christoph Niemann tells the story of his lifelong relationship with coffee thru several brilliant illustrations and captions. here are my favorites, but you should check out the whole collection at NY times.

homemade thanksgiving - evidence

it was 100% worth all the effort! the surprising big hits were the cranberry sauce, which i had never made before, and the couscous stuffing, a long time favorite. both recipes are included below!













cranberry sauce

1/4 cup water
1/4 cup sugar (i used a bit less)
1 cup cranberries (fresh are better, frozen are fine)
optional, but tasty: sprinkle nutmeg, cinnamon, orange peel, handful of sultanas (white-grape raisins)

clean cranberries. boil water. add sugar. mix to dissolve sugar. add cranberries. boil again. simmer 10 minutes, or until cranberries burst. add any combination of optional items... or dont.

the sauce will still be thin at this point, so cool thoroughly, then place in refrigerator to cool and increase viscosity. i left mine to chill overnight, then stirred it a couple times throughout the day before serving it cold.


couscous stuffing

2 cups veggie stock (or bird stock)
2 Tbl butter
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
1 cup couscous
1 cup any combination of dried apricots, cranberries, raisins, sultanas

boil stock. mix spices and couscous then add to stock. remove from heat, stir, cover, let sit for 5 minutes. stir in fruit. its yummy to eat alone, or use as a chicken or turkey stuffing! enjoy!

d'oh!

not a great way to start the morning...!


seen at cynical-c

bloomin' cactus!

i'm notoriously good at ending the blooming cycle of any plant that is supposed to flower. so i'm incredibly pleased that the office plant i inherited from the former user of this desk decided to flower this week!!

space art - an exhibition

in october of this year, there was a workshop held called "The Impact of Simulations in Cosmology and Galaxy Formation with associated exhibition: “Space Art” at Immaginario Scientifico. included in the exhibition are scientific simulations created by some of the leading theoretical astrophysicists in the world, interpreted as art for all to enjoy (finally)!


i think it remains unintutive, for the non-initiated, to imagine what it looks like when two galaxies collide, or what large-scale structure in the universe looks like. simulations created using the basic knowledge of gravitational interactions provide a lot of insight towards our understanding of structures in our universe, but they can also be incredibly beautiful on their own!

here is the trailer for the space art exhibition:



to view some more scientific (and gorgeous) movies of galaxy mergers, visit phil hopkins's old site at harvard. enjoy!

venus, jupiter, and the moon over los angeles

today's APOD shows a beautiful view of venus, jupiter, and the moon over los angeles, california.


i find this image beautiful and slightly disturbing! i've never been to LA or seen this view with my own eyes, but that is sooo.... much... city!! wow!

which came first....?

...the building or the road?


found by an englishman is osaka.

stupid clouds...

... blocked my view of venus, jupiter, and the moon last night. typical. oh well, i was able to see the planets approaching each other in the sky over the last week.

here's and nice image i found by mairead at pbase:

dear cincinnati zoo

dear cincinnati zoo and botanical garden,

while i maintain fond memories of walking thru your memorable animal habitats, listening to concerts by my musical favorites on your grounds, and walking around your lit up winter wonderland with my family, i will no longer visit your park if you insist on contradicting your own goals by associating with the creationist museum thru a joint-ticket program.

you have been a part of the public school system of cincinnati since 1975, which i think is wonderful. but i also think that with such involvement comes responsibility. you have the responsibility to educate and inform students and the community about the natural world - without any influence from religion of any kind (see: separation of church and state, introduced by thomas jefferson).

if you would like to collaborate with organizations in cincinnati in order to broaden your community outreach, why not contact the well-known cincinnati museum center, whose facilities you already use?!?!

collaborating with the creationist museum contradicts your own vision statement and promotes their false message about the natural ways of the universe. as stated succinctly by theoretical physicist lawrence m. krauss:

