Well, I talked to my brother briefly this afternoon (about 1:30), and he's helping to cook over where he's rooming right now. I don't know if we're going to get together today, or not, but at least we got a chance to gab for a bit. We'll see where the day takes us, but I doubt anything will happen at this point. I do know that he's getting fed and chilling out today, so that's a good thing. If I don't hear from him in an hour or two, I'll chow down solo. [update, 5:07pm - He just called and said he wasn't going to make it. That's all well and good, but I missed out on getting together at Danny's due to my sense of family and obligation to him. It's too bad that I can't get together with Dan today, but perhaps sometime this weekend will work out. ]
So far, being on call today has been slow, just a habitual this morning. (I was wondering if there'd be a rash of kids taking off with the force of holiday/family friction.)
"I know I've seen the hymn in a hymnal at a very odd little church on Lincoln Road in Miami Beach (it's hard to describe just how odd it is that there's a church there at all - it's as if they transplanted a miniature Spanish Mission into a largely-gay international shopping mall)... I can't remember if it had music or not, but I may have to drive the hour and a half to find out. " - via Barbelith
The Hymn in Question?
William S. Burroughs - A Thanksgiving Prayer (mp3 format) (The snarky side of things.)
Nifty Cams all over the planet.
Spray-on female contraceptive to start trial
The world's first trial of a female contraceptive spray will begin in Australia early in 2004. The approach involves a new technique for transferring hormones across the skin and a novel low-dose contraceptive hormone.
Separate studies involving each component suggest they will work well in combination, says the Population Council, a US-based non-profit organization involved in the new trial.
The spray will be used daily to deliver Nestorone, a synthetic progestin for which the Population Council holds the rights. Nestorone cannot be used in pill form because it is completely broken down in the gut, preventing it from entering the bloodstream.
Trials in women using Nestorone in a skin gel or under-the-skin implant show it works well and is safe, says Ian Fraser, a reproductive medicine expert at the University of Sydney, where the new trial will be conducted.
But for some women there could be advantages to using it in a spray. For example, the hormone would be transferred almost instantaneously across the skin, so it could not be washed off, unlike a gel.
"This sounds excellent, like it would be very easy for women to use," says Louis Salamonsen, who is involved in contraceptive research at the Prince Henry Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne. "The only disadvantage compared with something like an implant is that a woman would still have to remember to do it every day."
Steady delivery
The spray system exploits the properties of chemicals also used in water-resistant sunscreens. These compounds modify the structure of the outer layer of skin, allowing sunscreen - or in this case hormones - to penetrate.
Trials of the technique for use in hormone replacement therapy in post-menopausal women show that once under the skin, the hormone collects in a reservoir. This reservoir then very slowly diffuses into the bloodstream.
"This means we get a nice steady delivery of the drug - very different to what happens with the contraceptive pill, where there is a quick peak with a rapid drop-off," says Andrew Humberstone, director of research at Acrux, the Melbourne-based company that is commercialising the spray technology.
This could mean that lower doses would be needed in a spray, compared with existing pills, potentially reducing the risk of side effects. It also means a Nestorone spray would not have to be used at exactly the same time every day, unlike current contraceptive pills.
Nestorone itself could have other advantages over current contraceptives. Breast-feeding women could use it knowing that any hormone that was secreted into milk would be broken down in their baby's gut.
"Most contraceptive research today is about giving women a choice," says Fraser. "There are cons with everything. But for some women, I think this will turn out to be an excellent method of contraception." 
So far, being on call today has been slow, just a habitual this morning. (I was wondering if there'd be a rash of kids taking off with the force of holiday/family friction.)
"I know I've seen the hymn in a hymnal at a very odd little church on Lincoln Road in Miami Beach (it's hard to describe just how odd it is that there's a church there at all - it's as if they transplanted a miniature Spanish Mission into a largely-gay international shopping mall)... I can't remember if it had music or not, but I may have to drive the hour and a half to find out. " - via Barbelith
The Hymn in Question?
