Another San Francisco Icon!

Recently....On Telegraph Hill.

Photo Credit:  AKBH native Kodak jpeg

At angiographer.com, we work hard for you!

For over a year now, at angiographer.com, we have worked very hard to entertain, educate and inspire you, our readers.

On a recent trip to the West Coast, our behind-the-scenes roving reporter captured the Angiographer in action, obtaining the best contemporary shots in Photojournalism for you....this time on the streets of San Fransisco!  A Ford Econoline pickup, one of 3,000 made in the 1960's, was spotted near Lombard Street.  After a careful assessment of the imaging opportunities, a shot was taken.

B/W:  MTS C-41 process  Leica MP
Color: AKBH Kodak native jpegs

Terrazzo

I love Terrazzo floors and one of the best is in the Turbine Room at Hoover Dam, on the Nevada side.

From the Bureau of Reclamation website:

Two Italian immigrant brothers, Joseph and John Martina, installed the terrazzo floors in 1936-37 with the help of 30 countrymen. John served as contractor for the job and worked with Reclamation officials. Joe, barely able to speak English when they bid on the job, was in charge of laying the floors. The Martina brothers contracted to install the terrazzo for 48 cents per square foot, for a total of only $51,718. Costs today would exceed $20 per square foot.
To create the terrazzo, the workers imbedded marble chips in cement, separating them with brass or aluminum divider strips to make a tiled pattern. After the mosaic hardened, they used large finishing machines to polish the surfaces. The result was a lustrous terrazzo.

Image Credit:  MTS, native jpeg

Another Medical First... in Louisiana!

Image Credit:Greg Pearson/The Times
LSUHSC-Shreveport is the only facility in Louisiana using the NanoKnife system by AngioDynamics.

The recent article appearing in the Shreveport Times is here, featuring a case performed by Horacio D'Agostino, MD, the Shreveport Radiology Department Chairman. 

Click the purple links above for more information.

Here's a YouTube video posted by University of Rochester:

Rally for Economic Survival in Lafayette tomorrow...

Agenda


Time/Speaker


10:30-10:55 Pre-Performance
Sammy Kershaw
Country music artist
10:55-11:10 Welcome / Introduction
Lafayette City-Parish President Joey Durel
11:10-11:20 Opening Remarks /Master of Ceremonies
Lieutenant Governor Scott Angelle
11:20-11:40 Governor Bobby Jindal
11:40-11:45 Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser
11:45-11:55 Dave Welch
President & CEO, Stone Energy Corporation
11:55-12:05 Lafourche Parish President Charlotte Randolph
12:05-12:10 Cherri Foytlin
Citizen activist
12:10-12:25 John Hofmeister
Founder and CEO, Citizens for Affordable Energy
12:25-12:35 CJ McDonald
McDonald Consulting LLC
12:35-12:45 Ewell Smith
Executive Director, Louisiana Seafood Promotion & Marketing Board
12:45-12:55 Jim Funk
Louisiana Restaurant Association
12:55-1:05 Dan Juneau
President, Louisiana Association of Business and Industry
1:05 - 1:10 Closing Remarks
Lt. Gov. Scott Angelle
1:10 Closing performance
Sammy Kershaw

The Alaska Experience

I first got the idea of going to Alaska earlier this year from an experienced radiologist at a practice I am privileged to cover as locums on occasion; one of those conversations that you have at the end of the day, after patients and personnel are heading home. Bob had been to Montana, as I had been, a few times, but he fell in love with Alaska when he first saw it…he’s been to the Iditarod some 5 times. So, at his suggestion, I turned my sights on Alaska, having never been, but having always wanted to see it myself.

The trip started in Anchorage, a more cosmopolitan city than I expected. If there had been Canada Post and Petro Canada signs in town, I would have thought I was in Calgary or even a suburb of Edmonton. It reminded me very much of provincial Alberta. The gardens were beautiful…

The dining was better than expected, too...

Then, a transfer to the McKinley Explorer, run by Holland America Line, on contract with the Alaska Railroad, next stop, Denali National Park for an anticipated glimpse of Mt. McKinley...

But, high alpine weather unpredictable as it is, we saw no glimpse of even the base of Denali...

We did see Sarah Palin’s city of Wasilla from the train. Interesting character…Alaskans love her. The Anchorage media seems to be more pro-Palin than that in Fairbanks.  SarahPAC has certainly taken off based upon her last reported quarter and she will be a force with which to be reckoned in politics, like it or not...

After a restful night in Denali Park, it was back on the train and north to Fairbanks for the rest of the trip.  We vistied and really enjoyed The Museum of the North (top B&W image), including Fairbanks Composer John Luther Adams "The Place Where You Go To Listen"  (bottom color image). If you can't meditate there, then you probably cannot meditate.  Room music and colors are modified based on Aurora Borealis activity...

