Newgard for America

The Return...Again

2009-06-29T15:31:00.001-05:00

I've been unifying everything I have online into the one-stop shop of google. Look for more interesting things as I continue to combine the fury of my technological know-how and my excentric living.

The iPod

2007-09-20T11:21:00.001-05:00

Last week I bought an iPod. I bought one of those 80-gig iPod classics that has the video screen and all that good regular iPod stuff. Back inthe day I was a skeptic of apple products because back they were too expensive. I was a PC guy, who regularly rebuilt his PC and took pride in incrementally keeping his machine on the cutting edge. Recently, my lack of fandom has been due to their concern for "coolness" and lack of concern for a quality product (or at least any major technical progress). Slap a phone transmitter in a touch iPod and sell it for $600, fine, but where is the crazy progress?!? And shame on all of you who are upset that the iPhone dropped $200 in price mere months after its release. This trend has always been present, I remember paying $2400 for a 486 100 MHz machine in 94, and then getting a PII 333 MHz machine in 1998 for $650. If you want to be an early adopter, that's great and your are a necessary market, but understand the cycle from early adopter to mainstream is no longer in years, it is in months and possibly days. But I digress...

I am a podcast addict and it has become a scarry thing. I will download and listen to anything, so long as it is a podcast. Could be two dudes in their garage talking about WoW, or BBC World News, or NPR Fresh Air, or the Penny Arcade guys, it doesn't matter. My favorites thus far are the G4 podcasts: daily feed, around the net, AOTS, and fresh ink. I have also become a huge fan of the DC Comics podcasts and a podcast called Comic Geek Speak. For any of you comic book fans out there, CGS is very, very good at giving overviews and insight to universe books like Countdown in DC and hipping you to new things (which will be a post after this one). I have also found some brewing podcasts that are amazing, with the exception that some contain more ads than actual podcast.

I have also had the pleasure of downloading some albums from the itunes store. The itunes store has proven to be a savior for me. I have spent the last 3 years looking for a vinyl called 'Farmer's Market' by Art Farmer. Not only did itunes have it for $6.17 in mp3 format, but they had two other Art Farmer albums that I believed to be vinyl only with no CD re-issues. That makes me an itunes store fan...or at least put me on the path until this happened. itunes store had Maynard Ferguson's 'Blues Roar'!!! Seriously, the Blues Roar in it's glory. Although I know this was re-issued on CD it is impossible to find. My mint condition 1st pressing vinyl is on my wall in my apartment, framed and the main attraction of my Maynard Ferguson vinyl collection, and of the future "Eric Newgard's Maynard Mania Museum". When I can go online and buy albums in mp3 format that I can't get anywhere but on vinyl, I will use your service and I will preach your greatness to my friends and enemies.

Damn you Steve Jobs for your cunning manipulation of my vinyl to mp3 obsession and my love of good tunes that I must have at my disposal all the time.

Full Throttles, the Whizbanger of a New Millenium

2007-09-12T11:26:00.000-05:00

I have recently become a huge fan of the energy drinks known as full throttle. I would like to claim that I discovered this magnificence by myself, but I did not; I owe my beverage evolution to my friend "The Krippler". Through my 'training' in the TCG arena he has poured full throttle down his throat to the point that I had to see what this beverage is all about. Any of you that know me well know that I cannot resist trying something new. When the release Clamato Budweiser I try it (even though I despise tomato juice). This said I ventured forth towards full throttle.

I started with the regular flavor, which although bright green reminded me of ecto-cooler (yeah, you know what I'm talking about bitches) with a sour punch. Not only that it gives you an energy kick. I'm not sure if the boost is from taurine, ginseng extract, carnitine, and guarana extract or if it's the shit-ton of caffeine, but it's a hell of a buzz. I once tried two and I thought my circulatory system was going to jump out of my body and challenge Mikey in a marathon while my fat-ass played video games on my lazy boy. Next I tried "the krippler"'s favorite the blue agave full throttle. Now that is a beverage worth blogging about. I can't even describe the flavor combination...it's almost like cotton candy and pineapple juice. I tried the fury flavor and was not a fan. Recently they released a green flavor called Nature is a mother...this flavor, although very pineapple juice flavored, was not a fan favorite (but I like it).

