Here in Shanghai

I'm in Shanghai for the week for an astronomy conference. I'm getting a bit tired of fried rice, fried noodles, fried vegetables, fried potatoes, fried cookies, fried shoes, etc. Seems like everything is fried (breakfast, lunch, dinner, and even the showers).

My bag missed the flight to Shanghai and wasn't delivered to me until yesterday morning, so I had to wear the same clothes three days in a row.

There's a lot of pollution in the city and the stinky cars make the air smell not so great. This is in spite of the fact that many many people bike, and the bikers and bus riders far outnumber the car drivers.

As far as the conference goes, there have been about 20 15-20 minute talks every day so far, and it's just exhausting. Especially when combined with the fact that my body still hasn't adjusted to the time switch (I woke up at 6am the first day...). The talks end each day at 7pm, and the last session from 5:30-7 is usually a waste for me because I just can't pay attention.

Today we only have talks in the morning, then go off to a nearby village for some sight-seeing. I'm really looking forward to the opportunity to see some things outside the city center. Then there's a dinner on a boat this evening. It should be good.

Winter Wonderland!

 

And it's not even winter yet! We had our first snowball fight of the year! Yeah!!

John McShame

I've seen this pseudonym for John McCain around the internet for awhile now, but not until last night did I finally think he really deserved it after all of his lying attacks against Obama. It was predictable of course, since he is so far behind in the polls (see http://www.fivethirtyeight.com), but it was still sad and shameful to say the least.

I don't remember if I've posted this here before, but the country is going even further down the toilet than we already are if McCain wins. I mean, imagine if something happens to McCain and Sarah Palin becomes the president of the USA!! But that scenario doesn't even have to happen for us to remain boggged down in Iraq wasting billions of dollars a month doing nothing but providing incentive for terrorist organizations everywhere.

Thankfully, I don't think McCain will win. The American people have seen through the attacks and have recognized that the last eight years were awful, and that we need change.

And Here's a Picture!