What turned out to be the highlight, was a 5 hour excursion north of the Arctic Circle, to see the Alyeska Pipeline (the image below displays an above ground portion of the 800 mile long pipeline; click on any of these images for more detail),

the villages of Wiseman and Coldfoot and portions of the Dalton Highway, made famous by the TV series, “Ice-Road Truckers.”

Our pilot was Steve, of airArctic, a retired Hawaiian Airlines pilot, with the easy – going affability of most Alaskans and the wit of Johnny Carson. I’ll go back one day, in the dark Winter months to see the Aurora Borealis and if cloud cover is an issue, I will have to convince Steve to leave the warmth of his winter home in Hawaii to fly me above the clouds to see the Lights...

The highlight of the evening was watching the GPS in our Piper PA-31 twin engine Navajo (same great plane many air ambulances use) indicate our passage over the imaginary line that is the Arctic Circle and after touching down 60 miles north in Coldfoot and having a short motor tour of the Dalton Highway, firing up those two sweet Lycoming engines for a 190 knot jaunt back to the Fairbanks airport, shooting pictures of the Midnight Sun on the way....

The west is dangerous, so much so that it is surprising that the Government has not regulated it out of existence. I guess that’s why I go out west every year…it’s The Last Frontier, in Alaska’s case, or for Montana, The Last Best Place.

Image Credits: MTS Leica 8.2/50mm f 2.8; jpg and RAW images.

LEGO land.

Mike Stimpson, a photographer in England whose day job is a computer programmer, has taken this wonderful LEGO still life (top image) of Cartier-Bresson's 1932 classic, "Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare." You can see the rest of his work on his FLICKR page, or his website http://www.mikestimpson.com

CREDITS:

Top Image: Mike Stimpson

Bottom Image: The late, great Henri Cartier-Bresson

Oil reaches Lake Ponchartrain.

Video Source: YouTube gs3772

Open your hearts ... and pockets.

http://jhnmyr.tumblr.com/post/747115243/murphy-family-support-fund

Tragedy comes home to Lafayette, as a local family whose dream it was to enjoy the ongoing FIFA 2010 World Cup has to deal with the emotional and financial realities of an accident on another continent. The Hyperlink above is directed to John Mayer's blog.

My next job is a mechanic.

I was at the car dealership having my SUV serviced late last week. Car dealers being what they are, there were the inevitable questions of, "did I want synthetic oil used for my oil change?" and so on. Anything for a sale. Then, the service advisor brings my cabin air filter to me and shows me how awful it looked. I had changed it once before, myself. It is shown above. Then, she quoted me a price of $101.31 for the filter change, plus tax. I politely said no.

When I left the dealer, I shopped price on this job at several Honda and Acura dealers (the filter at Dealer retail is $26.88) and the labor ranged from $74.33 down to $60.00. I purchased a filter and changed it myself. It took 4 minutes from start to finish. The cool and convenient tray mechanism makes this job easy; not worth more than $20 dollars, tops. And that $20 is more than most radiologists get reimbursed for interpreting a chest Xray.

Which brings me to the reason for this post...Is changing a cabin air filter worth more value than say, reading a chest xray? Both operations take about the same length of time. Am I missing something here?

Give a Eulogy

I was recently asked to speak at the Funeral of a dear friend of mine, also a patient. Although I am in middle age, I have never been called upon to deliver a eulogy at a funeral service before. Preparing a eulogy under such circumstances is shadowed by doubts about what to say and how to say it, as I was aware that in the large crowd that I knew would be present, that there were people who knew this individual much better than I. I recalled a memorial service that I attended for a radiologist in New Orleans some 25 years ago, at which time a beautiful eulogy was given that linked the history of the passing of time with the accomplishments in the doctor's life. I loosely based my comments on that framework, and added what life lessons I had learned from my friend and patient. Although I was told my comments were well received, I believe that it is hard to mess up a eulogy. There are so many great things to be said about most of us after we are gone.

I submit that if you ever are asked to serve in a funeral, please do so. You will learn much about your departed, their family and friends, and, about yourself.

Image Credit: MTS, Sunset at White Sands National Monument, 2009.

Update on iPhoneHD story...Gizmodo

 


Recent Mother Goose and Grimm strip...

Gulf Oil Slick...Obama's Katrina?

Commentary by the Angiographer…

Gulf Oil Spill … Katrina part deux?

I, like many Louisiana residents, of all backgrounds, have tried to make balanced sense of the disaster at hand. I feel that I need to react to the news, yet, I want to be credible at the same time. Offshore petroleum and Louisiana fishing have been inextricably linked for years. Submerged rigs and other hardware in the Gulf makes for great artificial reefs to support fisheries.

