I just want to say that this somehow gives me a tiny thrill, like reving your car engine.



~J(R)

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/19/opinion/19thu2.html?ref=opinion

*Note: the author fails to mention all the douches who ride bikes like morrons on campus, nor the rates of bike accidents.

Theft insurance.

Unfortunately, it seems that Dixie's webpage is down until at least Jan 1st. At least this will give me some time to work on the revamp before re-publishing it . . . though it might possibly be under a new domain name. Time will tell.

~J(R)

also . . . there are sign ninjas. I knew they existed.

Christ, I'm so fucked up. I'm starting to question weather or not my parents care about me, or if they approve of my marriage, or maybe I did something to offend them.

So, today we got some bad news from our wedding location, The Brookdale Inn. Turns out that yet another one of their key employees has unexpectedly quit due to problems with the owner. our previous two event coordinators did the same, and now this time it was the head chef for the Brookdale restaurant. This is the last straw. I could no longer ignore the fact that this place is woefully disorganized, and if we continued to have our wedding here, there would be no guarantee that we could trust the Brookdale staff to perform.

When the manager called to tell us the news, I flipped out. I told him how disappointed we've been and how unacceptable this kind of business is. Finally, I demanded our deposit back and informed the manager that we would no longer be having our wedding there. The manager was more than apologetic, and agreed to give us our money back. But even with this small victory, I can't help but feel depressed about that fact that in just a few moments we went from thinking that the majority of our work had been done for us to having to start from scratch again.

Fuck,
~J(R)

Hello Everyone,

Well, It looks like it's that time again: The flood of yearly top-ten music lists. Of course, I was only reminded to do this by ninjafuzz's post, as per my usual M.O. Anyway, without further ado, here is my top ten, with accompanying links where possible:

#1. Green Day: 21st Century Breakdown.

This has been easily the top played album on my ipod since I downloaded it, especially the song "Peacemaker". It reminds me a lot of American Idiot, which I also loved, and honestly I don't care if Green Day 'isn't punk anymore', because folks . . . hate to break it to you, they never really were. In any case, if you're looking for musical crack . . . you've found it. I can't get enough.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vY3M6SedJHU

#2. Janelle Monae: Metropolis

This album was a surprise for sure. I was pointed to it by my very own [Bad username: incorporeal girl] almost by accident. The whole album is fashioned by a storyline set in the futuristic era of 'Metropolis', a land where androids are essentially slaves of the human race, but are beginning to become self aware. I love the sci-fi overtones, Janelle Monae is beautiful, and the energy is through the roof. I love the Many Moons video too . . . check out that hair!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHgbzNHVg0c&feature=related

#3. Muse: The Resistance

This is probably the most expected entry into the top ten list of all. I love Muse, and in my opinion they've become one of the best bands of the 2000's decade. Black Holes and Revelations still makes a prominent showing in my music rotation, and I think that The Resistance will probable share some of that space. I particularly enjoy the classical music influences that you can quickly identify in any of the tracks on this album. Overall, its like Queen went on an epic journey into space and came back to fight the establishment with rayguns.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioG2jR-obac&feature=related

#4. The Living End: White Noise

I've been a fan of The Living End ever since discovering them thanks in large part to Guitar Hero 3. Their Australian Punkabilly styling appeals to me on some more primitive level. Its fun and gritty, and honestly these guys just rock their fucking asses off.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9t9YhqATTIw

#5. Mos Def: The Ecstatic

Its not often, unfortunately, that hip hop albums appear on my top tens, but Mos Def deserves a place here this year, for certain. This album is an intelligent observation of middle eastern themes in hip-hop. Which to be fair, I've not really ever heard yet. The album isn't perfect, but it is good. I think [Bad username: incorporeal_girl] is probably tired of hearing it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNGpuZkd5V8&feature=related

#6. Flogging Molly: Swagger

Would you believe that even though Flogging Molly has made an appearance on all of my music ton tens that I had not yet bought their break-out album 'Swagger'? Well, believe it. Its amazing, and you should go out and get it right now if you don't already own it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=att42wPHKnk

#7. Incubus: Light Grenades

I came to know Incubus in High School right around 1998 when the song Pardon Me first became popular. When their album "Morning View" came out, I quite enjoyed the more haunting lyrics and general feel. "Light Grenades" isn't their best, but it is good, and reminds me of that feeling I had in High School, when science and magic still held equal footing in my imagination.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2kOB6Gf10w&feature=related

#8. Me First and the Gimme Gimmes: What A Drag AND Take a Break

Ok, ok, I know . . . technically it's two albums, but really, I downloaded them both at the same time, and I love them equally. Punk covers of ridiculous songs, what could be better?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koxmm-xFbR8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ymx8bHBigek

#9. Kings of Leon: Only by the Night

Ok, so, admittedly, this isn't the best album ever, I bought it as an impulse after listening to live 105.3 after work for too long. It does have a couple good tracks, but overall I think I wouldn't recommend it. It made the list because I didn't listen to too many new albums this year. However, one kind of cool song to come from this: Closer. See the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkGhDHP093M

