A must view, for the sheer fun and pleasure of it! Thanks to Roberta, for pointing this out to me, and to Not Totally Rad (a radiologist’s blog) for posting it.
The Laryngospasms (the Spasms, for short) are a group of nurse anesthetists who can really sing. More of their music videos are available on their website.
I can’t resist juxtaposing the end of Dr. Welby’s 1969 speech on general practitioners vs. specialists –
[P]erhaps you’ll remember that one of these after dinner chats was given by a moldy old fig, with overtones of megalomania. And that he almost convinced you to go into general practice. You’ll remember it, and you’ll look at your beautiful wife and your two beautiful cars and your beautiful barbeque pit and for maybe three seconds you’ll be sorry you didn’t take his advice. But then, a beautiful breeze off the ocean will restore you to sanity. And you will have missed a hell of a lot.
— with the Talking Heads song Once in a Lifetime (1980). “You may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile. You may find yourself in a beautiful house with a beautiful wife.”
Marcus Welby was not necessarily the inspiration here, of course. Alienation – and the dissatisfaction that comes with a midlife crisis — pervaded the zeitgeist in the seventies.
Whatever happened to alienation, anyway? Perhaps it fell along with the Berlin Wall. Or succumbed to Prozac. Read more
I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox
and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast
Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold
— William Carlos Williams
William Carlos Williams is part of an honorable tradition in the history of medicine — the physician/poet. He followed the example set by previous physician/poets, such as John Keats, Friedrich Schiller, and Oliver Wendell Holmes (of “Chambered Nautilus” fame). Physicians have also been writers, painters, musicians, philosophers, and – since the 19th century – photographers.
Yet in 1980 the historian G.S. Rousseau expressed concern that modern physicians no longer embodied the humanist tradition of their predecessors. Now that medicine had overwhelmingly become a science and not an art, he claimed, the interests and accomplishments of physicians had narrowed. (emphasis added)
In our century nothing has influenced the physician’s profile more profoundly than the loss of his or her identity as the last of the humanists. Until recently, physicians in Western European countries received broad, liberal educations, read languages and literature, studied the arts, were good musicians and amateur painters; by virtue of their financial privilege and class prominence they interacted with statesmen and high-ranking professionals, and continued in these activities through their careers. It was not uncommon, for Victorian and Edwardian doctors, for example, to write prolifically throughout their careers: medical memoirs and auto-biographies, biographies of other doctors, social analyses of their own times, imaginative literature of all types.
In twentieth-century America, the pattern has changed; only the most imaginative physicians can hope for this artistic lifestyle as a consequence of the economic constraints and housekeeping demands placed upon the doctor …. [T]he diminution of ‘humanist’ content in the training of physicians has lent an impression – perhaps falsely so but nevertheless pervasively – that medics are technicians, anything but humanists. As a by-product, it has nurtured a myth (already old by the eighteenth-century Enlightenment) that medicine is predominantly a science rather than an art. Both notions require adjustment if physicians hope to return to their earlier enriched, and probably healthier, role.
Rousseau’s comment on constraints (for “housekeeping demands” substitute “dealing with insurance”) is even more true today, especially for primary care physicians. A liberal education that values the humanist tradition is also in danger. See, for example, Martha Nussbaum’s Not For Profit
But Rousseau’s assessment that physicians lack artistic interests is simply not true. Physicians continue to be prolific in their contributions to the ‘humanist’ tradition, most visibly as writers.
Here’s an interesting observation on the associations between musical instruments and social class. It’s from Paul Fussell’s Class: A Guide Through the American Status System
There seems no place where hierarchical status-orderings aren’t discoverable. Take musical instruments. In a symphony orchestra the customary ranking of sections recognizes the difficulty and degree of subtlety of various kinds of instruments: strings are on the top, woodwinds just below, then brass, and, at the bottom, percussion. On the difficulty scale, the accordion is near the bottom, violin near the top.
