My favorite detail from the Brittany Murphy stories? Let’s take a look. TMZ:
Paramedics moved Brittany from the bathroom to the master bedroom, where they found a slew of prescription drugs — “A check of the nightstands revealed large amounts of prescription medication in the decedent’s name. Also noted were numerous empty prescription medication bottles in the decedent’s husband’s name, the decedent’s mother’s name and unidentified third party names.”
According to the notes, the medications included Topamax (anti-seizure meds also to prevent migraines), Methylprednisolone (anti-inflammatory), Fluoxetine (depression med), Klonopin (anxiety med), Carbamazepine (treats diabetic symptoms and is also a bipolar med), Ativan (anxiety med), Vicoprofen (pain reliever), Propranolol (hypertension, used to prevent heart attacks), Biaxin (antibiotic), Hydrocodone (pain med) and miscellaneous vitamins.
I love how that phrase comes at the end of a long list of central nervous system antagonists, like a good punchline. It’s important to stay healthy with the right nutritional supplements.
Actually, this isn’t funny, is it? Or rather, it’s funny how the rest of the world learned this lesson with Marilyn Monroe and Judy Garland, but Hollywood learned a different one, i.e., that there is an endless supply of young women out there to be chewed up and spit out. The young women learned there’s always a doctor who can be persuaded to write the next prescription. And if the local pharmacy gets suspicious, well, write it to your personal assistant or mom or whatever.
How is it possible I’m this far behind in the week and it’s only Tuesday? Go figure. The shortness of the week has something to do with it, as does the unmopped kitchen floor. But the swing through the cop shops yesterday was brutal, a veritable parade of wrongdoing — all the thieves in the world are doing their Christmas shopping in the Pointes, it seems, stealing everything from cars to wheels to iPods. It did lead to an interesting conversation with the police about the details of auto theft; I jotted down notes about “drop cars” when I got home. Drop cars are the easy-to-steal P.O.S. vehicles thieves drive when they’re looking for something nicer. Check plates around the empty parking spot of a stolen car, and you’re likely to make a recovery of the drop car. I guess that’s good for the statistics, but from some of the reports I’ve read you wouldn’t want your drop car back, unless you relish starting it with a screwdriver for the rest of its life.
Detroit and Miami are the auto-theft capitals of North America. I think the city’s motto should be whatever “don’t leave your keys in the ignition, not even for a minute” translates to in Latin.
The best car-theft story I’ve read since we’ve lived here is about a teacher in Detroit who’s had 13 vehicles stolen 14 times. The only reason it’s not 14 cars stolen 14 times is, she finally figured out the route to a quick recovery — keep the gas tank close to empty at all times by buying $5 worth of gas daily. The car runs dry within hours, and it’s found relatively close to where it was taken.
Big-city survival skills. It’s not all about keeping your purse clutched under your arm.
Oh my, look at the time. Must fly. Two must-see videos:
Roomba-riding cat beats down pit bull. And, if you ever find yourself craving Chinese food in Honolulu, you might be better off with a burger.
MichaelG said on December 22, 2009 at 12:30 pm
My erstwhile wife once went to lunch with her boss at a Chinese restaurant in the SF Financial District. He spotted a rat on a water pipe near the ceiling and pointed it out to the lady who owned the place. Her response: “Oh, that not ours. He belong next door.”
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brian stouder said on December 22, 2009 at 12:31 pm
Well, the Hawaiian rat reminded me that I should do a bland lunch today – since it’s blood night (pheresis at 6) (that may not be a bad band name) –
so for that, I thank you (and the rat)
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Dorothy said on December 22, 2009 at 12:51 pm
Memo to self: Do NOT click on any of Nancy’s links that refer to food when eating lunch at your desk.
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LAMary said on December 22, 2009 at 12:53 pm
They need the roomba riding cat in that store in Honolulu. Maybe a team of them.
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on December 22, 2009 at 12:58 pm
How about Italian?
“Non lasciare le chiavi nel cruscotto, neppure per un minuto”
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mark said on December 22, 2009 at 1:07 pm
I’m pretty sure they have cat at that market in Honolulu.
