Have done quite a bit recently. Got a bike, and been on a bike ride (pictures) as well as starting back at school. Had difficulties getting online there, although the networking and IT support is fantastic. I think that is mainly due to the fact that I'm running debian on powerpc, a unique minority amongst computer users at the school - and probably on a wider basis than that as well.

And another day. Exam day. Another exam day. For both the proctors (invigilators) and myself - and many of the other
candidates: they all seemed to be foreign. One guy said he'd done 8 different exams since qualifying - requalifications in
various countries. For myself, there will be more to come; and I hope they're not so fake as this one...

USMLE Step 2 CS (Clinical Skills) - "Standardised Patients," abbreviated history and physical, then a short "Patient Note"

Mexico to San Francisco, stopped and changed overnight in Los Angeles: the city of devils. Five hours in the coach station:
dank, sweaty, flourescent illumination and the crusted bodies of a million passers-through; lines winding around each
other, baggage piled high... I didn't ever want to come back.

And here I am. Not through any choice of my own - really. Well, maybe kind of, a little bit, but not the city that enticed
me: a whole other desire. And no, not a woman. I'm here for my exam: Step 2, Clinical Skills, of the USMLEs about which

Thus concluded Charles Ferguson, film director and producer of No End In Sight: The American Occupation of Iraq at the end of an evening of debate, following a screening of the film. Not just any old screening, either; this was only the second ever screening, in front of an audience of academics, students and lay people - learned others - at the heart of the well known Californian political community, Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.

The film, which won the 2007 Sundandce Film Festival Special Jury Prize in the Documentary category, is Ferguson's first film; I'm not sure how he came to make it, as his bio listed a degree in mathematics, followed by a doctorate in Political Science, which was in turn followed by a a number of years as an independent consultant providing "strategic consulting" in the early nineties. Perhaps he has now found his vocation - for this film truly is magnificent, acting as a quality piece of writing against the dross that an every day reader recieves. It is to Michael Moore's movies (Fahrenheit 911 being the most similar in topic) as the Times or Guardian are to the Mirror or the Sun, the New York Times or the Herald Tribune to the Daily Post: this is a purely class documentary, allowing the subjects to do the speaking, whilst Ferguson narrates only the most fragile of architectures. And it is clear who's mess is Iraq - and who's legacy.

Have been here now for >48 hours - by two hours, precisely (the train I was on was late, and arrived about 25 minutes later than expected: that's the result of having a single mainline from the capital). Interesting greetings, interesting place. I'm sure I'll figure it out pretty quickly, tho - things will definitely settle down this week.

I wrote a little while ago about the UK Medical Careers Research Group survey of 1999 medical school graduates, and how I had answered (most of) the questions. I also mentioned that I'd been taking part in it for the past however many years - well, we've been surveyed a number of times. Now - revelation! - I was tidying up just the other day and came across the form from 2004-05. So I guess I didn't send it in. Is it now too late? Anyway, some of it I'd filled in, other bits are obvious, so I've included it below...

A friend gave me a really cool yerba mate cuia (Pt) and bomba (Pt, I believe: bombilla in Spanish) over the holidays last winter.

Today, I spent some time trying to figure out where to replenish my supply, and came across several useful references, beyond wikipedia.

So, you get to learn a little bit about me... such as I use firefox - if you haven't gathered that already..

Wow! So it's been about 6 weeks since I wrote anything on here - note: on here - mainly due to a profound lack of connectivity (and the need to prioritise other tasks) and writing offline and never getting around to posting... If I have a chance, I might post some stuff up retrospectively, but don't hold your breath.

And I've discovered how rubbish this site looks to some users: those who use micro$oft Internet Evil (TM) versions 5 or 6 - or probably any others as well. Well, tough, I'm afraid: there are no plans at the moment to fix this, although maybe in the longer term... Meanwhile, I suuggest you use firefox which suffers none of the same problems and is an infinitely more elegant browser.

Recently, whilst at the ECMO conference, I met some people who were interested in my thoughts on what to do in New York. Now, New York is a fantastic place, somewhere I've spent quite a bit of time, have family and friends, have worked (in various ways, although none of them paid), and generally enjoyed myself. I thought I'd be able to help them....

Well, first off, I'm listening to Heap, a rock 'n' roll band of some friends of mine. We often meet to drink in a bar called >Milanos, a cool little Irish number with a long thin room and a bar extending two thirds of the way, juke box and a few tables at the back, good beers and excellent shots - my experience being limited to Captain Morgan's, and buying rounds of Jamiesons for my friends. Next door, on one side, is Time's Up, a radical political gathering place, although there is a heavy emphasis on getting involved, do it yourself, cycle workshops and bicycling. There are frequently parties here, either after Critical Mass rides, or to raise money for the ongoing defense campaign necessitated by the ongoing City Police Department repression: a wonderful film was made and premiered just under a year ago, in May 2005, during the (city sponsored) "Bicycle Month" (culminating in the Critical Mass ride, heavily advertised by the festival!).