What to say

Having been slightly busy for the last week or two, I've neglected (sounds a bit strong) my blog. It's always tricky to almost remember what has happened when time goes so fast and so many things have been done. Firstly, I have to say again, how friggin' fast time is indeed moving. It's been a month already since New Years, standing in all our gear, in Stockholm, watching the fireworks etc.

Cliche as it sounds, time really does fly when you have fun. On a more boring note, our flat is pretty sorted: the electrician has been round and added a few sockets, changed light switches and what not. The bad thing is we havent had the bill yet......hmmmm.

We've been riding a bit at Kungsberget: managed to get Sandra 'Canon ball' Eklund shreddin' the gnar (haha). Grampa Thorpe will be joining us again in the near future to go ride, so might start hitting the jumps : )

Things in the lab are pretty exciting (for me at least). I've just transfected some HEK 293 cells with a number of different serine proteases, so should start getting some recombinant protein soon. You select the cells which contain the DNA you want by adding antibiotics, meaning the ones that don't have the DNA in them die off. Hopefully this week or even tomorrow up to 99% will die, then the 'good' cells will live and grow up (and produce the protein I need!!). Easy right?!

I made a bet today with Johanna that the kid from About a Boy is not the same as the one from Ultraviolet (a crappy film we started watching last night-for like 5 mins!!). Turns out, I won. My reward? No not money (because I would win hmmm, not a lot) but food: in this case some sort of cake. I can smell it cooking now, oh yeah.

Well no funnies from me I'm afraid. I've been searching the news for some interesting stories etc, but to no avail. Everything in UK news is basically saying the country is royally f****d, recession is an understatement. It's getting to that time where I'm seriously needing to look for a job/something to do after I finish in June. There's a NZ job fair in UK in March so might see if I can fly over. Will ask my supervisor whether I can stay in the lab over the summer for some painfully low salary (probably worse than minimum wage), but hey that's Biology and science in general- you learn so much, get over qualified then you can't get a job (no I'm not bitter, just having a moan sometimes!).

On that note, my winnings should be just around the corner.....

Money problems?

If you think you've got it bad, check out Zimbabwe's economy. Not only is their country war-torn and their leader a Nazi style dictator (yes I can say that because he is killing potentially millions), their financial situation is just terrible. I thought with the pound on the slide Brits had it bad, but oh no, I take it all back:

As the country is under heavy heavy hyperinflation, the apparent cost of everyday things are just ridiculous. To put it in to context 1 krona is worth (today- as it changes rapidly) 2.12 million Zimbabwe dollars. Yes, 2.12 million!!

To put this even more in to context, Zimbabwe is to issue a new note: a 100 trillion dollar note!!! Yes, this is not a joke! The money really isn't worth the paper it's printed on. When you go down to the local supermarket for a weekly shop and the bill comes to 2,120,000,000 dollars (in english counting, just over 2 trillion dollars) don't be so shocked! My wondering is how do the tills have enough space for the zero's?!

Not an update of anything

Well as you can tell from my uninspiring title, there's not a whole lot to mention. I am quite shocked at something though- it's the friggin middle of January already!!! I'm pretty sure I had this sensation at the start of last year: time really just disappears!

Today in the lab, I've started growing some little beasts; HEK 293 cells. If you really want to know anything about it click on this text! The potential problem is that these little buggers grow at their own pace, as in need culturing every day or 2 days at times (when they are happy). This creates problems for their Uncle Mike, who likes to have weekends.

Take this weekend for example. Pappa Smurf is coming over for a little shred time. Now hopefully my little babies will behave themselves and look after each other so they don't need feeding on Saturday (at least). Only time will tell.....

Well that was lame huh? Yup, sorry. On a more weird note, me, J and Lobster watched a documentary on a two headed girl, or shall I say two people with one body. Besides from some bizarre things that happen when you have two heads, it was quite interesting.