Next I will have to try the other energy drinks, but for now I cannot speak highly enough of full throttle. It's got the kick of coffee without all the heartburn.

Why can't the Redbirds win a game?

2007-09-10T23:13:00.001-05:00

We were soooo close, one game out of the NL Central lead and we lose 3-12 to the cubs?!!? The damn cubs that we haven't beaten all season!!!! FUCK!!!

BioShock

2007-09-06T10:00:00.000-05:00

Last night I got fed up with Overlord and decided to play BioShock on my XBOX 360. This game is supposedly a contender for game of the year. So I turn off all my lights, turn up the speakers, and start the game. Immediately, the world is freaking me out and I'm scared that something will jump out at me and kill me. So explore very slowly and very cautiously, only to hear a man and woman fighting a floor below me....which is unnerving to begin with. As I go down stairs, this guy comes charging at me so I lightning bolt him and then shoot him with a revolver. But he's not dead and my hand is shaking so bad that I cannot bludgeon him to death with a monkey wrench before his "wife" realizes something is wrong and comes after me. I find her vigilance and violence so disturbing that I miss with the lightning bolt and then shoot 10 rounds from my revolver (every single shot missed) and she beats me to death with a monkey wrench....how ironic.

If this is the future of video games, I am a fan. Yes, I was scared shitless...but while I know I was playing a video game I was so emersed in the game that I was concerned for my own safety. Of course I will always have affection for games like blue dragon, rune factory, eternal sonata...that well animated, cutesy but deep, RPG where the villians, although evil, are drawn such that I don't get completely sucked in, but BioShock and games like it will be a treat from this day forward. The bar has been set, let's hope it doesn't take several years for another tasty treat.

PS--I haven't decided if I want to play anymore BioShock...I'm definately not playing at night anymore.

The Brunello

2007-08-26T20:35:00.000-05:00

For those of you who know me well, you know I work at a liquor/wine store part time. You also know that I am working on a PhD in fuel ethanol and that I run a home brewery that rivals most commercial breweries. To say that I am a connoisseur would probably be an understatement as would aficionado...but I am a great appreciator. Yesterday I acquired my first "expensive" or "cellar" bottle of wine. A 2001 Siro Pacenti Brunello di Montecino and absolutely fantastic wine that will be absolutely more fantastic when I drink it sometime after 2013. So what, you say? Let me remind you of this... The 2001 Brunello's point no lower than 97 in wine spectator, they even have one that was a 100 pointer...that's not perfection, but it is a classic. In addition, these wines are worth $150 plus today and will only appreciate in value as they mature. I have now left the boys and joined the men....now I just need to find a good wine cooler.

XBOX 360 Elite

2007-08-23T14:50:00.000-05:00

I got a fellowship for the year and I decided to reward myself with an XBOX 360 Elite. Let me say that I already own a Wii and a Nintendo DS and that I was a huge Play Station fan; hence, I was a slightlyl hesitant about spending $500 on an XBOX 360 when I didn't really care for the regular XBOX's bulky controller. However, with PS3 having almost no interesting games for another year and XBOX 360 having many, many games I decided to pull the trigger. I didn't know what to expect not being that familiar with the xbox gamer mentality and the style of games on the system. The Wii is all fun, family oriented games that I truly appreciate on a 12 year-old mentality. The same can be said for the DS. The XBOX 360 has more of an edgy attitude and I will admit that I am blown away by the XBOX 360 (time for tats, smokes and whisky...no more pink frosted cupcakes).

The most amazing feature to me was a feature that was not even touted on the packaging. If you install the Zune player on your PC it will detect all your music, pictures, and videos and then stream them via your network to the XBOX 360 and play them over your home theater system. For someone who has been trying to bridge the gap from PC to home theater system this is a simple and supprising feature.

My second favorite part is game demos from XBOX marketplace. I like to play many different games and I hate the burn from spending $50 on a game that I think looks cool and then sucks. Now I can play all the big name games before launch and make my purchasing decisions with confidence. For example, I would have never contemplated purchasing Eternal Sonata (a game based on a drug induced dream/trip of Fredrich Chopin) without playing the demo. The graphics and game play of ES are astounding and I have high hopes for the game.

