Is it acupuncture or is it ECT?

Posted on March 30, 2005 by lambic

I came across this article at the BBC about a study that claims that Acupuncture ‘cuts blood pressure’. I found this a little hard to swallow, so I read on.

What the study actually found was Acupuncture combined with electronic stimulation can lower high blood pressure. So wait a minute, they’re sticking needles in rats, then passing an electric current through them. Is that acupuncture? I thought acupuncture was an ancient Chinese healing technique. Since when did the ancient Chinese have electricity?

Either it’s acupuncture, or it’s giving people/rats electric shocks. As far as I can tell there hasn’t been any attempt to test the electric shock treatment on its own, but the article does say: When the acupuncture was applied on its own, it had no effect on blood pressure. So in other words, acupuncture, that ancient chinese healing technique, did nothing.

The lead researcher, Dr Longhurst then goes on to say: “This suggests that acupuncture can be an excellent complement to other medical treatments, especially for those treating the cardiac system.” No, no, wait, it doesn’t suggest anything of the kind. It suggests that giving people mild electric shocks might have some temporary beneficial effect on blood pressure. The only thing it suggests about acupuncture is that it doesn’t do anything.

Misleading headlines like Acupuncture ‘cuts blood pressure’ give people false hope and keep the alternative medicine bandwagon rolling along. Shame on you BBC.

Foodie Weekend

Posted on March 29, 2005 by lambic

Despite the fact that Jen got sick on Thursday and is still sick, we still managed to have a busy weekend.

On Saturday we had Shatnerian and One Wanton Chickie over for dinner and a movie. We had curried sweet potato soup (onions, celery, sweet potato, curry spices, stock, coconut milk, cilantro) with croutons to start, followed by roasted pork loin with potato cakes and asparagus bundles (an old favourite for new friends).

We finished off the meal with blueberry dumplings: Throw some blueberries into a big saucepan with some sugar, a little water and a pinch of ginger and boil for 5 minutes. Make a stiff batter from white flour, buckwheat flower, brown sugar, a pinch of cinnamon, a tablespoon of butter and some milk. Gloop tablespoonfuls of batter on top of the blueberries then cover and simmer for about 25 minutes.

After dinner we watched Roman Holiday. I’m not a big fan of old movies, but I quite enjoyed it, especially with the MST3K style commentary that sprung up occasionally.

On Sunday we had Richard, Phyllis, Sarah, Clare, Luke and Granny over for a family lunch. We finished off the soup then had a big anti-pasti selection of salami, mortadella, roast pork, provolone, mozarella tossed in olive oil and capers, olives, sundried tomatoes, grilled asparagus and peppers, salad, roasted garlic and lots of bread. For dessert we enjoyed strawberries, ice cream, cookies and Richard’s peach and custard tarts. Quite a feast!

Weird coincidences

Posted on March 24, 2005 by lambic

Last night I had a strange dream. In my dream I was walking to the train station, as I do most mornings, when I decided to steal a manhole cover. I managed to conceal it on my person until I was on the train, when I hid it under the seat.

The really strange thing is this (subscription required, sadly). Apparently Pointe Claire, the next village over from us, has suffered a spate of manhole cover thefts in the last couple of days.

If I wasn’t a skeptic, I might think I was psychic, that I’d had a premonition or a vision. Of course, that’s nonsense; It’s just one of those weird and freaky coincidences. Either it’s a completely random coincidence, or I subconsciously overheard someone talking about the thefts yesterday. Or maybe I’ve been sleepwalking and stealing manhole covers.

The field trip

Posted on March 24, 2005 by lambic

Last night was the first class of the Intermediate woodworking course. We started with a thrilling and exciting field trip to Reno Depot (that’s like Home Depot or Wickes for my international readers). We all tied ourselves to the rope behind instructor Gary, and toting our packed lunches we headed in. We examined the different types of wood and sheetstock, then investigated the bewildering array of nails, screws, bolts and other widgets. After that we were taken around the power tool section (cue Tim Allen style macho noises). Time to add some things to my wishlist. Finally, appropriately, we looked at finishing products. Varnishes, stains, sealers, fillers and all that good stuff.

After that we headed back to the workshop to start work on our next project. Everyone has chosen the same project, which is a small “colonial style” (whatever that means) cupboard with dadoed shelves and a panelled door. My skill with the backsaw has apparently improved, I can now do a square cross-cut with almost no bevel.

I was joking about the rope and the packed lunches.

Take Back the Web

Posted on March 23, 2005 by lambic

Last night at Toastmasters I delivered a technical presentation on the merits of the fabulous open source browser Firefox (click on the image to go get it if you’re not using it already!). I was disappointed to discover only one other member was already using it, with the majority sticking with IE.

After getting a list of the perceived good and bad things about IE from my audience, I went through each item on the list and explained how Firefox did it better. I then gave a demonstration of Firefox (hampered slightly by Windows crashing when I opened the laptop; if only I’d had my Mac!), pointing out the tabbed browsing and built in search features.

