Medical jokes, anyone?

First off, let me wish you a prosperous and very healthy new year in 2010 and beyond. Secondly, since laughter can often be the best medicine under a good disposition, hopefully this post has a rib cracker or two to keep you away from depression....

I overheard a mass marketer of herbal medicament advertising his ware on a public bus. He was explaining why his drugs would cure the listener of high blood pressure and other ailments that tended to make a person look ill or appear 'dried up' from not taking blood building medication - and then blame the condition on vampires and other blood sucking leeches and perceived 'enemies' in the home village.

He asked, "Why have vampires retired and stopped sucking blood in the 21st century?" Answer: they retired when AIDS came to town. Yeah, who wants that headache on top of all the other heartaches?

However, as always, there will be some misconceptions. First of all, contrary to that joke above by the medicine man - haha... over-the-counter medicine seller - vampires are still a roaring rage with many people. In the movies anyway.

In fact ""DayBreakers" is a vampire movie featuring Ethan Hawke and Willem Defoe at the two extremes of the blood sucking world but collaborating in the plot, just released already entering 2010!

The same Australian brothers also paired to direct the "Undead" in 2003 but "Daybreakers" is definitely a different stroke from the fantastic "Avatar".

Speaking of "Avatar", it seems that it may have influenced the postponement of the upcoming vampire movie starring Paul Bettany entitled "Priest", the Scott Stewart-directed movie which is getting the 3D treatment and will now be released Jan. 14, 2011 instead of August 20, 2010.


So, just like Vlad The Impaler inspired the making of Dracula and the vampire movie genre, there has never been a "Twilight" (series) for bloodsucking characters on the big screen and the small tube.

The following is a mix of past and future (TBA means that the actual movie release date is To Be Announced later) vampire movie releases: 

Being Human (2009) (UK TV series) TRAILER
Bled (2009) (DVD) The Bleeding (2009) Blood (2009) Blood: The Last Vampire (2009) TRAILER
Bram Stoker's Vampire Diaries Renfield (2009) Carmilla (2009) The Coffin (2009) The Dead Matter (2009) TRAILER
Dead of Night (2009) The Death of Alice Blue (2009) Doomsday County (2009) The Eternal (2009) Hello Darkness (2009) High Midnight (2009) The Informers (2009) Kiss of the Vampire (2009) (DVD) TRAILER
Lesbian Vampire Killers (2009) TRAILER
Let the Right One In (2009--Italy, France, & UK) TRAILER
New Moon (2009) Live Girls (2009) Patient X (2009) PCP... A VanGuard Chronicle (2009) The Revenant (2009) Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead (2009) TRAILER
Shadowland (2009) Sodium Babies (2009) TRAILER
Suck (2009) TRAILER
The Teeth of the Night (2009) Thirst (2009) TRAILER
Transylmania (2009) TRAILER
True Blood, Season 2 (HBO TV series, June 2009) Twilight (2009--various countries) TRAILER
Twilight Watch (2009) Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (2009) TRAILER
Valemont (MTV web series) (2009) The Vampire Diaries (TV series, 2009) TRAILER
Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl (2009) Vampire in Vegas (2009) The Vampire's Assistant (formerly Cirque du Freak)(2009) PHOTO TRAILER
The Vampires of Bloody Island (2009)
30 Days of Night: Dark Days (2010) Baltimore, or The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire (2010) Bite (web series) (2010) TRAILER
Daybreakers (2010) TRAILER
Dead Sucks (2010) TRAILER
Dracula: The Undead (2010) Eclipse (2010) The Fixer (TV series) (2010) TRAILER
The Historian (2010) The Knights Templar (2010) Last Blood (2010) Let Me In (Let the Right One In U.S. Remake) (2010) Lost Boys 3 (2010) Love at Second Bite (2010) Priest (2010) Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell (2010) Soulstice (2010) Stake Land (2010) The Un-Dead (2010)
Bubba Nosferatu and the Curse of the She-Vampires (2011) Breaking Dawn (2011) Castlevania (2011) Dark Shadows (2011) Dracula (2011) Dracula Year Zero (2011) Hotel Transylvania (2011) House of Night (Untitled Project) (2011) The Night Projectionist (2011) Virulents (2011)
Blood Brothers (date TBA) Blood Type (TV series, date TBA) Damned Friday (date TBA) Damn Nation (date TBA) Dear Dracula (date TBA) The Hunger (date TBA) The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (date TBA) Pangs (date TBA) Vampire Tales (date TBA) Vamps (date TBA)

Let me refresh your mind about other vampire movies. The list is quite long but I am sure that the hair on your arm may not stand on end for all of them.

To mention just a few....Queen of the Damned, Fright Night, Lifeforce, Interview with the Vampire From Dusk Till Dawn, Vampyros Lesbos, Vampyres, Rabid, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Blacula and Jesus Chris Vampire Hunter.

2009 gave us “True Blood”, “The Vampire Diaries”, and “30 Days of Night,” while Alex Proyas will soon be directing Sam Worthington in "Dracula: Year Zero", an expectedly exaggerated remake of the original Vlad The Impaler story - made famous in the 1897 Bram Stoker novel Dracula.

In addition to all those monster movies were the following, listed in order of preference by Snarkerati.com: 

Bordello of Blood (1996), Vampire in Brooklyn (1995),Dracula 2000 (2000), Queen of the Damned (2002), The Forsaken (2001)...

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992)

The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1974)

Blacula (1972)

Van Helsing (2004)

Fright Night Part 2 (1988)

Vamp (1986)

Blade: Trinity (2004)

Underworld: Evolution (2006)

Lifeforce (1985)

The Night Flier (1997)

John Carpenter’s Vampires (1998)

Vampyros Lesbos (1970)

Innocent Blood (1992)

Ganja & Hess (1973)

Subspecies (1991)

Underworld (2003)

The Vampire Lovers (1970)

The Hunger (1983)

The Wisdom of Crocodiles (1998)

Blood for Dracula (1974) AKA Andy Warhol’s Dracula

The Return of the Vampire (1944)

Son of Dracula (1943)

Frostbitten (2006)

BioHunter (1995)

Vampire’s Kiss (1989)

Rabid (1977)

Love at First Bite (1979)

Nadja (1994)

Blood and Donuts (1995)

Blood: The Last Vampire (2000)

Vampire Effect (2003) AKA The Twins Effect

The Addiction (1995)

John Badham’s Dracula (1979)

Night Watch (2004) AKA Nochnoy Dozor

Blade II (2002)

Blade (1998)

Vampire Hunter D (1985)

Brides of Dracula (1960)

Dracula’s Daughter (1936)

Vampyres (1974)

House of Dracula (1945)

Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter (2001)

The Monster Squad (1987)

Salem’s Lot (1979)

The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967)

The Last Man on Earth (1964)

From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)

The Lost Boys (1987)

Day Watch (2006) AKA Dnevnoy Dozor

Sundown: The Vampire In Retreat (1991)

Interview with the Vampire (1994)

Shadow of the Vampire (2000)

Fright Night (1985)

The Night Stalker (1972)

Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)

Cronos (1993)

Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (2000)

Dracula: Pages from a Virgin’s Diary (2002)

Near Dark (1987)

Horror of Dracula (1958)

Martin (1977)

Black Sunday (1960)

Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979)

Dracula (1931)

Nosferatu (1922)

Ultraviolet (1998)

Hellsing (2006)

I hope that really revamped list has not left you breathless or something? Well, take care and watch out for more vampire movies in the future - most people seem to get a big bite of entertainment and just lap up all the gory details in droves.

