NHL Super Skillz

This past weekend, the wife and I attended the 2010 Skills Competition for the NHL All-Star weekend. Since I broke my camera on my last trip to Germany, we had to precede the event with a trip to Best Buy to purchase a new camera. I was already in the market for another point and shoot (I had taken over 7,000 pictures on the last camera over two years of international travel) and me breaking the old one was just the excuse I needed.

We showed up to the event a bit later than we planned to because traffic was crazy.
The last game we went to at the RBC Arena, on New Years Day, we got to the arena about an hour before and we pulled right in with almost no wait and walked to our seats. Of course, the game was not sold out but it was not empty either. For this, we tried to get there about 50 minutes early and we walked in about 15 minutes before it started. Traffic! We ended up circling the entire arena to get to this dirt parking lot. I don’t know if a bunch of normal spots were blocked off for All-Star festivities (concerts and venues) or what? Pandemonium! The arena was about half empty for the start of the event and I did not see an empty seat by the last event, so I do not think that we were the only one surprised by the traffic. And that is about the end of the negativity because everything else about the event was awesome!

The new camera has a panoramic feature but it did not work so well with that glass

When we walked in, we discovered how awesome our seats were! Row E (five) near the goal line. You could see the players well and even read what brand their skates were (if you’re a goalie gear whore like I am, things like that are important).

We immediately started snapping pictures and trying to update our status on Facebook (stupid AT&T/RBC Center prevented this until after the game, but that is not the fault of the All-Star game). Shortly after that, something terrible happened. A Penguins fan sat down next to me. I consider myself lucky that he was a nice guy and we had a good time bantering with each other, but in reality, he is the lucky one. Lucky there was no snow for me to make a snowball with a battery inside of it to throw at him and/or Santa Clause (look it up, Philly fans are classy!).


Highlights from the event were:

One of my favorite events was the trick shot shoot out. This is where the guys try to do crazy between the legs shots and other imaginative things. Surprisingly, one of the highlights was the Pittsburgh goaltender Flurry. He was doing push-ups as the guys came down the ice, stacking the pads, and twisting poke checks. Just having a good time. Personally, I think Suban had the best attempt at a goal (they typically don't score because they are trying crazy shots) where he flipped it up as he came down the far side of the goal, then skated around the goal and tried to bat it out of the air as it came down. My next favorite was the guy who got the puck up on his stick and flipped it around like he was playing lacrosse and then flung it at the goal (hit the crossbar). The fans gave the award to Ovechkin which I'm not upset about. He had some good ones too and he has such a fun personality when he is out there. Plus, he is the Great 8.

Another funny event was during the accuracy shooting contest where you try to hit styrofoam targets in the net. One of the Sedin brothers went four for four which is pretty awesome, but that was not the funny part. The crowd got excited when the home team, the Hurricanes, player (Staal) decided to compete. They started a "Lets go Canes" chant. Normally, good idea. When your player is going head to head with a player named Kane (pronounced just like Canes), you might want to rethink which cheer you use. In fitting fashion, Kane won (probably because the crowd was chanting his name).

The team's mascots were roaming the arena that night and we had the misfortune of running into one of them. As if sitting with a Pittsburgh fan was not bad enough, I had to put up with this crap!

You can tell how happy I am to have a Devil behind me creeping into my picture

Another highlight was witnessing a new World Record for hardest shot. Chara beat his own record and posted 105.9 MPH. Glad I was not standing in front of that shot.

As a final reflection, I must say that there were a TON of Flyers fans there. I believe that after the Hurricanes fans (which had to have been over 80% of the fans) the next jersey I saw the most was a Flyers jersey. And you know they all loved my orange pants.

Giroux doing one-timers

Brier had two goals in the game on Sunday and he was not originally invited

All things considered, we had a great time and the event was well worth the money. I’m not sure I would fly across the country and pay for a hotel to attend another all-star weekend, but I might be willing to drive a couple of hours if they have it somewhere nearby.
It would be a cool opportunity to see a city and plus the players honestly look like they are having a good time. The players all start out on the bench and by the end of the night, they are all on the ice in a line so they can see what the next guy is going to do.

