Christopher says...

Happy Birthday Gordon!

All: Hey anyone want to watch the World Cup Semi's together? They are in the morning but that ain't so bad. I'm also bored to death, anyone want to do a BBQ, trip to boundary bay, or realistically anything to entertain me?

Joyce/Karen: Good news, you can count on me to drive for the camping trip. I hope everyone is as excited as I am about this trip. Did you guys want to get together to do some planning?

Karen says...

::...happy 23rd birthday gordon...::

hah, they don't let us change the time stamp anymore!!

PS: welcome back chris. have a good trip in tw, cindy. =)

NeverGonnaGrowUp says...

d..y...ing.....of heat stroke...

when i arrived in taipei this morning at 5am, it was 31 degrees. i'm in kaohsiung right now, 11am, and it's 35 degrees. i do not want to imagine what the rest of the day will be like...

on the upside, 12hour flight + 3hour stopover + 1hour flight wasn't all that bad. i had lots of fun checking out the flight attendants, oh and of course the flight was made more enjoyable with the constant service of food, food, and more food.

anyhow. so tired. but i have no idea what time zone i'm at...not quite london, definitely not vancouver...the middle east, perhaps? bah.

gonna go and set the fan at a higher setting. talk to u guys later.

Joanne says...

Ah, I've been reading those things for the past couple of months...

It's not the funniest thing in the world because it becomes very very haunting when your supervisor said the exact same words, or you found yourself in the exact same situation like only 2 days ago.

Karen says...

woohoo!!! 2.5 days til joyce is back in vanc!!! =P =P =P

aside:

for grad students and the bored --> www.phdcomics.com
no it's not the funniest thing i've ever seen but it's really cute and unfortunately, highly relevant. =P

Joyce says...

FFFREEEDOMMMM!!!
*doing celebratory run*

Gordon says...

OR...you can just marry a husband who works, cleans AND cooks.

Joanne says...

Cindy is not romantic? If even Cindy is not romantic, then which of the P&C girls IS romantic?

Ladies, the trick is to find a husband with a hefty enough paycheque to afford to a permanent private chef. That way, you won't have to enter the work force OR be confined to the kitchen. And he won't have to do everything in the relationship, which would mean less likelihood that you'll end up with a bitter husband. But you sure will be bored. That's why the hefty paycheque has to afford a cute Cabana boy as well. A Cabana boy who's not gay... My mind is starting to wander, I'll go now.

NeverGonnaGrowUp says...

hi guys! back from europe, but leaving for taiwan in slightly more than 12 hours!

europe's been fun (but also tiring). we got to catch some of the world cup games in the bars. in barcelona we went to a touristy place so no one was cheering, but in paris we were among a bunch of hardcore french soccer fans and that was awesome.

what else. people in europe smokes too much. or maybe it's just that they haven't outlawed smoking in restaurants/bars...and i love metros. so fast and convenient! why isn't vancouver's transit like that?

italian girls are fashionable. pirated goods are sold openly on the streets. oh and we witnessed a pickpocket in rome! she was only 8...

fav cities: vienna. things were very expensive (comparable to london) but who doesn't love castles and random beautiful buildings? barcelona. nice modern city with a very busy street vendors for all your needs. and madrid. awesome tapas we had there, altho chris got me "drunk" so i didn't get to enjoy the nightlife (we were only there for one day. trained in one day and trained out the next).

least fav: sorry but london's air grosses me out. we were washing our faces every chance we've got and ur snot is all black. we caught the changing of the guards at buckingham palace tho and that was impressive.

overrated: maybe it's just me, but i find "romantic cities" highly, highly overrated. (then again, as many of you know i'm the last person on earth who appreciates romanticism. lol) venice. love the rustic feel and the random shops u can find at every corner at first, but the sense of appreciation and adventure quickly wears off when you are getting lost. the streets intertwine, come to a dead end, and signage is very, very confusing. even with a map

anyhow. back to the blog. awww...poor karen. it's okay. cooking IS overrated. just get a guy like chris who will arrange all your nutritional (actually, whether it is nutritional is quite questionable) needs for you by either cooking or has an entertainment book discounts.

Karen says...

cooking for oneself is over-rated. (kTO)
hehehehhe. =P =P =P

recommendations from current playlist:

goo goo dolls - better days. [good song and oooooooh that voice. *swoon*]
nelly furtado - say it right. [move on over paris hilton, listen to a homegrown girl! =)]

Peter says...

wow karen, of all the girls that could have commented on 'women being confined to the kitchen' you had to be the first...

you gotta admit, you shoulda expected to get zinged after that.

*runs away* (oh wait... i'm in china)

Karen says...

SISTERS!!! what are you doing?!?! *lol*.

and GET BACK HERE ALL OF YOU!!! stop running awwaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy................!!!

hehehehehe. i would be SO happy if i never have to learn to cook. =P =P =P.

vivienne says...