Well, I hope you will still sleep with one eye cocked open, seeing above that the bloodsucking monsters have apparently not retired just yet.

Medical achievements advance human health

I recall hearing the protracted wailing, while on a hospital visit for some minor ailment or the other, of a pre-teen girl who had accidentally been a victim of hot water scalding.

I also recall not being able to pull my eyes away from the hairy patch on the bridge of the nose of my former company chairman - I had also noticed a similar hairy patch on the elbow area of a departmental head as he leaned forward to get something.

I was to learn later on that the odd hairiness was a result of a skin graft taken from the shin of each man after a serious accident that had left a large gouge.

All those images flashed back when I read last week about a French development of a fast way of growing skin grafts from stem cells - those magical cells that can easily differentiate into any other, depending on the intended use of the final result expected.

Can you imagine a hospital ordering a square meter of graftable skin on-demand from a therapeutic tool factory? Simply amazing, IMHO.

Ironically, had it happened in France instead of the UK's Merseyside/Liverpool, people who are bitten by a dangerous dog breed, like the illegal and notorious pit-bull terrier, bite would probably stand a much better chance of survival.

Finally, if you are a man out there still searching for a suitable lady to share your life with and raise a family, you'd better hurry!

No, I am not an advocate for a shotgun wedding. No. I just want to point out that new research indicates that older men are more prone to testicular tumors, which apparently have been linked to defective sperm cells, which create dysfunctional genes in subsequent offspring.

Nothing was said about the eggs from an older woman - but it would naturally be assumed that a spinster at fifty is not really interested in having babies outside in-vitrio, if you know what I mean.

So, if you believe that a patient man will get the right woman sooner or later, you may need to have a rethink - whatever money you think you may be saving now as a bachelor could end up costing you plenty of money and emotional anguish later on....

What is good meat and delicious this holiday season?

Once I attended a buffet lunch at the office featuring a mixed group of teetotalers, drunkards, vegetarians, herbivores, gourmets, and everything in between.

So I walk up to a table to sample a little of each dish on display. At a point someone beside me said, "Uh-uh, that one is for vegetarians."

Of course, I was surprised to hear that - not at my acquaintance's words but because of the fact that we humans are supposed to be omnivores, like me.

I can eat any edible plant, whole, fresh, cooked, guacamole-d, baked, basted, broiled, or in whatever mold, mound, or presentation - if I want to.

The same goes for meat. However, I learned something new about the five healthiest meats to eat recently.

The top dogs - hee-hee, please forgive me - are as follows. Among the red meats, bison is healthier than beef - I bet my bottom dollar that those cattle rearers will soon bring down their prices when they also hear that even white-meat pork is better than steak!

Now, take a look at the following 2006 data from Sacha Tarkovsky, so that you, too, can watch your figure, while choosing your slabbed or sliced meaty 'poison' carefully: ".....

Beef Per 100g 136 calories 5.1g fat.......
Pork Per100g 123 calories 4g fat.......
Lamb Per 100g 156 calories 8.3g fat.......
Ham Per 100g 107 calories 3.3g of fat........
Venison Per 100g 120 calories 2.4g of fat........
Bacon Per 100g 215 calories 16.5g of fat .......
Chicken Per 100g 116 calories 3.2 fat minus skin.......
Turkey Per 100g 119 calories 1g fat.......
Duck Per 100g 11.2 fat......."


Did you know that, among the white meats, turkey is king of the heap - better than chicken - but can make you feel a bit sleepy?

Here is a relevant excerpt: ".... one 4.9 oz (140 g) serving of skinless roasted turkey contains about 0.25 oz (7 g) of fat......"

 That cold turkey surprise just reminded me of Tiger Woods current predicament with Elin. It has been asked what exactly happened after midnight when he crashed his car and his lovely wife offered to "....help him out...." with a golf club or two in his rear window.

Perhaps, quite unlike the Nigerian Itshekiri woman, who was said to have laced her husband's favorite meal of cassava 'starch' with oily sleep-inducing 'banga' soup whenever she wished to spend a few hours away from home with her lover....

Anyway, small fattier fish such as salmon and tuna are definitely in as the white meat of choice for those hoping to avoid colon cancer - unless the fish had a mercurial growth rate aided by mercury-laden waters.

So, after all, it may be just better to eat a little of the tasty stuff that you really like along with all the healthier stuff.

At least, that way, as a philosopher once said, you would really know what you were suffering from while reposing on your hospital bed....Ha-ha....

Why Coca-Cola is bad for you and other health cornucopia

I was just reading up about water purification systems when I learned that Jessica Hamzelou says that many clean water systems designed for the poor do not work at all because their benefits may be overstated.

The relevant excerpt listing such water purification systems is as follows. "....Most of these systems work either by disinfecting the water – using chlorine tablets or by allowing the ultraviolet radiation in sunlight to purify stored water – or by passing it through ceramic or sand filters to remove microorganisms......"

A below second excerpt emphasizes the fact that the root cause of human diarrhea lies in food-borne bacteria and not in the water-borne variety.

"....Meanwhile Cairncross says the spread of diarrhoea-causing bacteria through water shouldn't be the main focus of research. "Food is a more important carrier of bacteria than water," he says. "Faecal bacteria are in heaven in cooked food – they can multiply very easily, which doesn't happen in water." Funding should be diverted towards this cause of diarrhoea, he says....."

Now, about that Coca-Cola and similar pop or sugared drinks.... In discussing the potability of Martian and lunar water, Daniel Engber reveals that any drink with a pH level or reading below 5.5 will eat away your teeth in the long run.

The most relevant excerpt is as follows. ".....That's not the only reason to think the space water would be unpalatable. Mineral specimens collected by the Mars rovers (on other parts of the planet) have turned up significant quantities of jarosite, a salt deposit that tends to form only in very acidic solutions. Researchers guess that the jarosite precipitated from a liquid with a pH of between 0 and 4. For comparison, a human can handle an acidic beverage like Coca-Cola, which has a pH of about 2.4, but more concentrated acids will cause mucosal injuries to the esophagus, stomach, and intestines......"

Did you know that teeth grinding is called bruxism? I can really guess that Jesus Christ gave the Pharisees a good dose of that as his preaching gave them many anxious moments of gnashing of the teeth. Ha-ha...

Anyway, according to this BBC article about Grindcare, a biofeedback device made in Denmark and currently being tested in Britain, small electric shocks are sent out to the sleeping patient at the onset of tense moments and tensed muscles.

What are the benefits? Well, apart from not having to wear plastic dental covers at night and the absence of "....headaches and stiff necks, as well as [not] irritating a sleeping partner.....", the main advantage is that the possibility of using an overdose of painkillers is eliminated.

Very soon, all things being equal, Fred will get you out of any emergency situation at the touch of a button.

Who's FRED? Paul Marks says that FRED is a hand-held satellite-radio which uses several technologies to get out a distress call or to help you dial for help.

