This is the pair who got the gold medal in the Senior Pairs competition - Keana McLaughlin and Rockne Brubaker.

side by side jumps

That is where he throws her in the air, she spins, and he catches her.

And that is where he throws her in the air and she has to spin and land. Can you believe how high she is off of the ice? W.O.W.

I was pretty far away from the medal presentation, but I cropped this photo way down, so it looks closer than it is - albeit a bit blurry.

The top 4 pairs, in order 1st to 4th are as follows:

McLaughlin & Brubaker
Inoue & Baldwin
Castile & Okolski
Vise & Trent

They are standing in podium order, so the couple on the left were the winners of the silver medal.

I have lots of pics of lifts - which are one of my favorite parts of pairs skating. But I'll get to those later.

:-)

Posted by danielle at 01:24 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

I had an awesome time at the 2008 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in St. Paul! I had really great seats at one corner and got to see a lot of jumps, spins, and incredible elegance and athleticism. I took over 350 photos, because I just couldn't help myself. Unfortunately, the ice was so bright and reflective that my camera made almost every photo dimmer than it should be. So, it is going to take me a while to go through them and fix them.

The things that just amazed me were how gorgeous everything looked in person. The ice was so bright and when the skaters would get out there, it would just look incredibly flashy and dynamic. It was very exciting to see them warm-up and practice. And then when each performance would start, the potential to see another great routine would give me a thrill.

Some of them looked so happy as they nailed their performances, that was really special.

There are more little tidbits, but I will tell them as I post the pics.

These are photos of Mirai Nagasu, the gold medal winner in the senior ladies division. She is only 14! Can you believe it?

This is my favorite spin position. I just think it looks incredible - and also hard to believe that they can do it.

Another elegant position.

Jump

and landing

I will probably post more photos almost every day this week - most likely of the top skaters in each category. I'll have to work on the rest as time permits next weekend. So, check back if you want to see more!

Posted by danielle at 09:34 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

... give information.

So, since I don't have any flower or fuzzy friend friday pics, I thought I would just write up a post about how things are going.

It is a new semester at school and I am on the verge of getting approval to lecture in a general biology course for non-majors. The instructor is okay with my teaching a lecture on viruses and prions. The woman who is the director of the Biology Program is fine with my teaching - she is actually the one who recommended that I teach in this particular course and section. Now I just need the nice man in the middle who is in charge of the course as a whole to agree. Hopefully that will go through today. I am also going to teach some labs, I think. But the details on that still need to be worked out.

Along the same lines, I am on the wait list to get into this course which is about learning how to be a good faculty member - what to expect, what to watch out for, be aware of, that sort of thing - and the other half of the course is doing this mentorship. If I get into the course, I'll need to turn my teaching that I just told you about, into an official mentorship. So, think good thoughts for me on this front.

My work at the lab is progressing on one front. I'm writing up a manuscript for publication about the work that I've done in the year and a half that I've been there. I've done a first draft on every part of it, except for the introduction (which my advisor likes us to do last). The intro is supposed to be short, so it ought to be relatively straightforward. I'll get to it next week, I hope. I'm trying to replicate one last experiment to go into the paper, which has been frustrating. Big surprise there. Research is frustrating, in my humble opinion.

This weekend I go to the US Figure Skating Championships. I got the tickets as Christmas presents from HB. I get to see the finals for the top 10 men, the top 20 women, the top 10 pairs (where they throw the girl across the ice and do all of the lifts), and the top 10 ice dancing. I'm allowed to take my camera - no flash photography - but it ought to be well lit. I'm not as close as I was for So You Think You Can Dance... and my photos will probably be more for me to remember than to show you, but you never know. Maybe I'll get a few good ones.

I love ice skating. Although I can't skate myself (except to an extent where I hurt my feet), it is my favorite sport. Gymnastics runs a close 2nd. Note that the finals are televised, so tune into your local stations if you want to see them. The womens finals are Sat night and the men's finals are 1-5pm on Sunday. I think that they are live, although perhaps they are tape delayed.... I'm not really sure.

