It snowed, as some might have heard. All told, Columbia got an average of almost 34 inches, which is some sort of a new record. It’s really too bad I chose a career that doesn’t allow me snow days, for the most part…
a few flakes... (photo by John Cmar)
Otherwise, this week was about the prep for and giving Obstetrics and Gynecology Grand Rounds at Sinai on “HIV in Pregnancy.” The software aspect of putting the talk together was far more of a fail than it really should have been, mainly because I was consolidating slides from several Powerpoint presentations on my Mac, and chose to use OpenOffice to do it instead of Keynote. For unclear reasons, OpenOffice spit out a corrupt file that could not be opened by Keynote, Google Docs, or Powerpoint on a PC, costing me many hours of work. Lesson: when wading into OpenOffice’s presentation software, proceed with caution. Otherwise, the presentation (given with my sable-haired HIV viral suppressor partner at Sinai, Joanne Hayes) went quite well. We reviewed the philosophy on HIV in 2010 (treat earlier and test everyone), the latest guidelines for managing adults and pregnant women (found here), and the need to focus on education and outreach so that women of childbearing age have the best chance of making intelligent choices regarding sex, pregnancy, and STD prevention, and the resources to support them if they don’t.
I was able to brave the leading edge of the blizzard to hit the Friday session of the Maryland chapter of the American College of Physicians’ Scientific Meeting. In addition to reconnecting with old friends and making some new contacts, there were some excellent talks given (link is to a pdf). The annual February scientific meeting is a local gem, and something I hope more physicians can attend next year, weather willing.
Hello Feb 1! Can I pretend that this is the start of 2010 and that January didn’t happen?
And so I shall leave it at that.
Amazon and McMillan publishing had a bit of a tiff over the weekend. While this has inspired much commentary, I will point you to Charlie’s analysis of the business, Tobias’s look at the author-based economics of eBooks, Cory’s take on the art v. money of the publishing issues involved, Matt’s glorious rant in response, and John’s deconstruction on how Amazon is seventy-times seven-times a heavyhanded corporate dick in this whole affair.
Apple also happened to announce a shiny new thing this past week. Ken encapsulates exactly why I’d want one, while Chris examines why the iPad (and, to a lesser extent, the entire Apple product line) are less “computers” and more “appliances”… and why that may be a bad thing.
The 2009 leftover work-glut-that-never-seems-to-get-caught-up-with continues, although the past week has seen premium down time devoted to both Dragon Age: Origins and catching the first stop of Arch Enemy’s current North American tour. There’s more to say soon about both of these, but for now, check out Ken’s review of the former.
Sometimes, life really is about the tiny pleasures. This morning, one of those was enjoying freshly brewed coffee from a mug upon the surface of which was imprinted the visage of H. P. Lovecraft expounding the virtues of said beverage.
I like coffee exceedingly... -H.P. Lovecraft
I had the immense pleasure of winning Tor.com’s contest for Day 1 of the 12 Days of Cthulhumas, which how I came to have this enviable fluid-holder in my possession. I will leave it up to your speculation as to whether or not I am adorned in the tentacle scarf and octopus ornaments as I enjoy this glorious caffeine.
[Many thanks to Torie Atkinson and everyone at Tor.com!]
At the risk of inducing a recursive weekly roundup loop, it seems that Overlords Johnson and Miller are starting up a Friday Minion Roundup feature on the retooled Secret Lair site. Everyone involved is stupefyingly talented, which makes this an imperative thing for you to check out.
Jim has threatened to hit us with a weekly dose of critical gaming links on The Vintage Gamer, and he is making good on said threat. The only thing more interesting and awesome than the information he’s corralling together is Jim himself (which sets said bar orbitally high), so I command you to go and read.
The Secret Lair has been silent for the last month or so, but that doesn’t mean that the Overlords haven’t been engaging in plans most nefarious. The website has a spiffy new design, for one. As for the rest, well… let’s just say that Mr. Johnson and Mr. Miller’s concept of what makes the season festive may not entirely line up with your own.
Fortunately, Natalie has managed to document the holiday insanity in the latest edition of The Secret Lair Comic series, the full version of which is here.
In which I will continue to note all things “cmar”…
The website Cmar-net.org, or Croatian Metal And Rock, has been serving the undoubtedly vast Croatian metal community since 1999. While much of it is in Croatian, the site is intuitively navigable and there are English forums, for those interested in poking about. While I can’t say this is a prime resource for my musical needs, the trifecta of 1) the excellent name, 2) shout out to my European ancestry, and 3) addressing one of my favorite auditory genres makes this site a win.
That, and any place that can advertise death metal, dance parties, and Extreme on the same tour page without any irony whatsoever requires my complete respect.
Last week I directed you to check out Matt’s comments on present day gladiators. The entire thing is resonant for me (for particular reasons I have yet to divulge), and also an excellent starting point for some fascinating sociological and philosophical commentary on us as a species.
On a vaguely related note, today I stumbled across this video from independent pro wresting organization Next Era Wrestling, circa 2005. What it contains is a triple threat match in which one of the participants is clearly my luchador alter ego, El Cmar. The match is bad, and the videography is worse, but it’s worth watching at least the first few minutes to see El Cmar in all of his resplendent glory – in this case, a goofy white guy billed as being from Mexico wearing a football uniform with a luchador-style mask who’s ring entrance music is the “come on down!” tune from the Price Is Right.
Research indicates that El Cmar was active in at least two indy wrestling promotions during 2005, but is otherwise a mystery. While he is likely the masked identity of another wrestler who has (one can hope) moved on to bigger and better things, I would like to believe that El Cmar has crossed back south into Mexico, where he is giving syphilitic rudos hell to this very day.
Natalie, wife of Tee, tragically and unexpectedly died this week at far too young of an age. Laura and I have had the privilege of counting them as friends for nearly a decade, and to say that Nat will be missed is an great understatement. A memorial site, including information about a trust fund and auction set up to benefit their young daughter “Sonic Boom,” can be found here.
You don’t need to know exactly why is this is important to me right now – just know that you need to go here now and read this. I’ll explain later. In case you need a tease:
When there are no more heroes, there are no more gladiators.
Why does it matter? Gladiators are, and have always been, an important measure of a society. They’re the ultimate expression of our collective base desires, our darker angels. Do we choose to elevate men and women of steel who cling to arcane concepts like honor and nobility, or do we just want to get smashed out of our fat fucking consumerist skulls and give market shares to an unskilled Aryan gorilla and his corporate puppet masters?
Matt has captured the great spirit of an important thing, shaped it into words, and made them do his bidding.
