Dog Days

The hot weather has returned, after only a couple of weeks of mild weather. So, so humid!

Licensed to Drive

I've mentioned before that the state of Indiana doesn't recognise foreign driver's licences. So back in September I got a learner's permit but have been driving myself around on a temporary international driver's permit. I've become comfortable enough driving on the wrong side of the road and the last of the snow melted a few weeks ago, so today I went and did my driving test. When I first got my licence back in Australia it was in an automatic so this was a bit more difficult driving Fenry with his clutch. But I managed to pass the driving test on a manual.

However, I failed the eyesight test. When I got my Ls I was able to procrastinate long enough for my eyes to eventually focus on the letters and I just scraped through. But this time I had to put my glasses on and the guy put a thing on my licence to say that I always have to wear them. Oh, well.

But the one good thing about Indiana is the low taxes etc. They didn't charge me anything for the joy of taking the test. Unlike NSW, where my last licence cost me AU$129 for 5 years' worth, my Indiana licence only cost me US$21 for almost 7 years! (For some strange reason it expires on your birthday.) Somehow, despite this, all the highways are free, unlike NSW.

LibriVox

I've just discovered a great site. It's a community where people take public-domain books and make audio recordings that you can download for free.

This will give me something constructive to do with my iPod while I'm in the lab doing something boring like staring at a thermometer.

St Patrick's Day

St Patrick's Day is a big thing here in the US. I'm not sure why, they don't have any more Irish than Australia. I guess it's just the effect of Americans' habit of identifying with their ethnic heritage, no matter how many generations they've been here.

Not only do they decorate buildings with shamrocks but they do everything in green; including the beer. I had heard about green beer on St Patrick's day before I came here but didn't try it last year. So this year, even though I'm not normally a beer drinker, I decided to try a green Harp. It didn't taste any different.

After that pub we moved on to the Irish Lion, which was not nearly as crowded as I had assumed it would be. There I tried a drink called the Stinger, Woodpecker Cider topped with Guinness. It's not as bad as it sounds but, still, I won't be ordering it again. Next time I'll just get a half-yard of plain old cider!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Yesterday was my birthday. I baked myself a lemon-poppyseed cake with cream cheese icing (it still being Lent), which Cindy painstakingly decorated. All my American friends were out of town, spending Spring Break with their families but there were a few other friends still in town who came around to help me eat the cake. As you can see, it was only after we'd eaten four slices that I thought to take a photo. But it's legible enough for you to get the gist of what it said.

Trevor

Yesterday I heard something a little strange. One of my lab-mates asked me, "Have you seen Trevor today?" Now, I don't know the names of too many others in the lab, because they're in a different research group. Forgeting to speak in American I asked, "Is he the young bloke?" which only confused him. So I clarified, "Is Trevor the guy who works at that bench?" To which he replied, "No, she's the oc-health and safety officer."

I stared at him in disbelief. "You're looking for a woman named 'Trevor'! That's a woman's name?"

"Oh, yes, it's quite common," He assured me. I didn't actually accuse him of having a lend of me but something on my face made him produce Trevor Ann's business card. That had me giggling for hours.

Communication breakdown, it's always the same...

I've been having problems with MSN lately. For some reason people have been trying talk to me when I'm offline; I receive several messages all at once whenever I log in. I figure it's got something to do with the fact that it's through a Jabber transport but I don't care enough to do anything about it.

So if you find me particularly unresponsive, it may just be that I'm not really there. Still, it could be that I am there and just ignoring you! (Yes, Cameron, I'm talking to you!)

Worse still, I'm without an internet connection at the moment (I feel so naked!). I've changed my connection from Cable back to DSL (to try to save a little money). Although I asked them not to turn it off until Monday, I now find that the cable's not working. Sigh! So I'm checking my email only when I bring the laptop to campus.

Richard Thompson

Just got home from a concert. It's hard to believe but Richard Thompson played Bloomington, Indiana. Apparently he's come here on tour a few times before, years ago. Perhaps that fact that it's a university town means there's enough fans to make it worthwhile. They did sell-out a 600 seat theatre; luckily I bought tickets weeks ago.

