I am Iron Man

This is what I'm doing tomorrow night. I managed to get my hands on some tickets to the NYC premier and have invited some friends along for the action. Our tickets even have VIP printed on them in big red letters. We will be posing as ballers, apparently.



Sometimes I feel badly about the current dearth of serious content on my website -- but what's a boy to do when he's having so much fun?

What i'm listening to

Jamie Lidell's new album Jim
First single, "Little Bit of Feel Good": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T--j0_yxBaY&feature=related

Black Cab Sessions
A very cool music/art venture, where different acts perform weekly in a black cab driving through London's streets (thanks, Izzo!). This week's performance was by Swedish singer Lykke Li and her band, and it's pretty awesome: http://tinyurl.com/3lbxyc

And finally, I've arrived firmly on the muxtape bandwagon (peep these, and let me know if you want me to pass along other ones I've found):
http://soulsides.muxtape.com/
http://novaslim.muxtape.com/

Boy that escalated quickly. I mean, that really got out of hand fast...

I guess I haven't said it on this blog before but: I am a Barack Obama supporter (for a whole mess of very important reasons). And I think this editorial from today's New York Times demonstrates that they are finally starting to get the story right over there. Here is the article for your own personal inspection:


The Low Road to Victory
April 23, 2008

The Pennsylvania campaign, which produced yet another inconclusive result on Tuesday, was even meaner, more vacuous, more desperate, and more filled with pandering than the mean, vacuous, desperate, pander-filled contests that preceded it.

Voters are getting tired of it; it is demeaning the political process; and it does not work. It is past time for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton to acknowledge that the negativity, for which she is mostly responsible, does nothing but harm to her, her opponent, her party and the 2008 election.

If nothing else, self interest should push her in that direction. Mrs. Clinton did not get the big win in Pennsylvania that she needed to challenge the calculus of the Democratic race. It is true that Senator Barack Obama outspent her 2-to-1. But Mrs. Clinton and her advisers should mainly blame themselves, because, as the political operatives say, they went heavily negative and ended up squandering a good part of what was once a 20-point lead.

On the eve of this crucial primary, Mrs. Clinton became the first Democratic candidate to wave the bloody shirt of 9/11. A Clinton television ad — torn right from Karl Rove’s playbook — evoked the 1929 stock market crash, Pearl Harbor, the Cuban missile crisis, the cold war and the 9/11 attacks, complete with video of Osama bin Laden. “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen,” the narrator intoned.

If that was supposed to bolster Mrs. Clinton’s argument that she is the better prepared to be president in a dangerous world, she sent the opposite message on Tuesday morning by declaring in an interview on ABC News that if Iran attacked Israel while she were president: “We would be able to totally obliterate them.”

By staying on the attack and not engaging Mr. Obama on the substance of issues like terrorism, the economy and how to organize an orderly exit from Iraq, Mrs. Clinton does more than just turn off voters who don’t like negative campaigning. She undercuts the rationale for her candidacy that led this page and others to support her: that she is more qualified, right now, to be president than Mr. Obama.

Mr. Obama is not blameless when it comes to the negative and vapid nature of this campaign. He is increasingly rising to Mrs. Clinton’s bait, undercutting his own claims that he is offering a higher more inclusive form of politics. When she criticized his comments about “bitter” voters, Mr. Obama mocked her as an Annie Oakley wannabe. All that does is remind Americans who are on the fence about his relative youth and inexperience.

No matter what the high-priced political operatives (from both camps) may think, it is not a disadvantage that Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton share many of the same essential values and sensible policy prescriptions. It is their strength, and they are doing their best to make voters forget it. And if they think that only Democrats are paying attention to this spectacle, they’re wrong.

After seven years of George W. Bush’s failed with-us-or-against-us presidency, all American voters deserve to hear a nuanced debate — right now and through the general campaign — about how each candidate will combat terrorism, protect civil liberties, address the housing crisis and end the war in Iraq.