The most relevant excerpt about the European Fast Response Emergency Device is as follows. "....Using 3G, GSM and Iridium phone technology, alongside GPS and Galileo satnav receivers, FRED will do its utmost to alert a rescue centre of your plight...."

According to this Washington Post article by David Brown, the major difference between the death toll from seasonal flu and swine flu is that swine flu attacks younger people below 18 years of age, while seasonal flu affects mainly older people above 65 years of age.

However, those figures are not cast in stone, as revealed in the excerpt below. "....

The total number of people who have been hospitalized is 98,000, with 36,000 of them age 17 and younger. The vast majority of deaths -- about 2,920 -- have been in people age 18 to 64.

In an average flu season, the seasonal virus contributes to the deaths of about 36,000 people -- 90 percent of whom are 65 or older. Many are close to death, with flu being only one factor leading to their demise. That is not the case with H1N1's victims, most of whom are much younger, and about 20 to 30 percent of whom were healthy before contracting the virus.

All of the estimates come with substantial uncertainty. For example, total H1N1 cases in the United States range from 14 million to 34 million, and total deaths from 2,500 to 6,100.

The CDC had previously said 129 people younger than 18 had died from H1N1 flu. That is compared with 88 deaths from seasonal flu in 2007-08 and 78 deaths in 2006-07 -- the most recent two flu seasons before the H1N1 strain emerged.

The new estimate includes deaths that occurred outside hospitals, patients who tested negative for H1N1 but almost certainly had it, and other overlooked cases....."

Finally, before I end this post, I must mention that Christopher Shay has raised an alarm about a rogue strain of malaria that may render artemisinin impotent in treating the viral disease caused by Plasmodium falciparum - the deadly strain that affects the brain of sufferers.

The major relevant excerpts are as follows. "....Globally, only 3% of malaria patients receive the proper artemisinin combination therapy....It's not random that dangerous new strains of malaria continue to crop up on the Thai-Cambodian border. In addition to having longer years of exposure to the miracle drug, residents like the gem-mine workers rely on an unregulated, informal health sector, rife with cheap counterfeits and improper treatments. ..... Even for experts, it can be impossible to tell the difference between the fakes and the real article just by looking at them. What's so important about this is that when you have thousands of people taking improper or low dosages, the malaria parasite develops resistance more quickly......Modeling by the Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit published in the Malaria Journal in February predicts that if nothing is done in the next two decades, "resistance to artemisinins will be approaching 100%." And if that happens, it won't be long until the resistant strain spreads from Cambodia's precious gem mines to Africa, putting half the world's population at risk of catching what would be an untreatable, deadly disease......."


Well, I say that climate change should have been factored into that vaunted model. Mosquitoes cannot survive in cold environments; so, perhaps, if the tropics became more temperate in weather, malarial parasites would have to find a new home or just lay down and die....

Cheers, to that hopeful future!

Healthy cornucopia

It's really amazing how a little gift and a little adjustment in attitude can bring out a grin from an otherwise bored disposition.

Not that my father's birthday today was boring. I had wondered whether to give a card and a gift or just a card - I had been trying to think up what to give him that he didn't already have.

My wife had advised that a gift is a gift and the receiver would still appreciate it - even if he already had more than one of a similar item.

To cut to the chase, my dear over-seventy year-old father loved his new steel wine opener with the corkscrew and plastic ring around the stainless steel rim. We all had a great time...

And then it was time to leave. I handed out bubble gum packs to everyone to clean out the palate.

To my surprise, my sister said she doesn't buy chewing gum for her kids, even though they accepted my gift readily.

So, I had to tell her the benefits of chewing gum, including teeth whitening, plaque removal, breath freshener, savings on toothpick purchases, aids digestion as saliva is swallowed periodically as a recycled fluid, exercising the facial and jaw muscles, and teeth strengthening - quite different from the general negative impression of a gum chewer resembling a goat chewing the cord in most places in my country today. 

One more thing: she immediately asked for some for herself. And their smiles broadened as they drove off when I drummed a little ditty on the cover of the large gum container and yelled out, "Chew gum!"

How's your attitude to health? These nine Jodi Helmer diet tips state that you should include in your diet whole grains, eat at home to control the ingredients used in the recipe, vary your diet to prevent the temptation of going AWOL - or on the lam - on a boring diet, avoiding alcohol and other calorie-uppers like sugary or caffeinated drinks, and  exercise to avoid getting fat.

Donna Freeman lists twelve cheap healthful foods that can actually keep you and your foor budget slimmer - grains, fruits, vegetables, and  proteins that can be found at supermarkets, "....drugstores, grocery outlets, big-box stores and dollar stores.....", ethnic and other specialty food stores.

Do you want soft and callous-free feet? Then throw out the pumice stone and the foot file, and make room for the very effective ped egg foot softener.

Let me stop right here for now - more tips in my next post....

Quirky angles to health issues

I have had a busy weekend - recovering from the past week, putting in some time publishing posts, and working out indoors.

In the course of all that, I noticed two articles that I thought that I should respond to. One had the simple question: Should Football Players Ditch the Helmets?

My contribution here is just this. It does not really matter whether helmets are allowed or not - accidents will always happen and injuries sustained.

American football is, to me, a much safer version of rugby union. Have you seen the result of one of those rugby headbutts?

Believe me, it's all really bloody sometimes for the nose and faces involved. And yet, those headbutts and body slams form part of the defensive strategies to frustrate opponents.

If you ask me, helmet manufacturers should put in more reinforcement and cushioning pads, as well as use more high tech materials to make their product lighter and stronger.

After all, chain mail armor did foil a few ripostes during the Crusades...

Now, did you know this: RNC Insurance Plan Covered Abortion, Until Thursday? Yes, since 1991, the Republican National Convention, or the Republican Party of the US, never opted out of insurance coverage for medical procedures that included D & C!

Can you imagine how embarrassing that is? In that time ex-President Bush denied funding for stem cell research on ethical grounds and the Republican Congressmen generally are seen as anti-abortion and voting against pro-abortion.

Oh well, that's life. You never know what skeletons are lurking in the closet until the cupboard door is held or yanked ajar...

Medical updates

"Don't take it personal...Take the bitter with the sweet...Good things come to an end..." Those Jermaine Jackson lyrics are so predictive!

There will be days like this, when the bitter-sweet will have to co-exist, unfortunately. No, I am not going anywhere.

In fact, I like it just fine here right now. Have you noticed the change from medscil.blogspot.com to medskil.com? Yes, I have come quite a long way, haven't I? Hurray! Ha-ha.

However, there is nothing funny about this little five-year old girl's condition. Her name is Lillie, not Crystal, but her rare kidney disease condition, if left untreated, could turn her to biblical pillar of salt.

the whole thing kind of reminds me of the comic book and movie superhero The Iceman - a rather more immobile and terminal version though. Most victims are said to live only up to age nine.

Yes, she has cystinosis, which turns cells in all her organs into crystalline cystine, an amino acid. Here's a relevant excerpt about the condition: ".....The condition is so rare, it is estimated that only about 2,000 people worldwide suffer from it, although the numbers are unclear because the conditions is often undiagnosed or misdiagnosed....."