There are many and varied ways that modern science has confirmed the history of the Universe, the Solar System, the Earth, and Life on Earth. All of these methods, while independent, are in agreement and they ALL tell us that Life, the Earth, and the Universe are many orders of magnitude older than 6,000 years. There is no scientific room for errors of this many orders of magnitude. It would be like measuring the distance between New York and Los Angeles, and determining it was less than 1 inch. In order to agree with a Young Earth Creationist picture, essentially every facet of modern science - on which we base every aspect of modern technology, our vehicles, our society - would have to be completely incorrect, implying almost everything we base our modern lives on would not work as it does.

please reconsider your recently acquired collaboration, as i would very much enjoy attending your "fesitval of lights" program again one day. not only am i contacting you today, but i'm also writing to the cincinnati enquirer, and city beat magazine, in hopes of raising awareness of this important issue.

a concerned (former) cincinnatian,
amanda


UPDATE: the zoo canceled their partnership with the creationist museum :) as reported by the cincinnati enquirer.

december 2008 night sky

the night sky welcomes us to the month of december with an alignment of two very bright "stars" (the planets venus and jupiter) and the moon. on DECEMBER 1, look up to spot a small crescent moon right next to venus (the brighter planet) and jupiter!


the first day of winter (summer) in the northern (southern) hemisphere occurs on DECEMBER 21 at 7:00 EST with the solstice!

the ursid meteor shower occurs this month on DECEMBER 22. look towards the north (the direction that the spoon of the big dipper opens up to)...


jupiter continues its venture down along the ecliptic so that on DECEMBER 31, jupiter will be about a degree away from mercury in the night sky. enjoy!

carnival of space #81

enjoy some space reading at the carnival of space #81 - available now at tiny mantras (smooching infinity since 2005)!

ercolano, italy

mt. vesuvius erupted violently in the year 79 AD, quickly throwing several-meter-deep layers of volcanic ash over the city of pompeii, and pouring a 15 meter thick layer of lava on the city of ercolano (historically, called herculaneum).

mt. vesuvius sits on the bay of naples, viewed here from the city of naples:


while pompeii represents the internationally recognized buried city, the dug-out ruins at ercolano are more intimate, intact, and explorable!

this image shows the un-earthered city of herculaneum in the foreground, the 55,000-strong modern city of ercolano built on top, and the ominous volcano, mount vesuvius, looming in the distance.


since herculaneum has been completely excavated from the thick lava, you walk past impressive views down into the old city as you walk to the main entrance.






here you can see the diagonally placed, earthquake-resisting bricks, and the thin, horizontal roman-style bricks.


looks like some of these bricks were made with porous lava rock (?)


the counters of shops were covered with large marble mosaics.




actually, nearly every surface; floors, walls, and ceilings were covered in detailed stone mosaics or intricate paintings! it was amazing that so many survived and that i could walk right on top of some!










this was a fountain and/or pool to put your feet in with a huge window/sky light above it! there must have been a huge statue on top of the column. nice central room for a home!




the bathrooms were especially elaborate.


this intricate mosaic represents neptune and venus (aphrodite).


(see full-size image)

massage table with light pouring in from a hole that was once covered with stained glass.




columns, columns everywhere!






amazing to think that these beautiful artifacts were the homes of people over 2000 years ago!



see the full set of pictures at full size: here... enjoy!

refraction in space

cool space trick from astronaut leroy chiao on the international space station (ISS) january 15, 2005!


the image comes from the big picture, which has posted a nice set of shots from the ten years of ISS existence!

click to see other refractive photography.

homemade thanksgiving

today is my third day in a row cooking for one single meal. my roommate is laughing at me and i admit i'm pretty amazed at my own dedication to this thanksgiving - for no apparent reason. there are certain food items that i havent been able to find ready-made here in nottingham, so i've decided to cook them from scratch. sometimes when i think i can't have something, i start to crave it. plus, i just moved into a new partly-furnished apartment and have had to discover what cooking items did not come with the place, so i've had to do some domestic shopping to prepare!

