Can't get enough of Deke

This was brought to my attention my P-lotts. Pretty funny.

Act like you've been there before kid

So we lost our intramural frisbee finals this past Monday. No real surprise there considering the other team had 4 or 5 club players on it. The thing that sticks out about that game was how moronic the dudes on the other team were. One point stands out. They had the disc. They put up a horrible huck. I'm sandwiched between 2 of their guys going deep. I decide that I have spontaneously become Michael Jordan, and that I can catch the frisbee 11 feet in the air. So go up for the disc against the offensive player in front of me. We both misread it and the other offensive dude catches it. Now, I have no problem with that. I misread the disc. Their dude made a good play. Good job. Then the moron spikes it. Now, this is an intramural frisbee game. No real glory in winning the intramural frisbee championship. I mean it's not the game to go to nationals. Also, a bunch of people on our team are beginners. So now I'm pissed. Usually I don't say anything. This time though I couldn't help it, so I say, "Nice spike douchebag." They were like what did he say and all that mess. Apparently he was just having fun. Well congrats on beating a bunch of people who are new to the game douchebag. I hate when people try to rub winning in other people's faces. Act like you've been there. Score, celebrate with your teammates, and then do it again. No need to make other people feel like crap. This also relates to when you boo your home team. Really? Booing them and making them feel like crap is going to make them feel better and play better. You think they don't know they are playing badly and losing. Maybe cheering on your losing team would yield better results. I'm just saying.

Deke, I'll miss the finger wag

This is a bit overdue, but I wanted to talk about it anyways. In a time when we look to our athletes to be role models for kids and for ourselves, only to have many of them fall short on a regular basis (just look at Michael Vick, A-Rod, and Plaxico only to name a few), it's sad to see Dikembe Mutumbo call it quits. For those that don't know, Dikembe Mutumbo was a 42 year old center for the Houston Rockets who injured his knee during a playoff game and decided that it was his time to call it quit amid tears. He was in the league for like ever. He played for the Hawks (a team I grew up watching) and the Sixers (a team that ended up making me fall in love with Philly sports). While he played, everytime you would hear him talk, you'd start laughing. He had this unmistakable deep, gravely voice. Check out his Houston teammates making fun of him. Hilarious!!!

I remember that he used to do a commercial in Atlanta when I was younger. My friends and I heard it and it made us laugh. More importantly though, Mutumbo never failed as a role model. He has built hospitals in his native country of Congo. He started the Dikembe Mutumbo Foundation. He has given back to his community and the world. Like I said, in a time when we shower athletes, who inevitably let us down, with our love and admiration, it's sad to see an athlete like Mutumbo not be able to retire on his own terms. One thing is for certain though. When most athletes retire, their glory days are in the distant past. I'm sure that Mutumbo's greatest achievements are yet to come. Go wag your finger at someone big dawg. The paint was your house Dikembe.

Intramural frisbee

My friend 6' 8'' has put together an intramural frisbee team composed of a bunch of b-school students and me. We had our first game on Monday during a brisk Spring evening. The rules are kinda weird for intramural frisbee because it's a timed game. Things change when it's a timed game. We also only had two women. The league is 4 men and 3 women, but you're only allowed to play 1 more man than woman, which means that we were supposed to play 3 men and 2 women. The other team was nice enough to let us play 4 men and 2 women. The game itself reminded of the first time I began playing ultimate frisbee. I played ultimate for the first time during a nerd camp the summer after my junior year of high school in Valdosta, GA. From that point on I was hooked. The game I played back then though compares nothing to what I went on to play. Those games during nerd camp were on a huge field, with tons of people playing at once, and usually were shirts and skins (I was skinny back then, scrawny but still skinny). The games I play in now are way more structured, more athletic, involve way more skill, and aren't shirts v skins. The intramural game was like the ultimate games at nerd camp, except during these intramural games I didn't have to run. That good though because I'm not very fast. I like the more athletic and structured brand of ultimate that I play now. Sometimes though, I miss those days of my youth when my entire future was in front of me to shape, and not just a memory of good times past. Oh well, such is life I guess.

I don't believe it exists...