Another way of assigning something like “social class” to instruments is to consider the prestige of the group in which the instrument is customarily played. As the composer Edward T. Cone says, “If you play a violin, you can play in a string quartet or symphony orchestra, but not in a jazz band and certainly not in a marching band. Among woodwinds, therefore, flute, and oboe, which are primarily symphonic instruments, are ‘better’ than the clarinet, which can be symphonic, jazz, or band. Among brasses, the French horn ranks highest because it hasn’t customarily been used in jazz. Among percussionists, tympani is high for the same reason.” And (except for the bassoon) the lower the notes an instrument is designed to produce, in general the lower its class, bass instruments being generally easier to play. Thus a sousaphone is lower than a trumpet, a bass viol lower than a viola, etc.
If you hear “my boy’s taking lessons on the trombone,” your smile will be a little harder to control than if you hear “My boy’s taking lessons on the flute.” On the other hand, to hear “My boy’s taking lessons on the viola da gamba” is to receive a powerful signal of class. the kind attaching to antiquarianism and museum, gallery, or “educational” work.
Guitars (except when played in “classical” – that is, archaic – style) are low by nature, and that is why they were so often employed as tools of intentional class degradation by young people in the 1960s and ‘70s. The guitar was the perfect instrument for the purpose of signaling these young people’s flight from the upper-middle and middle classes, associated as it is with Gypsies, cowhands, and other personnel without inherited or often even earned money and without fixed residence.
Not sure I agree with that. Guitars were used in the sixties because they allowed the musician to sing (something you certainly can’t do with a wind instrument), and guitar playing in the sixties was often about group singing.
Source: The Huffington Post
February has been American Heart Month since 1963, and it’s surely no coincidence that February features Valentine’s Day. For the American Heart Association, it’s a month devoted to increasing public awareness of heart health and raising money.
In support of such a good cause, a gentleman from Ohio (Jeff Ondash) raised money for heart health by giving away free hugs outside a Las Vegas casino. After 7,777 hugs in 24 hours, he had surpassed the previous Guinness record of 5,000. Mr. Ondash, who is 51, was motivated by the memory of his father and brother, who died prematurely of heart problems.
Part two of this post discussed disillusion with the idea of progress and a yearning for a higher purpose. How did we end up in this unsatisfactory situation and is there hope that things will change for the better?
I recently read Robert Reich’s book Supercapitalism
Supercapitlaism refers to the technological, globalized, deregulated, and privatized economy of the present. Under supercapitalism, politics is dominated by business firms and financiers who successfully lobby government to act in their narrow interests. Meanwhile, this leaves no one responsible for the broader public interest.
Source: Wunderground
Warm Up
o Michael Buble – I’ve got you under my skin
o Jamie Cullum – These are the days
o Linda Ronstadt – That’ll be the day
Stretch
o Willie Nelson – Stardust
o Willie Nelson – Georgia on my mind
Circle
o Greencards – The Ghost of who we were
o Keb Mo – Closer
Across the Floor
o Madonna – Holiday
o Ritchie Valens – La Bamba
On the Floor
o Ben Webster – Someone to watch over me
o Ben Webster – Stardust
o Ben Webster – Over the rainbow
o Ben Webster – Where are you
o Ben Webster – You better go now
Source: flickr
Warm Up
o Elton John – Blessed
o Renee Olstead – On a slow boat to China
o Rod Stewart – It had to be you
Stretch
o Caccini – Ave Maria
o Kitka – Tikho Nad Richkoyu
Circle
o Bello Veloso – Toda Sexta-Feira
