Travel Limits

There is one more aspect to my trip to the Golden Gate Bridge that deserved being addressed, but it makes sense to dedicate it a separate entry. In fact, the spot on the beach at the Golden Gate has been the furthest west I have travelled so far (in terms of longitude). My stay in the U.S. is the first time outside Europe, so anything west of that will set a new record. In that light, the trip to the Californian west coast is about as far as I can go within the (contiguous) United States. While I would certainly like to visit Hawaii and Alaska, those places will have to wait. - The runner-up in the west is actually the Chicago area.
The eastbound limit had been Budapest, Hungary, since September 1999, and was surpassed only recently, in 2007, when I went to Turku, Finland, for a scientific conference while still being a graduate student. To date, Turku still holds the record; actually both in the east and the north. The second most northern location I have visited so far is Glasgow, Scotland/UK, where I spent one wonderful semester as an undergraduate student.
Finally, southbound I have gone as far as Lanzarote, one of the Canary Islands that are Spanish territories just in front of the African Atlantic coast. The Canary Islands share the same lattitude as Orlando, FL. The runner-up in this direction is Atlanta, GA, where I spent an as great as intense weekend with my friends Heather and Jon, number three is the San Francisco Bay area, and believe it or not: number four are both the area of Naples, Italy, and Chicago, IL! While Italy is generally perceived as a warm country (and rightfully so), Chicago is infamous for its cold Midwestern winters ... Indeed, Europe is not only east, but also (mostly) north of the U.S., but I don't think there is a single place in Germany that gets as cold as Chicago in the winter. You would have to go as far north as Scandinavia to experience -17°F in the European winter. (Well, Russia might do the trick, too.)
Further travelling plans encompass Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where I have a friend and former colleague from Berlin; several coastal cities in China; Moscow, Russia; Iran, Homa's home, which might prove to be complicated, due to political obstacles; and many other destinations that I am not thinking of right now.

The Golden Gate Bridge (San Francisco, CA)

As I have mentioned in the last post, I seized the day (Saturday, Nov. 14, 2009, to be exact) to go to San Francisco. The main site on my list was of course the Golden Gate Bridge, but originally I had planned to see also the local Chinatown, "the crookedest street" (a section of Lombard street, which is exceptionally steep), the Transamerica pyramid (a local landmark), and the cable car. As it turned out, I could accomplish just the Golden Gate bridge, yet it was still all worthwile the visit!
When I finally arrived (after travelling on the hilly streets of the city and in particular going through the Presidio, which I knew beforehand from a movie of the same name) at the Golden Gate, which is the narrow junction between the San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean, the sight was incredibly soothing, and I could not help to become all meek and mild about the beauty of this location. The bridge itself is a very impressive structure, and the view around the Golden Gate is breathtaking, I have no other words. I saw Alcatraz, I saw downtown San Francisco, I saw all the sailboats on the water, and I finally laid my eyes on the Pacific Ocean.
Actually, I could not resist, so I laid even my hands on it. Next to the bridge there is a beautiful beach, and I climbed all the way down to the water and touched it with my hands. I lingered a bit, beholding the scenery and contemplating for a while, and then I climbed back up to the trail, from which I came. (Up was of course more complicated, and I knew that beforehand, but I simply had to.) Back on the trail I contemplated some more about the sunset, one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. In fact, I believe it is not possible to catch that moment with my camera, but I took a photo as a souvenir, so as to remind me of what I felt then.
And yet I had to part from my new favorite spot, as I was going back to San Jose the same night, and then to Chicago the next day.

AVS meeting (San Jose, CA)

From Monday, Nov. 9, to Friday, Nov. 13, 2009, I was an attendee of the 56th Annual Meeting of the American Vacuum Society. This is a scientific conference, which was held in San Jose, California. As promised earlier on, I am presenting my new outfit. (Unfortunately the shirt is not the one I bought originally, but that is another story.) The meeting was held at the McEnery convention center in San Jose, and Xiaofeng (another postdoc from our research group) and I were staying at a nearby motel. Xiaofeng deserves all the fame for picking this place, which was clean, inexpensive, and within less than five minutes walking from the conference. (The bottom right picture shows our room seen from the parking lot.)
The talk went okay, and fortunately I could give it already on the first day, so the cabin fever did not rise to a point where it would simply kill me. Yet I was nervous, of course, as it was the first time ever for me to speak at such an event. Well, as it is customary at big conferences, the crowd picks their favorite speakers, so two talks before mine the room was completely packed; when the next talk started, the speaker thanked the previous one "for leaving me with some of her residual audience"; and when it was my turn I could have thanked my predecessor for leaving me with a residue of the former residual audience ... In other words, the room that could hold more than 100 people was half full at best, but it was not entirely empty either. I think I was able to convey my message, and I did not get laughed at. On the other hand, I guess my standards are a bit on the low side, as the person who attracted the really big audience was honored with the conference award for up-and-coming scientists that are 35 years old or younger. She actually got invited to speak there, while ordinary folks like me have to apply for a slot. (And yet I am glad that there are better scientists than me out there!)
Anyways, I took advantage of the opportunity of being in California, which is now the third State of the United States I have visited so far; the first and second being Illinois and Georgia, respectively. I walked around San Jose a bit, and one thing I liked better there than in Chicago is that the buttons for the pedestrian traffic lights indicate the direction of crossing the street. In Chicago there is often just one for both possible ways to cross a street at the corner of an intersection, so then the pedestrian lights will both be active when it is ther turn. However, occasionally there are two, and then it can be hard to find out which one is for which street.
Although Homa found it a bit strange to do such a thing, I went to see a movie on one night: "The Men Who Stare At Goats". In one word: hilarious! One might argue that the time out of town could be spent more efficiently to see more things, but I guess the point is that I felt a bit on vacation, and therefore I was a bit reluctant to be efficient. Plus, I am having a very nice memory now. The movie theater happened to be just two blocks from our motel, so I could not resist, as I also had not been to the movies for longer than I liked.
The weirdest thing, however, was the artificial snowman I discovered on Tuesday night. Well, while I was welcomed back by a chilly breeze in Chicago (currently below 50°F, or single digits in °C), it was constantly 60°F (15°C or more) in San Jose. Only for two days I was wearing a jacket, and I did feel a bit strange facing the snowman wearing no more than a sweater (and pants, of course ...). I caught myself thinking that it might be a bit early for displaying winter items, but then I realized that it was mid November, and it was just the mild Californian weather that was getting me confused.
The conference ended on Friday at noon, but I returned to Chicago only on Sunday. On the Saturday in between, I went to San Francisco, more specifically the Golden Gate Bridge, but about that I will tell you in a separate story.

