a venue of some importance...

ann arbor is not a big city. it's pretty much considered a 'real' city only in terms of semantics and probably some census info. while hanging out with double D the other night (trying to kill each other via Halo), gwen said it's not even a 'fake real city'. it's kind of an amalgamation of a big town, small city, a big school, and a moderate amount of stuff to do. oh, and there's no parking most of the time. regardless of the typical pros & cons, i've lived here for six years; as much as i may complain about it, i like it here.

my first biology of fishes class (as a GSI) L-R: me, hans, kevin, carrie, rakhi, chris, matt, jon, liza. this class started the 'biofishlab meetings/reunions'

all that being said, i've come to be quite opinionated on which places in the fair city that i like, dislike, and would like to see go out of business (*cough* big ten burrito). one of the places that i have only recently realized falls into the gray area is a little establishment on state street known as ashley's. now, most people that know me well, know that i complain about ashley's and will tell most people to steer clear of it...because of the expensive menu (not worth the prices in most cases), the lousy service (generally speaking), and the small capacity (i generally REFUSE to wait in line at this place...because it's NOT worth it)...BUT, i realize that in retrospect, some of my fondest memories and most important conversations have taken place at this very venue, and somehow have not taken place at 'favorite' venues of mine (like dominick's, rick's, panchero's, fish doctor's, bw3, or bab's...although i still really like those places, and will normally go there before ashley's on any day).

maybe it's because i'm not distracted by the menu (since i normally get the same thing all the time), or that those accompanying me like it so much that it doesn't bother me as much. i don't know. i even had a birthday there one year (i believe it was 2003), the first biofishlab meetings/reunions took place there, and i've had several 'deep' discussions/conversations (covering everything; fish, friends, food, relationships, family, religion, harry potter, gum, fish, The Tank, and fish) with good friends there. oh, did i mention that the place is really smokey and no matter where you sit, you may as well be smoking the cigarette yourself?
regardless, i can pinpoint several key conversations and decisions made to this little hole-in-the wall establishment...i hate it and love it at the same time.

shots from my birthday 2003 (seems like a long time ago...oh wait...)

perhaps the real truth is that when you're with a good friend or friends, the venue doesn't really matter; but since i'm cursed with a very detailed memory (not always as handy as you may think) the venue at any given moment in time still comes to mind. i was there just a couple nights ago and an hour of time spent quickly somehow turned into 3. i was there last monday with double D and we were there for about the same amount of time. a month ago i saw off some friends of mine for what will probably be a long time (former fish lab students that eventually became good friends).

priya and rakhi (rakhi was one of the primary instigators of the biofishlab reunions AND introduced me to the indian store and hindi movies in general. someday i'll get her back!)

in the end, i don't think there's any magic to ashley's, but perhaps just coincidence which has turned into consistency. i'm not going to stop going there no matter how much i complain about it (though i won't go there every weekend either), and i'm sure i've had and will continue to have great times with people at a lot of other places. still, i found it peculiar...and double D and i even discussed that...at Ashley's. i think dave's right, "turns out not where, but who you're with that really matters."
it's 5am...good night kids <:><

Music:

"The Best of What's Around" - Dave Matthews Band

"Roobaroo" - Rang De Basanti soundtrack

the summer of george draws to an end...

well i meant to say something about this a few entries back, but never got around to it (as with plenty of subject matter over the course of the past weeks, months, and even since this blog started...such is life and keeping up with events i suppose)... anyway, as some of you know, a couple weeks ago i GOT A JOB! no, i'm not working at panchero's, but that was my second choice...i was going to demand to be paid in burritos for the rest of the summer. now THAT would have been SWEET!
especially with the recent price increase from $5.67 to $5.94; which makes those extra stamps on the card worth that much more.

