Cincinnati Got Robbed

So, today is a poster day for why BETTING ON MARCH MADNESS IS STUPID.

Also, I'm never going to win my own charity pool.

Michigan State... huhuhuhu 😭😭😭😭

But, the real question is this: Did Cincinnati actually lose???

If you didn't watch, Cincinnati was down 76-78 when a player dunked the ball at the end of regulation. It originally counted (tying the game 78-78) but the referees watched replays and eventually waved off the basket. 

However, here are the official rules about shooting a basketball for NCAA Men's Basketball:

Section 33. Goal
Art. 1. A goal shall be made when:
a. A live ball that is not a throw-in enters the basket from above and
remains in or passes through; or
b. A free throw enters the basket from above and remains in or passes through.
Art. 2. Whether the game clock is running or stopped shall have no influence on the counting of a goal.

Section 71. Try for Goal/Act of Shooting
Art. 1. A try for field goal is an attempt by a player to score two or three points by throwing or tapping the ball into his or her basket.
...
Art. 3. The try shall start when the player begins the motion that habitually precedes the release of the ball on a try. The ball does not need to leave the player’s hand. The arm might be held so that the player cannot throw; however, he or she may be making an attempt.
Art. 4. A try shall end when the throw is successful, when it is certain the throw is unsuccessful, when the thrown ball touches the floor or when the ball becomes dead.
Art. 5. A dunk attempt is a try.

Section 4. Basket
Art. 1. Each basket consists of an 18-inch ring, its flange and braces, and appended net through which players attempt to throw or tap the ball.

Section 5. Basket Interference
Art. 1. The ball shall be considered to be within the basket when any part of the ball is below the cylinder and the level of the ring.

It looks to me like the dunk was good, because 1. A dunk is a try, 2. a try ends when it is successful, 3. success is when a live ball enters the basket and remains in, and 4. that happens when any part of the ball is below the cylinder and the level of the ring -- regardless of whether he had let go or not. Cincinnati got robbed.

Abuse, the NFL, and Due Process

Recently, you can't go anywhere, read or watch anything, and not hear about the National Football League and its abuse scandal. Ray Rice knocking out his then-fiancé. Greg Hardy beating up a woman. Adrian Peterson accused of child abuse by disciplining with a switch.

Somehow, this has turned into a societal referendum on discipline - spanking, specifically - and safety nets for abused partners.

This has made the American people into experts on abuse lately. The cynic in me says "This is wonderful," because, in my four years of taking care of abused children that came to the hospital, we were ALWAYS woefully understaffed with people that could properly tell abuse from non-abuse, and do a good forensic exam, or forensic interview.

The civic organizations we worked with for psychiatric care for patients and parents, the police and state who prosecuted perpetrators, were always horribly underfunded.

I see roughly one patient per week in the ICU with serious injury (or death) from physical abuse. But now, we have almost an entire nation who can accurately perform a forensic interview and examination via the internet. No more CPS write-ups, forensic exams, brain death exams, worrying about serum sodiums or intracranial pressures, getting ophthalmology to come in late at night, etc., etc.

The reality is, we have no increase in experts, on another example of America's penchant for self-righteous indignation without education. I am all for the discussion, when people take the time to educate on the situation, American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations, etc.

But most people don't.

And as a doctor who sees this at least once a week, we must do our job to prove that what we see came from actions alleged. If we jump to conclusions, we do the child a disservice. I've seen more than one child come in with bruises consistent with abuse only to find underlying bleeding issues no readily apparent on a routine CBC.

So if people in positions to report or make decisions are going to highlight this, let them truly become educated too. It's better for the child and future children.

Secondly, I have serious concerns about our society over the last 1-2 weeks. "Innocent until proven guilty," must apply in ALL scenarios in this country, or we end up in the same situation the NFL is currently in - creating arbitrary punishments for crimes not properly vetted.

How many people have been exonerated from death row sentences by DNA evidence? Or new evidence? Or findings of police misconduct?

