margot and richie tennenbaum, over joyed upon serendipitously running into the rest of the cast of royal tennenbaums.
billie jean king and bjorn borg, enjoying a beer after a doubles match.
2008: robots. time to get some robot insurance.
Friday, October 31, 2008
costumery
halloween costumes, past and present......
margot and richie tennenbaum, over joyed upon serendipitously running into the rest of the cast of royal tennenbaums.
billie jean king and bjorn borg, enjoying a beer after a doubles match.
2008: robots. time to get some robot insurance.
margot and richie tennenbaum, over joyed upon serendipitously running into the rest of the cast of royal tennenbaums.
billie jean king and bjorn borg, enjoying a beer after a doubles match.
2008: robots. time to get some robot insurance.
happy halloween!
aretha is a witch for halloween this year.
she thinks it makes a better chew-toy than a hat.
she thinks it makes a better chew-toy than a hat.
joe the biden
"you're going to like the way you look, i guarantee it"
"three strikes and you're out, and you're on number one buster"
joe is about to demonstrate the proper technique for a good ole fashioned scranton suspender snap
"i've got a headache this big, and it's screaming for excedrin"
"you betcha"
"three strikes and you're out, and you're on number one buster"
joe is about to demonstrate the proper technique for a good ole fashioned scranton suspender snap
"i've got a headache this big, and it's screaming for excedrin"
"you betcha"
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
one of these things is not like the others
A) Bowie
B) Wilco
C) Russ Feingold
D) Tammy Baldwin
3/4 of them will be at the wisconsin union theater this saturday. we are going to try to get tickets tomorrow. wish us good luck.
B) Wilco
C) Russ Feingold
D) Tammy Baldwin
3/4 of them will be at the wisconsin union theater this saturday. we are going to try to get tickets tomorrow. wish us good luck.
Monday, October 27, 2008
the great outdoors
although friday and sunday were marked by cold wind and cold rain, saturday was a picture perfect autumn day. here are some splendid nature shots marta took.
stone lake
birch trees
nature walk
some kind of flowers
stone lake
birch trees
nature walk
some kind of flowers
Sunday, October 26, 2008
kabin fever
we just returned from a weekend of fun at the krueger kabin in the glorious wisconsin northwoods. the leaves were beautiful, the kabin was cozy, and the bellies were full.
saturday started with partner stretching.....
...and progressed to horseshoes and sitting by the lake.
later in the day, matt and lia put together a most incredible concert.
there was wildlife.
the crowd got a little rowdy before breakfast.
it was a blast, and we are grateful to our generous hosts matt and lia for giving us a taste of simpler times.
saturday started with partner stretching.....
...and progressed to horseshoes and sitting by the lake.
later in the day, matt and lia put together a most incredible concert.
there was wildlife.
the crowd got a little rowdy before breakfast.
it was a blast, and we are grateful to our generous hosts matt and lia for giving us a taste of simpler times.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
warthogs action is fan-tastic!
last night we headed down to the shell for some exciting intramural hockey action, featuring the uw bioscience's own warthogs.
the hockey was intense, and the crowd could feel the excitement.
here's a snippet of the game. the warthogs played their arch rivals, slow moving vehicles, to a 6-6 draw.
since it was fan-appreciation night, following the game we retired to the stadium bar for a meet-and-greet with the fans and the team, and to play some big buck hunter. i wore my hunter orange, but it turns out i am not a natural sportsman.
jack and roxanne were in town, from austin, tx, so the evening provided a splendid opportunity to connect with them.
a fine time was had by all.
the hockey was intense, and the crowd could feel the excitement.
here's a snippet of the game. the warthogs played their arch rivals, slow moving vehicles, to a 6-6 draw.since it was fan-appreciation night, following the game we retired to the stadium bar for a meet-and-greet with the fans and the team, and to play some big buck hunter. i wore my hunter orange, but it turns out i am not a natural sportsman.
jack and roxanne were in town, from austin, tx, so the evening provided a splendid opportunity to connect with them.
a fine time was had by all.
Monday, October 20, 2008
brobee?
thank you to david's co-workers for bringing to light this striking resemblance.
david in his favorite sweater:
brobee from "yo gabba gabba!" in his favorite....fur? with......lunch?:
david in his favorite sweater:
brobee from "yo gabba gabba!" in his favorite....fur? with......lunch?:
Sunday, October 19, 2008
marriage and alligators
don't these two look happy?of course they do! they got married this weekend. tom and maggie had a lovely wedding and reception in milwaukee on friday, and we were honored to help them celebrate their love.
also there to help celebrate their love was a chinese alligator. to be fair, the alligator was actually in the store located below the reception. we still got some face time with her and her very committed fund raising owner.
here is david petting the alligator.
