Sack Paul Wolfowitz

I try not to get too political on my blogs but this deserves special attention.

One of the puppeteers behind George "Dubya" is Mr Paul Wolfowitz. A true Neo Con, he masterminded the Iraq war and then got rewarded with Presidency of the World Bank. This organisation is committed, allegedly, to ensuring fair and equal financial treatment of all nations, especially those in the third world. Sadly, Mr Wolfowitz, a self styled scourge of corruption, committed an act of corruption himself, promoting his girlfriend from World Bank employee to the Government and giving her a huge payrise to boot.

Is this the man you want leading the world bank ?

Political action group www.avaaz.org have set about ensuring justice is done and have created this humourous and poignant video.

Please watch and then add your name to the petition.



AVAAZ

Robbie Williams' Shorts

Broadcast on Channel 4 in the UK the other night, these are a set of 6 very clever short films inspired by tracks of Robbie's latest (and in my opinion, greatest) CD, Rudebox. Enjoy !







I couldn't find the actual film for Kiss Me but here is the "Making Of" instead...



This one just missed out on one of the 6 winning slots...



There were two more but they don't appear to be on YouTube just yet. You can watch all of these by logging onto Robbie's site at http://www.robbiewilliams.com/

Sleep Apnoea

Whilst bored at home, I have spent man hours scouring YouTube and found the following videos all about Obstructive Sleep Apnoea, a condition I have suffered from for 10 years or so and have been receiving treatment in the form of CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) for the last 4 years.

First up is a short video of a man having a polysomnograph. Watch as he stops breathing, then struggles to take air in, followed by a rasping snore and a pant as he tries to recover....



Next up, a humourous look at some guy's first experience with CPAP. This is what I have had to do every night for the last 4 years and for the rest of my life too....



Here's a spot on the Rosie O'Donnell Show about OSA...



Another personal experience...



A trio of video's from ResMed, manufacturers of CPAP equipment...







And finally, a humourous video from Jack Dare about CPAP sex ;o)



As I find more interesting and informative stuff, I will post it. In the mean time, if you wish to find out more about Sleep Apnoea and CPAP, check out the following links....

http://www.britishsnoring.co.uk/

http://www.sleep-apnoea-trust.org/

http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/articles/article.aspx?articleId=340

http://hcd2.bupa.co.uk/fact_sheets/Mosby_factsheets/snoring.html

http://www.isat.ie/ (especially for GammaGoblin !)

http://www.besttreatments.co.uk/btuk/conditions/36794.jsp

http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/conditions/sleepapnoea1.shtml

http://www.sleeping.org.uk/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/checkup_20060330.shtml

http://www.lunguk.org/snoring-and-sleep-apnoea.asp?dis=32

http://www.priory.com/cmol/obstruct.htm

http://www.patient.co.uk/showdoc/40001277/

http://www.patient.co.uk/showdoc/27001179/ (An Epworth Sleepiness Test)

http://www.patient.co.uk/showdoc/27001175/

http://www.patient.co.uk/showdoc/559/

Hurt

I'll hold my hands up and admit that I have never really gotten into Nine Inch Nails, Trent Reznors musical vehicle. I know he is greatly admired and respected but, for some strange reason, I haven't explored him. Maybe I will whilst I am at home recovering.

Anyway, one song of his I do know is "Hurt" and only because of the incredible cover Johnny Cash did of it. The haunting tune of drugs and desperation was turned into a bitter sweet eulogy by the man in black. The video was a prime example of the power of music and imagery together. It has become one of my all time favourite songs and it takes me through a whole gamut of emotions every time I hear it.

Whilst browsing through a favourite blog of mine, the very arty Ektopia, I found this new cover version of the song by none other than Kermit The Frog !! And it has a wonderful video aswell !!

Now, at first, I expected to be laughing out loud to this one, but as I watched, I found myself feeling a similar set of emotions to those I feel when watching Cash's version ! Yes, there is humour, but there is also some very touching moments, made more powerful by the fact we associate Kermit with innocence, fun and laughter.

Enjoy Sad Kermit and his version of "Hurt"...



And for completeness, here is JC's version....



And Trent Reznor's live rendition... (Amazing projections in this)

Long time, no see !

Yes, it's been a while !

For the last six weeks or so, I've been working away in places like Birmingham & Liverpool so it's difficult to keep these things up when I don't always have an internet connection.

The other reason is that on Wednesday, I had a Septoplasty on my nose and also a Reduction of Turbinates.

Basically, I have never been able to breathe through my nose properly and coupled with my Sleep Apnoea, it's always been a pain. However, last year it started to get worse. So bad, in fact, that at times, I simply couldn't breathe through my nose, not even with my CPAP machine pumping however many PSI it does down my schnozz ! I'd wake up in the middle of the night, feeling like I'd got an elephant sat on my chest. It was initially thought that I had nasal polyps, but when I went to see the specialist in February, he diagnosed a deviated septum and acute Rhinitis. The fix ? An operation to cut the nasal wall, break the cartlidge underneath and re-align it, then stitch it all back together. Finally, a trimming of the turbinates (the things that warm the air up as you breath it in) would give me much clearer passages and alleviate the problem.

Well, the operation went swimmingly. I had it done privately through my companies free health insurance plan, so it was a very pleasant experience all round. I'm now home for 2.5 weeks recovering but things aren't that great. Because of my Sleep Apnoea, I have to wear a nasal mask at night that is connected to a pump. This applies pressure to my airways when I sleep and keeps me breathing. But when you have an op on your nose and the fecker swells up inside and gets very congested, this nasal mask is as good as useless. The first night after the op wasn't good, but then I was in a High Dependency Unit, wired up to all sorts of monitoring devices, and I had a nurse sat with me at all times. It was the second night that was the killer.

Not being able to use my mask meant that I was in for a rough night's sleep anyway, but being unable to breath through my nose meant that everything was going through my mouth and with my constant snoring, rasping and coughing, my uvula got sore and swollen, so much so that it was dangling on the back of my tongue making me gag !!

My girlfriend then became my hero as she drove a 122 mile round trip to get me a full face mask which covers nose & mouth and I used this last night.

My normal mask (Respironics Profile Lite)



My new full face mask (ResMed Mirage 2)



What they look like on (No, this is not me !)



Better, but I still woke up every hour or so with a mouth like the inside of a Turkish transvestite camel drivers jock strap !

Of course, my nose is also sore and tender and I know it will get better, but it's really getting me down. If anything, it's the sleep deprivation. It's very hard writing this to be totally honest. Oh, and I am automatically banned from driving until I am back on my CPAP so I'm stuck indoors pretty much for the next 2 weeks :(

So I guess I'll have no excuse posting here now, will I ?!?! LOL ;o)