Category Archives: Personal

Updates…

Posted on May 12, 2007 by | 3 comments

First, I’d like to thank Archy, Rev. BigDumbChimp, Melissa and PZ for the birthday wishes.
Also, a couple of my blog readers (who, I assume, wish to remain anonymous), hit my amazon wish list and bought me birthday presents which arrived with perfect timing – today. I am very happy I got this, this and this. Thank you so much!
I had a wonderful day today. After sleeping late, we went up to the Village green in Southern Village, feasted on the recently revamped menu of the Town Hall Grill, got coffee and gelato (as well as my favourite newspaper) at La Vita Dolce (which has really improved with the recent change of ownership), then walked up to Weaver Street Market and bought (and imbibed) some Eye of the Hawk. Finally we went home and had birthday cake, made at Southern Season (chocolate, chocolate, chocolate – just the way I like it). I talked to a lot of people on the phone. Tomorrow, I may go and visit my old friends at the horse show at Triton Stables if I manage to wake up early enough. Oh, and don’t tell anyone who knows me, but I have a cell phone now. I’ll try to learn how to use it tomorrow.
In other news, another great local blogger is leaving the area – Josh Steiger has left IBM and is going to the Bay Area to work for Google next week.
My ears are still a little iffy from the four flights (especially the last one). My NC colleagues may be appalled, but during the wait at the Dallas airport I tried Texas-style BBQ and I have to admit I liked it. That does not mean I don’t like NC-style BBQ (both eastern and western version, tomato vs. vinegar) – it is just a completely different food-group. One can easily like both.
Now, for the people at PLoS who may be reading this, a little help, making it easier for you to find stuff – here are some of the posts we discussed on Thursday:
On the globalization of science this, this, this, this and this.
On the duck paper.
On the 2007 anthology and conference and the 2008 anthology and conference.
On my use of a blog in teaching, reviewing a paper and getting personal.
My old thoughts about science blogging (and some even older thoughts…) , my attempt to find all science blogs and about blog carnivals (and again) and how some carnivals are moving towards peer-review (and a response by Pedro Beltrao).
On re-writing papers on blogs after some time has passed: this, this, this, this, this and this.

3 Comments

Posted in Personal

Back from SF

Posted on May 11, 2007 by | 4 comments

Sorry for the delay – I was exhausted and slept almost 10 hours straight ina deep coma once I got home….
Thank you all for birthday wishes both here, by e-mail and on Facebook.
I think I lost my fear of flying this week. Perhaps it was some magic in the little yellow pills that my wife gave me to take 30 minutes before take-off- but could the effect really last for 7-8 hours over two flights in each direction? Perhaps it was the nice, clear weather and prefectly executed flights. Perhaps it was my excitement about the trip itself. Perhaps it was cool people I sat with: a Siemens guy (who is telecommuting, i.e., he is the Raleigh office for the company) who was reading the latest Bob Woodward book and we talked about Tesla and Edison, about physicis and about science and math education; or the IBM guy who designs educational and classroom software which I am ineterested in; or the National High School Rodeo Barrel-Racing Champion who was coming back home to Napa from her Texas college with a great rodeo program, just to pick up her family and horses and go competing to Wyoming, Montana and rest of the West for the summer.
The last leg of the journey home was delayed by about an hour so I joined the mile-high club….no, not in that way! I celebrated my birthday up in mid-air and got my birthday coffee from the nice stewardesses exactly at midnight!
I am sorry I did not get to see more of San Francisco, but I saw a little bit, galivanting around town with Janet (and you can see a picture she posted from the evening. We went to a cool asian restaurant where I had a duck curry soup spread over a bed of rice that was delicious. Then we went to a bar wher I had Guinness. And we had great fun talking about science, blogging, open science, children and everything else.
I stayed in The Mosser, a hotel built in 1913 – it was the first thing built in that part of town! Although it was obviosuly renovated and looking perfectly clean and fresh, one could easily shoot a period movie there – everything in it, including the insides of the rooms, looks like something from the early 20th century. Very romantic. And teh bed was so comfortable I slept like a baby!
In the morning I took a walk to to PLoS where I was sure to meet some gentle people there (though I forgot to put a flower in my hair). Frankly, it did not feel like a job interview! I was relaxed and it was just so much fun to talk to all the people who are excited about open science and the role they play in making it happen. They have great ideas (which I am not at liberty to divulge) and they seemed to like my ideas. It is not like interviewing for a company that wants to sell a product, it is interviewing for an organization with a mission to change the world (or at least one aspect of it) and that is exactly my own personal mission as well. No doubts, no second thoughts about this at all…. Of course, I’ll let you know when the final verdict is in.

4 Comments

Posted in Personal

41

Posted on May 11, 2007 by | 14 comments

Two years ago today, I posted this. One year ago today, I only linked to it, though I should have reposted it instead to start a tradition. Well, I’ll fix that this year on this day – under the fold:

Continue reading →

14 Comments

Posted in History, Humor, Personal

Off to SF

Posted on May 9, 2007 by | 11 comments

Leaving RDU at noon, arriving in SF in the afternoon. If Janet remembers to bring her camera to dinner tonight, she’ll post them on her blog so check it out later tonight or tomorrow. If she brings her laptop, I’ll check my e-mail and comments (and of course my Sitemeter!) briefly – if not, I’ll be back online on Friday. I have scheduled just a couple of little things to show up here automatically while I was gone….and you can always read the long post from earlier this morning.
I forgot, while there was still enough time, to pick up Professor Steve Steve, so he is not coming with me. He’s been everywhere, but I doubt he’s seen the offices of PLoS yet, especially not on a Thursday! Hopefully, there will be another opportunity soon.

