Tuesday, February 27, 2007

How did I do???

Okay, so a bit later than i intended, but with the back-patting and glitz of the Oscars over and done with, I can look back at the predictions i made last week to see how well I did. Whilst award ceremonies aren't perhaps the most enthralling of viewing anyway, it has to be said that the Oscar ceremony nearly always plumbs new depths of boredom at various points nearly every year. The same was true here with considerable gaps between the actual awards meaning that the ceremony over ran by quite some margin. Anyway, as a big film fan, I was determined to stay up for most of the proceedings and managed to just about get through it - though it was touch and go. Anyway, if you look back at my thoughts from a week ago, you'll see that I was pretty reasonable in my predictions - accurately predicting 7 of 9 (somewhat strange that i'm watching 'Star Trek: Voyager' right now) categories.

My overall thoughts were generally positive - I feel that the people who deserved to win did so (particularly Helen Mirren) and that Martin Scorsee got his long overdue award (which he really should've got back in 1991). Of the five films up for Best Picture, it was pretty much a clear cut thing that 'The Departed' was going to win - it is certainly a very good film indeed (if rather gory). I was rather saddened that 'Pan's Labyrinth' did not win Best Foreign Film - after seeing this today, I can recommend it highly. However, as i have not seen the other films (or the winner) guess I have nothing to compare it too. Anyway, the whole thing is over and done with again - and i think that next year, I may just wait to see the results the next morning. There's only so much self-congratulatory Hollywood guff that can be digested in one evening.

Saturday, February 24, 2007

Queue Jumping

It is probably something of a known fact worldwide that queuing is one of the British national past-times. No matter where you go, or what you do, the chances are that you're going to have to endure a queue at some point. And, of course, the usual round of bitching, complaining and gossip that goes on in such lines. In one of the 'Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy' books, a character is named Fenchurch. Why? I hear you ask. Because she was conceived in the ticket queue at Fenchurch Street Train Station. It's amazing what people will do to pass the time in these things. Anyway, it is perhaps also unsurprising that a general queue etiquette has formed at the same time - and this mainly focuses around the major point of queues in that 'everyone has to wait their turn' and there will be hell on if someone jumps in the queue ahead of you. Of course, everyone is tempted by this at some point or other - it's the law of the universe that if there are two queues, the moment you join one, then the other two will start going quicker. Move into one of those and the same thing happens again and again. I speak from knowledge believe me.

Well, over here things are much the same to a degree - at least in terms of the queuing (although there is CONSIDERABLY more bitching and complaining than in the UK. At least in my experiences here). The only difference is that a large number of people just don't seem to GET what a queue is for and will happily just wander in at any old point they want. This not only applies to pedestrian queues, but also traffic queues where anyone with a large truck will just shove his way in 'cause he's so damned sure that no-one is going to mess with him (unless, of course, its someone bigger. Or perhaps with a firearm in the cab). Take, for example, the other day when I was in the queue at a Subway (in the canteen) when a rather arrogant young doctor left the queue (after telling his friend he was getting something else for lunch instead) and then proceeded to spend about five minutes wandering around the place only to return and state his intention to rejoin the queue. His friend (bless her) noted how big the line had got in his absence and suggested they go to the back whereupon he said 'You were saving my place. And besides, i'm a doctor so i'm allowed to cut in line in the hospital canteen' Suffice to say he got a very withering look from me (just behind him) and then ended up going somewhere else anyway. I like to think it's cause of my expression, but i think he was just an impatient fool. Now all this may seem petty (and i guess it is to some degree) but I guess being British, the whole queuing thing is just part of my sociological make-up whether i like it or not.

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Thursday, February 22, 2007

The Long Wait...

It was with some dismay a couple of weeks back that I decided my car needed to pay a visit to the garage as it had begun to play up. Initially, i thought it was the damp (it had rained heavily and the car hadn't been used for a day or two) but the problem persisted. Basically, the engine had begun to stutter, sometimes cutting out and generally just being hard to drive in low gears and speeds. However, on the way to the garage the problem seemed to right itself, at least for a day or so - until the 'engine check' light came on and the engine began to have unusually high revs. So, off I went to the Hyundai garage on Highway 17 (that heads out to Savannah) to see what they could do. After arranging an appointment the following Wednesday (this was the 14th), I dropped the car off early (8.00am) and they said they would be in touch by the end of the day. Of course, this didn't happen but I got a call around 8.30am on Thursday saying that they had identified the problem (the air intake or something) and had sorted it. Great, I thought, and then as garages do, they told me of other problems they had found - the rear brake pads were 'getting thin' and the drive belts (fan belts) were cracking (I found out after that this was indeed the case). THey had the parts - it would be ready by the end of the day.

