Author: James Amos

I'm a retired consult-liaison psychiatrist. I navigated the path in a phased retirement program through the hospital where I was employed. I was fully retired as of June 30, 2020. This blog chronicles my journey.

The Svengoolie Movie the Leech Woman and What About the Pineal Gland?

OK, so I watched the Svengoolie movie, “The Leech Woman” a couple of weeks ago and I think I missed the part where the June Talbot was told that the potion containing the pineal gland secretion and powdered flower parts entailed the requirement that the pineal gland secretion should come from a man. You can read the Wikipedia plot summary for background and watch the movie for free on the internet archive.

Leave aside for the moment that the film tries to make you think you can have easy access to the pineal gland through the back of the neck using a sharp point on a ring. Of course it’s deep inside the brain.

What I don’t remember is whether or not June was ever told that the pineal gland secretion has to come from a man in order to reverse aging. It won’t work if it comes from a woman. Aside from devaluing women in general, it was never clear to me that June was ever told that by Malla, the African woman who is over 150 years old but looks like she’s 20 when she gets her shot of pineal and petal.

I’ve looked on the internet for reviews which mention the mistake June makes when she murders her lawyer’s fiancée who is unhappy that June managed to easily seduce him. She’s so unhappy she threatens June with a pistol in a confrontation that gets rather comically violent, resulting a in struggle leading to June stabbing the fiancée in the back of the neck, obviously in an effort to get the priceless pineal juice.

What’s weird about this (other than the obviously ridiculous premise that pineal glands have anything to do with aging or rejuvenation) is that June apparently either forgets or never realized that the pineal stuff has to come from a male to be effective.

What’s even more puzzling is that, before assaulting a woman for the pineal fluid, June had adopted a predatory strategy to pop the pineals of several men, leading you to believe she knew the source had to be a man.

So, is this an example of dementia or stupidity?

The United States Postal Service is in Code 101 Lockdown!

No matter what I do, the USPS Change of Address (COA) snafu team makes the situation worse. It reminds me of this scene in Men in Black 2 in which the MIB headquarters goes into something called Code 101 Lockdown. Agents J & K return to headquarters and Agent J fires a sort of space cannon into the front door.

This leads to just about everything outside (including a hot dog stand) getting sucked into the building. The verbal exchange between agents goes something like this:

Agent K: “Code 101 Lockdown!”

Agent J: “I know, I know! The building gets pressurized. Nothin’ in, nothin’ out. I knew that.”

OK, so the movie gets it wrong. The scientists would say that if a closed system is “pressurized” that means from the inside. Technically what actually happens is a negative pressurization or partial vacuum, because everything gets sucked inside the building.

The situation at the USPS is in Code 101 lockdown because it has sucked in both my online and paper requests for Change of Address (COA) and also has not refunded me the $1.10 they charged my credit card before the system failed to give me a confirmation code for the COA. By the way, that’s backward. The right way for the USPS to do that would be confirm that my input is correct—and only then charge me.

No matter what I try to enter into the dysfunctional USPS system in order to right the wrong, it just gets vacuumed into the system and no definitive solution gets out.

I don’t remember how the lockdown in MIB 2 got solved. And I don’t know how to resolve the USPS lockdown. Maybe get the worm guys to shut down their power?

UPDATE: As of July 2, 3024, the USPS snag may be on its way to being resolved.

Big Mo Pod Show: “Absorbing Influences”

I listened to the Big Mo Blues Show last Friday night on June 21, 2024 and wouldn’t you know, he was recorded. He wasn’t there live that night but as usual he put on a great show of blues music.

And I listened to the Big Mo Pod Show a few days later, and the theme was Absorbing Influences. Very thought provoking. The choice of tunes was interesting and Big Mo pretty much got them all identified. He usually does.

I can’t remember all the tunes he played on June 21st, but as usual, I had a different perspective about the selection for the podcast. I think I heard a Catfish Keith number on the Big Mo Blues Show, which I can’t remember too well and furthermore, don’t quite understand. It was “I Don’t Know Right from Wrong.”