anyway, i had been looking into other funding since there was going to be little field work this summer, and i was going to be writing more magazine articles to help cover costs. well luckily my advisor emailed me about an opening with USGS in Ann Arbor (USGS = United States Geological Survey). luckily i have a few connections up there with former students and people i worked with, and the PhD hiring people (although he went to Ohio State) was pretty cool and knew the prof i taught for as well. anyway, long story short, i'll be working on a new study with a particular species of Great Lakes fish known as a bloater (Coregonus hoyi, for those of you keeping track). this used to be a major food fish, but has been in decline as of late. i will mainly be doing lab work, but that's fine by me since i want to stick around town anyway (i'm sure being in the lab won't drive me insane at all...oh well, gotta pay the bills). so i'll be working on this through the beginning of september, which is just in time for...you guessed it COLLEGE FOOTBALL SEASON. oh yeah, and other research checkpoints i need to get done in that semester too :P

anyway, the summer of george...
this is one of the most popular concepts to come from the infamous George Costanza, right up there with the "it's not you, it's me" line, and "the roommate switch". for those of you who don't know...well, you should know as a certain level of seinfeld trivial knowledge should be required for reading this blog. ok so he was lazy and didn't do much real, actual work for a whole summer. and he ate a big block of cheese.

so given a serious lapse in motivation in summer thus far (funding issues, amongst other stressors did not help) mine has been compared to the summer of george. half the time the only time i leave the apartment is to hit up pancheros (where i go to the same table every day and watch an episode of 'the office' on the iPod). ah well, at least it's social interaction outside the fishes...who i have gotten to spend plenty of time with this summer so far. i think they'll miss me since they get spoiled with extra feedings and water changes while i'm around. oh, and i'm sure they'll miss the stimulating conversations too. i have been able to 'catch up' on a lot of hindi movies, cleaning, emails, and (gasp!) a couple books though, so it's been nice.

so yeah, things will be changing. damon will be done with his field work and back in ann arbor for the rest of the summer, which can only be trouble, but should be a lot of fun. james is usually around in the evenings, but i swear i CANNOT watch any more baseball. i can stand it just long enough to eat a meal and socialize for a bit about whose day was more exciting (i usually lose this competition), but that's it. apparently the all-star break marks the midseason of baseball, which means we're just about over the hump and edging closer to the college football season. twelve weeks + post season of greatness. we're all looking forward to it here at The Tank.
along with this i know that various other parties are glad i will be working a (torturous) normal job soon, and having to get up at 8am (at least in the beginning) as opposed to my usual noon reveille. some entertaining comments to share on that:

sarah: and yes, i am bitter that solo isn't even up for 15 hours in a given day!

double D: you do realize that with a real job you won't be able to start hindi movies at 2:30am anymore!

gwen: i encourage your laziness, the 5th (my start day) isn't that far off! less than 10 days of unadulterated laziness left!

rashmi: i wake up, go to work early, come back, and you're away message still says 'SLEEP'. i hate you!

andrea: how do you not have time to watch the arrested development dvds??? what the heck do you do all day?

rachel: i'm waiting on sarah to bring me subway. eat fresh!
(i included this quote from rachel because...well, yeah. good one rachel).

so yeah, i think this will add some needed structure to the summer; not that things aren't going to end up getting busier soon...a close friend's wedding, a chicago trip (shedd aquarium visit included of course!), a gar fishing/research trip, and perhaps even eating another salad. oh, and i'm definitely planning more trips to the indian movie theater (as of late i even have the rents roped into going the next time they come up)!

alright, so i'll soon be starting a job and will be a temporary employee of the federal government. nice, maybe i can get some sort of badge that combines mulder's FBI ID with a fish. that would be cool. ok time for me to peace out, the SNRE computer lab is dead and i gotta go back to The Tank and feed some fishes.

Next time on The Fish Guy: my love/hate relationship with Ashley's, long overdue pics from the summer solstice celebration at The Tank, more reasons why bollywood movies are so great (yet bad for a movie fanatic like myself), and whether or not cats are susceptible to lawn darts. <:><

music:

"Dhoom Machale" - Dhoom soundtrack

"Chori chori chupke chupke" - Krrish soundtrack (this sequence was really cool; i'm going to find a girl who can do the same dance and marry her. ok that's crazy. but. maybe not. i'm seeing the movie again this week).

walking the line...