Winter Classic

This New Year's Day my wife and I had the privilege of attending the Winter Classic which is an outdoor hockey game that the NHL started a couple of years ago.  This year my team, the Philadelphia Flyers, played the Boston Bruins in Boston's famous baseball park, Fenway Park.  We were not lucky enough to win the drawing for tickets so we had to purchase tickets on the internet for an incredible markup.  It was truly a once in a lifetime opportunity, so it was worth every penny.

We headed down to Fenway the day before (New Year's Eve) to get official hats and to check out the festivities.  We had a couple of inches of snow (during the team practices) which is awesome.

• There was no line at the Flyers players statue since we were in Boston

On New Year's Day we got up and checked the weather and it said it would be all clear.  I was actually hoping that it would snow, but in the end it was a clear day (which is better than the predicted rain) and about 36 °F.  The positive from the lack of precipitation was that I got to wear my orange pants (instead of my snowboarding pants) which made me incredibly happy.

• Top left: The inner layers of clothing
• Bottom left: The outer layer of clothing

We made it down to the stadium after a relatively painless ride on the T (Bruins fans don't hate the way Philly fans do...god help an opposing fan in Philly when the Philly fans are armed with snowballs packed around batteries...I mean, Philly fans boo Santa...Santa for gods sake).

Our seats were not the best (the lower you get, the harder it is to see over the boards...be fair, it is a baseball stadium) as you can see from the following pictures but the atmosphere was awesome and we could see enough when we stood (which we did the whole game).

• Top left: Got to have a Fenway Frank
• Top middle: A Bruins shot cracked the glass an none of the officials noticed for about ten minutes
• Top right: Eventually they saw and replaced the glass
• Bottom left: Shaking hands after a game is a hockey tradition
• Bottom right: Final score

In the end, the Bruins won in overtime bu the fact that it went to overtime tells you how close and exciting the game was.  Outdoor hockey is awesome!

How is the internship going?

So I promised to write a blog that related to school and not just my travels in Europe so I will give a short update about my internship.  I can't remember how detailed I discussed my internship in the past so I will start by saying that my internship involves laboratory experiments.  I'm basically using statistics and the design of experiment process to try to modify a small part of the Flu Cell Culture process that Novartis uses to make flu vaccines.  The first month was pretty tough only because I have no experience with the process and it has been a long time since I thought about biological reactions.  My previous work experience was in production and not at all research based.  I spent a ton of time on Wikipedia looking up basic biological process and terms saying "what is that word" and "how do you spell it" (plus add in the German to English factor).

I spent the first month or so just trying to learn the process, talking to people in the labs, and reading past LGO theses and a very small amount of research papers. The problem with my project from a literature review perspective is that it is so specific that very little literature applies to it.  I think I have saved about four articles and I will probably only reference two of them in my thesis.  Then I have my statistics book...and Wikipedia.  Can you site Wikipedia in an MIT thesis?  Woe is me.



Aside from relearning how cell growth and viruses work, the frustrating part of the first month of the internship (and just being an intern in general) is that I only really have my main project, so when I hit a road block where I am waiting on someone or some piece of equipment...I end up just sitting there.  I try to be as proactive as I can be and I don't want to imply that Novartis or my supervisors have not been trying to help me as much as they can, but when someone goes on vacation and they are the expert you need to speak to there is not much you can do.  Or if a pandemic flu strain breaks out across the entire world with the potential to cause serious problems if a slight mutation occurs...the pandemic work certainly gets priority.  Of course this is just another challenge to manage and there are always multiple solutions to any problem and we have certainly found ways to continue working on my project.