So, I called later "Oh no, it's not done. Definitely tomorrow." Nothing all Friday. I called in the afternoon "Oh, yes, we made a mistake. One of the parts we thought we had, was wrong. I misread the serial number. It's on order, here tomorrow. The car will DEFINITELY be done before noon." Guess what. Noon came and went, off I went out of town and came back - nothing at all. Sunday, they're closed and Monday was a Bank Holiday although I believe they were actually open. So, Tuesday morning I finally get a call from them saying it was ready - and off I went at lunchtime to get it back before they changed their minds. Once I got their, I was told I owed about $537 - to which I politely told them to go jump. Perplexed, they asked why whereupon I pointed out they originally quoted me $425 for it all, and assured me it would be done in two days whereas they had now been in possession of my car for a week nearly. After some humming, they agreed to knock $50 off the bill and that was the best they could do - so I took it. Thankfully, the car is driving smoothly and all is well at the moment. The ironic thing is that this particular Hyundai had recently won awards for its service and record. All I'll say is, if the best in Charleston takes 6 days to sort your car out, I feel very sorry for those people who go to the worst.

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Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Things That Need To Go Away

As always in life, there are things that just seem to be everywhere and, to be frank, need to go away. At the moment over here, there seems to be something of an upsurge in the number of things that, quite frankly, I need to stop hearing. So they need to disappear, vanish into Room 101 or something.

1. Britney Spears - Okay, so she went 'crazy' and is in rehab. Like so many other young females who are exposed to fame at early ages. It doesn't mean I want to hear about it all the time.

2. Anna Nicole Smith - Okay, so she died and was quite young - it is tragic, but I'm sure that i'm not the only one sick of the 'soap opera' style court cases that are continually being thrust into the news. Do these people have no shame? Can't they just let the poor woman rest in peace.

3. The Iraq Issue - So, the current administration misled the public to carry out an illegal war in Iraq. Everyone realises four years to late and now the Democrats decide that they're going to do something about it - basically blocking the current administration's plans (not necessarily a bad thing). Fine and dandy, except the Democrats don't seem to have a strategy themselves (other than running away and leaving someone else to clean up the mess). Whilst I appreciate this is a major issue, I tire of the fact that all conversations on this subject are just going round and round in circles. Enough already!

4. The current administration - And whilst we're at it, the current administration just needs to disappear from the annals of history all together. Of course, is the next one going to be any better??

5. David and Victoria Beckham - so Becks is moving from Real Madrid (one of the greatest football teams on the planet) to LA. And it's about the football??? Hmmm. Seriously, they've barely got here and already the news and 'entertainment' channels (I use the term loosely) are falling over themselves about it. Oh, for a really world class psychiatrist!!

6. Advertisements - Not only are they on an obscene amount of times over here (4 commericals in a half hour show! 6 times in an hour long) but they're either incredibly annoying, inane, just plain stupid or all of the above. In particular, i'm sick of adverts for local law firms touting for business, and car adverts. Just as bad over here as back home.

Ok, so only a handful of things. I could go on but we'd probably be here all night. And, naturally, this is by no means comprehensive. If anyone else wants to add their own thoughts about what's driving them crazy right now, please feel free to add. Apart from Britney, of course.

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Sunday, February 18, 2007

Murder Mystery Fun

For a change of pace this weekend, I had recently accepted an invitation by my friends Ashley and Jim (they of the great cooking and parties) to go out of town to Winnsboro, SC - a small mill town (i.e. essentially it was built because of a mill) in the vicinity of Colombia - the capital of South Carolina state. This was just for one night - so not too long but still enough time to feel like you've gotten away - and was at a B & B that they had visited a few times. The occasion was for for a murder mystery evening - you know the kind, where everyone in attendance assumes a character and has to act out events in the aftermath of a murder, whereby things are revealed gradually as the game and rounds progresses. Having been to a smaller one of these at Ashley and Jim's place some time ago (I remember mentioning it on here), it sounded like it would be fun so I had jumped at the chance.