It is getting to be time for the superdelegates to do what the Democrats had in mind when they created superdelegates: settle a bloody race that cannot be won at the ballot box. Mrs. Clinton once had a big lead among the party elders, but has been steadily losing it, in large part because of her negative campaign. If she is ever to have a hope of persuading these most loyal of Democrats to come back to her side, let alone win over the larger body of voters, she has to call off the dogs.

Motivational Issues

Just this brief note to say that I'm worried I am having a bit of trouble getting the wheels of my brain turning again. Being out of school and without a substantive job these past few months I have fallen into bad habits about working consistently. I've done enough to get myself into medical school and a job for the summer -- no small feats, I'll concede -- but have been very lax in my habits about Getting Things Done on a regular basis and it's starting to make me nervous.

Hopefully it's nothing, and my long sought-after -- but only more-recently cultivated -- aptitude for determined productivity will reemerge on cue. With jobs and a return to school looming in the near temporal horizon, it’s very freaking important. Let this post serve as notice to my current proclivity toward Sloth: I’m coming for you, buddy, and I don’t like your odds one bit, dig?

I imagine I'll be back again soon with some more interesting news for you to contend with.

more of the same, mostly

Hm -- that twitter post didn't work so well. Let's try this again a slightly different way:



you can thank me later.

Unhh! That's what I'm talkin 'bout!

Ladies and gentlemen, the first single off Al Green's soon-to-be released album, Lay It Down (5/27, Blue Note Records):



I hope the rest of the album lives up to this soulful duet with Corinne Bailey Rae. In March, Pitchfork reported that the Reverend Green collaborated with the Roots' Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson as producer/drummer on the album, in a particularly inspired move. We've also been promised some tracks featuring the Dap-Kings -- an old-school horn group, currently acting as the house band for Daptone Records based out of BK,NY. Ever hear the kicking horns on the Amy Winehouse, Sharon Jones, Mark Ronson records? Yeah, that's them.

If you don't love those tight trumpet hits and spectacular honking baritone sax lines, I'm not sure we can be friends anymore. Also check out this article in Time Out NY for the Dap-Kings suggestions on where to check out some excellent vinyl in New York City. It was written by a friend, who got to spend a day with these guys. I was and continue to be outrageously jealous.

Of course I'd still love to hear any good (new or not-so-new) music recommendations you guys might have for me. Anybody? Anybody? Bueller?

And just for old time's sake:

Yeah I'm on the run // See where I'm coming from

spring seems to have arrived(!), and all is well in my world. just a few quick things on this beautiful day:

1. Now that it's finally been decided that I'm going to school in NYC, I'm looking for some summer work here. Nothing beats summer in the ci-tay, and I was sorry to miss it last year (no offense Durbs). Some early leads are at the NYU affiliated Bellevue Hospital - one of the biggest and oldest public hospitals in country - and with Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders, to those not down with its original French nom). Let's hope one of these opportunities pans out, and perhaps provides some $$ for me to sublet a place somewhere sweet.

2. Springtime has traditionally coincided with renewed personal attempts at physical fitness. I went for a hike with Jess yesterday and a short-ish -- by my admittedly skewed standards -- run today. One of the things that keeps me going during these bouts of athletic undertaking is exciting new music to listen to. Anyone have some good recommendations for me?? I know I've already asked some of you personally for leads, but: GIMME MO BEATS!!!

That is all. Oh wait, no wait, RUN!!!

Gnarls Barkley - Run [Live @ SNL]

Socially responsible physicians

My dad forwarded me an invitation to a talk at NYU -- my likely future medical school -- taking place this afternoon. The title of the lecture being given by Dr. Erica Frank intrigued me, and I've decided to go down and check it out.
In fact, a little preemptive internet research has revealed a bit more about what we'll likely be hearing about tonight. Very different than what I might have imagined from a talk including the phrase 'Climate Change' in it's title -- but an extremely important message all the same. Dr. Frank believes that physicians who preach what they practice (good diet and exercise habits; environmental consciousness) are more effective at providing care than those physicians who do not model these behaviors. I 'm not sure if I'm one hundred percent on board with her hypothesis off the bat, but I'm sure she'll have lots of interesting things to say in just a few short hours.