The final thought would be who would you share your body with? (that sounds like a straight up 'who would you have sex with?' but it's not what I'm aiming for here!!). You would think I should say Johanna as my 2nd headed friend, however (for starters they kind of need to be the same sex I guess) for that week out of the month where PMS is taking over, I would end up decapitating her. Besides then it would be really weird if we wanted to do the dirty and bump ugglies?! Figure that one out.....

More boarding (of course)

We've just watched Max Payne, a film based on a computer game (just check it out of wikipedia or something). Now usually computer game based films suck balls, the most popular by a long way are the Resident Evil films (all pretty lame). However I saw Mark Wahlberg was the lead role as Max Payne and he does a pretty good job to be honest. I wouldnt say it's a great film, but it's certainly not a bad one. If you get a chance to see it, check it out, and by the look of things they'll make a second (following the games footprint: Max Payne 2 was an awesome comp game).

As it's winter and a weekend, my mind wanders in to this natural snowboarding state. As my weekends are to become non-existent in the near future (I'm using a HEK 293 cell line in the lab, again look it up- basically it needs looking after every day or 2), I will have to plan very carefully my shredding time. Next weekend Grandad Thorpe is coming over, so fingers crossed I can ride with him and J dawg.

Anyway, I've found this video on the U of the tube: it's very very very strange to have someone who can ride on youtube: most (like 9/10) suck ass royally. But this guy is actually pretty good. He has nice edge control and does ride like the famous (or not to most people) skateboarder Rodney Mullen. Most of his 'tricks' look pretty insane and again 99% aren't, it's probably the one's that look shitty are the hardest and the one's that look 'good' are the easiest....if that makes any sense.

Well enjoy (or not):

Caroline's 18 questions

Everyone on this planet (with the internet) has had one of these annoying quick fire questions sent to them. While I find these tedious at the best of times, here's one I stole from Caroline's blog. I guess this is good to practise my Swedish more than answer the question. It's good because if I put something apparently stupid down, I can blame my Swedish skills : )

SAKER OM DIG SJÄLV:

1. Är du singel? Absolut inte!

2. Är du lycklig? Självklart

3. Är du uttråkad? Aldrig

4. Är du ledsen? Över vad?

5. Är du italienare? Vad fan?

6. Är du cooling? Nope

DITT KÄRLEKSLIV:
1. Tror du på kärlek vid första ögonkastet? Yup
2. Har du någon gång blivit sårad? Troligtvis
3. Har du någonsin tänkt på samma tjej/kille flera gånger under samma natt? Yup
4. Har du gillat en tjej/kille utan att berätta det för henne/honom? Nope
5. Har du strulat med någon under de tre senaste veckorna? Erm...vad tror du?
6. Gillar du någon just nu? Kanske....fråga Johanna

SENASTE:
1. Telefonsamtalet du fick? Min fästmö
2. Personerna/personen du var med? Min 'kaninkaka'
3. Roligaste grejen som hänt? Johanna göra chin-ups på gymet
4. Personen du senast smsa med? Gissa vem!
5. Du tillbringade natten med? Se ovan
6. Du kramade? Oh dear....Mina svar är tråkiga!!

Not very impressive I know, haha.

MMR

It's big news (apparently) in UK news that thousands of kids are not being allowed the MMR jab. The reason? STUPID parents. There's an old wives tale that you somehow develop autism if you give them this life saving vaccination. Well anyone that believes it or that God exists or OJ Simpson didn't kill his wife or George Bush is an intelligent person should be shot, officially (or 'period' as the Yanks say). This doesn't probably apply to the two people that read my blog, but it's another discussion anyway : )

What the hell is this?

You sometimes see these kind of weird adverts on TV and you sit there and think 'Is this a joke?' Recently this little beauty has been advertised, again me wondering 'what the hell is going on?'

Yes folks it's real: Swedes are just as weird as everyone else after all.

