Science Club Dec 31

W Hotel POV Rooftop Lounge Jan 2

2000 – Leap year! People craze over the Y2K bug, which in the end…really doesn’t affect anyone very much. Vermont legalizes civil unions for same-sex couples. This is ironically followed by the “election” of George W. Bush into the United States Presidency after Vice President Al Gore conceeds. Section 28, a law preventing the promotion of homosexuality, is repealed by the Scottish Parliament. British show Queer As Folk is reimagined into American network Showtime. Pope John Paul II apologises for the “wrongdoings” by members of the Roman Catholic Church throughout the ages. Montgomery Ward shuts down. The third and final reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant is shut down and the station is shut down completely.

2001 – George W. Bush actually takes office. Tony Blair is elected into the United Kingdom Prime Minister seat. Pervez Musharraf becomes President of Pakistan. The Oklahoma City bomber, Timothy McVeigh, is executed. The first major terrorist attack on U.S. soil since McVeigh’s occurs in the Eastern United States, killing an unprecedented 3000 people from over 70 countries. Shortly after, the U.S. Postal Service is used as a conduit to deliver anthrax spores to several major news offices and two US Senators. 22 are exposed and 5 die, redefining the everyone’s thoughts on powdered donuts. China joins the WTO, Australian Prime Minister John Howard gains a 3rd term, Bush delivers his defiant and infamous speech to the world on my birthday…and war is declared on Afghanistan within weeks. China gets permanent ‘normal trade’ status with the US. The US Patriot Act is born. The writers of Buffy the Vampire Slayer broke new ground when they portrayed a gradually developing lesbian relationship between two characters.

2002 – Bush signs “No Child Left Behind” into law. Daniel Pearl of the Wall Street Hournal is taken hostage and killed within a week in Pakistan. Sir Rudolph Giuliani is given honorary knighthood by Her Majesty The Queen of England for his actions as 107th Mayor of New York during the terrorist attacks of 2001. The ex-currencies of all euro-using nations cease to be legal tender in the European Union. Gay Canadian teenager Marc Hall is granted a court injunction ordering that he be allowed to attend his high school prom with his boyfriend. The DC Sniper attacks begin, and end. The Department of Homeland Security is born. Population Division of the United Nations calculate that 40 million people around the world are infected with HIV.

2003 – Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates upon reentry over Texas. A global health alert is issued by the World Health Organization in regard to SARS, which is later declared contained. The journal Nature reports that 350,000-year-old upright-walking human footprints had been found in Italy. The human genome is mapped to 99.99% accuracy. The invasion of Iraq begins, ending the reign of Saddam Hussein. The first horse cloned by Italian scientists is born. The 1996 Olympic bomber is captured. Martha Stewart is accused of insider trading. A huge power outage hits the Northeast United States. The country watches in awe from skycams as the ever-defiant New York City takes to the sidewalks without the subway. A similarly large blackout occurs in England, stopping 60% of the tube system. A total solar eclipse is seen over Antarctica. California voters recall Governor Gray Davis from office and elect actor Arnold Schwarzenegger to succeed him. Mad Cow Disease hits Washington State. Saddam Hussein is captured, his sons already dead. The Supreme Court rules in Lawrence vs. Texas that laws prohibiting sodomy are unconstitutional. I ask Josh out. He says he isn’t doing anything that month. Oh and Britney and Christina make out with Madonna on MTV.

2004 – The founding of Facebook! The CIA admits that there was no imminent threat from weapons of mass destruction before the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Eleven American states ban gay marriage as Massachusets legalizes it. New Jersey legalizes domestic partnerships. San Francisco, California begins issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in an act of civil disobedience. New Jersey governor Jim McGreevey resigns, becoming the first openly gay governor in US History. Simultaneous terrorist attacks, with bombs in 4 rush-hour trains in Madrid, kill 190. Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse in Iraq is revealed on the television show 60 Minutes II. Arsenal completes a whole English Premiership season unbeaten, 38 games. The Democratic National Convention in Boston, Massachusetts nominates John Kerry for U.S. President and John Edwards for Vice President. Future President Barack Obama delivers the keynote address. Bush later wins a second term. DC gets baseball…again. The US gets Condoleezza Rice. The world gets Ubuntu…and loses Superman.

2005 – The longest year of the decade. Another second was added, 23:59:60, called a leap second, to end the year 2005. The last time this occurred was on June 30, 1998. Also billed as The Year Of Discovery! Alas, Bush is inaugerated into a second term. The first free Parliamentary elections in Iraq since 1958 take place. The Kyoto Protocol goes into effect, without the support of the United States and Australia. Kuwaiti women are granted the right to vote. Pope John Paul II dies. Controversial drawings of Muhammad are printed in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, raising popularity of the long dead prophet to new heights. Hussein goes on trial for war crimes against humanity. Surgeons in France carry out the first human face transplant. Andrew Stimpson is reported as the first person proven to have been ‘cured’ of HIV. The IRA says goodbye to violence. We say hello to Brokeback Mountain.

