I must have been having a music mind meld with The Mama yesterday because I was intent on her enlightening me with the name of the band/song that's been haunting me and it turned out after multiple sad attempts on my part to sing it to her, it was the exact song that had been haunting her. Like, whoa.
We turned to interwebs with the little bits of lyrics we knew. "I've been waiting for this moment for all my life" yielded only Phil Collins, "In the Air Tonight." We were all like innernets, FAIL. Then we tried, "the moon, the sun, the stars" and that was a big fat zilch, too. Finally, I went home and searched for "but it's not quite right," another fragment stuck in my brain pan and there it was, Silversun Pickups, "Lazy Eye:"
What an awesome song. Turns out the girl that sings in the beginning is not a girl at all! Admittedly, the video is sorta lame but there's a real cute girl in the band, no? Kinda like Justine Bateman who was so great in her Arrested Development cameo.
In non-musical news, a friend of mine sent me this and it made me laugh/weep really hard:
I don't know if you can read the text at the bottom, it says:
You probably thought it was smart to buy a foreign import of superior quality, with better mileage and resale value. Maybe you even thought that years of market share loss might prod us into rethinking our process and redesigning our products with better quality in mind. But you forgot one thing: We spend a shitload of money on lobbyists. So now you're out $25 billion, plus the cost of your Subaru. Maybe next time you'll buy American like a real man. Either way, we're cool.
Ha! Have a happy and safe New Year's, reader. Let's hope 2009 sucks a bit less.
Reader, Lizh and I went to the central coast for a few days. We were super excited about the hotel's hot tub. Liz kept saying HOTtub in a way I didn't get because I had never see this Eddie Murphy SNL skit:
Along the way we acquired a trip mascot. Bionicle was the "boy toy" in my Happy Meal. The "girl toy" was a lameass pink My Pretty Pony. You can see why I chose Bionicle to be my boy toy:
The first few days the weather was crap, so we laid low and logged a lot of time in the HOTtub.
Liz relaxes with Oprah.
Bionicle enjoys the frescoes in the HOTtub room.
The Mama had given me the book Twilight which I was eager to dig into. I snagged a Harlequin Intrigue book Rogue Soldier from the hotel library and need to share a bit of it with you.
This book involves Tessa Nielsen and Mike McNair, former Special Forces agents. McNair "took her virginity" then disappeared out of Tessa's life until far-fetched circumstances throw them together again. Tessa wants to hate him but naturally her loins are secretly aflame with smoldering desire. McNair feels the same way but since he's a man we don't glean much of his emotional state, just that thinking of Tessa causes his pants to become crowded.
Their lust simmers for 228 pages until they allow it run wild but only after Tessa's left-field confession of childhood molestation by a family friend. I guess McNair's appropriate reaction was meant to assure us that he's a Good Guy after all and therefore Okay to Bang.
"He dipped his head and placed a row of kisses along her crooked collarbone first, then the straight one. The gesture brought to mind the incident that had broken the bone, her wrestling match with the alligator the day before her Special Forces career had ended before it began."
I'm already dying with laughter; not a great start to a sex scene. Then I encounter multiple uses of the word buttocks. Gah. Can we please just strike this word from the English language? It's hideous and barely belongs in a doctor's office; it belongs nowhere within a 100 mile radius of a sex scene.
I guess these types of soft-core books can't use explicit but time-honored Anglo Saxon language so they have to resort to cringe-inducing lines like:
"Then the core of his heat sprang against her skin, rigid and swollen ... then he finally shifted again and pressed his hard tip against her wet core."
Awful. I had to stop after the multiple, frothing and simultaneous orgasms since I didn't really care about the evil-doing Russians, stolen nuclear warheads and something about sled dogs.
But little did I know that this was great compared to Twilight, where no one is getting any. That's going to be its own post some other time, so stay tuned.
Moving on. Christmas Eve we went out for a very mediocre Chinese meal featuring spongy meat of mysterious origin. Were we really eating cat? Wheat gluten? We crossed our fingers for no gastrointestinal misadventures. The baby Jesus heard our prayers.
Christmas Day we went to see Milk. What a great movie. I felt super privileged to benefit from the hard work of these righteous queers. Sean Penn did a fantastic job and Emile Hirsch, so moving in Into the Wild, totally brought it in his performance as Cleve Jones.
