the usual suspect said::11/20/2005 05:29:00 PM :D
Saturday, November 19, 2005
but im missing you
you know I'm such a fool for you
you've got me wrapped around your finger
do you have to let it linger
do you have to do you have to
do you have to let it linger
the usual suspect said::11/19/2005 05:35:00 PM :D
Friday, November 18, 2005
a loaded gun complex cock it and pull it.
the usual suspect said::11/18/2005 08:28:00 AM :D
Deadly 'sleepy sickness' may return
By Oliver Sacks and Joel A. Vilensky
EVERYONE is wondering whether the bird flu virus will mutate and cause an outbreak of influenza comparable to the 1918 pandemic, which killed more than 25 million people. But there is an additional possibility - that the bird flu, if it comes, may bring more than influenza.
The influenza pandemic of 1918 was followed by another epidemic. The disease was encephalitis lethargica, or the 'sleepy sickness', and like influenza it spread through most of the world. Its symptoms were extraordinarily varied - most commonly there was lethargy, but sometimes there was insomnia and even frenzy, sometimes there were paralyses, sometimes mental disorders.
It seemed at first as if a dozen different epidemics had sprung up at once, and it was only through the unifying work of a great Austrian doctor, Constantin von Economo, that all these varied symptoms were recognised to be manifestations of a single disease, the one he named 'encephalitis lethargica'.
Of the million or so people who came down with encephalitis lethargica during this period, half a million died in the acute stages of the illness; most of the survivors went on to develop, sometimes decades later, a variety of neurological problems, including a crippling form of Parkinsonism.
New York was especially hard-hit by the disease, and as a result it became the world centre for encephalitis vaccine trials, all of which failed. The sickness piqued such interest that an estimated 9,000 articles and books were written on it from 1917 to 1939.
But after this, it largely vanished from medical consciousness and popular consciousness alike - no cure or causative agent had ever been found and most of the survivors were housed in chronic-care hospitals and forgotten.
It would take several decades for the disease to become of interest again. When the drug L-dopa was introduced in the late 1960s to treat Parkinson's disease, it was also tried with patients who had the far more severe form of post-encephalitic Parkinsonism. Many of these patients 'awakened' and did spectacularly well for a while, but the effects of L-dopa then faded.
The relationship of encephalitis lethargica to the 1918 influenza epidemic is unclear, but we can no longer afford to remain ignorant about it. Dr Economo saw similarities between encephalitis lethargica and a neurological disease - the 'nona' - which broke out in Italy just after that country's influenza epidemic of 1889 to 1890.
Later research has indeed suggested a recurring association, since the time of Hippocrates, between influenza epidemics and encephalitis-like diseases. In 1982, it was shown that irregularly spaced waves of influenza-pneumonia deaths in Seattle during the early 20th- century epidemic were followed a year later by corresponding waves of encephalitis fatalities.
After the arrival of the influenza pandemic via ship passengers in Western Samoa in 1918, fatal cases of encephalitis were reported for several subsequent years.
In contrast, American Samoa, only 50km away, maintained a strict quarantine and avoided the 1918 influenza epidemic. There were no encephalitis lethargica deaths there until 1926, following a later influenza epidemic.
No funds have been allocated to try to better understand this mysterious disease and its relationship to epidemic influenza. Encephalitis lethargica is a particularly insidious disease because it is so variable; any early cases in a new outbreak would almost certainly be misdiagnosed as they were 100 years ago.
It is not unlikely that this disease will return. Perhaps with the imminent influenza epidemic, perhaps not. Regardless, we would do well to reawaken ourselves to what may be a formidable gathering threat.
Neurologist Oliver Sacks is the author of Awakenings, a book about encephalitis lethargica patients. Joel A. Vilensky is a professor of anatomy and cell biology at the Indiana University School of Medicine.