o Jehro – Continuando
o Otis Spann – I got a feeling
Across the Floor
o Steve Tyrell – On the sunny side of the street
o Jimmy Reed – Found love
o Taj Mahal – Keepin out of mischief now
o Linda Ronstadt & Ann Savoy – The one I love is gone
On the Floor
o Bach – Suite No. 3 in D, Air ‘on the G String’
o Bach – Keyboard Concerto No. 5 in F minor/ Largo
o Bach – Concerto in C minor for violin, oboe and orchestra/Adagio
o Bach -Violin concerto in D minor/Largo ma non tanto
o Bach – Violin concerto No. 2 in E/Adagio
Source: Wunderground
Warm Up
o The Ink Spots – My Prayer
o Rod Stewart – Embraceable you
o Jason Mraz – I’m yours
Stretch
o Ella Fitzgerald – Reach for tomorrow
o K D Lang – Hallelujah
o K D Lang – After the gold rush
Circle
o Liz Wright – Stop
o Blues Etilicos – Canceriano sem lar
o Paulina Rubio – Alma en Libertad
Across the Floor
o Los Enanitos Verdes – Tan solo un instante
o Los de Abajo – El Indio
o Guy Lombardo – Three o’clock in the morning
On the Floor
o Steve Erquiaga – Pavane for a dead princess
o Steve Erquiaga – Two Preludes (Chopin)
o Steve Erquiaga – Arioso (Bach)
o Steve Erquiaga – Under the Tuscan Sun
o Steve Erquiaga – If Dreams Could Dance
Source: flickr
Warm Up
o Big Bands – You made me love you
o Rod Stewart – As time goes by
o B52s – Love Shack
Stretch – Scarves
o Offenbach – Tales of Hoffman Barcarolle
o Delibes – Lakme/Viens, Mallika
o Eva Cassidy – Songbird
Circle
o Emmylou Harris – Here there and everywhere
o Frank Sinatra – You make me feel so young
o Michael Jackson – Billie Jean
Across the Floor
o Mamas and the Papas – California Dreaming
o Elton John – Philadelphia Freedom
o Guy Lumbardo – Now is the hour (waltz)
On the Floor
o David Lanz – Whiter shade of pale
o Enya – Evening Falls
o Enya – Marble hallways
o Enya – Watermark
o Enya – A day without rain
o David Lanz – Dream of the forgotten
Source: Ellf House
Warm Up
o Rod Stewart – I only have eyes for you
o Rod Stewart – Let’s fall in love
o Linda Ronstadt & Emmylou Harris – For a dancer
Stretch
o Caccini – Ave Maria
o Rachmaninoff – Vocalise
Circle
o Eric Clapton – Malted milk
o Cher – Believe
o Four Tops – I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)
Across the Floor
o Elton John – I don’t wanna go on with you like that
o Fleetwood Mac – Say you love me
o Guy Lombardo – Tennessee Waltz
On the Floor
o Iz – Kaulana Kawaihae
o Iz – Opae E
o Cesaria Evora – Crepuscular solidao
o Cesaria Evora – Xandinha
o Cesaria Evora – Cize
Lisa Thompson, right, with Marion Rosen
Warm Up
o Madeleine Peyroux – I’m All Right
o Kiri Te Kanawa – I got the sun in the morning
o Robert Plant & Alison Krauss – Rich Woman
Stretch
o Tracy Chapman – I’m ready & Save a place for me
o Natalie Cole – The very thought of you
Circle
o Renee Olstead – Breaking up is hard to do
o Eagles – Peaceful easy feeling
o Ella & Louis – Comes love
Across the Floor
o Belanova – Me Pregunto
o Kasey Chambers – If I were you
o Sinead O’Connor – Her mantle so green
On the Floor
o Peggy Lee – Come rain or come shine
o Peggy Lee – Deep purple
o Peggy Lee – The Man I Love
o Peggy Lee – Unforgettable
o Rosemary Clooney – Tenderly
o Bruce Cockburn – Closer to the light
Source: AppuVista
Warm Up
o Robert Plant & Alison Krauss – Killing the blues
o Talking Heads – Take me to the river
Stretch
o Richard & Linda Thompson – Dimming of the day
o Linda Ronstadt, Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris – You’ll never be the sun
o Carl Orff – In trutina from Carmina Burana
Circle
o Loreena McKennitt – Tango to Evora
o Natalie Merchant – Wonder
o Willie Nelson – If you’ve got the money I’ve got the time
Across the Floor
o Nikka Costa – Everybody got their something
o 101 Strings – Edelweiss
o 101 Strings – Fascination
On the Floor
o Aaron Neville – Cry me a river
o Aaron Neville – Come rain or come shine
o Aaron Neville – The very thought of you
o Aaron Neville – Blame it on my youth
o Aaron Neville – The shadow of your smile