11 Comments

Posted in Personal

In Memoriam: Knut Schmidt-Nielsen (September 24, 1915-January 25, 2007)

Posted on April 11, 2007 by | 8 comments

How did I miss this!?
Knut Schmidt-Nielsen, one of my personal scientific idols, died on January 25th, 2007at the age of 92.
KSN%201.jpgHe has re-invented, or perhaps better to say invented, the field of comparative physiology (now often refered to as ‘evolutionary physiology’). He wrote the standard textbook in the field – Animal Physiology: Adaptation and Environment, that he updated through several editions, from which generations of biologists (including myself) learned to think of physiological mechanisms as adaptations.
He wrote a definitive book on Scaling, as well as a wonderful autobiography – The Camel’s Nose: Memoirs Of A Curious Scientist.
KSN%202.jpgI had a good fortune to meet him a couple of times. He was a Guest Speaker at an NCSU Physiology Graduate Student Research Symposium several years ago where he gave an unusual but fascinating talk. I was his host for the day so I got to spend a lot of time with him one-on-one and try to osmotically draw in some of his genius.
A couple of years later, when his memoir came out, I persuaded Nansy Olson to have a public reading at Quail Ridge Books, which was well attanded and quite fascinating. The very last question from the audience was “Did any of your findings find a practical application?” to which he proudly responded “No!”. The old-style scientist. In it for the curiosity and nothing else.
While Schmidt-Nielsen did research on myriads of different animal species, he will forever be remembered as the Camel Guy. When he arrived at Duke University as a young new professor, he persuaded the Department to let him build an isolation chamber where he could measure the metabolic rate of a camel. They let him do it. He brought in the camel. Fascinating research resulted. He also built an identical, but much smaller, chamber into the wall right next to the camel chamber for the equivalent research in desert mice.
KSN%203.jpgWhen he retired, his position was filled by Steve Nowicki, a birdsong researcher. Duke offered to demolish the camel chamber and turn it into a lab. Steve declined in horror. Instead, he made sure that a plaque was installed at the door (“…this is the camel chamber in which…”) as well as on the little wall-chamber next to it. He turned the inside of the chamber into a grad student office (now, who can beat that – having the office in the ‘camel chamber’?!).
A few years later, Duke University built a monument to Knut Schmidt-Nielsen – a lifesize sculpture of the man and his camel – right outside the Biology building.
For many years after his retirement, Knut Schmidt-Nielsen kept a small office in the Department and came “to work” almost every day. He read the literature, including popular science magazines, and clipped the interesting papers/articles out of them to place in his colleagues’ mailboxes according to their interests. If there was Internet 50 years ago, Knut Schmidt-Nielsen would have been a science blogger for sure!
Always curious, always humble, always learning, always reading, always teaching, always popularizing science, every day of his long life. And that is on top of being truly one of the giants of science of all times.

8 Comments

Posted in Basic Biology, History of Science, North Carolina, Personal, Physiology

Today…..

Posted on April 10, 2007 by | 4 comments

….my father would have turned 86.
I’ll have a shot of slivovitz in his honor tonight.

4 Comments

Posted in Personal

Bodies

Posted on April 7, 2007 by | 5 comments

The Bodies Exhibition is coming to The Streets at Southpoint in Durham.
My wife saw it last year in NYC. My daughter will probably be too squeamish for it, but I’ll try to get my son to come with me.
Once I go….well, it is certainly a bloggable event.

5 Comments

Posted in Basic Biology, Medicine, North Carolina, Personal, Science Education

Wine

Posted on April 7, 2007 by | 1 comment

Earlier this afternoon, my wife and I went to the Weaver Street Market in Southern Village (which also has a blog) for some wine tasting. You can see the wine list here (pdf).
As the first rule of blogging is never to blog drunk, I had a to wait a couple of hours afterwards before I started to write this post. I wasn’t really drunk, but I was happy enough to seriously consider singing on our walk home. I guess I am quite a lightweight…
Our strategy was for Mrs.Coturnix to taste the whites (and occasional red I recommend) and for me to taste the reds (and occasional white she recommends). She is a connoiseur of whites, while I grew up in a household that only had red and rose. Thus, my taste for whites is very naive – I like them as sweet and fruity as can be, and I was very happy with the Hyatt Riesling which is best described as sweet fruit-juice with alcohol. But I like that!
The quality of red wines was mixed. And anyway, after tasting 20 or so of them in rapid succession, they all tend to blend and it is difficult to tell them apart any more. I am a big fan of Malbec and there were two there (Alcion and Cava Negra), both dirt cheap and quite decent. As the summer is coming and the grilling with it, I think I’ll get a few bottles – they go great with a blackened slab of cow or lamb. Shirazes were underwhelming. The Garnacha tasted just like a Malbec! Warre’s Port, Leverano Rosso and Ten Mile Red were fine. The rest I don’t remember.
So here are my Top Three of the day, in this order:
1. FontanaVecchia Aglianico Riserva ’00
The kind of rich, deep, full-bodied red that I grew up with, something my father would have liked.
2. Vale do Bomfim Douri Reserva ’04
Almost as good.
3. Hogue Cabernet Sauvignon “Genesis” ’03
This was recommended to me before, and it is excellent.

1 Comment

Posted in Food, North Carolina, Personal

Why is this night different from all the other nights?

Posted on April 3, 2007 by | 11 comments

Or, to tell the traditional Passover joke:

A Jewish physicist in the UK was about to get knighted by the Queen. There was a long line of recepients waiting for the ceremony and they were all instructed what to say/chant once they come to face the Queen. The physicist kept silently practicing the obligatory words, but when his time finally arrived he got so nervous he forgot what he was supposed to say. So he started singing the only song he could remember “Ma nishtanah halailah hazeh mikol haleilot…”
The Queen looked at him, then looked at her advisor and asked:
“Why is this knight different from all the other knights?”

