Cassie Duncan: Mad Scientist 4

The Effects of Popular Music on Plant Growth
By Cassie Duncan

My experiment is that I’m putting different types of music to plants and see who dies first and who lives. I chose this experiment because I like music and plants and it seemed creative to me.

Hypothesis:
My hypothesis was, that among the different types of music, Pop would be the best. I decided this because I like that music best. I would test my hypothesis by measuring the plant growth in centimeters.

Research:
I figured out something while I was doing the project. Some other people did the same experiment that had the exact opposite results. Dorthy Retallack, in 1968, used Classical, Jazz, Pop, Rock, Acid Rock, East Indian and Country. One experiment said that it depended on the type of plant.

The Experiment Overview:
For the music types, I picked Pop (Metamorphosis by Hilary Duff), Rock (The Needle Lies by Queensryche), Country (Man at the Mill by the Dillards) and Classical (Fur Elise by Ludwig Von Beethoven). The reason I chose this Pop was that I really like Hilary Duff. I chose Rock because I really like Rock, also. I chose Country because everyone has to have some country and I chose Classical because I thought I might get some extra points from the music teacher.

Besides the music, I needed soil, pots and, of course, plants. I also needed measuring cups and fertilizer sticks, my I-Pod and my dad’s speakers.

I used an Alyssum plant. They are really pretty, but I’m supposed to talk about other stuff, like they are a type of mustard plant. They are purple, too. They are small and easy to grow. Alyssum are small plants, growing 6 to 9 inches tall. Alyssum like full to partial sun. I chose the plant because it was pretty and small and cheap.

I did it in the back room of Olson Insurance Agency. I did each plant for 30 minutes (Monday-Friday) except the no music plant. There was an all music plant in there, too. We plugged the speakers in my I-Pod on half the sound and the speakers at all volume. I measured in centimeters each day except for three days. I watered each plant the same and I put them in a windowsill for sun when they were not listening to music.

My first measurements were:

• A: (Pop) - 5 ½ centimeters tall
• B: (Classical) - 5 ½ centimeters tall
• C: (Rock) - 6 centimeters tall
• D: (Country) - 4.3 centimeters tall
• E: (Nothing) - 4 ½ centimeters tall
• F: (All) - 4 centimeters tall

My final measurements were:

• A: (Pop) - 8.0 centimeters tall - Grew 2 ½ cm
• B: (Classical)- 7.5 centimeters tall - Grew 2 cm
• C: (Rock) - 10.0 centimeters tall - Grew 4 cm
• D: (Country) - 6.7 centimeters tall - Grew 2.4 cm
• E: (Nothing)- 7 ½ centimeters tall - Grew 3 cm
• F: (All) - 8.0 centimeters tall - Grew 4 cm

Another interesting thing happened. In the middle of my experiment, little mushrooms started growing in some but not all of the pots. They all eventually died.

Conclusion:
The conclusion is that Rock and All grew bigger and Classical grew smallest. I guess I’m not that smart or my hypothesis was wrong.

Acknowledgments:
Melissa Duncan - for helping with the music and typing this report for me. Tim Duncan - for helping me plant the Alyssum, helping me play the music and taking some of the pictures. Also helping me with the internet to find research.
Barbara Olson - for letting me use her office and digital camera.

Bibliography:
The Gardeners Network website by Premier Star Company
Encyclopedia.com website by High Beam Research, Inc.
Music and the Brain by Lawrence O’Donnell
Groovy Plants, the Influence of Music
on Germinating Seedlings and Seedling Growth by Davis, R & P. Scott.
What is the Comparison of Rock vs. Classical Music
on the Growth of Florida Broadleaf Mustard Plants by Sonia Rowe

Melissa does her Civic Duty

I'm writing this blog so that if something happens to me (something horribly violent) I wanted everyone to know the back story. You see, last night I was sitting outside with Cassie and 3 of her neighborhood buddies when this El Camino tears past at about 60 miles an hour! Keep in mind this is a road that is usually full of bike riding children and pedestrians. It infuriated me. But then about 5 minutes later he came back (just as fast) going the other way. And I says to myself, "Self", I says, "Someone should really let the police know about this maniac. Especially with all the children that play through here!" So I called. But really, what did I have to go on. It was a two toned, El Camino (Unique, true, but hardly a real help) and it had a black male driver. So I just made a report over the phone. I kept hearing the race car wannabe zooming around the block and Tim actually was driving on the same road with him and he said he couldn't begin to keep up.

Well, today, I saw the car again at an address just down the street from me so I got his license plate number and made a detour to the police station. The reason: How can I complain about people who won't press charges or say anything because it is too much trouble if I won't get off my duff and do something? So I did. No, duff sitter, I! I filed a complaint and the driver got a reckless driving ticket. They say I might have to go to court. Was it worth it? I don't know. But how horrible would I feel if that guy hit someone tomorrow because I didn't say anything?

Of course, the police around here are pretty lax in their duties. They have decided that if the gas prices are too high, they don't really have to answer all the calls in town if they don't wanna. Or, maybe that is the sheriff's dept. Oh, well, either way, the law here in Dodge is not exactly top line. Of course, it could be that my grandfather, the former police chief, did not care for the current police chief. Any who, it would not surprise me if this guy was best friends with one of "Wagoner's Finest" and they had a good laugh over the whole ordeal. Or maybe, the guy has mafia connections and he is going to wire dynamite to my car when he finds out I "squealed like a stuck pig". Lord, I've been reading too much Stephen King . . .

So, let me know what you guys think. Would you have said something?

Moving in Progress...

So we got an offer on our home! Hurray! Now we just have to find one in houston.... We looked at 29 homes last Saturday. We found one we loved...everything about it is perfect. There's even a spot in the driveway to park the boat until we get it back in the water. We were all ready to put in an offer on it and we were driving around and decided to stop and talk to one of the neighbors. Oh yea, they are building a dang super walmart 100 ft behind our dream home! GRRR.... So...I need all of us to join together and BOYCOTT WALMART so they'll go out of business and we can buy our house!

So back to square one. :( We're looking again tomorrow...pray we find something! I'm starting to get really nervous. As of now we are set to close on May 26th but the buyers really want to close on the 12th if we can! Yea right!

Luck be a Lady Tonight

I've often wondered why I'm so unlucky. It sometimes seems that if there are 32 prizes and 33 people, I would be the one leaving empty handed most of the time. Through the years I've tried to deal with my Noluckitis as well as I possibly could. And at 29 years of age, I believe I've been able to cope with it pretty well.

But now, after last weekend and a trip to Tunica, it hit me like a bolt out of the blue. After putting coins in many slot machines and on roulette tables galore, I suddenly realized that if I were lucky at all and the aforementioned gambling devices actually paid off occasionally, I could very well be a gambling addict. Maybe I had been looking at this all wrong! So, for the rest of the weekend I was able to smile a little at each slot machine that slowly ate my money. Able to chuckle as the roulette attendant called "Double 0" when all my money rested on 17. Never a gambling addict, I! For that, I would actually need to believe I would win at SOMETHING!

Luck is a fickle mistress and moved from my house on January 8, 1996 (the day Cassie was Born) and she hasn't been back since. She doesn't even send an occasional postcard. Well, maybe she does, but with my luck, it gets lost in the mail.

Melissa "Lucky" Duncan

Cassie Duncan: Mad Scientist 3

Cassie's wrapping up her science fair project this week. The weekend will be spent working on her presentation and the fair is on Tuesday. We'll post her report, some pictures from her project and the results of her presentation soon!

Tuesday: the Science Fair.

Wednesday: the World! Muahahaha!

Interview #1

Melissa has been attempting to fill Dad's shoes as my employment consultant, sending out resumes, filling out applications, coaching me on methods of padding my resume...

We've got a number of prospects going, but still nothing definite. I've also got Mike on the hunt for legal graphics work and I've even got my pastor hunting for me. He's got a video production position in OKC for the UMC that he's trying to finagle. You know how those preachers can finagle. Like used car salesmen and attorneys.

If you'd like to contribute you can refer possible employers here for samples from my portfolio and my resume.

My first interview before the move is scheduled for Monday afternoon in OKC. It's a graphic design position at a company called The Morrison Group. Beyond that I have no other information. The interviewer seems very amiable over the phone, but they can turn on you when you least expect it, like a cornered rattler!

Wish me luck. Maybe I should bring a long stick...

Happy Easter!

