Do you want to Tiger Dance?

Show me your Tiger Dance!


TSRA Site & Video

The Ivory Tower

This is my Linear Programming teacher. He is a respected professor. He also has a an exercise video! I think this is what happens to you if you stay in academia for too long...

"total body mind"

I'm so grad...

I am officially posted on the grad student directory. I was hoping that I would manage to look cooler than the other nerds...alas.

Also, when I was searching for the room number of my lab (because I don't know it despite working there for 2 years) I came across this. I am soooo grad.

I also get to interview UROP kids and make them do my bidding. My fellow grads have warned me though; most undergrads behave like children, party a lot, and don't do quality work. Hmmmm...

Greatest Villain Ever

"You know you want it. And you know you want me to give it to you."

Beautiful (sad) Songs -- with help from my friends

Now, music is a personal thing, so I don't expect this to ring true for most. However, some things cannot be overlooked. If I noticed them, I bet others did too. I was born in 1983, so if you think "WTF" then it gives you some perspective about where I am coming from. If anything, my objective is to have you find something on this list that you haven't listened to before or to have you comment and have me listen to something I haven't discovered yet. I think we need to branch out because so much of what we find beautiful takes time to really understand, and time is hard to spare. Turn off the lights (that actually makes your hearing better) and give it a shot. Then email me and I will update this post/blog and add or subtract as necessary.

Oh, and it's easy to pick acoustic songs, i know. They are really good for heart wrenching. But if you can make a rock song that shakes foundations, then you've hit the jackpot. I believe that the whole point of music is to make someone else feel something--to evoke a true unique emotion in them. Not all of these are sad, but its hard to think of happy songs that make that big of an impression.

be kind...the list follows...(i'm doing this after the bar from the top of my head)

Neutral Milk Hotel: two headed boy, pt. 2

Bright Eyes: (hmm...)

REM: everybody hurts (cliche or just correct?)

Gary Jules (not REM!): mad world

Fugazi: i'm so tired

The Smiths: asleep (not because of the perks of being a wallflower, but good call Chbosky)

Radiohead: there are actually too many to count for me. but if you don't listen to them then watch this video. by no means does this categorize the band.

Beethoven: piano sonata no. 14 ("moonlight sonata")

My Morning Jacket: bermuda highway

Built to Spill: twin falls

Death Cab For Cutie: steadier footing

Smashing Pumkins: tonight, tonight

Silverchair: emotion sickness

Ben Harper: another lonely day

Boyz II Men: its so hard to say goodbye to yesterday (also beatles: yesterday-- same idea)

The Faces: ooh la la

[insert elliot smith/nick drake song]

-->this is hard when you dont have an mp3 library. i'm tired i'll look through my cds later.

Detroit City

View from Mala's place in the D.

Food and Culture

There's a show on the Travel Channel that I enjoy called 'No Reservations'. I like the mix of food and a culture and how the host Anthony Bourdain chooses to go to weird places that most travel shows wouldn't go. Then he gets drunk (sometimes really drunk) on camera. Its great.

Anyway, I just saw the Beirut episode and it was really interesting. They just happened to start filming the show the day Hezbollah captured and kidnapped Israeli troops. So, for the rest of the show there wasn't much talk about food as you can imagine. They had some help getting to safe places and watched the war from a hotel, documenting their small little bubble. At the end, Bourdain and his crew end up on a US Navy ship eating Tuna Casserole and Mac n' Cheese...a far cry from the Lebanese cuisine they had hoped to discover.

Oh and speaking of weird places you wouldn't travel, the next show is about Cleveland.

Dinosaurs, Fighter Planes, & The Cold War

Remember when you were a kid and toys envoked the same excitement as a Friday badfest with friends? Well folks, I have been pondering recently how getting wasted now is the manifestation of Christmas morning then...


Here was my Jager of yesteryear...


here was the Black & Tan times forgotten...


and here was 30 pack of delicious dirt beer that we all loved...


ahh...life was good.