Sunday, December 27, 2009

Walking on Sunshine: No Generic Substitute available

I don't think I ever gave the final garden update but the it has now been mowed over and I will probably just stick to tomatoes and cucumbers this year. Maybe some more lettuce. That was kind of cool. I will see how lazy I am in the spring. I wouldn't mind growing some onions.

Back on topic, I am getting sick of all the prescription drug commercials. I like listening to Classic Rock on the radio but nowadays it makes a person feel like a geezer. They advertise drugs for old people. TV isn't any better. Even my local Cinimark in Katy. I went to see a movie over there a couple of months ago and before the previews they had a commercial for the new Katy Cancer treatment facilities now available. Not that it isn't a good thing and will make it much more convenient for people who need the help, It is just that when I plop down $9 for a ticket and then 8 more for some popcorn and a drink, I want to get the traditional magical movie theater experience. I don't want to be thinking about any particular illness that I am somehow now the target market for thier advertising.

The other thing is that the side effects sound worse than the actual ailment that the pill is for. They have the wonderful music and people runnging through fields of flowers with no allergy symtoms but then you get a warning to stop using the drug if you have a stroke, kidney failure, or cough up blood. And is always such a small percentage that actually die but that isn't what I consider a good selling point. Of course they are required by law or fear of getting sued but damn. What about the one where they tell you to call your doctor if your erection lasts longer than 6 hours. Just consider how long it takes to get to see a doctor. You have to figure that most people are not going to be taking sexual enhancement drugs during work hours so if you do need to call a doctor, then it will be the emergency room. It won't do any good to call them but you better hope that there are not any heart attacks or other more serious cases that will get seen infront of you. If after 6 hours you decide to go to the emergency room, it is going to take 15 minutes to half an hour to drive over and then at least half an hour to be processed and then you have to wait until it is your turn. It could turn out to be a 10 hour erection before you actually get help. It is like your fears from Junior Highschool have come to pass. Also, I wouldn't be surprised if there aren't a few women out there who figured they had put in thier time when it comes to having sex with the old geezer that they are married to. There had to be at least a few that really wish that viagra had never been discovered.

I do believe in going to the doctor and getting the appropriate check ups and blood tests and so forth but it does scare me a little when I hear that over 30 percent of all treatments after false positives are not needed. There is no question that the health care industry is just that. An industry. I even saw a study on TV that when business is slow in a particual area or they have too many hospitals. Those health care networks just generate more tests and unneeded procedures to make up for it.

There is no way around it. Nobody Gets out alive.

What else?

Not much really. I have reconfigured my one man band using less equipment. I got burned out on carrying around so much equipment and having to set it up and break it down that I decided to see what I could do to make it a little more mobile.

I decided to eliminate the symbols and the actual Bass drum but I did come up with an Idea to purchase an electronic drum machine brain and I now put a second drumstick on my foot which extends backward and I made a Hi Hat in to a Low hat and I then put a sensor on it and which will fire off the bass drum sound when I hit it. It actually does sound tighter. The next I idea was just to run everything through the mixer and amp into one speaker. I am currently using a bass cab but I might see if I can find a powered speaker and elimnate the need for the amp. I do like the idea of it being a bass rig since I am running a bass drum and bass gutiar through it. Maybe I will just add a horn tweeter and see how that works for small settings. I am thinking of looking for a gig here or there but am not that organized yet.

Besides that you will have to go buy a newspaper or something cause that is all I got.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.