If you are Jewish, you have heard it a million times. If you are not, you don’t think it’s funny…
Anyway, after several days of cleaning the house (well, it has to be done once a year anyway, so why not make sure that it actually gets done by setting the Passover date as the deadline each year?), we had a Seder at our home. We’ve been hosting for ten or so years now and this was the first time we actully had more Jews in attendance than non-Jews. We usually try to mix it up as much as possible – races, ages, sexual preferences, ethnicities, religious backgrounds, etc. and this year was no exception. Which means it was great fun as always and as heretical as can be.
Usually we use a Haggadah I made by putting together bits and pieces of several modern versions, including secular humanist, feminist and environmentalist haggadah. But this year we used a Liberation Haggadah (similar but not identical to this one) which was pretty godless on top of being Marxist – to the point of being a spoof of itself. After all, does anyone really believe that Jewish slaves in Egypt a couple of millenia ago met for committee meetings on Tuesdays and Thursdays to plot the socialist revolution!? Fun was had by all.
Of course, the central focus is the food which was delicious! Mrs.Coturnix fixes the best matzo-ball soup ever, and she can make it vegetarian as well (this and last year she did as we actually had vegetarians at the table). So, instead of the shank bone on the Seder plate, we used a bone-shaped milkbone doggy-treat….Oh, and the salmon was amazing!!!
EvolutionWine.jpggenesis%20cabernet.jpgI am not a regular drinker, but when I do drink, I want the best. So, no sweet Manischewitz in our house! We always have a bottle of the Evolution wine in the fridge, but this year we never got to it as there were so many good reds to drink before it. I resisted the temptation to buy Genesis Cabernet Sauvignon, as Passover is really about Exodus, and I could not find an “Exodus” wine (does it exist?).
And, arrrggggh, how did we forget to put an orange on the Seder plate – it would have been so meaningful this year.

11 Comments

Posted in Personal, Religion

Happy birthday, Anton!

Posted on April 2, 2007 by | Comments Off on Happy birthday, Anton!

37 today!

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Posted in Blogging, Personal

Heureka!

Posted on March 29, 2007 by | 2 comments

Heureka is an online popular science magazine in Austria which you should check out, especially if you can read German. But some things are in English, including this interview with yours truly…
There also blurbs about it (in German) in derStandard online and hardcopy, as well as on their science blog Sciblog.

2 Comments

Posted in Blogging, Personal, Science Reporting

A question regarding dog training

Posted on March 26, 2007 by | 12 comments

We’ve had a few dogs over the years and housebreaking them was never a big problem. But now we got my mother-in-law’s puppy labradoodle – who is a real sweetheart – for a couple of weeks to see if we can housebreak him because she was not successful.
My wife turned out to be a better animal psychologist than I am and figured out what the problem is. This is not a case of a little puppy who is not yet housebroken. This is a case of a puppy that was inadvertenly trained to poop inside the house and not outside. What we think happened is either that the dog got yelled at when he soiled the carpet, or something unfortunately scary happened when he was doing it outdoors. He seems to be worse about it now thahn he was two months ago. Now, he appears to be afraid of doing it when a human is watching. And out on a leash-walk, a human is always watching. Indoors, there can always be a moment when one can sneak away and do it in the bathroom (or wherever the door is not closed at the time).
He’s been with us for a week and he managed to poop outside only once – for my wife – and promptly got rewarded and fussed over. But once is not enough. Only once I managed to catch him in the act and, without any anger, I quickly took him for a long walk during which he did NOT do it!
Now, if I had a fenced in yard, I’d let him out – it’s been in the 80s here lately so it is warm even during the night – and keep an eye on him through the window so, if I saw him pooping outside, I could get out quickly to give him a big reward. But I do not have a yard at all – we live in an appartment complex, so even tying him up on a very long rope is out of the question. Perhaps getting one of those super-long leashes would do the trick as he could get 20, 30 or 40 yards away from me (forgetting the whole training on how to walk properly on a leash) and do his tricks without me hovering over him – perhaps one of those fancy leashes with the button to haul him back for a reward afterwards.
I will have him for another week. After that he has to go back so we can thoroughly clean the house and wash the carpets in time for the Passover dinner (perhaps he can come back for a second course afterwards). And I am out of ideas.
I don’t know if Christie still reads my blog, but I assume that some of my readers have some experience and knowledge and good ideas about what to do. Shoot them in the comments.

12 Comments

Posted in Animal Behavior, Personal

Edwards Linkfest

Posted on March 23, 2007 by | 2 comments

You all know that I’ve been a big Edwards supporter since he first ran for Senate. I have met Elizabeth enough times to consider her a friend. I am clumsy when it comes to describing my emotions. So, I’ll do what I do best – collect the best and most important links for you to read:
[Update: I have posted a second linkfest on Saturday night with more excellent commentary]
John Edwards: Thank you
John Edwards blog: Discussion Thread
Majikthise: Elizabeth Edwards’ cancer returns
Pam’s House Blend: Open thread – Edwards news conference
BlueNC: Open thread – Edwards news conference
Pandagon: John and Elizabeth Edwards to hold press conference at noon and Best wishes to Elizabeth Edwards
Shakespeare’s Sister: Edwards Presser
Andrew Sullivan: Edwards Forges On
Ed Cone: John and Elizabeth Edwards and North Carolina, as seen from Brooklyn (and earlier, but eerily parallel:

“Cancer cannot be cured by rest, Yow said. So she might as well coach.”

