Coffee, Tea, or Me?

Another late night affair with my Tuesday-Thursday articles, with coffee and tea as my bright-eyed cohorts. Today's strapping gent is "Listeria monocytogenes ActA-mediated escape from autophagic recognition" by Yoshikawa, et al.
If only the figures were not sprawled out over a billion pages and referenced 5 pages back.
If only the researchers did less studies and the paper were shorter. 22 pages shorter.
If only it didn't eat ink cartridges. But I printed this one on low settings. I can't see crap in the figures. Mistake?
I painted my nails today. Bali Mist. I see nothing Bali or Mist about the color. All I know is that I dented my thumb paint on the edge of my calculator while prying out dying AAA batteries, and I have no burning desire to fix that.
If only my attention span carried past the duration of half a sentence.
If only the paper consisted of more words and less 3-letter+number(s) names.

"After 2 h of infection, p62 colocalized with ubiquitin and GFP–LC3 around ΔactA2 bacteria (Fig. 3a, b). p62–/– MEFs stably expressing GFP–LC3 (p62–/–) were infected with ΔactA2 bacteria for 2 h. The amount of ubiquitin associated with ΔactA2 bacteria in p62–/– MEFs was similar to that in p62–/– MEFs stably expressing GFP–LC3 and p62-3×Myc (p62–/–/p62); however, the amount of LC3 associated with ΔactA2 bacteria in p62–/– MEFs was less than half that in p62–/–/p62 MEFs (Fig. 3c; Supplementary Information, Fig. S4a)." -Yoshikawa et al.

"Expression of GFP–Q79C or GFP–ActAC–Q79C, in COS‑7 cells, induced the formation of ubiquitin- and p62-positive aggregates (Fig. 4d, e). However, on expression of GFP–ActAFL–Q79C or GFP–ActAN–Q79C, in COS‑7 cells, neither ubiquitin nor p62 was found to colocalize with the GFP signal (Fig. 4b–e). Importantly, in COS‑7 cells depleted of Arp2 and VASP production by their respective siRNAs, GFP–ActAFL–Q79C and GFP–ActAN–Q79C formed aggregates as did GFP–Q79C and GFP– ActAC–Q79C (Supplementary Information, Fig. S5a, b), indicating that binding of the Arp2/3 complex and VASP to their respective domains in ActA prevents aggregate formation. We used another aggregate-prone construct, GFP–170*, a nonpoly‑Q protein that contains GFP fused to an internal segment of the Golgi membrane protein 170, which has also been used previously as a model substrate for aggregate formation." -Yoshikawa et al.

...Hello, coffee. Short attention span ftl. =[ This stuff makes no sense if you nod off every other word.

I suck at reading. But this is our last article for the semester! *rejoices!* I actually found a lot of the previous articles to be extremely fascinating. I'm not feeling this one! Time to plow through the remaining pages!

I haven't been too productive lately. I'll blame the gloomy weather on this one. Oh, unsuspecting scapegoat! And if it were brighter and sunnier, I would probably blame that as well. c; But I have a new dress that I really want to wear. Hurry, sun! Except it's gonna be rainy and cloudy all week....and all next week. NOOOOOOO

In other news, I am slowly falling under the yucky spell of caffeine wizardry. I have no desire to suffer from caffeine withdrawal, nor do I have a desire to throw copious amounts of money at Momodomo. But I guess $1 a cup isn't as offensive as whatever Starbucks charges! I shall be investing in a coffee machine next year for instant access to cheap and crappy coffee. That's fine because coffee tastes like crap anyways!

Edit: Oh balls, this article makes perfect sense now. VICTOLY!!! Took 2 reads.

Phantogram: Eyelid Movies

Officially formed in 2007 by Josh Carter and Sarah Barthel, Phantogram looks like your typical indie band. Barthel's hair screams mod, and the band's genre classification seems arrogant. Fortunately, this NY duo proves to be more than your typical newcomer with their debut album. Eyelid Movies (2010) combines various elements of electronica, street beats, indie pop, dream pop, shoegaze, hip-hop, and trip-hop to create a delectable musical experience swimming with synthy elements, brassy interjections, effective sampling, and solid beats, topped with dreamy vocals.

While the entire album is covered in a slight shade of grey, Phantogram does a lovely job incorporating both darker and lighter tracks, resulting in a strongly atmospheric, yet never monotonous album that takes influences from staple artists in various genres and then melds these elements into something fresh and interesting. Carter's rougher, and at times less impressive, vocals appear in stark contrast with Barthel's soft and dreamy singing, making for an interesting push-and-pull throughout the album that follows the the same push-and-pull feel of the tracks, which ultimately resolves itself in an exhilarating finish. Lyrically, you'll find no sweet love songs or strong social commentary, but instead, the raw unfoldings of rejection, dependency, melancholy, and the likes.