As much as we may feel certain that Ray Rice knocked out his wife, or Adrian Peterson abused his child, we must let the system play like it's supposed to.

Holding second grand juries is scary - because it's almost double jeopardy that our constitution forbids. If you are a strict constitutionalist, you should definitely oppose Adrian Peterson being tried again. Can we suspend or fire everyone in America when a crime is alleged? There are many spurious allegations out there, or ones done in good faith that still end up being wrong.

No, as much as it might hurt us to be patient, in a case like this we MUST be patient and not crucify the alleged perpetrator until the system runs its course so that the system is infallible, and justice without caveat can be served for the child and safeguarded for the next child. Otherwise, we're all just a modern mob with torches storming to Frankenstein's castle.

Finally, as an organization, the NFL has made a huge mistake with Ray Rice. In his case, the system has played out, he was convicted and given a sentence for a first time offender. Then, the NFL made it's suspension. Yes, it was woefully too lenient (IMHO), but when the video came out, you can't, as an organization, go back and produce arbitrary punishment again. That's where Goodell has major problems. he's just made his justice system COMPLETELY arbitrary. No, the NFL must stick with the punishment it doled, take egg on the face for doing it wrong, and set something correct up for the future.

My concern is not the child defended - yes! let's do that. CPS can take Peterson's child out of the home. We have a court system. Heck, it's here in Houston that it's happening. BUT, if America "educates" itself without true knowledge, then we are worse off than before. I'm glad people are talking, but the media needs to talk correctly. And due process must be observed or the next child isn't protected.

DIY: Idle Air Control Valve

Someone once said, "when you're poor, your save money and pay for it in time. When you're rich, you'll save time and pay for it in money."

Well I'm poor.

Lately my 1994 Honda Accord (4 door LX 4 cylinder) has been idling low - I mean really low - somewhere around 300-400 RPM. Besides the incredible shakes that make you think it will die at any minute, it has started dying as I back out of parking spaces. This problem happened when the engine is warm - starting in the morning with a cold engine got a decent response until the radiator fan came on.

Unable to pay for someone to diagnose and fix this for me, I scoured the internet. I found this post on Honda-Tech.com. People smarter than I had ran into the same problem.

**Now, sometimes all you need to do is turn the idle control screw on top of the throttle body and adjust the idle speed, but I figured my problem was deeper than that given my car's 260K + miles.

This post described how to clean your Idle Air Control Valve (IACV) which adjusts the amount of air let into the engine (if I understand it correctly). A clean IACV gives you better idling RPM and more fuel efficiency.
I'm not going to recreate the excellent "How-To" on Honda-Tech.com, but I will give you some thoughts.

There it is waaayyy in the back

A closer view

On opening the hood, I spotted the IACV well in the back. This made it incredibly difficult to get to - especially from someone like myself who's passably good with tools but not even remotely experienced with cars.

Yes, that's a battery

First, I disconnected the battery because 1. electricity runs through the IACV and you need to reset it after cleaning it, and 2. I don't want to die.

Darn black tube in my way

Ah! Much better!

 Second, I had to take the top off the air filter and disconnect the intake manifold.  I tried for too long to disconnect the IACV without doing that, and I couldn't reach it. It's WAY too crowded and small back there. Taking that big black tube out of the way made it MUCH easier.

Soiled shut

Once I got it off, I easily saw how right I was about the etiology of my problem.

After

Before

 I bought IACV cleaner from Autozone (although I've read that Carburetor cleaner would work fine .. don't know if there's even a difference) and this is what it looked like afterward (O-ring removed during cleaning so it wouldn't get damaged. Don't forget to put it back in!).







After putting it back in, I almost didn't check the radiator fluid. The resevoir was almost dry, because of the lost fluid from the tubes that run through the IACV. Topped it off after another trip to Autozone, and it's idling at 750 RPM like a champ!

The whole experience was awesome, because I realized I can fix a car without breaking it more, I saved tons of money, and it reminded me again how similar car repair is to surgery - without the malignant residency to go through...

