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Saturday,
January 03, 2004 at 04:22:20 (EST) |
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Hey Spider
The city of New York is entirely peopled by Ohioans. This is
my conclusion from my night in the East Village. M clued me
into a rock show at Lit featuring Columbus natives Teeth
of the Hydra. I got there in time to see The
Minus Tide, a hardcore band that reminded me in pleasant
ways of Snapcase.
But I don't think these guys were straightedge. The lead singer
resembled Richard Dreyfuss circa Close
Encounters of the Third Kind, if you can imagine him
screeching monotone vocals over heavy duty rock. Teeth of the
Hydra I liked less, but they hit all the heavy rock notes I
hoped for. I thought their set was hilarious, but at some point
I realized they may not have wanted an ironic response to their
music.
After the set I realized the full influence of Ohio on this
little unsuspecting town. M started introducing me to everyone
in sight; all were Ohioans. Except D, who is from Virginia.
He said it was a Union rule that requires a Virginia representative
at every show. Not only that, I ran into Y, who I never see
often enough. With him was J, who I have not seen in something
like 6 years. It was a warm reunion indeed. I love running
into people I used to know, assuming our relationship didn't
sever over some sort of unpleasantness. Anyway, we hung out
at Lit as long as humanly possible until the bad music and
annoying post-show clientele forced us out. We resumed at
the Cherry
Tavern, replete with wood paneling and Tom Petty tunes
on the jukebox (M corroborated my feeling that this one Strokes
song sound exactly like the opening of "American Girl").
H showed up and proceeded to give everybody a hard time, which
we all enjoyed. Then I noticed a guy talking to another known
Columbusite who I suspected was a guy from a band I used to
play with. Like my New Year's experience, I was correct. Like
many other pilgrims, B has made it to New York and is apparently
still into the music scene. I tell you this now: B and his
pal E had a drums-and-guitar band years before it became super-popular.
Look to this man for innovative musical ventures in the future.
On the subway home some folks were arguing about the proper
usage of their digital camera. At some point one lovely young
lady asked me if I'd take a picture with her "for shits
and giggles." I complied, though I was thinking vaguely
that she wanted evidence of the freak on the train. I nearly
kissed her on the cheek as I was still full of the Heart of
It All, but I thought her boyfriend/photographer wouldn't
appreciate it. She probably would have taken a picture with
anyone sitting there, but it was a nice end to the evening.
Posted By Jimmy Legs
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Wednesday,
December 31, 2003 at 14:32:19 (EST) |
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Matchmaker Mama, make me a match
When I returned from visiting my family over the holidays, I
found my Inbox full of messages from my mom. She forwarded me
about a million listings for real estate in New York. Even though
I keep telling her I have already scoured these same websites,
she keeps sending me listings. I guess she thinks she's gonna
find something I missed. I don't mind it, she's trying to help.
In a former incarnation, she was a real estate agent, so I know
she wants to share her knowledge. This has been very educational
in terms of learning about the facts of buying property. But
the listings are not all that helpful, especially since she
still doesn't understand why I don't want to live in Old Mill
Basin.
Today I received another glut of emails from her, I opened
the Inbox expecting to find more real estate listings. She
hadn't sent any. What was piling up there instead was a large
number of listings from an online personals site.
Oh God, no.
I have said previously that now my mom and I are both single,
we have shared a few anecdotes about the tribulations of the
unfettered life. She even told me of her follies with online
dating, and I explained (in what I thought were no uncertain
terms) why I didn't think I could pursue this route. Nonetheless,
she is sending me profiles of women she thinks I should get
to know better. Egads. It's sweet of her to take an interest
in my personal life, but I am leery of letting Mom work the
controls. Online dating seems rocky enough without the knowledge
that your mother helped set you up. Is anybody else's mother
doing this?
Posted By Jimmy Legs
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Wednesday,
December 31, 2003 at 11:38:36 (EST) |
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Ooh ooh here she comes, watch out boy
she'll chew you up
 I
don't know what's going on around here, but Pinky
just caught a mouse. At least I guess she caught it. None of
the other cats are awake, and she's parading around with this
mouse in her mouth. I have only seen a mouse inside the house
once before, when Decatur
inexplicably got a hold of one (I nursed it back to health and
released it in the back yard, and then Freddie
ate it). Earlier this summer, Mr.
Bones appeared to catch a bird (and proceed to dismantle
it all over MRK's bed), but it was later determined that he
probably didn't actually catch it. Freddie is forever killing
small animals and depositing them at our back door, so Bones
must have caught the delivery and signed for it himself. I just
can't believe lil' Pinky is a killer. I should add that to her
singles profile.
Everybody likes a cat that earns her keep.
Posted By Jimmy Legs
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Tuesday, December
30, 2003 at 13:55:01 (EST) |
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I've got some ephedrine, I've got some
dynamite
 I've
brought this up before,
but now the FDA has announced a total ban on Ephedra.
I guess I don't really care, I haven't taken that stuff in years
(for allergies and sometimes recreationally). Still it pisses
me off when a few stupid people make the rest of us suffer because
they're too stupid to live. The FDA is banning this stuff because
they say it has led to several deaths, as well as many heart
attacks and strokes. From the sound of it, people all over the
country are dropping dead as soon as they see a bottle of Super
Weight-Loss tablets. Well, of course they're not. But somebody
sure is interested in making us associate Ephedra with instant
death.