The first game I bought was Overlord and it is fantastic. Set in a Tolkein-esque world and you are Sauron trying to reclaim your dark empire. I should put up a formal review in a week, upon beating the game. I will say right now that achievement points are blowing my mind too...talk about addicting.

Darkmoon Faire, The Preparation

2007-06-13T11:58:00.000-05:00

This weekend I shall be attending my first gaming convention in Chicago (actually, Schaumberg) with some of my Nebraska buddies: Darkmoon Faire for the World of Warcraft TCG. I am hoping to score some cool swag and maybe win a game with my combat rogue deck, and maybe swing a bit with my retribution paladin. Also, some sealed action sounds fun. Most importantly, I'm going to show these Nebraskans the glory of Chicago deep dish pizza, since people in NE have no idea what pizza should look like, let alone taste like.

I'm a baaaad Panda

2007-06-08T10:42:00.000-05:00

I don't post enough, and I don't have regular readers...I apologize to the world for the void space of my blog. I vow to change this.

-E

UFC

2006-11-21T11:48:00.000-06:00

Saturday, my buddy Kruegs talked me into getting the UFC fight and hosting what we would call in in Illini-land "A Hang", but in Nebraska "A Party". So I bought some pizza rolls, some double stuff oreos, some diet coke and some Old Faithful, Delicious Bitch, The Nasty Poonanie.....OLD STYLE!! "Follow the yellow brick road to the Wizard of OS"

I must admit that this was my first venture into the land of pay-per-view and my first visit to UFC since Ken Shamrock in UFC 2 (this one was UFC 65). The last time I saw a fight is was Coralles vs. Castillo I, you know the epic 10 rounder where they exchanged round after round only to have 4 knockdowns in round 10 and then the knock-out on the ropes. Now that was a fight.

These UFC fights are either 45 seconds of intensity and a submission or knee/shin to the face or they are 30 minutes of very boring, very gay looking "Mixed Martial Arts". Needless to say, UFC is the shit!! Saw some guy take a shin to the face and he was out!! It was a crazy good time.

I will likely host another UFC Hang and get the boys together for some cigars, Emerald City, and hilarity.

It's Freakin' Cold

2006-11-15T13:35:00.000-06:00

Well, my office-mate, Bryan, and I went to backyard burgers today for lunch and we have decided that it's freakin' cold out. Not only is it cold, but that Nebraska wind is blowing in off the prairie and you have to make sure you don't pee into it. The new fun stuff has been designing a course for next spring and another for down the road. however, some of the planning meetings have become very boring and unfocused. I don't mind a brainstorming session...I do mind spending 3 hours with not everyone in the room and nobody writing down the brain storming session so we can come back to it later.

The end of my line

2006-11-14T10:00:00.000-06:00

The day is finally here that I can no longer stand most people around me... I have long waited for my bipolarness to present its head again and force me to seek the solitude of isolation. I have been trying to be nice and cordial to those around me, as well as still be entertaining, but lately it has been nothing but nastiness and fight picking. Back in the day I used to retreat to my basement, today I shall retreat into my work. Hopefully, I shall re-emerge like a phoenix from the ashes and the World Champion Cardinals will be starting the baseball season.

For you regulars, this means more posts.

WoW, I can waste time

2006-11-09T10:37:00.000-06:00

After 1 year of absence from that magnifecent game known as World of Warcraft (WoW), I decided to log on see what was going on two weeks ago. Since the new expansion was due in November I figured I'd level up to 60 (having left at 52) and be prepared to poke it in the pooper of the scourge when the invasion went down. Since they've pushed the release date to January I have plenty of time to mess around in the world and farm some epic gear. However, yesterday I logged for an initial 25 minute session to check my in game mail see what I had at the auction house etc, etc. Instead I end up questing with a 48 Rogue for 4 hours and leveling to damn near 54.

Hooray for me....Boo for PhD.

Here comes the King....

2006-10-23T13:43:00.000-05:00

The Cardinals have not only made a world series appearance, but they have made a statement...a statement that says "Step off Biatches, we was just playin'...we are the best team in the NL and MLB, don't fuck with the Red Birds or we might murder your family".

Amazing is the only thing I can say about Game 1, Anthony Reyes is the shit.

Lucky is the only thing I can say about Game 2, Jeff Weaver only misplaced 2 pitches that night.

