Fistula

Risk Of DeathInspires Reflexive Ridicule

I just read Popular Science’s article on the Worst Science Jobs. It’s mainly entertainment value, although you will find out what a “fistula” is!

I don’t have much else to say that the article doesn’t already, aside from pointing out how cool their little icons are!

San Leandro Cafes

I’m adjusting to my new surroundings… San Leandro isn’t the most exciting place to live, but at least it’s a lot closer to Oakland and Berkeley than my previous place in Sunnyvale (90% of all my social activities are somewhere in Berkeley or SF). So first things first, I found the local coffee hangouts (Starbucks doesn’t count).

These are places that open early, have couches and lounge space, and preferably a bunch of random magazines lying around. Zocalo CoffeeHouse definitely fits the bill; their coffee is great and they have subscriptions to a bunch of the pap news weeklies like Time and People. They also have a rotating schedule of locally-produced art on the walls.

There is also Latté Da, which also has good coffee, and is a little more mainstream, so it’s kind of mobbed on weekend mornings. They have great coffee and a variety of really random social clubs that meet there.

As an aside, they don’t have a web site, and crazily enough one of the only references I found to them online is on the home page of Dal Rae, someone I knew in elementary school and haven’t really seen since!

Firme and Orixa

Went to a see Firmé last night at Blake’s; they were opening for a band I hadn’t heard of called Orixa. Firmé plays a variety of latin jazz/rock, sort of ska-influenced.

Firmé was down a trumpet player and a sax, but they still had a good show. They were followed by some ass rap-metal band whose name I can’t even remember, and then by Orixa, who was really polished. Their vocalist really worked the crowd and the place was hoppin’ even at 1 am. Looking at Orixa’s web site, it looks like they recently played with Cafe Tacuba, which is a pretty well-known band (I saw them open for Beck once), so Orixa is well on their way.