Fri, Oct 31 - Murray's Symposium

In the US, Oct 31 is Halloween. In Germany, it's Reformation Day - 491 years ago today, our very own Martin Luther nailed his 95 thesis to the castle church door in Wittenberg, protesting the corruption and abuses of power he saw in the Catholic Church (thus giving us protestants our name).
But the big deal today was neither one nor the other - today was all about the Memorial Symposium for Murray Jarvik, who passed away earlier this year. I did show my face at work for a couple of hours in the morning, but took the rest of the day off to pay tribute to Murray. Or rather, to watch eminent academics pay tribute to Murray - even Jared Diamond, he of Guns, Germs and Steel, spoke! Murray had a full and amazing life, and it was very moving to see just how much people appreciated him. And what a huge influence he had in his field.

12.07 pm - symposium luncheon at the UCLA Faculty Club - salad w/ raspberry vinaigrette. With Ritesh, Lissy, Elvira, Shiraz and a few dozen of Murray's colleages and friends12.33pm - salmon, green beans, carrots, mixed rice, at the UCLA Faculty Club

1.30pm - some orange pekoe, during a video tribute from some fellow researchers in London

2.21pm - I'd skipped the apple pie that was served for dessert at the Faculty Club, and had some fruit instead, back at the Semel auditorium for an afternoon of lectures and talks. 7.47pm - oh, right, it's Halloween after all - egg rolls at Pho99 with Greg, Phinney and Ritesh. The lovely painted nails are Greg's. We also had the tofu pho, but I was so deep in conversation I forgot to take a picture.

9.50pm - Halloween party at the National History Museum! That's a real T-Rex skeleton behind Phinney and Greg...

10.09pm - some OJ in the fantastically cheesy American Mammals section of the museum. This is the kind of mammal that the likes of Sarah Palin like to shoot at from helicopters.