Wine and Rum and Coconut Water

Hmm. 2:30am and I’m still a bit tipsy. So what do I do? Blogging in my hotel room while watching UFC champion Randy Couture in The Scorpion King 2. Zod, my kingdom for satellite TV!

Speaking of TV, today I caught an American commercial for the drug “Ambien CR”. Like so many pharmaceutica ads, this one was 90% warning. Check out the text:

“When taking Ambien CR, don’t drive or operate machinery.

Sleepwalking, and eating or driving while not fully awake, with memory loss for the event, as well as abnormal behaviors such as being more outgoing or aggressive than normal, confusion, agitation, and hallucinations may occur. Don’t take it with alcohol as it may increase these behaviors.

Allergic reactions such as shortness of breath, swelling of your tongue or throat, may occur and in rare cases may be fatal.

Side effects of AMBIEN CR may include next-day drowsiness, dizziness and headache.

In patients with depression, worsening of depression, including risk of suicide may occur.

If you experience any of these behaviors contact your doctor immediately. “

Sweet Jebus, based on this ad, who would take this poison??!!

Had a great day in Kingston, Jamaica. I haven’t really seen much except for a couple of hotels. But people have been very nice. One of the joys of the Caribbean Studies Association is that it holds a very social conference. The attendees are always interesting and diverse. I’ve met a black Guyanese woman from Scotland, an Italian specialist in Cuban literature who lives in New Mexico, an economist from Guadeloupe, and the list goes on and on and on.

This evening was a reception at the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies. This place was paradise! Built on the site of a former sugar plantation, there are stone ruins on campus, overlooked by rounded mountains and a beaming sliver moon. Remind me why I teach in Ottawa again?