Unmistakably indie, but not pretentiously so, Eyelid Movies is a great debut album that you may find yourself listening to multiple times before it suddenly pounces out of mediocrity and latches onto your eardrums faster than its tracks can alternate between the raw and edgy to the flowing and dreamy.

-Rating: 9/10

Album: Eyelid Movies Year: 2010 Artist: Phantogram 01. Mouthful of Diamonds 02. When I'm Small 03. Turn It Off 04. Running from the Cops 05. All Dried Up 06. As Far as I Can See 07. You Are the Ocean & I'm Good at Drowning 08. Bloody Palms 09. Futuristic Casket 10. Let Me Go 11. 10,000 Claps

At first glance, Eyelid Movies contains a few catchy songs right that might mildly interest a fan of the genre on their first listen. The real beauty of this album really takes a few listens--it definitely did for me, as I only enjoyed Let Me Go and When I'm Small at first and really didn't appreciate the complexity of the pieces. I think it's been a month or so, and the album has finally settled in. c; On a side note, I don't really care for their videos. I might even say that they make the songs a lot less enjoyable, but eh!

I decided to leave out scores for my least favorite tracks.

01. Mouthful of Diamonds - 7/10 - Released in 2009 as a single, Mouthful of Diamonds appears to be one of the more well-known tracks by this duo. While this track isn't my favorite, I must admit that the dreampop and headbobability feel of this song, paired with Barthel's dreamy vocals, makes for a good listen.
-Listen-

02. When I'm Small - 9.5/10 - This track is easily one of my favorites from the album and also happens to be the first track that drew me to Phantogram. When I'm Small is a forward-moving, beat-driven track that builds up for over three minutes, alternating between strong, beat-driven backing and flowing interludes, leading to a beautiful 40-second finish, which I would have to say is one of the finest moments in the entire album. The ultimate treat is hearing Barthel sing, "I'd rather die; I'd rather die than to be with you" at the climax, followed by a downpour of sheer epicness that can only be described by the song title, "Jigsaw Falling into Place." 
-Listen-

06. As Far As I Can See - 8.5/10 - This track is one of the better tracks on the album that demonstrates Phantogram's ability to combine a variety of influences to create a catchy, effective track that cannot be adequately described under any label.  Their heavy use of brass sampling, combined with various hip-hop and trip-hop elements under, of course, dreamy vocals, makes for a lush listen that is smooth and delicate, yet solid, soulful, and edgy.
-Listen-

07. You Are the Ocean & I'm Good at Drowning -6.5/10

08. Bloody Palms - 7.5/10 

09. Futuristic Casket - 8.5/10 - A powerhouse of a track, Futuristic Casket starts off strong, with an unmistakably raw, industrial and urban attitude. And then it slips into shoegaze and before you can even catch the seamlessly gradual transition. Carter's vocal effects fit very well with the song 's two distinct styles.

10. Let Me Go - 9/10 - A restless turmoil of sharp percussion, brass with an attitude, and flowing piano makes for something that feels like a an urban waltz with sweet honey bite. Throw on Barthel's clear, confident vocals, and you have a beautiful juxtaposition. I'm not even going to begin to attempt to list the various styles incorporated into this piece.
-Listen-

11. 10,000 Claps - 8.5/10 - Brooding, pensive, and subdued, 10,000 Claps is a lovely, lovely close to the album. The album funnels down from the lush, beat-filled, and oftentimes edgy landscape painted by all the previous tracks, and finishes on this one anomaly of a track. Dreamy, lonely, melancholic, and sparse, the simple piano backing and Barthel's vocals encourage retrospection, introspection, and reflection. It is definitely a beautiful curtain-closer, except the curtain is made of the softest, lushest, red velvet imaginable, and it falls--achingly, slowly, freely--before a stage of silent, grey, flickering dancers. And as the curtain reaches the end of its descent, it takes a final breath, and there is applause. 
-Listen-




Album: 9/10


The Ups: Interesting, not monotonous (which can be an issue for others in this genre), effective hybrid of many styles, catchy, complex
The Downs: Some tracks don't feel as polished as they could be, some ideas can be more further developed, takes a long time to appreciate

He's telling you to listen.

5:33am

I have an exam at 10 and 12.
CRAPCRAPCRAPCRAP

This is keeping me awake:

She's quite lovely.
Oh, and I acquired a large MomoDomo coffee as well as a sweet tea.
I'm not even jittering.

Also, I've recently discovered that I prefer Pandora over last.fm :D 

Painting Witch Hunter Robin

Witch Hunter Robin was one of the first animes I followed way back then. For some reason, I really liked Robin's character design, so I drew her a few years ago. Since I recently downloaded the trial version of Painter 11, I decided to give coloring another go for laughs and giggles through trial and error. Here's what I have thus far:

Here's the original drawing I did, with the retarded title scrawled on the side. GROSS rofl

Turned it black and white and raped the levels with Photoshop.

