Probably some of you don't know this, but I work for a little Dallas-based biotech company that's developing a treatment for a particular type of cancer: chronic lymphocytic leukemia, or CLL. That's one reason why one particular person's death a couple of weeks ago grabbed my attention.
John Kanzius, a CLL patient himself, had a great idea that's leading to one of the exciting developments in cancer treatment. It was indeed a great idea in itself, but it led to a pretty interesting and purely unintentional discovery:
Pre-clinical studies at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and the University of Pittsburgh are evaluating the safety and effectiveness of his cancer-fighting technology. Like all developing therapeutics, it'll take a little while, maybe five years, before we can even test this type of thing in humans. Then it'll take several more years for it to carve a path towards FDA approval. But at least it's in the works, and what better place for it to be tested than at M.D. Anderson?
As for his salt water discovery, the results have been confirmed by researchers at Penn State. Apparently, radio waves react with the water in such a way that the water is split into hydrogen and oxygen atoms, and then are re-joined, releasing energy. It still has a long way to go, though. It's said that, currently, this process couldn't be used as a practical energy source, because it takes far more energy to produce the radio waves than the energy produced by the reaction. Work continues.
On Feb. 18, 2009, John Kanzius died of pneumonia resulting from complications of chemotherapy treatment for his CLL. But his ideas continue to live on and flourish.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
This Post Is Not About Steroids
And yet, it is about Major League Baseball. Shocking.
It's a puzzle I recently heard about the country's second-favorite pastime (I maintain basketball is number one) in it's most basic and elemental form: the rulebook. Here goes:
There are five ways for a baseball player to reach first base without a baseball ever making contact with his/her bat. Name them.
The winner gets something shiny.
It's a puzzle I recently heard about the country's second-favorite pastime (I maintain basketball is number one) in it's most basic and elemental form: the rulebook. Here goes:
There are five ways for a baseball player to reach first base without a baseball ever making contact with his/her bat. Name them.
The winner gets something shiny.
Friday, February 20, 2009
JoshCast #3 - Fortunate Son
It's late on a Friday night and I'm still at work! Just playing the waiting game on something someone else is doing. So hey, what better way to make this post-5-o-clock-on-Friday-in-the-office time disappear than write a quick entry on my stupid blog?
We've all heard this great American classic by Creedence Clearwater Revival. But my guess is you haven't heard this cover by Todd Snider and Patty Griffin:
We've all heard this great American classic by Creedence Clearwater Revival. But my guess is you haven't heard this cover by Todd Snider and Patty Griffin:
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Obamicon
The debate rages. If we remove all things we typically use to judge a president's merits out of the equation (i.e., approval ratings, policy, fake waving, etc.), how does the election of President Obama affect us? I'm glad I asked! Let's examine.
1: The Daily Show doesn't quite have its same edge now that its three favorite targets (George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and George W. Bush) no longer have "Pennsylvania Ave." in their addresses. How do you poke and prod a man who concurs with pretty much all of your ideals? The good news is that Jon Stewart is trying, and he's doing a pretty decent job of it:
2: We now have our eighth left-handed president. Eight out of 44 presidents amounts to 18%, which is proportionally higher than the general left-handed population (12%). Not sure if that's enough statistical evidence to say that if you're left-handed, you're more likely to be president, but it's an interesting trend nonetheless.
3: OK, so this was around before the election, but still, so-called "Obamicons" have exploded in popularity because of Shepherd Fairey's Barack Obama "Hope" poster that came out during the campaign. Now, thanks to Obamicon.Me, anyone can be red-white-and-bluified! Including yours truly:
The possibilities are endless (see gallery), but here are some of my favorites:
1: The Daily Show doesn't quite have its same edge now that its three favorite targets (George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and George W. Bush) no longer have "Pennsylvania Ave." in their addresses. How do you poke and prod a man who concurs with pretty much all of your ideals? The good news is that Jon Stewart is trying, and he's doing a pretty decent job of it:
2: We now have our eighth left-handed president. Eight out of 44 presidents amounts to 18%, which is proportionally higher than the general left-handed population (12%). Not sure if that's enough statistical evidence to say that if you're left-handed, you're more likely to be president, but it's an interesting trend nonetheless.
3: OK, so this was around before the election, but still, so-called "Obamicons" have exploded in popularity because of Shepherd Fairey's Barack Obama "Hope" poster that came out during the campaign. Now, thanks to Obamicon.Me, anyone can be red-white-and-bluified! Including yours truly:
The possibilities are endless (see gallery), but here are some of my favorites:
Monday, February 16, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
The Doppelganger Alert Strikes Back
On the left, Los Angeles Lakers (former Charlotte Bobcats) forward Adam Morrison. On the right, Captain Jack Sparrow. Probably a stretch, huh?