This causes me great joy as I look ahead to next year.

Carpenter, Mulder, Weaver, Suppan, Reyes as starting pitchers....are you kidding me a 5 man bad-ass rotation?!?! And we have the $$ to pick up a quality lefty.

Izzy, Johnson and Wainright in relief, sounds good. Again, we have the money to pick up a quality/proven middle relief and some south paws for the pen.

Rolen, Eckstein, Pujoles, Molina...you don't pull a cog when the engine is on full tilt. We do need a second baseman, not just any second baseman but a young all-star second baseman with defensive prowess and a bat to boot. Sorrie Ronnie, you're fat and slow and getting old...I don't want you here next year. Aaron Miles...I've never liked the look of you and you never seem confident.

Taguchi, Duncan, Encarnacion in the outfield. Sure it's not the greatest, but it's not the worst. Edmonds contract is up and we need to go out and get the best damn center fielder in the game. Convince Edmonds to stay but put him in left or right.

I smell a dynasty cooking, how about you Benny B?

Oh, What A Day!

2006-10-11T11:46:00.000-05:00

Long time, no post. To my regular, I apologize...try picking up the phone, Mikey. To you irregulars, why the fuck aren't you regulars?

Since the last post I have spent a week in San Francisco at the World Grains Summit (i.e. beer conference), written several papers, tried to start a grant application, and repaired a peice of lab equipment that I have been trying to fix for 4 months.

The most important thing right now is that the Cardinals are in the NLCS and they have a shot. I have informed all parties in my life that I cannot be held accountable for behavior, responsible for work, or asked to be on time to anything. That's why I like Cub fans, they never have to take the day off to watch the Cubbies in the playoffs, or get "crazy-go-wild" when the Cubbies advance. If it weren't for you Cub fans out there, the world would stop...you guys are important to us and we need to you show up every day and do your job as best you can....really, I understand your pain....but there's always next year. Is that mentality brutal and cruel.....eh, your damn right it is! But seriously, how can you live a life like that?? Play-off appearances in 1945, 1984, 1989, 2003?? You could live a lifetime and never see your team in a world series, let alone win one....oh wait....

On that note, GO CARDS!!

Remeber that they lap the stadium every world series home game!!!
(here comes the king, here comes the old number one...budweiser beer!)

The Latest Wine Case

2006-09-11T14:29:00.000-05:00

I've been getting requests from some friends regarding what wines I drink and what wines I would recommend. So, today I will be posting the wines that I just bought in the past two weeks.

Reds

Falesco Vitiano ($9.59) WS 90 pts
The '04 Falesco Vitiano is a wine with lovely balance and clean plum, berry and chocolate character; medium body and polished tannins; the perfect house wine if not for the Carchelo.

Fat Bastard Cabernet 2004 ($8.79)
Rigorous parcel selection from 20 year-old vines. Destemming and crushing on arrival at the winery. Maceration for 12 days to extract maximum flavours, followed by fermentation with temperature controlled at 25°C. The fermenting juice pumped over twice daily. Eight months spent on lees, with 4 to 6 months spent in French and American oak. A gorgeous dark red color with blackberry and red currant aromas. Smooth and rich in the glass; soft cedar, spice and vanilla bring this Cabernet to a dazzling finish. Come on people, they only make a cab in an exceptionally good cab year and this is the first one they've made in 7 years.

St. Francis Cabernet 2002 ($15.99)
All the grapes in this classic varietal come from five Sonoma County appellations: Sonoma Valley, Dry Creek Valley, Russian River Valley, Alexander Valley, and Sonoma County. Hand-picked from mid- September through early November, the fully ripened clusters are then crushed into temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks and fermented from eight to fifteen days. The wine is then aged in different lots for fourteen to sixteen months in American and French oak, and then blended. The result is a full-bodied Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon with rich mouthfeel, moderate tannins, and deep color accentuating the taste of black currant, plum, blueberry, and spicy oak. The long and short of this is St. Francis Cab drinks like a $50 cab at 1/3 that price.

Agapito Rico Carchello Monastrell 2005 ($8.79)
This is one of my favorite table reds because of price and because the nose has 15 stone fruits and then the wine explodes in your mouth titilating the palate with blackberry, raspberry, and the stone fruits.