#10. Pitbull: I know you want me, Calle Ocho

Not even a whole album for my number ten spot, just this song. Its an awesome club-tune, and it followed me back from Peru.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2tMV96xULk

*Must be read using the voice of Walter Cronkite, or Daniel Day Lewis from 'There Will Be Blood'*

Cooties

Cooties is a non-scientific term in North American English used by children for an imaginary "disease" or condition said to infect through contact, often with someone being accused of being dirty or a child of a different gender. The term may have originated with references to lice, fleas and other pests. A child is said to "catch" cooties through any form of bodily contact, proximity, or touching of an "infected" person. The phrase is used by children aged 5-10.[1]



Etymology

The word may be derived from the Filipino kuto, literally head lice.[2]

The earliest known recorded uses date back to memoirs from the First World War. Albert N. Depew's World War I memoir, Gunner Depew (1918), includes: "Of course you know what the word "cooties" means....When you get near the trenches you get a course in the natural history of bugs, lice, rats and every kind of pest that had ever been invented."[3] Similarly, Lieut. Pat O'Brien's 1918 memoir "Outwitting the Hun -- My Escape from a German Prison Camp" refers to "cooties," meaning body lice, which in his case had been caught in the prison camp in Courtrai. Lice were of course rife in the trenches on both sides of the conflict, and highly contagious.

From its original meaning of head or body lice, the term seems to have evolved into a purely imaginary stand-in for anything repulsive.
[edit] Other terms for the condition

For ages 5 onwards, Cooties are known in Denmark as "pigelus" (literally "girl lice") or "jenkem" and "drengelus" ("boy lice"), and in Norway "jentelus" ("girl lice) and "guttelus" ("boy lice"). In Sweden and Finland it usually refers to girls, where they are known as tjejbaciller"[4] (literally "girl bacillus") and "tyttöbakteeri" ("girl bacteria") respectively.

In the United Kingdom the phrase "the lurgi", applicable to either sex, is commonly used by children.[citation needed] In south Wales the form is "scabs", and in Scotland "feechs".[citation needed]

Children sometimes "immunize" each other from cooties by administering a "cootie shot". One child typically administers the "shot" by reciting the rhyme "circle, circle / dot, dot / now you've got the cootie shot" while using an index finger to trace the circles and dots on another child's forearm. Continuing, a child may then say "circle, circle / square, square / now you have it everywhere", in which case the child receives an immunization throughout his or her body. A final shot is said "circle, circle / knife, knife / now you've got it all your life" or "circle, circle / fire, fire / now your shot will never expire", or "nickel, nickel / dime, dime / now you've got it all the time" while using their index finger to draw vertical lines on the other child's forearm. Sometimes a "cooties shot" is actually just a punch to the upper arm which simply "cures" the punched one from the "disease".

Original story here: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/08/12/hawking_british_and_alive/

Obama health reform critics face inconvenient truth

By Cade Metz in San Francisco • Get more from this author

Posted in Odds and Sods, 12th August 2009 21:13 GMT

Free whitepaper – Power and Cooling Capacity Management for Data Centers

In perhaps the most amusing effort to discredit US President Barack Obama's plan for nationalized health care - if not the most ridiculous - US financial newspaper Investor's Business Daily has said that if Stephen Hawking were British, he would be dead.

"The controlling of medical costs in countries such as Britain through rationing, and the health consequences thereof, are legendary," read a recent editorial from the paper. "The stories of people dying on a waiting list or being denied altogether read like a horror script...
Click here to find out more!

"People such as scientist Stephen Hawking wouldn't have a chance in the UK, where the National Health Service would say the life of this brilliant man, because of his physical handicaps, is essentially worthless."

The paper has since been notified that Hawking is both British and still among the living. And it has edited the editorial, acknowledging that the original version incorrectly represented the whereabouts of perhaps the world's most famous scientific mind. But it has not acknowledged that its mention of Hawking misrepresented the NHS as well.

"I wouldn’t be here today if it were not for the NHS," Hawking told The Guardian. "I have received a large amount of high-quality treatment without which I would not have survived."

The best you can say about Investor's Business Daily is that unlike US radio talk host Rush Limbaugh, it has not compared Obama's health care logo to a swastika. ®

http://www.nature.com/news/2009/091021/full/4611048a.html

The above link will take you to the story written by Jeff Tolofson in Nature about the Asner-lab during my work in Peru.

If you haven't been paying attention, yeah; We're kind of a big deal.

~J(R)

Yes, I think this is a love song. You only ever hate someone this much after you've loved them sincerely. Enjoy! I love this song. Aimee and I sing to it in the car all the time. Its awesome, and you should think it's awesome too.


No Children - Mountain Goats

I hope that our few remaining friends
Give up on trying to save us
I hope we come up with a failsafe plot
To piss off the dumb few that forgave us
I hope the fences we mended
Fall down beneath their own weight
And I hope we hang on past the last exit
I hope it's already too late
And I hope the junkyard a few blocks from here
Someday burns down
And I hope the rising black smoke carries me far away
And I never come back to this town
Again in my life
I hope I lie
And tell everyone you were a good wife
And I hope you die
I hope we both die

I hope I cut myself shaving tomorrow
I hope it bleeds all day long
Our friends say it's darkest before the sun rises
We're pretty sure they're all wrong
I hope it stays dark forever
I hope the worst isn't over
And I hope you blink before I do
Yeah I hope I never get sober
And I hope when you think of me years down the line
You can't find one good thing to say
And I'd hope that if I found the strength to walk out
You'd stay the hell out of my way
I am drowning
There is no sign of land
You are coming down with me
Hand in unlovable hand
And I hope you die
I hope we both die

~J(R)

I have returned.

~J(R)

Travel Journal, Panama City, Panama.

Day 47 (as transcribed from the field notes of J. Jacobson)

Currently, at least as of this morning, we have completed about 6 of our planned 12 flight hours here in Panama. Right now, we are grounded due to weather, but my god what amazing weather it is. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard thunder this loud before in my life.

I’m making the most of it to be sure. I used some of my more nefarious skills to pick the lock on my window here on the fifth floor of the hotel to better hear the thunder and rain while I drink coffee and listen to what I lovingly refer to as “Quest Metal”, while stairing out the open expanse between myself and the Panamanian rainforest.

Displays of nature like this make it easy to see how ancient man could believe in the fury of the Gods from the heavens. I can barely see 300 yards from my window. There is a white flash in the clouds every minute or so, with an utterly colossal sound always soon to follow. The sense in the air is electric. You can feel it on your skin and in your hair, an ancient instinct telling you to simultaneously bask in awe of what you are about to witness, and to seek shelter.

“I roamed the countryside searching for answers to things I did not understand. Why thunder lasts longer than that which causes it, and why immediately on its creation the lightning becomes visible to the eye while thunder requires time to travel. How?”~Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)


~J.Jacobson

Travel Journal, Panama City, Panama.

Day 42: (as transcribed from the field notes of J.Jacobson)
Three days ago I arrived in Panama City after a few days of respite at home in California. I got in late and pretty much just checked into the hotel and went straight to bed. The next day, however, I got word that Geoff, our pilot, wasn’t getting in until 2-3pm and that Ty had missed his connecting flight from Atlanta due to weather, and so wouldn’t be getting in till the late evening. Until then, I would just have to entertain myself. Unfortunately, our hotel is a bit out of the way of pretty much everything, so it’s not like I could just go walk downtown.

So, after a couple hours watching some of the DVDs I brought with me (I love Chapelle’s Show), I got fed up and decided to take a taxi to a place called “The Causeway” for a little sight-seeing and hopefully some adventure. The Causeway is a small chain of three islands on the boarder of the Panama Canal joined by a single road. The Causeway is home to an assortment of restaurants, bars, and shops.

By the time I got there it was raining, and a lightening storm had just started, but I still decided to walk the road across the islands at the very least to watch nature’s little show. It was particularly beautiful with the huge shipping freighters passing by, and then being periodically light up by a flash of lightening. Eventually I found myself in a small market where I bought booze and some snacks that I brought back to the hotel with me. Back at the hotel I found Geoff waiting for me, and eventually that night Ty met up with us and he and I had a drink before heading to bed.

~J.Jacobson


Day 46: (as transcribed from the field notes of J.Jacobson)

We’ve been sitting on our asses for days now waiting for a part to come so our engineer can fix yet another problem with the plane. Stir-crazy doesn’t even begin to cover it. We’ve had to reschedule our return home yet again.

Fortunately, none of us are prone to sitting still for long. The day before yesterday our pilot decided to rent a car and we all made a road trip to one of the many resort beaches on the southern coast of Panama. It was awesome. It literally looked like we were living in a Corona beer commercial. It was great fun and just the thing to get our minds off of our crappy situation. The next day the part arrived and we were able to install it by late afternoon.

This morning . . . we flew.

Panama really is a beautiful country, and even more amazing is that it is home to such a great technological achievement. From less than 10,000 ft up you can see the whole country from coast to coast. I never thought in my entire life I would get to see two great oceans at the same time.

~J.Jacobson

Travel Journal, Puerto Maldonado, Peru.

Day 29: (as transcribed from the field notes of J.Jacobson)

(9/15/09)Things are coming to a head, and the end is finally in sight for our time here in Puerto Maldonado. We are on schedule with the project which means that we’ll be leaving here in five days to head for Panama for another 2 day project before heading home. This realization has both helped us to make the final push, and equally made every moment here just a little bit longer. What were once conversations about movies and people are now reflections on our time here, our favorite things about home, and thoughts of the first things we plan to do when we get back. The last week or so has gone exceptionally well, as with GP and GA gone on other business we’ve found ourselves unhindered by the seemingly constant conflicts that appear when the bosses are around. The weather has also been on our side, which is a major bonus.

Yesterday the flight crew was invited to the home of our driver, William, for dinner with his family. Of course, we could hardly refuse the invitation with the promise of a home-cooked meal involved. Also, this provided us with the opportunity to sample real Peruvian food and to see how the people here really live, rather than the comfortable lie provided to us by our hotel.

William picked us all up and took us to the house where he, his parents, and his Aunt and Uncle live near town. It was a ramshackle building that, like everything else here, seemed thrown together with whatever materials could be found over the skeleton of what was surely once a legitimate attempt at affordable housing. We were shown to their modest kitchen/dining room to sit at a large and well used hardwood table. Seeing the construction of the room we were in, it was difficult to discern if the kitchen had always been attached to the main house, or if the roof had been added as an afterthought. The walls of our dining room were a salmon pink color that looked like they may have actually been painted with the guts of a fish.

Our meal that evening was an herb rice with roasted duck, and though tough to eat (the duck skin being incredibly resilient to our attempts to break/cut/bite our way to the meat) it was a wonderful meal and very much enjoyed by all. Clearly these people are poor, but not poor of character, nor of heart. The family interaction was very happy, and we were all very glad to eat and take pictures with them. The sheer amount of food they made for us was titanic. Even if there had been twice as many of us there I don’t see how we could have eaten it all.

We ended up taking leftovers with us and had the same meal for lunch the next day, and it was arguably better the second time around, especially without William’s family hovering around us while we ate, serving us like we were royalty.

Jump ahead to last night (9/16/09). With the schedule being what it is both Ty and I have been neglecting the data-backup procedures. This has now unfortunately come to bite us in the ass because we’ve discovered that one of the main drives may have been corrupted. We’re still trying to sort it out, and we’re not completely freaked out yet, but trying any recovery measures in the field is frustrating due to the internet situation here. Along those same lines, I find it absurdly amusing how people back at the California lab send us email with huge attachments and expect us to keep up with them, after multiple warnings from us on how bad the internet is here. Last night it took almost three hours for me to download a 1.08 Mb file that Aravindh wanted me to look at with some urgency. Most of that time was spent in just attempting to log on to my email, which constantly fails because it is so slow.

On a different note, the other day I had a good, solid, block of time to myself, so I thought I might read for a bit, if only to get my mind off the bad thoughts that creep into your brain when you’re lonely and in a strange place. I came across the following passage in the book I’m reading, and for some reason I found it to resonate with me at the time in both a sad and beautiful way: “One day I realized that I no longer dreamed of what I would do when I was whole again. My will burned to reach that point, and then suddenly was nothing. I had become nothing more than my desire to fly. I had adjusted, somehow. I had evolved in that unfamiliar region, plodding my stolid way to where the scientists and remakers of the world congregated. The means had become the end. If I regained my wings, I would become someone new, without the desire that defined me.” (China Meiville, Peridio Street Station)

~J.Jacobson

Travel Journal, Puerto Maldonado, Peru.

Day 24: (as transcribed from the field notes of J.Jacobson)

I have a little time now to update on how things have been going. For
the most part we’ve all been working hard and getting lots of great
data from all over Madre de Dios. We continue to run +8 hour days in
the plane and then processing our data in the evening. The schedule is
starting to take its toll however. Moral isn’t very high, and our
pilot is burning out quickly.

Thankfully (or not?) yesterday we were grounded in the morning due to
an issue with the fuel pump in the port engine, and then later the
weather prevented us from launching, so effectively we all got an
impromptu day off. Today I awoke to the sound of heavy rain on our
thin tin roof, so we are on standby until things clear up, but no one
is really holding out hope that we are flying today.

I find myself thinking a lot about what it is we are really doing
here. Up in the plane, out on the edge of Man’s influence where we
can’t send or receive radio signal, there is just the three of us in
an overloaded 50 year old plane, hovering precariously over the Amazon
rainforest. As you look out, you can see nothing but trees for miles
in every direction all the way to the horizon. I keep thinking about
it as if it were a green mossy blanket covering the earth. From that
perspective it is easy to see how people can believe that this is an
unlimited natural resource. You also realize how special this place
is, and you almost immediately get this surreal feeling that brings to
mind words like “beauty”, “history”, and “life” in it’s most pure and
savage sense. The reality, however, is very harsh.

In Peru alone they are clearing away nearly 3% of their rainforest per
year. This means that at this rate, all of what I can see from up at
10,000 feet will be gone in my lifetime. Even more tragic is the
glaring fact that this is one of the most bio-diverse places in the
whole world. The loss of such a thing would mean the destruction of a
treasure that could never be recovered – literally millions of years
of life through evolution that could never be remade, not even the
trees. The soils here are so nutrient depleted from such a long
residence of forest that when the trees are felled it takes decades to
re-estabilish species, not to mention the fact that many species
cannot exist without a host of symbiotic trees and shrubs already
present. The systems here are so complex and interwoven that their
loss can only mean that they would be gone forever.