And we now have yet more proof that putting goofy, “kick me, I’m a wimp” sweaters on dogs is a bad idea.
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brian stouder said on December 22, 2009 at 2:51 pm
there is an endless supply of young women out there to be chewed up and spit out.
Along those lines, there’s this article about the White House party crashers – which is equal parts interesting and off-putting.What struck me was the polarized views from mom and from mother-in-law, coupled with the classic aspirations of the daughter. (makes one think that exceptional physical attractiveness can be a horrible intoxicant)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/21/AR2009122103611.html?wpisrc=nl_pmheadline
Tareq is the instigator,” says Pamela Vito, who co-owns a bridal boutique in Alexandria, has long known the Salahi family and says she was involved in a payment dispute with Tareq that was resolved in her favor. “Michaele, she got caught up in it.” Tareq Salahi’s mother, Corinne, wonders about Michaele’s role. “I certainly would be interested in my daughter-in-law’s biography,” says Corinne Salahi. “I have no idea who she is, or where she came from. . . . But now, I wish I knew it.” By the time she met Tareq, Michaele was transformed from what one family acquaintance described as a pretty but nondescript girl called Missy. “She’s just a nice girl from a simple family,” says her mother, Rosemary Holt, originally from Scranton, Pa. Michaele is one of four siblings — she has two brothers and a sister — and grew up, her mother says, mostly in Florida, where she went to Catholic school. Her father, Howard Holt, now deceased, was described by a knowledgeable family acquaintance as a salesman for a printing company, an assertion that could not be confirmed. When the family moved to Northern Virginia, Missy Holt attended Oakton High School in Fairfax County, graduating in 1984. Her senior yearbook photo shows a young woman with long, brunette hair whose hope was to be a model and move to California.
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moe99 said on December 22, 2009 at 2:52 pm
Nancy, You called it right with Brittany. Doesn’t make it any better, but as you point out, the culture is perpetuated.
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ROgirl said on December 22, 2009 at 3:15 pm
Young women get sucked in, chewed up and spit out of the Hollywood fantasy wood chipper, but the name on the TMZ report could have been changed to Michael Jackson and everything else in it would have fit perfectly.
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Brendan said on December 22, 2009 at 3:39 pm
I, too, am struck by the expansion of the pharmaceutical drug culture. Not a huge golfer, but the last couple times I have been I have seen almost everyone in the group openly exchange and/or discuss whatever meds they have in their bags. It’s not just Hollywood starlets (or stars as ROgirl mentions). Prescription drug abuse, in my anecdotally informed opinion, is running rampant. Yet another front on the ever-expanding war on drugs.
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Lex said on December 22, 2009 at 4:38 pm
When I first glanced at the cat video, I thought the pit bull was wearing a wife-beater. Then I thought it was an argyle sweater. I’m trying to decide which is funnier.
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Deborah said on December 22, 2009 at 4:42 pm
Again, I’m hopelessly naive about what it is about prescription drugs? Do they really provide recreation? My only experience with them has been nauseating, literally. Every time I’ve been prescribed any kind of pain killer, it makes me green with nausea. I had an anti-anxiety med prescribed for awhile which made me feel like I had the flu for 3 months when I stopped taking it, and while I took it, it left me flat. So none of it has ever been pleasant. A good bottle of wine on the other hand is a completely different story.
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Sue said on December 22, 2009 at 4:53 pm
Off topic:
Even though I live about 35 minutes from Milwaukee, I’m still located near a lot of small farms, many of which are main family income generators (not hobby farms). The farmers I know work like hell with varying levels of success, but none of them are wealthy and a lot are far from it. I’m assuming most qualify for and receive some subsidies, but nothing like the bullshit I see here:
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/michelle_bachman_welfare_queen_20091221/
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paddyo' said on December 22, 2009 at 5:02 pm
Brendan, there was an excellent piece on NPR’s “All Things Considered” last night about how “diseases” and new pharamaceuticals to control/maintain/”cure” them are practically a ping-pong game between drug makers and the medico-scientific crowd. In a culture of take-another-pill-and-you’ll-be-fine, it’s a foggy border between want and need. It’s a cliche to say the pharmaceutical makers are the real drug pushers, but jeez, look everywhere around us (start with your own medicine cabinet, as the reporter on NPR shrewdly noted). We’re fighting the wrong war on the wrong drugs . . .