What I Am Is What I Am

The title of this post is actually borrowed from a pop song from the 1980s, which is originally perfomed by "Edie Brickell and New Bohemians". I thought is would do a great motto, also because I think it is a nice combination of funky music and cool lyrics. Click here to watch the video on YouTube - I wish my singing and guitar-playing skills were this good, as I would then perform the song myself instead, but I'd better leave it to the professionals.
As I said, the chorus line, "What I Am", is a good motto for this post, because in the recent past I have been judged by two people in a very different way. Dr. Aashani (see her picture on a previous post) told me that a fellow Sri Lankan, who works as a graduate student just down the hall from my office, has noticed me around, and for some reason that is inexplicable to me she thinks I am very scary. She even told Aashani that if I started talking to her she would actually faint! Well, perhaps there is more than just stereotypes to nationalities, and maybe I being a German do have a rough edge. Maybe some people think that I might be harsh. That may be so, but please also note that the frightened girl's name is Harsha ... I swear I didn't make this up! (What's even better, part of her last name can be understand as German for "grab 'er" - no, I didn't!)
Nevertheless, not everyone seems to think that I would do a formidable scarecrow. My new student Zhu, whom I dedicated another one of the previous posts, told me that she thinks I am as cute as a panda. I am not sure how much of a compliment that is, but maybe she actually meant "panther" ...
Turning back to Edie Brickell's song, there is another interesting line, "Religion / Is a smile on a dog". While I will certainly not start a discussion on faith here, I must admit that I do love this part. I used to date a girl a long time ago, whose family has a collie; the dog and I were best friends, and I do remember that I used to think that he looks like he is laughing when he was hackling. The reason, however, why I raise this matter at all is that it seems to me that one's image with fellow human beings is just as little substantiated as "a smile on a dog".
PS: I would like to apologize to Harsha that I am making fun of her - but hey, at least that means she is right about me!

Elevators

This post is about elevators. The picture shows the two in the Science and Engineering South (SES) building at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), which is where I work. More precisely, it is where my office is, as my lab is actually in the basement of the adjacent Research Resources Center (RRC). I am mentioning that because I run back and forth between my lab and my office several times per day, and the latter is on the top (fifth) floor. Unfortunately, these two elevators are not exactly reliable. A few months ago two students got stuck in the one with the small door, and for a while it was switched on only intermittently. Now, people are anyways supposed to take only the small one, and the big one requires a swipecard; yet in case one is down it makes sense, at least to me, to open the other one to everyone. This is possible, as it has occurred already, but often the people who switch off the small elevator for another repairment/maintenance/whatever forget to make the big one available for us humble non-swipecard-holders. Although I have to admit that taking the stairs once in a while would do me good (check out my recent confession when I bought a new suit), the lack of elevator service does take my swearing abilities to another level! (Did you note the pun?)
The other elevator, however, is much more pleasant. It is located at The Water Tower Place, a shopping mall in downtown Chicago (on the Magnificent Mile, or Michigan Avenue). The mall has eight floors, and the elevator takes you from ground via two straight to seven, in almost no time. Macy's, where I bought my suit a week ago, is just next door and can be reached from any level of the Water Tower Place. Oh, and by the way, mischievous me published this little clip specifically for my friend Dominik, who is afraid of heights.

Revolving Door

This post bodes both ill and good news. The former is that my colleague (referring to the previous post, my "associate") Jing is leaving the group, because her boyfriend has transferred from Chicago to Michigan. I am quite sad that she is quitting, because she is both a good scientist and fun to talk to. Yet the good news is that there is already a replacement, which I also enjoy training and working with. Hence the title of this post ...
The new student's name is Zhu, a former undergraduate from Peking University in Beijing, China. According to her, "you can call it the Harvard of China". That is of course an ambitious statement, but Zhu is quite fast in picking up whatever I teach her, even considering that she has some background in our technique already. She is also very friendly - she gave me a box of cookies, so I can sustain the work in the lab better. She is a graduate freshman (freshwoman? freshperson?), so she is currently quite busy with her own teaching duties and taking classes, but we still manage to make noteworthy progress in her training on the equipment. She is quite tough: tonight I gave up at around 9:30pm, and she returned to her office to continue her preparation for the next upcoming test. Suddenly I feel old!

Graduates Past, Present and Future

Good news from the graduation front! The three girls on the pictures have all passed their PhD defense. Congratulations (from left to right) to Dr. Panchatapa "Tapa" Jash, Dr. Aashani Tillekaratne and Dr. Jelena Jelic (from India, Sri Lanka and Serbia, respectively). Tapa had actually graduated in July, Aashani yesterday, and Jelena today. However, the photo was taken yesterday, at Aashani's celebration (that's why she is the only one dressed formally), and therefore the image is entitled "Graduates Past, Present and Future". Note that Aashani and Jelena are inclined toward Tapa - does that mean that they lean toward the past, and hence the PhD is actually elusive? In other words, citing the high school graduation motto of a college friend of mine, you are "King (Queen) for a Day, Fool for a Lifetime"? Well, I may contribute my own experience: although I don't go by "Dr. Alex" myself, this is how I am typically introduced to scientific guests to our lab and also potential new members of our group. Then new graduate students do treat me respectful, and for undergraduates I am already part of the academic establishment and hence to be ignored. Hence, welcome to my world, Dr. Tapa, Dr. Aashani and Dr. Jelena, but don't worry - I think it's definitely worth it!

Anniversary (Happy New Gear)

As of today, I have been in the United States of America for exactly one year. So, how did the U.S. of A. and I celebrate our anniversary? Well, I am a rather thrifty person (in my humble opinion, that is), but today I did spent a lot (and I mean: a LOT) of money just on a new outfit. Benefiting from the stores being open on sundays on this side of the Atlantic, I set out to grab myself some new gear for the conference I will attend in the near future. Shopping on Sundays is generally impossible in Germany, as it is considered unfair to mothers and fathers, who would be deprived of precious family time otherwise. For the same kind of attitude, people are much more prone to ride mass transit instead of driving that here. As for myself, I actually owned a car once, but could not afford to maintain it eventually, so I have been a pedestrian and customer of public transportation ever since. Even in Chicago ...
As I said, I went out to buy a new outfit, which means: a suit (jacket and pants plus belt), a shirt, a tie, and a pair of new shoes. One place to get all these things is Macy's, a department store chain (much like Kaufhof in Germany). One Macy's branch is located just next to the Water Tower Place, one of the local malls. I quickly found everything I needed, which pleased me - in Germany it is much harder to find the right size for me. That has to do with the fact that I am 5 ft. 10 ", and I weigh about 220 lbs. At this point a statement of my colleague Jing crossed my mind; she said: "When I came to the U.S. I realized that I am not fat." Check an earlier post for a picture, so you can make up your own mind. I believe she was being silly, but I am still a bit impressed that even a guy of my, well, physical presence can find the right clothes in almost no time.
Yet a make-over does not come for free. I don't think my choice was unreasonable or particularly luxurious, and yet it all adds up to about the same as the air fare for coming to Chicago from Germany. A malicious person might say, so much for those Euros all being - once they get the chance they turn into mindless shop-a-holics. But at least I bought my things at a place that has a five-pointed red star in its logo, didn't I?
Oh, and if you want to see the new outfit, please wait for the conference pictures. It is the Fall Meeting of the American Vacuum Society, which is going to be held in San José, CA, and I have made arrangements to spend the weekend after in San Francisco. In other words, stay tuned for a whole bunch of pics to come!

Atlanta

October 2-4, 2009, mark a change for me. On these days I have left the area commonly referred to as Chicagoland for the first time since my arrival. This means that until then I had experienced the United States as a piece of land that extends from Lake Michigan to Naperville (a western suburb of Chicago, where I attended a small meeting in May 2009) from East to West, and from O'Hare airport to Chicago's Chinatown from North to South. Rumor has it that there is more to this country ...
This first trip of mine within the U.S. (I am confused: is that a "domestic" trip, despite my being German?) merges two special occasions. First, my friends Heather and Jon have returned home and settled down in Atlanta. And second, the date we chose for our reunion comprises the German national holiday (October 3), which commemorates the reunification of the German Democratic Republic ("East Germany") and the Federal Republic of Germany ("West Germany") in 1990, after the downfall of the Berlin Wall (and the Iron Curtain) about a year before.
By the way, the date of the Reunifcation Day was actually chosen randomly, because the naturaly choice, the first anniversary of the downfall of the Berlin wall on November 9, 1989, was considered inappropriate. Why? Because by some evil coincidence this day also marks the anniversary of the Reichspogromnacht in 1938, a night of excessive violence against Jewish institutions and shops commissioned by the Nazi government. And nobody wants to see inconvincible neo-nazis abusing the German national holiday for remembering the wrong thing. (Yes, history is that complicated back home!) By the way, the pogroms were originally called Reichskristallnacht, but for reasons of political correctness it is now considered inappropriate to use a term like "crystal" for a night of violence.
I seemed to me a good idea to meet my friends on a day that is historically very important for my home country, which had also hosted them for a good two years. Indeed, it continued our tradition of celebrating this day together, because Heather and Jon were in Germany at the two preceeding installments.
While for some reason the celebrations in Berlin were a bit bigger than in Atlanta, we still had a terrific time together. Ultimately, I can only speak for myself, of course, but I am under the impression that Heather is pleased that she could show me so much of her second home. (By another coincidence, she also went to college in Atlanta.)
When I arrived Friday night, Heather picked me up at the airport, which is actually the busiest in the world, because it is the main hub of Delta Airlines. She made an attempt of showing me the skyline by taking the city highway, which was more than successful: traffic in Atlanta is so bad that there is stop-and-go any time of the day and even night! But we hadn't seen each other for a while, and we are both quite chatty, so it did not matter at all. We did make it home, after getting some (local) beer from a grocery store, whose alcohol licence ended at 11:54pm (sic!) that day. Then we continued to chat until 2am, when we finally decided to hit the sack for a bit.
The next morning I also said hi to Jon, who had to grade homework papers of his students (Jon is now a professor) the night before, and usually doesn't stay up late. While Heather was making pancakes (yum yum!) for the three of us, I got the chance to take a picture of Fermi the cat. It is quite funny that he is named after Enrico Fermi, a physics Nobel laureate, because the energetically highest occupied electron states in an atom are called the Fermi edge in his honor, and really this cat is living on the edge, as you can see from the photo! We then watched Heather play pick-up soccer, before going downtown to see the Atlanta Braves vs. the Washington Nationals. The Braves are the local baseball team, who play at Turner Field, which is named after their former owner, (former) media tycoon Ted Turner, and is also the stadium where the Summer Olympics were held in 1996. Mr. Turner had negotiated a deal with the city of Atlanta, that he would pay the lion part of the Olympic Stadium, if the city paid for the tranformation into a baseball stadium. Indeed, the site does not resemble a former Olympic Stadium at all. - After an exciting baseball game, in which the Braves lost in the eleventh inning (the game was tied after nine and ten), we went out for dinner. Keeping the faith to Mr. Turner, we went to Ted's Montana Grill , where I had bison meat for the first time in my life (yum yum again!), and where I also took that photo of Heather and Jon (center left). And eventually we had a few beer on Germany in a nearby bar. Eventually I became as round as the giant Braves ball outside Turner field (top right photo).
Sunday morning marked an early start for Heather, because she is much more devoted to Catholicism than her name suggests. Meanwhile, I managed at least to have a shower. This time we had a Southern breakfast at a local diner. Lesson learned: southern food is rich and plenty! Definitely my cup of (sweet) tea! Then Jon and I had to say goodbye already, because his professional duties were occupying him again. (This workload is one of the reassons why I will refrain from continuing my career in Academia.) But Heather and I went on with sightseeing: we visited the Georgia Aquarium, the biggest aquarium in the world, where we found Nemo (bottom left photo); and we completed our tour at the World of Coca Cola (bottom right photo - I picked a soccer motif). Then we got back to the car, and Heather dropped me off at the airport. I was back home at midnight, completely exhausted, ready for a weekend break. And yet very, very happy!
As I mentioned at the outset of this post, the trip to Atlanta marked a change for me, but October 3, 1990, marked a much bigger change for Germany. You could say that Germany was rebooted - hence the photo of my shoes (I had to take them off for airport security), which are (almost) in German colors.

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

I have come to Chicago on October 25, 2008. While my original assigment was just for one year, I have made an effort to acquire some funding for an extension of my time here. Fortunately, it turned out successful: the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation) has granted me a fellowship from 09/01/2009 thru 31/08/2010. Yay! This is actually a bit surprising, because I specifically indicated in the application that I have no intentions of pursuing a life-long academic career, which I thought had been the knock-out criterion for my other application with the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.
The only drawback I see in this is that I will have to watch the 2010 soccer World Cup (held in South Africa) while being in the US. It's not that soccer isn't any popular here, it is actually the fastest growing sport around - in the group phase at the beginning the matches usually start at around 3pm local time, which is in the morning in Chicago. Hence, it will be harder to keep track of the events than the last time (in 2006, when it was held in Germany).
But of course I can cope with that, as long as I can continue my work. In fact, just last week we had a breakthrough with the experiments, which demonstrated that the work I am being paid for now is actually possible ...