Hope everyone has a good holiday this weekend. If you're lucky you'll get Good Friday off. If you're not so lucky you might be attending class reunions this weekend (just keep a low profile if you attend the banquet.)

Melissa will be singing a solo for Good Friday evening service at church... no pressure. Then we're off to Norman afterward to continue "The Big Move". I had hoped to have more transported by now but at least this weekend we have several boxes to deliver. Hopefully there will actually be something in the boxes this time. The clock is ticking though. Soon it will click down and the alarm will sound.

But there is no snooze button...

30 Hour Famine

Melissa, Cassie and I will be starving ourselves this weekend. No, it's not a diet fad or a protest. It's actually a fundraiser.

The church is participating in a program called the 30 Hour Famine something that youth groups around the globe do to raise awareness for world hunger, money for hunger relief and items for local community food pantries. You can find more info here. We've been asked to help the youth at the church this weekend and of course participate in the... not eating any food for 30 hours. We start at 1:30 on Friday and go, well, 30 hours later. It's all too insane and this will be our 3rd year helping out.

I guess that's the really insane part.

We gave Cassie the option to stay with Grandma (and eat) but she said she wants in on the "fun".

So if you don't hear from us any time soon, you'll know why. We'll either have all dried up and blown away or after Saturday night we'll be parked in our local grocery store eating stuff straight from the shelves for a day and a half to catch up!

Review: Ice Age 2: The Meltdown

If anyone ever doubts the power of kiddom, just remember that this piece of animation fluff brought in 70.5 million dollars over opening weekend. 70.5 million??!!! Of course, part of that money was mine but I do have a 10 year old. We went to the drive-in to see it. Which in itself posed a problem. They play the sound over the fm radio and our boombox got every station on the planet but that one!!!! We had to open the car door (I mean who sits IN the car at the drive in?) and play it via the Honda for 2 hours.

Anyway, the story picks up where the last left off and we see that the ice is starting to melt. The animals must make it to a large log, that kinda looks like a boat, before the valley floods. Along the way, Manny, the mammoth, has began to believe that he is the last of his species and is trying to find himself. This is the serious story line in this one.

There are some pretty funny scenes like the one where Sid the Sloth aka the Fire King is being worshipped by mini sloths. But there is a lot of dead space where I think they were trying to get across something meaningful that I just didn't get! Don't get me wrong, the kids will love it! There are enough site gags to warrant that. But as the adult mind goes (I guess I have one of those) it is just not as good as the first movie.

Rating: 5 out of 10 bananas
Best Part: Can you say a mammoth who thinks she's a possum? I knew you could.
Worst Part: Skrit finally meets his maker . . . and Sid ruins it!

Review: Stay Alive

I originally went to this movie thinking it was a remake of that John Travolta 70's movie. Boy is my face red! Nope. Found out it was a horror movie about this video game featuring Elizabeth Bathory. OH, no, not the European Elizabeth Bathory who bathed in virgin's blood to stay eternally young. No, this is about the New Orleans Elizabeth Bathory who ran a finishing school for young virgins . . . I mean girls and then was walled up in her tower for brutally killing them all. I never knew!

Anywhoo, once the main characters (all teenagers who, by the way, made up the majority of the audience in our theater) start playing this game, Stay Alive, they find out that if you die in the game you will die in real life - IN THE EXACT SAME MANNER! Eaten by rabid weasels in the game? - hey, I wouldn't want to be you in real life!!! Most normal people would say, "All righty, then I'm just gonna quit playin' the game now, K? Thank you very much" Ah, but that saucy Elizabeth is right with you. If you don't play, the game plays itself and kills you anyway. No bueno!

So, the main characters wind up at Elizabeth's real finishing school in New Orleans (Pre Katrina I'm sure) and have to defeat her in real life and in the video game at the same time. That Part of the movie is kinda cool.

All in all, it could have been a whole lot worse. Someone actually did a little work on a plot in this one though no actual research on Elizabeth it would seem. There was not a whole lot of gore which is what a lot of horror movies seem to rely on nowadays so kudos to them for that. If I were you, though I would wait for this one to come out on DVD and rent it one night when there is nothing else to do.

Rating: 5 out of 10 bananas
Best Part: They don't have to worry about critics saying the SFX looked like a video game because, guess what, it was!
Worst Part: When something bad was going to happen, they played this weird farty noise that just made me laugh.