Danger Mobile!

Over the last year or so I have been reading a lot of literature on Brain Cancer and I can't help bumping into lots of studies going on relating to the use of mobile phones and tumours. What comes out of all this information (in my view) is that all the early studies that showed no correlation (e.g. the Interphone studies) had failures in the statistical methods being used (e.g. looking at too short a usage period, too low a frequency of usage, even EXCLUDING business users).

The more recent studies from Scandinavia (not sponsored by phone companies) that show approximately 5 times the risk of developing tumours have "fixed" these methodology problems. These studies also showed a strong correlation between the side that phones were held and the side of the developed tumours.

A particularly disturbing finding from recent studies is the massively increased effects on children and young adults.

What's more using phones with headsets, although no longer posing a threat to the brain, does not remove the risk to the lower body from carrying the phone in the hip pocket. Studies have already shown lower sperm counts and damage to bone marrow in the presence of mobile phones.

So far we have no conclusive evidence for any of this, but I'm telling my family to use headphones whenever possible and to use a case which keeps the phone a little away from the body. Also I will not to let my grandchildren anywhere near mobile phones when I'm around.

I'll keep you posted while I'm still around to do so.

p.s. I have been using mobiles held against the left hand side of my head for over 10 years, the side of my tumour. Who knows?

Athens

Just got back from 4 Days in Athens doing some work for a small Insurer. As usual with these these trips the only thing I get to see is the is the inside inside of meeting rooms, hotels and restaurants. My favorites are always the restaurants with this time being no exception. Now all I have to do is try and loose the extra Kilos.

Like Moscow we had to do a lot through interpretation and I realized pretty quickly that the issues we had in Russia had more to do with culture than Language.

Thanks for making our stay so pleasant everybody, look forward to coming back to Athens again soon.

Tropic Thunder

Went to the cinema with Amber and Carol yesterday. We saw Tropic Thunder
with Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr and Tom Cruise (in a quite different role for him). It all had Steve Coogan playing an excellent role as a film director.

Plenty of fun ensues when everything goes wrong filming a war film in the Jungle.

Afterward we met up with some old friends of Carol's and mine from our days in Banking IT for a drink and some food. Given the current situation with banks you can guess what we talked about much of the evening.

Next up on the Treatment Diet

The last couple of weeks I've started to be a bit more thorough looking into what might be next for me on the side of Tumour treatments and I've found there is a lot of reading to do.

My expectation is that in November things will look much the same as before but then the Tumour will start hitting back. Given that situation we will need to find a next phase treatment in the new year. One option is to go back on to Temodal (Temozolomide) and hope there is still more to be had before the resistance sets in. Another option is to go directly to the 2nd line treatment of PCV (Procarbazine, Lomustine & Vincristine) .

A third option is looking for a promising Trial that is aimed at Grade 3 & Grade 4 tumours. Failing to qualify for my favourite TTF trial (as I was downgraded), there are some promising results being shown from DCVax-Brain a Gene Therapy Vaccine but unfortunately all the trial sites are in the US.

But then again I could be completely wrong about what happens over the next few months.

The Work Ethic

I am having real problems keeping down my work to the level of my doctors orders and I am feeling it a bit too, having had light cold symptoms over the last couple of weeks. I have also found that I have been missing out on exercise and putting on weight.

Even though I know that I have to take care if I am to stretch my life out a little, having spent the last quarter of a century working more than 40 hours a week continues to push me to take on more work than I should. I think I need to do something more drastic after the end of October, but before that I am committed to get a couple of jobs in Greece and South Africa done (I know, I know).

One more Birthday

The week started with Leon's 3rd birthday party, here he is at the Computer keyboard just like his granddad, but just look at the speed of the hands. No wonder his mum looks down in awe :-). Happy birthday Leon.

Playlist

I haven't mentioned my playlist for a while and I have been listening to tons since February; some new, some old, some older newly discovered and some rediscovered. Here are some of them.

New

Coldplay - Viva Lavida - Nice change in style enough to drag me back to the Coldplay fold.

Sigur Ros - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust (which translates as "with a buzz in our ears we play endlessly") . I should be bored with their warbly vocals and endless plains of minimalism with the inevitable crescendos. BUT I'm not and I don't think I ever will, musical Ambrosia.

Portishead - 3: Portihead is back as good as ever

Alanis Morrissette - Flavours of Entanglement: I've been buying the last couple of Morrissette albums out of habit. I think this is last one, all the originality has gone

Old

Nick Cave - Everything he has ever done (have just filled out the missing ones)

Otis Redding - Collection: Sitting on the dock of the bay

Django Reinhardt - Swing 39, Just swing

Anita O'Day - I Told Ya I Love Ya - Exhuberent jazz vocalist from the 40s on.

Robert Johnson - One of my favourite blues artists (next to Skip James)

Smiths / Morrisey - I never liked the Smiths and I put this down to Morrisey's voice and then I heard some Morrisey (solo) songs and I liked them so started listening to more Morrissey and Smiths and discovered I still don't like the Smiths much but I like Morrissey on his own.

Old Newly Discovered

Sometimes you find things and you wonder how you missed them the first time around? Well here are a couple from the 90s (thanks to Alan for reavealing them to me :-)

Alabama 3 - Electronica Country, Gospel and other Americana complete with southern aceents from London. And its good too.

Mercury Rev - "Deserters Songs" and "All is Dream" are my first samoles from these Neo-psychedelics that started in 1991 and are still going.

Les Rita Mitsouko - Been listening to lots of this bunch of French vaudeville rocksters. I like "Marc and Robert" and "Re" the best. Bit like a cross between the Eurythmics & Sailor.

Miranda Sex Garden - You just have to listen to a band with that name, and its worth it.