#90 God of ConcreteMan, that's great. I would really like to hear a chorus of people singing that... Somehow, picturing a congregation wearing choir robes, Green Lantern rings and hard hats is wayyy too nifty to me.
[Frederick R.C. Clarke and Richard Granville Jones]
[from The Hymn Book of the Anglican Church of Canada and the United Church of Canada (1971 edition)]
God of concrete, God of steel,
God of piston and of wheel,
God of pylon, God of steam,
God of girder and of beam,
God of atom, God of mine:
all the world of power is thine.
Lord of cable, Lord of rail,
Lord of freeway and of mail,
Lord of rocket and of flight,
Lord of soaring satellite,
Lord of lightning's flashing line:
all the world of speed is thine.
Lord of science, Lord of art,
Lord of map and graph and chart,
Lord of physics and research,
Word of Bible, Faith of church,
Lord of sequence and design:
all the world of truth is thine.
God whose glory fills the earth,
gave the universe its birth,
loosed the Christ with Easter's might,
saves the world from evil's blight,
claims us all by grace divine:
all the world of love is thine.
William S. Burroughs - A Thanksgiving Prayer (mp3 format) (The snarky side of things.)
Nifty Cams all over the planet.
Spray-on female contraceptive to start trial
The world's first trial of a female contraceptive spray will begin in Australia early in 2004. The approach involves a new technique for transferring hormones across the skin and a novel low-dose contraceptive hormone.
Separate studies involving each component suggest they will work well in combination, says the Population Council, a US-based non-profit organization involved in the new trial.
The spray will be used daily to deliver Nestorone, a synthetic progestin for which the Population Council holds the rights. Nestorone cannot be used in pill form because it is completely broken down in the gut, preventing it from entering the bloodstream.
Trials in women using Nestorone in a skin gel or under-the-skin implant show it works well and is safe, says Ian Fraser, a reproductive medicine expert at the University of Sydney, where the new trial will be conducted.
But for some women there could be advantages to using it in a spray. For example, the hormone would be transferred almost instantaneously across the skin, so it could not be washed off, unlike a gel.
"This sounds excellent, like it would be very easy for women to use," says Louis Salamonsen, who is involved in contraceptive research at the Prince Henry Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne. "The only disadvantage compared with something like an implant is that a woman would still have to remember to do it every day."
Steady delivery
The spray system exploits the properties of chemicals also used in water-resistant sunscreens. These compounds modify the structure of the outer layer of skin, allowing sunscreen - or in this case hormones - to penetrate.
Trials of the technique for use in hormone replacement therapy in post-menopausal women show that once under the skin, the hormone collects in a reservoir. This reservoir then very slowly diffuses into the bloodstream.
"This means we get a nice steady delivery of the drug - very different to what happens with the contraceptive pill, where there is a quick peak with a rapid drop-off," says Andrew Humberstone, director of research at Acrux, the Melbourne-based company that is commercialising the spray technology.
This could mean that lower doses would be needed in a spray, compared with existing pills, potentially reducing the risk of side effects. It also means a Nestorone spray would not have to be used at exactly the same time every day, unlike current contraceptive pills.
Nestorone itself could have other advantages over current contraceptives. Breast-feeding women could use it knowing that any hormone that was secreted into milk would be broken down in their baby's gut.
"Most contraceptive research today is about giving women a choice," says Fraser. "There are cons with everything. But for some women, I think this will turn out to be an excellent method of contraception."
Happy Thanksgiving!
Yummy Chocolate Cabin and Chief Bit-o-honey
Compliments of Gallery of Regrettable food's Party Cake Houses
Yummy Chocolate Cabin and Chief Bit-o-honey
Compliments of Gallery of Regrettable food's Party Cake Houses
Thanksgiving is a wonderful time. It's been all been said before, but it bears repeating.