Just replace “coach” with “campaign to change the country for the better”)
Iddybud Journal: On Elizabeth Edwards and the Campaign
Respectful Insolence: Elizabeth Edwards and bone metastases from breast cancer
The Cheerful Oncologist: What Does It Mean to Have ‘Relapsed Breast Cancer?’
Clinical Cases and Images: Wife of presidential candidate John Edwards diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. Campaign goes on
Taylor Marsh: Fox Expects Edwards ‘Sympathy Surge’
Billy the Blogging Poet: Prayers For Elizabeth Edwards
The Real Paul Jones: Good Thoughts and Prayers for Elizabeth Edwards
Mona Gable on Huffington Post: Attacking John Edwards: It’s Only A Matter of Time
The Moderate Voice: John And Elizabeth Edwards’ Class Act
Jane Hamsher: Best Wishes for Elizabeth Edwards and Let the Condescending Bullshit Begin…
Ana Marie Cox: Elizabeth Edwards, Cathy Seipp, The Edwards Question and Re: The Edwards Question
Joe Klein: Good Luck Elizabeth Edwards
Ezra Klein: Edwards To Drop Out?, There’s No After and On Cancer
Media Matters: Limbaugh suggested Edwards camp ‘leak[ed]’ false information to Politico reporter ‘to jump-start the campaign’
Andy2000: Conservative bloggers mock cancer-stricken Edwards
Sue’s Place: Reading about Elizabeth Edwards
Larvatus Prodeo: Edwards to withdraw?
Crooked Timber: Edwards out?
Hugo Schwyzer: Elizabeth Edwards
Obsidian Wings: Be Well
Beliefnet: Cancer is Not a Political Issue
Corrente Wire: Elizabeth Edwards’ Cancer Has Spread: The Campaign Continues
Maryamie: My heart goes out to Elizabeth Edwards and her family
TPM Cafe (Howard C. Berkowitz): Edwards and the new view of breast cancer
TPM Cafe (Greg Sargent): Edwards: ‘The Campaign Goes On’
Needlenose: John and Elizabeth Edwards vow to continue the fight
Matthew Yglesias: Edwards Presser
arse poetica: Edwards to Continue ’08 Bid Despite Wife’s Cancer
Seeing the Forest: Edwards Announcement – Live Blogging
Oliver Willis: Elizabeth Edwards and John Edwards
skippy the bush kangaroo: elizabeth edwards’ cancer has returned
The Carpetbagger Report: John Edwards: ‘The campaign goes on, goes on strongly’
Culturekitchen: Liveblogging Edwards announcement :The Campaign Goes On!
Bark Bark Woof Woof: Class Act
DailyKos Diaries:
Bcgntn: John Edwards to Discuss Wife’s Health, Campaign, and Country
Steven D: Edwards Family Health Crisis and Kathleen Parker
Red Sox: UPDATED: On Edwards’s Campaign and Breast Cancer
chuckles1: UPDATE: At the Edwards Press Conference
philgoblue: Edwards Press Conference: Updated with Transcript
Kos: Elizabeth’s cancer has returned, but John’s campaign goes on
TexMex: Prayers for Elizabeth
Granny Doc: BREAKING – Edwards’ Press Conference
sgary: Rightosphere shows the Edwards their love
etherapy: Support John and Elizabeth
BobcatJH: Freeper animals insult the Edwardses
ChuyHChrist: What does Stage IV breast cancer actually mean?
JSCram3254: John and Elizabeth Edwards Continue the Fight and So Will I.
CTmoderate: John doesn’t give up campaign, I won’t give up on him
the1bostongirl: Edwards Campaign Won Big Today
sfluke: Why I love John Edwards
nyceve: Did we see an American President emerge today?
Aragorn for America: Live Strong, Elizabeth!
raddude: Edwards family stays in the campaign to fight cancer
Pericles: To John and Elizabeth, with experience
Proudtobeliberal: Statements from various campaigns concerning Elizabeth Edwards
Maaarrrk: News Coverage about Elizabeth Edwards & Rove’s Robots
TomP: FoxNews and John and Elizabeth Edwards
SpeakupNation: John Edwards is me
Tuffie: Freepers on Edwards
floridadude: Elizabeth Edwards for First Lady
Bcgntn: Elizabeth Edwards; ‘Decency Costs Nothing.’ It is Priceless
MyDD Diaries:
TarHeel: The Campaign is FOR Elizabeth Edwards: Not in the Meta Sense either
Jonathan Singer: Edwards Open Thread
Jerome Armstrong: The Campaign Goes On

2 Comments

Posted in Personal

Eclipse

Posted on March 5, 2007 by | Comments Off on Eclipse

We had to wait on Saturday until the Moon rose above the trees and the houses, by which time the eclipse was half over, but my daughter managed to take a few pictures anyway and this one turned out the best:
Eclipse.JPG

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Posted in Personal

The Best Sneetches on the Beaches

Posted on February 21, 2007 by | 2 comments

The Best Sneetches on the BeachesAn olde but fun (February 16, 2006):

Continue reading →

2 Comments

Posted in Books, Personal

Bowling Bloggers

Posted on February 15, 2007 by | Comments Off on Bowling Bloggers

Not every bloggers’ meetup has to be talking about blogging. We can also just get together and have fun. And so we did last night. A bunch of us went bowling.
On Wednesday nights they have great family rates. We got four lanes – one for kids, three for adults. My daughter tends to start out slow and get better and better as the time goes. In the end, she got some tens.
Bora%20bowling.JPG
I am the opposite – my very first practice shot was a strike and I won the first game, but I get progressively more and more tired. Anton won the second game easily. In the end, my wrist and fingers were hurting so much, I was dropping the ball. And I am hurting all over today! You can see some more pictures here.

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Posted in Blogging, Fun, Personal

