Arts and Lectures Series

This evening the UCSB Arts and Lectures Series had a showing of "The Diving Bell and The Butterfly"

"From acclaimed artist and director Julian Schnabel, this is the remarkable true story of Jean-Dominique Bauby, a successful and charismatic editor-in-chief of French Elle. who believes he is living life to the fullest when a sudden stroke leaves him in a life altered state. While the physical challenges of Bauby's fate leave him with little hope for the future, he begins to discover how his life's passions, his rich memories and his newfound imagination can help him achieve a life without boundries."

The movie was very well done and tells an amazing story. It's amazing to think that this man was able to accomplish what he did in the condition he found himself in and had the drive to make it happen. It makes one think about how they would react if in a similar situation.

From the Portfolio of Ansel Adams

Off the radar...

"My Brother is an Only Child"

Cute and Cuddly

From the Portfolio of Andy Everson

"Eyes on the Prize"

Political Toons of the Day

"Young at Heart"

This looks so awesome! Heather this is a must see for you!


Oh and here's a bonus:

"The Visitor"

This is another one of those off the radar movies that I want to see:

Out to the Movies: Under the Same Moon

On Sunday David and I decided to go to the movies. The choices were "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" or "Under the Same Moon". I elected for the latter. I credit David with expanding my taste in movies. I used to go for all the comedy, action, and adventure movies, but I've come to realize that I actually and totally enjoy movies that are more "artsy". I've come to like foreign films with subtitles, and movies that are a little off the radar. This is one of those movies.

In the words of David "It was cute." David is right it is a very cute movie. The movie revolves around the relationship between a mother and her son that are separated by the US-Mexico border and the little boy's(Carlitos) struggle to reunite with his mother (Rosario) in America. This movie brings to light some complicated issues as we follow Carlitos in his journey like illegal immigrants and the dangers of crossing the border. I enjoyed the movie even if it had a storybook ending, but that's exactly what I was hoping for the entire movie, and I wasn't sure it was going to happen till the end. This movie might not appeal to everyone but I definitely think it is worth the ticket price.

Arts and Lectures Series

Okay, I admit it! I've totally fallen off the blogging wagon the past couple of weeks. Here's to my renewed commitment!

Last week David, Rob and myself went to one of the wonderful Arts and Lectures programs that run throughout each term. This particular lecture focused on the Middle East. Each speaker did a 40-45 minute presentation about their current books followed by what was supposed to be a 20-25 minute panel discussion/conversation that ended up lasting an hour.
The entire evening was very enlightening and extremely interesting.

The first speaker was Steve Coll:

Steve Coll: The Bin Ladens – An Arabian Family in the American Century
Two time Pulitzer Prize-winner and author of the national bestseller Ghost Wars and the forthcoming The Bin Ladens, Steve Coll presents the story of the Bin Laden family’s rise to power and privilege, revealing new information to show how American influences changed the family and how one member’s rebellion changed America. President of The New America Foundation, Coll writes for The New Yorker and served for more than 20 years as a reporter and ultimately as managing editor of The Washington Post.

What I enjoyed most about Steve's presentation was the family background that he presented about the Bin Laden family. In all the media outlets we only hear about Osama and his anti-americanism. Although, I do not agree or condone the actions that he has taken, is taking, and plans to take I did find it interesting learning about his father, brother, and family. Our parents always help shape and influence us into the people we become later in life. I liked how Steve approached this topic and bringing to light the family background of the Bin Ladens' to give the audience more insight into the number one enemy of the state.

The next speaker was Robin Wright:

Robin Wright: Dreams and Shadows – The Future of the Middle East
National Magazine Award-winner Robin Wright has reported from more than 140 countries on six continents, covering U.S. Foreign Policy for The Washington Post and The New York Times among others. She has covered every major political change in the Middle East, from the rise of militant Islam to the war in Iraq, and authored several books including the newly-released Dreams and Shadows, which weighs the prospects and perils of change in the Middle East that will most absorb and challenge the world for the next generation.

