Category: Brief Messages or Announcements

Do Not Lie to Me!

In about an hour (a galactic standard week), I plan to watch yet another rerun of Men in Black. That’s the first one of the trilogy. I nearly always can find a connection with some quotes from the MIB movies and current events. I don’t care to specify the current events because they’re depressing.

The title of this post is actually part of quote from MIB 3, “…do not lie to me!” I can apply this one to just about every news story.

Another quote is often applicable in the daily news, and it’s from Men in Black:

Agent K: “We do not discharge our weapons in view of the public!”

Agent J: “We don’t got time for this cover-up bullshit! Look, I don’t know if you forgot, but there’s an Arquillian Battle…”

Agent K: “There’s always an Arquillian Battle Cruiser, or a Korilian Death Ray, or an intergalactic plague that is about to wipe out all life on this miserable planet. Agent K: “There’s always an Arquillian Battle Cruiser, or a Korilian Death Ray, or an intergalactic plague that is about to wipe out all life on this miserable planet. The only way these people can get on with their happy lives is that—they do not know about it!”

Unless there is something we can do about it, I do not want to know about the Arquillian Battle Cruiser.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

This is St. Patrick’s Day and, although I didn’t wear green today, Sena got me some Irish beer. It’s Guinness Extra Stout. The back label extols the virtues:

“Intense characterful and bold, Guinness Extra Stout is the pure expression of our brewing legacy. Bittersweet, with subtle hints of hops, dark fruits and caramel, this stout is a testament to great brewing.”

That dark fruit better not be dates or prunes. It’s brewed in Ireland.

This being Friday night, I wonder if John Heim (aka Big Mo) will mention anything about St. Patrick’s Day tonight on the KCCK Big Mo Blues Show, radio station 88.3 in Cedar Rapids or 106.9 in Iowa City.

Maybe he’ll mention May Ree and her hand-battered catfish. It’s better because it’s battered. Maybe the recipe includes a couple of bottles of Guinness Extra Stout, with notes of dark fruits and caramel. Dark fruits which are not dates, I hope. Allowable notes can be sharp or flat, blue, high, or low—but not dates.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Catatonia Education Resources

I noticed what is, for me at least, a new educational resource for catatonia. There’s an aricle about it in the March 2023 issue (Vol.51, No. 3) of Clinical Psychiatry News. The resource is available at University of Rochester Medical Center website. They include pdf files and training videos for assessment of catatonia.

There are also links for information about catatonia:

Catatonia Information Center

University College London

The University of Rochester presentation has has demo videos using a standardized patient (a physician, Dr. Joshua Wortzel) and a teacher, Dr. Mark Oldham.

I saw cases of catatonia while I was a consultation-liaison psychiatrist at The University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics and they often had medical causes. My YouTube video lecture on Catatonia, Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome, and Serotonin Syndrome is still getting views after 4 years.

Remember Spring Forward All Your Clocks Tonight!

Today is the day to move clocks forward by one hour for Daylight Saving Time. Well, technically, we’re suposed to change the clocks at 2:00 a.m. on March 12, 2023, which is Sunday.

I usually do this in the afternoon of the day before (which would be today), which drives Sena crazy.

However, today Sena changed all the clock times this morning. Payback?

See this website for more information about which states have tried legislating this time change. Iowa is on record with a bill supporting permanent DST, but it won’t go anywhere without federal approval.

University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art Wins Prestigious Master Builders of Iowa Award

The University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art, won the highest Master Builders of Iowa Award. See the Russell Group Inc. website for more details about the award.

It’s a very impressive space and a must-see marvel when you visit Iowa City.

Face Masks Optional at University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics Starting March 8, 2023

As of March 8, 2023, face masks will be optional for visitors, patients, and employees at University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics.

More Knockdown Furniture

We got another chair—for the master bedroom closet. It’s called the Jasmine Chair. It came with all assembly hardware and other parts. This one was a 15-minute assembly job, which amazed me. However, there were sharp staples protruding from the upholstery, so you have to watch out for them.

Lost Juggling Ball Found!

I lost one of my new juggling balls temporarily this morning while trying the behind the back throw. OK, so I dramatized the video a little. That’s because I got interrupted in the search to help Sena hang our new wall clock.

I had no idea where that ball was. I even considered a wormhole vortex opened up in my office—briefly.

But the place I finally found it was just where I’ve dropped juggling balls before—on one of my bookshelves.

New 12 Panel Juggling Balls!

I got one of the two new sets of juggling balls today. They are the Zeekio 12 panel, 67 mm, 130 gm balls, which are noticeably heavier and a little harder to do certain tricks with-like the behind the back throw.

I dropped them several times, so they are getting broken in very well!