The day after Christmas we went to Hearst Castle. Neither of us had ever been and despite being meh about traipsing around the houses of the rich and famous, totally enjoyed it. Both of us wondered if any of the gushing tour guides or the adoring movie would mention the fact that both Hearsts were kind of pricks. They didn't. If you've seen Deadwood, then you know Hearst Sr. is depicted as an exploitative, union-busting asshat. If you've seen Citizen Kane, then you know it is based on Hearst Jr's life and he was also kind of a ruthless unlikeable guy. But he sure did build a nice house. And the best part? The indoor pool:
Then we poked around a cute town called Cambria and ate chicken pot pie. And olallieberry pie. And came to consensus about the rightness of pie.
The next day was our last day. The weather was incredible. We went to Morro Rock, which is ginormous and really old. 21 million years? Old.
Then we saw lots of sea lions doing their thing. For some, that was hardly moving. For others that was bitching and belching at the other sea lions. I can relate to that.
Then we ate excellent fish and chips. I took a bunch of pictures of the water and some wannabe arty-farty pictures of the sand but they didn't come out so good and just couldn't hold a candle to this:
Anini Beach, Kauai. We're so not there right now. Sigh.
Then we proceeded to wine taste at two of the bazillion wineries around Paso Robles and I discovered two important things. Mourvedre is damn good. And Petite Syrah is nothing like Syrah and is incredibly delicious. If you go down there you should go to Pipestone Vineyards. Not only are they very welcoming but their whole operation is solar, organic and sustainable and! They use draft horses to till their fields and the whole farm is set up using feng shui. Sometimes I really love California.
One year ago today I brought these little fuckers home:
My opposable thumbs are put to daily use by Zen Masters Gus and Josephine who teach me the error of attachment to material goods and the importance of laughter. Very thankful for that.
Reader, these past few weeks I've traversed many peaks and valleys of the mood map, going from sobbing to perfectly content within a matter of moments and vice versa. I'm rolling with it. Yesterday I experienced nearly overwhelming happiness and gratitude. Really. It felt like I had taken ecstasy but I was absolutely sober. Keeping in the vein of love love love I'm going to post about things that I like. Don't worry, I'll be back to complaining shortly.
1. The return of science to the White House. Since George Bush's policy decisions reflected that he was no fan of facts this is welcome news for people who prefer that research direct us, not hunches and gut feelings.
2. Despair is a great site that beautifully mocks the gag-inducing Successories. I ended up buying some holiday gifts for my staff here and later saw this, which made me laugh really hard:
3. Many of the cute pictures and videos I post here come through Jezebel. I cannot get enough of baby hippo pics myself but turns out some Jez readers have been complaining that they're overdoing it with the cute. In response the editors featured Fuck You, Penguin, "a blog where I tell cute animals what's what." This is my favorite so far. It has a very Sopranos feel to it, don't you think?
4. New season of Flight of the Conchords is coming in January. Yesssss! Check out the first episode here:
If you just have a few minutes, check out one of their awesome songs, "Mutha Uckers:"
Or "I'm Not Crying:"
5. I've been digging "Love Lockdown" by Kanye West, in part because of the poignant lyrics. Really! It opens, "I'm not loving you the way I wanted to," which I thought was awfully honest of Kanye. I'm also grooving on the monotone/trance-like vibe. The video is a touch weird. I'm not sure how contemplating intimacy issues in his pristine house led Kanye to dream of tribal African dancers but this is about what I like, and I like this song, so here you go:
Reader, things are going from bad to worse in Zimbabwe. Last time we checked in about the cholera epidemic, the death toll stood at 600 with estimates of the affected at 11,000. Now estimates of deaths and illness have doubled with the UN World Health Organization predicting that 60,000 could become ill.
The breakdown of infrastructure continues to present hurdles to stemming the epidemic. Check out this quote from a Doctors Without Borders worker:
"Imagine a cholera ward with dozens of people under the most basic conditions. For instance, there is only a little electricity so there is hardly any light. It is difficult for the doctors and nurses to even see the patients they are treating. The nurses have to monitor multitudes of IV bags to make sure they don't run dry which is also difficult to do in the dark and when there are so many patients."
Blergh. What's even more screwed up is that no one is reporting this. The NY Times for example, last reported on this issue over a week ago, which I guess speaks to American fatigue of African epidemics. Still not sure whether to buy gifts this holiday season? Consider donating instead.
