Tuesday, July 19, 2011

4th of July Highlight

We spent the weekend of the 4th, per tradition, on the turquoise blue waters of Walloon Lake in Petoskey with our dear friends the Smith's. 14 people, 6 dogs, 2 games of charades, many waterskiing wipeouts for Jon. Enjoy.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Good reads, and an Amazing Video

Hopefully you're aware of the great spinal cord research breakthrough (I linked to it last month) of the quadriplegic who can stand independently and wiggle his toes, after having epidural stimulation implants inserted into his lower spine. The stimulation serves to rewire his circuits, so to speak, and is an exciting development in a fast paced and crucial area of research. Here is another link that can potentially answer all of your questions on the procedure, what it really does, and its potential in the future. A sample Q&A:

This technology will really only help the 10 to 15 percent of people with spinal cord injury who are basically about to regain the ability to walk a short distance using walkers or braces.


This comment understates the potential population that could benefit from epidural stim. It came from a prominent M.D., Ph.D. in the SCI field who makes reference to the cohort of very incompletely injured ASIA C and D folks who are already close to walking, assuming that they would benefit -- right now -- from epidural stim implants. While it may be the case that a stim unit could hasten their walking, the potential benefits extend well beyond the small number of almost-walking folks.

Good News!

I found this to be an interesting editorial, and highly relevant as well as it relates to both the healthcare reform and budgetary debates currently raging across the country. Medical researchers are constantly on the hunt for that next miracle drug, but the pace at which discoveries are made is often plodding and usually results in tremendous costs incurred in the R&D phase, which are then passed on to end users in the form of 5-figure price tags on medicines. And far too often, these drugs take an immense physical toll on an already weakened patient, and result in but a few months of added life. Therein lies the question: is a $90,000 per cycle drug worth taking if it gives you 3 months at best of added agony? Obviously it is no one's decision to make but the patient's own (lest Sarah Palin crow about 'death panels'), but if Medicare, the $700 billion gorilla caught in the middle of the current budget quagmire, is truly to be reformed and see serious cost reductions, ultra-expensive drugs that carry little to no benefit should be on the chopping block. Everyone should have the option of pursuing whatever course of treatment they and their doctor agree upon, but 100% on the taxpayer's dime? I don't think so.



Amazing whale rescue....best part starts around the 7 minute mark.


Clark Retirement Community LipDub from Clark LipDub on Vimeo.

Another GR Lipdub that went viral. This apparently took 8 takes to get perfect. See, old people can be cool too!

Monday, July 11, 2011

Amazing US Soccer Win

I can't profess to be a big women's soccer fan, but as with other sports, I try to tune in during the biggest events, when that sport is on the world's stage. Usually, I'll catch highlights here and there, monitoring my favorite player or team's progress until they either make it to the high stakes games, which I'll actually watch, or they are eliminated, after which I'll cease watching, unless there's a hottie on a remaining team or something (Hello, Sweden!).  I sure am glad I was watching Sunday morning for the US Women's match against mighty Brazil, which was for my money one of the most exciting sporting events I've ever seen.

Soccer is a game prone to incredible amounts of tension; goals are rare, especially in games of this importance, but can come at any time, requiring only a few well timed passes or a fatal defensive error. The tendency towards 0-0 or 1-0 scoreboards can make watching soccer on DVR impossible, as an impatience for scoring can compel speeding through the entire game to watch only the goals. But watching it live is another thing entirely, that unfulfillable desire to fast-forward to the good parts serving instead to heighten the tension, because you don't know when the good parts are coming, or how many there will be, or if there will be any at all. Well, there was a good part early on Sunday morning, followed by a few (referee-assisted) bad parts, before concluding with a barrage of fantastic parts that made for an exciting and dramatic finish that people will be talking about for years to come. And to think, this is only the quarterfinals. Get the Cup, ladies!

British announcers make everything seem cooler.