the menu:

- veggies and yogurt-dill dip (to warm up our palettes)
- roast chicken (the turkeys just didnt look that good and i actually like chicken better)
- my own holiday cous-cous stuffing (the one recipe my mom has stolen from me ;)
- mashed potatoes and gravy (dedicated to cori-sa!)
- green bean casserole (with homemade french fried onions!)
- cranberry sauce (my first time!)
- three-seed rolls (hooray for yummy yeast bread!)
- not pumpkin pie (couldnt find pumpkins, so i made a butternut squash pie!)
- with whipped cream!

the effort i've put into the meal represents two things, i think.
1) i've invited a few people to my thanksgiving dinner who i'd like to thank for welcoming me so well to this new country (limited by table space and oven size, sorry i couldnt invite everyone i'd like...).
2) i'm really missing *all* of my family right now... and our gargantuan rent-out-a-hall, assembly line, 4-turkey, dessert-table, beer-from-a-keg, wine-from-a-box, kids-running-mad, games-after-dinner, slip-around-on-the-ice-outside thanksgiving celebration!

one side of my family gathers every year in a huge hall below the church that my grandfather attended as a child. all my aunts and uncles and cousins gather (i have about 20 cousins on that side), plus my grandpa's siblings, their kids (my moms cousins), their kids (my second cousins once removed?), and then the next generation of children (my niece and nephew, for example). its easily 100 people (maybe more?). phew!

the oldest generations (my mom's aunts) organize the feast. they are, of course, in charge of the turkeys (more than two, less than five). they call around to the individual members of the family reporting what they should bring: appetizers, candied yams, green bean casserole, glazed carrots, cheesey broccoli casserole, the strange jello fruit thing, apple pie, pumpkin pie, etc... before lining up to fill our plates, we stand together holding hands while my grandpa reflects on the special day with his full family. i adore my his passionate prayer before the meal. even with so many family members, whose names i struggle to remember, but whose features are connected to my own... my grandpa's words bring us all together in appreciation of our fondness for each other and our time spent together.

so as i'm cooking all this food, i'm thinking about my family back home, and missing their laughter. i'm especially thankful to them for being so supportive of me during all the uncommon endeavors i've attempted in life - including my decision to move so far away from them to pursue my own selfish exploration of the universe. thank you!

hedgehog in the fog

i'm late to this cartoon... over 30 years late! hedgehog in the fog is a russian animation created in 1975, before all the fancy-shmancy computer generated imagery came along. the clip below is well worth the 10 minute investment of time... especially trying to figure out how they created the effect of the fog. enjoy!



found thru operation bumblebee.

postdoc limbo

from phd comics:


its true that grad school is a sort of limbo, but there is a precise (and looming) finality to that reality... becoming a doctor! for a postdoc, there is no universal or definite goal, aside from the generic academic "publish or perish" mantra.

right now, i'm finalizing the details to have my dissertation work for publication in a peer-review journal, i'm acquainting myself with the research projects of the group i just joined and moving forward with research ideas that coincide with my new boss's existing galaxy data, i'm reducing data i collected with the gemini telescope earlier this year but havent yet had time to pay attention to, and i'm acting as the primary referee for another group's research by reviewing a paper they would like to publish in a journal (and writing a blog).

eventhough it feels a bit overwhelming to write out the list like that, i know that i'm still just learning how to manage my time while it's all my own... before i have the requirements of a university faculty member. assuming i move forward along the academic ladder, i'll have to take care of the issues above in addition to advising students, sitting on committees, teaching courses, and (hopefully) participating in more exciting research collaborations around the world.

wow. i guess i should appreciate this limbo while i'm in it, eh?

how much mom worries

jessica hagy has such a great ability to represent huge truths in simple graphical form.


i love you, mom!