Happy Halloween

Pacey and Penny Say:

Happy Halloween

Enjoy the candy and the spooks!

Life after Science

Penny asks - How to get a life?

After a decade of academia re-entering (or entering) the real world of dollars, jobs, and mortgages seems harder than the feat of earning all those degrees.

Perhaps the crowd that went to a 2 year college or even those that took a McJob straight out of high school are better off than us academics. They have been earning a wage for the past decade where as those that chose to challenge grad school have been paying tuition for 10 years on a stipend that barely covers the rent in a shared accommodation. Sure, Sure in the end university graduates make more money per year with higher salary and more job security. But how after all those years locked up in the ivory tower do you gain the confidence, know how, and connections, to march down the stairs and over the hill that has sheltered you from the rest of society.

For those who bravely jump into the shark invested waters of investment banking or some other daring entrepreneurial game, I say Kudos and I must mention that it was not their academic training that bolstered that just do it spirit! These brave folks would have done well with or without University. In my humble opinion it is their personality or their preciously existing relationships / connections that encouraged their effort to succeed in the business world.

All parents want their children to be happy and lead successful lives. Of course the measure of successful and happy are determined by the individuals in the situation, but all parents want the best for their child whatever that might be for them as individuals. For the rare few that happen to share their fathers or Mothers passion for the industry they have made their mark in, the path is clear, follow father or mothers footsteps. Utilizing the connections that have taken a lifetime to make and get ahead quickly with respect and encouragement. Alas each generation is different from the previous, making it a rare and special moment that the career of the senior is a good fit for junior.

So what does that leave for those with a passion for information and a dwindling drive to be among the few who know the secrets of mitochondria or chloroplasts? Science of course, research in academia to be specific. Well it seems a perfect fit, but there are too many researchers and not enough stable well paying positions. In fact scientist get paid far less than roofers or brick layers or secretaries. There is little job security for those employed in a academic lab. Research staff salary is dependent on federal grant money for which the principle investigator (the professor that runs the lab) has to apply for every 2 or so years. The competition for the shrinking pot of money is stiff making it tough to guarantee salaries for more than a few years at a time. Coupled with the lifestyle of working 12-14 hour shifts potentially 7 days a week (experiments take the time they take there is no changing that) and the exposure to carcinogens, neurotoxins, and cranky people who have not seen the light of day in weeks – academic research seems to be a poor choice of career for anyone.

But what then do you do with your head full of knowledge and enormous vocabulary of scientific jargon? You have learned (often the hard way) to be humble and cautious with your words, choices, and planning decisions but at the same time you have been taught to be swift with your sword of critique, finding fatal errors and design flaws in everything around you and even within yourself.

How do you get into the business world when you do not speak their language, understand their culture or what makes the faceless suit people tick?

I can however spot an academic in any crowd, the tattered non-trendy clothing (purchased half a decade ago intended as conference wear but always ends up in the lab resulting in a bit of acid erosion on the cuff), their hair is often simply un-kept, makeup is scantily applied if at all, chapped lips and hands and the real clincher is the pale skin for working long hours in florescent lighting.

Unfortunately we still look more like them then not – change is our case a slow and arduous. Why is it that when you know what you definitely do not want that you still don’t know what you do definitely want?

I read a great novel this week that had an unexpected passage which I think is amazingly insightful.

One day, after almost a semester of equations, calculations, and structural studies, she announced that she was going to leave the university.

“But you’ve never said anything to me about it!” I said.

“I was even afraid of talking to myself, but this morning I went to see my hairdresser. She worked day and night so that her daughter could finish her sociology degree. The daughter finally graduated and, after knocking on many doors, found work as a secretary at the cement works. Yet even today, my hairdresser said very proudly: ‘My daughter’s got a degree.’ Most of my parents’ friends and most of my parents’ children also have degrees. This doesn’t mean they have found the work they wanted. Not at all; they went to university because someone, at a time when universities seemed important, said that in order to rise in the world, you had to have a degree. And thus the world was deprived of some excellent gardeners, bakers, antique dealers, sculptors and writers.”

Pages 27, 28 The Witch of Portobello by Paulo Coelho

To be fair, the woman in the story discovered after much trial that she had some mystical enchantments, and eventually ended up hiding from the world that she so bravely chose to enter. I know everyone has their struggles and there are no free rides.

I simply wanted to share my newly found opinion that societal pressures to get a life through hard work in academia are not the best way, the right way and certainly not the easy way to find happiness or success.

Each degree costs a lot of money, time and spirit. I am not sure that more is better, and I am not convinced that any are necessary. Undergraduate was an adventure to adulthood but Grad school was more of a journey to nowhere.