o Aaron Neville – Our love is here to stay
Source: AppuVista
Warm Up
o Iz – Somewhere over the rainbow – What a wonderful world
o Neville Brothers – Little piece of heaven
Stretch
o Ella Fitzgerald – I cried for you
o Ella Fitzgerald – I hadn’t anyone til you
o Ella Fitzgerald – I’m getting sentimental over you
o Ella Fitzgerald – Misty
Circle
o Madeleine Peyroux – Smile
o Emmylou Harris – Mr. Sandman
o Jarabe de Palo – El Lado Oscuro
Across the Floor
o Paris Combo – Fibre de verre
o Stevie Wonder – Signed sealed delivered
o Pink Martini – Let’s never stop falling in love
On the Floor
o Caccini – Ave Maria
o Rhineberger – Cantilena
o Debussy – Reverie
o Franck – Panis angelicus
o Elgar – Salut d’amour
Source: AppuVista
Warm Up
o Rod Stewart – Smile
o Pink Martini – Hang on little tomato
o Carly Simon – You belong to me
Stretch (Partners)
o Hot Club of San Francisco – Till we meet
o Linda Ronstadt – Blue Train
o Norah Jones – Lonestar
o Tracy Chapman – Less than strangers
Circle
o Willie Nelson – Crazy
o Lennon Sisters – Sentimental Journey
o Toots and the Maytals – Still is still moving to me
Across the Floor
o Keb Mo – Soon as I get paid
o Jimmy Reed – Found Love
o Linda Ronstadt & Ann Savoy – The one I love is gone (waltz)
On the Floor
o Bach – Air on the G string
o Bach – Keyboard Concerto No 5 Largo in F minor
o Bach – Adagio concerto for violin and oboe
o Back – Adagio violin concerto 2 in E
Source: New7ob
Warm Up
– Hot club of San Francisco – Lullaby of the leaves
– Sandrine Kiberlain – M’envoyer des fleurs
– Brett Dennen – The one who loves you the most
Stretch
– Eva Cassidy – Over the Rainbow
– Kitka – Tikho Nad Richkoyu
Circle
– Bing Crosby – Blue Skies
– Elastica – 2:1
– Martina McBride – Happy Girl
Across the Floor
– Carly Simon & James Taylor – Mockingbird
– Ann Savoy – Lulu Revenue dans la Village
– New 101 Strings Orchestra – Vito’s Waltz
On the Floor
– George Winston – Angel
– George Winston – No Ke Ano Ahiahi
– George Winston – Ike Ia Ladana
– George Winston – Joy, Hope and Peace
– George Winston – Waltz for the Lonely
Source: AppuVista
Warm Up
– Elton John – Blessed
– Jack Johnson – Symbol in my driveway
– Bonnie Raitt – I will not be broken
Stretch
– Cecilia – Prayer
– Massenet (Yo Yo Ma) – Meditation from Thais
Circle
– Jamie Cullum – Singin in the rain
– Bob Dylan – Things have changed
Across the Floor
– Temptations – My girl
– Shelby Lynne – I Walk the Line
– Kasey Chambers – Mother (waltz)
On the Floor
– Iz – Kaulana Kawaihae
– Kohala – Honolulu city lights
– Kohala – Sunflower
– Kohala – Moloka’i sweet home
– Kohala – Highway in the sun
Source: Junjaowka
Click photo for larger view.
Warm up
Stretch
Circle
Across the floor
On the floor
Source: God Hear Me
I suppose I always love all the music I use in class, but this playlist has some of my most favorite favorites – Hot Club of San Francisco, Roy Orbison, Linda Ronstadt. Enanitos Verdes is one of my favorite groups. I use several of their songs in classes.
For the Linda Ronstadt songs that are listed in On the Floor, I remove the introductions with a software program. That’s partly because I also use these songs for Stretch, and the introduction doesn’t work well for Stretch. The complete songs would work fine for On the Floor, though.
Source: TruthSeeker
The Rod Stewart Great American Songbook albums have many songs that are perfect for Warm Up, Circle, or Across the Floor. There are four of them:
It Had to Be You
As Time Goes By
Stardust
Thanks For The Memory 
The Voice of the Violin album has many songs that work well for Stretch and On the Floor. Same for the Secret Garden albums.
Thanks to Theresa for all the music and so much more.
Source: Amazon
A country’s health care system reflects its character, ethics, and cultural values. Politics, medicine, and economics may shape the particular design of a system, but when it comes to deciding who will be included, that’s a moral question.