My First Clinic

Lang Co is a small hamlet between Da Nang and Hue.

This month I have two different medical experiences designed to let me see the disparities of care between rural and urban Vietnam. For four days at the beginning of the rotation,i will work in a small rural clinic in Lang Co, Vietnam with an organization called Vets With A Mission. They are a nonprofit organization that provides medical missions to Vietnam with a Christian background.

Today was my first day in the clinic. VWAM had their in country representative contact local leaders who sent flyers ands invitations out ahead of time to residents advertising them that we would be providing free medical care over four days. Of course the prospect of American physicians and free care is incredibly popular, and we saw 153 patients between four doctors: family practice, orthopedic surgery, chiropractor, and myself ( pediatrics).

A typical house in rural Vietnam near Lang Co

A clinic like this provides unique challenges. Many parents being their children just because we are American, even though their children have already seen doctors and received medications. Usually the normal Vietnamese doctor takes the week of because we make crowded and siphon patients. We also see children incredibly sick, who have not received care because their families cannot afford it.

The rural clinic where we practiced

Today was a "get the hang of it day," so I only saw 29 patients. Most children came for two reasons: inadequate weight gain and horribly rotten teeth. The chief complaint was " my child is a lazy eater." I am very good now at explaining that milk is not healthy in Vietnam when they mix sugar with it. This causes cavities, which cause pain, which leads to decreased eating and poor weight gain.

The communist government provides free care "in theory," but in practice those doctors are not respected, wait times are so long, that people don't see them. They go instead to private physicians, but often do not have the money to buy the medicines prescribed. So, in practice the Vietnamese have a very capitalistic health care system with two tiers, similar to the USA system, and very low access for the poor.

The waiting area on the morning of day 1

The flight over

Korean airlines is the best airline in the world. I hear that Singapore Airlines is wonderful also, but Korean Air is top dog. My wife says I love them because the stewardesses are hot. She is correct ( they employ incredibly good looking people), but that is not all. What sets them apart from the rest is their customer service.

Flying over this time was as enjoyable an experience as 37 hours of travel can be. I had an aisle seat near the rear of the plane and received prompt service for all my needs. More to the point, a few rows ahead sat two families with small children about the ages of my two. One family was just a mother and the kids, and I couldn't help remember my wife's ordeal with bringing our two to Vietnam just two sort months earlier, and how it was made light by the helpful staff.

Many times I saw a steward or stewardess sit with the children while mother stretched her legs or use the restroom. Nobody complained when the toddler got tired and cried. Instead, they immediately brought games, things to help the child sleep, and offered in any way possible to help the young mother in her defensive efforts.

Consequently, thirteen hours later, an entire plane unloaded happily, and with sanity and hearing intact.

Years ago, when taking my son as a baby, Korean Airlines helped us with formula after an idiotic Vietnamese official read a poorly translated copy of international flight requirements. Then, when his bad parents let him fall out of the bassinet, they helped us get to see a physician in the airport to make sure he was OK and not have to worry about flight arrangements.

So yes, Korean Airlines is the best airline in the world ... and it doesn't hurt that they're pretty too.

In-N-Out Burger and LAX

There are few things in life as amazing as a hamburger from In-N-Out. Anyone who has lived in California understands what I'm talking about. I think they secretly put drugs in the burgers because how else could they be so addictive? Seriously, part of the draw is the fresh - almost HEALTHY - taste of their burgers, and another part is the secret menu. It's so secret that even the menu posted online doesn't have everything that they actually offer. Each time I go, i invariably learn something new on the menu.

Well, when I booked my ticket to Vietnam, i realized that I would have about five hours at LAX before boarding my flight for Korea. This had me wonder on Facebook if it was possible to grab some delicious grub while waiting. Thanks to my friend Daniel, who pointed me to a forum about this exact subject, i realized I'm not the first ( and surely not the last) to think these same thoughts.

It looks like there's actually a pretty established way to get there. Following these tips, i walked about 25 minutes with my carry-on, to reach In-N-Out. On arrival, i found the line out the door, and the line of cars out the parking lot. Seems everybody loves In-N-Out. A little ahead of me in line was a middle aged Hispanic woman with a suitcase - i want even the only airport denizen there! LOL.

Of course the food was delicious, and I couldn't have asked for a better finals meal in America. I hear In-N-Out has finally reached Texas. Perhaps I'll be so lucky as to one day see it in Louisiana. We can only hope...

Tam biet,

TweetDeck 2.0 for iPhone

In the new age of microblogging, I spend more time tweeting than blogging. Twitter has become one of the most useful and influential companies in the world, although it has yet to turn a profit.

One of the reasons it has a hard time turning a profit is because it is often accessed by a multitude of 3rd part applications, and one of the most popular is TweetDeck.

TweetDeck smoothly integrates A user's twitter feed and facebook update feed. What it didn't have was a touch-screen friendly, iPhone-optimized interface. So, it was rebuilt from the ground up and now achieves both wonderfully.

I've been notoriously fickle about Twitter apps, preferring to sacrifice Facebook for less crashing, better access to links and pics, etc. with the native Twitter application. I've tried TweetDeck before, but crashes pushed me away.

TweetDeck 2.0 has solved most of these issues and made me an early, but not 100%, convert. However, I've already noticed some no-brainer wants for 2.1.

1. Position support - every other program changes when you turn your phone upright or on it's side. TweetDeck should too.
2. Timestamps - nothing I hate more than opening TweetDeck and not knowing if the "breaking news" tweet waiting for me was a minute or a hour ago.
3. Colors - you have themes on your desktop version. Bring them here!
4. Facebook comment fix - when commenting on Facebook, the screen doesn't scroll with you as your comment goes longer than the screen. Makes it really hard to write.
5. Hashtag bar - TweetDeck has a new wonderful follower bar for adding a twitter handle. Now duplicate it for hashtags.

Alright. Those are gimme additions. Add those and amaze me. For those looking to get onto twitter or get a new app, TweetDeck is on the recommended list.

Happy Anniversary

Thirty two years ago today my parents were married. As all of us married-folk know, marriage is a journey and an experience fraught with ups and downs, elation and depression, wonder, excitement, boredom, and contentment.

It is a testament to my parents' tenacity, strength, moral character, and love that they have made 32 years. The divorce rate in the USA is about half of the marriage rate (3.5 per 1000 people to 6.8 per 1000). And the probability of divorce is staggering.

"The probability of a first marriage ending in separation or divorce within 5 years is 20 percent, ... [and] After 10 years, the probability of a first marriage ending is 33 percent." (Cohabitation, Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage in the United States. Series Report 23, Number 22. 103pp.
(PHS) 98-1998.)

Most sources quote the average length of marriage to be 7-10 years. So my parents have tripled this, and AND beat the 33% divorce probability at 10 years.

Wikipedia gives us this wonderful graphic about marriage and divorce:



This shows us that my parents chose a great state to live in for their marriage. Texas and east of the Mississippi river have a high proportion of counties with married couples. Conversely, the West Coast is dark blue - divorce! On the other hand, Texas is not the Southeast USA, whose inhabitants clearly have breakup issues, because they are the ONLY part of the country with high separation rates (yet low divorce rates). AND Houston somehow misses the high widow rates of Texas and the Eastern USA (the reason why both my parents are still around!).

And so I say "Congratulations!!" May you enjoy another 32 great years. In honor of your example and accomplishments, I leave you this gift, from one of my wife and my favorite relationship movies:

Pride of my Fathers

Two nights ago I set about creating a birthday cake for my son. When I was young, I remember nights spent outside in the garage with my father, working on cakes for the Cub Scout cake auction. "What?" you say. "The garage?"

Yes, the garage.

My father the engineer never made a regular cake. One year it was a windmill, complete with working (rotating) fan. Another time it was an airplane with propellers, and yet another time we made a lighthouse - complete with light of course.

I used to stand amazed at how smart my father was. How could I ever be like him? When would I ever learn all this stuff? (I still wonder this, since he is an engineer and hence infinitely smarter than myself). Our cakes always took first place (unless the took second place to my brother's cakes - also made by my father) and raked in the most dough. Ah, how my chest swelled with pride!

And so, when my son's birthday got closer, and my wife asked me to make the cake, I immediately started getting flashbacks to those nights in the garage. A Thomas the Tank Engine party only deserves a train cake with working light, right?

So two nights ago I set about making my first simple circuit since college. When I flipped that switch and the light shone, my chest swelled with pride again. Perhaps I did learn a thing or two from all those nights watching my father? Next step is placing the circuit properly in the cake and cake board. Then my son can turn it on at his party.

And then my chest will swell with pride again.

Yea Duke! Boo Duke!

Congratulations to a small private school for shocking the basketball world and defeating another shocking, small private school.

Yes, I was rooting for Butler. But, it was a great game and that's what really matters for my non-partisan self. The real championship came in Duke vs West Virginia. That's not because I think WVU is better than Butler (they're not), but because the winner of that game determined the winner of TBE Play For A Cause 2010... and THAT is far more important.

So, the final came down to David and Teach for America or Tuan (Vince) and the Forever Young Foundation. Unfortunately, WVU decided not to show up. Duke won, and so did the Forever Young Foundation. It was a hard fought victory.

With the rules valuing later round wins, even though David came within one game of winning the whole pool, he didn't even finish in the final top 3. That would be Tuan, Dennis (Diabetes Research & Wellness Foundation), and Matt O. (Avon Walk). Fourth was Roger (LDS Charities). Dennis deserves special note because he came in second this year after winning last year, and clearly has performed the best overall during the 3 years of this event. Everyone watch out for 2011!

However, it does me great pleasure to note that for the third year we have a new winner. This shows that 1) everyone has a chance to win, no matter how much you know or don't know about basketball, and 2) we get to learn about a lot of good charities we might not have known about before, and 3) we get to help people. What a wonderful life we have.

So, without furthur ado, congratulations to the Forever Young Foundation. the $120 pot is the most raised in this pool to date, and I'm sure it will go to a worthy cause. See everyone next year!

Mirror, Mirror, On the Wall

This morning, while doing P90X, my son, who awoke early, thought the scene of daddy doing sit-ups in the middle of the room was hilarious so he jumped onto my chest and effectively ended my workout session. While I tried to do crunches, he hung on like Curious George (who he happened to be watching at the same time), giggling and unknowingly taunting. "Why can't I be healthy and fit anymore like my son?" I thought.


But immediately my flight of ideas landed on this: what does my son think of me? I love my son, and don't begrudge our memory together - even if I couldn't finish today's "Ab Ripper X" - but 20 years from now, will he feel the same? As I've grown and (hopefully) matured, I see my father mirrored more and more in myself. This is a good thing. My father is a great man - honest, intelligent, kind, charismatic. And although my mother can undoubtedly delineate his faults (nobody's perfect), I'm convinced the world would be a better place if more people were like him.

I am currently reading Open, Andre Agassi's autobiography. His depiction of his father contrasts mine.

(p. 35)Violent by nature, my father is forever preparing for battle. He shadowboxes constantly. He keeps an ax handle in his car. He leaves the house with a handful of salt and pepper in each pocket, in case he's in a street fight and needs to blind someone. ...

...He boxes in his dreams, and frequently hauls off and punches my dozing mother. In the car too. ... I'm driving with my father one day, going to Cambridge, and he gets into a shouting match with another driver. My father stops his car, steps out, orders the man out of his. Because my father is wielding his ax handle, the man refuses. My father whips the ax handle into the man's headlights and taillights, sending sprays of glass everywhere.

... Such moments, and many more, come to mind whenever I think about telling my father that I don't want to play tennis.

Agassi's father lived vicariously through Andre, teaching with fear, and setting an example of aggression. Those are things I definitely don't want to emulate with my son. Sure, I'd like him to achieve great things, but I want him to decide what those are.

I guess things are off to a good start. This evening, before my son went to bed, he spontaneously came up to me on the couch and kissed me on the cheek. Then, he said, "TV, daddy!" and turned on the television for me before grabbing his pillow and heading to the bedroom. Now if he just played tennis like Andre Agassi...

100 Books to Read

Obviously I'm not writing much. Why? Because I've spent the last year and half going insane. About a year ago, I went to work in the research lab and I was talking to my professor, when he made an interesting comment.

"So, it's good to see you looking happy," he said.
"Well, I am. I really am."
"A lot of people have a hard time with third year [of medical school], but you seem to be doing well."
"Umm...I think I really like third year much better than the first two. I feel like I'm really learning medicine, and I get to work with people -- no more nose in my textbooks all day long."
"That's good to hear. A lot of students that move to the wards have a hard time with it. Over my years, I've seen a lot of them crack under the pressure."
"Well, I dunno about that, but we did have one girl drop out a month or so ago."
"No, I mean they really need to see psychiatrists. They just can't handle the responsibility and the change from being a student."
"Oh... That's not me. I'm liking this much better than before."

His reference to people cracking under the pressure rang too true then and now. I've been ruminating over it for the last four days. Mainly, I find that doing medicine all day, every day, kills me. I need a release. Mostly, I need a book to read.

Throughout third year, I longed for the day when I could read what I wanted to read, because it piqued my interest, not because I had to. Even medical books -- I used to go down to the medical library in the Texas Medical Center and read medical journals for fun, because I found them interesting. Now those same journals are a chore, because I'm forced to read them daily.

Things turned for the better when my friend posted a list of 100 books on his facebook page. Supposedly the BBC thinks the average American has only read 6 of the 100. I've read 29. But therein lay my release! I'd been wondering what to read to get my mind off of medicine, and now I'd decided: I would read each book until I'd read all 100.

As my fourth year of medical school got underway, I was amazed at how much free time I truly had. Medicine started to become fun again - outside of the required courses, I could study what I wanted and typically had a little free time to read something outside of medicine.

Trying to find the list online, I ran into some other lists. Every list is a little different, but there are many similarities between them, which I think speaks to the strengths of those respective books.

http://artofmanliness.com/2008/05/14/100-must-read-books-the-essential-mans-library/
http://www.time.com/time/2005/100books/the_complete_list.html
http://www.randomhouse.com/modernlibrary/100rivallist.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2002/may/08/books.booksnews

Here's one list from the BBC that had the most interesting (to me) books. In April 2003, by popular vote (one person, one vote), it tried to find the most popular book of all time among UK readers. This is the list in order:

1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien
2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman
4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling
6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis
10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë
11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller
12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë
13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier
15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
19. Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres
20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
22. Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, JK Rowling
23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling
24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling
25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien
26. Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
27. Middlemarch, George Eliot
28. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving
29. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck
30. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson
32. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez
33. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett
34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
36. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute
38. Persuasion, Jane Austen
39. Dune, Frank Herbert
40. Emma, Jane Austen
41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery
42. Watership Down, Richard Adams
43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
44. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas
45. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
46. Animal Farm, George Orwell
47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
48. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy
49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian
50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher
51. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
52. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck
53. The Stand, Stephen King
54. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
55. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth
56. The BFG, Roald Dahl
57. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome
58. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell
59. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer
60. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
61. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman
62. Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden
63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
64. The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough
65. Mort, Terry Pratchett
66. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton
67. The Magus, John Fowles
68. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett
70. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding
71. Perfume, Patrick Süskind
72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell
73. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
74. Matilda, Roald Dahl
75. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding
76. The Secret History, Donna Tartt
77. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins
78. Ulysses, James Joyce
79. Bleak House, Charles Dickens
80. Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson
81. The Twits, Roald Dahl
82. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith
83. Holes, Louis Sachar
84. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake
85. The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
86. Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson
87. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
88. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons
89. Magician, Raymond E Feist
90. On The Road, Jack Kerouac
91. The Godfather, Mario Puzo
92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel
93. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett
94. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
95. Katherine, Anya Seton
96. Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer
97. Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez
98. Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson
99. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot
100. Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie

So, since last June, I've tried to broaden my reading, and perhaps read the books on these lists. So far I've read:

All 7 Harry Potter novels
All 5 Dan Brown novels
Blink by Malcome Gladwell
Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons

and I'm currently reading Open by Andre Agassi.

Plus, my scholastic freedom culminated last month on ultrasonography. There I worked 8 to 5 but could read whatever I wanted, allowing me to study things I found interesting. Since I didn't work nights or weekends, I had the freedom to read Watchmen - a decidedly un-medical novel - to help me unwind. That was a truly great month.

So, as I continue my exploration outside of medicine, how many novels on the list above have you read? What are you currently reading?

Sounded the Klaxon

This morning I was reading my American Medical Association news briefing, when one of the authors said this (in an article about atypical antidepressants):

But, "in November, an expert panel advising the FDA on pediatric drug safety sounded the klaxon over the rising use of atypical antipsychotics among kids, and faulted the FDA for failing to issue warnings strong enough to stem the tide." (emphasis added)

I've always considered myself pretty adept at the English language; surely not the wisest and most talented master, but it has been one of my few talents. I've read numerous books, news articles, etc., and never come across this phrase.

So, on reading it this morning, it immediately jumped out at me. It sounded like a Star Trek character ... and I almost thought it was. My first search on Google returned a webpage talking about Klaxons as some type of alarm in the Star Wars universe. However, I doubted that the author of a news briefing would allude to obscure Star Wars alarms, no matter how happy George Lucas would be, and kept digging.

The next link was a memoir of a soldier in the 1960s who mentions a klaxon and describes it as a warning siren on his ship. This sounded more reasonable, so I took off to Merriam-Webster to see if he could shed any more light on this alien subject.

Mr. Webster calls a klaxon a

used for an electrically operated horn or warning signal

That old soldier was right.

So now "sounding the klaxon" makes sense. Sounding a warning siren. However, I think I'll always have a funny picture of George Lucas in a Sith outfit ringing a bell every time I hear it.

I love (miss) X96

So, leaving Utah, there have been (surprisingly, for me) many things that I have missed. I've actually missed the snow, devotionals, hydroplaning in my car on ice, late nights at Walmart, freezing bleachers for BYU football games, enlightening classes, J Dawgs, mountain biking, and great people.

But perhaps the thing I miss most of Utah is X96. It's easily in the top 2 radio stations I've EVER heard. I never realized how much its morning show, "Radio From Hell," was a part of my day until I moved back to Houston from medical school and didn't have it. I spent many mornings streaming it online while studying biochemistry. Even today, as I finished up my work at the hospital, and went to study pediatrics, I had that irresistible urge to listen to Kerry, Bill, and Gina. iTunes now has a podcast of it, and calls it,

"Radio From Hell is the longest running radio program in the Salt Lake City-area market, and is consistently one of the top-rated programs in the area. ... Rolling Stone cited KXRK as one of the top-five rock and roll stations in the U.S."

Yesterday I was doubly blessed, because while feeding my hunger for X96, Corey O'Brien, the DJ from 2pm to 7pm MST, released ten codes to download the new Nickleback album, Dark Horse, for free. What do you know? I got one! Bonus! When I get home, I'll listen to the new album and let you know how it is.

Who am I?

I finally have a free hour away from the hospital, and I just watched the latest episode of D.Gray-man. That got me thinking about how to waste time -- and nothing's better than trying to figure out what character I am.