Terrence Malik has one good movie

And that movie is Badlands.

Just prior to it's release, the Thin Red Line caused an enormous stir in that it was to be the first movie released by a reclusive 'legendary' director Terrence Malik. So, I got to check out the work of a 'master' moviemaker in a war flick. Sounded good to me. Today, if someone were to ask me what was the movie I hated the most, it would be The Thin Red Line, even though it gained much praise from critics.

Recently, I was browsing through the library's movie section and came across the two movies that Malik built his reputation on, Badlands and Days of Heaven. I just had to know what made people so excited by the director of Thin Red Line. Well, I'll tell you this, Badlands is a near perfect movie. The focused use of voiceover (a Malik trademark), exciting story, great performances, and an effectively captured rural setting made Badlands a riveting watch. It is a pocket-epic, of sorts, as a dynamic story is delivered in a lean 95 minutes. Days of Heaven, on the other hand, suffered as it plodded through a not-so-interesting story, while retaining some great shots of open skies and nature and respectful use of voiceover. The thing is, I really don't care for widescreen nature shots. They're fine and all, but I grew up on the prairies and such images have been the backdrop to so many of my mundane and banal life episodes that it simply doesn't do anything for me. Further, I don't think movies are an effective media to deliver such visions. In Badlands, these shots worked with the story and were part of the story, but in Days of Heaven, they interrupted and distracted from the story.

The Thin Red Line, then, follows the trajectory of Days of Heaven with an exponential downturn of quality. The visions of nature make the audience actively frustrated, as they interrupted scenes with long nonsense images. The voiceover was TERRIBLE: open-ended, wussy, omnipresent, etc. Listening to some guy, in some innocently naive and detached yet smug manner, repeat 'profound' and 'deep' garbage like "Who is killing me ..... Who am I killing ..... Why am I here ...." over the entire movie was simply ridiculous. The story was directionless (not 'dreamlike'), the distracting subplots imploded (like the girlfriend at home we are never introduced to, staring out the window for extended parts of the movie, ends up leaving the soldier for another man and is never heard from again), the naked black babies swimming got too much camera time, and nothing about the movie held attention. And it's LONG, too. Over 180 minutes! Before looking at your watch at the end of the movie, you'd swear four precious hours of your only life on earth had been wasted, but alas, you find you are only three hours closer to death. It was the closest I've ever come to walking out of a movie. I thought that The Thin Red Line fell into my prejudice about pacifist directors not knowing how to make a war movie, but after watching Days of Heaven, I realized that it was just Malik being Malik at his most self indulgent extreme, which is not a good thing.

Badlands is great though.

Oh honey why are you so yummy?

Penny Say: Oh honey wonderful honey

The Good – It is so very yummy

- Honey is loaded with carbohydrates (good unless you are diabetic I suppose) and also contains anti-oxidants, B vitamins, and other yummy minerals.

- If you have a sore throat nothing else in my cupboard sooths it faster than a spoon of honey in my tea. Solid honey tablets are also available for those that prefer the non sticky variety. Plus when you are sick you are likely not getting a lot to eat, honey provides around 60 calories per Tablespoon giving you a little boost just when you need it.

- Dark honey (like buckwheat honey) is a source of antioxidants (thought to decrease risk of cancer, decreases relative amount of free radicals in the body, and diminish the less pretty effects of aging like wrinkles).

- Honey has been shown to improve calcium absorption so add some to your next smoothie and help ward off osteoporosis.

- Honey also provides food for the good bacteria in your GI tract (bifidobacteria , you know the ones you get from yogurt that help keep you regular and ward off yeast infections). SO Honey is a prebiotic (makes bifidobacteria, Honey helps bifidobacteria be happy and grow, which helps you be regular and that makes everyone a little more comfortable.

The Bad - Baby Botulism

Not good for Babies under one year old. Honey often contain small amounts of the bacterium Clostridium botulinum, this is a hard to kill bacterium found in soil. Microorganisms do not grow in honey because of its low water content (this is why we can store it at room temperature for a long time with out mold and nasties building micro-apartments in our good honey). BUT dormant spores of the Clostridium botulinum bacterium are often in the honey. These dormant spores of bacteria can be dangerous to infants as the can transform into toxin-producing bacteria in the infant's immature intestinal tract, leading to illness and even death.

See link for a paper discussing botulism - link

The Nitty Gritty Details

All honey facts can be found at the national honey board’s web site

http://www.honey.com/consumers/

Here is a quick summary of honey facts that can help you out when choosing the right honey for you.

