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

The hidden messages in birthday cards

Posted on March 13, 2009 by Cath@VWXYNot?

“Remember how pretty your home town is? Isn’t it lovely? When are you moving back?” “Dude, can you believe we’re in our thirties???!!!! Just remember that I will always be four months younger than you” “Hey, I told the Vatican … Continue reading →

Posted in silliness | 19 Comments

Five gigs of music

Posted on March 13, 2009 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Inspired by Stephen’s U2 fanboy post, and by a stellar gig last night, here are some witterings about my top five live music experiences. In no particular order:

Posted in Uncategorized | 25 Comments

Search bots

Posted on March 7, 2009 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Anyone who follows the comments and posts of the week feature in the sidebar will have spotted that ScienceGirl was one of the winners this week, with a mention of “that worm-looking thingy that tried living in your friend“. She … Continue reading →

Posted in freakishness, meta, silliness | 12 Comments

Wow, that was fast

Posted on March 6, 2009 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Cell has a featured preview today of a paper titled “STIM1 Clusters and Activates CRAC Channels via Direct Binding of a Cytosolic Domain to Orai1”[1], with STIM1 standing for stromal interaction molecule 1. The title of the preview?

Posted in Uncategorized | 16 Comments

Emergency muffins

Posted on March 5, 2009 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Short on time earlier today1, I popped over the road into my institute’s staff and patient canteen to buy something for a working lunch at my desk. In doing so, I noticed for the first time that the canteen staff … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 8 Comments

Grant deadline craziness

Posted on March 5, 2009 by Cath@VWXYNot?

I just can’t seem to help myself… after the dodgy limericks and Shakespeare adaptations of the last couple of big deadline weeks, I’ve found yet another outlet for my caffeine-fuelled craziness creativity. Here’s my Facebook status from Monday: (Please note … Continue reading →

Posted in career, grant wrangling, meta, personal, silliness | 7 Comments

Videos that make me happy

Posted on March 3, 2009 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Not least because they make for a quick’n’easy post in a very busy week. These two commercials are getting a lot of airtime on Canadian TV. The first one warms the heart: while the second one engages the brain: That … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments

It’s blogging, Jim, but not as we know it

Posted on March 2, 2009 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Grant deadline week!!!!!!!! To be followed by ski trip!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah, I’m pretty busy. So instead of a proper post, here are a couple of snippets from the web. Look who wants to be the next Canadian Prime Minister! This was … Continue reading →

Posted in Canada, grant wrangling, politics, science, silliness | 6 Comments

Bike polo

Posted on March 1, 2009 by Cath@VWXYNot?

I was hangin’ in my old hood yesterday, and saw these guys on the tennis courts: Cool! I guess the solid wheels are meant to prevent someone’s stick going through the spokes. It still got pretty physical though: And a … Continue reading →

Posted in cycling, sport, Vancouver | 8 Comments

For my Swedish friends

Posted on February 27, 2009 by Cath@VWXYNot?

This popped up on the Scotland Introducing podcast from the BBC…  I’m sorry, but I laughed.

Posted in music, silliness | 8 Comments