Gentlemen: Masturbation prevents cancer! Think of this little study as a Christmas present from the scientific community.

Peace on Earth, and goodwill to all.

Well, the concert was a big success. I had a great time. To those that were able to make it, thanks for coming! Everyone else: you missed a good time, and I hope you can make it next year.

When I got to the concert, Ann (the person in charge) had made some changes in the program. 1: she said in my bio that i'm fluent in Swedish. I can hold my own in a conversation, but I wouldn't say i'm fluent. 2: She listed me as a soloist in one of the pieces. Now, as the only tenor in the concert, I was sort of singing solo the whole time, so it wasn't that big of a deal. BUT in the song in which I was listed as a soloist, through some confusion, we eneded up starting a whole step higher than the song is written. Now, as the song is written, it's challengingly high at parts. A whole step up is higher than I've ever sung in public. I managed to pull it off, though. good times.

Anyhow, I've started getting my science nerd magazine again, so expect interesting science trivia to show up even more often in the near future.

By popular request, directions to my concert (1500 Ralston Ave, Belmont, CA) tonight:
From 101:

1. Take Ralston Ave Exit towards Belmont
2. Go under the train tracks and through a commercial area (still on Ralston Ave)
3. Notre Damme de Namur entrance is on your right

From 280:

1. Take the highway 92 exit towards Belmont/San Mateo
2. Take the Ralston Avenue exit (very first exit on 92)
3. Turn Left onto Ralston Avenue
4. Take Ralston ave for a few miles
5. Notre Damme de Namur is on your left

Once you have turned onto the campus take an immediate left onto a dark, narrow road with speedbumps. On your right and up the small hill is the Ralston Mansion. You can park in the lot on the left.

The concert starts at 7:30. If you want to avoid traffic I recommend taking 280. Admission is $10. Proceeds are going to NDNU music dept. Cookies & punch will be served. I think it will be a lot of fun, and hope to see your smiling faces there.

What's your environmental footprint? With a little fudging for continental differences, I score 200-400 (that's 2-4 hectares, whatever the heck that means). Check it out at newscientist.com

And in other news, the level-headed Swedes have pointed out that we're all way too excited about this whole global warming thing. Apparently, in order for all these massive climate change global warming scenarios to come true, we'd need to burn about 5 times more fossile fuel than anybody actually estimates exists on earth. Here's the article, again from new scientist.

I'm reading a cool book called Close to the Machine: Technophilia and its Discontents by Ellen Ullman. It's sort of roughly structured as a novel, but it's mostly a series of philosophical discourse on the contemporary work environment. I recommend it to anyone that has worked in high-tech stuff or wants to understand someone that works with high-tech stuff. Here's an excerpt for everyone:

The corollary of constant change is ignorance. This is not often talked about: we computer experts barely know what we're doing. We're good at fussing and figuring out. We function well in a sea of unknowns. Our experience has only prepared us to deal with confusion. A programmer who denies this is probably lying, or else is densely unaware of himself. (110)

Despite the use of the masculine pronoun, the main character of the book is a middle-aged woman. I like the perspective this brings to the work, since a young, arrogant person would never admit to the sort of thing from the excerpt above, or even really be aware of it on a level that he could articulate it. The book focuses a lot on how the high-tech world is a wold of constant change, and how easy it is to be left behind. And how the constant change leaves everyone confused. The difference between the computer person and the non-computer person is that the computer person can deal with all the confusing, unknown, and simply baffling details and sort out what really is important.

Next time I fix someone's computer and they ask me how I knew how to do it, maybe i'll point them to this passage. I didn't know how. But i'm just used to not knowing and doing anyway. Now if only I could transfer this ability to more real-world interactions; then i'd be set.

Ok, so the decision is final. I'm doing the concert, and it's going to be cool, so everyone should come. It's tuesday the 16th at the Ralston Hall ballroom on the University of Notre Damme de Namur in Belmont. I'm singing in some choral christmas stuff there will be a Christmas Classics sing-along at the end (not to mention free cookies and punch!).

Tickets are $10 and a portion of the proceeds goes to the UNDN music department. Tickets will be available at the door, but if possible you should buy them from me ahead of time.

