Today at lunch time, we decided to include in our conversation some other "animals" besides goats: the Furbys! These guys were a hit a few years ago... For the ones that haven't been introduced to these creatures, I add a picture and the price: $39.99.

An ode to the Portuguese most "picturesque" politician:

The Song of Alberto João Jardin

My resignation is quite out of the question

As my shopping is now underway:

I need new calças for next year’s celebration

(For which you Continentals shall pay!)

My cronies and I are so happy

To wear funny pants and beat drums

Our island economy wouldn’t be so crappy

If we were sober enough to find our thumbs.

But you see, Mardi gras is our reason for living

I fear this you can’t understand . . .

I call ‘work’ what you call ‘dancing’

Even as I ‘work’ with two breasts in one hand.

“But the subsidies!” you cry and you moan,

Beating your chests in the streets,

“Your extravagance makes our budget groan,

Your Mardi gras, our fair Portugal depletes!”

My friends, you suffer from vision—

That is, a true lack thereof

These pants can’t be a source of division

Just ask the tourists, they know whereof

They speak (with tears filling their eyes):

“Alberto Jardim, what an outrageous bash!

If you got any more chicks in bikinis

This island may develop a rash!”

So you see, I’m no rascal, no Caligula.

You Continentals have little cause for objection

I throw the best party on the Iberian Peninsula!

(And my resignation is quite out of the question)!

All rights reserved to Ed Adams

About meditation, budism and science:
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2004 Nov 16;101(46):16369-73

Continuing our tradition of providing our readers all the best exclusives, today we have an exceptional revelation: the Flying Martin's beauty concerns!
In a special attention to "Quichas e Afins", the Flying Martin decided to reveal his last turnover, as to set an example to other endangered species fighting aging problems.

As I think that this blog has not dedicated enough posts to science (which is quite reprehensible, as we are all in that trade or at least try to :)), I decided to call your attention to this week's Current Biology cover. It's not as nice as Luís's cover (I had to say this, otherwise he would hit me or fire me from his lab), but is very amusing! :))

The "interesting" things one can learn through wikipedia:

"Paris is often photographed with her teacup Chihuahua named Tinkerbell. However, in the summer of 2005 Hilton reportedly gave Tinkerbell to her mother, in favor of a smaller dog named Bambi after Tinkerbell had become too heavy."

Poor dog...

Today, Martin threatened me with the wrath of doom!

Galera, 6ª feira tem caipirinha em casa do Martin, valeu? ;)

Dave after taking 378 pictures, yesterday at the beach...

The scene of the crime....

Decorrente de um pedido que tivémos do meu chefe à hora de almoço, venho pedir sugestões para nomes de rapaz (em inglês, de preferência...). Dando o exemplo, a minha sugestão é James, que supostamente em hebraico significa "o vencedor".

Following a request from my boss today at lunch time, I'm asking for suggestions for good names for boys. I'll start: my sugestion is James ("the winner", in an english variation of a hebrew name).

Já que falei de cães clonados ontem, achei por bem mostrar as primeiras quichas clonadas, no já remoto ano de 1999. Ainda considerei dissertar sobre uma certa gelatina de 50 cêntimos que tivémos o prazer de "conhecer" hoje à hora do almoço (obrigado Wedge! Assim vamos todos manter uma distância considerável daquelas coisas!), mas achei que as quichas tinham prioridade ;)

As I wrote about cloned dogs yesterday, I thought it was only fair to show the first cloned goats, in the already remote year of 1999. I still considered talking about a certain 50 cents jello, which we had the pleasure to “know” today at lunch time (thanks Wedge! Now we’ll keep a considerable distance from those things!), but I thought that the goats had definitely priority… ;)

Hoje estou particularmente sem inspiração no que toca a escrever um novo post... acho que o mais interessante que soube hoje (obrigado Ed!) é a notícia que vem na Nature sobre a clonagem de um cão por um grupo na Coreia do Sul. O bicho chama-se "Snuppy" (Seoul National University puppy) e é apresentado com o "pai" na fotografia. Acrescente-se que é o resistente de 1095 embriões clonados introduzidos em 123 cadelas, a chegar a uma "puppyhood" saudável, como lhe chamam... :)

Today I'm not particularly inspired just to write a post... I think the most interesting thing I learned today (thanks Ed!) is the cloning of a dog by a group in South Korea, reported by a Nature paper . The animal is called "Snuppy" (Seoul National University puppy) and is presented with his "father" in the picture. It should be added that he is the resistant representative of 1,095 cloned embryos implanted in 123 dogs to achieve healthy puppyhood, as they call it…

Para não dizerem que este blogue é exclusivamente dedicado a quichas, aqui vai um post sobre outros seres vivos... :)
Hoje à hora do almoço tivémos oportunidade de dissertar e trocar impressões sobre ervas aromáticas utilizadas na cozinha portuguesa. Chegámos à referência ao louro (Laurus nobilis) e coentros (Coriandrum sativum) - sim, eu tenho de provar que aprendi alguma coisa em Agronomia! :) -, e para não haver dúvidas sobre o que é que é o quê, aqui vão umas fotos dos ditos. Houve um membro do lab que disse que os coentros sabem a sabão, mas não vou dizer quem foi... :) Só posso dizer que não é português.... :))


To not suffer criticism that this blog is entirely dedicated to goats, here goes a post about other living things... :)
Today at lunch time we had the chance to discuss about aromatic herbs used in portuguese cuisine. We talked about bay leaves (Laurus nobilis) and cilantrum (Coriandrum sativum) - yes, I have to prove that I learned something in Agronomic Engineering! :) -, and in order to not have doubts about what is what, here goes some pictures to clear things out. There was someone that said that cilantrum tastes like soap, but I'm not going to say who it was... :) I can only state that he's not portuguese...

Para aqueles que quiserem saber mais um pouco sobre estes bichos tão simpáticos, visitem: http://www.ics.uci.edu/~pazzani/4H/Goats.html
Achei particularmente hilariante a secção dos "Goat sounds" :)


For the ones who want to know more about these nice animals, visit: http://www.ics.uci.edu/~pazzani/4H/Goats.html
I thought particularly hilarious the "Goat sounds" section :)

And now, the english version:

Well, this is the first post of the brand new blog "Quichas e afins...", which I decided to create after the smashing success they experienced here and abroad (I'm actually abroad, but that's a detail)... Having said this, to start, I share the picture which created such a landmark... :)
For those of you out there who are wondering what "Quichas" are, well... I can only say that it's the most portuguese and typical designation you can come up to "goat" :)))

Bem, este é o primeiro post do novíssimo blogue "Quichas e afins..." que decidi criar após enorme sucesso das ditas aqui e além fronteiras (agora estou mais além fronteiras, mas são pormenores)... Assim sendo, para começo, partilho a fotografia que gerou tal sucesso... :)