I second the motion!

Unknown says...

uhhhhh... movement to put "Karen makes really good juice from concentrate." as quote of the week...

*runs away and died laughing*

Gordon says...

Now guys...don't be mean...Karen can make more than juice. She also has a good handle on very LUMPY mashed potatoes!

Eh..fed election. I was too lazy to apply to vote in my riding in burnaby...and didn't want to be associated with the completely dominated tory province of alberta...

vivienne says...

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA........*also runs away*

Joyce says...

karen makes really good juice from concentrate!!!

*run away*

vivienne says...

Hahah...the problem is, not IF Karen would stay in a kitchen, but if she can actually DO anything in the kitchen. LOL....okay, okay...I'm joking lah! Please don't kill me, K. To....

Karen says...

hmmph! i don't know if anything can confine me to a kitchen. metal bars and steel chains maybe. =P =P =P.

and apparently, i voted tory too. (yep, that's right, i'm in the emerson riding. *shakes head*)

Peter says...

Article in The Economist about Canada's blue-collar labour shortage (I had to post this - see highlighted):

"One underlying problem is that fewer Canadians are joining the labour force. This shrank last year, for the first time ever when the economy was not in recession. Young people are staying longer in higher education. In oil-rich Alberta, fewer women are looking for work. It is not clear whether that is because of their husbands' hefty paycheques or because Alberta's social conservatism is confining them to the kitchen."

In the ECONOMIST for god's sake... lol

P.S. On an unrelated topic, just so everyone knows, I hereby apologize for voting Tory. Didn't turn out the way I thought it would. Apparently, Canadians like the guy.

Peter says...

pat wears short shorts? now i really wanna go back to van.

Gordon says...

apparently...Pat wears short shorts (no, i'm not proud I know that)...

Pat says...

now now... just because Paris is dating a plethra of men does not imply she is sexually overactive. Maybe she just likes to hold hands... like.. a lot. Many hands. Hands on hands on hands.

I just noticed the Go Germany.. who the F put GO GERMANY!?!?!

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO....

on another note: who wears short shorts?

Gordon says...

hehe...silly vvn...that's not paris' voice. it probably really is a kitten's voice plus all of those cool gadgets that some singers use to make themselves sound "good"

and the video... omg..i thought i was watching porn or one of her scandalous videos...hehe

Joanne says...

Haha Vivienne, you're not the first person I know to shamefully admit they like the song...I think THAT's the scary thing o.O

Now that Paris Hilton keeps dating all these guys, it leads you to wonder...does that mean her illicit videotapes can only get better as she perfects her "technique"?

vivienne says...

Hehe...speaking of Paris Hilton, has anyone else heard of her new single yet? (Stars are Blind) I'm ashamed to say...it's damn catchy, even with her sex kitten voice and bad, bad video. :p (it was nothing more than Hilton on a beach romp with a random hottie)

Joanne says...

Gooooooo...Portugal?

WHAT!?!?! Theodore already broke my heart when he decided to go out with Paris Hilton (I started screaming as I was washing my immunoprecipitation and the whole lab rushed in to see what was wrong, hehe) and now I find out that Cloutier may no longer be with the Canucks!?!?! A woman's heart can only take so much grief, people!

I missed out on all these posts. I was in Montreal and wanted to go into Chez Paree (sp?) strip club because that's apparently where the Montreal Canadiens like to frequent...but it was the off-season so I think my chances of running into Koivu or someone would have been slim anyway.

But I bought Italian leather shoes! All's good.

NeverGonnaGrowUp says...

Hi from London! It's our last day of the Europe trip before we head back to Vancouver (where I stay for 30 hours and then fly back to Taiwan for a couple of weeks).

So tired...but it was worth it lol. Talk to you guys later!

Joyce says...

Prinz Poldi!!!!
Bah, where's Collina when we need him? well, at least those red cards will give England some kind of advantage. Two things I'm secretely hoping for:
1) England's "just enough to win" performances are some kind of stradegy to deceive more valuable opponents
2) Ghana will fluke and beat Brazil (mayhaps fat Ronaldo will resume sucking...)

poldi poldi poldi poldi poldi!!!

btw, i love this commercial

Stephen says...

Go Deutschland!!!

Bye-bye Bertuzzi! Finally, we have a real goalie!!! Maybe now we can do decently well for a whole season.

Does anyone else remember how I told Francesco Aquilini that we needed to pick up Luongo? Tim, I know you do.

I called it!!!

vivienne says...

RE: Tim's link...

too friggin' funny. Totally had to re-watch it. XP

Tim says...

This is what will happen to Noronen now that Luongo is here... (an article by TSN):
http://youtube.com/watch?v=KZAMIy5u2dk

Gordon says...