The Gabrielle Collection of Wines Vertex, Just Red 2003 ($13.99)
This red is a proprietary blend of: Cabernet Sauvignon (Lake County), Syrah, Petite Syrah (Lodi), Cabernet Franc (Napa Valley), Merlot, Malbec (Sonoma County). The structure of Cabernet Sauvignon and the deep fruit of Syrah forms the foundation of this supple, lively wine that evolves in the glass. Its juicy aromas and flavors evoke chocolate covered cherries, cassis, and herbs. A fleshy texture delivers richness and presence on the palate. This wine drinks like a $30-40 red and at $13.99 per bottle a half case minimum purchase is required.

Whites

Hess Collection Chardonnay 2004 ($17.99)
Exhibits its signature of proprietary flavors and crisp acidity that originate from the vineyard plantings of a unique blend of seven rootstocks and nine hand selected types of musque chardonnay. This spice rack of chardonnay shows in the aromas of guava, pineapple and orange blossom. Rich and lush, the palate of flavors of pear and vanilla are balanced with nice acidity and evolve through the finish.

Hess Select Chardonnay 2005 ($8.79)
Classic tropical themes of ripe cut pineapple, guava, and lemon zest give the aroma a livley life toward a similiar fl avor profi le of ripe pear, peach, and pineapple on the palate.

Souverain Chardonnay 2005 ($13.99)
The Sonoma County Chardonnay is especially enticing with vibrant aromas of honeysuckle, pear, tropical fruit, citrus notes and toasted almonds. Luscious on the palate, the flavor profile boasts a creamy, round and rich mouthfeel surrounded by flavors of yellow stone fruit, kafir lime and succulent lychee. Flavors of crème brûlée and cinnamon spice on the mid-palate are accentuated by just a hint of smoke. The long, complex finish offers layers of honeycomb and spice as the lingering flavors of pear linger to the end.

Chateau Ste. Michelle Sauvignon Blanc ($7.99)

Chateau Ste. Michelle Indian Wells Chardonnay ($15.19) WS 90 pts
I love this wine, it's like a chardonnay lost in a fog cloud (my apologies for the gay description). The warmth of the Wahluke Slope consistently produces Chardonnays with an appealing tropical fruit character. The Indian Wells Chardonnay is no exception. The wine delivers pineapple and mango aromas with hints of vanilla, caramel and brown sugar spice. This is a luscious Chardonnay with a soft, supple finish.

Dry Dreek Chenin Blanc ($9.59)

Cline Viognier ($10.39)

I Won $300

2006-09-05T19:20:00.000-05:00

Last Friday I was sitting on my porch with and Old Style in hand, just home from a hard morning in the research lab (taking it in the rear by misbehaving centrifuges), and a hard afternoon at The Still pouring our Eagle Rare 10 year, Single Barrel Bourbon. My neighbor Shane O'Mac comes wandering up to the steps and I ask,

"Shane, what do you have on tap this evening?"
"Eh, not much. Why?"
"Let's go to the casino..."
"When do you want to go?"
"As soon as possible."
"O.K., I'm in"

So, we are driving down 27th on our way to I-80 East, but first we must stop for gas. I see a station that is selling unleaded for $2.63 (which is a hell of deal), thus I pull in. As I am filling, a kind 40ish Latino man pulls up, bumping some merenge/mariachi music. He says to me,

"Hey, you going to the state fair?"
"No."
"Where are you from?"
"Illinois."
"Where are you going?"
"The casino, in Council Bluffs."
"Ooooooh, well may the saintos grant you luck and happiness."
(What the fuck?? Mexican Saintos blessings for the casino....is that fair??)
"Thanks....later"

We get to the new Binion's Horseshoe because we all want to be Binionaires and we walk in. I get sassed for my Illinois driver's license with my online renewal sticker on the back and have to tell them how old I am, which becomes a problem. Very rarely am I asked how old am I, even worse, everytime someone asks me my mind goes blank and I have to add it up in my head. Ask me my birthday, I rattle it off; Ask me how old I am, I'm like a lost duck. This guy meanwhile is waiting for me to add it up in my head, probably thinking I'm underage and have a fake ID, but I do finally get it right. However, the old guy is curious now and so he asks me my address. And I'm like 'oh, shit. Is it my home address in Decatur, my apartment address from sophore year in college, my apartment address from junior year in college, or my apartment address from MS?' So I go to old reliable, Decatur address and it works! I'm in the horseshoe.

