I was listening to the Dallas sports talk radio station on the internet. They played some of his clips, which were hysterical. One, in particular, involved a story about an enema for no apparent reason. I died laughing. He was old school in a way that we will never see again - our loss. Go Steelers.

After reading the following story in the NY Post, Teacher and I realized brides are free to totally abuse their bridesmaids and otherwise act like a piece of trash. After some thought on it, we decided the only thing to do was take things to the next level of *****ness. Announcement: For only $10k, you can become one of teacher's bridesmaids. Benefits: 1. You get to buy an ugly dress 2. You get to sign a contract like the one outlined below Note: All my groomsmen are married or underage. No other "perks" are included. Just Joking!!! BRIDES' WEDDING CONTRACTS By SUSANNAH CAHALAN February 24, 2008 -- There's a new prenuptial agreement in town - and it's beyond anything even Ron Perelman's lawyers could cook up. Young brides are drawing up bridesmaids contracts that are sure to cause rifts between BFFs in bad floor-length dresses everywhere. The agreements include specific grooming and behavior clauses - specifying everything from the required length and style of bridesmaids' fingernails to prohibitions on gaining weight before the big day - with the threat that those who don't comply will be dumped. Anja Winikka, associate editor of the Wedding Channel, said, "I've heard stories of brides asking them to dye their hair, cut all nails to the same length, go tanning." More than 20 percent of brides-to-be said they would use a contract to control bridesmaids, and half of them said they would sack one if she refused to follow the script, according to a survey conducted by UK magazine You & Your Wedding. New Yorker Kristi Serrano already has that stipulation in writing: "If you are late (for pre-wedding photos), you will not be walking down the aisle." The 25-year-old Long Island native sent out a seven-page PowerPoint contract to her 12 bridesmaids a week ago - though her wedding to fellow Long Islander Chris Librizzi is planned for September 2009. She has already dumped one bridesmaid who couldn't adhere to the rules. "It was uncomfortable, but she agreed that maybe this job was too much for her to handle," Serrano said. "If they can't do it, then they shouldn't be my bridesmaid." She spent two weeks creating the contract, which outlines every aspect of her $60,000 wedding and all of the rules for her dozen attendees. Do get a tan before the big day - and cover tan lines with self-tanner. Don't let her suspect you have been drinking. Serrano's bridesmaid Becky Trunk, who has known the control-freak bride for four years, said she laughed when she received the contract. "Knowing her as long as I have - I mean she's been talking about her wedding for four years - it's not a shock. But it is hysterical," she said. There's a kicker. In addition to the $260 bridesmaid dresses, specific black-satin heels (that must have a 1- to 3-inch heel), and professional nail, makeup and hairdos, Serrano has slipped in a page about the bridal shower - which she will plan but will be in touch regarding "the costs you will incur as bridesmaids." [email protected]

Freezing my a's stuck in my house with no football or baseball to watch, no golf to play, NASCAR has arrived to keep me occupied. 1. Hopefully, Dale Jr. will finish last in his ugly 88 car; 2. Michael Waltrip Racing gets the win with Reutimann; 3. Kenny Wallace gets a Top 10;