Like many people I speak to daily, the BP spill seems like Katrina. It is truly a disaster for the state known as “The Sportsman’s Paradise.” Yet in the face of disaster, there has been little response from the Federal Government. Industry and private citizens have largely responded, along with portions of the military. The Obama Administration’s response, if you want to call it that, has been laughable. Much of the response you have seen to date, has not been the result of any Federal action. Indeed, Federal inaction may have been the root cause.

The legal wrangling and finger pointing has only just begun…and to what end? Failures in necessary human endeavors will continue, as long as there are needs for society to be met. This could have been Three Mile Island Unit 2 or Reactor 4 at Chernobyl. It could have been a tanker at Valdez. It could have been The Challenger. The fact is, when human beings are placed in proximity to physical systems with enormous power, accidents will happen.

In the coming weeks, as the true causes of DeepWaterHorizon begin to unfold, let us pull together and learn how we can prevent future mishaps of this nature, and even more, how to respond to protect and repair the biological systems that are at risk.

Top Kill in Progress

Live feed from the floor of the Gulf of Mexico.

Remote Vehicle Video Feed

A must see...

I saw this very sobering video at the recent ACR AMCLC meeting. It is more a critique of the system, rather than the people who operate within it. Whether or not one agrees with the speaker, it is thought provoking nonetheless....

Source: YouTube.

Thanks for your support!

Thanks to you, our readers, angiographer.com had one of it's biggest weeks ever, with 101 page loads and 62 unique visitors!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Oil hits the beach at Grand Isle

Oil reached the beach at Grand Isle late this week. Most of the oil is in the form of small tar balls. Click the images for detail...

Images: MTS (native jPEGs)

TV at the curb

Recently, on one of my usual cycling routes, someone had placed a TV out for the garbageman. It got me to thinking, "What is good on TV anymore?" I currently watch almost no broadcast TV, despite putting an HD antenna in the attic, in anticipation of last year's hurricane season. Since the election last year, my interest in national politics has decreased to the point that I rarely watch Fox News. Never did like the content or evening personalities on CNBC. When I do occasionally watch TV now, it is for entertainment, not information.



Image Credit: MTS Canon A-1 50mm/f1.2 Ilford PAN F 50

Grill from Ipanema

The Grill from Ipanema - Near Embassy Row, D.C. A play on words from a famous song.

Photo Credit: MTS iPhone

How about some Bar-B-Que?

Photo Credits: MTS Bar-B-Que, BTR Native jPEGs

BP / DeepWater Video

Video of Oil and Gas spewing from rig...it will take a big cork to stop this!

Dario Pegoretti, Master frame builder

Working in his shops in the hills outside of Trento, Italy, the master works with steel. The picture above is "retweeted" from Twitter....

He continues to construct frames, even since battling Lymphoma. Cyclists from all over thank you Dario for your passion and love of life! WEBSITE

Variety Liquor Store - Roswell, NM

Classic neon sign in the hinterlands of New Mexico.

Photo Credit: MTS

D.O.A.

A few years ago, when I began using FireFox, I discovered free video content at Internet Archive, where public domain videos can be viewed and downloaded for free. There, I found the film noir classic movie, D.O.A. Check it out sometime.

The Wikipedida article is here.

Shreveport run today....

I had a few Shrimp Busters at Herbie-K's....




Then passed by Holiday Lanes....




Then over to Barksdale AFB Museum for some retired aircraft photography....



Their most recent acquisition is an SR-71 Blackbird.



They also have a fine example of a Boeing B-47 Stratojet with an inert Mark 15 thermonuclear gravity bomb, chocked under the wing...

Frankly, it doesn't get much better than this....

Image Credits: MTS Leica M8.2/Summarit 35/f2.8

Gulf Oil Slick

We pray the environmental damage will be limited and short lived. Our coast is teeming with precious life, including many species of birds, fish, shellfish and plant life. The slick reached Freemason Island yesterday.



Photo: Boaters along the edge of the oil slick Wednesday, about a quarter-mile east of the Chandeleur Islands. Credit: Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times.

K-PACS

For general viewing software, it would be hard to beat K-PACS. It is not FDA approved for radiological reading, however, a certified version is available. An added plus is that the developer is an avid cyclist!

Dr. med. Andreas Knopke

Junior radiologist at the HUMAINE Vogtlandklinikum hospital in Plauen, Germany.

Contact address:
Radiologische Abteilung
Vogtland-Klinikum
Röntgenstr.2
08529 Plauen
Deutschland

E-mail:
Andreas@K-pacs.de

Direct your browsers to K-PACS.

Bracing for the worst.....

www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com

Chernobyl ...24 years ago.

Twenty - four years ago, I was at the Duke University Library studying for oral boards (at the Duke Radiology Resident Review course) when one of my fellow residents walked up to a group of us with a copy of the Durham Herald-Sun, with front page news of the Chernobyl disaster, the worst accident in commercial nuclear power history.

You can read the Wikipedia article here.