And I’ll throw you another curve. That’s not the number I want to talk about in terms of the absorbing influence theme. Briefly, it just means that many blues artists get influenced by a musician they really like, pick up on what they learn from a song and gradually make it their own.

I think Catfish Keith was influenced by Son House, who sang a song called “A True Friend is Hard to Find.” Catfish Keith absorbed the music, and did his own version which I recently heard. I think it’s a gospel number. Memorable lines include:

“Bear this in mind, a true friend is hard to find.”

It’s true. You have a real treasure if you ever find one.

Take Out Wrenched Ankle

Early this month, I was reminded of the old Operation game (some of us remember the TV commercial) when I wrenched my left ankle. It was the lateral malleolus, to be anatomically correct about it.

I was dismantling a bedstead. It’s kind of an old-fashioned piece and the headboard was pretty heavy. I was removing the side rails. I thought they were hooked to slots in the headboard and footboard and the parts would stay together after I unscrewed the side rails.

They weren’t and they didn’t.

I was facing the footboard removing the last screw from the side rail. I didn’t see the headboard falling when it struck the outer aspect of my left ankle with a loud bang on the joint flexed in sort of a sprinter’s starting posture. Surprise!

I was able to walk with a slight limp. It was swollen and bruised, but I could still put my shoes and socks on. I could even do a left one leg stand for a few seconds.

The swelling is down but still noticeable. It’s much less painful. I thought I could go without seeing a doctor because I could walk on it without limping. I eventually saw a web article about this kind of injury which pointed out that in some cases you can still walk on a broken ankle.

I may be in denial, but I’m betting it’s sprained. The moral of the story is that you should always have a spotter with you to hang onto potentially unstable heavy objects like headboards.

CDC ACIP Recommendations for Covid 19 Vaccine for 2024

The CDC ACIP recommended implementation of the 2024 Covid-19 vaccine and the timeline is in the implementation slide set. CDC plans to use CDC Everything messages. Insurance plans, including Medicare, will cover the cost.

Annual Kickball Challenge Tonight: Psychiatry Residents vs Faculty

I almost forgot to announce the annual KickBall Challenge, which is tonight! This used to be called Matball, but is now called Kickball.

It starts with pizza at 6 pm and then the barfing starts at 7 pm. Just kidding! Usually this event is marked by extreme heat and humidity, but I gather it may be almost balmy by comparison tonight-around 78 degrees.

What’s the difference between matball and kickball? I think it’s the use of large mats for bases and that is usually played indoors. The size of the bases during the first match was like the one in the photo below. It rained briefly, but then it cleared off so the humidity only felt like it was raining.

I never actually played in a game of matball/kickball. In fact, I took it easy because the temperature was usually in the mid-90s at least.

The faculty team losers in the first matball/kickball match were accused of suspending the resident team trophy in Jello. I refuse to answer any questions about the issue on the grounds it may incriminate me.

Other special rules apply as usual, at least I assume:

For every point the residents score, faculty automatically score 5.

Faculty may tackle the base runner at any time.

If it rains, faculty win by 10 points.

The games are fun to watch. Residents jumping over faculty; Faculty collapsing from pizza overload or heat stroke.

Just win, baby.

CDC Advisory Committee Makes New Recommendations for RSV Vaccine

I looked at one slide set for the Respiratory Syncitial Virus (RSV) vaccine. I didn’t watch the meeting. The ACIP Adult RSV Work Group Clinical Considerations powerpoint presentation recommend transitioning away from the shared clinical decision-making (SCDM) component for getting the RSV vaccine.

Slide 4 seems clear:

“All adults aged 75 years and older should get a single dose of RSV vaccination.

All adults aged 60-74 years and with certain chronic medical conditions or other factors that increase the risk of severe RSV disease should receive a single dose of RSV vaccination.

These recommendations would replace the SCDM recommendation, meaning that adults aged 60-74 years without risk factors for severe RSV vaccine, are no longer recommended to receive RSV vaccination.”

Stat News has a report which includes comments on the unanimous vote in favor of the above.