this photo was snapped just moments before alligator urinated on tom.
there were also very delicious sandwiches.
pre-halloween costume warm-up
in preparation for halloween, we've been testing the franklins' willingness to wear costumes. ben proved somewhat willing, but aretha simply will not tolerate these kind of shenanigans.
ben in a trucker hat
this scarf really brings out the blue in his eyes.
he's one cool cat, with his medallion and shades.
ben in a trucker hat
this scarf really brings out the blue in his eyes.
he's one cool cat, with his medallion and shades.
pumpkin nibblers
we bought a few small pumpkins a week or so ago, and put them out, uncarved, on our front steps. some overzealous squirrels have taken the liberty of carving them up for us. this one has been eaten right through.
this one has been thrown off the stoop, adjacent to our garden.
it looks like we are going to have to buy some new ones if we are going to get to carve anything. disgraceful.
this one has been thrown off the stoop, adjacent to our garden.
it looks like we are going to have to buy some new ones if we are going to get to carve anything. disgraceful.
Monday, October 13, 2008
spaghetti harvest
panorama, bbc news, april 1, 1957
a special thanks to my dad for remembering/finding this short film.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
autumn in wisconsin
autumn is in full swing, and my parents came to madison for the weekend to visit and take in the colors on our side of the lake.
devil's lake state park
wollersheim winery
langdon street on the uw campus (memorial library on the left, science hall straight ahead, and memorial union to the right)
devil's lake state park
wollersheim winery
langdon street on the uw campus (memorial library on the left, science hall straight ahead, and memorial union to the right)
Friday, October 10, 2008
peace
and the final 2008 nobel prize goes to former president of finland, and united nations diplomat and mediator, noted for his international peace work, 
look at how he brings people together, even under harsh conditions.
congratulations to you, the sveriges riksbank prize in economic sciences in memory of alfred nobel. it was not one of the 5 prizes endowed in nobel's last will and testimony. secondly, we should be getting our camera back from the shop today, and we can go back to blogging about the things we see around us and our fabulous adventures. i hope you've enjoyed nobel week as much as i have.
look at how he brings people together, even under harsh conditions.
congratulations to you, the sveriges riksbank prize in economic sciences in memory of alfred nobel. it was not one of the 5 prizes endowed in nobel's last will and testimony. secondly, we should be getting our camera back from the shop today, and we can go back to blogging about the things we see around us and our fabulous adventures. i hope you've enjoyed nobel week as much as i have.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
literature
the 2008 nobel prize for literature was awarded to jean-marie gutave le clezio, "author of new departures, poetic adventure and sensual ecstasy, and explorer of a new humanity beyond and below the reigning civilization." i think i know what next month's oprah book club will feature.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
chemistry
i haven't been seeing a ton of interest in my nobel prize posts, but i'm going to see this through the end of the week, so here goes.
the nobel prize in chemistry was awarded this morning to osamu shimomura, martin chalfie, and roger tsien "for the discovery and development of the green fluorescent protein, gfp." there is certainly no debate about the importance of gfp to molecular and cell biology research, and it is probably a very well deserved award, but for whatever reason, i'm a bit surprised by it. anyway...
...gfp was originally isolated from the jellyfish aequorea victoria, and it was found that it's fluorescent qualities could be used in a variety of research applications, including the live imaging of cells and organisms. many bacteria, yeast, plant, fly, and mammalian cells, including human, have been created using gfp as a marker. the cells generally function normally, however, when exposed to a certain wavelength of light, the gfp within the cells fluoresces. live fluorescence microscopy can be used to observe these cells over time, expressing one or more proteins tagged with gfp. cells labeled with gfp produce some incredible beautiful images.
hippocampal neuron expressing gfp
a moth expressing gfp in its eyes
mutations made to gfp have allowed for the creation of other fluorescent proteins, for example blue-, yellow-, and cyan-fluorescent proteins. here is a confocal microscopy image of a mouse cerebral cortex, in which each neuron is randomly expressing a different gfp variant. the mouse is called the brainbow mouse.
although gfp is an incredibly important discovery, i bet the less biological, and more strictly chemistry chemists (e.g. organic, materials, physical, etc.) would like to see a few less nobels given for biochemical discoveries. it's just a hunch.
the nobel prize in chemistry was awarded this morning to osamu shimomura, martin chalfie, and roger tsien "for the discovery and development of the green fluorescent protein, gfp." there is certainly no debate about the importance of gfp to molecular and cell biology research, and it is probably a very well deserved award, but for whatever reason, i'm a bit surprised by it. anyway...