I feel that it exists as one last chance to dwell in an introspective, love-filled space before the rampant commercialism of Christmas turn us all into mall-dwelling spend-monkeys. That span until Christmas actually arrives can be so crass... I think that breaking through that month-long barrier of frenzy and stress once Christmas finally comes around makes the arrival that much more festive and sacred. Thanksgiving is the last deep breath before diving in, it seems.
I am thankful for so much this year, and for the last few years now. I've learned to be more appreciative, and I think that I have more to appreciate now than in years past. I'm thankful for about every synaptic impulse that hits my noggin through the day. From Newt nuzzling me awake to play first thing of the day to the last letter of text read (on the net or on paper), before I prepare for sleep.
I just feel so lucky to have consciousness. I'm awake. (A lot of the universe isn't nearly that fortunate.) When I add in the love, joy, adventure and creative outlets in my life. I just have to pinch myself.
I'm thankful for having all sorts of love in my life, from my sweetheart, to Newt, to friendships... those that have been steady for ages, some that have been recovered recently after a wide gap, and those that started only this year, but have the potential to last well into the future. I'm thankful for a vocation that uses what knowledge and abilities I have to make a difference in the world, and help people. I'm thankful that I've got a roof over my head, a cupboard full of food, a desire and ability to continue to grow as a person. I'm thankful for all the people that have read my journal and introduced themselves to me. I've met *hundreds* of folks over time with this thing, and I feel that I've learned something good from every one of them. Thank you for being a part of my blessed life.
Getting together with the bro today, if all goes well. I'm on call so I can't do much traveling (no more than 20 minutes from the net to place calls... I wonder if it will be crazy busy or totally quiet? There wasn't a single call last night.)
I'm wondering what we'll have. We could call the Downtown Pizzeria(they still use the ¢ sign on the menu), and get just about anything. when I worked the graveyard shift at IMT, I was so happy that they delivered until 4am, and that they had a huge selection.... I don't see the bro picking anything up on the way over. If for some reason he decides not to make it, I'll hold off, and fix something here out of what I've got in the cupboard.
Dan's D20 / D&D fantasy game went well, he had a decent time, and the rest seemed to have a blast. Apparently strategy and tactics aren't their strong suit, but they enjoyed it, and that's really what counts. From what I hear, the GM has a lot of good potential and the players will adapt quickly enough. They fought a gelatinous cube and some sort of roof-gripping tentacled horror. (The name escapes me. I'll have to ask Danny what that was again.) Apparently they were smacked around pretty thoroughly, but nobody kicked the bucket, which works well enough. There were a lot of critical failures... the paladin rolled a 1, and fumbled into the cube headlong, and they're stuck having to draw him back out again... and the Mage botched a roll on magic missile, shooting a fighter-type rather than the aforementioned wriggly roof-monster.
Dan's still got an aversion to dice that have more or less than six sides and maps on squares rather than hexes, but I think that he realizes that the play is the thing. I imagine that once he gets the full gist of the rules, he'll enjoy it all the more. He's talking about running a game next year at the school (he's got no time or inclination this year) but I have serious doubts if he's got any kind of time.
I wonder what Gelatinous Cubes would look like if D&D maps were originally drawn on hex paper? probably still cube shaped, because they sweep hallways and the like. The cool thing about gelatinous cubes is that it neither digests nor excretes metal, giving an adventurers a reason to kill it and scoop coins from its corpse. It's like some sort of living, deadly, mall fountain.
Many E-book sources in one place. Handy!
Toshiba's new e805 Pocket PC – sporting a large 640x480 resolution display (the first to turn up in a Pocket PC), 160MB of memory, a 400MHz processor, and built-in WiFi.
Art & Architecture is the Courtauld Gallery's online visual resource - some 40,000 images covering, as the name suggests, the visual arts. Sample galleries include Destroyed: ten buildings which no longer exist.. There's lots to browse here.
This looks pretty nice - a $200 PC with Linux. I may get one. I wonder if Lycoris is a decent server OS, since it seems to be sold as a desktop system.
Show and tell music has all kinds of great retro album covers.
One that stands out as rather twisted is Tortura. Don't forget to download the jazzy MP3.
