Dealing with Pain

30 January to 6 February 2012

Local consulting pharmacist, Joyce McSwan, is holding an information evening in Mackay next month to form a local pain support group. All health professionals and consumers are invited to attend from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, 6 March at the Mackay Regional Council Building.

Joyce said she has often seen people who live with intolerable pain which cannot be totally relieved by medicine or surgery. The problem was that people could become isolated and not realise that there were many others living in the same community who also lived with pain every day.

In Mackay people suffering persistent and or chronic pain have to travel to Brisbane or Townsville to access pain medical specialists and pain management clinics. The proposed pain support group would base its program on other successful groups run by the Australian Pain Management Association in Brisbane and at the Gold Coast using a pain toolkit. The toolkit introduces a new pain self-management strategy each month to help sufferers learn the skills to manage long-term pain. Elizabeth Carrigan, secretary of the Australian Pain Management Association will attend the March meeting. Please contact Joyce McSwan on 0412327795 to register your attendance.

Big cat for a little girl!

The delightful photograph, above, just had to be used on this site. It shows Pauline's granddaughter, Chloe, with Chloe's pet cat, Gizmo. There is also a Gizmo cat in my house but she is black and white and rather small.

Flowerbed Hotel

The Flowerbed Hotel hasn't been built yet but it sounds fascinating. Dutch architecture firm, MVRDV says the building is a series of stacked volumes contained within a greenhouse shell. All 280 rooms will feature floral themes and the reception area has 2.100m2 worth of flowers. I don't know what that means but it sounds a lot. The building will include sun collectors, windmills, and underground warm and cool storage. The hotel, in Aalsmeer, Netherlands will be next to the entrance of the future Bloomin' Holland theme park and business centre.

And to finish off...

24 January to 29 January 2012

The work by conservationists to establish reserves to preserve the elephants in South Africa has been so successful there are now far too many elephants and the answer is, not culling, but contraception.

Robert Slotow, a biologist at the Amarula Elephant Research Program in Durban, South Africa and his team have come up with the idea of using immunocontraception which is a vaccine that forces the (very large elephant) body to make antibodies that target sperm receptors on the surface of the egg cell.

Kruger National Park, the oldest elephant reserve in South Africa, has about 15,000 elephants almost double the sustainable number. The park relocated juveniles to other parks which are now facing the same problem of too many elephants.

Family photograph

My mother-in-law Peggy had visits recently from her grand daughter, Imogen, and Imogen's daughter, Iris.

Bored with your photographs? Embroider them!

The days of embroidering tablecloths and napkins are gone! Vintage photographs, and one hopes they are copies (as do I), are the latest items to be upgraded, and this time by embroidery. The gallery, where the photographs by Maurizio Anzeri are shown, says they "blend the past with the future through geometric patterns, the multi-coloured embellishments somehow seem to visualize the subject's thoughts". Which is very clever indeed as the subjects are theoretically dead.

23 January 2012

Unexpected happenings indeed!

I don't write many personal things on this blog but I am gobsmacked. My MONTHLY house and contents insurance payment has risen from $220 to $663! I wonder if this has happened to other Mackay people?

17 January to 22 January 2012

Chinese New Year is celebrated tomorrow, usually with dragon parades, in all the major cities in the world. On February 4 the Year of the Dragon begins.

The dragon, which represents the emperor, is unpredictable and therefore unexpected happenings may occur this year (yet again!) The mythological symbol, the Chinese dragon, dates back to 3000 BC and stands for happiness, immortality, procreation, fertility and activity. Chinese Dragons were believed to ward off evil spirits.

From dragons to jellyfish

Humans have two eyes, box jellyfish have 24 eyes, of four different kinds, and, no matter which way the jellyfish is swimming, four of those eyes always look upwards! They rely on their vision to react to light, to avoid obstacles, and to control their rate of swimming. The jellyfish have a simple nervous system and scientists are perplexed that such a system could support advanced behaviours which the jellyfish display.

Laundry baskets usually sit on the floor taking up space. With the Polyp you can have one which not only attaches to any vertical surface, and is out of the way, but also doubles as an ornament. The Polyp is made from plastic and once the laundry inside builds up, the basket sends a signal that these clothes must be washed. The design is by Helene Steiner.

9 January to 16 January 2012

New findings, published in the BMJ suggest the brain's capacity for memory, reasoning and comprehension skills can start to deteriorate from age 45. Previous understanding was that cognitive decline did not begin until after the age of 60.

Researchers, from the Centre for Research in Epidemiology and Population Health in France and University College London in the UK, observed 5,198 men and 2,192 women during a 10 year period from 1997. Cognitive functions of the people involved were assessed three times. They were tested for memory, vocabulary and aural and visual comprehension skills.

The results showed that cognitive scores declined in all categories (memory, reasoning, phonemic and semantic fluency) except vocabulary and there was faster decline in older people.

As a result of the study it is suggested a healthy lifestyle should be promoted, in particular cardiovascular health as what is good for hearts is also good for brains.

These Nike Dead End Heels are an interesting combination of heels and sporting shoes. They feature a violet rose on the ankle strap and words Dead End on the heel rear. One website reports "The shoes on your feet will also show the charm of women with vitality!"

Take away pizza, but take your gold cards

People in Glasgow would think twice or three times before popping into Domenico Crolla's restaurant to order a Pizza Royale 007 which costs (US)$4200! Just twelve inches in size, the pizza includes lobster marinated in cognac, caviar soaked in champagne, sunblush tomato sauce, Scottish smoked salmon, venison medallions, prosciutto, and vintage balsamic vinegar. The topping no doubt adds to the value as it is edible 24-carat gold flakes.

Aeroshot for a quick hit

Forget that cup of coffee, invest in an Aeroshot and get your hit of caffeine quickly and easily anywhere. The Aeroshot, an aerosol-based, calorie-free caffeine inhaler, contains the same amount of caffeine as a large cup of coffee. It has been invented by Professor David Edwards of Artscience Labs who also created Le Whif breathable chocolates and vitamins. Take eight puffs from the Aeroshot to get 100 mg of caffeine.

2 January to 8 January 2012

Smart phones and iPads are moving into the world of plants. The Biome, designed by Samuel Wilkinson, is a terrarium and all the climate conditions, the water level, and the nutrients are controlled via applications. Sunlight is replicated through low energy lighting.

Must be yet another chair

Brightly coloured plastic rugs were violently attacked by a heated chair-shaped metal tool and melded to a stainless steel frame to make the meltdown chair. Designer Tom Price presented his chair at Design Miami 2011. More chairs are planned.

Charleroi

What was formerly a site of barracks and an arena in Belgium are transformed into Charleroi, a village for contemporary dance and an area for street artists. Dance studios and also residences for the artists are included in the design. A new police centre is also part of this complex.