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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in the "Spike" journal:[<< Previous 20 entries]
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10:15 pm
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Meme of a sort: Movies movies movies
I surmise this list of films reflects a willingness to watch pulp, popular stuff, or things that make their basic cable debut on Comedy Central.
In any event, I've marked everything already seen (in entirety) and invite you to do the same...
(X) Rocky Horror Picture Show
(X) Grease
(X) Pirates of the Caribbean
( ) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest
( ) Boondock Saints
(X) Fight Club
( ) Starsky and Hutch
( ) Neverending Story
(X) Blazing Saddles
(X) Airplane
Total: 6
(X) The Princess Bride
(X) Anchorman
(X) Napoleon Dynamite
( ) Labyrinth
( ) Saw
( ) Saw II
( ) White Noise
( ) White Oleander
( ) Anger Management
( ) 50 First Dates
( ) The Princess Diaries
( ) The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
Total so far: 9
( ) Scream
( ) Scream 2
( ) Scream 3
( ) Scary Movie
( ) Scary Movie 2
( ) Scary Movie 3
( ) Scary Movie 4
( ) American Pie
( ) American Pie 2
( ) American Wedding
( ) American Pie Band Camp
Total so far: 9
( ) Harry Potter 1
(X) Harry Potter 2
( ) Harry Potter 3
( ) Harry Potter 4
( ) Harry Potter 5
( ) Resident Evil 1
( ) Resident Evil 2
( ) The Wedding Singer
( ) Little Black Book
(X) The Village
(X) Lilo & Stitch
Total so far: 12
(X) Finding Nemo
(X) Finding Neverland
(X) Signs
( ) The Grinch
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
( ) White Chicks
( ) Butterfly Effect
( ) 13 Going on 30
( ) I, Robot
( ) Robots
Total so far: 15
( ) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
(X) Universal Soldier
(X) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
( ) Along Came Polly
( ) Deep Impact
( ) KingPin
( ) Never Been Kissed
(X) Meet The Parents
( ) Meet the Fockers
( ) Eight Crazy Nights
( ) Joe Dirt
(X) King Kong
Total so far: 19
( ) A Cinderella Story
( ) The Terminal
( ) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
( ) Passport to Paris
(X) Dumb & Dumber
( ) Dumber & Dumberer
( ) Final Destination
( ) Final Destination 2
( ) Final Destination 3
(X) Halloween
( ) The Ring
( ) The Ring 2
( ) Surviving X-MAS
( ) Flubber
Total so far: 21
(X) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
( ) Practical Magic
(X) Chicago
( ) Ghost Ship
( ) From Hell
(X) Hellboy
( ) Secret Window
( ) I Am Sam
( ) The Whole Nine Yards
( ) The Whole Ten Yards
Total so far: 24
( ) The Day After Tomorrow
( ) Child's Play
( ) Seed of Chucky
( ) Bride of Chucky
( ) Ten Things I Hate About You
( ) Just Married
( ) Gothika
(X) Nightmare on Elm Street
(X) Sixteen Candles
( ) Remember the Titans
( ) Coach Carter
( ) The Grudge
( ) The Grudge 2
( ) The Mask
( ) Son Of The Mask
Total so far: 26
(X) Bad Boys
( ) Bad Boys 2
( ) Joy Ride
( ) Lucky Number Slevin
(X) Ocean's Eleven
(X) Ocean's Twelve
(X) Bourne Identity
(X) Bourne Supremecy
(X) Lone Star
(X) Bedazzled
(X) Predator I
(X) Predator II
( ) The Fog
( ) Ice Age
( ) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
( ) Curious George
Total so far: 35
(X) Independence Day
( ) Cujo
( ) A Bronx Tale
( ) Darkness Falls
( ) Christine
(X) ET
(X) Children of the Corn
( ) My Bosses Daughter
( ) Maid in Manhattan
( ) War of the Worlds
(X) Rush Hour
( ) Rush Hour 2
Total so far: 39
( ) Best Bet
( ) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
( ) She's All That
(X) Calendar Girls
(X) Sideways
(X) Mars Attacks
( ) Event Horizon
( ) Ever After
(X) Wizard of Oz
( ) Forrest Gump
(X) Big Trouble in Little China
(X) The Terminator
(X) The Terminator 2
( ) The Terminator 3
Total so far: 46
(X) X-Men
( ) X-2
( ) X-3
(X) Spider-Man
(X) Spider-Man 2
( ) Sky High
( ) Jeepers Creepers
( ) Jeepers Creepers 2
( ) Catch Me If You Can
(X) The Little Mermaid
( ) Freaky Friday
( ) Reign of Fire
( ) The Skulls
( ) Cruel Intentions
( ) Cruel Intentions 2
( ) The Hot Chick
(X) Shrek
( ) Shrek 2
Total so far: 51
( ) Swimfan
( ) Miracle on 34th street
( ) Old School
( ) The Notebook
(X) K-Pax
( ) Krippendorf's Tribe
( ) A Walk to Remember
( ) Ice Castles
( ) Boogeyman
(X) The 40-year-old Virgin
Total so far: 53
(X) Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring
( ) Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
( ) Lord of the Rings Return Of the King
(X) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(X) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(X) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Total so far: 57
( ) Baseketball
( ) Hostel
( ) Waiting for Guffman
( ) House of 1000 Corpses
( ) Devils Rejects
( ) Elf
(X) Highlander
( ) Mothman Prophecies
( ) American History X
( ) Three
Total so Far: 58
( ) The Jacket
(X) Kung Fu Hustle
( ) Shaolin Soccer
( ) Night Watch
(X) Monsters Inc.