According to this news item, the US FDA is looking into the safety inherent in imbibing a cocktail comprising caffeine and alcohol.

The famous song with the lyrics, "Should I stay or should I go....Oh baby, won't you let me know...." comes to mind when I think of the conflicting actions of these two ingredients in one drink.

In my humble opinion, that highball energy drink is as ineffective as tea or coffee loaded with full cream milk and sugar to a dieter.

In fact, according to an old episode of the Hawaiian detective movie starring Joe Penny - Jake and the Fatman, I believe - a person who creams his or her tea can be indicative of a spendthrift capable of pinching a penny or two when the pennies begin to pinch.

The swine flu pandemic is easing off in the colder northern climes, according to this report from the World Health Organization - ostensibly because of the early onset of winter this year.

Yes, the first case in tropical Nigeria was reported a week or two ago in Lagos, I think, on the local television news.

The H1N1 score card so far, from the WHO, is as follows:

"....The pandemic virus has now spread to 206 countries, with the latest reported laboratory-confirmed cases in Somalia, Nigeria and Burundi. There have been more than 6,250 deaths to date, mostly in the Americas region, according to the WHO toll....."

A closer look at waistlines

My waist size is 36 but I prefer 38 to 40 inches for freedom of movement, depending on the clothing designer or label, of course.

One would have thought that by now the world textile and design groupings would have come together to agree on sizes globally - instead of XXL in the US being the same as XL in Britain and something else generally on the European continent.

Anyway, I was a bit taken aback when I saw this advice from a president to his people in Venezuela: Chavez Urges Venezuelans to Trim Their Waistlines. 


Ah! Do Venezuelans have a problem with obesity? I never knew that till today. More advice from the politician? 

Well, apart from doing sit ups, only this: "...Chavez suggested rice pasta instead of spaghetti made from wheat, and recommended drinking soy milk, saying soy products help fight aging...."


Anyway, perhaps, the president should have read this report that says specifically: "....The recommended daily intake of calories could be increased by up to 16%, a draft report by the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition said....."


that's roughly 2,500 calories for women and 3,000 calories for men per day - with exercise, of course!

Just ask about how important that regimen is for a certain unique American multiple Olympic and world record holder in swimming at the last Olympics in Beijing.

We all really do learn something new everyday. I remember learning from a BBC report some years ago that Argentinians do a lot of kissing - from parents to uncles and friends and acquaintances!

.

We are expecting and expectant

Strange, isn't it, how some words trigger only one meaning? Yes, 'expecting' after a verb usually implies pregnancy, while 'expectant' is mere English for a hopeful feeling.

My wife is expecting! Praise God! As the doctor said after the test confirmed it, "you can start celebrating now".

For scoring a touchdown or hitting a home run? After two issues already, I jokingly replied that I would celebrate even more if we would get twins this time around.

Ha-ha. He asked if there was a history of twin births in my family. Hee-hee. I was in my most teasing frame of mind last week...

So, I said, 'Not really.' And I then reminded him that Adam never had any twins. Twins must have come from somewhere after Adam's time.

Twin births are evolutionary and not hereditary? Makes sense to me... After all, Esau and Jacob were the first set of twins reported in the Bible. What do you think?

Where are those filthy rats?

Someone can be born in the year of The Rat, and yet not necessarily become a rat later on in life, according to Chinese Astrology.

Ha-ha... Yes, being called a rat is usually quite derogatory in any language or tongue. That's just how low we humans regard rats, in general - the rodents, I mean.

A stool is usually quite a handy perch for most ladies screaming out their lungs at the sight of one or more of these home bred critters.

As would be expected, old settlements, towns, cities, and 'untidy' - that is, poorly built or kept or maintained - homes are usually the most likely hideouts for rats.

There is some corroboration. In the USA, the rodent risk report has the following as the top twenty rat infested cities:

• 01 New York, NY
• 02 Atlanta, GA
• 03 Houston, TX
• 04 Louisville, KY
• 05 Philadelphia, PA

• 06 Chicago, IL
• 07 Boston, MA
• 08 San Antonio, TX
• 09 Milwaukee, WI
• 10 Detroit, MI

• 11 Columbus, OH
• 12 Baltimore, MD
• 13 Oklahoma City, OK
• 14 Memphis, TN
• 15 Portland, OR

• 16 El Paso, TX
• 17 Nashville, TN
• 18 Ft. Worth, TX
• 19 Jacksonville, FL
• 20 Dallas, TX

Yuck! By the way, my neighborhood has rats, too. You know what they say about rats being more abundant in places where there is a lot of dirty open gutters or drains, uncleared garbage or refuse, wasted or overflowing wealth, or putrefying or uncovered food.

Ha-ha... These days, even the poor church rats are not poor any longer - in fact, some have become fat cats in their own right!

Why not decode the swine flu gene?

Sometimes, the most obvious answer is usually the right one but it usually eludes even the experts in the field mostly because they are still thinking within the system box - unlike someone like me, who is deft at observing trends and finding a new solution quickly, if I may say so myself.

I was reading this - Canadian medical scientists have decoded all the three billion letters in the DNA sequence of the breast cancer gene - the other day and wondered why the same procedure could not be used for this pesky and mutating swine of a flu!

Surely, in my humble opinion, that should put a stop to all the controversy surrounding the possible side effect any mandatory but hurriedly produced and untested swine flu - or any other kind of preventive cancer - vaccinations.

What kind of controversies? Well, see for yourself below:

Pregnant Teenager Dies After Contracting H1N1
US, Mexico face shortage of H1N1 flu vaccine
Feds approve new HPV vaccine

Hundreds make strides against cancer
3 pigs at State Fair may have had H1N1, tests by the U, CDC show
Overwhelming demand, crowded clinics turn some flu shot-seekers away
FDA warns against fake online H1N1 remedy claims

Swine Flu Hits Early, Claims 11 More U.S. Kids 

Flu, Me? Public Remains Wary Of H1N1 Vaccine 


UPDATE - Sunday, October 25, 2009:

Well, things appear to be really moving now in the fight against the swine flu confupandemic - yes, the reaction to it is so confusing that some, who should know better, seem to be suggesting that a hand wash with 'Dettol' will do the magic by putting up an impregnable barrier against the swine flu.

Anyway, I have included below a glossary of some of the latest developments since this post was published.

Flu scare is highly contagious
Obama: Swine flu a national emergency
Obama declares H1N1 emergency

Old System Hampers Rush to Produce H1N1 Vaccine
1 in 5 U.S. Kids Had Flu-Like Symptoms This Month
Parents infuriated over wait for swine flu vaccine
H1N1, Emergency in US, Is Still Spreading Globally
FDA Warns of Bogus Swine Flu Products
Get H1N1 vaccine: health minister

H1N1 Flu Risks Spread To The Internet

Obama Declares Swine Flu A National Emergency
Invited To A Swine Flu Party? CDC Says Don't Go

U.S. declares H1N1 emergency

Obama: Swine flu a national emergency

Why should you worry about climate change?

justA famous American guitar-ballad musician, George Benson, once sang a hit song about hindsight being in twenty-twenty vision - yes, 'had I known...' always comes after the realization of a mistake or misstep.