The place itself (Winnsboro) is very quiet and pleasant - some nice scenery and a train line running through (I almost had a shock when I heard a train passing by; it's not a common sound over here). The B & B was very nice and old style with very high ceilings and nice decor. The food was nice enough (the package was $72 - about 36 pounds and that include dinner, breakfast, accomodation, and some wine and cheese nibbles prior to the game as well). The game was very entertaining (my character wasn't too much of a stretch being the only Englishman there) and, this time, I wasn't the murderer although I was quite proud of myself for guessing who was and partly getting the motive and manner in which it was done (it was a very complicated plot). Fun all round was had, and on returning to Charleston I felt somewhat refreshed from having gotten away for a bit.

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Thursday, February 15, 2007

I Want To Ride My Bicycle....

You might be surprised at the number of bicycles and amount of cycling that goes on here in Charleston - especially given the stereotype of Americans as being car obsessed, petrol (gas) guzzling fiends who will hop in the car to drive all of a 5 min walk down the road. Okay, so the latter largely holds true - but it remains that I have noticed quite a few bikes on the roads since I arrived here some 20 months ago (is it really that long?). Perhaps since getting a car of my own, I may have noticed it even more - and certainly since returning to the gym (where a large amount of people go on a weekly club to ride their bikes in a stationary position, before putting it in the back of their cars and driving home. I know!). Anyway, as usual I'm digressing, as the point of this post is not really the surprise at seeing bikes over here, but more as to how stupid the people who are riding them seem to be.

First things first and it's looking at the law - which does not require you to wear a helmet over here (both on push bike and motorbike, can you believe), and an awful lot of people don't - on both kinds. This is especially crazy given how bad some of the drivers are here. This is also incomprehensible when we go to the next point - namely how bad some of the cyclists are themselves. We have those who ride around at 8pm in the pitch black without lights, or reflective clothing or anything at all to let the drivers know they're there. And they do the stupidest things like riding across a junction when the lights are about to change red, or veering across the road randomly (without indicating) or, get this, driving down the wrong side of the road straight towards the oncoming traffic and often in the middle of the road itself. This occurs both in daylight and in the dark, I should add. It seems that the cyclists hand the responsiblity of their safety to the drivers who have to brake hard, or be ever aware that they're going to do SOMETHING stupid at a moment's notice. Taking the cars out of the equation for the moment and regarding the dual 'foot/bike' path crossing the Ravenel Bridge (that i have been running over in training) and you have the idiots who think it appropriate to go hurtling down the path which is crowded with pedestrians, without a helmet or a bell (to let the people know they're coming) or indeed any cares in the world. all it takes is one mis-step along the way and they're toast. So forgive me if i decide not to join the biking club just yet.

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Oscar Predictions

Of course, it's that time of year with awards ceremonies being held like it's the end of the world or something. As usual, by now, we've had the Golden Globes, the BAFTAs, the Emmys and goodness knows what else and now attention is focusing on the big one - the Academy Awards, yes that annual ceremony where all of Hollywood comes together to pat each other on the back and basically say tell the world how wonderful they are, and all the movies they make are as well (despite the fact that 90% of them are complete and utter dross). Not only is this a major event in the movie calendar, it's also a biggie for all movie journalists as well - who will be no doubt sharpening their pencils (or tongues) ready to ridicule the Academy for some of their more dubious choices. Hey, it wouldn't be the 'Oscars' if everyone didn't bitch about at least one of the awards. Like when Tom Hanks won Best Actor for 'Philadelphia' over Liam Neeson in 'Schindler's List'. It's clear to many whose was the better performance, yet the Academy felt a need to 'mark' the first major Hollywood film that dealt with HIV and AIDS. Never mind the fact that it just wasn't very good. And these days, it seems to be all about who has the most money rather than who has the better film - like when Miramax spent a small fortune (a few million dollars) promoting 'Shakespeare in Love' which managed to triumph over 'Saving Private Ryan' - a much better film in this writer's humble opinion.

Anyway, i digress. Enough with the bitching and so forth (I know you've come to expect it of me!). There are a few clear runners in the major categories this year - so i'll give you my opinion on who will win what. Naturally, any bets made on the back of these predictions are completely at your own risk and i accept no responsibility whatsoever. Unless you win a considerable amount of money, in which case, e-mail me and we'll come to some arrangement.

Best Actor: Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland (won a lot of awards already, so a likely favourite)
Best Actress: Helen Mirren, The Queen (as above. Even Dame Judi Dench, one competitor, has talked of putting money on this)
Best Director: Martin Scorsese, The Departed (He deserves to win one, and has for some time. It's a black mark against the Academy that he hasn't won yet. If he doesn't win here, then they all need killing!)
Best Film: The Departed (then again, they may give him this as a consolation prize)
Best Supporting: Eddie Murphy (actor) and Jennifer Hudson (actress), Dreamgirls (this is what the Globes said - generally considered the most reliable Oscar indicator)
Best Foreign Film - Pan's Labyrinth (I'll be VERY surprised if this highly rated film doesn't win something)
Best Screenplay: (Original) Little Miss Sunshine (a consolation prize, perhaps?); (Adapted) The Departed (I think this will be the 'Big' winner for 2007).

