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Aspen Music Fest 101
A front-row seat to watch violinist Gil Shaham perform Beethoven's Violin Concerto in D major, opus 61, with David Zinman conducting the chamber symphony - the final piece on that evening's program - was there for the taking for anyone willing to plunk down a 10 spot.
Reasoning I'd catch the evening performance later, I headed to adjacent Harris Concert Hall for a 10 a.m. Piano Master Class led by instructor Ann Schein. It was $22 - the most money I spent all day.
I had no idea what to expect, but I was handed a program as I descended into the auditorium - three pieces by Franz Liszt and contemporary work by Ligeti that I planned to hate, but didn't.
The plethora of master classes and student recitals over a nine-week festival season are, I gather, a chance to catch the rising stars of the classical world in their "I remember when" moments - akin to seeing the Beatles at the Cavern Club in Liverpool in 1961.
Speaker's corner
Suspected drunk drivers in Britain are sometimes asked to try to say, without slurring: "The Leith Police dismisseth us". That was the Leith Police's only claim to fame until now. Now they are all over the internet after somebody leaked some e-mails between the Leith Police and an irate citizen. The correspondence began: Dear Sir/madam/automated telephone answering service. Having spent the past 20 minutes waiting for Leith Police Station to pick up a telephone, I have decided to try e-mailing. Perhaps you would be so kind as to pass this message on to your colleagues by means of smoke signal, carrier pigeon or ouji board. As I'm writing there are 11 failed medical experiments (I think you call them youths) in West Cromwell Street who seem happy to play a game which involves kicking a football against an iron gate with the force of a meteorite.
FDA Advisory Panel Recommends Against Approval of Merck's NDA for Non ...
HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors interfere with cholesterol synthesis and as such might theoretically blunt adrenal and/or gonadal steroid production. Results of clinical trials with drugs in this class have been inconsistent with regard to drug effects on basal and reserve steroid levels. However, clinical studies have shown that lovastatin does not reduce basal plasma cortisol concentration or impair adrenal reserve, and does not reduce basal plasma testosterone concentration. Another HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor has been shown to reduce the plasma testosterone response to HCG. In the same study, the mean testosterone response to HCG was slightly but not significantly reduced after treatment with lovastatin 40 mg daily for 16 weeks in 21 men. The effects of HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors on male fertility have not been studied in adequate numbers of male patients.
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