Of course I had no trouble finding trashy reality TV tidbits or videos of bebeh hippos for your procrastination pleasure:
Thank you THANK YOU for releasing your new "mini movie" in celebration of your new fragrance, I AM KING.
Yesterday had been the first really hard day of this most wonderful time of the year. Too many clerks cheerfully trilling "Happy Holidays," too many unpleasant thoughts and memories. I had to don soft pants and retreat to the couch.
And then I saw a commercial for your new fragrance I AM KING. It was so ludicrous, but so fleeting. I had to see more. Much to my delight I was able to find your movie on YouTube but then! You appeared on Ellen right before my very eyes so I paused the video to get some of you in the flesh. It was nice to see you actually smile since in all your print ads and commercials you're all I'm zo zexy and zerious and I must have my minions hold my umbrella.
I'm impressed that it takes you an hour and a half to get ready each day. Then again, eschewing the towel for air drying takes some time. Add the twenty minutes for outfit selection and that's got to be close to an hour already. But you're a multitasker, doing your push-ups and crunches while the air does its thing. Ellen rightly pointed out that it doesn't make a ton of sense to exercise after showering but that's just Diddy Daddy's way.
You lost me, and Ellen too, when she asked you about your baby girls. Your response? "... they're just like women. They manipulate you." Ellen then cut to a commercial.
So let's get to the movie, which Diddy Puff prefaces with, "I am debuting my new movie "I Am King" for my new fragrance "I Am King" which is available exclusively at Macy's. This fragrance is dedicated to Barack Obama, Muhammad Ali, Martin Luther King ..."
Think of the term "movie" in the loosest sense possible. "I am King" has no discernible plot, characters, or comprehensible dialog. Instead, think of it as they did back in the day, "moving pictures," a series of print ads put in motion, set to music.
Reader, are you thinking what I'm thinking? Shoo in for Oscar!
Don't think you can see comments with embedding, so let me fill you in. The word "douche" in all its forms was in heavy rotation. Here's a few choice tidbits:
"his ego is like beyond the earth itself"
"diddy been watching too much bad porno before making this..."
What a mess. Puffy Sean equates responsibility and manhood with cavorting on yachts with super breasty models, pouting, and wearing diamond earrings bigger than my thumb. I'm sure Barack Obama is delighted that he's equated the responsibility of running a country with that of riding a Jetski in a tuxedo. Yes, we can indeed.
But what I really have to say Piff Puff, is THANK YOU for making this holiday season a little more bearable. Keep it coming.
It's cold, we had to go back to work today, Amy Poehler did her last SNL, and frankly, sometimes the most wonderful time of the year is kinda sucky. Enjoy les puppehs.
Tonight I used an expandable tension curtain rod to extract nine cat toys from under the stove. Gus and Josephine are going completely mental with kittenish pleasure. I'm fretting about the single red sparkle ball I succeeded only in pushing further into the depths but oddly enough not at all worried about the filth and grime I also encountered.
You will be mine, red sparkle ball, mark my words. If it means I have to pull out the vacuum cleaner to use the power of suction to get you, so help me God.
For a Friday sweet, check out Wanda Sykes on Leno rocking the awesome queer power tee. Love her sass. TGIF, reader!
Reader, this will be a serious post in a second, but indulge me while I say:
Dear Cate Blanchett,
Due to egregious crimes against fashion, I am putting you on metallics hiatus until further notice. Please see Exhibit A and Exhibit B for recent examples of your transgressions. Until such time as you are deemed competent to engage in responsible shimmer, you are mandated to drab it down.
Thank you.
Sincerely, Professional Critic
Back to our story. Perhaps you skipped my original post about biologics. It was Thanksgiving week and you were busy fretting about how to brine the turkey because the pot didn't fit in the fridge and wondering if it was cold enough to let the turkey brine outside without killing all your guests with salmonella. Understand, totally. But read it now because I am all geared up to write more about this topic. I recently learned that I have not one but TWO readers knowledgeable enough about biologics to gently nudge me when I start to talk out of my ass. Which happens all the timewith alarming frequency hardly ever, but still. Thanks, Facebook!
So, last we talked, we got clear on what a biologic was and why it's not as easy to produce generically as a small molecule drug. If you're lost already, go back and read the damn post already. I'll wait.