It was just him, no band, with an amplified acoustic guitar, which he played with a ferocity normally reserved for fully electric guitars. It was fantastic to see him there actually working the instrument, watching him live gives you an appreciation for his skill that CDs can't convey. He played mainly classics, nothing from his latest album. At one point he offered to do a Fairport Convention number, letting the audience choose which one. Alas, he was deaf to my cries of "Meet on the Ledge" and played "Matty Groves" instead. But everything he played was fantastic.

Self Deprivation

I've decided that this is the year I give up chocolate for Lent. I thought it might be worth trying to test my self-control and make those Easter eggs taste even better.

I've never done it before but I think I can last, what is it, forty days?

Plenty of Precipitation

The day before yesterday was stinking hot, +2˙C! The snow started to melt, that counts as hot. Yesterday morning it was still hot and so we got rain instead of snow. Which is really inconvienient when there's still snow on the ground, it's like walking through a giant, white, non-potable squishee. But around the middle of the day the temperature dropped below freezing again and the rain turned to sleet! (At least, I think "sleet" is the correct word for when ice falls in tiny spheres (~0.5 mm), as opposed to snow-flakes or hail-stones, but Americans also use the term "frozen rain" and I can't quite work out the difference.) By the time I went out last night, around 8pm, it had turned into normal snow. Three different kinds of precipitation in one day!

But the really cool thing is that when the temperature dropped so suddenly the trees were still wet from the rain. So now the trees all look like they're still dripping water, but really they're encased in crystal-clear ice. It's so clear that the small drops at the tips look so much like liquid water that you expect them to be wet when you touch them. Unless you're looking you don't notice that the ice goes beyond the tips with a thin layer covering the whole branch. The forest on campus is quite spectacular when the sun hits all those sparkling trees!

Addendum 2007-2-15
Last night I had another new cold-weather experience when my car was snowed in. I figured that reverse gear would be low enough for me to get over the little mound of snow that Mr Plow had left behind my car. But what I hadn't reckoned on was the layer of black ice that had been forming under my car. After burning a little rubber a good samaritan passing by offered to lend me his snowshovel but by then I realised it was more about traction than the piles of snow so I didn't need the shovel. After about 10 min of pissfarting around I finally managed to point the wheels at the right angle to get myself out of the spot.

Some things just aren't meant to be deep-fried

I would never have thought it possible to make unhealthy something inherently healthy like green beans. Then last night I went to TGI Friday's. I was foolish enough to order bean fries for my "appetizer", as part of a set menu deal.

I soon regretted my choice, despite the "cool creamy Cucumber-Wasabi Ranch dip" being almost as good as it sounds. No, some things just aren't meant to be deep-fried (cf. deep-fried mozzarella, available in Oz from Chili's). This may seem obvious to you at home but time and again I find that this is something Americans fail to grasp.

Go the Blues!

Last night was the Super Bowl XLI - the Chicago Bears vs the Indianapolis Colts. Indianapolis is the closest city to me and Chicago is the next closest so Bloomington is full of fans of both teams.

The Colts won, so I think there'll be a lot of happy fans around here this morning (possibly a lot of sore heads, too). This is the first time they've won the Super Bowl since coming to Indiana so they'd normally have a ticker-tape parade for them. But today it's -19˙C outside, so I don't know what they'll do.

Ethnic Food

Last night Cindy and I went to a birthday party for a couple of her friends. It was a pot-luck dinner and we were asked to bring a dish traditional to our home country or family.

I decided to to take a pavlova. I had never made one before but I had a pavlova magic egg, which meant I didn't have to separate egg-whites. I really like passionfruit on my pavlova but couldn't find any anywhere in Bloomington, even in the ethnic food stores, so I settled on strawberries and kiwifruit. I had planned to just mix it with a hand whisk but after about half an hour of whisking with very little change we looked at the clock and realised that I would not be able to cook it, cool it, dress it and still get to the party on time at that rate. So, having already started, I resigned myself to going out and buying electric beaters ($7 from Target, bargain!). After it had cooled I saw that the centre had shrunk away from the outer shell but when I put the cream on top the shell cracked and fell on top of the centre. So there was no more gap but it was not at all a pretty shape. Nevertheless, when I arrived with it I was showered with praise by Americans who had no idea what a real pavlova was supposed to look like!