The other day, they had a story in the Wall Street Journal about how some people believe statins may cause memory loss aka stupid pills. As someone who believes his brain became "full" about 5 years ago, I now have something to blame for my stupidity. Of course, I don't take statins anymore and need a new scapegoat. I am thinking teach might be a good choice. Can a Drug That Helps Hearts Be Harmful to the Brain? February 12, 2008; Page D1 (See Corrections & Amplifications item below.) Cognitive side effects like memory loss and fuzzy thinking aren't listed on the patient information sheet for Lipitor, the popular cholesterol-lowering drug. But some doctors are voicing concerns that in a small portion of patients, statins like Lipitor may be helping hearts but hurting minds. "This drug makes women stupid," Orli Etingin, vice chairman of medicine at New York Presbyterian Hospital, declared at a recent luncheon discussion sponsored by Project A.L.S. to raise awareness of gender issues and the brain. Dr. Etingin, who is also founder and director of the Iris Cantor Women's Health Center in New York, told of a typical patient in her 40s, unable to concentrate or recall words. Tests found nothing amiss, but when the woman stopped taking Lipitor, the symptoms vanished. When she resumed taking Lipitor, they returned. "I've seen this in maybe two dozen patients," Dr. Etingin said later, adding that they did better on other statins. "This is just observational, of course. We really need more studies, particularly on cognitive effects and women." Pfizer Inc.'s Lipitor is the world's best-selling medicine, with revenues of $12.6 billion in 2007. The company says that its safety and efficacy have been demonstrated in more than 400 clinical trials and 145 million patient years of experience, and that the extensive data "do not establish a causal link between Lipitor and memory loss." Pfizer also says it draws conclusions about adverse events from a variety of sources "as opposed to anecdotal inferences by individual providers with a limited data pool." World-wide, some 25 million people take statins, including Zocor, Mevacor, Crestor, Pravachol and Vytorin. As a group, they are widely credited with reducing heart attacks and strokes in people at high risk, though the benefits are less clear in people who are not at high risk, particularly women and the elderly. Some 15% of patients complain of side effects; muscle aches and liver toxicity are the most recognized to date. But anecdotes linking statins to memory problems have been rampant for years. On balance, most cardiologists see little cause for concern. "The benefits far outweigh the risks," says Antonio Gotto, dean of the Weill-Cornell Medical School and past president of the American Heart Association. Dr. Gotto, who has consulted for most of the statin makers and been involved in many of the trials, says "I would hate to see people frightened off taking statins because they think it's going to cause memory loss." [ Thinking and memory problems are difficult to quantify, and easy for doctors to dismiss. Many people who take statins are elderly and have other conditions and medications that could have cognitive side effects. Still, the chronology can be very telling, says Gayatri Devi, an associate professor of neurology and psychiatry at New York University School of Medicine, who says she's seen at least six patients whose memory problems were traceable to statins in 12 years of practice. "The changes started to occur within six weeks of starting the statin, and the cognitive abilities returned very quickly when they went off," says Dr. Devi. "It's just a handful of patients, but for them, it made a huge difference." Researchers at the University of California at San Diego are nearing completion of a randomized controlled trial examining the effects of statins on thinking, mood, behavior, and quality of life. Separately, the UCSD researchers are collecting anecdotal experiences of patients, good and bad, on statins; memory problems are the second most common side effect, after muscle aches, in about 5,000 reports to date. "We have some compelling cases," says Beatrice Golomb, the study's lead researcher. In one of them, a San Diego woman, Jane Brunzie, was so forgetful that her daughter was investigating Alzheimer's care for her and refused to let her babysit for her 9-year-old granddaughter. Then the mother stopped taking a statin. "Literally, within eight days, I was back to normal -- it was that dramatic," says Mrs. Brunzie, 69 years old. Doctors put her on different statins three more times. "They'd say, 'Here, try these samples.' Doctors don't want to give up on it," she says. "Within a few days of starting another one, I'd start losing my words again," says Mrs. Brunzie, who has gone back to volunteering at the local elementary school she loves and is trying to bring her cholesterol down with dietary changes instead. "I feel very blessed -- I got about 99% of my memory back," she adds. "But I worry about people like me who are starting to lose their words who may think they have just normal aging and it may not be." Of course, not every case of mental decline can be reversed by stopping statins. In fact, there's some evidence that statins may ward off Alzheimer's by reducing plaque and inflammation in the brain. On the other hand, the brain is largely cholesterol, much of it in the myelin sheaths that insulate nerve cells and in the synapses that transmit nerve impulses. Lowering cholesterol could slow the connections that facilitate thought and memory. Statins may also lead to the formation of abnormal proteins seen in the brains of Alzheimer's patients. The cognitive changes can affect men as well as women. But women on statins are often simultaneously losing estrogen due to menopause, which can also cause cognitive changes. "Women are getting hit with a double whammy," says Elizabeth Lee Vliet, a women's health physician in Tucson, Ariz., who has a background in neuroendochronology. Side effects are always highly individual. Most patients tolerate statins very well, and heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the U.S. for men and women. But it pays to think hard about whether you really need to be on a statin -- or if you could accomplish your goals with diet and exercise instead. "Some people want to take a pill and think they can eat whatever they want," says Nieca Goldberg, a cardiologist and medical director of the Women's Heart Program at the New York University School of Medicine. She says she typically prescribes statins for women who have elevated cholesterol and have already had a heart attack. But for younger women with high cholesterol and no other risk factors, she encourages lifestyle changes. "I try to initiate diet modifications and physical activity in all my patients -- even if they still need medication, I can give them a lower dose," says Dr. Goldberg. "I try to make the point that we are all in this together." If you do need to be on cholesterol-lowering medication, pay close attention to any side effects and talk with your doctor. You may have a different experience with a different dose or different statin. Also remember that the doctor taking care of your heart condition may not be as experienced in other body parts. "You really need a balanced approach," says Dr. Vliet. But "each physician may be looking at only one part of the elephant -- that's the way medicine is practiced in the U.S. As Jane Brunzie says, "I learned through this experience that you have to use your own brain, as well as your doctor's brain, when it comes to your health." CORRECTIONS & AMPLIFICATIONS: Pfizer Inc. says that the extensive clinical trial data on its best-selling cholesterol drug Lipitor "do not establish a causal link between Lipitor and memory loss." An earlier version of this Health Journal column misspelled causal as casual. ? Email [email protected].

I rode on a plane behind a lady who brought her dog on the plane. She had it in a little bag that fit under the seat. All the way from LA to Dallas, YIP YIP YIP YIP YIP YIP YIP YIP YIP YIP YIP YIP YIP YIP. It was brutal. Conversation: Me: How come the lady can bring a dog on the plane? Flight Attendant: She paid $100 extra to bring it on? Me: Shouldn't I get that money since she is annoying me? When I was young, our Irish Setter made it from Japan to the US and from New Hampshire to Dallas no problem.

Holy crap. I missed out on winning the office pool when the stupid Patriots stopped on the 1 inch line at the end of the first quarter. Luckily, nobody scored until the 4th quarter and I won $400 each for the 2nd and 3rd quarters. WHO HOOOOO!!! Teacher got a new iPod for Valentine's day and I got a new laser rangefinder for Golf.

I hope you are enjoying CT.

I'll definitely say a prayer.

I am thinking of trying Jenny Craig.

Congrats.

Sorry to hear it. Hope you feel better soon.

If I was a woman, I am pretty sure I would be a Lesbian.

Holy crap. I thought I hated hospitals. Can you believe this poor guy? I hope he owns the hospital if this is true. http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gn7nIqTvF7zSx6NAjqcHp5xD5AUAD8U731IG0 When I lived in NYC, I lived 1 block from this hospital. Nevertheless, I had the surgery at NYU Hospital. Good move by me!!!