Pharmacists rule. They rule the street. The flashing green cross on one block, the flashing red on the next. You know exactly where to go when you start sniffling.
My wife and I both got head colds while on our honeymoon. I got it first and then I gave it to my new wife. As a result, we were forced to face... the pharmacist. In France and Spain, the pharmacist is like your local doctor. You don't know who he is (well, maybe over time you would develop a relationship), but he is the one that has the goods, so you better be nice.
You walk into the little store, and almost everything is behind the counter or beneath glass. The pharmacist asks you how you are doing (I'm not exactly quite sure, I don't speak the language, but something along those lines), and it is your job to communicate with the pharmacist how you feel and what your symptoms are. After the pharmacist figures out what you are trying to say, he or she goes back and grabs a generic box of whatever. There are no options or different brands, no looking at different strength levels, and no Tylenol PM. You purchase whatever the pharmacist brings you, and after a detailed briefing as to how to use the medicine, you leave. And you feel somewhat satisfied. Hey, we're in Europe.
And then you come back, because whatever the pharmacist gave you didn't do the job. My wife and I needed three trips to finally get what we needed: the first time we received throat lozenges (although I must admit, at the time, my throat hurt the worst); the second time we got a Theraflu-type mixture, but for cold water (did not like, did not work); and then finally, we got some tablets (although not as strong as Tylenol PM). Ten days later, I was 100 percent, my new wife 90 percent. A good time all around.
Halloween (or, to us pagans, Samhain), is the most important holiday of the year. It represents the end of summer and the final harvest of the year. It is considered the end of the year, the start of the new year, and is a time to reflect on those who have passed.
News of the Great YouTube Purge of 2006 is abound this morning, and I offer my immediate thoughts...
I understand how people are instantly (possibly momentarily) upset over this, but if I owned the content, I wouldn't want it passing all over the site either. In my opinion, the reason is is that the owner loses control over the context of the video. YouTube users can splice images, add voice-overs, mix clips, etc., distorting the original content.
McDonald's is the burger king. First, you notice people with McDonald's bags or McDonald's fountain soda cups walking around town. (Nah, it couldn't be; I don't see one.) Then, you see a couple people on a park bench eating french fries out of a McDonald's box. (Turning your head, you don't see anything close by.) And finally... Bam! There it is, right before your eyes: a McDonald's on the end of the block, surrounded by historic buildings, promenades and Prada stores.
Although the French (and other Europeans) may hate everything American, and deep-down they may hate the corporate identity (and monstrous reality) of McDonald's, they cannot help but eat there. McDonald's is in every city, and everywhere in every city. You cannot miss them. And they are always packed. With French people; day and night.
My wife and I never ate at a McDonald's during our journey, and only once really even contemplated it while in Nice (we really wanted an Egg McMuffin after weeks of bread for breakfast) before scrapping the idea. But it is not as if we didn't have the opportunity.
On our flight to Europe, a Parisian woman made sure to tell my new wife, "Just never eat a hamburger." Alright, we thought, that will be easy. We were going to Barcelona, Nice and Paris; we'll have tapas, fish and croissants. It hadn't occured to us a Happy Meal would be a possibility on the Champs-Élysées.
A former Bush aide has been sentenced to prison (18 months) for his role in the Abramoff-lobbying scandal. What this means is that he will be a high-level aide for another GOP president in, say, 10 years or so. These things are cyclic in nature.
I try not to do this (take quotes and not add anything substantive or witty, or what I consider witty), but this is too good to pass up...
"The NFL preseason is elementary school: it doesn't matter and you're just trying to escape without a serious injury. The first eight weeks of the season are high school: It's always good to do well; it's not a complete disaster to do badly unless you flunk out; and you don't want to peak as a person or team this early. The next nine weeks are college: You evolve into what you'll eventually be, and if you screw things up, you'll need a ton of outside help to salvage what happened. And the playoffs are the real world: At that point, you're out of chances and you are what you are." - Bill Simmons
You know it is a rough period of time for the White House with headlines like this... "White House denies Cheney OK'd torture." The funniest thing is not that the White House line is that "the reporter misunderstood the Vice President's response," but that the public isn't outraged he had to be asked the question.
Jake Tapper highlights some of the ractist overtones (or is it undertones?) in the Tennessee Senate race and solicited opinions on the matter...
I cannot tell if that is a jungle beat or a poor drum solo. But what I do know is that I want a senator who used to sell ice. (Paid for by Sideshow Bob for Mayor.)
