I’ve never really liked or appreciated movies about vampires and werewolves. Not sure why.. something about the usual character and theme of the vast majority of those movies is just morbid and dark. Nothing good ever really seems to happen. The usual theme is just a blood feud between the two fictional species.

However, I went to see Underworld – The Rise of the Lycans – with two of my guys last night, and I have to admit… it was phenomenal. I’d recommend it to most anyone who enjoys and appreciates awesome cinematography, a great story line, and fictional movies. The Rise of the Lycans is the 3rd Underworld to come out, but is esentially the prequel to the first two and tells of the history behind the vampires and the lycans (werewolves). There is one scene that I would advise against watching.. and the film is R-rated. But aside from that, it’s a great movie. I would put it up there on the same level with Lord of the Rings.. with a possible touch of Gladiator.

Johnny has definitely gotten me hooked on 24. For those of you who don’t know what 24 is, you’re missing out. I’m working on the fifth season right now… and trying desperately to catch up! I think the seventh season is the current one that is being shown on tv. Jack Bauer – toughest guy on the planet.

I just finished a 3 page paper (single-spaced, 11 point font, and REALLY small margins) for my Marketing class, so I think I’m going to go reward myself with an episode or three of 24.

My dad showed this video to me. Louie Giglio is a Christian pastor/evangelist and founder of Choice Ministries and Passion Conferences, a ministry devoted to the proclamation of the glory of God to college students around the world.

Watch this video and take it however you want to. Some people might think this is just coincidence or whatever you want to think, but I believe that I serve a living and all-knowing God who designed every part of the human body for a reason – even a miniscule protein called laminin.

Laminin is the major non-collagenous component of the basal lamina, such as those on which cells of an epithelium sit. Basically, laminin is a protein found in the “extracellular matrix”, the sheets of protein that form the substrate of all internal organs also called the “basement membrane”. It has four arms that can bind to four other molecules. The three shorter arms are particularly good at binding to other laminin molecules, which is what makes it so great at forming sheets. The long arm is capable of binding to cells, which helps anchor the actual organs to the membrane.

The laminin protein is made up of three separate parts, called the A, B1, and B2 chains. That gives it a total of six “ends”, which accounts for a lot of its flexibility in connecting up various kinds of molecules. Because of this, scientists who create biomaterials are extremely interested in the whole family of laminins. They are a family of glycoproteins that are an integral part of the structural scaffolding in almost every animal tissue. Laminins are secreted and incorporated into cell-associated extracellular matrices.

Laminin is vital to making sure overall body structures hold together. Improper production of laminin can cause muscles to form improperly, leading to a form of muscular dystrophy. It can also cause progeria.

Essentially, the purpose  of laminin is to keep our body from falling apart. And every human being has laminin. This is what it looks like.