I finished with a 5 minute Q&A period. I heard some very intelligent questions, which I hopefully answered equally intelligently.

I think a few of my fellow members will be trying out Firefox. Hopefully they won’t look back.

For a good list of the benefits of Firefox, go here.

Bloggers Unite

Posted on March 22, 2005 by lambic

On saturday night I dragged myself out of my sick bed to go with Jen to the YULBlog 5th Anniversary bash at Zeke’s Gallery. There was quite a crowd already by the time we got there, but Jen managed to spot Kerry almost immediately despite having never met her. She was there with her man John so we spent most of the evening chatting with them. We also managed to have a chat with Montreal blog celebrity, Ed, as well as Jonas Parker, Light Speed Chick and Agency Chick. There were others but I didn’t catch either real names or blog names. I’m a terrible person.

We left at around midnight with Kerry and John to get some food across the street, despite whatever other rumours you might hear.

WTF answer 14

Posted on March 21, 2005 by lambic

If you were looking for the answer to last weeks WTF photo quiz, you didn’t have to look very far. The image snippet is from here, one of the pages of our NZ honeymoon diary. It’s a picture of Ponsonby Pies, a delicious pie shop in the heart of Auckland.

cough cough

Posted on March 18, 2005 by lambic

I’m sick. Blah. I hate colds. Instead of listening to me whine, head over to Jen’s place and help her fight for marital equality in Canada.

Don’t label your baby

Posted on March 15, 2005 by lambic

Did you believe in a god when you were six months old? What about when you were one? Or two?

The chances are you can’t answer those questions. Yet we as adults are quick to label our children. Jewish parents won’t say “We will teach our child about Judaism, and we hope she will grow to up to accept our faith”. Instead they will say “Our baby girl is Jewish”. Catholic parents will send their child to a catholic school, before that child has had a chance to decide his theological beliefs. Christian parents will have their child christened before she has any idea what that means. For some reason we see nothing wrong with imposing a belief system on an unformed intellect.

I’m a computer programmer, but if I have a child I won’t say “he’s a computer programmer”. I don’t want to choose my child’s profession, and I certainly don’t want to choose my child’s religious beliefs. All parents influence their children in some way, and maybe a child of mine will grow up to be a computer programmer, or an atheist, or a Formula 1 fan, or a blogger. Until she is old enough to decide those things for herself, I won’t be applying any labels.

Birthday Love

Posted on March 15, 2005 by lambic

It is my wonderful wife‘s birthday today, please pop over to her blog and wish her a happy birthday if you haven’t already.

Happy birthday honey, and don’t worry, I have a plan for supper!

WTF 14

Posted on March 14, 2005 by lambic

WTF 14 Nobody managed to figure out where last weeks photo was taken. It was in fact the Pitti Grotto in the Palazza Pitti, Florence.

This weeks WTF photo quiz is a piece of a sign. What does the rest of the sign say?

Aloha!

Posted on March 11, 2005 by lambic

A couple of foodie items:

I attempted to make cornish pasties last weekend, and had a minor disaster thanks to some very crumbly pastry. I was left with a pile of dried out pastry, meat and vegetables on my baking sheet. As is often the case in cooking, it was possible to save the situation. I scraped off as much of the pastry as I could, leaving a pile of meat and veg. I threw that pile into a hot pan, fried it for a couple of minutes then threw in some water. The pastry that was still clinging to the filling dissolved into the water, making a thick and tasty sauce. I threw in some mushrooms to add flavour and was left with a very tasty beef casserole type thing. I think I’ll call it pastyless cornish pasties.

A bunch of my work colleagues are off in Hawaii this week attending a conference. Those of us left behind decided to have a Hawaiian potluck so we can at least pretend we are in the tropics. For this culinary event I chopped up a mango, a peach, some pineapple, some papaya, an avocado, some red onion, some cilantro and two jalapenos and mixed them all together to make a Hawaiian salsa.

Done and Dusty

Posted on March 10, 2005 by lambic

I went to my last introductory woodworking class last night. My stepping stool / plant stand is almost complete. I cut out the reveals to make the legs, trimmed up all the dovetails and then got to work sanding, and filling my lungs with pine dust. Now I just have to sand some more, then sand a bit more, then do some more sanding, and perhaps sand again. Then I have to apply a sealer coat, then sand it again, then tint it, then sand it again, then varnish it, then sand it again, then varnish it again. I expect to be finished sometime in 2008.

In two weeks time the Intermediate Woodworking Course starts, with a field trip to Reno Depot! I almost wet myself with excitement when I heard.

Queen who?

Posted on March 9, 2005 by lambic

Apparently I know less about the British monarchy than most Canadians, but despite that Kim and I redeemed ourselves last night after the terrible performance at Monday’s McKibbin’s quiz. We Joined Tyler and Shawn at Hurley’s to become the winning team, narrowly beating Jen who abandoned me to team up with Walter and Karen.

