VWXYNot? Comment(s) of the week:
Nina and Grant for the following exchange: Nina: "Life should be a conference, everyone wearing nametags all the time, with their first name, last name, nickname, country of origin and country of residence. Birthdate optional."
Grant: Nina, I’m sure tech types will suggest we’ll all be bumping cell phones to exchange names in a few years. (Eurgh.)
One more: you know that thing where the person can’t quite read your name tag and leans in close over your chest to read it…
Nina: "ok, how about tattooing your name onto your forehead?"
Grant: "How about a sub-dermal name implant invisible when not active that glows when triggered by trained neural signals beaming your name to the people opposite you?
Failing that we could all wear electrode scalp caps that carry a flip up sign… (Taking as my cue the brain-computer interfaces emotiv and others are marketing.)"
[NB as a chronic tartler, I approve of all the above methods]
Alyssa for "It’s cloudy again
We see it’s cold and dreary
But – we have windows!!!"
Ricardipus for "Bugger me, the grant’s
Finally done. Thank goodness.
Now back to fun stuff."
Bean-mom for "I just clicked on the article on circular RNAs–I’d seen the headline earlier but hadn’t yet read it–and just as I expected, I’m all WTF?! MicroRNAs, long non-coding RNAs, now we’ve got circular RNAs. . . I feel like someone should just write a review titled, “RNA: WTF?”"
Nina again for "edit: my advisor has improved his standing desk further by standing on a wooden board that balances on a small (but sturdy) plastic tube, to make him wobble while standing, so to keep working those balancing muscles, or something like that. The tube comes from one of my experiments. I will miss that “wtf I’ll create my own standing desk – pilates work-out” attitude, I must admit."
Bob O'H for "Reminds me of my youth playing boardgames. There was one called Civilisation, which a friend described as “almost as long as the real thing”."
Chall "it surely looks like the Leafs MIGHT go to play offs for the first time in 7 years…. if I didn’t jinx it by saying it here of course. That said, I find myself wondering how bad it will be to end 5th place if Boston stays 4th. It sort of feels better to play the 3rd (Capitals right now) than Bruins but right now I’ll settle for PLAYOFFS and miracle :)"
[the Leafs making the playoffs is a miracle indeed]
KJHaxton for "Good question! I’d put:
– occasional baker of cakes for meetings
– fair to moderate tolerance for bullshit
– low tolerance for unfairness and willing to get very cross about it (folds arms and glowers at the screen)
– best selection of tea bags in desk drawer (8 kinds at last count)
– prone to wearing scarves and shirts that don’t match
Ah well, I’m not sure I’d find a new job on the basis of those :)"
Ricardipus again for "Pros:
- rarely swears in public
- has few friends, so unlikely to have loud, belly-laughing conversations on phone or in person
- capable of speaking at length about (a) race cars, (b) cameras, or (c) bad science
Cons:
- occasionally swears in public
- has few friends, so likely to have poor social interactions with co-workers
- capable of speaking at length about (a) race cars, (b) cameras, or (c) bad science
I’d also probably include “easily suckered into serving on irrelevant committees” into each category, too."
Bean-mom again for "–Friendly.
–Doesn’t bake, but if you have a potluck I’ll bring killer spring rolls (both crispy fried pork ones, and the vegetarian fresh rice-paper ones).
–Doesn’t bake, but husband bakes. Occasionally, you may be a recipient of his talent.
–Will cheerfully listen to other people’s dramas, but won’t cause any of my own. Not at work, anyway."
and Nina yet again for "As I may have mentioned before, I’m pretty sure my cv point “Love baking (chocolate) cakes” earned me my PhD position, and it definitely often raised questions in interviews (“so, how often do you bake cake? What kind of chocolate do you use?”)"
Post(s) of the Week: Beth Snow for "Modern conveniences" (how on earth did we survive, let alone study and write theses, before Skype and cloud computing?!)
Steve Caplan for "Science education: the generalist vs the specialist" (are 3 year or 4 year degrees better for students?)
Bean-mom for "Leaving scientific research... again" (science SUCKS sometimes)
Eva Amsen, writing at the Occam's Typewriter Irregulars for "The two ideas to fix the gender balance that do not make me cringe" (the panel pledge and the Finkbeiner test)
Bob O'Hara for "Making reviewing boring stuff less boring" (would a stripped-down manuscript format work better for the, um, less exciting papers out there?)
Alyssa for "Just the pants, thanks" (absolutely hilarious take on the modern clothes shopping experience)
Eva Amsen again for "My self-updating address book" (how LinkedIn can be useful)
CromerCrox for "Plagues" (how's God been cursing you lately?)
Prof-like Substance for "If you don't talk to your kids about it someone else will" (anticipating school-yard talk about religion and other big issues)
and CromerCrox again for "Conferences" (the problem of sexism at conferences)
Archives:
October 2008 - March 2009; April 2009 - September 2009; October 2009 - March 2010; April 2010 - September 2010; October 2010 - February 2011; March 2011 - September 2011; October 2011 - March 2012; April 2012 - September 2012; October 2012 - March 2013; April 2013 - September 2013
You swam in the St. Lawrence River? Forget creepy tickle monsters… *that’s* brave.
That salt shaker is hilarious. And what the heck is that tickle monster sign supposed to be, anyway?
Final point – if you want some fun, find someone from Montreal and someone from New York, put them in a room together, and say the word “bagel”. Instant argument.
WHAT THE HELL IS THAT TICKLE MONSTER SIGN SUPPOSED TO BE????