So I am going to talk about chemistry today, so bear with me for those of you who don't find this interesting. I'll try to make it relevant. One thing that annoys me about doing chemistry is doing things on small scale. I mean, it saves me from burning through material and makes purification somewhat easier, but really small scale reactions are a pain to set up. Imagine building a small scale model of a building, but having to use little bits of toothpicks to build the model. A bad analogy I know. The point is that when you do small scale reactions that are catalytic in something, you end up having to weigh out masses on the order of 0.3 mg or dispense volumes of 10 microliters. Now the volume issue is only a real issue if you have to use dry solvents and things that can catch fire when they come in contact with air. Technology has advanced to the point of measuring out those volumes relatively painless. However, weighing out 0.3 mg on a balance is a pain in the you know what. I personally believe that those kinds of masses don't exist. Now, I know that's wrong. They obviously exist, but I think that I'm not measuring those kinds of weights using the balances I have. So you add in these amounts to your reaction not really knowing if you're adding 0.3 mg or 0.7 mg. Not a big deal until you scale up and realize the reaction isn't going as fast because you were supposed to add 70 mg of catalyst instead of 30 mg of catalyst.

But I digress. This is only a real issue because technology has advanced to the point to allow one to do things on such a small scale. Like I said, doing small scale reactions has its benefits. You use less material, generate less waste, and can try out more conditions. Now if I could just get a Smurf to work in my hood and do these small scale reactions. To them these small scale reactions are probably large scale. For that matter, it would be cool just to have smurfs running around and helping me out. How far do you think you could punt Brainy? I'm saying a good 40 or 50 yards. Who's with me?

Is this seat taken?

You want to know something that annoys me besides chemistry references that are bogus (that will be discussed another time). It's when you walk into a casual restaurant where you seat yourself. It's the lunch rush and you're in a group of 3 or 4 people. You order your food at the counter and then look around for seats for you and your friends to sit in, only to find numerous tables that can fit 2 people comfortably. The annoying part is that you see groups of one or two at tables that could fit 4 or more people. What the hell? Now I can understand if there were no tables there when the loners walked in. I have lunch by myself all the time (save your loser jokes people). I just think it's common courtesy to maybe allow larger groups to sit at the table by moving to smaller tables when you're a loner.

Things aren't all bad though. I was on the bus the other day when an Indian couple (go brown people) got up to offer their seat to a dad and his small child. When the couple got up, another girl was about to sit in the seat before the father and child could get there. Instead of being Gandhi, the Indian dude went all Malcolm X and was like, "I was giving the seat to the father and his child so they could sit down." The girl was like "What?". So the guy explained his intentions to her again. The girl was like "Oh" and allowed the father and child to sit in the seat. It was a little uncomfortable for a bit, but it was nice to see someone do something nice and courteous. Then I realized that I was still sitting in my seat and I never offered to give my seat up. Who's a jackass now Raja? Never point your finger at someone because you have three fingers pointing back at you and let ye cast the first stone who has not sinned himself and what not. From now on though, I'm going to try to keep my eyes open for when I can be courteous, even if it makes the situation uncomfortable.

A little cross promotion

Most of you who read the blog already know about this, but I figured I'd take the time to plug a really awesome and fun charity event. The 2009 Madison Mustaches for Kids (M4K) is about to happen. This is my third year of involvement. Last year I helped run the event and it was a lot of fun. For those who don't know, M4K is an annual charity event where men around Madison grow mustaches for a month. While doing this, they get people to sponsor their mustache growing endeavor. All money raised goes to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Wisconsin.

A lot of my friends in Madison are doing this or contributing to this. If you are not in Madison but my friend, please consider donating. Donations are tax deductible if they are done in check form, but I'll take cash too. If you feel like donating and don't see me on a regular basis, send me an e-mail me at pimpgandhi@gmail.com, and I'll let you know where to send a check to. Checks should be made out to Make-A-Wish Foundation with "Raja Annamalai M4K" in the memo line. I know times are tight right now, but anything you all can spare would be great. This is a really good cause, and we've been raising more money every year. I have a link to the Mustaches for Kids blog on this blog that you can send others to if they feel like donating but want to know what we're about.

Every year when M4K is coming up, I'm always apprehensive about doing it. This year Marissa Rosen and Dario are doing most of the lifting while I am in an advisory role. Also, I need a mustache themed costume for the final 'Stache Bash. Two years ago I won the 'Stache Bash to become the 'Stache Master of Madison. I was a pervy Indian guru named Rubby Chubby Wankhard. Last year I placed and went as Ramathorn from Super Troopers. This year is up in the air, so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. So far we have cricket player, Mr. T, and a streaker on the table. Put your thinking hats on people. Pics will be up weekly on the Mustaches for Kids blog, so check it out to see how things are going. Until next time, peace.