Bathing in Blood and Fierce Creatures!

Source: Wikipedia

Amid jokes about his appearance I have always had a respect for the work of Andrew Lloyd Webber; maybe being on the stage even if it is at an amateur level makes this predictable.

Now I am assuming the BBC are continuing their tradition of good news reporting and not taking him out of context but Mr Lloyd Webber famous for his writing has in my book scored an own goal today.

According to the report the London Olympics is going to cause a “bloodbath” in the capitols theatres.  At first glance my initial thought was why would people be fighting in the West End??Apparently according to the maestro of the musical “bloodbath” pertains to no one coming to the theatre to see any shows.

Now correct me if I am wrong but don’t you need people to have a bath of blood. I can’t imagine the Colosseum would have been much of a draw if the gladiators failed to turn up.

Source: Wikipedia

On a different note why does all the wildlife in Florida want to damage you?

Having lived a rather sheltered life in the rural idyll of North Devon in South West England I am rather surprised to find that not one animal hasn’t tried to attack me so far, even a  squirrel tried to mug me for my turkey leg the little bugger!

We have one large native shark in England, the basking shark which happens to be the second largest fish in the world and has the biggest mouth you have seen in your life, guess what, it doesn’t even eat fish!! How can our little island that contains so many fauna create such well-mannered beasts? I would have thought that they would all be angry due to the lack of space.

Maybe having so much space in Florida has made these animals crazy and over defensive, or maybe it’s the heat, either way it going to give them a wide birth.

Source: Wikipedia

Bombarded with Pills

American television is hilariously scary

In the United Kingdom, for people that are unaware, we have a government body called the National Institution for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). When a new drug or medical practice is introduced this group of medical experts decided on the populations behalf if the product or service should be part of the National Health Service (NHS).

Some things are deemed too expensive while others may carry to many risks for too little gain, either way what NICE deem appropriate the NHS follows and due to it all being provided by the taxation of the general public there is no need for advertising other than for over the counter drugs for heartburn, headaches or haemorrhoids if you are so lucky.

Now the American system is not based on the British model and pharmaceutical companies are free to sell to clinical practitioners, all good, it works, just like the British system works with its failings. Neither model is perfect.

What is truly amazing about America is that the general public are the informed masses. The advertising is aimed at them and the choice is theirs to make.

I have lost count of the number of adverts on TV that are promoting medication and some of it would scare the crap out of me if I had a condition,

Some drugs seem to have more possible negative effects than the one positive effect that it aims to achieve.
One arthritis drug does warn that it is not for everyone and you should find the drug to suit you with the help of your doctor but at the risk of possible death, gastrointestinal haemorrhage, stomach bleeding, cardiovascular problems, kidney and liver damage, ulcers, indigestion, diarrhoea, abdominal pain or allergic reactions I think I'll give it a miss all together.

Amazingly people are still not put off because these drugs must be selling to allow the adverts to be there.

Now assuming in my older age I was to have problems in the pants department and someone said I have a drug that can cure the problem of erectile dysfunction but there is a good chance that the side effects are head ache, back ache, muscle ache and upset stomach, I might just do like the millions of others and say OK for the sake of a little discomfort I will ingest this seemingly innocent capsule and be transformed into a wrinkly wild stallion for a few hours. Unfortunately this isn't the case because the other side effects are possible permanent partial blindness! Now in my book that is a little risky and my mother’s warning about playing with it too much as a kid is flooding back.

What is the point of taking a drug to help your sex life if you cannot see what you are doing?

Doubtless these drugs are helping many millions of people but the question I am still left with is how does direct to consumer advertising help the system.

This may be controversial but the gauntlet of scaring people off with side effects is one part in addition to flooding the system with patients self-diagnosing problems, these drugs are not aimed at the common cold but at acute conditions that need medical diagnosis not lay decision making based on over emotional adverts light on factual content.

Information:

US Drug Advertising
Self-Diagnosis: A Discursive Systematic Review of the Medical Literature

When did the world change?

I don't want to sound like every one of our own parents and grand parents when I say that things were different when I was younger. Firstly because it is cringe worthy and secondly and more importantly because I am only of the unripened age of twenty nine but news reports from the last year are truly worrying.

The social cohesion of the western world looks to be falling apart at the seams at a basic level when elderly shop assistants get punched in the face on Christmas eve for asking to see a purchase receipt and the inhabitants of London are rioting beyond control, be it a minority of the population.

Are people so disassociated with each other that we cant even be civil anymore? How hard is it to think for a while and look at the bigger picture?

I am not a social saint but in a time when everyone seems to be addicted to social networking no one looks to be willing to reach out and affirm the connections we are making with the smallest gestures.

Come on, give a little. Just a smile, especially at Christmas!

A cold Florida morning??

My first post.

I feel this should be something amazingly interesting but I'm not sure I have the capacity this morning to fulfill that brief.

What has happened in the last week that could spark a little interest to the outside world???

I dropped a AAA battery behind the bed and am afraid to retrieve it in case one of the native Floridian spiders is coveting it.

Actually may I take this moment to apologise to the lady in Sears  that I was rude to yesterday. I don't make a habit of it but when faced with the simple option of asking for some assistance or waiting patiently at the jewellery counter I took the awkward and subsequently embarrassing route of coughing to get her attention. Be it my awkward English nature of not knowing what to do or just being an idiot but I found myself not being able to control my actions. So this is to you lady in the glasses that adjusted my watch strap in Sears, Port Charlotte, "I am truly sorry and will commence a judicial birching immediately".

As for waking up to cold weather in Florida what is that about? I left England to get away from the weather over christmas, well at least its not raining. (fingers crossed)

I think that that should do for post number 1, ten in the morning and already I have reaffirmed my fear or arachnids, beaten myself with a sick for my sins and tempted fate for good measure.