Birthday Outings

Like any other human (and non-human) being, I have my birthday coming up pretty much each and every year. I am not going to announce the exact date, nor how old I turned this year, as I assume that anyone who bothers reading this blog knows these facts anyways. However, I can give a small hint: it was between the previous and the current post. (And yes, the two months in between are exactly how often I am capable of updating this blog ...) The reason why I mention my birthday at all is because I was fortunate to celebrate it even twice this year. It was not my idea - I am blessed with formidable friends who just don't know each other well enough to hang out together. Hence, on the eve of my birthday my friend Carolina (top image, right), and her friends Jorge (left) and Tatiana (center) (all Colombian students at the University of Illinois at Chicago) took me out to the Beer Bistro. Nomen est omen, they have an as large as international variety of beer, which cured me from the condition of thinking that Germany is the epicenter of beer brewing. In the words of a former scientific advisor of mine (a Londoner turned faculty at the University of Glasgow): "It was quite a hoot!" This particularly applies to the dish that Tatiana ordered later on, which was decorated with a bunch of flaming hot peppers, and we made eating them a dare ...
The second (and, to date, last) night out to celebrate my 2009 (but not 2009th) birthday was actually two weeks late. That is because the person in charge, James (bottom image, left), is currently writing his dissertation, as to take his defense before the end of the year. Having completed a similar task not too long ago, I know all too well how time-consuming and tedious this is. Yet we did agree on a date, and James and his fiancee Jenn(y) took me out to Coalfire, a pizza place famous for its coalfire-prepared pizza. Now, in order to fully appreciate the importance of pizza to Chicagoans, you are invited to read about Deep Dish Pizza Chicago Style on Wikipedia. I have tried deep dish pizza myself, and despite my (in all modesty) noteworthy abilities in food intake, I usually surrender after half a medium-sized deep dish pizza. Considering that it is actually a kind of cheese pie, I still do pretty okay ... At Coalfire, however, the pizza is thin crust, which is a lot closer to the Italian original. The owner has experimented with superhot ovens, and he came up with a way of making a pizza within five (or so) minutes of placing the order. Although the pizza was a bit burned on a few spots, it was just purely delicious! I was quite sad that the place was closed when we went for a second time, when I was repaying the favor on the occasion of James' birthday, just a few weeks after mine. But we had deep dish instead at a place I hadn't tried before, so it was still a success.
By the way, Chicago is famous for three kinds of food: deep dish pizza, Italian beef, and Chicago style hot dogs. I am still waiting for a good opportunity to try the last, but as I will outline in the following post, I still have some time left.

The Field Museum

I have been neglecting my blog in the past two months or so. Hence an update on today's activity, which was a trip to the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. Lucky me got invited to go there even for free. Apparently UIC students can get free admission for the main museal attractions in the city, and they may even bring along some company. Since I am not a student anymore, I had to be the company. I actually joined two graduate students, which are both from Iran - Homa, whom I have trained in the past, and her friend, Shabnam. You may have a look at them on the two small photos on the bottom left, as well as on the large one on the right. (Homa is the one with the shorter hair.)
Now, the Field Museum is quite a big one. In order to dedicate enough attention to each and every exhibit, one needs to spend at least a week or so. Their range spans from Plants of the World over Minerals to Ancient Egypt and American Natives. Beyond these basics, there are special events, such as Pirates, and Water. (But those were not included in the free admission, so we skipped them, as we had plenty to see nevertheless!) We started out at perhaps the main attraction: Sue the Tyrannosaurus Rex. You see her in the top left. Apparently a big burger franchise has contributed to the effort of preparing Sue as an exhibit - that made people (ncluding me) wonder whether Sue's flesh has actually become a Bic Mac patty ... Perhaps that is why she looks so upset. The name, by the way, is a reference to the person who discovered the skeleton, which happens to be the most complete T-Rex skeleton that has been found thus far. The name of that person is Susan Hendrickson, for which reason the skeleton is considered a "she", while the sex is actually unknown. (I thought you could determine that from a DNA sample nowadays, but perhaps I am wrong. Or maybe it is because the DNA of T-Rex has not been decyphered yet.) Next we admired a decent collection of minerals, which was particularly appealing to me, since I am an avid collector. In the town of my parents, where I used to live until age 21, there is (or was) an annual convention on minerals, where I bought a few items for little money. But over the years I got a few things together. (Currently this collection is stored at my parents'.) Specifically I own a piece of hematite and a piece of pyrite, both of which I photographed also at the museum. Their chemical formulae are Fe2O3 and FeS2. If I may dwell on these names a little more, hematite is named after its color (cf. greek haima = red); hence also hemoglobin, the oxygen carrier molecule in the blood, which by the way also contains iron (Fe, from latin ferrum = iron) as the active center. Pyrite, on the other hand, is named after greek pyr = fire, because it was the material flintstones were hit against, in order to create sparks that would ignite a fire. - You may think that I am quite knowledgeable about these things, and perhaps that I like to brag about it, but I happen to have read the respective Wikipedia pages. Check them out yourself, they are quite instructive: pyrite, hematite, hemoglobin. After that we entered the sections on Plants of the World, but I didn't take any pictures there, because it was a bit dark in there. Then we admired the beauty of jade, followed by Ancient Egypt. There was even the mummy of a young boy (age 10 or so). While I did take a picture, I will refrain from posting it here, because after all it is a dead guy, and as far as I am concerned I would not like to become an exhibt after I have passed away. Anyways, from there we proceeded to the People of America (where I took the picture of Homa and Shabnam next to the two totem poles), ranging from the Arctic all the way to South America. Then finally all three of us were as exhausted as hungry, so we decided to end out tour there and head for some refreshments.
Taking advantage of the nationality of my company, we went for Persian food. It is quite funny, by the way, that the word Aryan is a cognate of Iran, which actually means Land of the Aryans. While there is some remote relationship between Farsi, the official language in Iran, and the Germanic languages like German and English, none of the Iranian students I have met in the US come anywhere near the idea of aryans that was worshipped in Germany a few decades ago. And neither do I, which, among other things, makes me tan much more easily than Hitler would have me allowed to ... Yet the name Iran is a rather new one, while in the past the country had been ruled for several thousands of years by the Shah of Persia. Homa had told me once that she prefers Persia over Iran, as to refer to the long-standing cultural tradition. Since that area was one of the first ever to be inhabited by a civilization, I tend to agree with her that this is justified and also a good idea. In fact, the level of sophistication of Persian cuisine is as you would expect from such an old culture. Boy, did we eat ourselves full! And the best thing was, we had an all-you-can-eat buffet, which kept the bill almost ridiculously low.
PS: I remember I once received a birthday card from my little sister, asking "did you cry a lot when the dinosaurs got extinct?" Finally I have the appropriate answer: "No, dear, because they make really cool showcases. But you have to be in Chicago to understand that." Ha!

