Musing for the end of the year

So, I've decided I will try and post a bit more on the blog and include some more general musings. Not sure I will be able to do this, but we'll see. I will still be staying out of politics and economic discussions though :-)

Anyway, a few days ago I spent more than half a day listening to music on Youtube. I am not entirely sure how i got to this, but I think it started with the minions from the Despicable Me movies. It was a somewhat long line of free associations and I eventually ended up listening to a bunch of 70's-80's music. Much of it was not what you'd usually expect, but things that were pretty popular in USSR when I was growing up. Much of the songs are in Italian and French. Besides making me feel somewhat like an old fart, it also led me to some rather interesting things I haven't listen in depth to before. For example, I spent a lot of time listening to different versions of Vivo per lei by Andrea Bocelli (see links at the end of this post. i was somewhat surprised that I liked the German and the French versions the best. Especially surprising was the German version, since German is usually considered a somewhat harsh language. So, kudos to Judy Weiss. Obviously, in all these versions Bocelli's partner has a beautiful voice, but for some reason both of the English versions didn't speak to me too much, and I liked the Spanish one the least.

As a result of all of this, I will be buying a couple of Bocelli's albums as a present to myself for the end of the year :-)

Cheers all and enjoy

The 70s/80s mix
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szWSLwkYa6k&list=RDQ0wZQbK938Y&index=1

Vivo per lei original version (Italian)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6MhjhMtq7s

French version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpAgfw4j5SU

German version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IyYqJyc-zk

Spanish version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNvGghuoJUo

English version #1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOfadmFfuPc

English version #2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdxRmcgsKDQ

Small addition to previous post

It turns out that our image not only featured in the top images for 2013 by Nature, but was actually also used as cover for their 2013 summary.
Cheers all
http://www.nature.com/news/specials/2013-1.14378

Updates

I know, I know, it's been a long while since I last posted. I could probably launch into explanations as to why that is, but I won't.

So, a few things happened lately that require some updates. First of all, I passed my comprehensive exam and was officially accepted into candidacy for PhD. I had fun writing the written proposal since it was on the subject that I would like to research in real life if/when I get a faculty position. This last semester I also sat in a class on grant writing and it was very helpful in preparations for the comprehensive.

I also received a fellowship from the Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience (NCMN), with a small press release on the subject. Always good for ego-stroking.

On with the updates!

The paper in Advanced Functional Materials finally got out in an issue (as opposed to a preliminary view). In addition, it got to be a front piece with an image designed by Joel Brehm.



The paper also received a press release from UNL, which is always nice.

Surprisingly, we got a very nice present for the end of the year, as our image was included among the images of the year by Nature. I think I will take this opportunity to post that nice image again :-)


I think that's about it for now. Hopefully, this blog will have more good news in the next year. Happy holidays to those who might happen to read this.

Cheers all