( ) Titanic
(X) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
(X) Shaun Of the Dead
( ) Willard
Total so far: 62
( ) High Tension
( ) Club Dread
( ) Hulk
( ) Dawn Of the Dead
( ) Hook
(X) Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
(X) 28 days later
( ) Orgazmo
( ) Phantasm
( ) Waterworld
Total so far: 64
(X) Kill Bill vol 1
( ) Kill Bill vol 2
(X) Mortal Kombat
( ) Wolf Creek
( ) Kingdom of Heaven
( ) the Hills Have Eyes
( ) I Spit on Your Grave aka the Day of the Woman
( ) The Last House on the Left
( ) Re-Animator
(X) Army of Darkness
Total so far: 67
(X) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
(X) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
(X) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
(X) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
(X) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
(X) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
( ) Ewoks Caravan Of Courage
( ) Ewoks The Battle For Endor
Total so far: 73
(X) The Matrix
(X) The Matrix Reloaded
( ) The Matrix Revolutions
( ) Animatrix
( ) Evil Dead
( ) Evil Dead 2
(X) Team America: World Police
( ) Red Dragon
(X) Silence of the Lambs
( ) Hannibal
Final total: 77!
I can't believe the Ewok films are options here, yet the Star Trek movies aren't. Huh-wuh?
Current Location: home
Current Mood:  sleepy
Current Music: Tears for Fears - "Mad World"
Tags: meme, movies
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10:21 am
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Everything old is new again!
Sometime yesterday morning, several folks started talking in a group outside my office, notably louder than the office "sotto voce." Turns out a long-erstwhile EMC lab manager returned to the fold, probably to tell us kids to get off his electronic lawn and wonder loudly who spilled his IP packets all over the floor. Time for a party!
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11:32 am
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Two shots of the funny from this week
The Slumbering Lungfish (also http://badgods.com/) hit the funny bone pretty regularly for me. My favorites this week are duality:
1) SCRA--LE! (http://badgods.com/thejungle.html)
2) Logic puzzles! (http://slumbering.lungfish.com/?p=835)
The host really reminds me of a Yankified Stephen Fry in the second one.
Tags: humor
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12:05 pm
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The creeping hand of cold
One weekend of chopping winds and aggressive snow plows reminds you how little control we've wrested from the world around us. Not that we're not trying hard to get those icecaps melted and drought areas expanded! Awesome policies great job.
Until that all takes effect, 16 inches of snow trapped my car and made my cats wonder what the hell's going on outside. I told them God's unhappy with the Red Sox senior management. They briefly held eye contact, which I took as agreement.
Current Location: under hat and scarf
Current Mood: snowed in
Current Music: Father Christmas
Tags: snow, winter
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05:25 pm
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IT'S ALL GOING DARK!
We creep ever closer to the shortest of days and the dawn of winter. Sleet's expected for tonight, just in time for our roof to get all leaky and weep down the bathroom walls. Doubleplus unfortunately, the handyman didn't bring a long enough ladder today, so was unable to reach the problem area. :P
( Meanwhile, back at the ranch... )
Tags: house, rock band, zillow
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10:42 pm
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Playing games with people you know against people you don't know
Earlier this evening, I spent an hour or so racing cars and occasionally running into other people on Grand Theft Auto IV. Their multiplayer system's pretty robust and nuanced, allowing for all sorts of team or all-against-all playing. Going up against people you know lets you banter about and talk some good-natured smack. Taking on people you DON'T know makes it a challenge to completely whack the other foo'. I expect this says something about armed conflict in general.