We can't engage in a conversation about this topic specifically and generics overall without raising a glass to Henry Waxman. Waxman served as Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and was just appointed to be the Chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, which is majorly big whoop. He also looks a little bit like a fierce woodlands creature:
Which is in fact how he conducts himself. Check out legislation he has sponsored and you'll see he is le bomb to a nutter like me that believes in transparent government, oversight, accountability and generally that our government should not conduct itself in a totally douchey way.
Back in 1984 Henry Waxman and Orrin Hatch sponsored The Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act, a mouthful now just called Hatch-Waxman. Hatch-Waxman paved the way for a much wider expansion of generic drugs by cutting the cost of generic approvals, allowing generic competitors to begin testing and development prior to patent expiration, and rewarded innovators by allowing for some patent extensions to compensate for longer regulatory approval processes.
A critical part of facilitating the expansion of generics has been the creation of the Abbreviated New Drug Application or ANDA. If they can demonstrate that their product is chemically the same, as effective and safe as the original, generic competitors can bypass clinical trials required by the FDA and make lower cost generic drugs available more quickly. Once that happens, additional generic manufacturers can do the same, further driving down the cost of the drug. If you're an even hardercore geek than I am, you can read more about the ANDA process here.
So, the question is, can the ANDA framework set up by Hatch-Waxman simply be applied to biologics, which we already know are way more complex than small molecule drugs?
To attempt to answer that question, I had to delve even deeper into worlds I only sort of semi-understand. Luckily, I found this article from the Duke Law and Technology Review which raised an argument against using the ANDA process for biologics: immunogenicity.
I am now way, way out of my league here but immunogenicity seems to be the measure of the immune response to a biologic. Too much of a response is bad, potentially deadly. But immunogenicity is not consistent between people and not consistent over time, so that it could be fine for one person but kill someone else or be fine for a year and then kill that same person.
To make matters slightly worse, scientists don't always understand what causes changes in immunogenicity. They could be genetic or could be caused by some additive, like silicone oil used to make glass pre-filled syringes. Srsly. I guess since sometimes even biologic makers don't always understand why their product works, or can't always make their own product correctly, I guess it follows that there would be even more unknowns in the attempt to create follow-ons.
Immunogenicity is a hot topic in the world of biologics. There's a whole conference about it next year in Germany where you can learn all you ever wanted to know about "confirmatory assay cut points, acid dissociation elution for ADA detection and incurred sample reanalysis." Yes! No idea what any of that means. I guess if I really wanted to know, I could shell out $2900 for this white paper, or just remain in the dark a little bit.
So what's going to happen? Will Congress do as the European Union does and mandate clinical trials to address immunogenicity? Or should the FDA be allowed to decide on a case by case basis, based on how complex the particular biologic is?
Or did this actually already get decided and I just can't Google worth a tinker's damn?
There are two take-home points to this story:
1. Anyone who figures out how to manufacture follow-on biologics without killing too many people is going to make assloads of money because a) these drugs are so ridiculously expensive even a 10% cost reduction would be welcome by insurers and b) these are so damn hard to make, you are not going to have a lot of generic competitors and your price won't be challenged. If you're contemplating a career switch and aren't science-averse, DO IT.
2. Biologics are the answer to our most shiteous illnesses: rheumatoid arthritis, breast and other cancers but they are redonk expensive. Making these therapies available to more people at a lower cost is a public health issue.
You are so lovely and luminous; when you look good, no one looks better. But WTF are you wearing to the premier of your new movie, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button?
Did your stylist actually instruct you to don a jeweled mini-bell over knee-length Spanx?
Reader, I struggle to comprehend. If you understand this outfit, please weigh in.
It's not all third world gastrointestinal epidemics around here, reader. There's other important news to write about that doesn't make you want to put your head in your hands and weep.
If you're at all dialed into mainstream pop culture, you've probably seen Beyonce shake her money maker to her new song "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" on one or more morning, daytime, afternoon or award shows. She's nothing if not hard working. If you haven't, here she is:
I was completely mesmerized by this trio of bodysuit rocking, long-legged ladies with, let's speak frankly, incredible asses. The stripper moves at :55, the energetic prancing in teetery high heels. The general annoyance I have toward Beyonce for her willingness to shill anything (including her own Dereon jeans line in this video) sort of flew out the window. Okay, that stupid metal glove thing is annoying.