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Dexter said on December 22, 2009 at 5:07 pm
I was in a bar once sitting beside an old man I knew. He was nursing a beer and then he ordered a half pint of whiskey and stuck it in his pocket. I asked him why he didn’t walk over to the liquor store because it was so much cheaper there, and he said it didn’t make any difference to him because he “used it like medicine”.
I happened to work with his grandson and I asked the grandson what Grampa meant by that. The kid said his gramps always took a tablespoon of hootch before bedtime.
My point is that that old guy is still the only person I ever met who drank whiskey like that.
Most folks can only get pills from their drug program or at their pharmacy through controlled prescriptions, and most take their meds according to the directions. I know I do. I have been taking a lot of pills for a long time and I never double-up on a dose.
Alcohol is so much more subject to the whims of the person’s emotions. Just a beer or a shot-and-a beer? “Gimme a double, bartender” indicated the drinker is having a bad day.
Drinkers find a type of alcoholic drink they like and build their drinking around it.
The setting, the mood in the house, and the very response one’s psyche has to the ingesting of alcohol make for a wild ride on the merry-go-round, and the ride stops when the person who is drinking decides to stop. Prescription drugs are made to do a certain adjustment to the body or mind, while alcohol is just a ticket to the crazy train for some.
The abuse of psychotropics is a different thing, as I was writing about soma-influencing drugs, although some crazy bastards mess around with insulin to get some kind of high going.
“Girls will be boys and boys will be girls
It’s a mixed up muddled up shook up world…”…Ray Davies
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MichaelG said on December 22, 2009 at 5:35 pm
“Drinker” and “Drinking” are two very big, very colored, scare inducing words that cover vast amounts of territory. Just what or who is a “Drinker”? What is “Drinking”?
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Deborah said on December 22, 2009 at 5:38 pm
Sue that link is an eye opener. Just like people who choose and stay employed because of health benefits even if the jobs are not satisfying, why is this welfare/farm subsidy for rich folks (and politicos to boot) not something we hear more about? Where are the Dems on these issues?
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kayak woman said on December 22, 2009 at 6:29 pm
THANK YOU for the Roomba cat link! I saw a cartoon in the New Yorker a while back about a YouTube roomba-riding cat. It had me absolutely cracking up even though I never took the time to go out and search for the video. Actually, being a cartoon, I wondered if the video existed. Laughing out loud. That is all.
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on December 22, 2009 at 6:52 pm
Prescription drug abuse usually involves variations & home-brew modifications, like grinding and snorting, which is why my oxycodone has next to no street value, but oxycontin does (if you mortar & pestle it up, and whiff the stuff, it has full effect right now, while oxycodone still won’t hit you all at once no matter what you do to the pills). Ditto ritalin, which reputedly has an interesting effect ground and snorted that has no relation to what it does when normally ingested.
Pain & anti-anxiety meds get used in a wide variety of off-books ways in the average American home, as do crop subsidies. I’d love to see all of them go away (crop subsidies, that is); the average state Farm Bureau operation tends to be to the right of National Review, and is passionate in their defense of crop subsidies and their horror of archaeology.
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Holly said on December 22, 2009 at 9:50 pm
Talk about using whiskey as medicine. My Father in Law was born in Italy. As a child, his mother would give him whiskey when he got sick. It was considered medicine back then.
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Kirk said on December 22, 2009 at 10:55 pm
Remember Cocaine-Cola.
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Denice B. said on December 23, 2009 at 12:48 am
There are lots of Roomba-riding cats, ferrets and other things. The cat smacking the pitbull was so funny. People think that if they take vitamins, the other ways they abuse their bodies won’t matter. Like a Diet Coke after a hugely fattening buffet meal.
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DEdelstein said on December 27, 2009 at 11:51 pm
Whenever I’m seriously drinking, I always go out and buy the mega-B supplements and vitamin-and-mineral liver detoxifiers. Because, you know, it’s something else to ingest.
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