I especially enjoyed Robin's lecture! Robin said that scholars always say that progress and change will never happen to the Middle East because there are no Ghandi's. Mandella's, or Martin Luther King's to inspire change. Robin disagrees and she gave numerous examples. I thoroughly enjoyed hearing her stories of advocates for change that are fighting for progress and change in places that seem impossible. These types of tales are right up my alley. As most of you know from my previous posts and my reading docket I love reading about people placed in extraordinary situations. The running theme of Robin's presentation was that change maybe slow but there is a beacon of light shining in the region, and that shining light is the hope of change. Although we may not hear about them in the news or on television their are people in these faraway places that are working peacefully for change in the region.

From the Portfolio of Andy Everson

"Silence"

I felt the Earth Move...

Here I am just sitting in my apartment watching some Best week ever podcasts when I click over to the Yahoo homepage and right there staring me in the face is this headline "Big Quake Forecast for Calif.". Here's a link to the story.

Before I could even click to read the story; bam!, my apartment lurched and the sound from the window was similar to that of when a door is slammed shut. I cruised myself over to the United States Geological Survey to scope out the incident report. I just felt a magnitude 3.2 earthquake with an epicenter located 2 miles southeast of downtown Santa Barbara. Back in the fall I had my first earthquake experience. It wasn't anything too major possibly a high 2. something quake that just rattled the window. At first I had no clue what was going on. I thought maybe it was a gun shot or something. In both instances it was over before I knew what had happened, but my apartment definitely moved tonight!

The USGS website is actually pretty cool. They have an interactive map where every earthquake in the United States is displayed as well as the world. Click here for the link to the USGS website.

That site will be able to tell you where the earthquake happened when California separates from the mainland!

Fond Memories

The weather here in Santa Barbara got all summer like this weekend with temperatures soaring into the 80's both yesterday and today. This sudden surge in temperature not only sparked many to swarm the beaches and the many parks around town, but also got me thinking about some of my memories growing up in Ohio.
One of my favorite times of the year were the summers when it would get cool enough at night on the weekends that we would have fires in the backyard. I know some of you are probably thinking oh no they burned down the neighborhood. Rest assure, my parents are very responsible people. My Dad dug us a fire pit and we used an old charcoal grill to contain the blaze.
We would sit in lawn chairs and talk till it was time to turn in for bed. Many a discussion would be had followed be a comfortable silence as we each watched the dancing flames before us or the emerging stars of the night above us. What bonfire would be complete without s'mores. I can't count how many a marshmallow I killed trying to brown it on all sides and it just sliding off the skewer into the flames. We would listen to the sounds of the night; the crickets, the owls, the bats flying overhead, and of course Shadow barking at anything he actually heard or thought he heard.

I definitely miss those nights, but not the mosquito's!

Surgery

Last Friday had the opportunity to observe a surgical procedure to fix a non-union scaphoid fracture. This is the first upper extremity surgical procedure I've been able to observe and it was awesome! The surgeon was very good about explaining what he was doing step by step and his assistants made sure that I was in a good position to see all the action. For most of the surgery I was standing on a step stool right behind the surgeon with a birds eye view of the procedure.

Here's the educational part of the blog for those who have been scratching their head at the words "non-union" and "scaphoid". The Scaphoid bone is a carpal bone. Their are eight carpal bones in the wrist. The scaphoid bone articulates with the distal end of the radius bone and the Trapezium bone. For this non medical personnel the radius is the forearm bone on the same side as the thumb. For a visual see the photo below.


The scaphoid bone is most often injured when someone falls and uses their hand, wrist, and arm to brace their fall. This mechanism is often referred to as a FOOSH injury, or falling on an outstretched hand. The scaphoid bone when fractured is notoriously known as a fracture that rarely heals on its own. The reason for this is that the blood supply to this particular bone is not very good and depending on the location of the fracture can cut off the blood supply to one part of the bone completely. With this lack of blood supply the fracture does not heal and is termed as a "non-union" fracture. If the fracture is not treated initially the piece of bone with poor blood supply will gradually begin to die/become necrotic.

The surgical procedure requires an opening incision on the palmar aspect of the wrist and hand to expose the scaphoid bone. The pronator quadratus muscle is detached from its insertion to expose the radius. In this particular case the surgeon had to scrap the dead bone tissue off to get to suitable bone surface for the best possibility of the bone graft to promote healing. Now for the fun part, the harvesting of the bone graft material. The surgeon drilled some small holes on an area of the exposed radius and then bust out the chisel and mallet. He took of a diamond sized section of bone and then scooped out the bone marrow for the bone graft before replacing the diamond bone back where it came from. He then placed the bone graft into place and placed a screw into the scaphoid bone to bring both pieces together.