I was a little sad to see Auld go..but seriously...that's what we needed to do...Get rid of Bertuzzi and grab onto an All-star goalie. Look at what rolo did for Edmonton! Hopefully Roberto will do the same for the 'Nucks. It's our time to shine next year!

Karen says...

can someone post on here if/when it's official that cloutier has been let go?? i'm so out of this hockey loop. i need to set aside a minute of silence that day. heheehhe. mucho gracious. domo arigato.

Leaky Wang!!!! says...

wtf, only 1/2 of my last post made it..hrmm. Ok well, sorry for the confusion Pamela. Here it is again. Regarding the weather in Beijing (points and laugh hysterically in nelson's voice) "HA-HA"

vivienne says...

SAME HERE!! I really wanted to see Korea make it....bah.

Wow, I have to say that I'm sad to see Auld go. I mean, he did give us an okay year after a certain Mr. Cloutier left due to whatever < insert body part > injury that he had... :p

But but but...Luongo! X3

Leaky Wang!!!! says...

damn, forgot to include this in last post.

Peter: regarding the weather in Beijing .

Leaky Wang!!!! says...

Haha, lets hear some for Ghana!! YEA! (Even though they're up against Brazil). Hrmm....I think Argentina should progress on to the semis as well.

Unknown says...

2 things:

1. I hoped Korea would make it =( France have had their glory...

2. Good bye and thanks Bert!! You've been entertaining... Hello Luongo!! (and probably Good bye Cloutier mUOAHAHAHAHAHAHA)

vivienne says...

Re: Melting body parts

Hehe...I would say it depends entirely on the person, not just the sex. Say, Michael Jackson, for example...I would argue that his nose would be undoubtedly the first part to go.

Joyce says...

France is through!!!!
As half of the teams were elimiated, I hope FIFA eliminate some stupid referees as well. (btw, what's the proper plural form of referee?) Whoever handed Zidane the second yellow card should be put in front of the net and bombarded with soccer balls shotted by the entire France squad. :p
(*ahem* yeah.. soccer does bring out the worst in me... )
Hehehe... somehow I dun feel sorry for Korea having an offside not being called in SWI v.s. KOR. karma... karma...

GOOO GERMANY!!!!!

Joanne says...

Probably the fattiest part of our body...which for us girls, would probably be our boobs. Does that mean we have to wear a more supportive bra on hot days to avoid sagging...?

Joyce says...

That makes me wonder. If we melt, which part of our body will melt first?

Peter says...

Joyce says...

Seems like everyone are backing Germany. yay.

:( Owen's out for the tournament.

Stephen says...

Deutschland will crush all opponents! Beginning with Sweden. Brazil better step up their game if they hope to stand a chance this year.

We will still crush them, though.

Joanne says...

Haha Chris, when you come back to Toronto, it'll be 32 degrees celcius as well!

NeverGonnaGrowUp says...

HI FROM EUROPE! (32 Celcius in Madrid, to be specific)

from cindy: waaaaaah so much posting. will have to catch up with the reading later. could i suggest to the admins to create a crib sheet of the week on the sidebar or something? lol.

from chris: (he´s been entertaining me by making up songs of death thanks to the heat)
Bah, I can feel the skin melting off my body. Sight seeing isnt that entertaining to begin with and adding on insane temperatures leads to much suffering and death. The trip has been going well with just Paris left on the docket. We´ll be back on the 27th. Maybe we can catch some World Cup games together. (Ppl here aren´t that crazy about the world cup here as one might suppose. I still bought a t-shirt though, while i was in germany. ) Shame I missed the hockey playoffs, having Edmonton make game 7 of the finals was almost worth them having knocked the canucks out. Almost.

Anyhow, my keyboard is melting.

Death approaches swiftly...

vivienne says...

THANK YOU OILERS for a great year!!!!! I'm so proud of you guys!!!!!!!!!!

Stephen says...

Go Oilers and go Deutschland. Beyond that, there is nothing more to say.

Joyce says...

Also, we can watch the 3rd place game on Saturday!

Darn exams!! I missed all the games today, and will miss them tomorrow! Good thing England and Germany are both playing on Tuesday.
YAR!! The underdogs are doing pretty well... even Australia. ahh, i heard about the Italy v.s. USA game... haha.. that's completely random!!! Let's hope England and Germany won't meet during the round of 16. Rooney and Ballack are both back in the games... and I'd definitely like to see more of them. Looks aside *ahem*, the brazillians may be good at manipulating the ball within 1m of their legs, but you gotta give it to Beckham for those long and god-so-perfect passes. now THAT is some great control. ( :p ... i gotta gush on this one)

FINGERS CROSSED FOR GERMANY!!!!!!!!

Leaky Wang!!!! says...