2006 – The Year of Mozart, born 250 years earlier. 25 years have passed since the first reported case of HIV/AIDS. Blu-ray is released as a DVD format in the US. A total eclipse of the sun occurs. The first UK case of Avian Flu is documented in a swan. Iran confirms successful production of low-grade enriched uranium. A march down Broadway in protest of the third year of the US-led war in Iraq occurs. The first demonstration for gay rights in Moscow is broken up by the police. London Metropolitan Police make 21 arrests in connection to an apparent terrorist plot that involved aircraft traveling from the United Kingdom to the United States. Liquids and gels are banned from checked and carry-on baggage. Spinach contaminated with E. coli kills 2 and poisons over 100 others in 20 states of the United States. A Libyan court sentences 5 Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor to death, for knowingly infecting hundreds of Libyan children with HIV. Google buys YouTube. Hussein is found guilty and sentenced to death. He is hanged in Baghdad. Playstation 3 and Wii hit the game market. At least 11 bombs go off in Bangkok hours before the new year, leaving at least 30 injured. England declares 2006 its warmest year since 1659. ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ is released in theatres, documenting Al Gore’s research into glbal warming.

2007 – Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows sells 11 million copies in the first 24 hours of release…making it the fastest selling book in history. Live Earth Concerts are held throughout 9 major cities around the world. Track and field star Marion Jones surrenders her 5 Olympic medals she won in the 2000 Sydney Games, after admitting to doping. The Writers Guild of America goes on a strike that lasts until February 2008. Luckily we don’t lose any shows that don’t already suck. A 2100 year old melon is found in Japan. North Korea agrees to shut down its nuclear facilities in Yongbyon by April 14 as a first step towards complete denuclearization. The IPCC publishes its fourth assessment report, having concluded that global climate change is “very likely” to have a predominantly human cause.

2008 – The Year of Planet Earth, and Languages. Madonna, Prince, and Michael Jackson all turn 50 – all are still producing and performing artists. Iran opens its first space center and launches a rocket into space. The Southern US experiences the deadliest string of tornados in 23 years. Fidel Castro resigns as leader of Cuba. Australia apologizes to the Stolen Children of 1869-1969. A total lunar eclipse crosses North and South America, Europe, Africa, and Southwest Asia. India sets a world record by sending 10 satellites into orbit in a single launch. Over 69,000 are killed in central south-west China by the Wenchuan 7.9 earthquake. Bill Gates steps down from Microsoft. The most impressive opening cermonies for the Olympic Games takes place in Beijing. Michael Phelps surpasses Mark Spitz in Gold Medals won at a single Olympics, winning eight. The world hits an economic crisis, and Bush signs the revised Emergency Economic Stabilization Act. This creates a 700 billion dollar Treasury fund to purchase failing bank assets. Russia stimulates the Icelandic economy with a 4 billion Euro loan. Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin becomes the surprise Vice Presidential pick of Senator John McCain in his bid for the US Presidential election. She is the second woman to be on a presidential ticket, as Vice Presidential candidate. Thankfully, Senator Barack Obama becomes the first African-American person to be nominated President of the United States. His Vice Presidential candidate is Senator Joe Biden. The remains of Russian Czar Nicholas II and his family are identified 80 years after being murdered and buried at Yekaterinburg by the Bolsheviks. Grand Theft Auto – The Ballad Of Gay Tony becomes the first video game to headline a gay main character. It is awarded the Best Downloadable Content Award at the 2009 Spike Video Game Awards. California becomes 2nd state to legalize gay marriage, but November’s infamous ‘Proposition 8′ negates the move. Connecticut becomes the 3rd state to legalize gay marriage. The Fox network went from 0 characters last year to 5 this year. Among the new characters are “Thirteen” a female physician specializing in internal medicine, portrayed by Olivia Wilde on the show “House”. There are 19 recurring characters who appear in occasional episodes that are gay, lesbian or bisexual. This is an increase over the 13 in 2007.

2009 – The 40th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. The Icelandic government and banking system collapse; Prime Minister Geir Haarde immediately resigns. Barack Obama is inaugurated as the 44th, and first African American, President of the United States. Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir is appointed as the new Prime Minister of Iceland, becoming the world’s first openly lesbian head of government. The deadliest bushfires on record occur in Australia. The Taliban releases a video of Polish geologist Piotr Sta?czak, whom they had abducted a few months earlier, being beheaded. It is the first killing of a Western hostage in Pakistan since American journalist Daniel Pearl was executed in 2002. The World Health Organization expresses concern at the spread of H1N1 (swine flu) from Mexico and the United States to other countries. International cases and resulting deaths are confirmed, leading to declaration of the first global pandemic since the 1967 Hong Kong Flu. ‘King of Pop’ Michael Jackson dies prior to the beginning of his “This Is It” tour, leading to an unprecedented level of Internet traffic. A public memorial service is held and declared one of the most prominent funerals of all time. Washington DC loses the 2014 bid for hosting the Gay Games to Cleveland, Ohio. European resarchers discover 32 exoplanets, including the first-known exoplanet on which water could exist. Washington DC legalizes gay marriage.