Fourth of, er, July

Yes, I am still in the United States. Yes, there was the Independence Day, the Fourth of July, the National Holiday, after I updated this blog the last time. Finally I share with you some of the impressions I got around this day. As you probably expected, Red, White and Blue were the dominating colors on that weekend. In fact, Independence Day is usually one extra day off to give a prolongued weekend. This year, however, it was a saturday; yet the occasion is of such fundamental importance to the Americans that we did not have to work the day before. Way to go! Needless to say that I declared myself independent as well (from the lab, that is), so I got some time to take pictures of the scenery. You are invited to join me on a quick tour.
A. Someone has decorated the sidewalk of Wesley Avenue, where I currently live ("where I am currently staying at") with a lot of American flags. It is actually not only Wesley Avenue, but almost the entire neighborhood. Good thing these flags are cheap - I have seen them for just a quarter dollar the piece.
B. Even a garden in Wesley Avenue is equipped with flags.
C. The first of my three favorites: I went to Home Depot, a home improvement store, to look for some tools that might come handy in the lab. Legions of flags on the roof. Definitely more expensive than a quarter dollar the piece.
D. The Bank of America has its own flag, even from 7/5 to 7/3.
E. This building seems to be important, given the decoration. But I haven't found out yet what it is for. (Note the Chicago Theater to the left.)
F. Another single flag on the front of a building.
G. Even the flags are enjoying their time off duty, it seems.
H. More flags on just another building.
I. Another option to decorate things in Red, White and Blue.
J. The second of my three favorites: I saw this lady on the Taste of Chicago, a festival held between Michigan Avenue (the principal street downtown, also known as the Magnificent Mile), and the lakeside.
K. A triad of lazy flags I photographed on the way home from the Taste.
L. Union Station, Chicago's principal train station, has one big perennial flag.
M. See how big it is?
N. The third and last of my favorites: patriotic leftovers received a big discount the next day.
O. After watching so much iconic American lifestyle, I finally decided to "blend in" a bit, so I granted myself a bottle of coke, and a turkey cranberry sandwich. Neither lasted long ...
P. Speaking of American icons: this construction site used to be a McDonald's restaurant. The place is within walking distance from my current home. Oh no! What shall I eat while it is being rebuilt? (A whopper from Burger King, or a pizza from DiNico's, or an Italian Beef, to name but a few, all of which are even a lot closer!)

A visit from Michigan

Last Sunday I enjoyed a visit from Troy, MI. That's right, even though it is still my first trip outside the borders of Good Old Europe, I am having friends in the US, which don't live in Chicago. The ones I am talking about here I met in Berlin. Stefan used to be a PhD student colleague at the Fritz Haber Institute. Since he is married to an American (Liz), he has made his way to the US even before me. Lucky him was offered a position at a company called RHK, which manufactures scanning tunneling microscopes. Since Stefan actually built his own machine as part of his research, for which RHK electronics were used, he is very familiar with this equipment. When he attended a scientific meeting in Berlin, the people from RHK approached him with a job offer, which he eventually accepted. I am very happy for him and his family, because it seems that they are enjoying themselves very much in Michigan. Stefan and I are really good friends, and so I was very pleased when he announced that his wife, his two sons Max(imilian) and Alex(ander) (guess why I call them the "X-men" ...), and himself would be in town for the weekend. And despite their tight schedule they made it happen to meet me on the way home. Yay! While Liz was watching over the little ones, Stefan and I had a really good chat, just like back home. Of course it was all too short, but I enjoyed their visit very much, and I am planning (among other things) to repay the favor before going back to Germany for good. - As you may have noticed, Stefan and Liz named their (second) son Alexander, just like me. While they probably didn't name him after me, they didn't have any objections that I am their son's namesake, which makes me proud, you bet!

Scientists actually

Quite a while ago I have been requested to post some information about my coworkers, Jing and Homa. As you have probably already guessed by now, these are the two charming ladies on the picture. Jing (to the left) is from China, and Homa is an Iranian. While Chinese PhD students are quite common in the US, Iranians are certainly not. I have to admit that when I first met Homa I was very surprised that Iranians are actually allowed to enter the United States, given the long-term bad relationship between these two countries. Fortunately my idea was wrong, because it has turned out that graduates from Tehran university are highly skilled. According to Homa her domestic school should be ranked among the best universities on this planet. While there may (or may not) be a good deal of patriotism in her statement, I must admit that she had undergone a very solid training before joining forces with me. - Now, it would be unfair to praise one student and to leave the other one completely out. Jing has recently been working on a new sample holder for our microscope. This will allow us to do experiments at low temperature (i.e., when the sample is cooled by liquid nitrogen to -196°C or -321°F). Hopefully this will increase our resolution dramatically. (It's the little thing that Homa is holding in her hand, by the way - but no closer looks allowed, as it is top secret!) Jing deserves a strong commendation for her efforts. As you can see, I am very much blessed by being allowed to collaborate with these girls. Even more so, as they are both good company. - You may ask what my job is, if the girls are so talented. Well, that's an easy one: I'm the photographer ...

Science actually

Since it takes me a little longer sometimes to post something new here, I have decided to explain you what I am doing when I am not blogging. I do science. I assume the readers of this blog knew that already pretty much. But actually I am doing pretty science. What does that mean? It means I do measurements that generate very pretty images. But let's start from the top.
I am a chemist, holding the degree of Diplomchemiker from TU Kaiserslautern. I finished my undergraduate studies with a diploma thesis, which is roughly equivalent to a Master's thesis. The Diplom used to be the one and only degree to finish undergraduate studies, while now Bachelor's and Master's degrees can be obtained all across Europe. In the course of this so-called Bologna process the German Diplom has been as good as abandonned. Yet I have such a degree, and since I got it only in 2004, you can tell that I am one of the last students to get one. - The Diplomarbeit, as the final thesis is called in German, was meant to be the project in which the student specializes on one of the sub-fields of chemistry, such as Organic Chemistry, Inorganic Chemistry, or Physical Chemistry, to name but a few. As for myself, I chose Physical Chemistry, because I enjoy doing measurements more than synthesis. A physical chemist is, generally speaking, someone who measures the physical properties of a chemical compound (and of atoms and molecules), or follows chemical reactions by physical means. Let me explain that a little further. In chemical reactions we have reactants and products. The reaction converts the former into the latter. Since they are different molecules, they must differ in some physical property. By following this property (if possible) over time, we can determine conversion rates and other important quantities.
After graduating from TU Kaiserslautern, scarse funding (and poor scientific advising) drove me out of town - which ended up being one of the most fortunate things that have happened so far in my life. I was accepted to become a doctoral student at the famous Fritz Haber Institute in Berlin. It turned out to be a great opportunity for me, as not only I learned an incredible lot about science, but I can now also state that a Nobel prize was awarded to someone while I was actually working at the same institution and in the same field. - It is that field that I would like to introduce now.
As mentioned above, I am a physical chemist. However, this describes my approach to science rather than a field of expertise. When I joined the Fritz Haber Institute (more precisely: the Department of Chemical Physics), I began to specialize in the field of catalysis. That is ironic, as catalysis was the genuine topic of Technical Chemistry at TU Kaiserslautern, and I had never taken any classes related to that. That is because I like fundamental research better than the applied one - but that is exactly how research is done in that place in Berlin.
If you think of a catalyst, you might actually think of an automotive catalyst in the first place. While this is certainly an important and interesting system, catalysts can be applied to vastly more than just cars. By definition a catalyst modifies the energy barrier between the reactants and the products in a chemical reaction, which it does by offering an alternative route. Thus you do not need to spend ("waste") as much energy to surpass the barrier, if you choose the proper catalyst. (If the barrier is even higher than without the catalyst, then that is a so-called 'inhibitor".) - However, and now we finally plunge into my actual work, industral catalysts are highly complex systems that are difficult to study by means of fundamental research. In order to tweak and improve catalysts, we need to understand them as deeply as possible. In terms of fundamental research, this is called "at the atomic level"; i.e., we would like to know the exact location and function of all atoms involved in a catalyzed reaction.
To that end it is beneficial to replace the indusrial catalyst of interest by an appropriate model with reduced complexity. That model should image key features of the structure found in an idustrial catalyst (typically so-called "nanoparticles" dispersed on a "support"), while at the same time it facilitates fundamental studies. The trick is of course that we use the same materials in the models as can be found in a real system (yet often not all of them, again for the sake of simplicity).
While I would like to spare you from outlining the preparation of the models, I would like to dwell on their investigation now. Intrinsically physical chemists will use physical means for their studies. There is more than a handful of different methods, but I deem Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM) to be the most demonstrative. One thing I have not mentioned thus far is that the model catalysts I focus on are "heterogeneous". That means they are solids, while the reactans and products are gaseous. Therefore, for a reaction to take place, all parties involved have to come close to each other in the first place. "Close" in this case means that the gas or gases will have to adsorb on the surface of the catalyst. As a doctoral student I (mostly) studied the fate of adsorbates by a technique called Reflection Adsorption InfraRed Spectroscopy (RAIRS), but in order to obtain a complete picture, one has of course to investigate the catalytically active surface as well. That is what STM is there for. Given that surface fulfills certain conditions, STM will image it "on the atomic level", which we postulated to be desirable at the outset of this entry. In simple words, it means that images obtained by STM ideally possess a magnification large enough to even make atoms visible. In that case we can also see the structure of the arrangement of the atoms with respect to each other (the so-called lattice), and the size and relative position of nanoparticles, if they should be present. This structural information can then be correlated to observed reactivity phenomena, and hopefully we can learn how modifying the surface structure will improve the reactivity.
It should also be mentioned that STM is not only good for catalytic studies; it is also capable of moving so-called adatoms (atoms sitting on top of the surface) around. This has been impressively demonstrated by some scientists that have formed Chinese characters from atoms. This is possible because STM is on one hand a "microscope", but on the other hand it does not rely on a combination of magnifying glasses, as traditional microscopes do. Instead, it exploits the so-called "tunneling effect", which belongs to the realm of quantum mechanics. Again I would like to spare you from the details, but essentially it means that we get a current going from a very sharp and thin tip to the surface (or vice versa), even though the two are not touching each other, and hence the electric circuit seems to be interrupted. Yet the tunneling effect allows for closing it despite the lack of direct contact. - Some additional electronic devices make sure that this tunneling current remains the same. Should the tip, which is moving across the surface as indicated in the figure above, encounter a protrusion (or any other change in the local surface), it will compensate for that by backing off accordingly, as the protrusion will lead to a higher current. Hence, the electronics act as a feedback control for the tip, and the compensation motions of the tip are recorded and combined to give an image of the surface. - On the other hand, the tip can also be used to push adatoms around and reposition them as outlined above.
This may sound very complicated, but in most cases I do not touch the physical basis of STM, but I just use it to get some nice images, which will hopefully allow me to better understand the structure/reactivity of a given catalyst. Learning the ropes of using my current machine is most likely much easier than it seems.

"Irish today, hungover tomorrow!"

I haven't updated this blog in a while, so here we go: on past Saturday Chicago hosted the St. Patrick's Day Parade, where the Irish heritage of some (many?) Chicagoans is celebrated. As you would expect, many people were clad in green, and there were leprechaun and shamrock symbols all over the place. My favorite t-shirt phrase is "Kiss me, I'm Irish" (seen on various people who have definitely only very limited Irish ties, if any). Yet more truth lies in "Irish today, hungover tomorrow", as this event is mostly about drinking; even if you are "very little" Irish. - Unfortunately I missed the river being dyed green, as it was done only after the parade. But I've seen pictures, and yes, GREEN it was!
Otherwise there is currently not much to tell. Work is okay, but not progressing as fast as I had hoped. In the upcoming two weeks, I will support my (Chinese) colleague Jing by doing the late shift in the lab. Everyone is invited to keep their fingers crossed, because some nice data would come in handy ... yes, I know, when is it that it would not?
Finally there was a first taste of the warmer seasons. Today is being the hottest day of the year so far (72°F, or 22°C). I saw people in t-shirts and shorts, and I wished I had been one of them. Fare you well, bitter cold!

Atavisms of Acetic Acid

As you all know, I am a chemist. I spent quite some time on studying the art of modyfing matter. What may be unbeknownst to at least a few of you is that I like to study languages as well. What I mean is that I of course enjoy expressing myself in a foreign idiom, but my interest goes well beyond that. I have been intrigued for a long time by the relationship (as well as the lack thereof) between the languages I am familiar with. That is why I so much enjoyed reading an article on the relationship between German and English. Please go ahead and read it for yourself here (in English). More specifically, it is about how native speakers of English are amused by German words. English, due to its history, is a hybrid of a Germanic root, to which Latin and French influences were added over the course of time. Now, that is not breaking news, but as a consequence speakers of English are equipped with a lot of synonyms. As it is common with synonyms, they mean the same thing, but as they are still different words, they are not fully identical. Typically the word of Romance origin is more sophisticated than its Germanic counterpart. I'd like to mention that on the other hand I'm stunned by how the grammar of German and Latin alike are highly regulatory for the use of verbs ("conjugation"; e.g., ich esse, du isst etc.), but English as the hybrid of both is not (I eat, you eat etc.). Now, the source of humour for English native speakers comes from the fact that German does not makes use as extensively of Romance words as English. Thus a concept or an idea that is actually sophisticated and would call for a Romance word is likely to be expressed by a Germanic one in German. The said article presents hydrogen as an example (a good one, in my opinion). Although it is actually Greek and not Latin, it is very illustrative. Literally it means "water maker", as anything hydro- is connected with water, and -gen is an abbreviated form of to generate. In German, however, hydrogen is called Wasserstoff. Due to its homophony with "water stuff", it makes a joke. The homophony is somewhat misleading, as Stoff and stuff are not exactly identical. While they are obviously connected etymologically, Stoff can mean cloth as well as matter, while stuff is a rather casual, if not derogatory word for item. In a more abstract way, the two words are of course still related, as an item that is not further specified is essentially just ... matter.
This is as far as the article goes. I would like to add that not only a misperceived level of elaboration may be a source of humour, but generally any example where two originally identical languages have diverged. A favorite example of mine is the German word Geist, which must be case-sensitively translated as ghost, mind, or spirit, respectively. But in essence a ghost is just a disembodied mind.
A better punchline, however, is the German expression for standing in line, which literally means standing in a snake (imagine the line beig so long that it meanders like a snake). Another funny example stems from a personal experience of mine. A few years ago I joined my then-colleague (now-still-friend) Neetha from the U.S., who was at the time living and working in Berlin, for a night out, along with her husband and some of his colleagues. At some point we were discussing a topic that I have forgotten now, but I do remember this reply of mine, "I am too phlegmatic for that". Neetha accused me of using big words, as she did not understand what I was saying. Indeed, the word "phlegmatic" is of Greek origin, meaning literally covered in "slime" or "saliva". Hence the English connotation of "phlegmatic": sick. Someone who is phlegmatic has their nose full of snot and is suffering from a cold. The German connotation, however, has shifted a bit: a sick person has dampened spirits, and in German "phlegmatic" ("phlegmatisch") denotes someone who is too laid-back to be upset or excited.
Since at the outset I stressed on the fact that I am a chemist, I would like to conclude with another chemical example. Similar to hydrogen/Wasserstoff, oxygen is called Sauerstoff in German. Both speakers of English and German will immediately recognize the root "sauer", or "sour". It reflects the (later falsified) view that oxygen be necessary in molecules of acidic compounds. Given this it is quite ironic that one modern-day definition of acids relies on the presence and exchange of hydrogen atoms, our previously discussed example. (Nevertheless, oxygen-bonded hydrogen atoms are particularly easily exchanged, so there was at least some truth to it.) - Obviously a thing called acid in English is called Säure in German. While the German word relies on the flavor as such, the English word is derived from the Latin word for vinegar, acetum. Conceptually, this means acids are perceived as the essence of vinegar. As really the reverse is true (the essence of vinegar is one acid), vinegar essence was later specifiec as acetic acid, literally vinegaric vinegar essence (Essigsäure in German).
Finally, you may have wondered why I called this "atavisms" of acetic acid in the first place. Well, an atavism is some genetic information that is no longer expressed in further evolved species, but is still inherited from earlier ones in the genetic code. I thought this is a good metaphor for the topic presented here, plus it alliterates nicely with the rest of the title, don't you think?
PS: I just remember another good example of how words from diverged languages can be a sense of humour. I have been to the Netherlands once, which is inhabited by a serious cycling nation. Of course this results in a vast number of traffic signs referring to the bikes. The funny thing is the Dutch word for bicycle: "fietsen". A Dutch bike is a "footie", because you use your feet to make it move. But it gets even better than that: a motorized bike is a "bromfietsen", "brom" being just an onomatopoetic (i.e., "soundpainting") reference to the noise of the engine. This casual description is very delightful ("cute") to my German ears. - I count on the understanding of all potential Dutch readers and/or their affiliates. Maybe they would like to contribute as well in the comments section?

John Hancock Center

I took too many photos on my two trips to the skydeck of the John Hancock Center ("it would be the nicest bird view of the city - if only the birds could fly that high") to publish them here. Instead I did the 360° tour with my camera. That should give you an even better impression of the scene. I hope you like it. I certainly do!
As I said above, I did two trips to the Hancock. There is the option of buying a Sun and Stars ticket, which grants two admissions within 48 hours. Thus you can experience the view at two different light conditions. And that was only slightly more expensive than the single ticket, so that was my best choice. I did the daytime trip on Saturday afternoon, and I came back for the nighttime view on Sunday night. I should have maybe come back already on Saturday night, as I missed Superbowl XLIII - but I had to charge the battery of my camera, along with that of my body. I do hope that I will get another chance to watch a Superbowl game while being in the U.S., though. I also couldn't resist buying a whole lot of touristy memorabilia, including a Chicago Bears cap. At least I'll have my gear when the next Superbowl comes up.
... It just occurred to me: referring to the name of this blog, you might say, "the owl missed the bowl". (See the very first entry for an explanation why I called this blog The Owl's Nest.)

More Music

After a successful time in the lab, we experienced what everyone in the UHV community goes through occasionally: a downtime. Right before the last series of experiments that ought to complete the data for the upcoming publication, a tiny cable came loose in the ultra-high vacuum (UHV) chamber. For the non-scientists among the readers of this blog, I shall explain UHV quickly. I study surfaces, with respect to their chemical performances (i.e., reactivities). This kind of experiments requires the use of the so-called ultra-high vacuum or UHV, which means a pressure level at the equivalent of outer space. Essentially the chamber is empty, and as a consequence, the gas phase contained in it is negligible. Hence, the surface in question will adsorb contaminations only very slowly. As you can imagine, obtaining such an environment is technically demanding. Other than good pumping, a procedure called bake-out is required, in order to remove moisture from the air that gt into the chamber, when it was opened the last time. - Therefore the loose wire is quite annoying, because it means a downtime from the experiments for several days, until the repairment is carried out and the vacuum is fully restored. Unfortunately the screw that was supposed to hold and connect the wire got stuck in its hole, and I was unable to move it at all. Eventually I even broke its head off, which means the mechanical workshop will have to remove the remainder and make a new screw for me. Estimated downtime: one week.
Back home in Berlin, this would have affected my mood quite a bit. But since I do not have to pass an exam at the end anymore, I see it a lot more relaxed. In fact, I decided to use the free time on Saturday to finally do some sightseeing, which I have been neglecting in the past. From one of the earliest posts in this blog, you might remember that you can see the Sears Tower (the tallest building in North America) quite well from the L station close to my work. It has been luring me into a visit ever since my arrival - but since I also needed to do some shopping, I decided to give the John Hancock Center a visit.
Named after a highly successful businessman, it is the fourth-tallest building in Chicago, after the Sears Tower, the Trump International Hotel & Tower (topped out in 2008 and currently being finalized), and the Aon Center (in descending order). For the sake of completeness, it be mentioned that the Chicago Spire is planned to be the new second-tallest building in town ina few years from now, but the current financial crisis has stalled further work for now, and it might even kill the project altogether.
Anyways, I did pay "Big John" a visit, and while making a connection from the blue to the red line at Jackson on the way there, I could enjoy some more music. Check it out - and make sure you don't miss the crazy guy in the audience!

Funny Hats and Nightshifts

As requested by Elyse, I shall dedicate this entry to this season's headwear in Chicago, among other topics. The winter in Chicago is colder than in Germany, and this time it is cold even for local standards. As a matter of fact, we had the coldest day in the past decade just recently. No wonder people use all kinds of fashionable and not-so-fashionable-but-hey-at-least-it's-warm kind of hats to protect themselves against the bitter cold. As for myself, I try to blend in ... and I'm not afraid of being ugly!
In the third row from the top you see sundown in Chicago. As I was playing around with the features of my camera, I discovered it has a setting particularly for sunrises and sundowns. It does add a lot of red, but that does not make this shot less scenic. Now you might think that I would be on my way home from work when I took this picture, but I was actually going there. In mid-january I had one week in which I started only in the afternoon, but finished in the early morning hours. I felt quite comfortable with that schedule; apart from my first experience at BESSY (the synchrotron light source in Berlin) this just might have been my most intense week ever, and also a very efficient one. Fortunately there is a 7-eleven within walking distance from my lab, which is open 24/7. A basic level of supplies is granted even at the strangest hours. - I am very happy with the outcome of this work, and so are the two professors involved in this - they are very keen to publish these results. What more can you ask for as a scientist?
Well, you could ask for warmer temperatures. As you can see in the lower half of this image, there was one entire day below zero. In Fahrenheit, that is, which means below -18°C. The incredible -17°F, which correspond to -27°C, have been my personal all-time low so far. Along with the temperatures you see the time - I came home at 3:39 am, went back to work at 12:44 pm and returned home again at 4:06 am. The latter was particularly painful; not due to the early hour, but because of the cold. My train was supposed to arrive at 3:25 am at the station close to the university, and I was there five minutes early. I even waited in the lab, as not to stay outside in the cold for too long. Unfortunately the train was late by 20 min, and that can be a long time at those harsh conditions. Yet I made it home, even without a frostbite, and I was rewarded with a physical proof that I had just experienced my record low temperature as of now. But honestly, I feel no need to have a reprise.
But there is more to tell. After the week of the extreme cold, I have been assigned to train a new graduate student. I feel very honored by the trust my boss puts in me by this. The student is actually from the group of our collaborator, himself being also ultimately responsible for my staying in Chicago. She is from Iran - I must admit that I was surprised that despite the notoriously bad relationship between the U.S. and Iran academic exchange is taking place. Well, within certain limitations, that is, as she was originally supposed to work at Argonne National Laboratory, but there is no way for Iranians to work there. Hence, instead of working with X-ray light, she has to put up with me. I wonder which yields the better vibes - the alternating E/B field of the X-rays or me ... Her name is Homa, by the way, which is also the name of a bird in Persian mythology. This bird designated the new king by landing on his shoulder. It seems Homa will provide me a noble time - in turn I will of course do my best to train her, so as to make her stick with her choice ...

New Year's Videos - (3) Percussion

In an earlier entry I mentioned the percussion trio performing on the blue line platform of Jackson. In this third video of three you can actually experience them. I hope you like them as much as I did on my way home.

New Year's Videos - (2) Fireworks

In this second of three videos from that night you see the some of the fireworks at Navy Pier, on 12 am of 01/01 2009.

New Year's Videos - (1) Navy Pier

Now that I own my camera for roughly two years I have finally discovered how to shoot videos ... I was just too lazy to ever read the manual, and actually I deem it possible that it actually became a victim of my most recent move out of Berlin. Anyways, this is a short clip I recorded at Navy Pier on New Year's Eve. It is the first in a series of three.

Happy New Year Everyone!

Dear all,
I would like to wish you, the faithful followers of this blog, a Happy New Year! Be all of you blessed with good health and good luck!
Once more I obtained a few photos from the beautiful city of Chicago, and I would like to share them with you. They were taken on the occasion of the celebration of New Year's Eve. Since I had no other plans, I went to Navy Pier. I assume there are many of you who are not entirely familiar with the local geography, so I give you a short introduction. I am a resident of Oak Park, which borders Chicago to the west. Navy Pier is all across the city, which has a natural limit by Lake Michigan in the east. To go there from my home I use public transportation (the"L"), from which I get off at the Magnificent Mile, a nickname for Michigan Ave. (The Water Tower Place is also right there; see the respective post.) The top left image is giving you a pretty impression of what it looks like there. Since it was a very cold night, I sought shelter in a nearby movie theater, in which I recently watched the latest James Bond movie. Given the chill out there, you might say that I did find my "qantum of solace" in this well-heated place. ("Quantum of furnace" would be another pun ...) As I was strolling in the lobby of the building I found a poster of the latest Tom Cruise movie, Valkyrie, which is on screen now. There has been a big debate in Germany, whether or not Tom Cruise is a good choice for the role of Stauffenberg, the man who attempted (and failed) to assassinate Hitler in 1944. The debate had developed quite far from the original topic, i.e., would Mr. Cruise be capable of playing his role well, involving his participation in the Church of Scientology. Also, the question was raised whether a "movie star", which he inarguably is, is able to shift to serious "acting". Germans were adding their concerns that a Hollywood depiction of a national idol might be historically inaccurate. Well, apart from the fact that Stauffenberg's class conceit might just disqualify him as a role model, of course a Hollywood movie aims at entertainment and at box office success. In my opinion it would be too much to ask for such a production to be accurate (also Oskar Schindler was not the kind of role model as he appears in Spielberg's movie). Hence I think we can be satisfied if Tom Cruise abstains from being successful in the killing, as in Top Gun he certainly would have been.
After this quick excursion in politics I continued my walk to Navy Pier ... and I got stranded just a few doors futher down the street, at Walgreens. It was already the last hour of the year, and I was curious what a pharmacy being open at this time would be like. It turned out to be more of a drugstore, but with interesting additional supplies. For instance, they also sell chocolate and the likes. Moreover, it was the first time I saw contraceptives (condoms, that's right) sold in public here. (Combining this with all the chocolate I will from now on refer to Walgreens as the "candy place" ...) Not enough with that, there were also pregnancy tests in the next aisle ... Now, I am a very organized person, which is why I was wondering why the pregnancy tests and the condoms were not in the same shelf. Then I got struck by enlightenment - it must be for mercy. Imagine you are rushing into Walgreens in a panic, heading for the pregnancy tests, and your eye catches the sight of the condoms. You will inevitably blame yourself, "why o why didn't I use one of those the other night, so I wouldn't have to come for these". Walgreens is keeping you from that hassle.
Eventually I checked out with several chocloate bars to finally head to Navy Pier. The center left photo gives you the Giant Wheel, which was set up at the place where the world's first Giant Wheel ever was standing. Next to it I found a branch of McDonald's - no, I didn't eat there this time, I was too busy staring at their claim (center right). With only a few minutes to go to midnight, I was quite susceptible to the coincidence ... I also managed to shoot one picture of the firework (bottom left), but it is kind of hard to see. I must also say that the show was not all that overwhelming. But maybe I missed the best parts, as I lasted only ten more minutes, and then I was fed up with the cold. After all it was -10°C, and it felt like -20°C! The trip home took me over one hour, and I had the pleasure to experience and enjoy the superb percussion combo you see on the bottom right photo. They were performing at Jackson station, where I was making a connection. (They were making up for the firework.)
Finally, the new year has arrived, and I am in the US. There are a few things that Germans associate with Americans: they work hard, they eat Turkey, they drink Coke, and they like Barack Obama. Well, here I am on a Saturday night (actually Sunday morning) at 12:14 am, sitting in the lab and waiting for my sample to be cool, eating Turkey sandwiches, easing the swallowing with Coke, and reading Time magazine, which I bought because it has Obama as the "person of the year" on the cover. One might say that I've apparently had the full experience already, hence I might as well return home - but I haven't finished my 50 State Quarters collection yet. So there is still something to do for me here, and I can write about it. Which leaves me to say to you: stay tuned!