But the real coup of the evening was the dish Çîndy took - frogs' legs! Of course they're impossible to find in the Midwest (and I'm not too sure if I'd eat them of we did find them) so we just cut some chicken wings into the right shape, cooked them in garlic and labelled them "frogs' legs". Everyone was amazed and asked where we got them, to which we nonchalantly replied, 'Lake Monroe'. Somehow we got through the whole party without anyone calling our bluff! (Although, it was a close call when a Chinese guy said, 'I didn't know you could catch them this time of year.') I just hope they see the humour in it when Cindy tells them the truth on Monday.

More Brass Monkey Weather

When my family came to visit in December they were quite disappointed that it wasn't snowing. Indeed, it didn't snow at all during their stay. All of North America had a very warm start to the winter. But it's become a very cold January; the last couple of weeks have got much colder than last month and colder than I remember last winter being.

The problem's not the snow, there's very little of it. It's so cold that the air's too dry for much precipitation. When it does snow there's not enough time for big crystals to form so all we get is a very fine powder, which is not much fun to walk on.

The problem is simply that it's bitterly cold. The 28th got down to -11˙C and didn't get over -2; today it got down to -12˙and hasn't risen above -8! I'm not looking forward to this weekend, they're forecasting -13 to -7˙C on Saturday and -16 to -10˙ on Sunday! Oh, and the wind-chill etc. often takes it down to -23˙C.

Now, I'm quite frugal when it comes to heating my apartment. I try to spare the enviroment and my wallet by putting on a jumper before I turn up the heat to mid-range. But the other day I found that I just couldn't put any more clothes on but my fingers and toes were still cold, so I had to turn up the heat to the very highest level, for the first time since I've been here. Although I turn them down low when I'm out or sleeping, the heaters are never off.

Bizarre Beverages

When I was at Disney World I bought some little tins of hot chocolate that come in funny colours. I got around to trying them the other day.

The powder is white when dry (partly because is has a lot of powdered milk in it) but the colour comes out as soon as it gets wet.












I was surprised at just how psychadelic the colours are.





The only side effect is that it really doesn't taste that great - too milky, not chocolatey enough. A bit like white chocolate. I guess that's what happens when you try to change something to such unnatural colours.

Spring Semester 2007

Classes start back today. Of course the break wasn't long enough but I think I'll enjoy these new classes.

I'm taking:
"Descartes and His World", "Topics in the History of Alchemy" and "Experimental Philosophy" "Philosophy of Biology".

Now, most grad students earn their keep by teaching undergrads, as I did last semester. But this time around I have a Research Assistantship instead, helping Bill Newman with The Newton Project. Hopefully there'll be some overlap with the alchemy class.

Update - 12th January
I've decided at the last minute (Friday of the first week of classes) to drop the philosophy class that had a very high workload and only moderately interesting readings in favour of a philosophy of biology class taught by Lisa Lloyd, the professor whose undergrads I taught last semester (so I know she's excellent paedogogically). The material looks like something the whole class will engage with quite well and overall I think the class will be far more manageable.

Also, at the first meeting of the Descartes class, when discussing the readings, the professor asked, "Who reads French?" I had to admit that I did. (It's much easier to read than it is to speak.) So now I'm going to attempt to read a few of Descartes' shorter works in French. It could be a very slow process but I'm sure I'll learn a lot of vocab and it is good to have a definite practical goal.

Back in Bloomington

Being back in Bloomington I've noticed a couple of things:

Indiana is much colder than Florida. I don't know where my career will take me after this but I hope I'll be living somewhere much warmer!

Bloomington roads are much friendlier. Unlike Orlando, there are plenty of pedestrian crossings so you don't have to drive everywhere. And unlike New York, where cars turning at the lights will drive straight through a pedestrian crossing unless you're dead in front of the car giving the finger, here in Bloomington cars will see you standing on the footpath and wave you across, even though they have right of way!

I'm Going to Disney World!

On the second day, while Dad was at Cape Kennedy, Erin and I went to Disney World. We saw Epcot and the Animal Kingdom. One interesting ride had us sitting up high, surrounded by a curved screen with air blowing at us to give the sensation of flight. It wasn't that convincing but what was surprising was that when we flew through a pine forest we could smell pine and we could smell orange blossoms when we flew over the orange orchard. It was great but there was far too much for us to see two parks in one day.