So, this post is for your information, so that, in being forewarned, you would become fore armed with greater awareness, so to speak - a word is enough for the wise.

Ha-ha... Now that the theatrics are done and out of the way, we can get down to the business of talking about the potential health problems from climate change phenomena.

Simply put, climate change can result in global warming from a combination of such factors as the emission of greenhouse gases, environmental pollution, and so on.

The resulting atmospheric heating effect leads to strange weather phenomena, melting of the polar ice caps, flooding and other devastating natural disasters.

In order to mitigate some of these possibilities, some people have invented very innovative ways to detect illegal toxic waste pollution sites and increasing the chances of apprehending the perpetrators of such heinous environmental crimes.

In other scientific developments, this is a warning about the unknown possible effects of nanomaterials - materials with a size on the same scale as the width of a human hair divided ten thousand times - on the users of such products like sunscreens and industrial adhesives.

The basic lesson from the above is: ".....Little is known about whether substances engineered at the nano scale persist and accumulate in the environment in unusual and potentially harmful ways.....people to avoid sunscreens containing nano-forms of zinc oxide....."

Now, if you think that is nothing to worry about, you can just think again. Take this, for example, did you know that a sprinkling of carbon nanotubes on synthetic soil makes tomato plants sprout and grow faster?

Sounds wonderful, right? Unfortunately, some scientists warn that such carbon nanotubes may have a similar effect in our bodies - from eating such food - as asbestos fibers would, while others think that the fast growth of plants in natube growth media is quite abnormal.

The latest source of worry, in my humble opinion, is the fact that NASA has bombed the moon in order to find out the stuff of which its hidden south pole is made of - ostensibly in order to drill for water to quench the thirst of its future colonizers from Earth.

Preliminary results show that there was a flash after the first of the two serial hits - both faster than twice the speed of a bullet - and there was no upshot of debris into the sunlight as expected.

What have they done now? Since there was a flash - and not a splash - after the first bombing of the remote lunar surface, it means that the hydrogen detected was not in the form of water, I think. Drink at your own peril...

Honestly, I am surprised that recently Greenpeace only stormed the roof of the bastion of British democracy - the House of Parliament - to protest about the need to shout from the roof tops for more attention to be paid to climate change.

Now, I am protesting about the potential climate change on the moon from this exploratory but reconnaissance bombing mission - yes, the use of planes at the destroyed World Trade Center in New York City on 9/11 proved conclusively, if infamously, that flying craft are potential bombs.

What if other national space agencies followed suit - what will be the ultimate fallout on Earth? Is there a probable reason why everyone is hitting on the moon now?

What if there is no water anymore but only lunar hydrogen in a yet-unknown form - better suited as rocket fuel?

Since the ocean tides ebb and flow with the moon, what if there is a relationship between the store of expectantly frozen hydrogen on the moon and the availability of water on Earth?

Anyway, let's just wait and see how it shall go with the United Nations and climate change this year at Copenhagen in December...












UPDATE - Saturday, October 17, 2009:

More upshoots regarding the nearly $80 million 2-tonne bombing of the moon. Some interesting facts were thrown up as follows:

The moon belongs to no one – yet

Was moon-smashing mission doomed from the start?

Hunting for water on the moon: a brief but splashy history

Eating your cake and having your shape

Yes, you guessed it. That's my take on the old adage. Can you imagine eating 'all you want' and not worrying about fitting into your old clothes tomorrow?

Philips, the electronics giant from Holland, once was known for great and long-lasting light bulbs.

Then, everybody got onto the lighting bandwagon. Philips chose to leave and focus anew on health technology.

I was one of those who had not seen any synergy in the new move. Then, the new developments from Philips came fast and thick.

Like its DirectLife, which literally gives you a life - if you didn't have any, what with watching your weight and worrying about what not to eat - of ease.

A new lease on life, in which all you have to do is put a little device in your pocket or hang it somewhere on your person, and watch it tell you what activities caused you to lose the most weight.

That's really like directing your life towards the most useful exercise activities for you to participate in routinely - and even unconsciously - in order to keep that great shape and keep the muscles firm and ready for any relevant or needed action...

Probing genetic material reveal secret future ailments

There is still a lot of research work going on right now at the genetic level of human existence.

Diachloroacetate appears to suppress tumor growth, two breasts on one woman can have two very different kinds of cancer, identical twins have identical DNA but why one of them should be autistic while the other isn't cannot be explained by DNA action alone...

Gene targetting and the production of any DNA map for health reasons has become big business now - they call it retail genomics.

For a relatively paltry $1,000.00, these 'guys' will sample your DNA and tell you what you shall be suffering from because of what ailed your progenitors, while this team will scan your DNA and inform you of your calculated risk level for any disease or medical condition!

The most important news right now in all this gene probing to oust cancer of all types is this landmark Canadian discovery: "...becoming the first to decode the DNA of breast cancer cells. ...." - both the original cancerous tumor all its various mutations. Wow!

Such groundbreaking work are the stuff that dreams are made of, especially for brave and super-heroic little boys - like Dominic the 'Dominator', who has a brain tumor.

What distinguishes you from all others?

I was just wondering about the marks on my body today - old healed wounds and minor scars, and other forgotten scratches and scrapes.

I know that some people have skins as smooth as a baby's bum-bum. Well, lucky you - congratulations!

Most people have a distinguishing mark on their body to set them apart from the crowd. Some tribes have a tradition of inflicting unique wounds on their offspring - so that the secret or coded scars on their arms, thighs, cheeks, or elsewhere would help in identifying children if they go missing through child trafficking or kidnap.

Using 'Bronx' as my username, I asked a group of online bloggers a simple question related to this some years ago and got the following torrent of responses.

I hope you enjoy the interesting exchanges and the insightful information made available by the participants - my original post has been republished below and you too can join in below.



GOT ANY TATTOOS, BIRTHMARKS, AND/OR SCARS?


Bronx posted on Jun 09, 2007 | views: 6772 | Tags: scars birthmarks, tattoos

Well, do you or not?

IMHO, they are often reminders of how unforgiving, rough, crazy, pleasant, and unkind this world has been to each one of us!

So, each tattoo, scar, or birthmark has it’s own unique story – nothing so much to regret or be ashamed of as memories of our past and its ups and downs!

I’ve got no tattoos – David Beckham and many other stars already blazed that path very/too famously – but cute and freckles-like birthmarks appear on the LHS of my arm, which I’ve promptly passed on to my children.

Scars I have aplenty – relatively minor juvenile and adult injuries/wounds from boyish rascality, teenage sports, and accidents involving hot water and other kitchen incidents!

Nothing like the Frankenstein monster or anything – you’d need to look very hard to see any one of them. Mind you, look any closer and it mayturn to love! Haha!

You’ve just got to see this: Tattooed workers are leaving a mark.

Amazing how scars seem to blend with the skin and disappear with time, isn’t it?

So, which do you have on you and where exactly – tattoos, birthmarks, scars….or something/nothing?

Do you hide them or do they show when you’re all dressed up?