Me and the Copperheads

Posted on February 13, 2007 by | 7 comments

Last week I had lunch with a good old friend of mine, Jim Green. He got his degree in Zoology, then a law degree (patent law) and is now coming back for yet another degree in biological and chemical engineering. He did his research on snakes, so we reminisced and laughed about the time several years ago (that was before Kevin joined the lab, which is why I was recruited for this study in the first place) when we were taking blood samples from copperheads.
What we wanted to do is see if snakes have melatonin and if so, if it shows a diurnal rhythm in concentration like it does in other Vertebrates (believe it or not, nobody’s done that yet) and the copperheads were the only snakes he had, about ten of them, each in its own terrarium in a tiny shed outside of campus.
So, we needed to take blood samples at noon and, after a few days of recovery, again at midnight. So, we went in at noon one day. Jim would pick up a snake and hold it by its head. My lab budy Christ Steele was holding the body of the snake. Jim’s advisor Hal Heatwole was taking the blood samples straight from the heart, and I was the “nurse assistant” taking care of needles, syringes, anticoagulant, test-tubes, etc. The whole thing, ten snakes, took perhaps an hour or so and worked out perfectly without any glitches.
copperhead.jpg
About a week later, when we came for a repeat session at midnight, we were starkly reminded that copperheads are nocturnal animals. They were active. And I mean ACTIVE! Due to acute effects of light on depressing melatonin release, we had to take samples in very dim red light, with some highly uncooperative snakes. The process took hours!
At one point one of the snakes got lose in the room and, since the room was practically completely dark, I could not see where it was underneath the cages. So I said “OK, you snake guys figure out where it is and call me back once you have it under control” and I slid out of the door. I got teased for this act of cowardice for years afterwards.
Unfortunately, the melatonin essay repeatedly did not work and we did not have enough blood volume to try with a new kit, so the study was never completed. The snakes got used in other experiments, Jim finished and defended his Thesis and left town and nobody else wanted to try to do a repeat. I hope one day someone will. Perhaps with a non-venomous snake species for a change – makes midnight sampling much safer and easier!
[image]

7 Comments

Posted in Clock Zoo, Personal

On Milosevic

Posted on February 13, 2007 by | 2 comments

On MilosevicTen months later (this was posted first on March 22, 2006), he has a tenure-track position there. Not a bad idea to give a good talk at various places….

Continue reading →

2 Comments

Posted in Balkans, Personal, Politics

Telephone is so last millennium….

Posted on February 11, 2007 by | 5 comments

Yup, like Amanda, Atrios and Ed, I hate the telephone.
That is why I don’t have the cell phone. That is why my landline phone has an answering machine.
If you call and the machine picks up and I actually want to talk to you at that particular moment, I’ll pick up. If not, leave a message and I’ll get back with you….by e-mail.
And if you use a phone with me, stick to the brief exchange of information. Business only. Chatting over the phone is reserved for my mother and my brother only.
I prefer to communicate on my own time, in my own way and do not like the tyranny of the phone ring.

5 Comments

Posted in Personal, Society

Recipes Wanted!

Posted on February 6, 2007 by | 9 comments

My daughter, as part of her school assignment on Vasco Da Gama, bought a bunch of stuff that Vasco brought to Europe from Asia. Now I have all those foodstuffs and do not know what to do with them.
Cucumber and melon were easy.
But, what would I do with a coconut, a jar of cinnamon sticks and a jar full of whole cloves?
Give me your recipes or links to recipes to good dishes that contain one (or two or all three!) of those ingredients. And, if those dishes turn out tasty, I may as well start on my foodblogging career!

9 Comments

Posted in Food, Personal

I am an Asportual male, too

Posted on February 3, 2007 by | 8 comments

Perhaps not as bad as Zeno, but close.
At least I used to watch, when I was a kid, whenever Yugoslav national teams in various sports played at big international competitions like Olympics, World Championships and European Championships. I watched Red Star soccer team demolish all of its European and World competition back in 1990. I watched Jausovec, Zivojinovic, Seles and Ivanisevic at Wimbledon and French Open.
Perhaps there is a difference between inter-club competition and international competition and in the USA nobody cares about international competition. Since I never watched anything ‘domestic’ (e.g., the Yugoslav soccer league matches), I guess I would have been a complete Asportual male if I was growing up in the States as well (I just happened to hear that NCSU beat UNC in basketball today – a fact that I can report with no emotions whatsoever although I am an NCSU alum and I live in Chapel Hill – and that there is something really big in sports happening tomorrow so I have to be worried about traffic if I need to drive somewhere).
On the other hand, since I was myself practicing and competing in karate and equestrian sports at one point or another, I watched much more of those sports at all levels, from local to international and everything in between. But there, when you are inside a sport, you actually personally know many competitors – you probably had beer with them many times, etc. It is a different ball-game altogether.

8 Comments

Posted in Balkans, Personal

I Just Can’t Do It

Posted on February 2, 2007 by | 2 comments

When good things happen, I am the first to cheer. If it is your birthday or blogiversary, you got married or your child is born, if you got a promotion on a job or published a paper – you know I am the first one to post a comment on your blog, perhaps post about it here…
But when the news are bad, I just clam up. I dont’ know what to say. I have no idea how many times over the past few days (and months, really) I wanted to post a comment on Chris Clarke’s blog, to say something about Zeke. A couple of times I started writing, just to hate what I wrote (too sad, too cheerful, too condescending, too emotionless, too emotional…) and never hit “Post”. While my eyes were welling from Chris’ words.
Likewise, I never said anything about the death of Molly Ivins. I usually have an easy time grieving over public people’s deaths, but for me Molly was much more…dunno, closer? Intimate? I felt like I knew her personally although I never met her in person. I only read her op-eds. I read “Bushwacked” (still a must-read – the title is deceiving as the book is a well-documented account of the way Bush Administration places GOP party hacks in positions of power in various Federal departments, eliminating ombudsmen, removing any venues for complaint or redress by the litle man and giving the mega-corporaitons the run of the country). That’s it. Yet, the news of her death really hit me personally.
But I don’t know what to say and how to say it.

2 Comments

Posted in Personal

Teen Parenthood for the X-box generation

Posted on January 30, 2007 by | 1 comment

Teen Parenthood for the X-box generationParenting is hard. Are you ready (re-posted from October 20, 2005)

Continue reading →

1 Comment

Posted in Education, North Carolina, Personal, Sex, Society

Fish Eyes

Posted on January 29, 2007 by | Comments Off on Fish Eyes

Fish EyesLots of food blogging around here lately, so why not re-post this one (from October 27, 2005):

Continue reading →

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Posted in Food, Personal

Listen to my radio interview

Posted on January 29, 2007 by | Comments Off on Listen to my radio interview

You may remember last week I gave a radio interview. It is airing in Asheville area tonight but you can already listen to it on the Brainshrub blog.