New Years Eve we returned with Mum and Dad to see Disney-MGM Studios in the evening (after having a relaxing morning including a swim in the hotel pool). While Erin waited for a churro I took the opportunity to go on StarTours again. We saw a few other things including Fantasmic, which had been updated since we saw it at Disneyland in 1992. I went on the Tower of Terror and elevator ride that doesn't just drop you but bounces you up and down! We stayed until the midnight fireworks then went back to the hotel to pack. We didn't sleep at all New Year's Eve. On the way to the airport we got breakfast (about 3am) at IHOP, Erin's favourite restaurant.

The Orange State

After New York we flew down to Orlando, Florida.

The first day we went to Universal Studios, Florida and the adjacent Universal's Islands of Adventure. At the Islands of Adventure there were some pretty good roller coasters. The Dueling Dragons wasn't bad, although it was a bit of a worry that they had to stop the ride for a few minutes when something went wrong.

The scarier ride was the Hulk. It started off creeping up a slope where it feels like you're going to accelerate down the other side but instead you start accelerating before you get to the top! It was fun but really very intense. Dad said it was about as intense as his ride in a MiG fighter jet!

Something interesting I noticed about these two rollercoasters was signs on the way in saying something like "People come in all different shapes. Rows 3 and 6 have been modified to accommodate these variations." That is to say, as we boarded the ride, the guard directed the fatties to those two rows. A necessary thing in contemporary America. (I must say, these things serve as a bit of a reminder to me not to eat too much American food and not to let the car make me too lazy!)

The rollercoasters were good but what was quite new to me was Shrek 4D. Not only is the movie 3D but the seats also move. And there's more special effects. In one scene where a bunch of spiders appear (in 3D) you suddenly feel something brushing your legs! The seats are equipped with little air jets for this as well as water jets in the seat in front of you. Erin was particularly impressed (read: disgusted) when we felt Donkey's sneeze in 4D!

New York, New York, It's a Hell of a Town

After Boston we came down to New York city by train, staying in a little two-bedroom apartment just off Times Square (on 48th St between 8th and 9th Ave). It's certainly an overwhelming place. Not because of the tall buildings, I've spent enough time in downtown Sydney (and now Montreal) to be used to getting around a big city. The thing that struck me was the people. All the caricatures you hear about obnoxious New Yorkers are really quite accurate. The drivers are all insane, especially the taxi drivers, and the pedestrians are just as pushy. Erin was particularly appalled when she overheard a mother instructing her children to push and shove!

Erin and Mum are disappointed that it's not snowing and there's none forecast before we head down to Florida. (Erin is particularly sour, saying a White Xmas is the only reason she came all this way!)

The first day there we saw the American Museum of Natural History together then I went over to The Met by myself. The dinosaurs were very impressive, so many huge fossils! The Met also had tons of famous works but my favourite part was when I overheard an American badly mispronouncing French names, saying "My favorites are Monnett and Rennoyer."! Both museums were far too big to see all of. The walk back to the subway station through Central Park was a little scary as it was getting dark and I was by myself but I was fine. I think the danger might be a little exaggerated.

Christmas Eve we went to see the Empire State Building; the 3rd tallest building in the world, now that the World Trade centre is no more. Dad and I went all the way to the 102nd floor. It was VERY windy! That night we had dinner at a very expensive restaurant on Central Park, The Tavern on the Green, and then took a carriage ride through the park.

Boxing Day we toured the UN building in the morning and saw Little Italy and China Town in the arvo.

On our last day in New York we caught the ferry out to La liberté éclairant le monde. Dad and I went inside but you can't walk up into her head anymore, we could only go to the viewing platform at the top of the pedestal. Still, it was interesting to see such a famous landmark up close.

On our last night we had dinner in a Puerto Rican restaurant, just as appropriate to New York as our lunch in Little Italy the day before. One of the sides offerred was plantains (a word I recognised from a conversation I had with a couple of Latino friends who were patiently explaining to me the differences between Mexican and Puerto Rican cuisine). So I tried the green ones and Mum tried the sweet ones. The sweet ones were too much like bananas for my liking but the green ones were very starchy and, fried up, tasted much like potato scallops.