Monday, February 5, 2024
In bed at 9:45, up at 4 to let Lilly out. 31°, high of 37°, mostly cloudy today. The wind is N at 11mph, 4-11/18. Sunrise at 7:03, sunset at 5:08, 10+5. Solar noon at 12:05, altitude 31°.
Treadmill; pain. Coming up on 24 hours w/o wearing the Apple Watch, the right wrist is still somewhat painful and restricted but not as bad as before. My left shoulder is still bad but I haven't tried the analgesic cream yet. At 11:30 a.m., 31:33 & 0.65, while watching a discussion by a panel of liberal Jews (Naomi Klein, Gabor Maté, and Simone ?) following a showing of the film Israelism. The film itself does not appear to be available on YouTube.
Hanagatami is an almost 3-hour long, psychedelic, surrealistic, anti-war, 2017 film by director Nobuhiko Obayashi. I watched it in two sittings, yesterday and this morning. This is the second Obayashi film I have seen, the other being Casting Blossoms to the Sky (2012). A third film, Seven Weeks (2017), which I haven't seen, completes his anti-war trilogy. I can't say that I 'understand' the two films of his that I have seen, but I suspect that these films are sort of like the painting by Picasso who was asked what they 'meant.' His reply was said to be "What does a bird's song mean." Obayashi was born when Japan was at war with China (and soon with the Allies) and was a lifelong pacifist. He grew up in the Japan which was ravaged by the war and especially by U.S. firebombing and atomic bombing. His abhorrence of war is clear enough and that, I suppose, is what these two films 'mean.' In peace sons bury fathers, but in war fathers bury sons. Herodotus. Notes on Hanagatami: (1) One of the very unusual features of the film is the use of actors in their 30s and 40s to fill the roles of teenagers. I wondered whether this feature came easier to Obayashi because of Japan's long history of Kabuki and Noh theaters with its use of masks. (2) I was struck by the beauty of the actress who played the protagonist's aunt, Takako Tokiwa. Wow. (3) There were many suggestions of same-sex sexual relationships in the film, male and female. I wonder why. (4) I was struck by the foolish gung ho enthusiasm for the war by many of the young men, much like that of other young men called upon to kill and/or be killed in any nation's war. [I see Seven Weeks is available on OVID. It's another almost 3-hour long film, but I'll try to watch it to complete the trilogy.]
I'm grateful for medications, including prescription-only medications. I have come to believe that I am probably alive halfway through my 83rd year of life because of medications, especially statins, anti-hypertensives, and diabetes meds, all of which I have taken for a great many years, plus the full-strength aspirin that I've taken daily to lessen the probability of a stroke after my TIA I'm not aware of any history of heart disease in my family, although there probably is some, but strokes are common enough and I have a history of all the preconditions for a stroke: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes plus the 'mini-stroke.'. And I've never been good at doing the stuff I'm supposed to do to avoid a heart attack or stroke, to wit, exercise and diet discipline. So why am I still alive; I have to believe it's the rosuvastatin, 3 blood pressure meds, and the one diabetes pill I take every day for my diabetes along with my weekly self-injection of Trulicity. On the other hand, in this nation of ours that, unlike civilized nations, permits pharmaceutical companies to advertise on TV and elsewhere directly to the public ("Ask your doctor about . . ."), we often see commercials that, in hurried tones or in barely-readable captions, warn us that the medication that the corporation says will help us may also kill us. So it is with the analgesic cream prescribed to lessen the pain in my shoulder and wrist, Diclofenac:
Diclofenac can increase your risk of fatal heart attack or stroke, even if you don't have any risk factors. The risk may be greater in older adults or if you have . . . increased risk for heart disease (for example, . . . conditions such as high blood pressure or diabetes)
Diclofenac may also cause stomach or intestinal bleeding, which can be fatal. These conditions can occur without warning while you are using this medicine, especially in older adults.
In other words, this stuff may kill you - do you want to roll the dice? It reminds me of a poetic parody I wrote several years ago.
Euforia
Side effects may vary but may include
Bloody stool and diarrhea
STDs like Gonorrhea
Peptic ulcers, herniation,
Athlete's foot. Overpronation
Chronic fatigue & Constipation
Feelings of exhaustion & prostration
Suicidal ideation
Angina & Coronary thrombosis
Heasrt disease, Arterioscleerosis
Flatulence & halitosis
Chronic cough & tuberculosis
Skin eruptions, occasional zits
Neuroses, psychoses, occasional fits
Anxiety & Depression
Nasty headaches & Aggression
Hypertension, not to mention
Fussiness & anal retention.
Some have reported shortness of breath
And then of course there's
Sudden death!
ASK YOUR DOCTOR IF EUFORIA MAY BE RIGHT FOR YOU!
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