Phew! Joyce, THANK YOU (!!!) for that lovely post which totally made my day. Aigh, knowing that we'll be tuned in to catch Brazil vs. Germany (hopefully, then it's ALL good. BTW, is it just me, or are the underdog teams doing quite well this year? Did anyone catch the Ghana vs. Czech Republic or Mexico vs. Angola? Man! Those African players can run like hell! I have no idea how Ghana lost to Italy from the totally dominating game they played against the Czechs....well, and how the Italians tied the Americans. Then again, that was just plain shitty luck. I hear Argentina is playing pretty well along those lines too- fast running + good team interactions. Gotta say, this is definitely turning out to be a VERY interesting world cup. The underdogs are giving some big teams their money's worth...which just makes it even better for fans to watch. Booya!

vivienne says...

GAME 7 GOOOOOOOOOOO OILLLLLLERRRRRRSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Joyce says...

****ATTN: LIKAI****
haha.. I had the same panic last week with leo. We even TRIED to change camping to 21-23 (u know that we moved the trip a week early because 15's booked right?).
Leo and I had a "worst comes to worst" plan - we'll pack up early and rush to the RESORT CENTER. yes, manning park is NOT in the middle of no where. it has resort. There are tons of places in the resort to watch, especially THE BAR, where we can all enjoy some beer and watch the game. Don't you bail on the fellow soccer fan slash camper!!!!!

on a lighter note
I have no TV in the dorm room, and that day when i realized i'll only be able to catch 2 games in vancouver and miss the final during camping, I was sooooo upset that I couldn't even study that day. hahhaa.... Then I remebered there's a big screen sony TV at hour lounge (now that's tuition well spent), AND a great sports bar 3 blocks ahead. :p

Leaky Wang!!!! says...

Hey guys, I just freakin noticed that the days for the upcoming camping trip falls on the last day for world cup. Now, does someone have a small portable TV to bring? 4 years is a bloody long time to wait for soccer...so in that case, are there small towns in the vicinity which we can go to to catch the last game? Lets hear some thoughts

Gordon says...

I am SO proud to be a Canadian!!

Here is a clip from the third round of the playoffs. Oil fans take over the anthem, and sing at a decible level louder than a jet taking off. Truly a spontaneous type of moment, and kudos to Paul Laurieau for just standing back and letting it all happen.

Even Bryzgalov is smiling, and Joey Moss is just beltin' it out in the back ground- CLASSIC!

Nothing short of magic, and for those lucky enough to be there..this won't be a moment they will be forgetting any time soon.

So whatever happens in game six tonight, it was one hell of a race to the finals...

Go OIL!

Unknown says...

well... lol... we used to dump it down with a lot of water... which isnt that great for the environment i guess.... But you should reuse your etbr until your gels look like crap.... or if you are publishing....

vivienne says...

hehhe..thanks all for the advice.

New question: how do your labs get rid of Ethidium bromide waste? we're thinking of implementing the "Green Bag" or tea bag system. Anyone have any comments on how good it is? Karen told me that Terry Fox labs use it....

Joyce says...

It's now 10:40 EST, and NO ONE is on msn or has posted anything.
are you guys out having fun?? huh? huh??
alright... back to operative dentistry..

*cough*I recently have some youtube.com addiciton problem....

Gordon says...

You would think that a job where you do nothing and just msn, email, sudoku, socialize and eat would be awesome... but really, it's boring as hell after doing that for a month for 8 hrs a day. I think I would prefer to work at McDonald's at Metrotown on a boxing day than work another summer in research.

Damn you SickKids and Toronto!

Oh a happier note.... OILERS ARE STILL IN! and it's jason's bday! (Happy bday!...do you still check this blog?)

Karen says...

PS: joyce, you can take my HK plans off the calendar now. my mom just cancelled my plane ticket yesterday. *sob*. now i'm gonna aim christmas!! MUST GO BACK TO THE HOMELAND. *sigh*.

Joanne says...

Happy (I believe it's 24th?) Birthday Jason!

Viv: You can only Western Blot assuming that you have an available antibody for this protein that you're trying to find....cause it sounds like a pretty exotic plant you got there o.O. So go with Ben's suggestion first and do some sequence alignment. You can do that at Pubmed and do an Entrez search on a protein. Then do a lot of googling to see what biotech companies would have an antibody to a conserved region (assuming there is no antibody that specifically states it cross reacts with your species' protein).
THEN you can Western blot. If you REALLY want to confirm the identity of your protein (or just want to know the exact amino acid sequence), and your supervisor has money to throw away, I suggest going the Mass Spec route (and I know for a fact that UBC has a facility to do that). Homogenize your sample as Ben suggested (but make sure you include protease inihibitors and keep everything cold!!!) Run your sample on two gels in tandem. Transfer and Western Blot one of them, and stain the other gel with Coomassie or something (it's a dye that binds to protein bands in a gel). Based on your western blot exposure, cut out the corresponding band in the non-transferred gel, dialyze A LOT, and send it off for MS analysis.
OR...you can just dump the entire homogenate onto a 2D gel, and send it off for a proteomics analysis (which also uses mass spec) and see if your protein has a hit.

