Arts & Sciences

Just got my Sidekick 3 today! Now to figure out how to blog and hook it up to an RSS reader…

In the past few weeks, I’ve come across some cool biology articles in the press:

• NYT: Scientists Say They’ve Found a Code Beyond Genetics in DNA: a report on a recent study in Nature on the descovery of a coding pattern for nucleosome binding sites. The placement of nucleosomes may determine the relative abundance of binding sites for transcription factors, as many of them may be inaccessible due to the 3-d structure of the DNA.
• WSJ: Scientists Look to DNA To Crack the Neanderthal Code: annoucement of a two-project to sequence the Neanderthal Genome.
• NYT: The Quest for the $1,000 Human Genome: discusses the state of the art in DNA sequencing machines

Guillermo Klein is a favorite composer of mine. The Argentinian native, and his group, “Big Van,” were fixtures at Smalls for many years, before he relocated to Barcelona. He has three excellent recordings, all released on Sunnyside.

Reid Anderson, of The Bad Plus, has an in-depth interview with Guillermo.

Here are videos of three live performances:

El Espejo

This piece is special to me, as I was able to participate in its premiere. Fred Harris, my visionary high school band teacher, now on the MIT faculty, commissioned Guillermo to write this piece back in 1996. It was later released on Guillermo’s album “Los Gauchos III.”

Chacarrichard

Coco

Fasicinating NYT Article on the lost art, and practice of drawing: An Exhibition About Drawing Conjures a Time When Amateurs Roamed the Earth

“Drawing was a civilized thing to do, like reading and writing. It was taught in elementary schools. It was democratic. It was a boon to happiness…..From 1820 to 1860, more than 145,000 drawing manuals circulated, now souvenirs of our bygone cultural aspirations.”

I made quite the whirlwind trip this week, racing to Brussels to finish a project on Tuesday night, and returning on Friday afternoon. Here the highlights and a few random observations:

• I got to fly business class on Air France, which was awesome! I was greeted with champagne, got a sweet lobster appetizer and cheese course at dinner, and was seated next to this very high-end Parisian MILF on the way over. That is how to roll!
• I took the TGV from Paris to Brussels, which was quick and easy. I was surprised at how quickly the countryside became very ruralonce you get outside of Paris (though I’m not sure how far out the airport is).
• The client’s conference rooms didn’t have working phones, but they did have great catering with good coffee, thai food one day, and lots of chocolates. Tasty.
• I was really struck by the bi-lingual Brussels streetscape. I want to learn more about the history of this place.
• I took a cab, and my Arabic cabbie didn’t speak a lot of english, but he did ask what I thought of George Bush. I tried to explain the red-state blue state split the best I could.
• Got in a great morning run on thursday, starting at my hotel on Avenue Louise, down to a church on Rue Du Balli, then looped back to the Boulevard de Waterloo. I didn’t have a map, so it wasn’t the most ambitious route, but it made for a great start to the day.
• Food at my hotel was hit or miss. I had a gross cheeseburger that tasted of mad cow disease the first night. (The fries weren’t bad.) The place was redeemed by another great, overpriced breakfast buffet – just the kind that I savor.

I should have stayed for the weekend, but I rushed to get back for July 4th vacation. Next time.