Cara our quizmistress entertained us with trivia from the British Monarchy, Canadiana, Weather, Etymology and all sorts of other trivial goodness, without a financial question in sight. There was a golf question though, but we forgive her that minor indiscretion.

The saddest part of the evening was when our team of four Lord of the Rings fans gave the incorrect answer to “Who was the last character to speak at the end of the Fellowship of the Ring?” (the book, not the movie.)

Approachability

Posted on March 8, 2005 by lambic

Everyone talks to Jen. I’m not just talking about friends in social situations, I mean anywhere and everywhere. For example we went to the dep to get the Saturday paper at the weekend, and the guy behind the counter immediately launched into a conversation with Jen about the weather. If we’re in a bar and there’s an obnoxious drunk around, he will talk to Jen. We could be sitting in a restaurant eating a meal and someone at the next table will start talking to Jen. In line-ups, walking down the street, in shopping malls, on aeroplanes, at gas stations, in the cinema, in public bathrooms (so I’ve been told), in the doctor’s waiting room. Wherever we are, some random person will always talk to Jen.

Nobody talks to me.

So what’s that all about then? What makes Jen irresistably approachable and me so avoidable? Is it simply a gender thing? Does being female automatically make you more approachable? I think that might be partially true, but it’s not the whole story. I think Jen has an open and honest face. She smiles a lot and is completely non-threatening. She also probably maintains better eye contact than I do. When a conversation does start up, she has more to say than I do.

Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to be like Jen, I think I would get annoyed very quickly if random people kept talking to me wherever I went. It would be nice though, occasionally, to be sitting somewhere and have someone strike up a conversation with me.

I’m an expert at projecting the “leave me alone, don’t talk to me” aura, which is very useful sometimes, but I’d also like to be able to project the “ok I’m a bit bored and wouldn’t mind a bit of a chat” aura. How does one do that?

Geek Joke

Posted on March 4, 2005 by lambic

Two strings walk into a bar.

The first string says “Hello, I’d like a rum and cokerhe 7954454gh2 kjn.,.43>>[][]21?24

The second string says “You’ll have to excuse my friend, he’s not null-terminated.”

Well I thought it was funny.

The lights go out…

Posted on March 4, 2005 by lambic

The 2005 Formula 1 season has started with the first practice sessions in Melbourne, Australia. It looks like McClaren are going to be strong, taking three of the five fastest places. Pedro de la Rosa, the McClaren test driver, was fastest, beating Kimi by three tenths.

Minardi were not on track. It looks like they may not race thanks to Ferrari’s arrogance and obstinance. Paul Stoddart is threatening court action, but I’m not sure what his legal basis is. I still don’t get why Ferrari care about a team that doesn’t have any hope of beating them. Update: It looks like he did have a legal basis, Minardi will be taking part in the qualifying session after winning in court!

Some press conference quotes:

Juan Pablo: it�s actually pretty good, it�s been really good. It�s been a good time for adaptation … the car is pretty good to drive … it suited to me so it was good … I think both approaches are pretty good … [relationship with Kimi] is good … We both really enjoyed riding bikes and stuff, so it�s good.

Well that’s, umm, good, then.

Q: Given [Minardi] are not a threat can you see any reason why they should be excluded?
MS: If .. you play soccer?

Q: I used to..
MS: Imagine there is a new rule in soccer and you always play with ten people and there is always one team that is not doing very well, would you accept they play with 11 or more people�?

Q: If they were effectively playing with their hands tied behind their back already, yeh.
MS: I don�t think it is a serious subject to discuss.

Got you there didn’t he Michael?

My predictions for the season:

Ferrari will struggle to remain dominant and Michael will get desperate, either making mistakes or cheating.
Jenson Button will win the British Grand Prix.
Juan and Kimi will be at each other’s throats by the third race.
Williams will blame Nick Heidfeld for everything that goes wrong.
Fisichella will out-perform Alonso.
Jacques won’t get near the podium.
David Coulthard will go into rehab for Red Bull addiction.
Ralf Schumacher won’t shut up about how crap Williams were and how great Toyota are.
Narain Karthikeyan will crash. A lot.
Juan and Michael will take each other out at least once.
Michael Schumacher will come second in the Driver’s Championship.
Ferrari will win the Constructor’s Championship purely on reliability.

It’s a stepping stool!

Posted on March 3, 2005 by lambic

Last night I finished all the cutting for my shaker style step stool and glued it all together. My dovetail joints were satisfyingly tight and everything came out more or less square and looking as it should. After leaving it in vices for an hour it was glued enough to take it home, gently.

I showed Jen, and she was quite impressed. Obviously it’s not finished yet, it still needs sanding and tidying up and finishing, but it does look like a step stool. Then we had this conversation, which is the perfect illustration of men and women being very different:

Me: So what do you think?
Jen: I like it. Maybe we can put plants on it.
Me: It’s a step stool! It’s for stepping on. You can use it to reach the high stuff in the kitchen.
Jen: Yeah… or I could put plants on it.
Me: ok then.

The 3rd Circle of Skeptics