Step Brothers

Will Ferrell is a comedy classic. His roles are all similar, yet soo good. His newest film is Step Brothers- just look it up if you're interested. Here's a taste, you get the idea of how the film carries on:

Ohh this one too

Like this one too : )

In the mood (for boarding not loving.....well)

It's cold, there's snow, I have my boarding legs on, so why not post something fun. Well besides from being crazy Japanese riders, this vid is pretty good. Not to everyone's tastes, but it's my cup of tea.....or I suppose coffee in this country.

New Year

For starters Happy New Year. This is a weird time of the year for me. I love the idea to set new goals, using 2009 as a new starting point for change. Contrary to this, I hate 2009 as a scapegoat for changing things also.

This is what I mean: say for the period of time that has been Jan 1st to Dec 31st 2008, i.e. 2008! it has been shite or whatever: why would it suddenly change for 2009? What difference does a number have, whether it's a 8 or 9? To try and get my point across, would most people who are having a shit time from jan 7th to March 3rd suddenly say, well March the 4th is going to be great?! Erm no.

I believe goals are the way forward, otherwise how do you know what you've achieved?! People who are afraid to set goals or don't know what they are, are indeed lost, misguided souls. Why are you on this planet if you don't at least give yourself a challenge. To make a baby IS NOT why we are here: any one can do that (well mainly females I guess), it takes all of about 30 seconds right?!

Ok, getting side tracked. Where was I? Erm......Time doesn't stand still for anyone (except the dead I suppose), so setting up 2009 as 'a better year' is just bollocks. When you look back, you see what you've achieved, not when you did it. This is kind of hard to explain, but I guess it's a case that people think this mask of 2009 will make things better, when if it was looked upon as just another day, i.e. what it really is, the perception etc would be different. You have to do something now, not tomorrow, not next year: it doesn't exist, time isn't broken down, it's one continuous existence so if something sucks ass, you have to change it now, regardless of whether it's a new 'year'.

I hate how people say it's been a crap year and next year will be better- take away the year and look at it as time next to each other, then what do you do/say: 'my life is shit?!'. If that's the case you'd probably pull your finger out of your arse and do something about it. May be I'm just ranting, may be it's the mood I'm in or whatever, but it's funny how when you stop looking at 2008, then 2009, 2010 etc, I just think my life is great. I don't give a shit if you label it with a 4 digit number. This probably doesn't make much sense and no I'm not drunk from New Years: I might be tired but that's another story.

If you're life sucks and you think 'oh 2008 was crap' then do something about it. Take away this imaginery timescale and just get on with it. It's like 'timeless' songs/films etc, no one cares when they were made, just the fact they exist. Mamma Mia isn't crap because it was released in 2008, it was crap regardless- you know what I mean?!

Anyway, for those who are in this mindset, 2008 was a 'good year', as was 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004...you get the idea. I would just consider taking away this year per se. Just enjoy this life thing while you can. 2009 will be a great year, whatever that means. If I don't like what I'm doing and I'm moaning about it, I'll do something different, it has nothing to do with the year, the month, whatever.

This post is possibly awesomly crap, but I don't care. If you're reading here, then there's something in it, whether it's for the absolute garbage that's coming out or the Bible like truth in it (haha, isn't that the same thing as the garbage part?! Ouch).

I finished 2008 by a visit to the Ice Bar in Stockholm, had a lovely drink with my lovely lady. Topped the evening off with a 3 course meal, prepared ourselves, a trip to Skansen, a cider celebratory drink (Champagne is too expensive and tasteless), fireworks, cheese and crackers, followed by some much needed sleep. I love what I'm doing, I love this place, I love this life......

This was Johanna's fancy dress outfit.... too bad we were celebrating New Years, not Chronicles of Narnia: Attack of the Swedish Smurf. I'm kidding, this was the Ice Bar outfit and very fetching if I may say so. Anyone with a shiny blue, furry hooded cape, complete with glove attachment fetish, knows where to go.

p.s. if you hadn't figured it out, the top pic is the glasses or icesses as they should technically be called, indeed made from Ice, the bar too, the stools, the chairs, table and bar staff....ok the last one wasn't really, just seeing if you're paying attention.