Why do you doubt me, my darling tortoise?


http://www.greatturtlerace.com/

Stephanie Colburtle? This turtle race has gotten lame. I do not care for Stephen Colbert, or his turtle...his ice cream looks okay.

And no, I am not very busy today.

Leeches are not drugs.

That was not the point of this article:

At least 115 chemical compounds have been developed from what researchers thought was the medicinal leech, Hirudo medicinalis, with many being used in drugs.
But genetic analysis has now shown the leech that led to the discoveries may have been the species Hirudo verbana.

But these two sentences that got me thinking of my year(s) in the basement pharmacy at UCI:

Leeches are used in modern medicine mainly as a research tool, with scientists developing drugs based on the chemicals in their bodies.

Leeches were once used traditionally and have made a return to the doctor's armoury since the 1980s, when it was realised they were useful after plastic and reconstructive surgery.

I only know of one FDA approved drug made from leeches...it's quite possible there are more, and I am just out of date (I have not been a real pharmacist in over three years). [Future employers, that's just a joke. I read a lot. Please feel confident in hiring me.] We used a bit of Refludan (lepirudan) at UCI, but we used far, far more real, live, swimming leeches. At most hospitals, leeches are handles by the blood bank...at UCI leeches are drugs. They get dispensed in little prescription vials with little prescription labels. They get dispensed by a pharmacist...who gets to catch them with a little fish net, and put them in the aforementioned prescription vials. Leech suppliers have all kinds of storage/maintenance recommendations (like changing the water every other day); but seriously, have any of you seen our home aquarium?

Hmmmn, I had some sort of point when I started writing this...oh yeah: Leeches are not drugs.

My favorite line of that article:

It could be equally devastating for the leeches themselves, which as H. medicinalis have legal protection, but as H. verbana have no defence against being collected from the wild in hundreds of thousands.

What the hell are you people doing collecting hundreds of thousands of leeches?

Mr. Skinner (too busy to read this blog), you have a lot of catching up to do.

Newport to Bolsa Chica and back=20 miles. That runner's high you've heard so much about is a hoax; well, maybe not a hoax, but very short lived (it was completely gone at the half way point...with me 10 miles from home).

If you ever run 20 miles, do not make any plans for the rest of the day. You will not get said plans done. Unless your plans are to watch Oprah and fall asleep.

Something has finally happened.

I have moved up in the world.


Yes that's right: I, Michael B. Lasko, have a window cubicle. I am not sure why that picture looks so dreary, because my cubicle is actually super sunny all day. I was wearing sunglsses for a while...and not just to look cool. Also in the new cubicle: a bigger monitor. Not much bigger or anything, but at least my anti-glare screen no longer falls off.

The People's Republic of California

Do they make those in a bicycle jersey?

Finally got around to doing my taxes. Although Uncle Sam has given us a couple of extra days this year, I thought I might have better things to do on April 17th.

(You really should have clicked that link, it gets you free ice-cream).

Nico and I had the W-4s set up perfectly this year (or almost perfectly, we ended up owing $400 to the Feds). Unfortunately, both of us neglected to update the dreaded DE-4 (that's the California equivalent of the W-4 for you out of staters)...resulting in $3000 owed to the Proud State of California. I have got to find a better accountant.

Buy us beers, we're friends for life.

Alternative title was: "It's never winter here"

Except it was a very cold day sailing, so that title was not very appropriate. Except in an ironic sort of way, I suppose.


Nicole always looks huge in these photos (like she could crush the other occupants of the boat at will--do not anger Giant Nicole). She's actually quite svelte, but everybody else is always afraid to move off the benches...putting Nicole on the rail, at the front of the boat (and closest to the photographer). If I knew more about art, or photography...or physics, I would know what this was called. (perspective???) Also pictured are Janet, and Janet's friends Charles and Samantha. Charles bought us nachos and beer (please see title above), and Samantha quotes lines from Airplane, so they get another photo (beautiful Corona Del Mar coastline in the background).

It's always 5 o'clock somewhere.

(Alternative title was: And you people thought I was making this#@!& up.)


If I have any Prescription Solutions readers left, sorry about the video. Here's a still of the raised martini flag:


In retrospect, we really should have been drinking Coronas.


In entertainment news: Went to see Grindhouse last night. I can't remember the last movie I saw in the theater; it takes a lot to get me into a theater...like a new Quentin Tarantino movie. If you have not seen any Grindhouse press, it's supposed to be a re-creation of a cheesy double feature you may have seen in a 1970s theater (if you're old enough). Robert Rodriguez made the first movie, which was actually pretty good. Perhaps after 2 hours of sitting in one place, I was just unprepared for a Tarantino movie. Please read a professional's review somewhere else; I will just say: 1) Tarantino does not write dialouge for women very well (or maybe he does, but it felt too much like he was saying, "Hey, I can write for women, too." and 2) All 7 or 8 women in the movie sounded like Uma Thurman in either Pulp Fiction or Kill Bill (or Kill Bill 2). Get somebody to read this, if you don't know what I'm talking about: "I do believe Marsellus Wallace, my husband, your boss, told you to take me out and do whatever I want. I wanna dance, I wanna win. I want that trophy, so dance good."

So now I'm curious...for this movie, Tarantino can obviuosly just tell his actresses: "Read your lines like Mia Wallace..." But what did he tell Uma Thurman for Pulp Fiction? Does she talk like that all the time?

In other entertainment news, Snakes on a Plane came in the mail today. Without having seen the movie, I thought I would write a Snakes on a Plane Drinking Game. Here it is:

Snakes on a Plane Drinking Game

Take a drink when:

Somebody says: "Snakes on a plane" (Two drinks if it's Samuel L. Jackson)
Somebody gets bit by a snake (Two drinks if it's Samuel L. Jackson)
Any reference to a specific type of snake (Two drinks if it's a Black Mambo)
Finish your drink if: 1) Samuel L. Jackson says: "Snakes on a mother $#@%&*! plane" or 2) Samuel L. Jackson get's killed.

If you ask me, all Fridays are pretty good...

My official Ovations calendar says today is Good Friday. (The Ovations calendar never misses a holiday; today is alsoChakri Day--Chakri Day is actually listed first.)

I do not have any time to read a wiki today, but if memory serves, we are celebrating a crucifixion. Somebody please tell me why this is a happy occasion. I am usually only interested in drinking holidays (which rules out just about everything Jewish--we do not even drink on New Years.) Is anybody having a cool crucifixion party tonight? No such thing as a crucifixion party, you say? Full body suspension might very well be worse...

Yeah, people pay money for this. And you're afraid to get your belly button pierced?

It was too much tequila, or not quite enough.

People are always asking me for marathon training tips. I have to confess, I am not the best person to ask (I spent a full 3 weeks training for my second marathon). But this one thing I know: Sparks do not make for good running music...at least nothing the iPod felt like playing. For a couple of miles, everything that "shuffled" sounded like Bohemian Rhapsody...wow, I guess I'm not the first person to come to this conclusion:

”Simple Ballet” is opera-rock five years before Queen released “The Bohemian Rhapsody.” And, it’s seriously about as good as that song … and much weirder. (I do hope that I’m not committing blasphemy with such a statement!) It’s not really the finest song on this album, but it’s really quite delightful. The pompous cymbal keeps things classy. The piano is ever trusty in keeping the song moving, and an electric guitar keeps this song firmly within the genre of rock ‘n’ roll. Come on, you’ve got to at least check out this album so that you can show off to your friends that you found something that predates Queen. Seriously.

It is true, I have way too many CDs...and an obsolete iPod.

15 days till Jamaica!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!