i saw interpol on sunday night. for a band that doesn't interact with the crowd (hardly) and barely moves around on stage (with the exception of carlos d, who employs the hunched over, head down bass-playing style very reminiscent of korn), the show was excellent. the vocals were spot on, and the band played extremely well. the played a good mix of songs from both albums, although "NYC" was a notable exception. the downside of the show was the horrible, unforgiving crowd that all but booed Q And Not U off the stage. poor guys. although they DID play a bit long (almost 75mins) and their last few songs were all 8 min+.
sightings at the show: nichole (see photo), a-ron, jeff, and jesska(?). and i took a few photos with my low-res camera phone, which are all available at flickr.tonight my roommate and i had dinner at sake tumi, an extremely hip and trendy pan-asian-fusion restaurant. it was sponsored by abbot pharmaceuticals. yes yes yes, we've been discussing it in the comments, and i realize all the ethical qualms of forwarding this sort of pharmaceutical culture. BUT! i've never been to such a fancy free dinner, and wanted to experience it at least once. and it was great. the waitresses walked around with trays of sushi and chicken satay and curry wontons, and drinks were all on the house. the downside was the booooooooring lecture (on antibiotic resistance in respiratory infections), and the entree, a miso-marinated chilean sea bass. sounds amazing, right? well it was far too salty and slathered in butter. not a good move, chef.
murakami update: i am in the middle of "norwegian wood" and absolutely loving it. it reminds me of a catcher in the rye sort of coming of age love story, with less cynicism and more sentimentalism. it's fantastic. and it's also inspiring a re-examination of the beatles' "rubber soul." i can't wait to finish this book, just so i can start another one of his novels. let's see if i can finish 4-5 of his books on this joke of a rotation.
tomorrow: late start (9:30am, NICE) and an afternoon at the peds clinic. can't wait.
this educational lesson brought to you by dr. j around 9:49 PM |
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dropped by 
jano on 16 March, 2005 02:38 [*]
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I'll just post this here, even though it might belong in the previous post's comments.
Nat, the money spent feeding doctors is a drop in the bucket compared to that spent advertising on TV these days. Since you are so concerned with this issue I am certain that you never watch any networks which have Rx companies as sponsors. Oh wait, did you just mention FOX?
As for Romeo's practice, well, that does sound a bit shady. Drug reps are slimy people, and probably one of the biggest employers of ex-High School jerks. Still, I feel that I'm not doing anything wrong by hearing them out, so long as the Rx I prescribe is chosen because it's what's best for my patient & not my palate.
dropped by The Metaphysician on 16 March, 2005 16:28 [*]
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dude, you work and study hard. you deserve some free stuff like calamari and pinot or whatever. plus, you can never have enough pens. there's a difference between free sashimi and a free trip to australia. (though if you're offered the latter and can't make it, i'm happy to go in your stead and like, visit a few hospitals to do my part for medicine.)
dropped by Tamar on 16 March, 2005 17:02 [*]
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personally, I love drugs and free food..sounds like a win win situation to me...except for things like selling out of date pharamcuticals(sp) to African countries as an easy way to off load on excess stock...and exploit a situation...
but in more serious news...
Dude, read ' Hardboiled wonderland at the end of the world' next'...its stellar...that Muarkami friggin rules...
dropped by ye ole vinegar soaked manacles of doom! on 16 March, 2005 18:40 [*]
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wait, who's Romeo?
i love hearing everyone's viewpoints on the topic. i can't help but feel guilt when i do something like go to a drug rep dinner. on the other hand i can't help but feel excited when i'm served fancy food for free.
chas, i will definitely pick up "hardboiled wonderland", but i still have "wind-up bird chronicle" just chillin on the shelf, so i'll have to hit that up once i finish up with "norwegian wood" (which will probably be by this weekend. let's start a murakami book club over AIM. who's in?
dropped by dr. j on 16 March, 2005 18:58 [*]
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dude, totally in on the book club. if you like murakami, you have to read Michelle Houlbecq, he is equally amazing...a phenomenal writer...and French, which is a always a plus in my book....
dropped by ye ole vinegar soaked manacles of doom! on 17 March, 2005 05:11 [*]
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guess who just bought a copy of the wind-up bird chronicle today????..
So I think we should both get to chapter 6 for next week so we can discuss what we think so far...
dropped by ye ole vinegar soaked manacles of doom! on 17 March, 2005 14:51 [*]
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dan: mostly my concern is that we're not reeling the companies in. i realize it's hard, especially as a med student hard up for cash, to resist the temptation of a free, fancy meal. i just don't know if i would personally accept a fancy gift (vs. having to "accept" that they advertise in the media i see every day) knowing that the cost of that gift is being passed on to people who are being nickeled and dimed by the gift-giver.
i'd love to put a ban on drug advertising, moreso than i'd even want to stop free dinners for med students/doctors, because it's really preying on people who have no training to essentially ask their physician to prescribe that advertised drug for them.
and obviously, a good doctor wouldn't prescribe as requested by patient or drug rep, as you eluded to. it's just slimy practice by the drug companies that i was asking for jzn (et al.)'s opinion on, since you guys are more personally involved in the process than i am.
dropped by nat the brat on 17 March, 2005 15:56 [*]
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a point of contention i've had with my staunch "no free lunch" classmates is the free samples that reps hand out. yes, they can POSSIBLY start a lifelong dependency on a brand-name drug, rather than a generic. but what i've seen frequently in milwaukee is that these samples are given to lower-income families that really benefit from the free medicine, and many times these samples are of drugs that have not gone generic yet. and while i can't say for certain, i do believe that certain trade drugs actually DO perform better than their generic counterparts.
anyway. to each their own. and to some a free dinner, i suppose.
chas: you're on. chapter 6. see you on the internet. i finished norwegian wood. we can commence discussion NOW!
dropped by dr. j on 17 March, 2005 20:22 [*]
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drop some science: