Black Snake Moan is Worth Watching

What manipulators those Hollywood marketers are. I remember seeing the preview for "Black Snake Moan" in the theater and the only scenes that were included were of a young half-naked girl being kept in chains in some backwoods shack. I naturally concluded that the film was some weird Quentin Tarantino concoction (don't get me wrong - I love Tarantino, e.g. Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill). However, despite the weirdness of the apparent setup, the fact that Sam Jackson (one of Hollywood's best, without any doubt) and Christina Ricci were the principals in this movie made me think that, at some point, I would probably see it.

And I did. Last night, I finally pulled off the shelf my copy of "Black Snake Moan", for which Roeper and Ebert have given "two thumbs way up". All I can say is, outstanding movie.

Ultimately, despite the flaky way in which this movie was marketed (not a bad idea to show Christina Ricci in her underwear if you want to draw in the 18-22 crowd; however, this movie is more sophisticated than your average beer swizzler fare), this is a film about redemption and forgiveness. In other words, its emotionally a lot deeper than I would have thought based on its promotion and I found it very satisfying. And, of course, there's a heavy blues music component to it, making it even better (I will probably search for the soundtrack today).

Added bonus: Getting to hear Samuel Jackson play the blues. Outstanding!

Oh, not related to the movie, but this is interesting. Pork is considered bad for you in several respects. And alcohol, in excess, can be healthy as well as unsafe. What happens when you mix the two? I don't have a clue, personally, because I don't plan to ever try them together. However, if you'd like to visualize the two in combination, here's a good pic on Wormbrain's blog (looks neat, but, most likely, you'd find yourself wretching on the floor fifteen minutes later).

Celebrate the New Year with a Pork Martini

New Year's Blues with Derek Trucks

Lately, I've concluded that I must be a blues fan. Why? I went to see a concert of Derek Trucks a couple of months ago, just to sample new music in the ongoing attempt to broaden myself. Ever since, I've been listening to all his cds on a near daily basis. This is quite an interesting turn, of course, for someone whose musical taste always ran from 70's rock to 80's new wave to grunge and the current incarnation of rock.

However, that a rock fan would like blues is really not such a mystery. After all, rock has some historical roots in blues.

And, if you'll notice, a LOT of rock songs have some really downer lyrics---

"Go on, abuse me more, I like it" - Silverchair

"I'm the man in the box, buried in my shit" - Alice in Chains

"Cut my life into pieces, this is my last resort" - Papa Roach

Not all rock has a dementor quality to it, of course, and for those rock songs and groups that do, it not necessariliy a bad thing. Downer lyrics, in both blues and rock, can have a cathartic or purging effect.

Anyway, here's vid clip from Youtube showing one of Truck's best pieces, that clearly has an indian (not native american) sound and basis to it. I saw this song performed in concert and I can tell you, the crowd was enthusiastic. It takes a while to get going, but if you hang in there you'll see that its amazing. If for some reason, this clip "goes missing", just go to Youtube and search for "Derek Trucks Sahib Teri Bandi".

Orexin A for Ridding Yourself of the Annoyance of Having to Sleep

Sometime ago, I had read that the two neuropeptide hormones known collectively as orexins had the characteristic of promoting wakefulness. I had also read that dysfunction regarding the body's regulation of orexins causes narcolepsy.

Well, today I came across an interesting article on one of the hormones in this group. According to this article (found in Wired and linked below), Orexin A, when delivered in a nasal spray, can reverse the effects of sleep deprivation in monkeys. And it may be used as a treatment for severe narcolepsy.

Amazing. However, the first thing that popped into my head when I read this was..."I wonder how long it will take them to consider the military applications?". And then I reread the first paragraph of the article and realized, "hey, they already have".

The delivery system for Orexin A was developed as a result of funding provided by DARPA, the defense advanced research projects agency (Imagine, if you will, soldiers that trudge on endlessly, without the need for sleep, only succumbing, at some point, to metabolic failure--a scary proposition).

Of course, as the article states, the ability to combat sleepiness by focusing on brain biochemistry doesn't address another issue, which is this: our bodies engage in active self-repair during periods of deep sleep (delta-wave sleep). Meaning that even if an individual could be made to feel completely rested despite severe sleep deprivation, they could still be at risk for physical problems, possibly cardiovascular in nature.


Snorting a Brain Chemical Could Replace Sleep

Up in the Sky...its...a very old cartoon

Last night, I read some old comics I had stashed away. One was a 1986 issue of Action Comics. Anyone who grew up on DC comics, of course, knows that Action Comics starred Superman.

I was taken aback, really, by how much comics have changed in the last two decades, not so much the storylines (amazingly, they haven't changed much), but the prices.

The price of this comic was 75 cents. Try buying one for that price today. Not even in the ballpark. And used titles that have any age on them can go for five dollars or more each. Just for a glint at my own perspective on this, when I stopped most of my comic buying, they had just gone to 35 cents. And for the majority of my comic buying years as a kid, they had been 20 and 25 cents. Hey, I even had some old issues of various titles that were----12 cents! Boy, that sounds like I must be ancient. (Is 42 ancient? what if you're 42 and look 35 as people tell you and you'd like to believe but secretly suspect that they're trying to gratify your ego?).

Anyway, reading that one installment of Superman lead to searching on Youtube for things Superman-related. And here's what I found: a clip of a 1941 Superman cartoon. A little boring by our standards today, to be sure, but interesting, nonetheless.

Homeopathy and Acupuncture

Here are two additional articles by Opal Tribble. One is on the subject of Homeopathic medicine and the other is on the subject of Acupuncture.

Acupuncture, a component of traditional chinese medicine, of course, continues to be more and more of a fascinating topic. As I wrote earlier on this site, a Mayo clinic study found that Acupuncture was useful in achieving improvements with regard to fatigue and anxiety (Can Acupuncture ease fibromyalgia symptoms?).

Here are those articles:

Acupuncture Attempts to Balance the Flow of the Chi

Homeopathy and Restoring Balance