[caption id="attachment_1368" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="I actually increased the size of my experiments from 6 to 22 by driving to the OBI (like a Home Depot) and purchasing double sided tape"][/caption]

I would say that at this point (about six weeks in) I fully understand what I am trying to accomplish with my project and have begun the task of working through that problem.  During the first couple weeks I did some practice experiments to get used to working in a lab again and to get experience working in a laminar flow hood.  More recently, I have started my main experiments and will see where the results point me for the rest of my internship.

[caption id="attachment_1370" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="This is a picture of a laminar flow hood. They are pretty cool. When you spray disinfectant into the hood you can literally see the droplets racing straight down. As long as you don't pass over a sterilized object with an unsterilized object your sample should remain uncontaminated. So far I am 12 for 12 with clean experiments but I just launched 19 more so we will see if I maintain my perfect record."][/caption]

I have also accelerated the speed that I work on my side projects (they were originally scheduled for after mid-stream review in September) so that I can stay busy.  Who knows, maybe I can take on another side project when that is complete.  These projects may not be specifically covered in my thesis, but they are helping me better understand the department and the overall process.  It is funny because the past year's students and professors warned all of us about scope creep.  Often companies keep adding on and broadening the problems they want you to solve and you have to tell them "No, that is beyond what I can do."  Novartis is pretty disciplined (especially in the technical department that I am working in) and they have me focused on my project and the main project has not changed since it was first proposed last October.  This has caused me to ask for more to do (and Novartis has obliged while trying to keep it somewhat related to my main project).

[caption id="attachment_1371" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Google image search turned up the left and middle picture for scope creep. Neither were acceptable so I MS paint combined 2 pictures for the picture on the right. It is much better."][/caption]

I've heard this from other LGOs and definitely experienced it myself.  Most of us had pretty successful careers before LGO and then balancing the LGO curriculum (MBA at Sloan plus Engineering at MIT) requires pretty extensive calendar management.  Then you start your internship and it feels like things have come to a screeching halt.  The pace just feels slower.  Starting any new job or position can be like this.  You are so new to everything that you feel like you can't do anything, you just keep asking more and more questions.  Then at some point you are incredibly busy and don't really know where the transition occurred.  I would say that I am climbing out of that slow period and things are picking up, which is good.  i like having more work than I have time to finish.

Well, that is enough for now.  Now I won't feel guilty when I post pictures from this past weekend and the next couple of upcoming weekends.

Canada is done!

http://lgo.mit.edu/blog/drewhill/?p=1132

Playoff Hockey Baby!

It is playoff hockey time! Woooooooooooo!!!!

The first week of playoff hockey is the best time of the year. At least two games a night and usually three games on the weekend. Awesome! I don’t plan to leave my TV this week.

The Philadelphia Flyers (my team) managed to draw the Pittsburgh Penguins so they are in for quite a difficult series.

click on the image to see a youtube video of Kate Smith singing God Bless America in the Spectrum

Between her live performances and the recordings the Flyers have used since she died, Kate Smith has a record of 76-20-4.

Now that we have heard Kate sing, I feel really good about the Flyers and their chances this year. As has been the case since Hextall left, the question will be goaltending. I actually thought Biron (the Flyers goaltender) had a great playoff series last year so hopefully he can play well again this year. Like the other 15 teams out there we are only 16 wins away from hoisting Lord Stanley’s Cup.

For those of you who do not know much about hockey, the playoffs are 16 teams (8 from the western conference and 8 from the eastern conference) playing best of seven series to determine who will advance to the next round.

Here is this year's bracket...but not really. They reseed the teams after each round so the highest eastern team plays the lowest eastern team

In the end, only one team has the privilege of hoisting Lord Stanley’s Cup high above their head.

The Stanley Cup is the greatest trophy in all of sports

I wont say that this is the most prestigious trophy or hardest to win trophy in the world, but I challenge you to find a trophy with more history, more tradition, and a more iconic image. One of my favorite traditions with the Cup is that hockey players will NOT touch the Cup until they have won it. That is how much they respect it. Some other fun facts about the Cup from GreatestHockeyLegends.com are:

• Teams drink champagne (as well as other choice beverages) out of the punch bowl top


• It is the only trophy in professional sports that has the name of the winning players, coaches, management, and club staff engraved on it


• The cup has been lost a couple times
  
  
  
  • In 1907, the Montreal Wanderers left the Cup at the home of a photographer they hired to immortalize their victory. The photographer’s mother turned it into a flower pot for the next several months.
  