Comments

•  NotSoSinglechick25 said on Jun 09, 2007.... 
  I've got two tattoos.  So far.  I've got a blue flower with green vines on my left ankle and a red and black butterfly on my right clavicle.  I love em so I let them show when I'm not at work.  Scar, my goodness, I was a tomboy as a child so I've got scarred up knees and elbows.  My favorite scar is a burn on my right wrist I got during a battle otherwise known as Thanksgiving Dinner with my family.  And I've got a birthmark in a place unmentionable.
  
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  polarheart said on Jun 09, 2007.... 

  Bronx, I was such a tomboy when I was little.  I had lots of scars on my knees, but thankfully they have faded.  I have a couple of small marks on my stomach from when I had chickenpox at the age of 18.  And then I have my caeserian scar from when Tigger was born by emergency C-Section. . .that is a very special scar to me :-)
  
  
  
  
  
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    queenparanoia said on Jun 09, 2007.... 

  i dont have tattoo. i have a mole though on my right shoulder... it means i will carry all the problems if i'm in a  relationship.. =(
  
  
  
  
  
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    destinydiva said on Jun 09, 2007.... 

  I have a scar across my neck from an operation to remove my thyroid gland due to cancer.....At first I always wore a necklace to cover it, hide it away so nobody asked questions. It took me quite a few years to stop feeling badly done too...
  But eventually I overcome that...and now I'm proud of my scar.....I've overcome something and it is my medal.
  This scar saved my life...so now its no longer the enemy but my friend.....
  Destiny x
  
  
  
  
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    MissMimi said on Jun 09, 2007.... 

  I have scars from three surgeries.  One is on my left ankle, from a surgery I had when I was 13.  One is from a C-section. And the biggest one is from kidney surgery.  That one is about 13 inches long and goes from front to back, around my waist. 
  
  
  
  No tattoos.  *sigh*
  
  
  
  
  
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    sweet_cookie01 said on Jun 09, 2007.... 

  i have plenty of small moles all over my body... they are small like the tip of a pen! sometimes they were mistaken as mosquitos biting me and they would slap it only to find out that it was my mole! i dont have any scars or tattoos even stretch marks from my pregnancy but if i look closely i think there are some near my butt but they say its just my imagination... oh well....
  
  
  
  
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  Danj3ris said on Jun 09, 2007.... 

  I have a scar. It runs from the left edge of my nose down to the edge of my upper lip. When clean shaven, it isn't visible. But the second I have a 5 o' clock shadow, it shows.
  
  I've grown so used to it I forget about it. But many women have found it to be quite sexy. As of yet, I haven't landed any modeling contracts. But if you know of someone who might be interested, let me know.
  
  
  
  
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  Eilan said on Jun 09, 2007.... 

  No tattoos.
  
  I have two very small scars on my lower belly from a laparoscopic tubal ligation.  I have a couple of scars on my right hand, one from burning myself on an oven when I was in high school and the other from scraping my hand on a brick wall when I fell down the stairs at work (my hand was caught behind the handrail).
  
  I have a dimple on one of my thighs that was, apparently, caused by a vaccine I received when I was a baby.
  
  I have a couple of café au lait birthmarks on my left leg.  I hate them.
  
  
  
  
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    genalonewolf said on Jun 09, 2007.... 

  I don't have any tats, but scars oh yeah have some of those. One on the back of my knee where I was attacked by a dog. Two on my forehead and one on my nose from a head on collision. I have an assortment of littl scars on both hands from various blades, knives,  exacto blades, carpet knives, drill bits, glass and a few I can't remember.
  Pickle is the one with the tats. She has four.
  
  
  
  
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    boyzmom said on Jun 09, 2007.... 

  I have an oval shaped birthmark on my left hand. Various scars on my knees from being a clumsy kid, on my hand from playing with firecrackers, on my abdomen from surgery, on my breast from a lumpectomy and some I can't remember where they came from.
  
  
  
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    the_infernal_optimist said on Jun 09, 2007.... 

  No tattoos at this point, and I really don't expect that to change, as my DH prefers me without (though he'd never tell me what I couldn't do - I just respect him enough not to go against his wishes there).
  
  Birthmark - I have a small patch on the back of my left hand, near my wrist, that's about two shades darker than the rest of my skin.
  
  Scars - the only one I can consistently find these days is a small mark on my right knee from childhood. I fell and split it open on the bridge piece of our Domino Rally set. I used to have one about four inches long on my right forearm from an unfortunate incident (before I was a pacifist ;-)) with someone with long fingernails. I also have a "chicken pox scar" (basically a tiny, circular dent) above my right eyebrow.
  
  ~Infernal
  
  
  
  
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    WindRider said on Jun 09, 2007.... 

  I have a tribal spider on my right shoulder for my mentor, Jim, who was teaching me how to wrench my bike before he passed. R.I.P., my friend.
  
  I also have a labrys on my right shoulder blade. Back in the 80's/90's there was a trend for lesbians to tattoo the double-bladed battle axe that was the Amazon Warrior's favoured weapon of choice, on their shoulders. I knew I might not want it quite that visible later on down the line, but I did want it... so I put it on my shoulder blade. Odd... I can't find one of those women with the labrys on her shoulder, today! I made that comment once, "Where are those women". and some young whippersnapper standing next to me said, Dead!"... smart ass.
  
  I have a knife blade scar on my left thigh a few inches above my knee. Not gonna say much about that.
  
  I have a two inch scar in the palm of my hand where I hit a side view mirror on a car while riding a friend's brother's bicycle when I was 10. Friend failed to tell me the brakes didn't work...
  
  That's it.
  
  
  
  
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  Glamourgirl said on Jun 09, 2007.... 

  No tattoos, wasn't burn with any birthmarks and the only two scars I have (which are now almost invisible) are from laparoscopic surgery in 1998 to remove my gallbladder.  They made three incisions (really four but the other one is in the belly button, therefore invisible), but the third one has faded completely and I can't find it anymore.
  
  
  
  
  
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    CreativeWoman said on Jun 09, 2007.... 

  No tattoos.  I have a beauty mark right between my breasts and a birthmark in the center of the small of my back.   I have two scars on my left knee from a fall last summer.
  
  CW
  
  
  
  
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    SophiaLouise1990 said on Jun 09, 2007.... 

  I have three tattoos.  The first one I got when I was 25, just months after my third child was born.  It is a sun with orange and yellow rays.  The face has a Native American or Eskimo look to it.  It is very comforting and wise looking. 
  Tattoo number two was a gift from my husband.  We had been dating about six months.  I had wanted an ivy wreath around my ankle for some time but my ex felt it was a waste of money, so he never "let me."  My husband and I were visiting a client of his, a tattoo artist, and the appointment was made.  He even went with me and held my hand a few times.  The ankle can be a very tender place.
  My third tattoo is a very special one in two ways.  It is a drawing of an angel, sitting on the moon, holding a star.  It is my guardian angle.  It is named "Ruth" after my grandmother who died when I was pregnant with my first daughter.  Ever since she died I have never worried about my children, knowing my grandmother would watch over them like she always did me.  The other reason this tattoo is important is because I got it on the same day I found out I was pregnant with my son.
  Birthmarks - I have one about the size of a quarter in the middle of my back, along my spine.  I have a mole on my left hip and one on my left breast which I use to gauge if my shirts are too low - if it shows, its too low.
  Scars - One under my chin from falling in the tub when I was about three.  I have gravel in my knee from touch football in 8th grade and a pencil lead in my right hand from bouncing a pencil on the eraser. 
  There are a few other small scars and marks from time.  They make for great conversation pieces some days.
  