Hey, ok, so Thanksgiving is over, let Christmas begin! So, to summarize: blah blah commercialization, blah blah cheezy Christmas cards, annoying music, blah blah... blah blah family togetherness, peace on earth, blah blah... frikkin tiny reindeer, blah blah, home invasion fat guy. Blah blah miniature railroad with lights and sound blah blah blinking lights blah fake santa suit drunk and hitting on my cousin blah.

Oh, and speaking of Christmas music (but not the annoying kind) i'm considering participating in a Christmas concert (for charity or some crap). But here's the problem: Everyone else that's gonna be in the concert has at least one advanced degree in music. I did some singing in high school. If i do participate, i may potentially be the sore thumb of suck out there with all these shining, none-sore other fingers of musical talent. On the other hand, it could be pretty fun. So suck be damned, i think i'll do it.

Blah. Blogger puked on my blog template, so I had to re-build it. If something's missing, or you want to see something new, leave me a response and I'll look into it.

I am an irresponsible voter.

Yesterday, the great city of Los Altos had local elections. Part of the election was voting for someone to the Foothill/DeAnza Junior College Board. Ok, first: Why do I get to vote for that? I guess they are local public schools, but people come from all over CA to go to Foothill. Whatever. Second: I did no research on the candidates at all, and simply voted for the computer programmer. Sweet. Young people really just need some good, old fashioned re-programming.

On the bright side, I got to use those new-fangled touch screen voting machines. It gave me sass for only voting for 1 candidate when I could have chosen three. But I said, "Oh yeah? OH YEAH?!?" and punched my fist through that silly machine, and it made silly breaking sounds. Ok, not really. the part about the punching was made-up. And the part about yelling is a bit of an exaggeration. But I really did vote!

I decided it was time for a new title & subtitle. So there you have it. You can check out the real benvis (if you so desire).
[corrected, thanks JJ]

So these two ladys came to my door to talk about how God is the only person any of us can trust. One of them showed me a quote (from the King James Bible) telling me I can't trust Nobles or Common Man. I'm pretty sure King James was a noble, and that lady was a commoner. Despite all, I think I can trust people; I mean, I trust everyone not to run me over in a crosswalk (except when I'm in Berkeley... then I have to carry a flag).

What do Hilary Clinton, Al Gore, Johns Paul II, Sandra Day O’Conner, Bill Moyers, Ralph Nader, Gene Siskel, Margaret Thatcher, Joan Baez, Nelson Mandela, Martha Stewart, Mary Poppins, The Amish, The Puritans, The Church Lady, Mr. Spock, and I all have in common ?

Oh, hey, any suggestions for Halloween activities? I'm taking my girlfriend's godsister (who's 2) out trick-or-treating, but that will be over before 9 pm. After that I want to do something else fun.

And! my birthday is on Sunday, Nov. 2. I'll be turning 24. Call me and wish me a happy b-day. Or just leave a happy birthday comment!

I seem to be having mixed results with my comment stuff. If you're having trouble, the blogspeak servers may be down. Try again later, I guess.

So i'm wrestling with the question of what to do with my life. I just noticed that Genentech is hiring people with my skillset. I guess i'll give them a shot. I can work for a giant faceless corporation without completely surrendering my soul, right?

Metrosexual, eh? [definition] [article]

I have mixed feelings about the term. For one thing, it represents corporate America supporting and encouraging stylishness in straight men (something I also support). However, it's perpetuating the idea that it is ok to assume something about a person's sexuality based on largely non-sexual factors. Essentially, we've got straight men engaging in stereotypically gay behavior. Rather than acknowledging that stereotypes are breaking down (because they're largely useless), a new stereotype was invented.

I had the odd experience of watching a taped football game. Last night I watched the 49er game I missed last Sunday. It was pretty fun, but I felt a little weird getting excited about a game I knew the outcome of. But that wasn't all. It seemed strange because I knew my hoping, excited (beer fueled) energy wasn't going to change what was going to happen (since it had already happened). But really, when does my quasi-participation make any difference when I watch a sport on TV? I guess it never really does. I've just been duped into accepting television as a surrogate for experience. But I guess it's more entertaining that way.

So i'm back from my e-sabattical. And it was well worth the wait. After a week of not checking my e-mail, I had some cool stuff in my inbox. I got a message from my friend Melissa (currently living in Korea), my cousin Alex (currently living in Romania), and my girlfriend (currently living in her mom's house).