· Comb Honey - Comb honey is honey that comes as it was produced — in the honey bees' wax comb. The comb, as well as the honey, is edible!

· Cut Comb - Cut comb honey is liquid honey that has added chunks of the honey comb in the jar. Also known as liquid-cut comb combination.

· Liquid Honey - Free of visible crystals, liquid honey is extracted from the honey comb by centrifugal force, gravity or straining. Because liquid honey mixes easily into a variety of foods, it's especially convenient for cooking and baking. Most of the honey produced in the United States is sold in the liquid form.

· Naturally Crystallized Honey - Naturally crystallized honey is honey that part of the natural glucose content has spontaneously crystallized from solution as the monohydrate.

· Whipped (or Cremed) Honey - While all honey will crystallize in time, whipped honey (also known as cremed honey or sugared honey) is brought to market in a crystallized state. The crystallization is controlled so that, at room temperature, the honey can be spread like butter. In many countries around the world, whipped honey is preferred to the liquid form.

Honey products do not meet the compositional criteria for honey, but are products consisting in whole or in part of honey.

· Dried Honey - Dried honey is honey that has been dehydrated and mixed with other ingredients to keep it free-flowing.

· Flavored/Fruited Honey - Flavored/Fruited honey is honey that has either fruit, coloring or flavoring added.

· Honey stix - Honey stix consist of liquid honey in a straw. Sometimes flavors are added.

· Infused Honey - Infused honey is honey that has had flavors of herbs, spices, peels, etc. added to it by steeping

A note on the bee’s themselves – honey bees are scary to me, and I admit to running screaming from them on several occasions. However, they do make really good honey for me to eat so I forgive them for having a stinger.

Bees are really great pollinators - Pollination is important in horticulture because most plant fruits will not develop if the ovules are not fertilized.

A single bee colony can produce more than 100 pounds of honey.

It takes one colony of honey bees (around 30,000 bees) to pollinate an acre of fruit trees.

Also it is the young females that seem to do all the important work – (gathering nectar) It takes 556 worker girlie bees to gather a pound of honey.

Mites are a big threat to the honey bee population and may be responsible for the recent down turn in bee populations.

There is a friendly solution that may work out increase the pollination by increasing the The Blue Orchard Bee Population. Give them somewhere to live (that is clean and safe buy purchasing a kit from a website like this one https://id408.van.ca.siteprotect.com/beediverse/catalog/masonbees.php

OR http://www.masonbeehomes.com/bee_houses.php

The Blue Orchard bee is also known as The Mason Bee, Osmia lignaria,) is a solitary bee that is an effective pollinator that can not sting us. But does it make honey? Sadly no honey for you – from the blue friendly bee – but they will increase your fruiting yield in your orchard.

Until we can stop the mites from getting the Honey Bees we support honey producers who fight against mites by using the cleanest equipment, lower populations and extra space per colony, taking the extra time and care for their bees making sure they are not stressed out, also those who try to use mite resistant variety of honey bees available from specialized Bee Breeders.

I vote to support the local honey producers, and I will try not to swat and scream at the precious little Bee’s that buzz my way.

Cold vs Flu - A Respiratory dilemma

Penny says: Ah - CHOOO! Is this a cold or a flu?

Which one do you have and how do you get rid of it as quickly as possible.

First off they are both viral so antibiotics (they fight bacterial infections) are no good here.

Symptoms are something we are all very familiar with includes:

Symptom	Cold	Flu
Sore throat	Common	Uncommon
Nasal congestion	Common	Uncommon
Sneezing	Common	Uncommon
Headache	Uncommon	Common
Chest congestion	Mild to moderate	Severe
Fever	Rare (low if any)	Mid to High
Body Aches and Weakness	Slight	Common often severe
Fatigue	Mild (except 2 days prior to onset)	Often Severe throughout
Onset of symptoms	Gradual develop slowly over a couple of days	Sudden (3-6 hours post exposure)
Coughing	Wet Hacking cough	Dry persistent cough
Mucous	Lots	Little
General yuckiness	YEP!	YEP!

So what do you do once you know what virus you are dealing with?

The Common cold is usually the result of a rhinovirus, coronavirus, or adenovirus getting in your nose or mouth when someone else sneezes or coughs on you. One reason for the high transmission rate is that you are infectious a whole day before your full list of symptoms appear and you continue to be contagious for the next five days. After you realize, wowzers I have a cold you have exposed everyone yesterday and will continue for the next 4 days.