  
  
  
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    mirrorimage said on Jun 10, 2007.... 

  I got a tattoo while I was in college. It is just a little bit bigger than a quarter and is over my appendix... It was done on a whim. A friend and I skipped class to get our tongues pierced and I got a tattoo instead....I'm grateful for that! lol... I have no idea why I wanted my tongue pierced!
  
  
  
  I have a lot of scars. One from a c-section that you probably would not even notice...they did a great job with it. I have three tiny marks from a laparoscopy but the largest mark is inside my belly button so it isn't even noticeable. And three on my shoulder blade from minor surgery. One of them looks like a tattoo of a catepillar instead of a scar which is kind of cute. I don't mind having all the marks on my body, except the tiny little freckle on my upper lip. If I don't wear lip stick or lip gloss it looks like I have food on my face LOL
  
  
  
  
  
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  Zayda said on Jun 10, 2007.... 

  I have a tattoo, several scars, and a couple of birthmarks. I have a tattoo on my lower back that has been there for almost 11 years now.
  
  
  I have a scar from my c-section, several fine scars under my chin from accidents as a child, a scar on my right forearm from a burn, scars on my knees from being a tomboy when I was little. I also have several scars from an event in my life that doesn't need to be talked about here right now. I've written about aspects of it in the past in my blog.
  
  
  I'm planning at least three more tattoos as soon as I complete the design on them and save up the money for them.
  
  
  
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    mommyof2 said on Jun 10, 2007.... 

  I have 3 tattoos, 2 birthmarks, and too many to count on the scars!
  
  
  
  
  
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    silverwhisper said on Jun 10, 2007.... 

  i don't do tats. however, i have several scars, mostly the results of minor wounds that looked innocuous but later scarred anyway. except for the one on my hand which was from someone with whom i was once involved back in the bad old days.
  
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    fearing said on Jun 10, 2007.... 

  Bronx, No tattoos for me.  I've thought about it but I don't think I will. 
  Scars - I have lots of those to due to being a tomboy with an older brother as my hero.  I have a scar on my left elbow from winning a game of jumping from the swing.  The arm was broken but I beat my brother for the first time.  The worst of my scars is on my left shoulder.  It has been there so long I don't see it but people will sometimes ask about it.  It is a burn scar.  When I was 3 I pulled a pot of hot coffee on me.  The coffee burned my face too but it didn't scar there - only my shoulder.  I wanted pancakes and wouldn't wait for my father to fix them.  I've hated pancakes since and for years my dad wouldn't allow an electric coffee pot in our house.    
  
  
  
  
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    Bronx said on Jun 10, 2007.... 

  Notso: wow...that's incredible: sounds like a full life you've got going on there! ;  )
  
  
  
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    Bronx said on Jun 10, 2007.... 

  polar: hi...those two are special scars - you've just confirmed what someone said about chicken pox always leaving a mark or two when it's gone!
  
  But that's better than having it again, right?
  
  
  
  
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    Bronx said on Jun 10, 2007.... 

  queen: uh oh, that doesn't sound too encouraging for you, IMHO!
  
  
  
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    Bronx said on Jun 10, 2007.... 

  dd: you know, that's very inspiring, IMHO!
  
  
  
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    Bronx said on Jun 10, 2007.... 

  MissMimi: hi...wow...I've not been to surgery, yet - I'm sure you'll find time for a tattoo or two one of these days.  Haha......
  
  
  
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    genalonewolf said on Jun 10, 2007.... 

  
  
  
  
  Pics of pickles tats.
  
  
  
  
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    genalonewolf said on Jun 10, 2007.... 

  ok that didn't work, gimme a sec.
  
  
  
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    genalonewolf said on Jun 10, 2007.... 

  www.flickr.com/photos/genalonewolf
  ok try that one
  
  
  
  
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    Bronx said on Jun 10, 2007.... 

  sweet: nice moles and.....the lucky few probably know what they're talking about. ;  D
  
  
  
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    hunter_boyce_chandler said on Jun 10, 2007.... 

  I have tattoo on my right arm of a tribal sum with a reverse moon and gecco in the center.
  On my left I have a tribal dragon that starts at my elbow and ends around my neck.
  I have a gunshot scar on my stomach and an exit wound on my lower back.
  I have a stab scar from a pocket knife in my back near the top of my spine.
  I have hernia scars that go from hip to hip.
  I have a 12 inch surgury scar on my lower lumbar when they fused my blown back.
  I have spot burn scars on my face and neck and across the top of my back.
  Both knees have been enhanced by road burn.
  And my sternam has been cracked.
  Other than that I'm just normal.
  HBC
  
  
  
  
  
  
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    lauraisme said on Jun 10, 2007.... 

  I have two tattos that are easy to cover up. One is a butterfly on my chest and the other my prince charming in frog form on my leg. As for scares I have several coming from a very clumsy childhood but my favorite one would have to be where I ran out in front of my uncle and father playing horse shoes and got knocked senseless at three years old, because that one can be used when I am in trouble to say, " Dad you remember that time that I was three...." lol As for moles and birthmarks I am covered in time and cursed my kids for it too. Of course some of them make really cool shapes.
  
  
  
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    hottips4u said on Jun 10, 2007.... 

  Have a stemmed rose on my back shoulder blade, a couple lil moles here n there, no stretch marks, guess I just don't mark easily so far, anyways.  See what the next 20 to 50 years brings.
  
  jessi
  
  
  
  
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    gingersoul said on Jun 10, 2007.... 

  Bronx..... i dont do tattoos.
  I have a lot of small moles scattered all over my body, specially my back....some lovers like to play "connect the dots" on my body...lol......the real hunt is for locating my big one......it is under my left breast....you have to look very well....lol...
  I have several scars: one on the top of my left  hand because i am clumsy with the knives when i cook. One on the back of my rigth ear caused by my close to death fall from a cliff 15 years ago. A small one on my chin, after a car accident. A c-section one. luckily very small. No stretch marks and no birth marks.
  Three tiny barely visible ics crossed scars on my left kne for a surgey (i had a torn meniscus).
  And, like Destinydiva, i have a tiny scar on the right side of my neck due to a minisurgery to remove a tyroid cyst potentially cancerous.
  
  
  
  
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    Artemis223 said on Jun 10, 2007.... 

  Hey Bronx - great post!
  I have many scars - two that I am particularly proud of ...
  I have a scar on my breast that few people get to see - it's from my rape at age 20, and though I used to hate it, it has become a poignant symbol of my personal strength.
  The other scar is right above my bikini line where the surgeon removed the cancer that threatened my life ... I consider it his personal signature and a reminder that I better not waste the extra time I've been given. 
  No tattoos - but a lot of shadows of childhood scrapes and cuts - I was also a bit of a tomboy and daredevil.
  I believe that most people's worst scars are invisible and only show when we allow ourselves to be vulnerable with others.
  - A.
  
  
  
  
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    hottips4u said on Jun 10, 2007.... 