On the face of it, "Single Ladies" sounds like some kind of unattached girls' anthem. As a single girl, I support that. But that's not quite what's happening here. Beyonce is scolding her ex, who wouldn't marry her after three years, who's now bent out of shape that she's getting some attention in a club from someone else, that he should have married her when he had the chance. So it's not so much an anthem to single ladies as it is an exhortation to men to propose faster.
What do you think about the idea that if you like it you oughta put a ring on it? I don't know about you, but watching Beyonce gyrate and vigorously slap her own ass doesn't make me think about marriage at all. Instead, I think about people I would like to have sex with, or did have sex with but should not under any circumstances marry. Now that marriage is no longer solely a business transaction surely there is plenty of room in life for such people, no? Though I probably wouldn't date those people for three years, certainly not if I was in tears the whole time about when I was going to be proposed to. Maybe this song should be called "Single Ladies (He's Just Not That into You and You Should Probably Go To A CODA Meeting)." I sense a big hit.
In other news: SNL was pretty meh this week except for this possibly not SFW but pretty funny digital short:
Oh, Boy George. I think you've just outpaced George Michael for deepest descent into looniness.
And finally, check out Martha Stewart's redonk new puppeh. Teh cuteness.
Truly frightening news in Zimbabwe, where officials have declared a cholera emergency. It is estimated that about 11,000 people are infected with deaths reaching nearly 600.
Cholera is one of those diseases forgotten to the first world thanks to water treatment and sanitation. I vaguely remembered reading about a London cholera epidemic in the novel The Dress Lodger and of course Love in the Time of Cholera but I was hard pressed to come up with how exactly cholera killed you.
The bad news is that cholera is nasty business. The main symptom is acute diarrhea that can kill within hours if not treated. The good news is that this illness is not only highly preventable, it is also highly treatable with an inexpensive and low-tech combination of water, electrolytes and antibiotics. So, why are so many people dying from such an easily preventable and treatable illness?
Because Zimbabwe is a freaking mess right now. There is no clear leadership, following the ousting of Mugabe by Morgan Tsvangirai (which by the way is pronounced "Chang-er-eye," who knew that's how you spelled it?) but violence after the election caused him to withdraw, leaving Mugabe in charge again. Human rights violations are rampant, inflation is through the roof, food is in short supply. What infrastructure had been there is largely gone: most public schools and hospitals are closed. Most utilities are off. Soldiers, angry at what inflation has done to their paychecks, are looting the city. All told, not good for the people of Zimbabwe and even worse for containing a cholera outbreak.
Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has written a harrowing article about the situation on the ground and their efforts to stem the tide of the cholera outbreak. If you're having a hard time justifying buying more crap this holiday season, why not consider donations to MSF instead? But also send some chocolate, it's always appreciated. Maybe some wine, too.
Check out Britney's new video for Circus. Don't love the song and while the video does not reach the hot zenith of Slave 4 U, it has its moments. Not only does Brit look damn good but she seems to have pulled herself out of the zombie torpor she's been in. Brit + lions + chair + whip = yes pls ok.
But, while I was looking for Slave 4 U, I found this. Le nom nom mais oui!
Reader, sigh. I guess it was just a matter of time before someone decided to capitalize on the nation's anxiety about healthcare in this country. UnitedHealth just introduced a new insurance product called Continuity. Care to take a guess? Brace yourself: Continuity is insurance to insure your right to be insured.
Of course, people who are already sick will not be able to purchase this product, because as we know! Only healthy people need medical care. I guess sick people can seek out care from the Church of Scientology, you know, exercise and vitamins.
Does it go without saying that this is one of the most depressing things I've read in a while? Though these are depressing times; let me modify that--the most depressing thing I've read in a day or so.
Consumer groups and financial planners are not so keen on this new product, planners likening it to "sleeping with a life preserver on," and consumer advocates sanely pointing out that this does not address the urgent need for health care reform. The Times article quotes Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, a consumer advocacy group: “This product is taking advantage of the lack of sensible health reform that could easily solve this problem.”
But if this problem is so easily solved, why hasn't it been? Lack of political will, power of the insurance industry lobbyists, fear of being called a socialist? Since the nation's tide is taking a decidedly socialist turn, maybe we're in for some change we can believe in, or so I've been told by the Obama campaign about a bazillion times. Let's hope so. I can't take much more of this ridiculosity.
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