...between what? sleep and consciousness? in a conversation a couple days ago i was told that i'd probably best communicate with people while they are in india because in spite of the time zone difference, i'm usually awake at the same time as those residing on the subcontinent.

...between reality and fantasy? that's always been one to ponder, i have quite the imagination, and couple that with conversations between me and jeremy or damon and a couple others and you start to lose touch for sure. of course, all of us here at The Tank make up voices for all the fishes, Norton & the lungfishes are particularly amusing. yes. we are crazy.

...between fruits and vegetables? at our recent summer solstice celebration at The Tank, i not only had TWO helpings of a special salad brenda made (the arugula component and my second salad consumption of the year - or was that my entire life?- pirated the overall conversation for some time) but also learned from her that the supreme court ruled that tomatoes are in fact vegetables, and not fruit. we all know that they are fruit...BUT i suppose if the US government decides that it determines botany (or more generally biology) then we have to go along with it. guess that makes me more hopeful for my 'penguins are demons and not birds campaign'. we'll see.

anyway, this evening a group of us went to see 'walk the line' at the ann arbor summer festival. now, i have seen this movie once before, and i even own the soundtrack (of course) but i figured since i have not been to a movie at the former 'top of the park' in 3 years, it was worth the trip. that and it's always fun to see a movie on the big screen.

speaking of the screen, it was an inflatable movie screen...i'm serious. when we got there and got our seats (how gwen managed to get all of us seats in a row was a feat to behold, but that's another story) the screen looked like one of those inflatable jumping rooms that they have for little kids at the carnival (or for big kids on the diag at Michigan). anyway, as the time for the movie drew near, they started to inflate the screen, and a big white screen basically grew right before our eyes...and then, shortly afterwards (kicked myself for not being fast enough with a camera), the screen toppled over!!! the crowd was making combination "oooh's" "ah's" and "oh no's" and a host of festival people (at least thats what i call them) ran over to it and started the process of trying to set it up. we determined that this must be a new crew since they have been showing movies for weeks now, and they apparently had no clue how to deal with this tonight. anyway, after nearly toppling it again, they got it set up and the movie started.

just a couple other quick notes here:

the bugs still like ME better than ANYONE else. i have talked to a lot of people about this, and we had thought maybe it was more of an indian thing, but tonight has added to my growing suspicion that it's only partially an indian issue. i was flanked by indians (gwen & rashmi) and yet I was the only one being bothered by bugs over the course of the movie!!! now, they weren't horrible, but they were there. the other people in the group didn't matter since myself and a host of professional colleagues have scientifically determined that mosquitoes and other biting insects like indians better than white people. my paper should be coming out shortly, look for it in the journal of obscure medical entomology.
damon commented at the party (we can call it that now, since the time has past and there were no fish casualties) that he didnt need bug spray since i was outside standing next to him. dangit. sarah and i get eaten alive more than anyone else we know, funny how rachel doesn't though. that and rachel is the only one of us who may have allergies. weird.

ok, well i am going to finish watching 'DHOOM' which is apparently the hindi version of 'the fast and the furious'. i saw the poster of the sequel at the indian movie theater, and fully plan on being familiar with the storyline in time for it's release. of course, the release is diwali 2006...so i think i'll have no problem finishing the dvd before november. ah well, i like to plan movie schedules far in advance sometimes. like spider-man 3 on may 4th 2007. or superman returns this friday (i'm actually going to wait on some people to see this...normally i'd be seeing it tomorrow...the sacrifices i make for friends)!

that's all folks, good night & good luck <:><

music:

"It Ain't Me Babe" - Walk the Line soundtrack

"Yeh Dosti" - Dosti soundtrack

random pic:

Alligator gar (Atractosteus spatula)

fishphotointerlude...

it's been a while since i took some pics of the fishes, so i spent a little time yesterday evening doing just that. here are some random pics of fishes from the 45g (the first tank most of you see when entering The Tank) and Gar-Den II, which is the biggest aquarium at The Tank (the 270g downstairs). enjoy!

