Author Archives: Cath@VWXYNot?

About Cath@VWXYNot?

"one of the sillier science bloggers [...] I thought I should give a warning to the more staid members of the community." - Bob O'Hara, December 2010

Fear the Tea Cops!

Posted on April 1, 2009 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Anyone who dared to question the One True Way of making tea, read this and repent: “Tea drinking habits and oesophageal cancer in a high risk area in northern Iran: population based case-control study” by Farhad Islami et al., BMJ … Continue reading →

Posted in food glorious food, medicine, silliness | 19 Comments

Obnoxious scientist alert

Posted on March 31, 2009 by Cath@VWXYNot?

I arrived at the gym this morning sopping wet and dishevelled after cycling through a downpour1, and already slightly out of breath after climbing the stairs. I scanned my membership badge – kept on the same lanyard as my work … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 24 Comments

You say you want a revolution…

Posted on March 31, 2009 by Cath@VWXYNot?

…well, you know, we all wanna change the world Act IA group of young(ish) female colleagues gathers in a pub on a Friday evening for a refreshing beverage or two. Grad students, postdocs, technicians, junior faculty, and grant writers are … Continue reading →

Posted in career, drunkenness, science, silliness | 21 Comments

Stop verbing things!

Posted on March 28, 2009 by Cath@VWXYNot?

“PCR” is not a verb. Neither is “PCR up”. “Amplify up” is closer, but still wrong. You’re looking for “amplify”. Just “amplify”. That is all.

Posted in Uncategorized | 29 Comments

Windows on Vancouver

Posted on March 27, 2009 by Cath@VWXYNot?

This is the Little Mountain public housing complex in East Vancouver. My fellow X-Philes may recognise Little Mountain as one of the locations in last year’s “I Want to Believe”. It was used as the exterior set for the lodgings … Continue reading →

Posted in art, bad people, photos, politics, Vancouver | 11 Comments

Another beer-soaked Vancouver blogger meet-up

Posted on March 27, 2009 by Cath@VWXYNot?

I met Dr. J this week! It wasn’t a planned meet-up, but in this relatively small life sciences community, not exactly random either! I shouldn’t even be all that surprised that we know some of the same people… Anyway, it … Continue reading →

Posted in blog buddies, drunkenness, Vancouver | 10 Comments

So Nature is publishing movie reviews now?

Posted on March 25, 2009 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Last week’s issue (what can I say, I’m slow) featured a review of The Watchmen. The review was written by Michael White, an associate editor of everyone’s favourite journal. An interesting decision… why The Watchmen? It has less scientific content … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 28 Comments

So, I guess I don’t need to ask what you’re up to right now…

Posted on March 24, 2009 by Cath@VWXYNot?

I just ran into my former PI’s grad student, who I supervised during his first year in the lab. His loud and hearty greeting was as follows: “Hey, CA Dunn et al, 2003, how are you?” Yup, the thesis writing … Continue reading →

Posted in science, silliness | 5 Comments

Stone the crows!

Posted on March 24, 2009 by Cath@VWXYNot?

No, seriously, will someone please stone the bloody crows? Now, I’ll be the first to express a grudging admiration for our corvid friends. They’re immensely successful and indeed valuable in a changing urban environment, and their intelligence has been extensively … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 18 Comments

Stephen Colbert is a freakin’ genius

Posted on March 21, 2009 by Cath@VWXYNot?

This is one of the funniest things I’ve seen on TV since Tina Fey was Sarah Palin.

Posted in politics, silliness, videos | 11 Comments