  Life etchings are your first tattoo.
  
  jessi
  
  
  
  
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    kingcobra said on Jun 10, 2007.... 

  No tattoos
  
  
  
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  MoonMommy said on Jun 10, 2007.... 

  I've got one tat of a ladybug, and plenty of scars from childhood, no, I don't cover them up!
  
  
  
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   husbandhater said on Jun 10, 2007.... 

  A beauty mark square on my left tit. And I always Loved that one. 3 tats,2 of the 1st 2 kids names encased in a heart on each shoulder. On the left upper arm reads the youngest child's name across my arm!
  
  
  
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    Bronx said on Jun 10, 2007.... 

  Danj: haha..sounds like you're a dead ringer for Humphrey Bogart's biog.
  
  Good luck but find a good agent first!
  
  BTW, WELCOME TO MY BLOG!
  
  
  
  
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    Bronx said on Jun 10, 2007.... 

  Eilan: hi....sounds unique to me - I guess their shape is not the only problem?
  
  
  
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    Bronx said on Jun 10, 2007.... 

  gena: that's a lot of scars!
  
  Thanks for the beautiful pics - I was just wondering about seeing only 3 of 4 tattoos?
  
  
  
  
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    Bronx said on Jun 10, 2007.... 

  boyzmom: hi....some scars do tend to leave no memories behind, don't they?
  
  
  
  TIO: don't you just hate those nail fighting people - wish they'd fight fair?
  
  
  
  
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    botoni said on Jun 10, 2007.... 

  Tat free here but lots of scars. One are the stitch marks under my eye because I left my face right where someone put their fist. A lovely pair of pin dots on my torso where my mother took 'pin the diaper to the baby' seriously. A mark on my forehead where I parked a pencil eraser when deep in thought as a teenager. (Its my proof that I studied scar.) Then a whole batch of scrapes, scratches, cuts etc.
  
  
  
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    botoni said on Jun 10, 2007.... 

  Tat free here but lots of scars. One are the stitch marks under my eye because I left my face right where someone put their fist. A lovely pair of pin dots on my torso where my mother took 'pin the diaper to the baby' seriously. A mark on my forehead where I parked a pencil eraser when deep in thought as a teenager. (Its my proof that I studied scar.) Then a whole batch of scrapes, scratches, cuts etc.
  
  
  
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    botoni said on Jun 10, 2007.... 

  Tat free here but lots of scars. One are the stitch marks under my eye because I left my face right where someone put their fist. A lovely pair of pin dots on my torso where my mother took 'pin the diaper to the baby' seriously. A mark on my forehead where I parked a pencil eraser when deep in thought as a teenager. (Its my proof that I studied scar.) Then a whole batch of scrapes, scratches, cuts etc.
  
  
  
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    Holly-Go-Lightly said on Jun 10, 2007.... 

  bronx!!  great topic!
  I have a tat that I designed myself of pink-y colored cherry
  blossoms intertwined with green vines & tiny little buds of
  the flower. Its really cool because he did lots of tiny dots
  within the vines so it looks kind of like its sparkling.
  I have a beauty mark near my mouth on the left side. I have
  a scar from when I was 3 and fell and cracked my head open
  on my G-ma's porch. Stitches. I have a scar from when I was 18
  and my friend & I were out partying. She had to use the bathroom
  so we went to Taco Bell since they had an outdoor bathroom,
  since we were in no condition...when me friend opened the door
  it was one of those heavy metal doors that slam back closed
  by itself. On my finger!! This was so long ago and that dent is
  still there. The last one I'm still dealing with because I'm not
  proud of it, but I am vain. I have a 9 inch scar down my left leg
  from hip bone through thigh area. I broke my hip & femur, so
  emergency surgery and that godawful scar. Its faded, but it healed
  funny I think.  I haven't worn a bikini to the beach since then.
  
  
  
  
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    Bronx said on Aug 21, 2007.... 

  botoni: ha-ha....yeah, no doubt about it - you went to the school of scar. ha-ha.
  
  
  
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    Bronx said on Aug 21, 2007.... 

  Holly: hi....thanks. Oh, so sorry about all those dreadful accidents. Good to hear that you never lost anything permanently. Cheer up.
  
  
  
  
  
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    tbs230 said on Sep 01, 2007.... 

  I have a birthmark shaped like a tiny heart on my right wrist. A beauty mark under my left breast. Two tiny scars from when I had the chicken pox on my left cheek...a three to four inch scar where I had knee surgery, six hole-shaped scars on my leg where I had leg lengthing surgery. And a tiny scar where they drilled a screw into my ankle...(all on the left leg)...a dark patch on my right arm, right above the inside elbow where I was burned by hot grease (but that faded a while ago)...
  
  
  
  
  
  And finally various faded healed cuts, all of which occurred before I was 13. I learned to be more careful!
  
  
  
  
  
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    Bronx said on Sep 01, 2007.... 

  tbs: hi...you're quite lucky with scars.
  
  How did you get into that leg lengthening problem - just curious?
  
  I saw a program about it on TV with a focus on the Chinese version full of hit-or-miss cases - that was years ago though.
  
  BTW, WELCOME TO MY BLOG!
  
  
  
  
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    tbs230 said on Sep 01, 2007.... 

  Hey Bronx, thanks for the welcome!
  hmm, I got hit by a car when I was 10 and broke my tibia (I have scars from where they fix the break, but those are covered over by the hole scars)...that was in August, then in October of the same year I slipped on a wet floor that was just waxed and broke my knee.
  Two years later, my knee healed inward, which gave me a limp and prevented my leg from growing properly. So I had leg lengthing surgery. They basically broke my leg again, drilled six holes and inserted "pins" (these metal sticks) that were attached to each other by this monstrosity of an object. They also place an L shaped pin in between my knee joints to straighten it and screwed a screw into my ankle (I don't quite know why about that one). That lasted for about six months.
  It was hell having to stretch my leg every day with this little pin screw (eek!)...and that's how I spent my preteenage years, sexy huh?
  
  
  
  
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    blind_guardian said on Jul 01, 2008.... 

  i have a scar about the size of cell phone on and above my ankle. two years ago i had a bouldering (rock climbing with out a harness) accident; lost my footing, slid down the rock face. i lost ALOT of skin on the outer side of my left leg. my entire leg healed great, the scarring was basically invisible, EXCEPT on my ankle. here i lost the most amount of skin and had the most trouble healing the wound b/c i run and running shoes rubbed against it. i was not in a position to stop running. most ppl think its an unusually colored birth mark (its dark brown, pink, and purple), or a bad bruise. the fact is im a girl. do guys think a scar like this sexy. or not? i can leave it or use scar patches.
  
  
  
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    Bronx said on Aug 16, 2008.... 

  blind_guardian: hi. Sorry this reply is coming just now. Life has come before blogging over here for me now.
  
  Anyway, you are very lucky to have survived such a scrape. I can imagine how painful that kind of injury would be around the sensitive ankle area.
  
  You must have been in your teens or tweens then for the healing to have been so complete so fast.
  
  I wouldn't worry about whether such a scar were sexy or not. Some guy will tell you that one day, especially if you don't mind showing it off.
  
  However, from your words above, I would think that your ankle scar was very sexy. ;)