The virus sets up camp and multiplies in your nasopharynx (the warm moist spot between your nose and throat. The cold is full blown with in 2 to 3 days post exposure. The most common first sign of a cold is unusually fatigue and a scratchy throat. As soon as you feel a tingle in your throat you should gargle with salt water or as several wise men once said have a stiff drink to give the virus a less attractive area to set up camp. Symptoms should resolve with in one week but could last up to 14 days. After you are sick you should probably avoid alcohol because it is a depressant and can decrease you ability to breathe.

How to best fight a cold - you will have to give your body the tools it needs to fight it off.
Plenty of fluids, plenty of rest and take meds to treat the irritating symptoms that are preventing you from getting enough sleep. There are no anti-viral therapies approved for the prevention or treatment of the common cold. So wash your hands and stop touching your face to help prevent the spread of colds.

The Flu is a different chapter of the feeling generally yucky story.

The Orthomyxoviridae virus is the cause of most Flu’s in people – with symptoms including fever, muscle pain, headache, coughing, weakness, and general discomfort. The Flu can lead to pneumonia hence it is deadly to some seniors and infants. If think you have the flu you can go to your doctor or a medical clinic in the first 48hours and get prescription anti-virals like Tamiflu, that stop the replication of the virus, easing symptoms, shortening duration, and helps prevent re-infection.

The flu shot is not evil and if you need one get one. They only real problem that can arise is due to possible allergic reaction to a component in the vaccine – do not get one if you are allergic - but if you are not allergic to vaccines in general and you are a senior, a kid, an asthmatic, or a person with chronic disease ask your doctor about getting a flu shot.

Even with the addition of antivirals – you still need to get rest and stay hydrated. Some research has shown that fever is the body's natural defense against virus (making the body less hospitable for virus to set up camp) but fever leads to dehydration and high fever can induce seizures in kids and is generally bad for adults.


Some things to keep in mind about over the counter medications for Respiratory illnesses

Only take medicines for symptoms that you have

Avoid stimulants like pseudophederine unless you need them (decongestants) they can have adverse effects on your blood pressure and heart function.

Cough suppressants – These medications work to stop you from coughing – this is fine and dandy when you have a dry cough like the one with Flu – but if you are full of mucus do not take a cough suppressant – you need to cough up that fluid and get it out of your lungs! Example of cough suppressants also called antitussives (codeine, and Dextromethorphan (DM)).

Advil vs Tylonol – this could be a topic on its own but for now lets remember the following
If you are pregnant – no Advil for you Tylenol will do.
If you are a kid – Ask a pharmacist and know your current weight before either is given to you!!
If you just have a fever and general aches take a regular Tylenol and wait to see if you require a higher dose.


I am not an MD but I can read and do have graduate level training in human physiology - but legal – this is not advise just information to ponder and ask your doctor or pharmacist what to do when you get sick!



- A side note – quit spending your money on so called preventatives like coldfx that are just expensive vitamins – eat some fresh veggies and fruits they are cheaper have the same effect and taste a whole lot better!!

Booze Cruise deservs and F-

Pacey says:

I'm watching the national news, and a story is run regarding a video game developed by the University of Calgary Fine Arts Department to, I think, to deter kids from drinking and driving. The goal of the game is drive home drunk safely.

I'll let that sink in.

Now, albeit for me to defend drunk driving. Drinking and driving is an awful pr... blah be blah blah blergh. That aside, I cannot for the life of me understand why such a bone-headed video game gets praise worthy of national news coverage. This kind of thing should be subject to ridicule.

Here's the plot: in the game, the player has a blood alcohol level of 0.25 and tries to drive home. The player drives the car, but the car doesn't respond to key-commands appropriately, in an attempt to illustrate the decreased co-ordination and reaction time of the impaired driver. Other cars, police, pedestrians, etc are everywhere and the driver making collisions and arrests likely.

Why would a respected news agency validate such buffoonery? For that matter, why would a University?

The problems with this game should be obvious. One of the most glaring has to be that the children playing the game will want to get good at driving drunk. If they start 'winning' by getting good at driving drunk, it defeats the purpose of the game. If they cannot 'win' or otherwise improve, they will not play it, defeating the purpose of the game. Way to think it through, Fine Arts Department.

This news story is the culmination of a number of myths, including one where anything that spills out of a University is uncritically deemed worthy, where anything that combats drunk driving worthy, and where news agencies impede the perpetuation of nonsense.

You can read and watch the segment here:
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20071007/booze_cruise_071007/20071007?hub=CTVNewsAt11

Any effort using Google will turn up Dr. James Parker, who lead the project:
http://www.ucalgary.ca/~jparker/cv.html

... and his well thought out religious beliefs which led him to be a Quaker:
http://pages.cpsc.ucalgary.ca/~parker/religion.html