Fermilab Friday

August 15th, 2009 | By 49

Today Christy got to see some Fermilab! We stopped by the Lederman Center and then Wilson Hall. I gave the pictures from my camera to Tona in Communications and chatted with her and ??? for a bit before heading to the 15th floor. A great view! We walked the little exhibits and took in a bit of a Fermilab tour movie. After the movie the tour guide pointed me out as the Fermilab rapper! 15 minutes about to end… :) We took off to see the bison and Christy got to see her first cornfield! We also went by the 15 foot wide bubble chamber. Back to the Wilson Hall (HIGHRISE!) to have some wine and chat with Aaron (bassman!), Kyle from Master Control and Robin from ‘Atom Smashers’ before headed down to see the recently approved results from D0 and CDF. We minds were melted hardcore with the high-energy particle physics business.

DAN could not come out tonight! He was either going to hang with us and shoot more and watch the Drug Sniffing Dogs rock or go watch his friend rock out with the Blizzard of Oz. Dan was so wacked out from his swine flu and allergies being on the prairie that he was going to stay home and take care of himself. Sometimes you gotta do that. Get well Dan Lamoureux! Ben G from the Former Fat Boys could also not make it (he went fishing, the pic looks relaxing!) but my new Illinois friends are dropping like flies!

We leave during the Q&A part of the CDF results (D0+CDF are pretty much listening better to the signal-to-background, no Higgs yet yo!) to get ready for the show. Arrive and start pizza and beering and beering it up. We chat with Eric who, along with Ben, are supposed to be on a tv show about rollercoasters. Eric brought along an accelerometer that hung like a Flavor Flav clock around his neck while Ben jailbroke his iPhone so it could run his custom accerlerometer app.

Drug Sniffing Dogs!

Such awesome! Anyway, we drink, the Drug Sniffing Dogs rock, funky49 rocked a set and more Drug Sniffing Dogs bringing it. We made our own after party with me and Ben and Christy and Britany. After that Christy and I had our own party. A great time. Thank you so much Ben Kilminster and Fermilab for having me speak, rap and shoot a music video. I’m so thankful!

Fermilab Thursday

August 14th, 2009 | By 49

A very multicultural breakfast: Today started with breakfast with Dan and Ben. Ben had the Hobo Platter that we were laughing about yesterday. Do hobos know they have their own platter here? Dan had the Italian Skillet again which cheesed me off. I was gonna get it today but he was complaining about it yesterday. I bet it was full of deliciousness! I got a breakfast burrito. Ben was a French Hobo with his Hobo platter /w French Toast, I was Mexican and Dan was Italian.

Dan shooting buffalo like its 1867!

Dan and I go see the bison. People were honking at us from the road which was hilarious while we were filming. A lady with some kids asked to take my picture with them. I asked if I could have my picture taken with them too! It was an honor. After the bison (with the Wilson Hall in the background!) we bounced out to D0. We shot in their datacenter, control room and their experiment build hall. Dan was really happy with the last one. He also got to shoot Marc from the control room using a geiger counter on something. I was busy tweeting what we were doing.

Dan after shooting Marc from the D0 Control Room

After that, we go to the CDF offices and shoot with Dr. Ben Kilmister. Dan shot him explaining how Higgs events and shot me being confused. We stepped outside where he shot us bullshirting and doing the ‘Atom Smasher’ handshake that we came up with. It starts with daps and then a first bump “collision” that results in particles being sprayed outward. Keep it nerdy.

Dan and Dr. Ben Kilminster

Dans Tips for Successful Video Shoots:
* Rapper needs to know their lyrics
* Rapper needs to be presentable
* Rapper needs tote all of their clothing every day of the shoot (oops!)
* Dan hates shadows
* Other stuff why are you asking me to remember?

Steve & Christy on the train – huzzah public transportation!

Afterward I race to the airport to pick up my girlfriend, we park the car and train into the city. We peep a giant Picasso metal sculpture, the Cloud Gate, fountains, find our hotel, have a drink 95 floors up in the John Handcock Tower (seriously, why pay $15 to go to the 94th floor, when you can pay $15 for an adult beverage on the 95th floor?) and then to Ed Devevic’s for dinner (thanks Gary!). Train back to the car to drive back to Naperville.

Another Great Day. Thanks Illinois!

Fermilab Monday

August 11th, 2009 | By 49

I wonder if these bison make Fermilab cheese? Anyway…

Breakfast with yogurt and fruit again. Drove to Fermilab and saw the bison closer up for the first time. I also visited the Lederman Science Center. It has that video I LOVE that shows you the metric powers of 10. You know the one, it starts with some couple chillin on a blanket next to Lake Michigan and zooms out so you can see the Milky Way galaxy and beyond and will zoom in to the guys hand? The rest of the Lederman Science Center is pretty cool and a MUST before you go and see the stuff on the 15th floor of the Wilson Hall. I also spent some cheddar on Fermilab tattoos and car decal and a onesie for my cousin Tracy who is having a bay-bee.

Meet up with Ben at the Highrise (remember, that’s what you are supposed to call the Wilson Hall!) and we put up a bunch of flyers. Ben must know a ton of people because we handed off like half the flyers to volunteers who did most of Wilson Hall (err, the Highrise). Next we flyered up the D0 office as well as the Users Center where we will be performing Friday night. We also flyered up the CDF offices as well as the CDF building where their control room is (along with a bunch of scissor lifts, a huge mural of the CDF experiment and displays explaining sensor elements of the CDF array of equipment.

Ben made up the flyers to promote the Friday show (funky49 with Fermilab’s Drug Sniffing Dogs!) as well as the Tuesday “Science Outreach via Rap” presentation. Pretty cool! When we came back I had the best souvenir ever! A parking ticket from Fermilab’s security! Too sweet!

Went back to the hotel and crashed until it was time to battle traffic on the way to the Drug Sniffing Dogs practice. They rocked hard last night but rocked EXTRA hard with their brass section! Sax (got a reed actually) plus trombone and trumpet.

TACO BELL VOLCANO NACHO FOR DINNER FTW!