What we are really doing here is trying to ensure that these losses
never happen. The monitoring methods we are using are the first step
towards establishing an economic incentive for keeping forests intact.
If we can do that, then we have made the forests economically valuable
to landowners other than their timber value, meaning ultimately that
people will protect them as property. It is a sad state to admit that
this is one of the few strategies that might actually preserve these
forests, but if that is what it takes then it will be worth it.

Maybe if everyone could see this place from where I have seen it now
things would be different.

~J.Jacobson

Travel Journal, Puerto Maldonado, Peru.

Day 12 (8-30-2009): (as transcribed from the field notes of J.Jacobson)

The last few days have been troublesome to say the least. On Wednesday
night I ended up eating some bad fish at the hotel restaurant, so when
I woke up the next day I barely made it downstairs to tell Ty I might
not be able to fly before I ran to puke in the bushes. Slightly
embarrassing. On the way to the airport I felt a little better, so I
opted to fly, but by midmorning I was in pretty bad shape so we taught
one of our cohorts here to run the spectrometer on the fly and they
ran for the rest of the say while I stayed at the hotel puking my guts
out.

I must have gotten whatever it was out of my system because the next
day I was good to go, and we flew one of our longest flight days to
date on the CAO, 8.1 flight hours. Unfortunately, our luck doesn´t
seem to be holding. Yesterday the pilot couldn´t get the starboard
engine started, and we spent all day going back and fourth to the
airfield each time our engineer thought he had fixed the problem. Good
thing I brought a Frisbee with me. We tossed the disk around for a
while out on the taxiway before the engineer decided to stop and wait
for sundown. Poor guy was working in 95 degree heat with 100% humidity
over a hot engine. I´m surprised he didn´t croak right there.

With a little time on our hands finally, Ty and I decided that it was
high time to visit the hotel pool, which has just been cleaned in
honor of a visit from the daughter of the Peruvian President. With so
few escapes from the heat here, it was heavenly. The rest of the
evening I used to catch up on the back-log of processing we have,
while the rest of the crew went back to the plane to either get some
training on the sensors or help out the engineer. Other than my
puke-fest on Wednesday, today will mark the first period of down time
for our team here. 12 days straight so far of a routine that starts at
4am, in bed by 10pm, all work and no play. The schedule is pretty
maddening, and people are constantly putting pressure on us to
perform. When the co-PI´s find out about problems, my response to
their questions is always about the same: ´´We run as fast as we can
for as long as we can, that’s just the nature of what we do.´´

Strange luck is on the wind here in Puerto Maldonado though. Soon
after writing the paragraph above, it seems that the pilot made
friends with some folks in the lobby of the hotel who are professional
motocross racers from Lima here to race on al local track before they
head to Brazil for their championship tournament. They were so
friendly in fact, that they allowed us to come with them to the race,
get in for free, and hang out with them in their pit area during the
races. As we were about ready to head out to the track, the hotel was
assaulted by a small army of young girls as apparently some Peruvian
boy-band called ´´Hermanos Yapien´´ arrived. They caused quite a
scene, and we all just played along. We spent the rest of the day with
our new motocross friends and got to watch as they destroyed the local
competition.

-J.Jacobson

Travel Journal, Puerto Maldonado, Peru.

Day 7: (as transcribed from the field notes of J.Jacobson)

We’ve had a lot of interesting things happen as we’ve begun to spin up
this project. The aircraft was a little bit delayed due to customs
issues and an engine failure over the Andes Mountains. At first we
thought that the engine failure was severe, that the pilot might have
been hurt, and that our instruments may have been damaged, but in
reality it turned out to be an inconvenience rather than a
catastrophe. Before the plane arrived we were able to interface a
little with the field crew including one Joe Mascaro, a guy I’ve had
many frustrating conversations with from Hawaii over the phone and via
email. He’s a very cool guy, and he and I seem to actually share quiet
a lot in common. It was nice to finally meet him face-to-face. Anyway,
while the plane was still in transit Greg was having me redo the
flight polygon planning yet again to try and reduce our in-air flight
time which meant hours of re-planning effort from not only me, but Ty
as well. Unfortunately everything here either takes longer to do or
requires 5x as much effort. American conveniences like high-speed
internet and RadioShack just don’t exist here, or at least not in
Puerto Maldonado. So, transferring data and images to other people and
local government is frustrating to say the least.

We had a few things to do before the plane got here, and one of my
tasks became trying to rig up some kind of external battery pack for
our Trimble GPS units. This would be a totally simple project back
home, but after two afternoons of searching the town trying to
scrounge up parts and batteries I had to give up. Loreli was
thankfully there to act as a translator, but she doesn’t have much
technical knowledge (she is however a biologist in her own right from
Mexico City), and she didn’t really know the town as well as I thought
she might. It was a good effort at least, and it turned out later to
be a moot point since the field crew has now reported back that they
are unable to get a solid GPS signal out in the bush under the thick
canopy.

When the plane finally arrived we were able to check all the
instruments, and it seems almost everything is running normally. We’re
operating out of the Peruvian Air-Force side of the Puerto Maldonado
airport, and it literally looks like it is right out of some Chuck
Noris Delta Force movie. Their barracks and control towers have
thatched roofs for god sake. However, they do have electricity and a
safe place for our equipment so I guess I shouldn’t complain too much.