Now Shane and I go to get our rewards cards, because we want comps and we want to be tracked. Turns out that the Horseshoe will reimburse us up to $500 in losses our first day at the casino, and if we play slots or a table game for 30 minutes we get free buffet.

Figure that the best bet for free buffet is penny slots. We sit down at two $0.02 slot machines and each put in $20. About 3 minutes in I'm up to $70 and I lean over and yell at Shane, "Hey man, I'm up $50." He leans over and says "Hey, I'm up....I don't know, but I have 15,000 credits" ($300) I yell over, "Cash out...wait, 15,000 credits....when did you hit that?" He says, "Third pull, I just was hitting buttons, I didn't know what they did." We end up playing slots so long that the buffet closes. On top of that, I'm only up $20 and Shane's only up $220.

But the real action that night was at the craps table. In the first 5 minutes I lost $70. Over the next 45 minutes I pulled down about $700. In the last 5 minutes I lost $200. I walked in with $200 in my pocket and out with $525. Now I have the funds to buy my Nintendo Wii.

Maynard Mourning Mayhem

2006-09-03T22:50:00.000-05:00

This post is about a week late, but I just didn't have time to get it squeezed in last week. Last wednesday, the super trumpet of the world, the greatest lead player to ever step upon this earth passed from existence into nonexistence. I believe Maynard Ferguson had been teetering on the precipice of existence and nonexistence for quite some time, but old Gabriel got tired and asked The Fox to sit in on lead for a bit in that big band in the sky.

For those of you who know me, you know that I very much enjoy the madness of Maynard Fergusonn and that I have MF Horns 1, 2, 3, and 4/5 as well as the Blues Roar vinyls hanging on my wall in cherry condition only to be listened to a few times a year. The day Maynard passed, I got 3 phone calls, one from my sister, then my dad, and then my old roomie from UIUC, CTP. My dad told me that the albums I had hanging on my wall have just gone up in value (which I highly doubt). The biggest nut shot, though, is that CTP was supposed to go on tour with Maynard, whom just recorded an album over the summer, to promote the new album. In fact, CTP was scheduled to hit the roadin a week or so, but not now.... Sucks, so now he's on cruise ship.

I acknowledged the passing of MF by making a CD that I lovingly call M^3 or Maynard Mourning Mayhem. It is a collection of some of my favorite Maynard tracks both from CDs, vinyls, and boot legs of live recordings. As I listened to the CD with an Old Style in my hand, my neighbor Charlie came out of the building and heard the live cut of "Hey Jude" Maynard did in '73 for the Live at the Great American Music Festival album. He looked at me and says, "This is the version the Beatles should have recorded," and to that I say, "YOU ARE CORRECT, SIR!"

Furthermore I have been thinking about the times I did see Maynard live. The time he played with Bobby Shew at the Elmhurst Jazz Festival back in 1999 when it was Me, LP, and Maragener. The next time I saw Maynard was in Springfield, IL and he opened up the orchestra pit for swing dancing back when that was "the thing". That time I was in row 2, dead center and when MF went to do the hand shake thing during the greatest hits medley, I jumped of 30 people and stepped on feet and got dirty dirty looks, but I shook his hand. Then after that we waited for him by his bus. We say Alfonso Aldolfo Acosta (uber bad dude).

But, the time is no more....jazz can stop...the death of MF is like the death of an Era. They define the time period of Baroque music using Bach's birth and death (1685-1750). I think we should define the jazz era with the birth and death of MF.

Rest in Peace, Maynard.

The 4 R's of Academic Research

2006-08-24T11:35:00.000-05:00

What have I done to anger the gods? Was it my push for the tech-Jesi (e-Jesus, m-Jesus, web-Jesus, and pod-Jesus) over snail-Jesus? Or maybe it was my whole "you betrayed Shiva," Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, act I used when my neighbor took the last Old Style and I made it burn his hand so that I could have it. Then again, he did declare a Jihad against me for stealing his OS. But I'm getting off the subject, 'The 4 R's of Academic Research'....stay the course.