On a related note: I'm very much looking forward to getting back into school mode. Listening to interesting lectures and trying to wrap my mind around difficult concepts sounds like an exciting change of pace at the moment. I'm sure I'll be regretting these sentiments come August, but for now this evening's lecture will be a real treat. Holler.

From the Medscape Journal of Medicine:

Erica Frank, MD, MPH, Professor and Canada Research Chair; Founder and Executive Director; Founder and Principal Investigator; President-Elect

Physician well-being, patients' preventive care, and global warming: What do these 3 issues have in common? Both physician well-being and patients' preventive care are important contributors to climate change. Here's how it goes:

First, physician well-being: Contrary to myth, US physicians tend to live several years longer than nonphysicians, largely because we typically do have very good health habits; for example, very few of us smoke – about 4% of doctors in the States.

But there are 2 other important areas where our habits are better than others' but could still use considerable improvement. These are diet and exercise.

Second, patients' preventive care: Physicians tend to preach to patients what we ourselves practice. Many studies have now shown that (starting with freshman medical students) physicians with healthy personal habits are more likely to encourage our patients to adopt such habits.

This is specifically true for both diet and exercise: Physicians who eat less fat are half as likely to test patients' cholesterol,and those who exercise more are significantly more likely to counsel their patients about exercise. And it's also been shown that patients find doctors with healthier diet and exercise habits to be more believable and more successfully motivating in both diet and exercise.

So the last, the healthy climate preservation part, then is, if you eat lower on the food chain by eating less meat and more locally grown fruits and vegetables, and if you walk or bike more instead of driving, we will help our patients consume fewer resources and pollute less, too.

So, while behavioral change is complex, it's clear that our personal actions as physicians, and the way that our actions help our patients make better choices, are a good place to start healing ourselves, our patients, and our planet.

That's my opinion. I'm Dr. Erica Frank, Professor and Canada Research Chair at the University of British Columbia, and Founder and Principal Investigator of the Healthy Doc = Healthy Patient initiative.

The Seventy Sixers

It's been a long while since I've done this, but I thought it would be a good time to welcome new readers in far off places. According to the good folks at Google Analytics, in the last year or so STAB has been read by people in 76 (!!) countries -- up substantially from the 58 country readership I reported back in August 2007. The international flavor of this blog was an important part of its creation, and it has been wonderful to see hits and comments from curious peeps all over the world.

A giant hello to my new readers in the following places:

Malaysia
Puru
Botswana
Estonia
Slovenia
Slovakia
Morocco
Bahrain
Georgia
Pakistan
The Bahamas
Luxembourg
Kenya
Uruguay
Zambia
Czech Republic
Greece
Sudan
Croatia

I hope you guys like what you've been reading so far, and please feel free to leave comments if there's anything in particular you'd be interested in hearing more about. I'm also trying some new widgets out on the blog (check the right bar for my Last.fm recent plays and my Twitter feed) -- let me know what you think. Hope you're all well, and I'll be back soon with some decidedly less self-promotional news.

Orphans of the Empire

In the run-up to last week's controversial elections in Zimbabwe, The Lancet published two excellent articles about deteriorating health care and human rights conditions in the struggling Southern African nation. At this moment it looks like Robert Mugabe -- Zim's despotic leader since independence in 1980 -- has lost the election by a fairly substantial margin, but has thus far refused to drop out of the race. Both sides have floated allegations of vote tampering, and the election totals are perhaps close enough to warrant a second round of voting in a few weeks time. Whatever happens, let's hope that conditions begin to improve in Zimbabwe, where inflation has recently surpassed the 100,000% mark and infant mortality rates are the highest in the world.

Here are links to the two articles from The Lancet, and a third from the New York Times about the ongoing saga surrounding Bob Mugabe and these current elections.

//
Zimbabwe’s health-care system struggles on
To download:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/2436041/Lancet-Health-Care-and-Zimbabwe
//
Health and human rights under assault in Zimbabwe
To download:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/2436042/Lancet-Human-Rights-and-Zimbabwe
//
Mugabe Party Seems Poised to Fight for Presidency
//

In other -- far less important -- news, I still wish I could be more diligent about my writing. That's all for now.