Those audacious pharaceutical companies

I got this e-mail from my cousin Judy in San Diego:

I'm sure that you have seen pharmaceutical advertising in doctor's offices
on everything from tissues to note pads. 

Well, in my book, this one should get the prize....  


I e-mailed it to my Chinese doctor friend. He e-mailed back: 
  

"If the light stays on for more than 4 hours, call your erectrician." 

42 days to 50

I think turning fifty is gonna suck.  Bad.  Really.  Nice thing is I've reconnected with friends all the way back to before the stone age and I've seen them turn fifty on face book and they didn't self destruct immediately.  Still, it's gonna sucks.

Family Ties

My nephew Jeffrey turned 31 today.  We've been neighbors most of his life.  I've watched him grow into a man.  We both love books.  We both love every kind of food.  We have a lot in common.

This is a Tyler weekend.  When me arrived Ma had a ham dinner waiting for us and her trademark apple pie still hot out of the oven to celebrate Jeff's birthday.  Ma may be 79 but she still can cook like nobody's business.  Dad (79 also) seems to have a little more energy too.  Love my family.

Big Whammy

I woke up to the new yesterday that the the Democrats had lost the 60th Senate seat previously held by Edward Kennedy.  The news almost knocked the breath out of me.  I'm a heart attack survivor.  Cardio infraction is a big pre-existing condition.  Big.  It's not that I don't have current employment.  But what happens if I find myself out of work.  I'm 50 in a couple of months.  I'm not one to be pessimistic but the current political climate does not bode well for health care reform.  People are so scared of change.  Even if it's change for the better.  It's scary for me.  Not to mention the millions of uninsured.  Scary and sad.

Another Birthday

Diana invited me over for Mark's birthday lunch.  She'd prepared Helen Jo's Tex-Mex enchiladas, one of Mark's favorite dishes, mine too.   We also had iceberg lettuce salad with grape tomatoes which helped tone down some of the cheesy richness.   I contributed a chocolate pecan ice cream pie for dessert.  I also bought him a dumb birthday card from the dollar store and some teriyaki beef jerky, , we're all about food in our family.  This is his twenty ninth year.  Happy Birthday Mark.  

"I saw a film today, oh boy"

I helped celebrate a good friends birthday today.  First stop was a newly opened trendy Red Mango on Cedar Springs in Dallas.  I had tangomonium (small), a fat free and delicious yogurt.  Next stop was the Magnolia to watch Book of Eli ("Brothers Allen and Albert Hughes (From Hell, Dead Presidents) direct this post-apocalyptic future western about a lone warrior, Eli (Denzel Washington) who traverses the blasted American landscape on foot, fighting to protect a book he possesses. Meanwhile the despot of a small, makeshift town (Gary Oldman) is determined to seize it. The knowledge the book contains could be the very key to redemption for an unforgiving, violent society.")  


Tonight I've read the reviews.  They aren't pretty.  For me it felt like one of those video games my nephews used to play where the main character is  attempting to escape from a Nazi Prison Camp and blowing away every un-dead Nazi that comes along.   The reviewers seemed to relish in the fact that this was a comic book instead of a substantial cinematic achievement.   But it seems to me, every movie is a glorified comic book these days (ie Avatar, Vampires, etc, etc, etc.)   

Haiti & the World Mourns

Such a horrible tragedy.  And to make matters worse Pat Robertson said that Haiti had it coming.  I called the 700 Club 800 number 

1 (800) 759-0700

And I spoke to a 700 club representative.  I said the word was going around the internet that Pat Robertson said Haiti had it coming.  The spokes person said the secular media was causing the trouble and asked if I had seen the program.  I said I had not and she said that to put it in context that Pat Robertson said that in the 1700's Haiti wanted to extract the French so they made a pact with the devil.  I asked specifically who made the pact and she said that it was made by Haiti.  I asked if if was the entire population and she said yes the leadership and the people of Haiti made a deal with the devil to get the French out of the their country.  I asked if that was why this earthquake happened and she said that if one does not side with God then they side with the devil and yes retribution is the Lord's.  I asked her if she believed that a pact made in the 1700's would manifest itself in an earthquake today and she said yes.  I asked her if she believed this since she acted as if she was looking at a script and she said yes.  I asked her if I could put this conversation on the internet and she said no.  I asked her why not since it was an explanation for the tragedy and she hung up.

What?

Winter In N. TX

I've a faulty memory, some might call selective.  My memory is the primary reason I blog.  To re-ignite my dull synapses.  I've been remiss this last week so I will summarize.  Wednesday morning I woke up to plunging temperatures.  Thursday the Arctic cold front seem to envelope the entire country.  Friday and Saturday more of the same.  This is a Tyler weekend. This morning I layered so I could watch Cerberus  (my folks don't have a fence but he stays within the yard boundaries if watched).  The temperature was 15 degrees.  As has been observed by smart ass Eddie on my face book status, I am a total wimp when it comes to temperatures below 60 degrees.  Much of the rest of the country has the frigid temperatures and snow and ice too.  IN that regard we are lucky.  As a matter of fact the temp will continue to rise in N. TX and be in the sixties by Thursday.  As much as I complain about ugly N. TX it's a good place to winter in January/ February.  

Glorious Bastards & hiccups

I watched Glorias Bastards tonight with Diana, Mark and Jeffrey.  I liked it a lot.  Best Tarantino's best since Pulp Fiction.  Very stylized, of course.  And fun and violent and bloody and crazy exciting.  Tarantino takes his time setting everything up and getting us acquainted with the characters.   The  actor who played "Jew Hunter" was amazing.