You see, I am trying to finish some research for a conference I have to attend in September where I shall present a poster. My research consists of fermenting ground grain sorghum and pulling samples at different stages of the process, drying down the material and extracting the lipids to determine if any of the unit operations reduce the amount of lipid present. I acquired 4 hot/stir plates and 4 scrw top 1000 mL erlenmeyer flasks and built a hot water bath with submersible water powered stir plates. I also use a Soxhlet for the lipid extractions and a bench-top MEGAFUGE 2.0R centrifuge for separating the whole stillage from the wet grains. Two weeks ago I get my fermentations started and the Soxhlet dies. I figure no biggie, I can store the samples in the freezer and run them all at once over a couple days. Two days ago, my centrifuge stopped working. Now we're talking crazy shit, because research has just stopped.

Yesterday, my advisor and I call the company, and they tell us to basically hot wire the centrifuge. It displayed the message "OPEN" on the panel when the lid was clearly closed, so my first that was bad switch...it makes sense to bypass the switch and force the centrifuge to 'think' the lid is closed. We hot wire the bad bitch with the help of our department electronics guy, who is rather pissed because his hot sandwiches he brought for lunch were getting cold, his insulin was kicking in and his nicotine buzz was wearing off. Anyways, we get the centrifuge to work and I start processing samples to get "research going again".

Next we decide to focus on the Soxhlet and we decide to take the whole Mother F#c*$r apart (the same attitude that drove my mom nuts and drove me to become an engineer...remember kids, you can always hire someone to put it back together). We start to take it apart only to hear a pop from the centrifuge and smell burnt circuitry......research has stopped again. We say "oh well" and go back to the Soxhlet, where we discover a clogged line. I clean the line and put the Soxhlet back together and it works magnificently.

Resesarch is almost back online.

But rather than repair the centrifuge, we decide to borrow one from another lab. This thing is bad, it looks like an old dishwasher or washing machine, it even has dials on it like a washing machine. All it really needs is a quarter acceptor and a pay-per-spin setup. Anyways, this afternoon we will be moving this washing-fuge to our lab.

Oh, and the 4 R's...

Repair, Rebuild, Rig, Repeat

And it begins again...

2006-08-22T14:09:00.000-05:00

Well, the Fall 2006 semester at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln officially started yesterday, the 21st of August. This is technically the beginning of my 9th year of college...how the time flies. Some of my friends have been training for triathalons and marathons and I'm sure they would be happy if I referred to them as triathletes. But me, I'm the exception to the rule. I have been training to be a Decademian, and I am almost there.

The funny thing is that every time a semester starts (this would be my 18th) I get the same feeling of excitement and always look forward to learning more and more about the magnificent world of math modeling. However, this is the first time I have been enrolled in a class and had it cancelled because too few students enrolled. I suppose is was bound to happen eventually, but I didn't think I was getting into the knitty-gritty of biotechnology, or least to such a level that MS or undergrads would not want to learn the magnificence of the various biosynthetic pathways within s. cerevisiae. The coolest part is how those pathways impact ethanol yield and more importantly what compounds are lost from the fermentation broth/mash that are value added co-products that I am interested in extracting from the left overs.

I have another first time experience this semester and that is helping to write/develop a class, which is going under the working title "Unit Operations for Biofuel production". I have always said that I would go to industry and help Uncle Archie to conquer the world with my R&D abilities, but this will test my feelings on teaching. Hopefully, I do not get too attached to teaching, god forbid I have to puss out and give up on world domination by "Unlocking Nature's Potential".

If I won the lottery

2006-08-10T13:36:00.000-05:00

Today I was cruising Yahoo! to read the news about the suntan lotion terrorist plot and about the Isreali's whipping ass in the Middle East. I love Yahoo! because I am a news junkie, but CNN or MSNBC just can't get the news to me fast enough. I want to jump from topic to topic like a fly jumps from pile of manure to pile of manure. If I could I would consume news like my friend Mark Wu, where he TiVo's the CNN and MSNBC all day while he is at work, and then when get gets home in the evening he watches both replays in split screen mode on his HDTV. An HDTV that, as he puts, would make me look more clear through the TV than if I was actually standing in front of him at a similar distance. But the problem with such high definition news on fast forward is that for being so well defined, you wonder about the quality of a news program like that. What are they hiding behind the attractive, young anchor people and flashy graphics? Where has the substsance gone? Another issue I have with the TiVo your news strategy is that you are always 8 hours behind, becuase you have TiVo the evening news while you watch the dual, fast forward, high definition rebroadcasting of the daily news. And if you miss a day, you're only compounding the problem. In the end you get two opinions at once, and no commercials.

