Stardust and Shalimar

[butterflydreaming]

llynecat smartly suggested Shalimar for a quick dinner before the "Stardust and Rare Earth" lecture last night. The butter chicken, chicken tika, and the spiced potato appetizer that we had were all tasty. I also ordered a spiced Darjeeling tea; it had the same failing that I have found in all the chai and chai-like drinks that I have had in restaurants. I am fairly certain that more coffee drinkers would be tea drinkers as well if the tea wasn't so often weakly brewed. I recommend Shalimar if you are in the U District (and if you have this year's Entertainment Book you can get 2-for-1 on dinner entrees) though I prefer the biryani at India Bistro, and Flavor of India overall -- particularly for prices & portions.

The lecture was an overview, not very technical and also not too in-depth. The speaker was lively and enthusiastic. His love of his field was obvious, and you know I love to see that. He has a pocket sized rant about how everyone should know what an isotope is. I agree that it's not a difficult concept. I think the problem with science's reputation is that that science, like Shakespeare, is thought by the general populace to be the purview of smart people.

We arrived only a few minutes late due to finding our way. L won a free book of award winning science articles. (And now she is mildly anxious about gravity leakage.) Introductions were made between bdkellmer (don't forget about that shrimp recipe!) and llynecat & samildanach, so once again, the world grows smaller through LJ. If thewronghands or spider88 were in attendance, we didn't know who they were, though I was looking for clues.

As cool as comets are (and they are), I am now facinated by aerogel. Dude. It has the same density of air but is essentially glass. This was the medium used to capture the comets and transport them to Earth. I wish the speaker had brought some actual aerogel with him. Like a little kid, I'm more interested in the bubble wrap than the Ming vase. (Metaphorically speaking. In actuality, I am equally interested in both Ming vases and bubble wrap.)