It was cool hearing from my cousin. It sounds like he's having an experience very similar to mine when I was in Sweden. Apparently Romanians all speak pretty good English, so he's having trouble finding ways to practice his Romanian.

My girlfriend pointed me at some cool cartoon called Girl & Cat. Maybe i'll provide you all with a link so you don't have to google it yourselves (google for president!) Then again maybe not.

Also, as a surprise, I got an invitation for a job interview. Ok, so maybe it's bad that I didn't respond for almost a week (due to above-mentioned sabatical). So I may yet get to do cool research on the human auditory system. Ok, laptop battery dying. Time to post and run!

My horoscope told me that I was going to have an impromptu party tonight. So I think I'll have a party tonight. Anyone that a.) reads my blog and b.) knows where I live is welcome to come to my house at around 9:30 tonight. Nothing like a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Oh, and call before you come. Oh. and bring beer.

I just got finished watching Ronin [imdb] with Robert Deniro and Jean Reno. It's a pretty awesome movie. I think Jean Reno [imdb again] is one of my favorite actors.

On a completely different note, last night I tuned into my NPR and heard, much to my surprise, the grating, condescending voice of Bill O'Riely! My former roommate, Richie, is a Fox News Junkie, so I got to know Mr. O'Riely from his show. I have long wondered what would happen if Billy-boy were to have a conversation with an articulate, intelligent liberal and Bill didn't have control over the situation, like on his show. He's a pretty smart guy, and amazingly good at arguing, but unfortunately, he usually resorts to bluster and bullying on his show. I would love to hear him go at it if he couldn't use those lame tactics and was forced to address the inconsistencies and hypocrisy he so cleverly expounds but conceals at the same time.

Unfortunately, rather than address the challenges Terry Gross[a link to the interview] was bringing to the table, he walked out of the interview. He held his own for a while, but when she was about to read a quote that pretty directly called him a hypocrite, he talked over her for a bit then walked out.

In discussion with Richie, later, he said "Yeah, it was disappointing, but not really surprising". It's true. Oh well.

Oh, and to re-iterate: Everyone should know about Instant Runoff Voting!

So, Arnold's it. My friend JJ [his website] pointed out something that gave me small consolation. Maybe we'll get a new, cool reality TV show! I don't have cable so I probably couldn't watch it, but I can imagine it would be pretty entertaining.

I suppose that's the positive out of all this recall terribleness. Our state government will be entertaining once again. Many have pointed out that this will get more people involved in politics. Whatever, that's great and all, but let's not kid ourselves. We care about entertainment value, and Arnie's (hopefully) gonna give it to us.

Another friend, Samay [his blog] pointed out that on the same day that Arnold won, the Mariners (correction: Marlins) won. Creepy Florida connection anyone? The Bush family seems to have their collective finger in just about everything.

There are a couple things i would like to do with this here blog of mine before i really get into blogging.

• Get one of those comment services going.
• Come up with my own layout and color-scheme.
• Read some other people's blogs.

I heard on the radio a bunch of biologists talking about research they've been doing into aging. The two ideas I picked up were that red wine contains a molecule that increases the lifespan of nematodes, but the molecule is so unstable that it would be hard to turn it into a drug. Suprisingly, the lower the dose, the better the result. The molecule is called resveritrol, and the researcher was David Sinclair of Harvard.

The other idea was that a researcher at UCSF found that knocking out an insulin receptor can greatly (double or triple) the lifespan of an organism. This may have something to do with low-calorie diets correlating with longer lifespans.

But really, people. We already live a long time, and the US at least doesn't seem capable (or even that interested) in taking care of our ageing population. We've spent the social security reserves. Are we going to raise the retirement age, essentially forcing everyone to start taking longevity drugs? Or will we keep it where it is, allowing those wealthy enough to take expensive drugs their whole lives to retire after only the first half of their life?

PS, everyone should know about Instant Runoff Voting. Check out a neat animated explanation.

This is my first blog ever, and i'm pretty excited about it. Although, knowing me, there's a good chance i'll forget my login and never come back. Oh well, it's worth a shot.

For now, you can check out my work website. I have a degree in Neurobiology and Comparative Literature, but for some reason i'm working as a software engineer. Nobody's really sure why.