Human Lab Rat

I’ve always wondered how new drugs and medicines are deemed safe for human consumption. I know that such drugs are tested on rats, mice and monkeys but at some point they have to be tested and validated on humans before being sold at the counter! For a while now I’ve been reading these ads exhorting healthy males and females within a specific age range, to volunteer for the testing of new drugs, for an attractive fee. Would you risk your life for money ? They pay you thousands of dollars but what about the side effects of these new drugs? If it doesn’t kill you on the spot, what about its long term implications? Kinda scary thought indeed. But there are no shortage of applicants, especially those interested in making a few bucks. A curious newspaper columnist volunteered and chronicled his experience of being a human lab rat which according to him “felt like a relaxing, paid vacation”. Sorry, but not my idea of a relaxing vacation 🙂 The idea of growing a third testicle or getting that eerie urge to jump of a cliff kinda scares me 🙂 What about you? Would you take the challenge?

BLOGGING BLUES

I’ve come back from a short but enjoyable vacation for over a week now and I’ve been having this inexplicable blogging blues – aka blogging laziness 🙂 Not sure what it is – probably the wonderful spring weather 🙂 The other night – Monday actually, I had prepared my post at the office, emailed it to my personal email address so I could cut and paste it to my blog when I get home. I penned down my one paragraph prediction on the American Idol finals and wanted to post it that night. For some reason, I got glued on the TV and had to finish the darn movie. It finished at almost 12am and I felt a little sleepy so I vowed to post it Tuesday night, right after the Idol show. It had to be Tuesday night because Wednesday night is judgment day for the week and one contestant would be booted out ! After the Tuesday Idol show which ended at 9pm EST, I watched another program for an hour and unexpectedly fell asleep at the couch, still in my office attire and woke up at 4am! Darn, I only drank a single can of Coors light – no reason for me to pass out, LOL 🙂 I went back to sleep and woke up at 6am and did the usual routine of preparing to catch my 7:57am train. I gave up on my post and thought of posting it at a later date. It was either laziness or my inability to extricate myself from vacation mode 🙂

On another note – aren’t you guys fed up with Idol judge Simon Cowell’s arrogance ? This stiff-upper-lipped prick has really gotten on my nerves! Did you see his lack of grace and selfishness when he couldn’t even compliment last year’s 3rd placer Elliot Yamin who sang what I thought was a decent song from his latest CD. His comment on Jordin Sparks singing the classic Shirley Bassey hit ” I Who Have Nothing” as old fashioned and should not be sang by a 17 year old was equally preposterous. A classic song can be sung by ANYONE. He was only looking at what kind of songs Jordin Sparks would sing when she cuts her CD and not her singing skills and delivery on stage. So much with this ignorant jerk who I think had gotten the ire of a lot of viewers. Believe me, time will come when people will vote against Cowell’s choice just to prove him wrong.

Anyways, here’s my prediction which I should have posted on Tuesday night which turned out to be true with Melinda Doolitle leaving. The final outcome remains to be seen :

Let me hazard a guess here . It’s going to be a toss up between Jordin Sparks and Blake Lewis. The idol default profiles, including prejudiced biases are definitely on their side. Melinda Doolittle rocks but she ain’t got the wow factor baby. Unless she performs so magically and flawlessly, that America sees a reincarnation of Aretha Franklin or Ella Fitzgerald in her, she’d be out of the door Wednesday night. I think Jordin Sparks wins hands down.

Speaking of Idols, here’s Eva Avila, Canadian Idol ’06 – a goddess from Gatineau, Quebec who is trilingual , speaks French, Spanish and English fluently, singing at the finals with the song that she eventual recorded. Absolutely no shortage of star qualities from this 19 year old warbler.