Recently in Connie Category

Just saw the movie, Girl with a Pearl Earring and while a little obscure, it sure was a beautiful period piece. The painting of course is known as the Mona Lisa of the North and it is pretty amazing. Some interesting facts:

• It all started from Johannes Vermeer (often credited as Jan Vermeer or Johannes van der Meer) in 17th century Delft, Netherlands. Very little is actually known about the Dutch artist, and even fewer his paintings, as it wasn't until rather recently that he was rediscovered
• "Girl with a Pearl Earring" was painted from 1660 to 1665. It has sparked great wonderment and mystery for the viewer and many questions remain unanswered unto this day.
• It is thought that the girl is Vermeer's youngest daughter, Maria, but this is debatable as the girl's age and date of the painting do not fit, and certainly a daughter would not look at her father in such a sensual manner.

The painting at the the Royal Cabinet of Paintings Mauritshuis and they even have an audio tour that unfortunately didn't work for me.

Zelary (2003). Well, this was a strange movie. I have to admit I don't know why I got it for Connie. It is about the a life in the Czech Republic during World War II. Amazingly accruate at least it ties well with what Max Hastings says in Armageddon, a history of the 1944-45. Brutal, but gripping and of course sad like all real movies. Check it out.

Perler Beads Home Page. These are terrific little crafts. The kids have loved them since they were tiny. You make a pattern with these little plastic things and then you iron it all together. Great for creative kids!

Connie's group is finding that there is a vaccine that can help prevent Cervical Cancer. They found a protein that assembles itself into viral-like particles that targets the virus that causes the cancer.

Technology News: Health : Good Results on Cervical Cancer Vaccine. A good technical explanation.

MSNBC has Connie on TV. Its a nice study.

Seattle Times, California Healthline, Philadelphia Enquirer, Associated Press, NY Times also covered it.

Amazing that Connie spends her time trolling these for good medical jokes. Good for boring lecturs I guess. This is one of my favorites:

What fits your busy schedule better, exercising one hour a day or being dead 24 hours a day?

http://www.glasbergen.com/images/fit00.gif

Another potential game are to have a name on your back and then you have to go find the other person who matches. Kind of a mixer and there is a prize you get if you find your opposite: * Famous Couples. An entire web site. * "Famous Movie Couples":http://www.imdb.com/Couples/. All the folks who are movie star couples. So for instance in the "B":http://www.imdb.com/Couples/B we have Notorious BIG and Faith Evans if you are hip. Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart if you are not. * "Valentine Couples":http://hicards.com/valentine/vcouples.html. Another set of folks who are married. For instance, who knows Winston Churchill's wife is named Clementine. * "Famous Love Stories":http://www.infoplease.com/spot/lovestories1.html. These are the people and their stoires. For instance, you could have a trivia thing about the "Robert and Elizabeth Browning":http://www.infoplease.com/spot/love7.html story.

We're having a Holiday Party and I like to invent fun games. Here's one, match the famous person with what they drink. So, you have folks who have the name of a famous person and match it to what their favorite libation is. Here are some websites to pick from: * Absintheusa.com. Absinthe was drunk by Oscar Wilde, Edouard Manet, Edgar Degas, Pablo Picasso, Napoleon Bonapart, Ernest Hemingway. * "Famous Martini Drinkers":http://www.deepwater.org/specialty/martini.html#famous. Martini by James Bond of course. But also Winston Churchill, Ernest Hemingway, FDR. * "Famous Dom Perignon Drinkers":http://www.angelfire.com/hi3/marilynonline/fave.html. Marilyn Monroe.

Connie wants a "clutch" (no dummy no the car kind, the purse kind). Amazing how hard it is to shop on the Internet for clothes. I tried froogle.com, bizrate.com, etc. "Ebags":http://ebags.com seems to have the most selection. Interesting there isn't a service that directs you even after a bunch of google searches. I finally settled on trolling through various brand names: * Louis vuitton : luxury shopping, leather luggage, french fashion designer, fashion show.. A really hard site to navigate because they do everything in flash. * "Coach":http://coach.com. Connie's loves these, but they don't have elegant evening bag things. * "Prada":http://prada.com. Just because I've heard of the name.

Maui's Best Whale Watching Cruises | Pacific Whale Foundation. Here's a blow-by-blow of every whale trip last year by the Pacific Whale Foundation. useful if you are whale-geek or if you are trying to figure out if there are going to be many whales during spring break this year :-)

Maui Whale Watching counts. Connie just loves these creatures and is dying to show the kids. Here's a note from 2002 on when the whales are holding court. They are around january to May.