The United States is the only industrialized democracy that does not guarantee health care to all its citizens. For some Americans, this is consistent with our Jeffersonian heritage of a limited and frugal government. The wealthy should not have to pay for the poor, even in matters of life and death.
For many Americans, however, our health care system is disturbing. 45,000 Americans die every year from treatable diseases because they lack health insurance. We’re the only country with medical bankruptcies. This feels morally wrong, just as some wars seemed wrong and made it difficult to feel good about being an American.
Read more
Some segments of the American population receive excellent health care. Statistics on their life expectancy, mortality, and risk factors for disease compare favorably to citizens of other advanced countries.
What throws off the numbers for the US — the reason our overall statistics are 23 points behind Britain, Canada, France, Germany, and Japan on a scale of 100 — is that there are pockets of the population who lack access to health care and its benefits. The statistics for this segment resemble those of a poor, unsuccessful Third World country. The US ranks 21st out of 21 wealthy countries on child well-being according to UNICEF.
Read more
Source: Timeless Lesons
In pursuit of a good night’s sleep, an increasing number of couples now choose to sleep alone.
Couples who share a bed suffer 50% more sleep disturbances than those who sleep apart, according to recent research by a sleep specialist in Britain. In a separate study, a British sociologist found that when one bed partner moves during their sleep, there’s a 50% chance the other partner will be disturbed.
75% of adults either snore or wake up frequently during the night, according to the National Sleep Foundation. More than half of women surveyed by the Foundation reported that they slept well only a few nights a week.
Read more
Source: TruthSeeker
Click photo for larger view.
This was the first class of the fall semester.
For Warm Up, Renee Olstead (like Rod Stewart) is great for updated versions of old standards.
This was the first time I used Il Divo. I figured it would be too dramatic for On the Floor, but it works well for Stretch.
All the On the Floor music is available on a wonderful album called Touching Beauty
Source: Artie Wayne on the Web
Since shortly after Michael Jackson’s death, the powerful anesthetic propofol has been suspected as the cause of death. Details of Jackson’s final hours were released today by the Los Angeles coroner’s office. Although the final injection of propofol may have been the immediate cause of death, it’s only one small part of the larger and tragic picture.
There are good accounts of Jackson’s final hours in the Los Angeles Times and at CNN.
The sequence was as follows:
10 mg of Valium at about 1:30 AM
2 mg Ativan (an anti-anxiety drug) at about 2 AM
2 mg Versed (a sedative) at about 3 AM
An additional 2 mg of Ativan at about 5 AM
An additional 2 mg of Versed at about 7:30 AM
Jackson still could not sleep and pleaded for the anesthetic propofol.
25 mg of propofol at about 10:40 AM.
Dr. Kevin Pho provides an analysis from a medical perspective.
Read more
Source: Rolling Stone Here are three songs – the first two from the group the Neville Brothers and the third from an Aaron Neville solo album. You may know Aaron Neville from the song Tell it like it is, which was a hit in 1967 (here’s a YouTube version). The Neville Brothers are a New… Read more
Source: Rolling Stone Three more songs I used in class this week: Shakira for the first Circle song, Michelle Shocked for larger leg movements in Circle, and Sacha Nairobi for Across the floor. The whole Michelle Shocked album (Short Sharp Shocked) is great. I use four songs from this album in classes, but When I… Read more
Rosemary Clooney There’s so much good music that it’s hard to know where to begin. I’ll start with something I used today. It was the last class in the summer session for Mountain View students, and I used some old standards for warm-up. If you click the “Play” button below, you can hear 30 to… Read more
Source: Smarthistory A Rosen Method Movement class takes students through a sequence of movements. The sequence prepares the body to move with ease across the dance floor. All movements are done to music, but not just any music. The songs used in a class need to have a tempo that’s not too fast and not… Read more
Rosen Method Movement: Gentle, yet powerful movement and dance designed to lubricate all the joints in the body. Classes help you stay active and healthy, improve balance and coordination, and cope more effectively with stress. Developed by an innovative physical therapist as a way to prevent difficulties before they arise, each class follows a sequence… Read more