...gfp was originally isolated from the jellyfish aequorea victoria, and it was found that it's fluorescent qualities could be used in a variety of research applications, including the live imaging of cells and organisms. many bacteria, yeast, plant, fly, and mammalian cells, including human, have been created using gfp as a marker. the cells generally function normally, however, when exposed to a certain wavelength of light, the gfp within the cells fluoresces. live fluorescence microscopy can be used to observe these cells over time, expressing one or more proteins tagged with gfp. cells labeled with gfp produce some incredible beautiful images.
hippocampal neuron expressing gfp
a moth expressing gfp in its eyes
mutations made to gfp have allowed for the creation of other fluorescent proteins, for example blue-, yellow-, and cyan-fluorescent proteins. here is a confocal microscopy image of a mouse cerebral cortex, in which each neuron is randomly expressing a different gfp variant. the mouse is called the brainbow mouse.
although gfp is an incredibly important discovery, i bet the less biological, and more strictly chemistry chemists (e.g. organic, materials, physical, etc.) would like to see a few less nobels given for biochemical discoveries. it's just a hunch.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
physics - pt. 2
since the nobel prize was awarded to some folks for advancements in particle physics, i thought this little video/rap about the large haldron collider seemed appropriate. it is really dorky, but does a great job of explaining some complex particle/astro/?????/quantum physics, as well as what the lhc is all about. a special thanks to rachel and russell for initially showcasing this special video.
physics
the nobel prize in physics was awarded to yoichiro nambu, makoto kobayashi and toshihide maskawa for discoveries concerning nature's broken symmetry. my understanding of physics trails off somewhere after newton, so this is all really beyond me, but since i've decided to blog about the nobel prizes, i figure i'll give it a-go.
broken symmetry refers to a symmetrical object which shifts in some way, thus losing its symmetry. this arch at fermilab demonstrates the principle.
apparently, as i now understand it, it is the broken symmetry of nature (what that means exactly is hard to wrap one's head around) that gives rise to the four fundamental forces of the universe (strong, weak, gravity, and electromagnetism) and the existence of different types of subatomic particles.
important stuff.
broken symmetry refers to a symmetrical object which shifts in some way, thus losing its symmetry. this arch at fermilab demonstrates the principle.
apparently, as i now understand it, it is the broken symmetry of nature (what that means exactly is hard to wrap one's head around) that gives rise to the four fundamental forces of the universe (strong, weak, gravity, and electromagnetism) and the existence of different types of subatomic particles.
important stuff.
Monday, October 6, 2008
medicine and physiology
"for his discovery of human papilloma viruses causing cervical cancer", a finding that went against all the prevailing dogma of the time; and "for their discovery of human immunodeficiency virus", a discovery that helped set the stage for current antiretroviral treatments.
(3d rendering of the humam immunodeficiency virus)
i wouldn't think there would be much controversy with these awards. they are two undoubtably important discoveries that are very pertinent to medicine, science, and the world.
up next, physics...
(3d rendering of the humam immunodeficiency virus)up next, physics...
Sunday, October 5, 2008
nobel prize week!
tomorrow kicks off nobel prize announcement week.
there is a lot to be excited about. is this the ribosome gang's year, or will elizabeth blackburn and telomerase prevail? what phenomenal physics finding will reign supreme? are americans even in contention for the literature prize these days? lots to be excited about.
tomorrow, the swedes will kick off the announcements with the medicine and physiology prize.
there is a lot to be excited about. is this the ribosome gang's year, or will elizabeth blackburn and telomerase prevail? what phenomenal physics finding will reign supreme? are americans even in contention for the literature prize these days? lots to be excited about.
tomorrow, the swedes will kick off the announcements with the medicine and physiology prize.
have you seen my capitol?
some capitol sculptures
a view to the east from the capitol
a gratuitous photo of our cats
a view to the east from the capitol
a gratuitous photo of our cats
Thursday, October 2, 2008
palin bingo
it looks like there were two big winners at tonight's debate. marta and i fought to a draw at a lively round of palin bingo. here are the official scorecards.
marta:
david:
i still can't believe she never said "president karzai."
marta:
david:
i still can't believe she never said "president karzai."
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
not again
our camera is broken. again. through no fault of our own, the lens function stopped functioning. while olympus puts our warranty to good use, we are unable to photograph things. what will we blog about?
old pictures, that's what! one year ago today we hiked mt. tamalpais (mt. tam for the marin county savvy reader) with anna and jeffery. after the hike, we had a tasty brew beverage on the deck of the remote, secretive, super-awesome tourist club. it's a pretty sweet place to go after hiking the beautiful and sacred mt. tam.
old pictures, that's what! one year ago today we hiked mt. tamalpais (mt. tam for the marin county savvy reader) with anna and jeffery. after the hike, we had a tasty brew beverage on the deck of the remote, secretive, super-awesome tourist club. it's a pretty sweet place to go after hiking the beautiful and sacred mt. tam.
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