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Posted in Blogging, Personal

Everyone’s a Little Bit Jewish

Posted on January 28, 2007 by | 3 comments

Since I think that Fiddler on the Roof is the best musical ever, of course I totally loved this:

(Found here by Joolya)
I blogged somewhere before (I cannot find it now – darned Google and Technorati are imperfect!) that I think that, upon arriving in America, the fourth daughter married a black guy and the fifth daughter married a woman. I never expected one to marry a puppet!

3 Comments

Posted in Fun, Personal

I really needed a cathartic moment today….

Posted on January 24, 2007 by | 8 comments

Mormon Missionaries knocked on a wrong door earlier today. I think their heads are still spinning…

8 Comments

Posted in Atheism, Personal, Religion

What we did tonight….

Posted on January 18, 2007 by | Comments Off on What we did tonight….

We (Anton, Brian and I) packed hundreds of beautiful bags full of goodies for the conference-goers.
Then, when we were done, we celebrated with a brand new bottle of Croatian slivovitz, tasting just like home, courtesy of Anton’s Cleveland friend. Thanks, Anton, the bottle safely made it home and is not empty yet!
Technorati Tag:

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Posted in Blogging, Personal

Where I’ve been

Posted on January 12, 2007 by | Comments Off on Where I’ve been

Tagged by Josh:

This application is created by interactive maps.
You can also have your visited countries map on your site.

If you see this message, you need to upgrade your flash player.

var so = new SWFObject(“http://www.interactivemaps.org/visited_countries/visited_countries.swf”, “visitedcountries”, 364, 225, “7”, “#000000″);
addLocation(‘AT’, ”, ”, ”); //Austria
addLocation(‘BE’, ”, ”, ”); //Belgium
addLocation(‘BA’, ”, ”, ”); //Bosnia and Herzegovina
addLocation(‘HR’, ”, ”, ”); //Croatia
addLocation(‘DK’, ”, ”, ”); //Denmark
addLocation(‘DE’, ”, ”, ”); //Germany
addLocation(‘HU’, ”, ”, ”); //Hungary
addLocation(‘IT’, ”, ”, ”); //Italy
addLocation(‘NL’, ”, ”, ”); //Netherlands
addLocation(‘CS’, ”, ”, ”); //Serbia and Montenegro
addLocation(‘SK’, ”, ”, ”); //Slovakia
addLocation(‘SI’, ”, ”, ”); //Slovenia
addLocation(‘SE’, ”, ”, ”); //Sweden
addLocation(‘UK’, ”, ”, ”); //United Kingdom
addLocation(‘US’, ”, ”, ”); //United States
addToFlash();
so.addVariable(“stageWidth”, 364);
so.addVariable(“stageHeight”, 225);
so.addVariable(“infoOver”, “enabled”);
so.addVariable(“zoomFunction”, “checked”);
so.addVariable(“bgColor”, “666666”);
so.addVariable(“visitedColor”, “5EB7DE”);
so.addVariable(“notVisitedColor”, “CDCDCD”);
so.addVariable(“countryBordersColor”, “666666”);
so.addVariable(“helpTextColor”, “000000”);
so.addVariable(“helpText”, “Mark the area you wish to zoom in”);
so.addParam(“scale”, “noscale”);
so.addParam(“salign”, “lt”);
so.write(“visitedcountries”);

Make your visited countries map Interactive flash maps
This application is created by interactive maps.
You can also have your visited states map on your site.

If you see this message, you need to upgrade your flash player.

var so = new SWFObject(“http://www.interactivemaps.org/visited_states/visited_states.swf”, “visitedstates”, 364, 195, “7”, “#000000″);
addLocation(‘FL’, ”, ”, ”); //Florida
addLocation(‘GA’, ”, ”, ”); //Georgia
addLocation(‘IL’, ”, ”, ”); //Illinois
addLocation(‘MA’, ”, ”, ”); //Massachusetts
addLocation(‘MD’, ”, ”, ”); //Maryland
addLocation(‘NC’, ”, ”, ”); //North Carolina
addLocation(‘NH’, ”, ”, ”); //New Hampshire
addLocation(‘NJ’, ”, ”, ”); //New Jersey
addLocation(‘NY’, ”, ”, ”); //New York
addLocation(‘PA’, ”, ”, ”); //Pennsylvania
addLocation(‘SC’, ”, ”, ”); //South Carolina
addLocation(‘VA’, ”, ”, ”); //Virginia
addLocation(‘VT’, ”, ”, ”); //Vermont
addToFlash();
so.addVariable(“stageWidth”, 364);
so.addVariable(“stageHeight”, 195);
so.addVariable(“infoOver”, “enabled”);
so.addVariable(“zoomFunction”, “checked”);
so.addVariable(“bgColor”, “666666”);
so.addVariable(“visitedColor”, “F0A74B”);
so.addVariable(“notVisitedColor”, “CDCDCD”);
so.addVariable(“countryBordersColor”, “666666”);
so.addVariable(“helpTextColor”, “000000”);
so.addVariable(“helpText”, “Mark the area you wish to zoom in”);
so.addParam(“scale”, “noscale”);
so.addParam(“salign”, “lt”);
so.write(“visitedstates”);

Make your visited states map Interactive flash maps

Compared to my brother and to my lab-buddy Chris who have travelled to, like, every continent, I have been pretty stationary in my life. Some of the countries and states I checked I really only travelled through (if I stopped to get a snack, it counts!). I am more of a type who goes to the same place over and over again (e.g., England).

