I had the ultrasound that was mentioned in my last post a few days ago. As expected this was all clear. Lateral transfer of TC is quite rare so I didn’t expect anything to show up. Good to know for sure though.
Author Archive | Ian Robinson
And another one gone…
Had my 6th post I/O & radiation check-up today. Nothing unusual to report.
The lung x-ray that was taken at the last check-up was clear. Today the oncologist did an exam of my testicle, abdomen and also listened to my lung sounds. All fine.
He re-instigated the blood marker checks that were skipped at the last check-up (my markers were always normal) and ordered a precautionary ultrasound on my testicle. He also said I’d get another CT scan in 12 months.
So happy days then 🙂
Tori Amos – The Beekeeper
Brilliant new album from Tori Amos. Back to the quality of the early material. Much happiness!
I didn’t know this new album was out until I saw it in a banner advertisement on the UK iTMS. Tori Amos’s early albums were very, very good indeed. Her debut album, Little Earthquakes, was stunning with tracks like Crucify, Precious Things, Happy Phantom and Winter especially good. The next album, Under the Pink, was better than the previous one. Nearly all the tracks on this album were, and still are, brilliant. After this there were a few albums that were different! There were a few good tracks inter-spaced on the albums Boys for Pele, From the Choirgirl Hotel and To Venus and Back. Venus did have a 2nd live disk with stuff from the early albums on it. Which was good. Some people loved those albums. I didn’t.
The album Scarlet’s Walk, which was released in 2002, was a step back towards the good material. The track Wednesday was very, very good indeed and a few others as well. The new album, The Beekeeper, is brilliant. I’ve listened to it about 15 times over the last few days. There isn’t a track on it I feel like skipping. Toast is my favourite. Closely followed by Witness, Parasol and Ireland. It’s all good though. You can listen to 30 second snippets at the album home page on the iTMS. There is a track on the album called Sweet the Sting that sounds very like it’s Alisha’s Attic performing it. Which is no bad thing.
Hormonally Yours – Shakespear’s Sister
Took the urge to listen to the song Stay from the Hormonally Yours album from Shakespeare’s Sister tonight. So I pressed the trusty iPod into service. I ended up listening to the whole album. Bloody marvellous stuff. Pity they are not together anymore. Since their split however there have been a few brilliant solo albums from Marcy Detroit.
The iPod really changes the way you listen to music. It’s incredible having 2600 tracks available instantly no matter where you happen to be. No need to find the CD and mount it to hear a track from your collection. Want to hear a track? It’s playing in seconds.
Also the AAC encoding system that you can use in iTunes to encode your CD’s for the iPod produces files that sound incredible. I’ve said it before but it bears repeating. If you want a digital music player get an iPod or one of the new iPod mini devices. You won’t be disappointed.
More drivel on BBC Thought for the Day
I thought that I was beyond attainment of a state of incredulity when listening to pious twerps try to justify natural events in the world. I was wrong.
If you want to listen to some idiot talking absolute nonsense in the face of the recent earthquake and tsunami then visit the URL below and listen to the tripe Elaine Storkey was allowed to broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Wednesday 29th December. This is a new low in the several thousand years of wreck and ruin religion has inflicted upon humanity.
I suppose I should thank the idiots who spout this nonsense for vindicating my rejection of religion as errant nonsense when I was about 10. But sod them. My wish for 2005 is that more people realise that all religion is an anachronism whose time has passed. Humanity needs to grow up and make a better future for all the life on this planet. Religion is surplus to requirements in the endeavour.
This link will expire at some stage. You will need to search the BBC Thought for the day archive to get the 29th December 2004 entry after that.
Another check-up bites the dust
With apologies to John Deacon for the title of this entry. Had another check-up last Wednesday. Everything fine and dandy.
Got the usual physical check of the lymph nodes in the neck & abdomen. Also had a chest X-Ray taken to make sure my lungs are clear. My oncology consultant has decided to stop checking for tumour markers in my blood every 2 months. It’s been 20 months since my IO. My markers were normal pre and post IO. Have been normal on every test since as well. I’m happy enough to stop getting spiked for a blood sample every 8 weeks. Next visit will be in 6 months at which time I’ll get an ultrasound exam of the remaining nut!
So assuming the X-Ray is clean (and it should be) it’s full steam ahead. The TC escapade is retreating further into the past 🙂
The Knife – Deep Cuts
Just got the new album (well new for he UK anyway) from The Knife. It’s called Deep Cuts. Not sure if I like it as much as their last album but it has some really good tracks. It’s growing on me.
I really like Pass this on and You take my breath away. Other good ones are Heartbeats, Girls night out, One for you, Rock classics, Is it medicine and Got 2 let u. Actually I seem to have listed most of the tracks there so I must like the album as whole. it comes with a DVD that contains videos for 5 tracks.
The Ancestor’s Tale – R. Dawkins (plus) The Road To Reality – R. Penrose
Was at a meeting this morning in the centre of Belfast so I popped into Waterstones bookshop to pick up a copy of Roger Penrose’s “The Road to Reality“. Got that okay. We will get to that presently.
Sitting proudly in the Just Published section was Richard Dawkins “The Ancestor’s Tale“. So I got a copy of that as well. All I can say is “Wow!!”
First impressions; this is a beautiful book. The production quality is superb. It’s 528 pages long. Between A4 and A5 in size, hardback, excellent paper quality. All that’s fine and dandy but “what about the content?” I hear you cry.
Continue Reading →
The Darkness live
Brilliant!!! Went to see The Darkness at the Belfast Vital04 festival in Belfast Botanic Gardens on Monday. They were excellent.
All the hype is true. These guys are the real deal. They are tight as a unit, can actually play their instruments well, have good rapport with the crowd and bash out the songs with gusto. All in all they put on a show which is, lets face it, what you want at a bloody concert.
They played most of the songs from their debut album and those from the EP available on the Apple iTunes store. Love on the Rocks with no Ice was the last one played and it went on for ages! They also played one new song. “This is the awkward moment bit” as Justin Hawkins put it 🙂 Another few albums worth of material will fill out the live set nicely. If you get a chance to go see them then take it.
Latest checkup
Had another post treatment check-up today. This was the 4th since the radiotherapy finished. Got the usual check-up as reported previously. Oncologist checked for lymph node swelling in neck, abdomen and groin. Nothing untoward to report 🙂
Also got the results of my CT scan confirmed. Nothing out of the ordinary found. Blood was taken the check for beta-HCG and AFP protein markers. I was told that my check-up frequency would now go onto a 6-month schedule with chest x-rays on that time-scale as well.
So much rejoicing again.