Tags: grand theft auto, psychology, video games
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07:32 pm
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Dub-ya Tee Eff? It's been how long?
Been finishing up my ninth class (of ten) for the Brandeis IT Mgmt MS and looking forward to the late-year holidays. Sunny just booked us a couple of tickets to Tulsa for Christmas, which will be my first trip to see her "homeland." (No offense to folks from Oklahoma, since I visited a bunch of times, but I hope she doesn't include a tour of nostalgic convenience stores.)
I will call out one COOL UPCOMING EVENT: "Koolhas Houselife" (about architect Rem Koolhas) plays for free at the Harvard Film Archive on December 9th at 7pm. They're running a bunch of cool architecture pieces across November and December. (We caught a lecture on Le Corbusier last week from a recent biographer.) Go awesome buildings!
http://hcl.harvard.edu/hfa/calendar/december08.html
Tags: architecture, brandeis, cool stuff, harvard film archive
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03:49 pm
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Another of those personal memes. Because we love you, man.
Comment to this post and I'll:
a) Tell you why I friended you.
b) Associate you with something - fandom, a song, a color, a photo, a board game, etc.
c) Tell you something I like about you.
d) Tell you a memory I have of you.
e) Ask something I've always wanted to know about you.
f) Tell you my favorite user pic of yours.
g) In return, you could karma-post this on your own lj.
Current Music: PDC2008 Podcast
Tags: friends, meme
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04:35 pm
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Turnaround on the X-Box repair: 15 days
The UPS guy dropped off a return package yesterday from the Microsoft repair center. That means it took about 2.5 weeks to request the repair, receive the box, mail it, and get the fixed 360 back. (I'd missed a delivery attempt on Tuesday, so subtract a day should you care to.)
Inside the package was a note explaining what they fixed and a card for a free month of Microsoft Live service to ameliorate my days without the system. Since the service is primarily an MS money-maker, they don't really sacrifice anything by extending me. Many argue the annual $50 fee makes little sense because it's a marketplace anyway--you're just paying to get in the door to spend more money.
There's a final goal for all of this: get Rock Band up and running at EMC on the repaired system. I ordered a Mad Catz MIC to provide the singing controller and expect to purchase one of two things to provide the remaining band equipment.
1. a set of used Rock Band instruments from craigslist ($100 - 120)
2. Guitar Hero: On Tour, which includes drums, mic, guitar, and game ($190)
Anything for plastic rock! (I mean, the fans. Anything for them.)
Current Mood: musically inclined
Tags: guitar hero, microsoft, music, rock band, xbox
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09:23 am
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Teh coffin arriveth!
 Time for the next step in Boy Cave's erstwhile X-Box 360. Yesterday UPS delivered the "coffin," a.k.a. the return-for-repair box provided by Microsoft. (First time that I've been so interested in receiving an empty box.) It's an interesting efficiency of materials, just a plastic sleeve with recycled foam padding pieces and a return shipping label and single piece of sealing tape.
I'll drop the box at UPS today and expect to see the whole package back in a couple of weeks. (So saith the intertubes.) Is it overkill to give the 360 a Viking funeral, though? You know, just in case?
Current Location: worksville
Current Music: "Hello Hello" by the Hello Band
Tags: microsoft, video games
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10:38 am
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FDIC acquires my first bank
My family moved to Seattle in 1979 and I opened a savings account with something like $10 in it. As a gesture to their youngster customers, Washington Mutual gave me a plastic, cube-shaped "piggy bank." (No actual bacon involved.) A single slot on the top allowed cash to go in and the cube's "halves" came apart in a very specific way, probably to be an intriguing challenge to the young. After all, if you spent a couple of minutes just trying to get the bank open, perhaps you'd be tighter with the actual money inside.
Primarily due to its heavy involvement in the mortgage market, the FDIC just assumed control of Washington Mutual and sold its assets to JP Morgan Chase. This makes the latter second only to Bank of America (which issued my first credit card) in financial "size." There's no emotional attachment to the bank and its troubles, but it feels like a milestone for how the industry's changed in the last 30 years.
Current Location: the office
Current Music: "14:31" by Global Communication
Tags: fdic, finance, washington mutual
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09:30 am
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X-Box machinations
This weekend, we gave our friend Boy Cave the courteously geeky sort of birthday present of replacing some defect-o-matic hardware in his possession (RROD X-Box 360) with a spicy new one. He liked the fact that we picked up the new box, though it took awhile to convince him that people actually give their friend PRESENTS on birthdays. (Take it! Seriously, take it!)