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Posted in Fun, Personal

iPhone, youPhone, he/she/itPhone, wePhone, youPhone, theyPhone…

Posted on January 10, 2007 by | 4 comments

For a blogger – by definition on the cutting edge of technology – I am quite a Luddite. Perhaps that is too strong a term and I should rather call myself a “patient techno-skeptic”.
I watch the development of new technologies with interest, but I almost never get any kind of visceral excitement “I Have To Have This! Now!”
There is always a lot of experimenting going on and the Darwinian forces of the market ruthlessly destroy almost every new gizmo and gadget within a year or two. After a while, the dust settles, and one particular system or gadget becomes the universal standard – it gets perfected, it gets made easy to use by technidiots like me, it becomes cheap and it becomes a neccessity. And then it lasts for a decade or more. VHS won and remained for decades, until DVD replaced it. There were vinyls for decades, then audio tapes ruled for decades, then CDs for a decade and now MP3s.
So, my strategy is to wait for the dust to settle, see what is the new standard, evaluate soberly if I really need it, then buy the best one on the market.
I never got excited about hybrid cars, always feeling that they were a transitional technology. But I got excited about the Tesla Roadster. Will I buy it as soon as available? Of course not (even if I could afford it). I’ll wait until it becomes a standard, everyone makes something like it, the product gets perfected, ubiqutous (with a global supporting structure) and cheap. Then I’ll buy the best one on the market at the time, unless the dream of a carless society comes about first!
It took a long time for me to relinquish my old trusted Fujica SLR camera for a digital Olympus. I waited until it became obvious which technology was dead, and which was here to stay, skipping over all the intermediates and false-starts in the meantime.
So, I never bought a Palm Pilot, or a Blackberry, or an iPod, or a cell phone, or a lap-top, or a hybrid car. There was always a sense of ‘unfinished business’ about all of those devices. I never had the feeling that any of those gadgets were going to be durable winners of the technological race. There was something clumsy about each one of them and just so much to carry around and worry about and potentially lose. I found serious-looking guys with toolbelts packed with gizmos ridiculously funny!
I have been waiting for someone to design one small, easy-to-use gadget that will do all those things, do them well, be easy to use, be cheap and be universal. I just have a feeling that the iPhone is the first prototype of that kind of technology. Will I buy it in June? No. It looks supercool, but it is too expensive, too new and not universal enough yet. I’ll wait for the glitches to be fixed, for upgrades to be made, for competition to gear up and try to do better, for the price to go down, and for demands for more openness and choice (e.g., of the phone provider) to become available. Then, I will buy the best such gizmo on the market.
And even then, the phone will be switched off except at times I want to use it – which will be very rare. I need to be incommunicado except at times when I want to be reachable. Send me an e-mail and I’ll respond on my time, on my terms. I am not here to serve you at the moment’s notice whenever you want to talk. We can negotiate a time for such things that is OK to both of us.
So, you can check some early responses to the iPhone here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here, and there is a picture under the fold:

Continue reading →

4 Comments

Posted in Nikola Tesla, Personal, Society

A Blog Around the Year!

Posted on December 31, 2006 by | 1 comment

Happy New Year to all my readers!!! I wish you all a happy, healthy and prosperous 2007, a paper published, a grant funded, a tenure achieved, and all other goals reached.
Some blog stats:
1721 posts
2919 comments
218,365 visits
315,161 page views
Technorati Rank: 3,847 (which is more than a 200 slide down over the past month or so), which I did not think to compare to others, but Martin did and found out is the second best ranking of the Scienceblogs universe.

1 Comment

Posted in Personal

Pictures of Professor Steve Steve

Posted on December 22, 2006 by | 1 comment

Below the fold are the pictures of me, Prof. Steve Steve and Rev.Big Dumb Chimp taken immediately after the Ken Miller talk in Raleigh. If we look a little drunk or high, it is because we were just subjected to an overdose of theistic evolution and religious apologetics!

Continue reading →

1 Comment

Posted in Creationism, Fun, North Carolina, Personal

Hanukah meme

Posted on December 20, 2006 by | 8 comments

Somehow I feel that I’ve been tagged by Janet for this meme, because it is public that we celebrate Hannukkah. But we really make it low-key, family-only, and have only been doing it for about a dozen years so far. Actually, this is the first time that we had guests for the first night.
1. Latkes or Sufganiyot?
Latkes. Mrs.Coturnix is a superb Latke-Meister.
2. Multi-colored candles or blue-and-white?
Coturnix Jr. lights the blue-and-white candles, Coturnietta lights the multicolored.
3. Do you place the Hanukiah by the window or away from the window?
In this house, away from the window due to fire hazards. We do have Hannukkah light-decorations in the window, including one shaped like a hanukiah, so we plug them in at night.
4. Favorite Holiday Dish?
Brisket that Mrs.Coturnix fixed this year will be remembered for years to come. I am still salivating at the thought of it.
5. Favorite Holiday Memory?
Well, we do it so low-key, there is no big memory really. It’s not a big event. We make a much bigger deal about Passover.
6. One Hanukiah or more than one?
Two this year as both kids are big enough and interested enough to light each its own.
7. Do you remember your favorite gift?
Only kids get gifts in our house.
8. Favorite Holiday Dessert?
Kugel. The way Mrs. Coturnix makes it.
9. Favorite Holiday Song?
None really. After a few years, the Hannukkah songs sound just as kitchy as Christmas songs. Ocho Kandelikas by Flory Jagoda may be my all-time favourite. ‘Fergilicious’ was this year’s hit, I’m afraid.

8 Comments

Posted in Food, Fun, Personal, Religion

Can someone buy me this?

Posted on December 19, 2006 by | 2 comments

This is my favourite album of all times. The best holiday present I can get. It is not available on tape, CD or mp3 – only an LP. But I can find a way to make a copy somewhere around here.
Also, does anyone know if she has ever recorded anything else?

2 Comments

Posted in Fun, Personal

Three More Days

Posted on December 19, 2006 by | 2 comments

I can’t wait for Night at the Museum! What a perfect movie to take the kids to during the holidays. My son is quite hyped about it – he only nees to decide if he’ll go with me or ask a girl out.

2 Comments

Posted in Fun, Personal

Happy Hannukkah

Posted on December 15, 2006 by | 7 comments

Well, it’s starting tonight, so I better get back to cleaning the house (actually, all posts today are pre-scheduled). Kids are excited (hey, eight days of presents instead of just one and nobody mentions any Invisible Friends in the Sky all evening!). Posting will resume tomorrow early morning.