But getting back to my experience on Yahoo! this afternoon. As I was purusing the most popular pictures I noticed that the butter cow from the Illinois State Fair was on the list. Being from Illinois and a huge fan of the butter cow I was reminded of a conversation I had with my father once whilst we gazed upon the glory of a life sized cow expertly sculpted from 700 pounds of butter.

Dad: "That butter cow sure is amazing, look at the detail."
Me: "Yep, that is pretty intense."
Dad: "Don't you just want to drive a truck through it, just to see what happens?"
Me: "Up until you just said that, "no, I hadn't", but now it is my life ambition."

If I were ever so lucky to win the lottery, I can tell you right now that I would buy 2800 pounds of butter and have a herd of butter cows so dad and I can drive through not just one butter cow, but four butter cows......Just to see what it does. And we'd probably have to order lots of salt, popcorn, and sweet corn, because you just can't let all that butter go to waste.

I think it's the Wii

2006-08-07T21:31:00.000-05:00

Whilst watching AOTS today I learned that in addition to the zelda game being available for Wii on release day, ubisoft has pledged 7 games. It's looking like there will be a ton of games on release and nintendo will have games to pepper throughout the year. I think it will be the Wii...for now.

Wii or PS3

2006-08-06T12:55:00.000-05:00

How much sleep should one lose over the new generation of video game consoles? Lately the I've been plagued by the PS3. Every morning I wake up and my heart screams "Buy a PS3, you need a PS3", and then my brain says, "Why buy that PS3 when it is still first genereation, remember how XBOX 360 used to overheat and turn itself off? You gotta wait until generation two." My other concern is that there will not be enough titles available for the system on release date. Plus $700 is a lot to pay even for the baddest of the bad console. But then there is Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, that game looks amazing. And the new final fantasy...

My distraction plan was that I would buy a Nintendo Wii which is $200 vs. the $700 for the PS3. A new video game console in the house, aleviate all desire for the PS3. And for a month, that plan worked. Every day I would wake up jonesin' for a PS3 and then I realized that I'm going to buy a Wii and forget about PS3.

Unfortunately, now I wake up everyday and I want a PS3 and then I remind myself that I'm buying a Wii. But now I don't want a Wii and not a PS3, I am trying to figure out some scheme to buy a Wii and a PS3.

Oh, the trials and tribulations of being a gamer.

China Bucket

2006-02-16T20:56:00.000-06:00

So tonight I got a hankering for some chinese food. Since I've only been in Lincoln, I have had chinese food once and that was not buffet (or bucket to those of you who know what I'm talking about). Luckily, my good friend and resident "crazy, vietnam vet" Terry stopped by and was looking for a hang. So I says: "Terry, where is a stinky poon of a china bucket in this forsaken city?"
Terry: "I don't know what the fuck you just said."
Me: "Oh...sorry, too much slang? Would you happen to know the location of a fine Chinese style eatery...buffet....establishment?"
Terry: "No, I don't, but I like crab legs and last christmas when my friend from Texas was here we went to a place south of town that was a chinese buffet."
Crickets:
Me: "Well, do you want to matriculate to the bucket with me?"
Terry: "Sure."
Crickets: "sure" (but in a chirpy sounding voice)
Me: "We're gonna demolish this tasty poon of a china bucket."
Terry: "Damn straight"

It was actually very good, Terry was on the money. For any of you in Lincoln, it was called Jade River Grand Buffet and it's out on 40th and Old Cheney. Its like 8 bucks for dinner and 6 bucks for lunch.

Olypmic Curling

2006-02-16T12:06:00.000-06:00

What is it about curling that I can't stop watching?? They play 10 ends and each end has a 75 min/team time limit. This game takes forever, but I can't stop watching. I think someday I could be an olympic curler, but I'd want to be on the French team so that I could say I was a French curler and then make the obvious joke that I was a French cruler (the donut, not Louis XIV).