Massive Attack and Doves

Frankly since the last blog that I doubt anyone is actually reading, I have listened to dozens of superb CDs. The most recent have been a bit latent. Heligoland from Massive Attack and Kingdom of Rust from Doves. Both incredibly good.

Now, Massive Attack is like one of my all time favorite bands and yes I have virtually all their CDs and some vinyl too. I am in a word biased. But my 9 year old son told me today he loved this music too. He appreciated how each song felt like a different band than the one before. The guest singers list was quite good.

The other side is Kingdom of Rust. A very familiar same vocalist from one to the next song. Still exceptional. Get them or youtube this stuff. So dang good.

In health.... well the Nurses Strike is on in MN. I cannot wait to share the story with you as it unfolds. I have lab workers who will not be able to move forward on anything until this subsides. Of course the nurses have their own focus as well. Here is hoping we get "there" soon.

Son Brandon (Brando) had unscheduled surgery. As a follow up to a recent surgery that did not all go as well as we all hoped. He had 2 plates and 4 pins put in back the end of April. We realized that there was some discomfort and we went in to have it looked at (there was a n area that just was not healing).

A pin came loose on one of the plates and had to be taken out. He is doing much better now. He should be up and about with his new leg. He used it a bit today at festivities in Minnetonka.

Excitement At ASCO 2010

I am in Chicago for one of the larger medical shows in the country. It is called ASCO. Short for American Society of Oncology Physicians. Upon entering I had to walk amongst the sea of attendees that reminded me of being in the ocean more than Disney. It was a wall of people as far as the eye could see. The Rolling Stomes would have been proud.

There are several thousand attendees and vendors here. Your favorite drug companies are pushing major chemo meds from booths that cost more than mansions on the lake. Merck has a 3 D tv the size of a movie theater screen that shows a graphical presentation of how certain types of cancer cells can be halted with their drug. Quite cool. Genentech, Amgen, and many others were in a similar vein displaying some very high tech and ultra cool stuff.

But does that help your dying relative? Does spending this much money to get specialty Docs to take a look the only way to do these shows? I think maybe it is. My company had a small booth with few frills and we got maybe 5% of the traffic they did.

I will try to snap a few pics and post here. On a musical note... there is even more great tunes from more obscure bands that I have enjoyed courtesy of Pandora and the Current. Will post some recommendations soon.

Grinning for no Reason

I was walking from one meeting to another when I was in training at my corporate office over a year back. I make a habit of smiling at people when I see them. I find it is easier to look at a smiling face than one with a dour expression.

A senior manager after seen me with a grin on my face after every break inquired what was making me be in such a good mood. Was the training funny? Now keep in mind he is a native Brooklyn guy.

Always polite to me but doesn't really know me. After two weeks of a smiling face he is worried I'm cracking jokes with the trainers and playing my usual Jedi mind tricks (that's probably how I got the job).

I explained i typically smile for no reason. In fact in the absence of any reason not to, I will just smile, in fact grin. I especially have a happy expression just as I see someone I like.

Before he new it, he was grinning too. When I was leaving, a secretary commented to me she would be missing my smiling face and my funny but inoffensive jokes.

I work on the road and from account to account (I am in medical sales). I love what I do. I guess after doing this for years, a big smile and a bigger grin are the one thing that folks remember.

No matter how bad the world seems. No matter how tough tomorrow may end up being. Keep smiling. Being in America, we have a lot to smile about. Maybe when we roll up our sleeves to fix what corrupt politicians, greedy bankers, opportunistic oil companies CEOs, foul insurance company executives and crooked ____________ (fill in the blank) have done to us and our country, we can do even more with a big smile.