Also, aren’t Montreal smoked meat sandwiches the best thing ever? Also – did you try spruce beer? (It’s pop, not beer, but it’s freaking delicious). I’m going to Montreal for a workshop in October and I will be bringing back a 12 pack. Mmmm, sprucey.
It’s simple. If you sit next to a man with a big, stiff… er … walking stick, you’ll get pregnant.
Despite having a sign for the ideal passenger flow getting on and off the metro, many people fail to respect it. So I have taken to bulldozing my way off the metro, elbows flying, if someone tries to push on before I can get off.
Also: Fairmount or Saint-Viateur?
aww… Greek food… *dreaming away*
Anyway, I second the questions about the tickle monter, what is it?? Although, to me it looked like “beware of evil person knocking you on the head” ^^
Hope the next couple of weeks go by quicker and then happy times when you see eachother again!
Ah, Good ol’ Montreal and they’re fun photos. I was there a few years back for a conference, and we saw this poster: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=7511790276&set=t.613379121&type=3&theater
Obviously and ad, but funny nonetheless!
Glad you had a great time, and hope the next few weeks go by quickly!
That is bizarre. Why would anyone put salt in a pepper pot?
well, indeed, how did they store the pepper? I envision little bags with whole peppercorns inside a see-through pepper-mill.
Richard, it was at this park. which is upstream of Montreal. It was very nice, but the swimming area was tiny and they yelled at you through megaphones and sent a boat to intercept you if you went even a few inches past the rope that marked its boundary. It’s weird – in some ways the regulations in Quebec seem much laxer than in BC (e.g. liquor licensing, people jay-walking right in front of a big group of cops), but outdoor activities seem much, much more regulated than we’re used to. Mr E Man had already been to this park, and had tried to find an alternative by asking pretty much every local he met if they could recommend somewhere else to go swimming outside – but every single person suggested a pool rather than the river or lake we were looking for, and most appeared extremely confused when we said we wanted to swim somewhere more natural. We swim in the ocean, lakes and rivers all the time in BC and even the rare places that do employ lifeguards don’t care where you swim unless you’re actively drowning. It’s all very strange.
I had proper New York bagels precisely once, in 1994. Both cities make outstanding bagels, but the time in between samplings was far too long to make a direct comparison.
I’ve heard that all bread baked west of the Rockies is inferior because of the water pH (or some other quality of the water), but don’t know how true that is. I do know that we can’t get bagels anywhere near that good in Vancouver, though!
Beth, the sandwich was indeed EPIC. I didn’t know this was A Thing last time I was in Montreal (when I was as grad student), so I hadn’t tried them before – this time, it was top of my list (it being far too hot and humid to be eating poutine). I’ve never heard of spruce beer though – sounds intriguing!
Cromercrox, that doesn’t make me any less scared of the Metro…
X-ine, oh, that’s disappointing. I thought the properly socialist Quebecois would be better at that kind of thing. (On a related note, the waitress in the Greek restaurant absolutely refused to put both sets of leftovers into one container to take home, even when we explained that I was leaving the next day and Mr E Man was going to eat ALL the leftovers for dinner that night. No no no, my leftovers had to go in the container she handed to me, and Mr E Man’s had to go in a container she handed to him. We decided this must be a socialist mechanism to ensure equal distribution of lamb-based wealth).
Chall, it was grilled octopus salad followed by roast lamb with roast potatoes, Greek salad, and orzo in tomato sauce. OUTSTANDING. I resisted the octopus salad because I (thought I) don’t like octopus, but it turns out I just don’t like all the other octopus I’ve ever had and that the non-rubbery stuff is phenomenal.
I’m not sure if the sign is telling you to be aware of ticklers, knocks on the head, abduction, or possibly advertising free shoulder massages?
Thanks, Alyssa! I hope they fly by!
Bob, the only answer I can give you is a Gallic shrug.
Bob and Nina, the little paper pepper packets were loose in a basket with the tea bags, sugar, and coffee, if that helps.
Heh.
little paper pepper packets, little paper pepper packets, little paper pepper packets, little paper pepper packets
OK, my jet lag plus 6am teleconference is catching up with me. I think it’s time to go home.
I’m not even going to think about what coffee or tea tastes like with pepper in it.
Cath, you reminded me that another outdoor activity, fishing, is regulated up the wazoo in la belle Province. It’s covered in lakes you’re just not allowed to fish in, because they’re privately owned, or something. I can remember being called to across one such lake once, and told I couldn’t fish there. I was about 8 years old I think, and might possibly have caught a sunfish or something.
I’ve never been back since.*
*lie
Richard Wintle,
You’d catch a sun fish in a lake?
(Incidentally, one was caught within the Otago Harbour, which is pretty remarkable given it’s mostly mud flat at low tide. It used to feature in the Otago Museum entrance area.)
Grant – it kind of depends if you mean the Ocean Sunfish (Mola mola), which admittedly would be a very strange thing to catch in a lake, or the Centrarchidae, which are plentiful on this continent but might be baffling to non-North Americans.
Poo. Messed up the italics tags.
Apparently the fins of several Giant Ocean Sunfish caused a shark scare at a beach in Maine recently. One of the German names for the fish is pretty funny: Schwimmender Kopf.
The tickle monster sign is really odd – is it meant to be a warning about muggers?
I think so…
I’m pretty sure the tickle monster sign is actually a warning: “Danger! Canadians aren’t quite as good at the Gay Gordons as they think they are.”
And the next one is a warning for French breast implants.
Having been to a couple of Canadian ceilidhs, I think we have a winner here…
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