Hi everyone, Frank N. Foode™ here giving you the latest update on some exciting things.
First, I am (belatedly) proud to announce the winner of the second Community Contest, and that illustrious distinction goes to Bernarda, who swept the competition in a landslide! Any moment now they will be the proud owner of a new Biofortified tote bag. Thanks for disagreeing with someone with politeness and respect and above all – constructively!
Second, it seems that no one has yet entered our inaugural annual frankenfood carving contest, and the deadline was set for this coming Wednesday. Now I’m sure as you ghosts and goblins go to bed tonight on Halloween, there are scary pumpkins smoldering outside on your doorstep. Don’t throw them out – take a picture and upload them to your profile and have a chance to share in a glorious victory. As of now, the contest deadline has been extended to Sunday, November 7th, at midnight Pacific, as always. And to sweeten the pot, the winner will not only get a cotton canvas tote bag with the blog emblem emblazoned on its side, they will be the first here to receive a very special gift – A mint-condition Norman Borlaug commemorative coin! Fantastic!
This special prize is courtesy of MaryM. A big thanks to Mary’s generosity! The coin is in its original plastic wrapper for you crop coin collectors.
So now’s your chance to carve up something fun – you have until the 7th! Comment here to enter.
Next, of course, I have to say a thing or two about our second birthday here at Biofortified. *Sniff* It seems like so long ago when there were a few lonely voices out there trying to educate people about plant genetics, and then we started to find each other and wound up starting this blog. We won a contest together last year, and this year the posts and comments have really been rockin’! With post syndication, new guest posts, and readers coming from all over the place, we’ve got a great discussion going and it will get better and better. And then look what happened to our readership this year:
Biofortified is here to stay!
Heh, if this blog was a beet, it would be setting seed now, seeds to spread across the blogosphere! Pat yourselves on the back.
And while we’re talking about the perennial permanence of this blog, finally, I have an announcement to make. And that is that on Tuesday, November 2nd 2010 we will have an announcement! So now that I have announced the impending announcement, you need only wait for the announcement. Once post-announcement, you will see why this needed a pre-announcement. 🙂 Ok that’s this corn’s best impression of John Stewart. (He was awesome at the Rally to Restore Reason. We need that for GMOs.)
I must be a little jet-lagged. This week, in all my travels, I find myself in Long Beach, CA, attending the ACS (ASA-CSA-SSSA) Annual Meeting, filled with thousands of scientists who study agronomy, crop, and soil science. Karl Haro von Mogel is also here, but he’s been so busy up until now with his research and making sure his oral presentation for Monday morning is perfect that I guess he forgot to put something up on the blog. I’ll be sure to prod him tomorrow after his talk about plant sex videos. For those who may be attending the ACS Meeting, there will be a photo op with Yours Truly from 4-6 pm on Tuesday at poster board number 716. That’s right, at the Biofortified poster! Sweeet. Happy Birthday all!
I am overwhelmed. I don’t think I have won an award since high school, maybe college. I get a lot of mail telling me I have won a car or a bunch of money or something, but years ago I stopped replying because nothing ever arrived.
I would like to thank whoever nominated me and all those who voted for me. I started using internet in the early 90’s when you had to configure everything to get your phone line connection: Netscape(actually its predecessor whose name I forget), and your emailer, whose name I also forget. Finding things was also a challenge.
Finally, I enjoy reading your articles and having the discussions, despite the fact that some of the more advanced stuff is a bit beyond me. I try my best to separate the wheat(even GM)from the chaff.
I have added some things to my profile and an avatar. I hope they show up. My avatar is a picture of early 20th century French singer I like named Polaire. I used to go to swap meets and second-hand stores to try to find old music. Nowadays, most has been re-recorded on CD, luckily.
For me at least, it required patience and a half a dozen tries each time. Something was always not typed right or the wrong box was checked.
Congrats @bernada! We should have coffee some day and both bring our bags….
Glad you liked the coins, Frank! I was worried that the wheat all over the place would make you feel bad. But I guess you are ok with that.
Enjoy the conference! Learn many things.
No I am not offended by wheat! In my enlightened view of species diversity, I believe in the intrinsic value of all plant life. There are no bad species – only bad seeds. 🙂
MaryM, congratulations to you too. Coffee though may be difficult as I am in France and don’t have plans to go to the U.S. It is possible that I may have to go to San Diego soon for family reasons, and also to Australia where I have family.
Good luck to you.
Frank N. Foode™, here is some bad seed from Metallica,