Karen says...

happy birthday jason, who has been SOOOO MIA this year. jason, WHERE ARE YOU??? have a great one nonetheless. =P

Joyce says...

I uploaded some more pictures to the P&C slide shows. Enjoy!

two more exams.. and 2.5 weeks more to go!!!!

Karen says...

also try pubmed-ing. if you're using a cell line, or a common species, lotsa times other ppl have done similar experiments. but umm, yeah, western blot would be the way to go. try sucking up to neighboring labs. someone must have stuff you need. =P

Peter says...

wait... you mean to say that... you guys.... you're actually... USING what we learn in school?!?!
i thought that was just crazytalk... i mean, you hear about it sometimes... but to actually KNOW people who.... omg... you guys are like my heros

Unknown says...

Viv,

I suggest do an alignment first... If you align it to a known gene with a known protein product... you've got some prelim evidence.

You can do a quick immunoprecipitation on whole cell protein extract. This is probably easiest, just lyse, homogenize, spin spin spin and hope your protein didnt denature.

You can look for a mRNA transcript. Since you have the intron sequences, you might be able to design some oligo's, which you can then tag radioactively, and do a Northern on whole RNA extract.
Of course, presence of mRNA may not mean the protein is being expressed (mRNA may be degraded too fast)... but it's supporting evidence.

vivienne says...

Haha...of course it would be important to know the month too. It will be in August.

PS. Does anyone know of any way to find out if a gene is actually expressed as a protein product without having to isolate the proteins (and then doing a Western blot?)

As a side project, the lab I'm working in is researching an interesting little family of parasitic conifers, Parasitaxus. Interestingly enough, all the sequences of the mentioned family have introns that may possibly code for a protein product. Unfortunately, the lab also doesn't have protein researching instrument thingies. :p

....yay for parasitic trees!!!

vivienne says...

The Tofino trip, as Leo and Gordon has informed me, will be from the 20th to the 23rd.

Peter says...

wow, when it's dead it's really dead huh?

anyway, approximately when are you guys planning to have that tofino trip? anyone know? just curious.

Peter says...

at first, i was like, what the hell is li kai studying for? and then i realized... SHIT... it's summer LSAT season. pretty sure it's over now, but a belated good luck to you man... hope it felt like a breeze. if i remember correctly, you were already hittin some high scores more than a year ago. you were born to rock this thing man haha

Unknown says...

good luck Likai! Own that thing!

Gordon says...

Joyce : I'm actually back in vancouver on the 4th...

Karen says...

for the trivia buffs: the standard bubble tea cup holds 700 mL.

(i had a conversation with a P&C member about this. i forget who.)

Karen says...

more...

august - bengay in europe!!
gary comes back sept. 3rd

Pat says...

haha.. omg.. i just saw the calendar of events on the side.. does no one else find that amusing?!?!

hhahaha... __ leaves for ___, __ comes back ___.. omg.. what a whirlwind.

Leaky Wang!!!! says...

WORLD CUP 2006!!! It's been too long...

Karen says...

- 4th annual P&C camping trip!!! -

hehehe. yeah can you believe we've done this for this long? anyway, just a quick heads up. it's SET! i just booked the campsites. 2 of them. july 7th to 9th. manning park (lightning lake). a whole lotta stuff to do there. please read my email for more info. =)

Joyce says...

AAAHHHHHHH

am I the only one still in school??

kidnap me!!!!

Leaky Wang!!!! says...

damn double post, shoulda mentioned this in them lst blog post. So, in the gist, me bouncing Viv = catapulting her from air mattress and annoying the hell outta her

Leaky Wang!!!! says...

ok, so it seems a bit of clarification is needed. 2 camping trips ago when the group went to Beaver lake, Viv was sitting on one of them inflatable mattresses busy vegetating or something. I took advantage of the situation by rushing in and jumping on the opposite end of the mattress, which ended up catapulting her into the air, and consequently freaking/annoying her a bit. Hahaha, from there on I kinda poked some fun at her from time to time about that incident, and the fact that she's so skinny...which in general is just for the sake of annoying her.

Stephen says...

Hahaha... no sign-up for Viv.

Ummm... Bouncing asses? What exactly did you mean by that comment? Because it sounds a little... forward.

FUCKING OILERS!!! WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT HIT BERGERON? WAY TO TAKE OUT YOUR OWN GOALIE IN THE STANLEY CUP FUCKING FINALS! AND FUCKING CONKLIN LET IN THE SHITTIEST GOAL! TURN YOUR GODDAMN HEAD AROUND AND SEE IF YOUR OWN FUCKING PLAYER IS BEHIND YOU BEFORE CLEARING IT AND LEAVING AN EMPTY FUCKING NET!!!!

FUCK!

vivienne says...