From the 45g tank, home of Norton (Australian lungfish), Tiggy (tigrinus catfish), and the most recently added Tarpy (aka Terrence Philip Tarpon...which coincidentally, is a tarpon.

Tiggy (for the record, named by James, not me), although you can probably guess why they are called tigrinus catfish.


And the first pics of Terrence Philip (Tarpy), tarpon are bigtime sportfish in the Atlantic and now in the Pacific, with two species, one native to around the gulf coast and central america, and another from the indo-pacific. in spite of their appearance they are also 'primitive fishes' similar to the gars, bichirs, and lungfishes...and they also breathe air like those fishes. notice the HUGE eyes too!


max size on these guys is around 6' in the wild. yeah, about as appropriate to keep as the alligator gar, aethiopicus lungfish, and a host of others we have here at The Tank. but we've solved those issues before in the past. this guy is also unique in that they eventually prefer saltwater to freshwater...that will be an interesting issue, maybe i'll just drop him in damon's tank so it can eat all those wussy fishes he has.

speaking of inappropriate fishes to keep, i half-jokingly refer to tarpy as my 'clown triggerfish' in reference to damon's purchase of an inappropriate fish a couple years back in similar circumstance...but that allegory is a another story...
here's a shot of the full tank, you can see that norton (far left under the logs) and the rest of the gang have now spaced themselves out a bit. it's also good that the tarpon fills out the open space since tiggy and norton hide most of the daytime hours.


full-tank shot of the 270g in the basement of The Tank...this is the one that houses the large gars (not to be confused with dolphins or giraffes), and the recently relocated Polypterus endlicheri congicus (some of you may know that one as 'the fish that has all the spikes on it's back').

here's the fish with the spikes on its back hiding out in the massive pile of driftwood.

Cuban gars, again, i am not sure exactly what their names are...maybe i'll have another survey.

Florida gar

'family portrait' of gar-den II

"and now back to battling seizure robots..." - bonus points to anyone who recognizes that quote.

music:

Ishq Na Ishq Ho - Dosti soundtrack

Luka Chuppi - Rang De Basanti soundtrack

random pic:

Indian Movie Theater in Novi

a five-star experience...

well i don't have a ton of time to update since we need to get set up for the first annual 'summer solstice celebration' at The Tank. as usual we'll be grilling out (been the main theme for meal production for the past month or so, since james got the weber grill), and plenty of random stuff will be going on, from games to bollywood movies to fish tours etc etc.

anyway, just wanted to make a quick blurb about the 'bollywood on the big screen' experience from yesterday...it was fantastic! i can't express how much fun this was; i was like a kid at a candy store when rakhi first took me to the indian store; the movie theater is definitely a whole other level! just a couple quick bullets and maybe i'll get into details in another entry:

- the theater looks just like a regular theater, but it's all indian movies and their posters all over the place...very cool.

- they serve INDIAN FOOD there!!! this was both torturous and really cool during the movie...because it made me REALLY hungry and at the same time i love the smell of indian food. didn't help that there were ads for indian restaurants etc before the movie and during intermission with pictures of idlis...

- they have INDIAN BEVERAGES there as well!!! rashmi and i were beyond surprised to find that they had "Thumb's Up" in the pop cooler...we even picked up two for the road that way i could save the bottles (which haven't changed in the past 17 years...since i was last in india). we weren't allowed to drink from the bottles in the theaters (im sure something to do with the glass) so the extras were needed as souvenirs from the experience. this drink being there was a big deal to me since it's one of the very distinct things i remember about india (it's basically a cola you mainly get only in india). given my past record, one of those bottles will probably never be opened...

- the movie (Krrish) was extremely entertaining, and officially ranks up there as one of my top 5 favorite bollywood films...my kind of movie, and definitely had everything...action, drama, comedy, romance, great songs...what i generally like about popular bollywood. more on the movie another time though...and i think i have double D, gwen, and damon convinced to see it with me sometime (i'd definitely see this one again).

- priyanka chopra. WOW. to quote gump "that's all i have to say about that" ...for now.

- after we got back i made a mad dash to the indian store to pick up the soundtrack to the movie. yeah, i'm sick. i know.

ok that's all for now, if i wake up sunday i'll update with more. oh, and i hope sarah realizes that she's in the hole by a good 3-4 entries now. you're dropping far behind punk! peace out kids <:><

music:

"Koi tumsa nahin" - Krrish soundtrack

pic:

priyanka chopra, the lead actress in 'Krrish"

bollywood on the big screen...

that's right folks, after a good 6 months of "education" in several bollywood movies from a variety of sources, it's finally time to check out indian cinema in an actual theater! the first movie? brace yourselves...a matrix-like action movie called "Krrish" which is actually a sequel (again, brace yourselves) to "Koi Mil Gaya", which is essentially the bollywood version of E.T. yeah, it should definitely be CRAZY. regardless this should be quite entertaining, and i'm pretty sure there are subtitles, if not, someone is going to have a lot of translating to do for me! anyway, i'm pretty excited to see an indian movie on the big screen for the first time...hopefully they don't catch on that i'm more of a "poser indian" and kick me out (i think going with a "real indian" will prevent this). i'll be heading out soon, and this weekend is set to be pretty busy, but rest assured i'll be back with a review in the near future.
and yes, i already have some songs from the soundtrack. <:><

music:

"Numb/Encore" - Jay-Z featuring Linkin Park

pic:

movie poster for Krrish...gonna be sweet!

blog cameo: fish from across the country...

always great to see unique pictures of fishes, especially those from other parts of the country and the rest of the world. here's a shot from kara's blog...thank goodness the bird was not a penguin!!! more to come later... <:><

music:

"Entertaining Angels" - Newsboys

random pic:

been a while since i took pics of my fishes...here's a shot of one of the Cuban gars (their names change quite a bit and i can't keep them straight...it's either Juan, Joaquin, Santiago, or Jesus - accent, silent 'j').

a long time ago...

there was this guy who really liked fishes who had a blog that was updated almost religiously...yeah, so what happened???

the summer has been an interesting one so far, definitely different from those past. rest assured i'll be back with more consistent updates in the very near future. in the mean time i have to get some sleep so i can make my research 'interview' tomorrow and tour the USGS laboratory and brush up on my knowledge of 'bloaters' (a type of fish found in the great lakes) for tomorrow's meeting. good times, but at least it will add some structure to my schedule.

i also want to add that there is most definitely something to be said for close friends and family. things have been crazy as of late and without that particular infrastructure i'd be in a straight jacket to say the least.

so apparently this saturday will be the first annual "summer solstice celebration" at The Tank. emails will go out sometime in the very near future, so don't panic just yet! what better way to kick off the official start of summer than a get-together at The Tank?!

ok time for bed, i promise the next entry will be more entertaining...or at least longer...which is almost as good. peace out kids <:><

music:

"Worlds Collide" - Plumb

"Sache Aashiq" - Shaadi Se Pehle soundtrack

random pic:

yes, gwen and i are actually sitting on top of the IHOP sign in Livonia...

just checking in...

well it's 3:55am and i can hear the birds chirping outside...the ornithological signal to me that it's officially time to go to bed. i actually had various and sundry items to write about, but they'll just have to wait until tomorrow.

oh man, this is such a non-entry. i'm tired yet amused. good night and good luck people <:><

music:

"Mundeya (remix)" - Shaadi Se Pehle soundtrack

"Sureshot" - Yellowcard

random pic:

Jeevan? look like the devil-dog from "The Omen"? naaah...

reading rainbow & the seventh species...

what's that you say? only about 7 entries for the month of may??? well i have been busy, so leave me alone. actually, busy is a relative term, but we'll explore that later.