Often times scaphoid fractures do not show up on x-rays till sometimes three weeks after the initially injury.
Before Surgery:


After Surgery:

From the Portfolio of Andy Everson

"Footprints"

The Return of The Office

Ok so I am definitely stealing this idea from Heather, but I can hardly contain my excitement for new episodes of The Office! We've got less than 48 hours people till that's what she said jokes, social awkwardness, and office shenanigans!

DINNER PARTY
9/8c TV-PG
04.10.2008

GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER - Pam (Jenna Fischer) and Jim (John Krasinski) find they have run out of excuses and are forced to go to Jan (Melora Hardin) and Michael's (Golden Globe winner Steve Carell) house for dinner. When Andy (Ed Helms) and Angela (Angela Kinsey) are also invited to dinner, Dwight's (Rainn Wilson) jealousy gets the best of him. Leslie David Baker, Brian Baumgartner, Kate Flannery, Oscar Nunez, Phyllis Smith, Paul Lieberstein, Mindy Kaling and Creed Bratton also star.

This one has the potential to be an instant classic.

PS: Sorry Heather I just can't control myself!

Cute and Cuddly

Weimaraner Edition:

Out to the Movies: 21

I saw this movie last night with my friend Rob after a Saturday filled with watching a lime green ball go back and forth for hours on end. I had seen the previews for this movie for awhile now and thought that it would be worth seeing. The movie is based on the book "Bringing Down the House". After seeing the movie I definitely want to read the book.



It always seems that the book is always better than the movie and the movie was pretty dang good, so I can only imagine how good the book may be.

San Francisco

I finally got a chance to get out of Santa Barbara and enjoy myself last weekend. My really good friend David and I set out Thursday afternoon up to the city by the bay better known as San Francisco. We were lucky enough to crash on the couches of David's brother Jason's apartment. Thursday night we went to dinner at a very nice Thai restaurant. The food was very good and well priced.

Friday morning we got up and took the MUNI to Powell Street and Union Square where I finally used the Old Navy gift card I got from my Aunt and Uncle for Christmas. The Union Square Old Navy was the largest Old navy store I have ever seen. After strolling around Union Square we headed back to meet up with Jason for some lunch. We decided to head over to Haight and Ashbury to have lunch at Cha Cha Cha. The shops were nice and lunch was excellent. The sangria wasn't too bad either. After lunch David and I did some more walking around and browsing through shops here and there.

Saturday was a huge day. We took a cable car down to the waterfront where we had lunch, found a map and then started making our way towards the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a beautiful walk through Crissy Field and along the bay. We walked about halfway across the bridge to admire the view and then began walking back. Overall, it took us about two hours to make it onto the bridge. On the way back we stopped off at the Exploritorium and the Palace of Fine Art. Once we made it back to the waterfront it was straight to Ghirardelli Square for a heavenly "Quake Shake". I had the milk chocolate and caramel with vanilla ice cream shake. David had the dark chocolate and raspberry with vanilla ice cream shake. After our refreshing shakes we made our way to Pier 39 where I bought a little something for my Mom. On our way to the Pier we came across the famous San Francisco Bush man. Apparently this particular homeless man has taken some tree branches and hides behind them and then scares unsuspecting pedestrians as they walk by. Luckily we were coming from the opposite direction of his game of peek-a-boo! Saturday evening ended with us having dinner with Jason at the Cheesecake Factory and then watching the movie "Match Point".

We woke up early on Sunday had a great breakfast with Jason, packed up our stuff, loaded up the car, and then made our way back to Santa Barbara. I took some pictures with David's digital camera, so as soon as he emails them to me I will post them for all of you to see.

I thoroughly enjoyed my weekend in San Francisco. The architecture is beautiful. Even though San Francisco is a big city the downtown area still has its small town charm. It is refreshing to see a city maintain a quaint feel compared to most big cities that are full of high rise condo complexes. It doesn't hurt that the public transportation services are quick and easy to use. I hope to make it back and spend more time getting acquainted with the city by the bay.

From the Portfolio of Andy Everson

"Serenity"