East Side Whut?

Pictures are delayed on account of not knowing where the usb cable is, so heres the text portion of my travels in the east.

First cool thing is that I was working in the Synthetic Biology division, which is the most kickass job description I can think of. The project is to make the first bacteria from scratch. Once I get my scanner working I'll be able to point out the part I made. Second cool thing was that the head of the project was this guy named Ham Smith. If you look him up you may find that he received a nobel prize in 1978 for discovering restriction enzymes. For the not so biologically inclined, restriction enzymes are THE tool used in biology. This is building a house with the guy who invented the hammer.

Drinking in Baltimore was a most interesting experience, but a lot of it won't do any good without the photos, so I'll wait on that. I will say the idea of dog-friendly bars is a prett cool one. something relaxing about sitting in a bar while surrounded by about 6 dogs chasing each other and barking. Also of note: John Waters is not a wacky kitcshy director, he is a documentary filmmaker. Go watch Pecker again and you will understand.

And on the subject of cinema as life, to understand exactly what my life will be life for the next 3 weeks, go see The Life Aquatic. Even the beard is identical. To add to it further, rumor has it that my bunk will be given to a Nova film crew, and I will be playing lots of David Bowie music.

My last night Mapgirl took me to the best sushi restaurant. Upstairs was this fairly normal looking bar, which had standup comedy going on at the time, so we asked if we could eat downstairs instead. Downstairs turned out to be super super fancy, all white marble and roman columns. and in the back was this funky undersea grotto setup, which I really wish I had pictures of. It was all molded plaster, fiber optic lights, and random tanks filled with various colored liquids. We asked for mochi (they said he dont work here), and the waitress got all sad because its her favorite and theres nowhere in the DC area where you will find it. not even the kind without ice cream. Which now makes two places where you won't find any. Lack of ice cream aside, a wonderful end to the trip.