We’ve operated the CAO for the last three days now. The first day was
pretty amazing and Greg was telling us how we may have broken the
current CAO flight records. The second day was less auspicious, but
still productive, and yesterday we completed one full flight polygon
and some change. I think we can expect to get about 1 to 1.5 flight
polygons per day with the weather conditions here, and I think that
still leaves us in a very strong position to finish. Today is pretty
rainy though, so we have to just keep an eye on the sky for better
weather.

I’ve been trying to get a lot of pictures of the town and of our
airborne activities to show friends and family back home. It is all so
surreal. Yesterday we had to fly really low under the cloud cover to
make it back to the airport, so I was able to get some really great
pictures and video through the survey hole in the belly of the plane.
It seems a little ridiculous that there is such a big hole in the
bottom of the plane right at my feet, but it has come in handy. I’m
pretty sure at some point I’m probably going to lose a pen to the
Amazon, if I haven’t already.

-J.Jacobson

Travel Journal, Puerto Maldonado, Peru.

Day 1: (as transcribed from the field notes of J.Jacobson)

Another long journey. I started out at about noon on August 17th, and
finally arrived in Puerto Maldonado just before noon on the 18th. No
stopping, two layovers, no sleep. Well, maybe a little bit of sleep.
I’ve always been able to sleep in airplanes, or pretty much anywhere
so long as I have a little time. So, at least I got a series of naps
in, but that’s really no substitute for a few solid hours in a bed.

Travelers to and from Peru are similar to travelers anywhere: rude and
self-centered. Not speaking Spanish is already proving to be a serious
handicap, even just leaving from the international terminal in Miami.
However, the real fun started in Lima, Peru. Dave and I had a brief
adventure trying to go through customs in Lima with all the aircraft
spare parts b.s., but we were able to deal with it pretty well even
considering all the hours of travelling we’d been through to that
point.

When we finally arrived in Puerto Maldonado we were met by Greg and
one of our MINAM contacts. We took a bus-taxi to the hotel, so I got
to see a little bit of the town on the way in. It was pretty much like
a Hollywood version of what you’d expect a South American town on the
bands of the Amazon. Most of the buildings are practically modern
ruins, with few if any paved streets. The jungle pops through at every
opportunity, and you get a sense that if these people didn’t
constantly slash and burn on their land, even in the middle of town,
the forest would swallow this place in a matter of years and no one
would ever be the wiser.

People here don’t really do much during the day, as most of the work
and activity happens at night when is cools off and the humidity isn’t
so oppressive. Advertisers here use a combination of airbrush cartoons
of an almost carnival-ride style mixed with pornography. Sex is
definitely a big deal here, as was exemplified by us passing by “The
Sexy Car Wash” on the way to the hotel.

(edit: after this entry was made, we discovered that prostitution is
legal in the country of Peru, though anyone who wants to mess with
anything walking out of that jungle is insane in my opinion)

~James Jacobson

Hello All,

Well, this morning I will be starting my trek down to Puerto Maldonado, Peru for the CAO Peru campaign 2009. I will try to do what I've done for past travel and update when I can with transcriptions from my physical travel journal, aka. my little orange book. Typically I try to send out a livejournal update as well as a mass email update, so if you would rather be on the email list (which often includes pictures from my adventures) please respond to this post with your email address in the form of: "yourname at server dot com" as opposed to <yourname@server.com>.

I've got over 150 lbs of gear in the corner ready to schlep to Peru. Wish me luck.

~J(R)

So, just took a closer look on the manifest for all the stuff we're bringing with us to Peru.

Last item on the list: Flak Jacet, Quantity. 2

Ok, seriously, what the hell are we goign to need frickin' Flak Jackets for on the plane?!?!?! I don't intend to be absorbing hand-grenade shrapnel anytime soon. Also, why are there only TWO??? There are going to be three of us operating the aircraft.

This, among other things, is a bad-omen.

~J(R)

On Saturday I spent a lot of time playing fallout 3 in the morning before I had an appointment with the travel doctor where I got my Yellow Fever and hepatitis booster shots. So, now I'm all current on my immunizations for my upcoming trips to Peru and Panama. Its kinda of cool to think that if the zombie apocalypse were to happen right now, I would be far better off than like 95% of the population, and able to travel to more places to escape the living dead. Later that evening, I decided to go up to visit Mom and Dad and stayed there till like 1am before heading home. I couldn't get to sleep right away, so I hit fallout 3 some more before getting a call that Aimee was finished with her Rocky show, and that everyone was heading over to the IHOP in Redwood City for her send off. Didn't get back home till almost 5am.

Sunday, we tried (failed) to sleep in and eventually I went to my tattoo appointment at 3pm. It was Aimee's birthday gift to me that I had not cashed in yet, and I was very excited. We talked about what I wanted and we looked at all the stuff I had sent him and I was pretty pleased with the work he had put into things. So, we went ahead and he got most of it finished. There's still a bit of work to do with shading and completeness, but in 2 hours he was able to get through quite a bit of it. See my previous post for pictures. Afterwords, I went back home and got Aimee so we could head up to my parent's house again for dinner with the family. It was nice, and I am glad I got to hang out with them before my upcoming travel plans.

Cheers,
~J(R)

Quote of the Day: "nothing quite makes you feel trapped like being surrounded by a bunch of Peruvians and your boss."

~J(R)

Well, it seems that I am misinformed about a great many things, one of which being the state of unemployment in general, another being what I should and should not post on Livejournal.

Look folks, my opinions are just that, my opinions. The benefit of opinions is that you don't really have to back them up, as well as the fact that they can and should change over time.

If I hurt your feelings with my big douche bag post from the other night, please accept my apology.

In my defense, I did and still shall respond openly and honestly to anyone who has/had a negetive point to say against me.

Also, I recognize that my tone and words were overly harsh. I guess I thought I could get away with saying whatever I wanted . . . or maybe I thought I'd start a fight . . . I dunno, but that was certainly one person's opinion. 3cg, I'll buy you a drink sometime soon, but you have to promise no Judo.

Hope we can all still be friends.

~J(R)

I challenge you to admit one thing that you know about yourself to be spectacularly gross.

My real life grosser than gross?

When I stress out about something, I often have a compulsion to pull out my own facial and back hair. Generally the newly removed follicles will just fall wherever I happen to be . . . work, car, couch, bathroom. If I look like I'm scratching my back a lot, I'm not.

~J(R)

So, I seem to have an issue. Apparently I'm an elitist when it comes to employment. I often despise that people can't get jobs when they need them. Its not just that . . . I feel like having a job and earning a wage makes you more respectable, and not having one, especially for a significant period of time, makes you less so. I feel like even if I won a billion dollars in the lottery and never had to work ever again, I would probably still have a job. Its a pride thing. Its a responsibility thing.

I admit, I have at various times since my undergraduate education been unemployed for periods of time, but I was never lazy about it. If I don't have a job and I need to pay my fucking bills, finding a job IS my job. The task of finding a job becomes my life, and occupies my every waking thought. Id wake up early and get ready for the day, and set up a list of things to do. I'd stay organized. I'd call people, search the internet, look for help wanted signs, search the papers, and use every investigative skill I posses towards my goal. And the 'goal' is an important point to realize. Why? Because you can reach your goal by taking smaller steps along the way. You don't need to jump straight to your final goals, and often such a jump is impossible anyway. So what if you take a shitty retail job so that you can feed yourself now? That's awesome. No one expects you to stay in that job forever, so do it for however long it takes you to find a better job. There's no shame in that. I wish more people would realize that. I would take a job as damn near anything if it meant that I didn't have to be unemployed and hungry.

Ok, sure, the economy isn't great, but things are turning around. Opportunities are opening up again, and businesses that are doing well are starting to hire once more because they can't run on their skeleton crews forever. If you can't see that, then you're not paying attention. Also, and I hate to say it . . . maybe you're not doing it right? I've helped a lot of people fix up their shitty resumes, and let me say that there are a lot of BAD resumes out there. Please, people, if you are at all thinking that maybe you're resume could stand improvement, go talk to someone! Talk to your friends and such . . . especially those with higher education and who currently have jobs in the realm of what you are looking for. Clearly they had to write a resume to get the interview that got them their job, maybe you should ask them for advice.

Lastly, and this is the one I really want to strangle someone over, there's the fear factor. I don't know why this is a problem, but it apparently is. Some people out there are afraid to actually finally cut the umbilical and be their own person away from the support of their parents. Look, your folks will always be there for you, and I'm sure they love you and all, but you have to show them that all their effort in raising you wasn't totally wasted too. I've had to ask my dad for help, sure . . . but I've also turned him down when he's offered it. If you are still sucking from mommy's tit, then at least do them the courtesy living at home. Sure, it sucks to move back in with your folks, but you know what, our generation has done that more than any other in history, so get over it. At the very least it will remind you why being independent is so important, especially for your sanity. Also, living at home might make your folks a little more comfortable with paying for your lifestyle, seeing as how they wont have to pay your rent for you anymore.

Unfortunately, the people who really need to read and understand this are never going to. Its just a Livejournal blog after all, so I understand that no one is really paying attention to me. Maybe I should go to facebook and write a lame quiz like "What kind of job are you good for?", "Do you have the skills you need to find work?", or even "Should I live in my parent's nasty old basement/garage?" . . . would that get anyone's attention? Yeah, I didn't think so.

Perhaps I'm being to harsh. Maybe I have it all wrong? No, I don't think so. I feel like being blunt about this topic is a necessity at this point. So, I say again if you need it:

Sort out your fucking life.

Ok, well, on to the next rant I guess. . . . I welcome any and all responses. But lets face it, there aren't going to be any, are there?

~J(R)

"For a 75 kilogram (165 lb) adult, it takes approximately 21 cans of diet soda to consume the 3,750 mg of aspartame that would surpass the the FDA's 50 mg/kg ADI of aspartame."-"Aspartame and Cancer: Questions and Answers", National Cancer Institute

Question: do any of you out there think you've been able to surpass this amount? Clearly there are other methods of Aspartame consumption, so lets hear some good ones. Also, if you can estimate your daily aspartame consumption that would be cool. Note that a typical 12 oz diet soda has 180mg, and a typical 2-liter diet soda contains about 600mg if that helps with your estimations.

~J(R)

So, I'm starting up a new project. Essentially its a way to make something cool out of old books. I take a hard-bound book that no one cares about anymore, hollow out the insides and burn the cover and edges so it looks like its been through the apocalypse. I can even cut the hollows into all sorts of shapes, and yes, this includes gun and knife shapes. I"m going to tart calling it "Dr. Island Parker's Library Arsenal" and if I get good enough at it, I plan on trying to sell them on etsy.com and at steampunk cons and the like.

Anyway, earlier today we went to a thrift store where I bought a crap-load of old silly title hardcover books, and I started practicing my cutting technique on an old dictionary that I found in the dumpster a week ago. Anyway, when Aimee and I decided to take a break, we went to downtown Mountain View where our favorite used bookstore is. While I was hunting the racks I overheard a couple trying to sell some of their used books. Turns out, the store wasn't going to buy any of their old hardcover fiction. Naturally, I introduced myself, explained my project, and they were more than happy to unload bunch of their books onto me that they weren't getting any cash for anyway. However, they came with a price:

Me: "So, I don't mind paying you for these books, but I don't have any cash on me, I would just have to go down to the nearest atm . . . "

Lady: "No, don't worry, I don't want your money, but the price of these books is that you have to do a little jig. Right here in the store."

Me: "Well, I am certainly not above doing a jig for free books!" (proceeds to do a little dance for the lady and her husband after picking out the books I wanted)

The couple left chuckling and I walked out with a bunch of free books. And let me tell you, totally worth every second.

Cheers,
~J(R)

Today has been pretty warm. In fact this whole week has been miserably so. Today I was walking down to the lobby and I spotted one of the spectranomics techs, Carrie, out messing with the liquid nitrogen tanks we have outside, so I walked over to say hi and see what she was doing.

Turns out she was making blocks of dry ice for use in teh lab, but the tank was running low. I saw she had a plastic bin full of chunks of dry ice, and a lightbulb went off in my head.

Me: "So, Carrie, I bet that using this stuff would be a really efficient way of making an iced coffee, huh?"

Carrie: "What, the dry ice? Oh sure, Adam has me bring home chunks of it sometimes when he wants to chill his beer with it."

Me: "Awesome, think I could have some?"

Carrie: "Sure, I was just about to change out the tanks anyway."

So I leave for a second to go make coffee, and then I return with cup in hand. Carrie breaks off a chunk of dry ice and plops it in my mug with a smile. I walk back up to the lab with my vaporizing coffee in hand, a total TV mad scientist moment. Then Dave comes up to me talk talk about a project:

"Oh, James, I wanted to . . . . oh hey, cool, is that coffee? Very Mr. Wizard of you."

Yeah, some days its pretty cool to work here, even when it's hot out.

~J(R)

“In the spring of 2008, Sons of Maxwell were traveling to Nebraska for a one-week tour and my Taylor guitar was witnessed being thrown by United Airlines baggage handlers in Chicago. I discovered later that the $3500 guitar was severely damaged. They didn't deny the experience occurred but for nine months the various people I communicated with put the responsibility for dealing with the damage on everyone other than themselves and finally said they would do nothing to compensate me for my loss. So I promised the last person to finally say no to compensation (Ms. Irlweg) that I would write and produce three songs about my experience with United Airlines and make videos for each to be viewed online by anyone in the world. United: Song 1 is the first of those songs. United: Song 2 has been written and video production is underway. United: Song 3 is coming. I promise.“

This was posted in view of me by the lead singer of Abney Park who had this to say:
"This is beautiful, especially since we've had the exact same type of expeirences every time we've flown United."

So, I got some kind of terrible plague a few days ago, and it has been truly horrible. Hot spells, cold spells, coughing, headaches, achey body, dizziness, the works. I thought I might have to puke yesterday, but thankfully I didn't have to ad that to my list of symptoms. The worst part is the lack of sleep . . . because without being able to sleep, how the hell are you supposed to get any better?

Anyway, last night wasn't so bad. Thankfully Aimee had some leftover Codeine cough syrup from when she was last sick, and that did the trick. I wouldn't say I got a full night's sleep or anything, more like a series of 2-3 hour naps, but at least I slept. I feel much better right now, but I am not giving in to the illusion just yet.

~J(R)

And for those of you who haven't seen this yet, enjoy. I just recently discovered Janelle Monae thanks to incorporealgirl, who I am told discovered this via silhouette1126. The music is great, really catchy with a hint of Outkast (Bombs over Baghdad) and Sesame Street (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12).