i just wanted to update so people will know that 'the fish guy' is not truly dead in the blogspot world, AND to report on a few important topics. rest assured more will come in due time. for now, it's straight to the bullets:

- today i completed the full extant species of gars collection for the second time in my life. it's been a while, and there have been many losses, additions and changes since this has taken place, but for those of you who don't know, there are only 7 species of gars (extant/known) in the world, and as of today's acquisition of a small alligator gar (largest species, growing up to 12' long in the wild), my collection is once again complete.

i know i have posted this pic before, but until i get a good pic of the current individual, here is an old shot of the two i had a while back. Alligator gars, Atractosteus spatula

this is especially comforting given my recent loss of 2/6 lungfish species...one due to jumping out of the tank (stupid south americans) and one which was part of an integral fish-trade agreement to acquire Norton, the now popular Australian lungfish addition to The Tank.

either way, gars once again rule The Tank. sweet.

- i have decided (as noted in previous entry) that this summer i will (gasp!) once again start reading books for pleasure. many of you know this is not necessarily in my nature, but i assure you that it was at one point a major part of my being. i believe this point was around 4th grade when i would stay up late to read 'where the red fern grows' or any of the lord of the rings trilogy by light of my 10-gallon turtle tank which was in my room...in Bismarck, North Dakota (special note here that sarah was born in ND...guess we can't ALL have a cool home state!!!)

anyway, i am currently reading 'the namesake' by jhumpa lahiri and have on deck 'angels & demons' (by dan brown, of da vinci code infamy) and 'the poisonwood bible' by barbara kingsolver (which also comes highly recommended). will these books (along with Harry Potter & The Order of the Phoenix...which i started shortly after seeing the 4th movie) be completed by the end of the summer? who knows...but i do know that 'the namesake' will be out in cinematic form (starring kal penn...-taj from van wilder- who also, as i have just learned, shares the same birthday as myself, only a year earlier) on november 3rd...now i am SURE i can finish the book by then. the fact that i'm 1/3 the way through already is a good sign. i must say that thus far i highly recommend the book, especially since i sympathize quite closely with the main character (you'll have to read it).

either way, this whole reading thing has thrown a loop into my movie schedule (which has recently integrated quite a few hindi films) but i am sure i can juggle these two entertainment items and make compromises to a positive end.

- CSI is now available on iTunes...soon i will not have to watch television at all. just waiting for "rescue me" to do the same (we're only 2 episodes into the new season...check it out).

- rang de basanti - more serious hindi movie, but well worth checking out. suffice it to say that no one told me about the blonde chick in a lead role in this film...not that there's anything wrong with that, just struck me as unusual for an indian movie!!!

- the folks at pancheros are consistently giving me extra food (and new food items) to try. soon i will be an honorary pancheros employee (or their first superfan)...at which point my goal of getting a panchero's t-shirt will hopefully be achieved.


- kicking one's butt is not accomplished in a 2-hour game of chess...maybe a 10 minute game, but not such an epic struggle. i'm no bobby fischer, but rest assured i'm magneto in the x-men allegory.

- speaking of mackinac island fudge...man, that stuff is good!

- how does the new england aquarium compare to the georgia aquarium? i don't know, but i am definitely going to find out. rest assured it will boil down to, not whale sharks, but how many gars this facility has. oh, and i hear there is a lot of other stuff to do in the general new england area as well...


well, that's it for now. we have the second half of andrea's bday celebration tomorrow evening at vinology, and a revisitation of a team bowfin 'away game' later in the evening. not to mention a triathlon spectacle and IHOP trip on sunday...needless to say, there should be plenty to report on, it's just a matter of whether or not i will do it. good night & good luck <:><

music:

"Khalbali" - Rang De Basanti soundtrack

"Promiscuous" - Nelly Furtado featuring Timbaland

random pics:

the three tankmates at the Boston Red Sox vs Detroit Tigers game

the 'shot exchange' at charley's (L-R - julia, hal, AJ, erin, ly, andrea)