7 Comments

Posted in Personal

Max and Min

Posted on December 14, 2006 by | Comments Off on Max and Min

Max%20and%20Min.jpg
I am not sure about their real names, but I call my Mother-in-law’s cats Maximilian (right) and Minimilian (left). They are brothers.

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Posted in Personal

Friendly Neighbor

Posted on December 13, 2006 by | 3 comments

Tomcat.JPG
This neighborhood tomcat is very friendly and sometimes comes by to say Hello to our cats and the dog.

3 Comments

Posted in Personal

Reading is Hard…

Posted on December 12, 2006 by | Comments Off on Reading is Hard…

Marbles%20sleeping%20on%20a%20book.JPG
…so Marbles is taking a little nap on the book.

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Posted in Personal

Louie

Posted on December 11, 2006 by | 5 comments

Louie.jpg
In Memoriam
Louie adopted my mother-in-law. He lived outside and roamed that small block of houses. He was killed by a car about a month ago. This is the only picture of him, which my daugther took last summer.

5 Comments

Posted in Personal

Support the Honolulu Marathon in Iraq

Posted on December 9, 2006 by | Comments Off on Support the Honolulu Marathon in Iraq

Yes, you read that right. Our soldiers in Iraq will run the marathon at the same time as the Honolulu race and will be considered to be contestants in the Honolulu marathon. But the whole thing is not just for fun – there is something much more inportant going on here and something you can help with. All the proceeds from the donations for the race go, through TAPS, to the families of the soldiers we lost in Iraq and other military conflicts. So, if you can, please donate for a good cause.
Mike has the background and can answer any questions you may have about the details.
My SciBlings Afarensis, Ed,Revere, Janet, Abel, Orac and Razib have more.

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Posted in Personal

Question Mark

Posted on December 9, 2006 by | 2 comments

Question%20Mark%20Biscuit.JPG
Biscuit

2 Comments

Posted in Personal

Playfight

Posted on November 13, 2006 by | Comments Off on Playfight

Marbles (left) encroaching on Biscuit’s territory:
Biscuit%26Marbles3.jpg
Marbles%20%26%20Biscuit%20playfight.jpg

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Posted in Fun, Personal

Fizzler on the Roof

Posted on October 31, 2006 by | Comments Off on Fizzler on the Roof

Fizzler on the RoofThe worst Tevye ever (January 26, 2005)

Continue reading →

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Posted in Fun, North Carolina, Personal

The Mooney Experience

Posted on October 29, 2006 by | Comments Off on The Mooney Experience

Just a quick note. I finally got to meet Chris Mooney, my fellow Seed Scienceblogger and the author of The Republican War on Science.
On Saturday, we met early enough to have coffee and a little chat before his book-reading and signing event at Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh. The long weekend in local schools (Friday off in Orange Co. and Monday off in Wake Co.) and a break in bad weather we had recently propably prompted a lot of locals to make that last trip out of town for the year this week, so the size of the crowd was not as impressive as it could have been, but those present were good and asked good questions afterwards.
I have to say that Chris has got his schtick down pat – the talk flows smoothly, is funny and to the point, and pre-empts all the usual protestations before they get to be voiced by anyone in the audience. If he comes to your neck of the woods, by all means go and see him.
His visit (which continues today at Regulator Bookshop in Durham and tomorrow at Duke University) was also an opportunity to just hang out (something I am out of practice with), chat and have a beer with friends who are also (science) bloggers, including Dave Munger,
Reed Cartwright and Tiffany, Abel PharmBoy, etbnc and Anton Zuiker.
Chris was not in a mood for a dinner at an elegant place, so instead we went to a cheep-beer/good-bar-food place, my old grad-school haunts where we stayed until midnight, chatting about science, politics, blogging, journalism, hurricanes (the topic of his next book) and many other things.
Even better, Chris gave us each a CD (“Luckless Pedestrian”) of his brother’s jazz band, the David Mooney Trio. I listened to it today and it’s great.

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Posted in Blogging, Books, North Carolina, Personal, Science Reporting

On the Window Sill

Posted on October 29, 2006 by | 3 comments

Marbles (left) and Biscuit (right):
B%26M%201.JPG
B%26M%202.JPG

3 Comments

Posted in Personal

Kefli

Posted on October 27, 2006 by | 4 comments

Kefli was my second horse, back in Yugoslavia. I raised him from foal until he was almost 3 years old. I sold him a few days before I left for he US. I just got a picture of him, from a few years later:
Kefli%20compressed.jpg

4 Comments

Posted in Personal

Chess

Posted on October 25, 2006 by | 6 comments

A couple of years ago I could beat my son at chess every time.
Not any more.
He’s been studying from books, playing online and beating his sister relentlessly over the last few weeks. Then he challenged me. He won. Then he won again. Then he won again. In the fourth game I finally realized I had to play really carefully and managed to win, but it was not easy.
Then he challenged my wife, who is a much better chess player than I am. And he beat her. A number of times, though they are more evenly matched.
Then he joined his school’s chess club. Today was their first meeting. He beat everyone. Then he beat the reigning and never-defeated school champion. Then he beat the teacher.
His next goal – to beat my brother, the Alehin of our family.

6 Comments

Posted in Personal

Lunch with Mike

Posted on October 23, 2006 by | 2 comments

I had a delightful lunch today with my blog-sparring-partner Mike Munger of Mungovitz End (see how my blog is labeled on his blogroll: “Coturnix’s nonsense”). We had great time discussing politics, academia, Horowitz, blogging and the life in the Triangle. Oh, Mike is also running for North Carolina governor in 2008 as a Libertarian candidate. Check his positions – how liberal!!!

2 Comments

Posted in Blogging, North Carolina, Personal, Politics

Interview

Posted on October 23, 2006 by | 3 comments

All the sciencebloggers are taking a turn being interviewed on Page 3.14. Today, it’s my turn so go and read more about me.

3 Comments

Posted in Blogging, Personal