I used the outlines as a painting guide in Painter, but I turned it off here. Starting the eye!

Eyes kind of finished. Left side is zoomed in quite a bit, so it's a bit fuzzy. Right views are either at or below 100% zoom. Her face coloring is still everywhere at this point.

Cleaned up a bit in terms of getting hair area cleared, but I still need to erase some more of her residual FACEEE

Turned off the drawing outlines for now, so some of this might not make too much sense. I'm having some issues with the hair, obviously! Of course, it's not close to finished yet, but I've already messed with the left side of her head for quite a bit. And I like painting outside of the lines, so I'll still need to erase that that stuff later on. Her face is still outside of her face! =D

That's about it for now. I have no idea how to get the hair to look better, and my face lighting is still a bit WRONG, but this is still pretty fun nevertheless. I looked at some resources online, which is helping a little bit. I'm a bit happier with my original sketch than the coloring job, but oh well! I've been on a bit of a hiatus in terms of finishing up the hair, but that's because I'm getting slightly discouraged at how awful it's getting. :D. I am also apparently retarded at drawing curves with a mouse as well! That doesn't leave any room for excuses as to why I haven't erased the stuff to the right of her chin, however.....

To do:
-Clean up stuff outside of the lines, which is actually a lot!
-Fix hair
-Finish up neck and collar
-Final touchups
-Decide what to do with the outlines. They seem to work better on the face than they do in the hair with the coloring, but I dunno.

WE SHALL SEE WHERE THIS ENDS UP....if i ever finish it O.o
XD WOOT

Organizing My Folders Means Discovery

For the upcoming semester of school, I've finally decided to organize my folders and stick my College folder into the Documents folder. Before doing so, however, I noticed that my documents folder was disgustingly cluttered and that I had picture and music folders within my documents folder, despite the presence of C:\Users\Jenny\Music and C:\Users\Jenny\Pictures (and C:\Users\Jenny\Piccys.....don't ask).

Ahh, jmol. Why do I still have you? Ahh, hidden folders, why do I still have you set as visible?

So while I was cleaning out my documents folder, which included both reorganizing and deleting old things that I no longer needed or knew existed, I stumbled upon some writing I did back in the day. It pains me to say that my vocabulary and writing skills have declined precipitously since my early high school years, not that I had much MAD SKILLZ to begin with.  

I'd say the most amusing part was trying to remember what the fack I was thinking back then. I don't even remember writing half of the stuff I did.

And here are the contents of a random text file titled smoke.txt (wtfack a poem? But I hate poems.):

who are you, the silent brooder,
to whom the shark-fin waves speak?
For your heart is that of a churning maelstrom
And your smile slow and twisted,
like a too-soft banana skin
slowly being peeled back,
curling over like tendrils of smoke
over a sluggish metropolis

The sharp scent of your cheap cologne
cuts through the stagnant air on a summer evening,
much like ink bleeding through a diner napkin
I sense impatience--or perhaps it is just play of thought--
playing through your cloudy mind,
tapping out its irregular, staccato rhythmn
from a slick, lacquer red heel,
stiff straps lined with worry-wrinkles

And your vacant stare is that of the blind man
as you look to the tall, cigarette smokestacks
before a hazy sunset of some rich exotic incense
And the sun is a dull lantern
behind silk screens and screen doors

A single moth the color of white paint peeling from
cracked wooden walls
toys with danger
as it dances in the candlelight

.....WHAT?

Here's another trippy one:

It rises from the ashes
of a metropolitan wasteland.
It floods minds with flourescent light,
opens UV-protected eyes,
clears the fog off weather-insulated souls.

Upstairs, a great mind turns,
mechanical heart ticks away into the future
as neon lights and falling confetti
float in serenity
beneath the luminescence of time.

The man realizes that the great Moth
will die in burning passion
as it pursues destiny,
as it seeks the light.

And so
the man,
confetti in
his hair, his ears, his eyes,
stumbles into the chamber of darkness.

Did I hate buildings or something?
I also found a story involving an axe and yellow plates. But that one's a bit long, and I kind of want to go through it first. O.o TRIPPY SCHIZZ, and I didn't do drogas!

Anyways, organizing adventure: mild success.
Rule of thumb: If you don't know it's there, delete it. Of course, this applies to stuff you saved as opposed to important stuff.

Fail Comic 03. Babby Beaver

Yet another fail comic to quell my boredom and waste space on the interwebs while fueling more retarded fads! I need to hire a writer. And an artist. :D As usual, click to enlarge! This one might need it.

 03. Babby Beaver

(Click to enlarge)

That's not really a bad song. In fact, the chorus always gets stuck in my head. D=
Also, I guess that font doesn't like apostrophes. :D