Li-kai: Skinny ass, eh? Hahah....it wouldn't be so bad except for the fact that you're not so plump in the posterior yourself. :p Bring it!

Peter says...

LOL

Pat says...

no one is bouncing anyone's ass during camping. If you plan to, get your own site!

Leaky Wang!!!! says...

Viv: I'm gonna have to bounce your skinny ass like 30 ft next time our group goes camping! Buahaha

vivienne says...

it's official...g-mail hates me. :p why can't I sign up!!!!!?????? argh!!!!!

Karen says...

viv: n/p!... i mean... you should repay joyce and i by coming camping with us =) =) =). c'mon...us two are organizing for the first time...how about giving some face la??? =P =P =P i'll bug you about that later, be forewarned.

PS: i actually don't particularly like gmail. it's too techie and the layout is unpretty. but it's good for sending and storing huge attachments.

vivienne says...

Karen, Joyce, Ben and Gordon: hehe...umm...thanks for the g-mail invites. ^^;;;;

Gordon says...

Likai...Deeeeeeeeeep breath... You're almost there buddy!

Viv: welcome to the world of GMAIL. Enjoy!

vivienne says...

I always knew Li-kai was a wacko. Hahahah....

Steve or anyone with G-mail accounts, could you send me a g-mail invite to bisuketto@email.com? I would love to get a G-mail account 'cause I just LOVE getting emails about extending penises and/or extending erections all the time in my other two accounts. :p

Leaky Wang!!!! says...

WAHAHA...looks like I'll have to re-route the secondary couplings. AGAIN. Damn bugger engineers can't seem to get the primary right. Also, which dumbass came up with the speed of the Millennium Falcon as being able to make the Kessel run in less than 12 parsecs?

Stephen says...

I have received an email from Karen recently that informs me that none of you have my email. FOR SHAME! It's stephennap@gmail.com. If you spam me, I'll feed you to lions after peeling off all of your skin and dipping you in salt.

Beyond that, I did enjoy Ben's foray into humour, quite nerdy.

Now it's time for tea, Earl Grey, hot.

Leaky Wang!!!! says...

all work no fun make leaky go crazy all work no fun make leaky go crazy all work no fun make leaky go crazy all work no fun make leaky go crazy all work no fun make leaky go crazy all work no fun make leaky go crazy all work no fun make leaky go crazy all work no fun make leaky go crazy all work no fun make leaky go crazy all work no fun make leaky go crazy all work no fun make leaky go crazy all work no fun make leaky go crazy

Leaky Wang!!!! says...

OMG...Ben! What have you done...You biochem people...sigh, the nerdiness level just keeps on sky rocketing. Dammit! Quickly! Someone break out some uber banal sci-fi lines to counter balance the nerd level with an unhealthy dosage of geekdom. Captain Picard demands nothing less!! Make it SO!

vivienne says...

Hahahaaa....I like the fact that Ben posted like THREE times...hahah...

HEY! I want one of those pipette pens! Hahah...Ben and I were at sushi last week or so, and the guy sitting at the next table had one and I was sooooo jealous. We were so checking out that pen and almost asked the guy where he got it from ...LOL

I like this the BEST from the many many jokes that Ben posted:

RNA Polymerase: "C'mon baby, let's keep going."
mRNA: "I told you UAA means UAA!!!"

Karen says...

*lol* and ben hasn't even started gradschool yet. thumbs up to getting a running start to living and breathing science =P. btw, i love sticky-ended ligations. they always work oh so well!! and this one i don't know, what's an eppendorf pipettor pen??! i need to attend more product shows.

also: (psst, joyce, leaky wang also graduated this year.)

Gordon says...

Viv...LOOK what you started.

Joanne says...

11. You pick up a Biostatistical Consultant in the lineup to a club because he overheard your theory that the Mutant X gene (ref. X-Men) has to encode either a transcription factor, or a chaperone protein.

Hey! I have one of those Eppendorf pipette pens. I love it!

Unknown says...

THE TOP TEN WAYS TO KNOW YOU'VE BEEN A BIOCHEMIST TOO LONG:
1. You have a favourite amino acid
2. The spectrophotometer is your friend
3. You know what a restriction enzyme is and know that Sex A1 is one of them
4. You own or have worn an article of clothing which has stated that "Topoisomerase kicks ass"
5. You've drank from a 50 litre tub filled with vodka and no name fruit punch
6. You own or want an eppendorf pipettor pen
7. You've done so many assays involving absorbance that you "believe" that you no longer need a spectrophotometer and can read absorbances with your eye
8. You diligently watch every sci-fi movie involving DNA and identify the type of helix and left or right handedness and then explain to everyone around you how it should have been "11 base pairs per turn!"
9. You can perform 60 continuous enzyme assays; simultaneously
10. You have timed yourself assembling a Bio-rad electrophoresis unit blindfolded.

Unknown says...