What's going on here? The FDA has never banned an all-natural
supplement before (unless you count pot!). From the article:
" The FDA has reports of 155 deaths of people who took
Ephedra and more than 16,500 complaints." Over what time
period did these people die? Not to sound callous, but 155
deaths doesn't sound like adequate justification for a total
ban. According to their own press
release, "The totality of the available data showed
little evidence of Ephedra's effectiveness except for short-term
weight loss, while confirming that the substance raises blood
pressure and otherwise stresses the circulatory system."
Well, big whoop. From a weight-loss perspective, what else
is there besides "short-term weight loss"? There
are tons of substances we consume every day that raise the
blood pressure (the most ubiquitous being listening to George
Bush talk), yet we see no other such bans.
Is this some sort of a conspiracy? These
guys seem to think so. I don't know if I totally agree
with their statements, but if the data linking Ephedra to
deaths really includes some of what they list, something is
fishy. From the study of adverse reactions involving Ephedra:
- A report of a woman whose blood alcohol was twice the
legal limit and died of a fractured skull after driving
her truck into a tree at 90 mph
- A report of a suicide from a gunshot wound
- A report of a man who died of environmental hyperthermia
- Reports of excessive hairiness
So using Ephedra drives people to drink and crash their cars,
shoot themselves, die of exposure, and get really hairy. I
remain somehow unconvinced. This sort of specious reasoning
reminds me of the 1992
EPA study on secondhand smoke, which brought us, among
other things, our lovely smoking ban. It's like they can hold
a study about anything and then, regardless of the facts,
make the forgone conclusion they had chosen in the first place.
Nobody argues because hey, studies show it's bad, right?
The FDA even admits they're taking shots in the dark: "There
is no single piece of evidence that stands out," says
Dr. Mark McClellan, an FDA commissioner, about the supposed
evidence against Ephedra I'm not a big believer in conspiracies,
I tend to think it's our own ignorance that gets the best
of us. But perhaps the pharmaceutical industry really wants
this stuff out of competition with their own metabolism-raising
drugs. It certainly seems possible. Those big companies have
the money and influence in Washington, and they're the ones
who stand to gain from the ban financially. Or am I just smoking
crack, since I can't get my Ephedra anymore?
Posted By Jimmy Legs
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Tuesday, December
30, 2003 at 01:47:56 (EST) |
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Sweeter than wine
Last holiday season I finally realized what was causing my worst
hangovers. Was it because I carelessly combined multiple types
of alcohol in rapid succession? No! Was it because I didn't
eat enough before boozing it up? No! Was it because I just drank
way too much? Possibly. But since I certainly couldn't be expected
to stop doing any of the above things, there had to be another
scapegoat.
At a friend's party
I drank a couple of cups of his Special Holiday Punch, which
was basically a bucket of Cosmos with extra vodka thrown in.
All I had to eat all night was cookies and other sweets. I
didn't even drink that much. But the next day I had a screeching
hangover full of nausea and malaise that lingered like the
Bush presidency. I thought back to the other worst hangovers
I've had, and I finally picked out the similar thread: sugar.
When I combined alcohol with pretty much any amount of sugar,
my body punished me horribly. I resolved to avoid sugar whenever
I might end up drinking (not even Skittles!) Some thought
me strange for refusing the sweet stuff so vehemently. But
now I have something resembling proof! The NY Times recently
wrote a hard-hitting article about how people
drink a lot around the holidays. But at some point, they
ask some experts about the proliferation of super-sugary cocktails.
Dr. Marc Siegel says
"The sugar load is very problematic because it is
very hard for the liver to metabolize a lot of sugar and
alcohol at the same time."
That seals it for me. I don't think my liver needs to multitask.
Alcohol alone will have to do. No more mudslides and banana
daiquiris for me! I should just stick to hefeweizen.
Drug abuse counselor David Burr adds,
"I tell you one thing," he said. "You lay
in a lot of booze and a lot of sugar, and you're going to
get a lot of sick."
Yes. A lot of sick, indeed. [Via Gawker]
Posted By Jimmy Legs
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Monday, December
29, 2003 at 09:25:02 (EST) |
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You should never have opened that door
 Soon
I will be left alone in this house with 4 cats. MRK is taking
off tonight to see his sweet babboo in Berlin. Also I've been
looking in on Rocky,
and I'm not even sure how much longer Juli
will be outta town, as I conveniently forgot this vital piece
of information. So many cats ... I take solace in the fact that
their limited brain capacity precludes them from joining forces
and rising against me.
 We
planned to record a bunch of stuff this weekend, but our efforts
were stymied by fate. In the midst of recording a song for
the umpteenth time, the bass drum head broke. We had rocked
too hard.
This prompted a band field trip to the music shop for a replacement
at least. Z also suggested I purchase a stringwinder since
I suffer from an ever-increasing stringbreaking problem. I
am so ashamed.
Saturday night I met up with José
at Freddy's
for a couple of drinks with his cronies. I picked up some
more literature about the whole arena
issue with a list of pertinent email addresses to complain
about this impending annoyance.
Gothamist
has some good info about the arena.
Posted By Jimmy Legs
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