  
  • In 1905, drunken members of the Ottawa Silver Seven thought it would a good celebratory idea to punt the Cup into the Rideau Canal. No one rescued out of the chilly waters until the next day.
  
  
  • In 1924, Montreal Canadiens players were on their way to a victory party at owner Leo Dandurand’s house. The players had set the Cup on the sidewalk snowbank while they changed a flat tire. When arrived at Dandurand’s house, they realized they had left the Cup on the sidewalk. They hurriedly drove back, and were relieved to see the silver bowl sitting right where they left it, completely untouched.
  
  
  
  

• And stolen a couple times
  
  
  
  • In 1962 as the Montreal Canadiens were playing the defending champion Blackhawks in Chicago. The Hawks had the Cup, much to the dislike of 25 year old pianist Kenneth Kilander, a seriously devoted Habs fan who made the trip to the Windy City. During the game Kilander picked the lock and simply headed out the doors, bribing a security guard with $250 and reportedly telling him “I’m taking it back to Montreal where it belongs.”
  
  
  
  

As I have mentioned before one of my priorities every playoff (after the Flyers winning of course) is that the Cup be won by an American team. It pisses Canadians off to no end that they have not won a Cup since 92-93. It was a good regular season this year and only 3 Candian teams made the playoffs: the Vancover Canucks, the Calgary Flames, and the Montreal Candiens.

Plant Trek Day -4 (day 5 of my unofficial trek)

My blog got the flu and about 10 posts were lost.



Sorry for the inconvienence.  If by some crazy chance you have a copy of my missing blogs (like an RSS feed) please send me a copy so I can reupload it.  I would be very appreciative.  Thanks

V-I-C-T-O-R-Y

Last night the two LFM hockey teams faced off for a second time (not typical, but the hockey scheduler made it happen). Luckily for the X class, the 09’s superstar Pete was not there. That left the X class with the opportunity of a lifetime…and we capitalized. Lead by Brendon Bielat’s two powerful goals, we won by a score of 2-1. Like last time, it was all in good fun and a group of people went out for drinks afterwards. I was way behind on homework so I could not go out this time, but I’m glad we got a chance for a rematch and I’m really glad Pete was not there.

LFM Hockey

This past Tuesday (February 10th) the LFM class of 09 faced off against the LFM X class (I don’t like the use of the phrase “X” class…but it is what has stuck among LFM and so I use it). The game was a ton of fun and continues to be a great tradition of LFM. The game was evenly matched (as always the X class was held in there by the stellar performance of it’s goaltender Travis) with a good back and forth. Each class has a few hockey players and a ton of ankle benders. Those of us who can skate try to keep the game moving and fun for the rest of the team.

Side note...typically I am a goaltender (the guy in the pads pictured above) and goaltenders just stand there...so if any of my hockey player friends heard that I included myself in a group of people who "can skate" I would be laughed off the ice...but alas, I digress.

As I said, the game was a good back and forth (no team dominated) and both sides were pretty much evenly matched. The 09 class went ahead early in the game 1 to 0 and maintained the lead well into the third period when the X class tied the game up 1 to 1. With a few minutes to go the 09 class pulled ahead with a commanding (given the limited time) 2 to 1 lead and despite a valiant effort, the X class was not able to tie it up. Hats off to the 09 class, they were the victors of the big game!

Both classes after the game. Picture taken from Rodolfo's facebook account.

After the game a large group of LFMs from both classes walked to the Thirsty Ear (a bar on campus) and partied until they kicked us out. The two classes faceoff again on February 23rd and it promises to be another fun event.