Primer to Template: "Hey baby, does that polymerase go all the way?"

RNA Polymerase: "C'mon baby, let's keep going."
mRNA: "I told you UAA means UAA!!!"

DNA Strand 1: "Hey baby, want to ligate? Our sticky ends were made for each other"
DNA Strand 2: "Keep your sticky end to yourself or the next ligation you perform will be blunt ended!"

A-Helix: "Hey baby, want to anneal?"
B-Helix: "Get lost! I don't turn that way!!"

Unknown says...

Two hydrogen atoms walk out of a bar. The first turns to the second and says,
“Oh no! I think I’ve left my electron in the bar!”
“Uh-oh… Are you sure?”
“Yes!! I’M POSITIVE!”

Q: How do you eat DNA?
A: With a replication fork

Q: A gang of mutations were caught red handed during mutagenesis. When confronted, all of them confessed except one. Why?
A: He was a silent mutation

A fellow accidentally ingested some alpha-L-glucose and discovered that he had no ill effects. Apparently he was ambidextrose.

Unknown says...

I think, therefore I amide.

vivienne says...

Ahahahah....I'm bored so I'm posting chemistry jokes.

A group of organic molecules were having a party, when
a group of robbers broke into the room and stole all
of the guests joules.A tall, strong man, armed with a
machine gun came into the room and killed the robbers
one by one.The guests were very grateful to this man,
and they wanted to know who he was. He replied: My
name is BOND, Covalent Bond.

A small piece of sodium which lived in a testube fell
in love with a Bunsen burner. "Bunsen! my flame! I
melt whenever I see you" said the sodium. The bunsen
burner replied :"It's just a phase you're going
through".

And...especially for Joyce:

What do you call a tooth in a glass of water?
A one molar solution.

Christopher says...

Heya Guys, I'm off to Europe so I won't be back for a while. So I'll just leave some messages:

Karen/Joyce: Go ahead and plan the camping trip. I'll be there! Thx for taking charge.

Peter: ConGRATS!!! Its a bit belated but nonetheless heartfelt. You've made it!

Joyce/Joanne: Oooh, I might be heading to Albany during Labour Day weekend (If I don't have class again, even maybe even if I have class lol). I would love a day trip to NYC so I can gain pleasure from knowing Toronto isn't really that horrible.

Joanne says...

Sure, I can help you move. As long as shopping is in order ;).

Joyce says...

I'll be back in NY on Aug 28th, and I'll be moving into the apt.
hehehe... of course there'll be a place, but you may have to tolerate the mess and maybe help me move??

Joanne says...

Speaking of shopping in New York...

JOYCE!!! Is there room at your place to stay for the Labour Day long weekend? It's either that or coerce Eddie into coming with me so I can stay at some investment banker's place, but if watching Sex and the City is any indication, i-bankers seem scary...(recall the episode when Carrie convinces her Italian cashmere sales associate friend to leave her husband).

Joyce says...

PETER!!! You get by the commie's firewall? Beware of those tanks, they may run you over.
hmmm... u got me thinking: the tears, sweats and blood of a D1.
The tears of joy when there's no exam for a week.
The sweats of doing wax ups in the lab full of bunsen burner
And the blood shed when banging ur hand into the drill........

sorry ben, your post is edited to accomodate the margin

Gordon says...

haha..yeah, seems like a lot of posts happened eh? I think it's just boredom at work for most people.

I would say Karen is schizo. Bipolar is too "nice" of a disease.

Peter: UofA is about 30,000 vs. UBC's 35000 so it's about the same. But the schools is definitely NOT isolated like UBC is. It's actually just shy of Whyte ave, which is the "downtown" of the south side (minus the huge buildings and major shopping centre) and where all the craziness happens when the oilers win a series/game. But after one month of school, you'll get to know whyte ave pretty well.

Peter says...

hey, i graduated this year too! dang incompetent admins... if i were an admin, i wouldn't forget me...

gordon: thanks for the tip... i sure hope i'll like it... even tho i've heard lots about it being too isolated... uofa is like the same size as ubc in terms of student population right?

leaky: thanks man, you'll be joining me soon enough in complaining about the tears, sweat and blood of 1L... coming back to van july 20th.

Unknown says...

PPPPPPFFFFFFFFTTTTTTTTTWWWWWWOOHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAH
I almost died laffing when I read Likai's post....
bipolar PPPPPFFFFFFTTTTTTTTTAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA just maybe!!

anyways, is it just me or did the blog explode in terms of posts today.... it like died for a week and now all of a sudden everyone is alive again....

20 BAGS?!? I'm so glad im a guy =)

Joyce says...

Cindy: you'll just need 1 or two. Just come visit me in Manhattan and I'll take you shopping.

Gordon says...

Admins: I'm not in Edmonton anymore! (although I really really really really really really wish I was right now).