As far as the old one's concerned, Microsoft covers fixing its (endemic) problem under a special extended warranty, which means the original (vintage? broked? pseudo?) system can make a trip back to Redmond, WA for special Six Million Dollar Man reconstruction. If that actually works, and I suppose there's no guarantee, the 360 will move into my workplace at Kendall Square as an engineering entertainment device, complete with some sort of Rock Bandage. Not sure how the people downstairs from us will feel about the drum's kick pedal, so I'm thinking "after hours."
Current Location: worksville
Current Mood:  working
Current Music: "Greece 2000" by Three Drives
Tags: birthdays, microsoft, video games
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05:41 pm
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Back from the midwest, for now
After catching the Police and Elvis Costello on Thursday night, Friday morning saw me on a 6:05am flight to Chicago. I spent the weekend there with a group of my sports collecting friends, all collected around the week-long annual sports collectors convention. I caught a game at Wrigley for the first time and appreciate what an excellent stadium it is. (Sure, Boston likes things cramped and stodgy, but as another freakin' old stadium, Fenway could learn several things from Wrigley's willingness to update usefully.)
The sports collecting show itself occupies a huge building and divides the whole thing into blocks and rows, with hundreds of dealers selling almost everything imaginable. You've got plenty of sports cards, since they transport easily. Trickier to set up are the guys selling large oil paintings of players, old stadium seats, or huge racks of uniforms. Most of the modern card companies use glitz and a lottery-like atmosphere to sell their products. Spin a wheel for prizes, hidden treasures in foil packs, and that kind of thing. I find myself drawn more and more to the actual history of the hobby, partly as a writer and mostly as a collector. Each year of cards includes business decisions, personalities, and other unpredictable elements that feed into the final product. Outside of the blogosphere, not many people find it interesting enough to write about, and most of those people stick to modern subjects. That leaves you with almost entirely oral histories, which makes for a long research process (and dependence on people living long enough to tell you).
Speaking of such things, I did catch up briefly with my half-brother Zach on Friday morning. My grandmother's lung cancer recurred recently, or at least they learned of it early last week. She lost half of a lung to it about 12 years ago and is in unwilling to undergo the long-term treatment this time. It's fair to say she's got less than a year left and some of that will depend on how her spirits hold up. My dad, Zach, and I made rough plans to see her in September and every visit might be the last one at this point. With much of the family still in Wisconsin, at least everyone can attend together!
Tags: baseball, family, vacation
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11:56 pm
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Mapping one's run
This month, I've taken to running the commute from Davis to Kendall Square twice a week. It's about 3.5 miles in total and takes about the same time as riding the subway, given station stops and walking time. Plus, start early enough in the morning and you don't sweat like a pig! At least, not until mile 2 or so.
I wrote before about running down Orchard St and it's foliage. More urban, but still quality, is the "second half" of Beacon St., leading into Inman Square. It passes a number of nice yards and plants, including a flower and veggie garden near a brick condo that would be cool to have at our place, if we had the space. Beacon also has a couple of restaurants we plan to try out, one focused on breakfast and the other pimped for burgers.
Tags: beacon st, davis square, garden, inman square, kendall square, running
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11:59 am
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Morning commute, week 3
Ran from home to work again this morning using a route that's stabilized at about 3.5 miles. It skips most of Mass Ave by tracking the length of Orchard Street, a much more pleasant option getting out of Davis Square. It ends at Porter, so I catch a little of the traffic shenanigans and then head past the newly paved Somerville Ave and Beacon intersection and follow the latter's long descent into Inman Square. The route includes a couple of inclines--not really hills--but is downwards over all, since it points to the river. That's a fine reason to run to work and not away from work.
Oh, I apologize on behalf of my prolific sweat glands to the people who sell me convenience store sodas near the end of the run. One worker at 7-11 clearly didn't want to acquire any of my saltiness by touching anything connected to me. It was like a mini hostage swap, where she had the bag of sodas and I had the money. Rather than rush into handing the goods over, we sort of pushed them across the counter slowly until the other person could grab them. Maybe they should issue the staff hygienic gloves during summertime.
Current Mood: working
Tags: 7-11, commuting, running, soda
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11:10 am
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Pepsi art
Some years ago, I read the GNN article on Bob Kolody's intellectual property battle with Coca-Cola. Kolody died a couple of years ago, which sort of closes the legal issue, but the apparent rank injustice from the story comes back to me every now and then. It "popped up" again this morning from a bottle of Diet Pepsi. I changed from drinking Coke to Pepsi primarily on the strength of the Kolody article, not that Pepsi's a saint or anything. I found the article very motivating, given Coke's history with the government and, you know, thumbs-down on injustice.