I will be DJ’ing The EFN LOUNGE on Wednesday for Wet & Wild DC’s weekly romp in the water.  Then I’ll be back at my regular (though not so regular lately) run at Science Club on Thursday for Christmas Eve.  Here’s wishing you a warm and safe holiday if I don’t see you!!  –Aaron

After over 920 blog posts on www.subwaystate.com I have finally been asked to take one down! It is a re-posting of a conversation with some commentary. Names were NOT included, nor were any indicators thereof. But the person with whom the conversation was had wants it taken down, asking “why did you”, “how could you” and saying that after this I can’t possibly be trusted. I disagree to the reactionary stance and declaration of my trust being unfit and have not yet responded. Note: the person only contacted me online – didn’t call me. What do you think about this? I’m not telling you which article it is. I want your point of view from the unwashed perspective. Give me your journalistic opinion. I already have my own and I am gonna let this sit awhile before responding to them, I want this person to thoroughly think about what they are asking me to do.

It’s 6 in the morning.  Chinatown is partly cloudy amd 22 degrees when a man is stopped by someone about 10 feet away on the street asking, “can I ax you a qweshun?”

“Ummm…you just -asked- me one.”

“Man, shut up, You got 47 cent?”

“Don’t nobody carry 47 cent.  Why don’t you just ask for a quarter or a dollar?”

“You got one?”

“No.”

“Man, shut the fuck up and gimme that wallet.”

“Hold on,” the man with the tell-tale white earbuds says into the air.  ”Someones trying to give me shit.”

“Who the fuck you talkin to?!”

“My phone, you idiot.  You don’t have to hold them anymore ya know.”

He goes back to the air, staring directly at his would-be assailant. “No, don’t dial 911, I got this.” He asks the ragged-looking inquisitor, “are you REALLY trying to rob someone not ONLY dressed like this…but on the 14th?!”

“14th? What? Man all I asked for is…”

“Yeah, yeah, 47 cents I don’t have and then my wallet.  You’re not robbing anyone today.  People in this town get paid on the 15th.  Get it right.  Look at a calendar and try again tomorrow.”

“Man gimme that fuckin wallet!!”

“What wallet?!! I don’t carry shit cuz of people like you!!  Miss the part where I’m on the damn phone?”

The ear-budded man pauses for effect, never losing eye-contact and pulls out a cigarette.  After lighting it, he continues to the robber and adds crazy to his eyes.

“Go home and re-think your strategy and I won’t have my friend here call the cops. How’s that? And maybe if you see me tomorrow I’ll buy you a coffee AND give you a cigarette.  Now get the fuck out of my way and don’t follow.”

“Aight man aight, I ain’t want no trouble.”

“Riiight….”. He steps toward the robber.

“Crazy ass…”

“YES! Crazy ass on a PHONE.  GET IT YET!?!!!” He starts  further toward the robber, who runs off and rounds a corner.

The man puffs again on his cigarette and says to himself, “ooh i love this song.”

I got to thinking the other day about how long it would take a drop of water to arrive at the bottom of a vial of sand. Then I asked myself how many drops of water would it take for water to reach the bottom if the one drop got stuck or dispersed enough never to see the bottom of the vial. I imagined the vial in different shapes and sizes and the sand in its many densities.

I started thinking that in order for this to be an experiment even worth trying, you would certainly have to know the sand you’re working with. And the water for that matter. Is the water pure H2O, or is it your DC tap water: filled with traces of antibiotics and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory pharmaceuticals? What’s the viscosity of the water? And what about the sand?

As we know…sand is from everywhere and anywhere at the same time. The sand you pick up on a beach might have been part of someone’s sculpture in Pompeii before the volcano erupted. The varying amounts of glass, rock, debris…could be infinite for all we know. And the concentrations of those factors in your vial of sand experiment could contribute to how long that drop of water takes to get to the bottom.

Where is Aaron going with this, you ask? Well, I’ll tell you. I then started to wander outside of the pure scientific fascination behind setting up an experiment like this one and wondered…who separates sand? Who takes the grains and just…separates them into their little groups of like-elements?

This of course reminded me of the people who take fuzz from the dryer, separate it into its respective colors and fiber-types and make sculptures. But who, if anyone….separates sand? And how many elements have been identified? What has it taught us geologically, if anything? What has it lended to the theory of how water flows through our streams and oceans? What could it lend to my experiment of the vial of sand, of any type?

This is the shit I think about when I don’t have a beer, people. THIS.

Today, I was delayed on an appointment. I stopped through several places to process various amounts of paperwork. It was all timed perfectly. Then something caught my eye as I was walking to my final destination.

I guess we aren’t meant to know all of the reactions to our own actions. This is why I fail to see why the world makes such a point of shoving such things in each other’s faces in certain other regards. (Clearing of throat.) I dunno….