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
The Day The Music Died
(Just because most of this was news to me.)
One of the most heavily interpreted, speculated, and beloved songs in the history of American music (in fact, number five on the RIAA's Songs of the Century list), Don McLean's "American Pie" chronicles (sort of) an event which turned 50 years old last week.
February 3, 1959, about 2:00 AM. A plane crashes in rural Iowa, with three rock 'n roll pioneers on board.
The night before, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, Jr., were among performers who played an impromptu show in Clear Lake, Iowa. Traveling in the dead of winter usually isn't that fun anyway, and a tour bus with a busted heating system didn't really help circumstances. In fact, drummer Carl Bunch had developed severe frostbite on his feet and had to be treated at a local hospital.
Not exactly ideal travel conditions, especially for famous rock stars, so Buddy Holly ("Peggy Sue" and "That'll Be The Day") looked to arrange a charter plane to take him and his bandmates to their next tour stop in Minnesota. Turns out, a single-engine Bonanza could make the trip, but only had room for three passengers (plus one pilot). Holly, I suppose as a reward for brainstorming such an idea, got seat number one. Ritchie Valens (possibly best known for "La Bamba") won a coin flip to earn seat number two. The final spot went to Richardson after a young country musician named Waylon Jennings gave up his seat because of Richardson's flu.
In a hauntingly prescient dialogue, after Holly found out Jennings had given up his seat, he quipped, "Well, I hope your ol' bus freezes up." To which Jennings replied, "Well, I hope your ol' plane crashes."
Then the plane crashed at about 2 o'clock in the morning, killing all on board instantly on impact.
We know this is what Don McLean meant in his legendary hit's chorus when he referred to "The Day the Music Died." But debate has raged for decades about other references in his poetically vague lyrics (such as "The Jester", "The Quartet", "The Girl Who Sang The Blues", etc.). And McLean hasn't really helped, responding to inquisitors, "[The lyrics] are beyond analysis. They're poetry." And, by the way, this is the way it oughta be.
Related article: 'The Day the Music Died'? Hardly.
Visual Epilogue: Here's the gold single of "American Pie", with a copy of the notebook paper on which McLean scratched his lyrics, of which I am the proud owner...
One of the most heavily interpreted, speculated, and beloved songs in the history of American music (in fact, number five on the RIAA's Songs of the Century list), Don McLean's "American Pie" chronicles (sort of) an event which turned 50 years old last week.
February 3, 1959, about 2:00 AM. A plane crashes in rural Iowa, with three rock 'n roll pioneers on board.
The night before, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, Jr., were among performers who played an impromptu show in Clear Lake, Iowa. Traveling in the dead of winter usually isn't that fun anyway, and a tour bus with a busted heating system didn't really help circumstances. In fact, drummer Carl Bunch had developed severe frostbite on his feet and had to be treated at a local hospital.
Not exactly ideal travel conditions, especially for famous rock stars, so Buddy Holly ("Peggy Sue" and "That'll Be The Day") looked to arrange a charter plane to take him and his bandmates to their next tour stop in Minnesota. Turns out, a single-engine Bonanza could make the trip, but only had room for three passengers (plus one pilot). Holly, I suppose as a reward for brainstorming such an idea, got seat number one. Ritchie Valens (possibly best known for "La Bamba") won a coin flip to earn seat number two. The final spot went to Richardson after a young country musician named Waylon Jennings gave up his seat because of Richardson's flu.In a hauntingly prescient dialogue, after Holly found out Jennings had given up his seat, he quipped, "Well, I hope your ol' bus freezes up." To which Jennings replied, "Well, I hope your ol' plane crashes."
Then the plane crashed at about 2 o'clock in the morning, killing all on board instantly on impact.
We know this is what Don McLean meant in his legendary hit's chorus when he referred to "The Day the Music Died." But debate has raged for decades about other references in his poetically vague lyrics (such as "The Jester", "The Quartet", "The Girl Who Sang The Blues", etc.). And McLean hasn't really helped, responding to inquisitors, "[The lyrics] are beyond analysis. They're poetry." And, by the way, this is the way it oughta be.
Related article: 'The Day the Music Died'? Hardly.
Visual Epilogue: Here's the gold single of "American Pie", with a copy of the notebook paper on which McLean scratched his lyrics, of which I am the proud owner...
Sunday, February 8, 2009
JoshCast #2 - Top Yourself
No disrespect to Coldplay, but The Raconteurs' Consolers of the Lonely is the real Grammy winner for best rock album. (Can I get a amen??) From said album, here's "Top Yourself":
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