Congrats pete... buy lots and lots of coats. You'll love edm..it's da bomb...and home of the western conference champs!

Cin: you should get some of those blue-red-white bags that asian people always use. they are light so you can pack all your clothes in it and ship it to NY. It's cheap to do that too! That's what i had to do when i went to edm...

Joanne: I always thought that rich's problem was his mom...

Joanne says...

Cindy: You have 20 handbags?!?!?! Sigh, soooooo jealous! My sisters made me leave my beloved ones behind so now I only have three with me...and one of them has seen better days... Have you considered UPS ground? It's quite affordable (I mean you're gonna have to pay for your extra luggage on the plane anyway) and all you have to do is find a big cardboard box (you can get some from Staples), and pack everything in. You'd be surprised how much you can fit in there. Plus, you save yourself the hassle of having to lug everything from the airport, to Chris's place, back to the airport, and then to Albany...

Leaky Wang!!!! says...

Peter: Congrats to your acceptance! When are you coming back to Vancouver?

Leaky Wang!!!! says...

Hrmmm karen, are you bi-polar?

Karen says...

PPS: cindy, take your top 5 favorites, donate the rest, and i'm SURE new york has bags awaiting your arrival!! =)

NeverGonnaGrowUp says...

joanne: hmm. chris is only enjoying couple-hood because he's never had it better as a bachelor. sorry papie :D

anyhow. i'm currently packing for albany and though i love folding things neatly and jamming things in every other space i've got, i HATE decisions. how many of each things do i need?!?! e.g. of 20 handbags, can i take 10? that's only 50%...(chris freaked out when i said i had 20)...

p.s. i'll have 3 suitcases in total (one of which i'm leaving with chris until my weekend visit to TO in september/october ish), but i only have 1 with me right now so the answer "whatever will fit in ur suitcase" doesn't work. (will need to buy 2 more in tw)

this is really a test of self control. im sure if u give me zero handbag i'll survive, but why would i leave all 20 handbags behind?! esp if my mom sells the house and i'll never see them until i open up the storage unit again...

Karen says...

woah woah woah. before this gets outta hand, i'd just like to say... i'm a multi-faceted, multi-layered, complex being. you guys have seen nothing yet! =P =P =P *cue my "pulse" wink* hehehehehe. (hmm, i think i stole the 'multi-faceted/multi-layered' bit from a loreal shampoo or hairdye commercial...hahahaa.)

peter!! now how did i survive the past couple months without your mockery of me?! no wonder pat's been working double time since you've been gone! =P welcome back to the blogging world. i'm expecting to be floored by your impressive grasp of the chinese language when you get back!

PS: joanne, i don't get it!! and i read it over like 3 times. *lol*.

Joanne says...

I haven't posted in a long while...

1) Cindy, you're lucky to find a guy who won't run away at first mention of rings. In fact, I know of an anesthesiologist who needs a good talking about how to committ - I'll refer him to Chris once you guys come back from Europe. That way I can stop counselling his girlfriend.

2) I'm quite impressed with Gary's school poem!

3) The softer side of Karen...is this sorta a continuation of how she was really really sweet to Dr. Strynadka on the last day of class?

4) Joyce: from my personal experience, a good default answer on an Immunology exam would be IL-6. Sure, IgG, but that's only with regards to antibodies. On the other hand, cytokines make the [immunology] world go round. Monocytes differentiate, antibodies are secreted, adhesion molecule upregulation...all these things cannot happen without a cytokine. And IL-6 does all those!

Ok, enough geeking it up. Actually, an excerpt from my conversation with Eddie yesterday. This is applying science theory to finance.
Joanne: "All I know how to do is use calculus to prove that perpetual motion is impossible [if you guys remember, it's in the weird useless theoretical notes we took down in physical chemistry], so there's no way you guys can calculate perpetuities because they don't exist!"
Eddie: "Actually perpetuities do exist if you apply an inifinite denomination to it."
Joanne: "Well if you have to apply an inifinite denomination to it, it's an imaginary value! You business people are crazy."

Unknown says...

Hmmmm are we the only ones that know about the softer side of Karen *cue toilet paper commercial music*

Viv you should explain, you did it better than I did last time

Peter says...

sweet, i just found a really easy way to bypass china's firewall... it only took me 4 months! woo! here goes my first post:

like gordon said... ok seriously guys, what happened to karen?

i prayeth you answer me quickly or i won't be able to sleep tonight

Gordon says...

haha... i almost thought he was a stalker.... unless you talk to him regularly!

Joyce says...

The morning of my immunology exam....
Breakfast Cart guy: you have exam today right?
Joyce: yes
Breakfast cart guy: immunology right?
Joyce: yes (pre-coffee, so my answers are limited to less than 3 words.)
Breakfast cart guy: when in doubt, put IgG.
Joyce: *speechless*

Actually, making breakfast outside of my school's his day job. He is a nursing student.