Finally, singing at church is going really well. I'm learning enough of the songs that each week I only have to learn 2-3 new ones (instead of all 6 or 7). For lent, I'm singing at special services they are holding on Wed. nights. That will be good, I think. Sundays are a long day with being there at 7:30 and getting done around 11:30. Wed nights will be shorter. 2 hours I think including practice.

Well, that is all for now. Take care and have a good weekend!

Posted by danielle at 09:40 AM | Comments (8) | TrackBack

So, I'm off today for the observance of MLK Jr.'s b-day, and my throat really hurts. And I'm wondering, is it better to feel ill on a day when you are already off - so that, for example, you can mope around and no one cares. Or is it better to be healthy and happy on a day off and ill on a work day.... I haven't decided. Not that my decision is really going to make that big of a difference. I think I just feel like whining.

mwah mwah, my throat hurts.

It is probably better to be home, all in all.

By the way, it was -5 as the high here yesterday. Minus. Can you believe that. Oh the joy of minneeeesota.

The Girlie-girl is hanging close, which is a bit unusual. Usually, she finds a chair by now and sticks in it until later.

Posted by danielle at 11:03 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

1st, she was just hanging out with the washcloth, using it as a mini bed. (very mini, compared to the rest of her)

Then, for no reason apparent to us lowly humans, she decided to attack.

Note the action of the back feet.

Note the dilated pupils in the attack eyes.

Finally, it was enough to hold it down so that it didn't get away.

Oddly enough, they weren't even warm from the dryer. So, I really have no idea what the appeal was.

Happy Fuzzy Friend Friday!

Posted by danielle at 09:23 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

I have watched 2 episodes of Dance Wars: Carrie Ann vs Bruno. They were promoting this show during Dancing with the Stars, since these 2 are judges for that show. It is proving to have a lot of good musical numbers so far. The contestants sing and dance to various pop (ish) songs. Some of them have really outstanding voices or are really good dancers. It is hard to find people with top skills at both, but they have some good ones.

The one complaint I have, though, is how the show is miked. When the crowd (mostly girls) start screaming during the songs (for the guys, usually), you can't hear the singing and music anymore. It is really a problem that they need to work out. In addition, it was hard to hear some of the questions and comments with all of the yelling. I know this "creates excitement", but it also creates annoyance.

So, with that caveat in mind, you might flip it on next monday and see the opening numbers. They will probably be good, if this week's show is any indication.

AND tonight is the start of American Idol. This is the part of the show that can be sooo painful to watch and hear. However, it is worth going through the bad ones to hear the good ones.

Posted by danielle at 05:30 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

In lieu of typical TV shows, I watched Dreamgirls last night on HBO On Demand. This is another movie that I highly recommend. I've always been a fan of groups like the Supremes and the Temptations. There is just something so classy about the way they danced and sang as a group. And of course, they had beautiful harmonies. I should probably buy a Supremes greatest hits album.

Anyway, the movie is wonderfully cast. I had no idea Eddie Murphy could sing the way he does, but he is perfect for this James Brown type of character. And the Dreams - Beyonce was awesome. She has such a terrific voice. And she does a really great job acting in this movie. Jennifer Hudson was impressive in her singing and acting, but I have to say that I like her acting better than her singing. She is one of those singers who does a lot of ad libbing, where the notes waver and waffle up and down in this attempt to be dramatic. But I'm not into dramatic singing with a lot of ad libbing. She has a great voice, but I'd be more into her singing if she stayed on the note more and did a little less dramatic variation. That said, she really pulls off her character.

It was particularly fun to feel like I was getting this backstage look into the music business. It was enlightening to see how R&B musicians had issues with white pop groups stealing their music, and how difficult it was for them to cross over into the realm of pop.

I do have a wee story to tell that popped into my head when I was watching this. So when I was in Texas, we turned on the Sound of Music while it was in progress. It just so happened to be on the scene where Maria comes back to Captain Von Trapp after she had run away to the Abbey, and they are in the gazebo. Maria and he have this duet, but we happened to be on the part where she is singing at him for an extended period of time and he is standing there listening. At that moment, Trainwreck says to Texas Seestor something along the lines of, "If you ever feel the need to stand and sing at me for an extended period of time, please warn me." I'm not sure I'm getting it exactly right, but the way he said it was quite funny.
And as it turns out, Dreamgirls has a similar scene. Except in the case of Dreamgirls, the song goes on for this really long time and the guy just stands there looking concerned for most of it while she is emoting and putting her hands on his shoulders and basically in his face while singing this really dramatic song. That scene made me smile, because if Trainwreck thought the scene with Maria and the Captain was bad, I'd love to see his reaction to this one.