So, I found out what D.Gray-man character I am, and then went on to see what character I would be from other anime shows I've watched.

Caveat: Most of these online quizzes suck. Sometimes there was more than one for a show, and I took the character that I "matched" with the most.


What D.Gray-man Character Are You?
Hosted By theOtaku.com: Anime and Fandom


What Samurai Champloo Character Are You?
Hosted By theOtaku.com: Anime and Fandom



Which Death Note Character Are You?

Light Yagami

People see you as serious, stern, and intelligent. You want to win at everything. You hope to cleanse the world of all evil and eventually rule the new world as it's God! You are justice!

Quote of the Day

"The face of sin today often wears the [Halloween] mask of tolerance. Do not be deceived; behind that facade is heartache, unhappiness, and pain."
-- Pres. Thomas S. Monson, Examples of Righteousness, 5 April 2008

*words in brackets [] were in the oration but not the transcript*

April Fool's Day

April Fool's Day is perhaps my second favorite day of the year (anyone who knows #1 gets a prize).

Why, you ask? Well, a couple reasons.

First, it's my birthday, but nobody ever believes me. I remember one year, in high school, sitting at lunch with some friends of mine. High school lunch was awesome, because we had those incredibly long tables with the little stools attached, so we all just sat in big rows and stared at each other while we ate. Of course, this year I was hanging out with the swimmers, because I was friends with a family of three sisters who were on the swim team -- one was in choir with me, another in some AP classes, and the third in my Computer Science class.

So, of course I tell everyone it's my birthday, and everyone starts laughing except the sister in my AP classes, whom I'll call "R." She says, "well happy birthday!" Immediately everyone starts making fun of her -- the typical, "ha ha! You got fooled!" stuff. "How could you fall for that on April Fool's Day."

After she had been severely beaten down by the others at the table, I smiled wryly and pulled out my driver's license, proving the truthfulness of my assertion. It was quite the site to see "R" dish back times 10, everything she had just received.

The second reason I like April Fool's Day is that Google does a great job of playing tricks. People that don't play tricks on April Fool's Day are boring. Dumb. It's like saying "bah humbug!" on Christmas. There's a reason why people who laugh a lot live longer ... but I digress.

So, today, I log into Blogger and see Blogger Buzz's post about Google Weblogs. Of course I know it's fake. In fact, it's not as believable as Gmail's time change one, but it's still good. I start to click the links to see if there's more to their joke, and I got a Youtube video. It's awesome. Definitely the best joke yet from Google. You MUST go there. However, don't say I didn't warn you.

A Rockin' Bracket

Now that March Madness is upon us, and all my loyal readers are going to sign up for my TBE Play for a Cause pool, so we can help people less fortunate, why not take a five minute break and fill out and head to 94WYSP Philly's Rock Station.

They have joined March Madness by creating the ultimate Rock Band playoff. Who do you like? Pearl Jam? Led Zepplin? Maybe it's a dark horse, like Staind?

FYI, the Jennifer Reed region is so stacked, U2 got a 5 seed. Yes, that's right, a 5 seed. Nirvana got a 2 seed in the Spike region.

They'll play two songs from each band at the times shown on their website, and then people text message who they vote for. Winner moves on. Prizes include a 42" HDTV.

So, in the immortal words of Jack Black, "Rock on!!"

College Gets Rick Rolled

If you've never been Rick Rolled, you might not find this as funny as I did.

I laughed straight through the whole video. The guy dressed in the trenchcoat is awesome.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, click this link for an explanation.

Youtube video of College Bball game.

Emmy-worthy Reporting

Today on CNN, there is a video about a man who ran naked through a supermarket and trashed it. Chris Cekot, from WHTM in Pennsylvania, reports, and the presentation is superb. Typically, I have a low bar of expectations for quality, especially when it's MSM, and ESPECIALLY in local MSM. However, this is High Quality stuff.

Watch the video and pay attention to the shots. I especially love the chicken breast and hot dog shots.