The DP bottle includes a credit just below the promotional label: "Artwork: J.C. Bronx, NY." My thought was that the initials could be anyone. Is Jesus Christ back again and churning out retro-modern bottle art from a fifth-story walk-up down the street from Yankee Stadium? On the other hand, it does recognize that Pepsi can't just push a magic button and get good-looking products. Props to them (or the artist's agent) for getting the person a little visibility.
Current Mood: working
Tags: art, bob kolody, coca-karma, gnn, pepsi
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10:21 am
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This morning's commute
It feels likely that the replacement hormone level from the MGH study is lower than my natural amount. That means my body's more likely to retain fat. Not worried about getting fat, really, but even a few pounds slows one down and makes for ill-fitting clothes. As a tonic to this, I plan to start running to work Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. It is true that the study overseers asked me not to "remake my body" during these four months, since they want accurate measurements of change, but running an extra 10 miles a week is hardly a major effort.
Current Music: Paul Simon - "Train in the Distance"
Tags: davis square, harvard square, kendall square, running
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04:31 pm
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A lifetime of memes
No doubt us LJ folks will eventually be checking off "Lists of memes I've participated in!"
Current Mood: holiday-ready
Current Music: TMBG
Tags: experience, life, meme
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10:48 am
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Shot to the knee...and you're to blame
My soccering rarely ends up causing real injury. No doubt heading the ball will give me brain cancer later in life, assuming the Splenda doesn't poison my chakras first. Yesterday, however, produced a wicked charlie horse right on the leg spot where the horse is thinnest. It's not exactly a knee sprain, but it functions like one. The areas swells up, gets weak, and makes self-propulsion a mental exercise. If you see me walking down the street, don't think, "hey, nice pants." Think, "wow, he's moving upright, no dragging knuckles or anything."
Naturally, I blame European professional soccer. I spent a chunk of the last few weeks watching the world's best (outside of South America) hurl themselves around a Nerf-like pitch and bounce off each other with grace. (They do fall down and make a meal of it occasionally...but wait! he's back up and as good as new! Those guys heal so fast!) After all that, I figured DAMN, I CAN DO THAT TOO! At yesterday's game, I decided not to hold off on contact. I'm big and strong, right? I can take it! The first time set me up for the fall, as I shouldered a guy expertly to the ground. (GRAHHH! HULK SMASH!) The second time...whackity to the leg. I hopped around a bit and got back into the game, but this morning is a day for Advil. Darn you Europeans and whatever super-stuff you're made of!
Current Location: work
Current Mood: working
Tags: europe, injury, soccer
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11:24 am
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Gaming your system
I checked in at Mass General last Wednesday for a checkup, two months into being a lab rat for their endocrine unit. They're studying testosterone levels in men and at what point significant things change. To wit:
- Bone density
- Fat / muscle retention
- Sex drive
The study uses three medications, a slow-dissolve abdominal injection that lasts 30 days and inhibits testosterone production. (Just what every guy wants!) The second one is a daily pill that prevents your body from converting estrogen to testosterone, which it'll normally do when the latter hits really low levels. The third medicine is a post-shower lotion that provides a replacement amount of male hormone and represents the essential part of the study. You'll get one of five different amounts, from placebo to 1.5 times "normal." A monthly check-in tracks changes in height, weight, mental outlook, and sex drive.
MGH's only one subway stop away from work, so that's no obstacle. The real draw for me will be the screenings, which included a full-body CT scan and blood work. Any hormone-based changes will recede after the study ends, so while I briefly pictured myself with 50% more bicep, it really doesn't work that way. (The doctors requested that I "avoid substantially changing my body composition," which I assume means "don't join a power-lifting team, get massive pecs, and screw up our muscle data.")
Keeping the daily pill-plus-lotion routine going is no problem, so the only hiccup is second-guessing what might be happening to your body. ("Am I going to lose my hair?" "Am I getting child-bearing hips?" "Why the sudden fascination with classic Cher tunes?') They say it's possible to get menopause-style hot flashes and ask that you record any that happen. ("Record that it happened?" More like "sweat all over and eat a bunch of ice cream.") Nothing like that so far, so I trust my stuff isn't the placebo version.
The magnificent outcome to all this should be better medicines for men suffering from various hormone deficiencies, including age-related decline. No doubt there are plenty of men interested in treating fragile bones, low libido, and weight-related health issues! Who knows, perhaps I'm helping the "future me" as much as anyone.
Tags: science
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