All in all though, I highly recommend this one if you are into girl-group music. Even if you are not, you'd probably still enjoy it. The music is excellent, the acting is top notch, the choreography is captivating, and the costumes are just amazing.

Posted by danielle at 12:35 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Do any of you have MySpace and Facebook profiles? It seems like at the lab, everyone has them except for the slightly older crowd - read - me and another post-doc.

I get my fill of online social networking with blogging and checking friend's blogs, but I was curious if any of you are into it. Or all we all past that?

Just wondering....

Posted by danielle at 09:59 AM | Comments (7) | TrackBack

Texas Seestor and I borrowed the DVD for Music and Lyrics from her neighbors and watched it one of the last days I was visiting in Texas. It is a movie starring Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore. Hugh Grant's character, Alex, is a has-been 80's pop star who hasn't written a song for 15 years. At this point in his career, he sings (alone, separate from his original band) at amusement parks and high school reunions, for example. One of the funniest parts in the movie is how it opens with an 80's music video of him in his band. It is reminiscent of something you would see on MTV in the 80's for Duran Duran. They have the hair, the clothes, the cheesy scenes while singing, and best of all, a trademark dance move. The video is really clever and funny.

Actually, the whole movie has a lot of funny moments, and the dialogue is quite good. I, of course, liked that it was about music. And I was impressed that both Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore did their own singing. At one point, I really thought that they had someone else singing for Hugh Grant, because I didn't think that some of it sounded like him. But it is just that he has an unexpected singing voice.

The song they created was stuck in my head for about a week, so you can imagine that it is quite good.

All in all, I recommend it when you are looking for something light and funny with some romance thrown in.

Posted by danielle at 10:14 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

When I set up my Movies category, I thought that I would be blogging about movies that I've watched pretty regularly. However, I really haven't done that. I'm not sure why. So I was thinking that for the next few days, I might highlight some of the things that I really liked about certain movies that I saw over the holidays. I'll make every effort not to give anything away, so that if you haven't seen something, it won't be spoiled for you.

So, the Bourne Ultimatum.

We saw this movie in the theater and loved it when we saw it then. Now, HB got it for Christmas and we watched it again on Christmas day. MAN, is it GOOD! If you like action movies, I highly highly recommend it. It may have been my favorite movie last year, even beating out Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

I love the complexity of the story. We had re-watched the first 2 Bourne movies before we went and saw this third one in the theater and I'm glad that we did. It builds upon the previous ones. I'm particularly fond of movies and books that are in a series. I think it is because I like how character development gets more complex with each movie or book. And if it is a good story, I'm always so glad to get to see more of it. Not every series improves upon the former one, but the successful ones do, and this is certainly one of those.

The other thing I can say about this movie is that you should really watch the DVD version so that you can see the bonus features. We spent about a while watching how they filmed scenes in the middle of train stations and market places that couldn't be shut down for filming. They mentioned once that they had to find room for 500 people, plus equipment in each place that they filmed. It is such an international movie, it was fascinating to get more glimpses into these places in the world.

In addition, there was some footage about how they dealt with fight scenes, car chases, and chases on foot. It made me even more impressed with the movie when I saw what kind of work went on behind the scenes to get certain shots.

I hate to hype a movie to the point where your expectations are too high to enjoy it. But I think this one lives up to any hype that I could give it.

If you saw it, what did you think? Are you a fan of action movies?

Posted by danielle at 01:37 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

So, you may or may not think this is funny - but it totally made me laugh out loud at work.

I'm reviewing a manuscript that was written by a group in China, and English is clearly not their strong point since I've already found numerous errors. But the best one is under statistical methods. They did ANOVAs followed by a TURKEY test!

Turkey!

(instead of Tukey)

Can your data go gobble gobble? Do they strut around hoping that they make it through one more Thanksgiving?

*grin*

Posted by danielle at 05:03 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack