after a long summer...

the finches have returned.


As suddenly as they disappeared in the Spring, they have returned in November. We think they are lesser goldfinches?

In addition, we have tried attracting hummingbirds with a small feeder, but only on ocassion have we witnessed one - okay, only 3 times. I wonder if they are scared or if our food is tasteless. The following picture is not our feeder, but resembles ours. Most other feeders have a place for the birds to rest. Do you think this is why we see very few?

In other news, it's raining here. No really - it's raining IN here. Our roof has a leak and we slept last night to the delightful 'splop' 'drip' 'plop' of water splashing down into our cooking pots. Luckily the leak is in the hallway and not over 'the beast' or in either bedrooms.

As for a report on entertainment - we saw Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings on Wednesday at San Francisco's Bimbo's 365 Club. The venue was a classic old place that seemed to be a hybrid of New York's Roseland Ballroom and the Bottom Line. Despite the cool venue, the show was fraught with sound troubles for about an hour. Sharon was frustrated with Dwayne, the soundboard dude with the 'no W' sign tattooed on his forearm, but admitted that she hadn't shown up for the soundcheck. So, after an hour, the sound problems were worked out and she and the band were starting to groove. Andrew describes their music as neo-Motown - a great horn section. So, I think on a different night she would have been great, but our show was mediocre. Oh well.



Finally, tonight we are checking out a men's basketball game - UC Davis vs. U Oregon. Last weekend Brown U beat UCD. U Oregon is ranked #17. From this vast knowledge, UCD is going to lose big-time tonight. We'll let you know.

Congrats!!!

Eric Frishman and Brian Samuels got engaged yesterday!!!

Thanksgiving Week

We hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving?

The Needle'rents visited us this week in Davis. They stayed busy on Monday and Tuesday while we worked - exploring Sacramento (railroad museum, state capital, fish hatchery, etc) and San Francisco. In San Francisco, we met up with my cousin Loren at a yummy restaurant called Moose's. This is us in Washington Park watching (okay making fun of) dogs and their owners who must pick up after them.
On Wednesday, we biked to the UCD Raptor Center, where we watched a hands-on lesson in bird-handling.
Our bird (NOT from the Raptor Center):
Friday at the Nimbus Fish Hatchery: where the salmon had returned from the Pacific, climbed the fish ladder, and were ready to (artificially) spawn:
Needlemom and Leigh after a nice bikeride around the American River:
...a very successful Thanksgiving week...

FrishMom visits CA

Andrew's mom Kay arrived on Thursday night and spent Friday exploring Andrew's Met School and Sacramento. On Saturday, Leigh and Kay took a rainy bikeride to the UCD Raptor Center and the Farmer's Market.

On Sunday, we met Marika (Cliff's girlfriend), Andrew, Kay, Leigh, June (Kay's aunt), Ralph (June's partner), Janet (Kay's cousin), Rich (Janet's husband), and Cliff (Andrew's cousin) at the COPIA in Napa Valley:

Some views of Napa's vineyards:
Yummy-smelling and festering grape garbage:
Spectacular views and funky artwork at one of the vineyards:



In all, a great get-together with relatives and a fun visit with Kay, who got to see all of the agriculture she can handle for a while!

Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience - San Diego, CA

With 32,000+ neurogeek attendees, the Society's annual meeting is the world's largest and most influential yearly gathering of neuroscientists. It's also the most overwhelming 5 days of socializing, networking, learning, drinking, questioning, debating, sitting, standing and walking.

Plane and Coastal Range (over LA):


We arrived a day early to settle into our lovely hotel room (gulp)...


...and to take in some sights. San Diego's museums are clustered in Balboa Park. Here us McAllister lab folk (Paula, Leigh, Vlasta, Stef) are about to go into the Natural History Museum to where we checked out the exhibit on the Dead Sea Scrolls.
We also had the opportunity to check out the famous SD Zoo, which Stef and I ran through in under three hours just before the meeting started on Saturday.
SD Zoo's sleeping koala:
Sleeping panda:
Sleeping (?) hummingbird:
For those of you dying to have a glimpse of a science meeting, this is approximately 1/10 the floor area of the poster sessions, then there are the seminar rooms which double the floor space of the meeting:
Importantly, the meeting provided a much needed gathering place for us to get together with old friends and meet new ones:
Leigh and Cheng-Hang:
Brown alum and McAllister labfolk:
Stef and Cheng-Hang:
C-H, Paula, and Stef at Hooters (which we did not eat at, despite Cheng-Hang's urging!):