So, there you have it - my ha'penniesworth for what it's, well, worth. I, for one, shall be tuning in to see what happens - although i suspect my remote control finger will be a bit over active for most of it (the speeches!!).

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Sunday, February 11, 2007

Soundalike

Some of you may remember that way way back in my Blogging history (around post 120 or so - feel free to go and check, cause i'm not going to !), I mentioned the peculiarity of seeing people in Charleston who were doppelgangers for people that I know back home. I' m sure that i'm not the only person in the world for who this has happened but there it is. However, more recently, i have encountered a new twist on this phenomenon (again, i'm sure others have felt this too) whereby I have met people who are entirely dissimilar in appearance to friends of mine but when they start speaking, i have to do a double take (almost) as their voices are exactly the same. Now you may think i'm being crazy (it's plausible, I grant you) or that my ears are just in need of a good waxing (less plausible, but still) but i kid you not. I also add as credentials for my superior ears the fact that i can play the violin, and have been involved in a lot of musical groups during my childhood and school years - thus, i like to think that i have a good pair of ears (even if they sometimes do look like satellite dishes on the side of my head).

I guess it's just one of those things really - but i still find it un-nerving nonetheless. The other night I was at a friend's house with a few other people and i had to put up with three such cases at the same time. The friend in question sounds exactly like my friend Tracey from Oxford (how someone from Sedgefield and South Carolina can sound so alike is beyond me, but there you go). Of the other people present, one sounded very much like my friend Michael (also from Sedgefield, and a friend of both myself and Tracey), and to make it even more strange, another person sounded like our mutual friend Emma (whose wedding we all attended last August). Now, meeting three such people at once is strange enough, but the fact that they all sound like people who are all friends with each other and me. Bizarre indeed. Rest assured, if I find out that there was some mysterious planetary alignment (like a Syzygy - see 'The X-Files' for details) or what-have-you the other day, i would not bat an eyelid.

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Thursday, February 08, 2007

Conference Approaching

With January already having flown by it seems like 2007 is set to be yet another of those 'blink and you'll miss it' occasions or, perhaps, a 'drink and you'll miss it one' given the amount of parties that i seem to have been attending recently!! With my Dad's visit over and done, and the remainder of January been somewhat filled with work stuff - like seminars and the like, I was quite relieved when February came along, only to then realise today that the next big event on my scientific calendar is fast approaching - namely, the Charleston Ceramide Conference (aka CCC) which takes place on March 7th-11th. The timely reminder came with an e-mail confirming that my abstract had been accepted for a poster presentation (another one to add to the CV) and reminded me that i had actually better start putting something together - given that it's only three and a half weeks away now.

Of course, an added advantage of this conference is it's location. The CCC is so named because it originated here in Charleston in 2001 - and was spearheaded by my boss Dr. Hannun as a conference for discussing sphingolipids (my labs primary research area). Since then, the conference has been held every other year but has not been restricted to Charleston. In 2003, the second conference was held in Italy (I forget where, but the place began with 'C' to keep the CCC up), was back in Charleston in 2005 and so now for 2007 will be at another destination - namely, Carmel in California. Thus, along with the conference this will be giving me a chance to hop over the West Coast for a few days. Whilst my plans to spend a few days in San Francisco (the nearest major city) on the way had to be shelved (owing to a late decision to go back to the UK for a week at the end of April), it will still be a nice chance to see a little more of the country - and, hey, with no major trips back to the UK for 2008 planned, I think i may hop over that side again soon enough!! So, without much further do, i think i'm going to sign off and start preparing my poster - if i can find the abstract i wrote, that is!!

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Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Cold(s)

It has to be said that my Dad certainly picked the right time of the winter months to make his visit to Charleston. When he was here, the weather was undeniably pleasant. Whilst perhaps not as warm as the last January (which, as I recall, was unseasonably so), the sun shone and the sky was clear and, on the whole, it was pretty damn nice - apart from his last day or so here where it rained a bit, but that's bye-the-bye. Fast forward over the next three weeks and we're still stuck in the middle of a cold snap that, to be frank, is beginning to get on my nerves! Okay, so being from the UK, you'd expect that i'd be used to that sort of weather but after 20 months here (nearly) can you blame me if my body has adapted?? Suffice to say, with my early morning going into work, i've been wearing a good many layers I can tell you (four the other day) and have taken to carrying a travel mug of coffee in with me as well (partly to help keep my hands warm!).