Copyright: New York Times Syndicate
daily 4 hr dinnertime naps
15 hr wkend snooze
bedtime in the dawn
post lunchtime good mornings
all at the wrong hours
a nocturnal creature i have become
readin the news at 630am
bloggin at 8
my.death.by.slumber.
only when i sleep - the corrs
the usual suspect said::11/18/2005 07:58:00 AM :D
Thursday, November 17, 2005
exam blues.
i dont like mugging.
not with a heavy heart.
truman doctrine
38th Parrallel
marshall plan.
someone give me aspirin.
or better
perma-anaesthetia
knock me out while i think of you.
let go
concede that it went awfully wrong
i shud loosen my grip
you have your freedom to fly
i have the right to live well
let go
learn to wipe away tears
look forward
find a new direction
its a big world out there
some place will have me.
where did our love go?
jie tuo - zhang hui mei
the usual suspect said::11/17/2005 05:22:00 PM :D
i think i made stupid mistakes.
irreversible stupid mistakes.
Do you believe in the things that were just meant to be
When you tell me the stories of your quest for me
Picturesque is the picture you paint effortlessly
things will never be the same again.
never be the same again.
i think abt u baby and i dream abt u all the time.
here without u - 3 doors down
the usual suspect said::11/17/2005 02:23:00 AM :D
Monday, November 14, 2005
you confess your love.
undying devotion.
i confess my need to be free.
im like a bird - nelly furtado
the usual suspect said::11/14/2005 09:15:00 PM :D
Thursday, November 10, 2005
our meek attempt to create vogue-like abstract artistry
donald elaine kyat chrsytal grace.
venue: toilet aka dressing room
we are the oc.
savage pleasure
a queer moment there
insufferable one in a million dance tune.
offbeat re-enactment of concert in the toilet.
acrobatic photo takin attempts in the cubicles.
pretty pretty clothes from fond hugs.
ankle-breakin 5 inch heels.
im cool.
listen: song 2 - blur
read: directing in the theatre - hugh morisson
see: dogville
the usual suspect said::11/10/2005 12:48:00 AM :D
Sunday, November 06, 2005
in the mood - fer mugging
its a pathetic 2 weeks left till my exams and here i am
butt glued to the chair n desk
prostituting my life on the web or conversing to ppl on my msn
norbert is a double edged sword
hes my laptop btw
its meant fer work and life will be unbearable witout him to keep me company in hall
on the other hand
i voyuer blogs and check out friendster
i confess this guilty pleasure of mine.
and im pretty sure im not the only one here
we're all curious boys and girls
and its definitely a less brain draining n entertaining way to pass the time
i should be workin real hard
like what my dad is blissfully assumin
ticking off the painful hours of his pride n joy's spendin in hall
im going home once a week
god.
i jus realised my conscience's still workin.
ouch.
is that wad we call parental neglact?
im the one with the latchkey complex and a sweet father who serves impromtu drinks with straws in it.
im gonna go soft this moment.
i am a daddy's lil girl
cringe all yer want ppl.
but i do love going home.
with all the attention n raving father's pride
he's still not over concert that old bird
and stayin up to debate bout mao and communism
singaporeans' rigid mindsets bout work and studyin
the talkin never stops its wonderful
dad ur so smart!
struttin my stuff on the runaway (a very small one anywae)
clearly not my thing
but i do love the clothes
boho chic is clearly the IT thing nowee
ooohhh want that skirt!
that skirt that skirt!
novena square this week
cine next week (thankfully no stage or runways. jus ghastly contact lenses)
steer clear ppl u have been warned.
12th night in the making.
oh william oh you are the bard alright.
couldn u have made yer meanings clearer?
ur givin me anxiety attacks.
on a more cheerful note
i have a whole lotta potential to play with.
theatre practical's supposed to be fun.
not fer directors tho.
tragedy of my life (we all need one per week to dramatise life)
my ipod mini has the battery lifespan of 5 mins
after countless chargings
dont die of me u shiny piece of shit.
ray got it fer me in australia = no fuckin local warranty
oh wad does a damsel in technological distress do?
jay chou on repeat
swear its better than weed.
jay chou - ye qu
the usual suspect said::11/06/2005 11:46:00 PM :D
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
ladies and gentlemen
it is time of the year again.
and yes it has been a 5 year long love affair.
i.love.you.jay.
the usual suspect said::11/02/2005 03:49:00 AM :D