Of course, my sensitivity to the cold hasn't been helped by the fact that i've had a cold for pretty much the time since my Dad left - and i have to say that i'm blaming him wholeheartedly for the fact. I suspect that he bought some robust British virus overseas with him or, at least, caught something on the plane (I always seem to end up getting a cold after flying - i'm waiting for the day where i get my revenge and get to give everyone else on the plane my cold instead!). Suffice to say wherever it came from, it ended up being passed on to be, and i've felt lousy for the last few weeks (as i may have mentioned earlier). Still, this week (at last!) it feels like the light may be at the end of the tunnel. My nose has stopped running or being clogged up (or both!) and my voice now sounds less like my vocal chords have been scrubbed clean with sandpaper, and more like my normal dulcet tones (who's sniggering at the back!). I just hope that i don't have a relapse. Now where did i put that vitamin C?

Sunday, February 04, 2007

From Court to Diamond

So, the day of the play offs arrived and with it, the knowledge that if we won our match, we would be playing in the final two hours later and if we lost, then i would be hurrying out to Mount Pleasant to take part in the Biochemistry team's first intramural Softball game. Suffice to say, it was going to be a tiring day whatever happened. And as expected, the other team turned out to be rather too good for us to prevail. I would've been happy to take them to a third game but as it happened, even that was expecting too much for us. They were quite simply just to good. On that note, I have to say that I think it's extremely pathetic on their part - here are a team where all 6 players clearly had college experience volleyball where the two girls were much better than any of us, and the four guys were beyond them. Why on earth they were playing in the Non-competitive league is beyond me - other than the fact that they must have just wanted to win. I mean, what's the point? Of the nine teams in the league, seven were all of a similar level, and two (that ended up in the final, quelle surprise) were just streets ahead. It really sucks all the fun out of the game when you have a team like that - and then they start getting really picky and accusing us of being dishonest about things. I mean, give me a break!!!

Anyway, rant over, and with losing the game, it was off to Mount Pleasant and the softball. As with last year, I was team pitcher and was surprised by how much i could actually remember about doing good pitches. I managed to strike one person out and also did some good runs and throws to get a couple of people out at first base. Of course, all this would've been for nought if we couldn't score runs ourselves and again I surprised myself by actually hitting the ball pretty damn far. I was so stunned that I momentarily forgot I had to run, but still ended up on second base afterwards - and was bought home by the next hitter. Good stuff all round. However, we ended up tying the game - despite the fact that the opposition had an illegal team (we just wanted to play but they didn't have the correct amount of players or some such thing) and AGAIN were being really picky about certain rules. What is it with all these double standards?!

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Play Offs

Now you may remember that I'm currently captain of a team in the intramural volleyball competition at MUSC (the non-competitive league). Well, finally after five games (3 wins, two losse), we were on to the final week and sat with our fingers crossed hoping that we would make it through to the play-offs. Why the uncertainty, I hear you ask?? Well, this was due to the organisers of the competition being rather badly....well, organised in allowing five of the 9 times to play six games, whilst four only play five - and happily saying that this is all fair and good, and just the way it is - when we query how this is going to be considered fair when calculating which teams go through. Suffice to say (and as i had predicted, I should add), two of the 9 teams were clearly through to the play offs (having won 5 games respectively, one team out of six, one out of five played) and my team, plus two others were going to end up on 3-2 (wins-losses).

We had been told, in this event, that the teams to go through would be decided on 'strength of schedule'. When asked what this rather cryptic phrase meant, we were given a description that sounded rather like trying to explain the offside rule in 100 words or less. Suffice to say, it wasn't very clear at all. Anyway, this is all a long roundabout way to let you all know that my team was selected to go through to the playoffs and will be playing our match this coming Sunday. Which is the good news. The bad news is that we are going to be facing a team that we have played already, and that we lost too (although to be fair to us, we did not give them an easy ride). However, we have practiced tonight, are practising tomorrow and hopefully will be at least able to give them a decent match, and maybe even a run for their money. Here's hoping. On the other side of things, though, we got further this year than we did last, and so we should all be very proud of ourselves. I shall keep you all informed of what happens.