It wasn't me! (My friend Tim)

Dear reader,

in one of my first posts I already mentioned the my friend John method. You kind of put the blame on somebody else and can say what you want to say anyway. You won't be in trouble for what you said, because you didn't say it, but "my friend John" did.

Having said that due to recent events here a gig with Tim Minchin:

(Video link) Peace Anthem for Palestine

Here are the lyrics:

We don't eat pigs
You don't eat pigs
It seems it's been that way forever

So if you don't eat pigs
And we don't eat pigs
Why not, not eat pigs together?

Until next blog,

sarah

My Earworm Theory

Dear reader,
I'm very certain that earworms, that's songs we have stuck in our head for some time and don't get rid of easily, do have a meaning. They're not just songs or parts of songs in the head. Usually they're lyrics and not (just) melodies, we have in our head. Pay attention once to the lyrics, you have in your head then. I believe, our unconscious wants to say something to us with those lyrics and wants to make it conscious through this unnerving loop (or worm in our ear).
Honestly I had one song in my head for one and half a year. I was able to listen to other songs and it was okay. But as soon as I didn't hear anything and something was in my head, for one and half a year it was actually only one song. I better don't tell which one it was. It was a very famous one and can fast be the earworm for many other people. But I'm going to tell you some songs I had in my head from time to time recently. They weren't earworms in a real sense for me, because they weren't totally unnerving, but they were still some lines or some words of songs in the head.
As I was in the process of moving to my own flat, every now and then I had "Settle Down" by No Doubt. The lines "Get get get in line, and settle down / Get in line, and settle down" made sense for moving to another place really. "Settle down" as in "calm down", but also as in "finding a place to live". I was finding a place to live, settling down.
Thanks to a friend of mine (you know who you are), I discovered Tim Minchin the other day. I could have "known" him earlier in fact than only a couple of weeks back. Because one or two years back another friend of mine showed me a with Axes of Awesome, a video of a gig they did at which they did their 4 Chord Song. This is a nice, funny mix of many songs, which all have the same 4 chords (or one of them anyway) and all of them are hits. Particularly this video had all interprets and songs listed in the video. Tim Minchin was also among them towards the end. If I had bothered to listen to the less known or actually unknown interprets "back then", I could have known him way earlier. In any case I know him now and spent the past several days now to watch him and listen to every thing I could get. Obviously this is dangerous for me. Some days back I woke up with one of Tim Minchin's songs in my head and it stayed there for the better part of the day. On friday I was at work and drinking chai latte ginger. It didn't surprise me the least that I had Tim Minchin's "Ginger Song" (earlier versions entitled "Taboo", now it's generally known as "Prejudices") in my head for the whole time and it was impossible for me to get it out until I was finished with the chai latte ginger. Thank you very much. This wasn't funny at all, especially since the song isn't about the plant ginger. It took me a bit of time to realise what it was about. It really wasn't funny. Saturday wasn't any much better, except that the song was different. We were all shopping together and even on the way there a melody and then the text of Tim Minchin's "Canvas Bags" started take shape in my head. And yes, we did have canvas bags with us! Which was what I told myself repeatedly, to get the song out of my head.
Friday was simply unnerving and saturday was at least a better song. I still didn't really bother much to get the songs out of my head on both days. Even though both were unnerving. If I want to get rid of a song, it helps to have another fast song in your head. Sometimes I even whisper the lyrics or hum the melody at a low volume, if the earworm is really unnerving and sticky. What helps me is "Halloween Town" from the movie "Nightmare Before Christmas". Often what I do is I start with the la-la-la-bit towards the end of it and from time to time in my head the chorus starts at one point and then some time later both Halloween Town and the earworm are out of my head. This song, especially my starting point, is fast and fast requires a certain amount of concentration. That usually helps against earworms, to find something where you need to concentrate. I think it also helps, to respect and accept the hints from our unconscious and follow them, as much as it's and if possible.
At the beginning of this year I had to go to a sort of seminar. I didn't feel like it and also was very nervous, even though I had been there the day before. So I knew where I had to go and also knew the people there more or less. I woke up with a sailer's song in my head. I don't remember anymore which it was. The text was something along the lines of "don't be afraid, my love, it'll all be well soon". After a while I would have liked to have another song in my head for a change. But still it was somewhat calming me down - and it was right. As I was there soon it was all well. So earworms are not just something unnerving and above all not meaningless.
Until next blog,
sarah

Ventriloquial comeback

Dear reader,

I went back to work again on thursday a while back. Gaston stayed home. But the two therapy puppets Lucy and Fritzchen were still back at work, of course. When most of our guests (that's how we call those we take care of) were gone, I took Fritzchen actually. One man and his wife were still with us. The woman was excited how well I worked Fritzchen. She said to me, "How do you do that? All with hand manipulation?" Fritzchen shook his head very much. "No, no, no", he said. "Face manipulation!" At the end, before the two went, Fritzchen stuck out his tongue at the woman. Before that, when we were talking, she had asked, if he could do it once again and done that several times as we talked. So it seemed like a good way to end the day.

Yesterday night I bought me Charlie McCarthy. If any one of you would like to check him out, type the number 370676756284 on eBay. Even sales that have ended show up that way. At least for a little while. He's looking good, although he's used. On his right eyebrow he has a mark. But who knows how that looks like for real. 145 $ are quite expensive, but for a real vent figure like Charlie that's really cheap, especially since it's shipping included and he will be imported from america.

I like soft figures like Gaston and the therapy puppets, because you have your hand in their head and with the soft material, you can make more with the face. On the other hand I'm very happy not to finally have Charlie McCarthy here soon and with that really one of the classic vent figures of all, not just from the way it is made, a hard figure with headstick, but also because even among the famous figures, well it's Charlie McCarthy, Edgar Bergen's main figure! Yay!

Yay? I will have to buy children's clothings and don't even know where there are shops for that here. Maybe the women at work can sew him some clothings. I'm sure they'll be happy to do that. At the risk of sounding totally stupid and silly: I feel a little bit like someone, who's getting a child and has to prepare for it. Charlie won't stay in my bed though! Since he's a hard figure this may not be that fitting. Gaston is more of a cuddly toy and okay. Although Charlie will be somewhat like a child, he won't be screaming in the middle of the night asking for food or something to drink and I'd have to fix some for him. I won't need to change his pants either. But buying clothings! Horror! The one question I can't avoid any longer: how to test the clothings on Charlie? I can hardly take a "doll" into the changing room. But I also don't want for everyone to see how I take off cloths of Charlie to see how new ones look on him?! What did I do buying a figure on eBay?! Man!!!

Until next blog,

sarah

The magician, who unleashed the world

Dear reader,

on Halloween 86 years ago, october, 31 1926, the magician and escapologist Harry Houdini died. Many people know little or nothing about that name today. Although he achieved quite big things actually, not only in the field of entertainment as a magician and escapologist. I want to take the opportunity today to write a bit about him.

What many people don't know is that Harry Houdini wasn't his real name. He was born in Budapest in 1874 as Erik Weisz. His family moved to america when he was still young, they ended up living in New York. The family changed their name to "Weiss" and Erik called himself "Ehrich". When he was 17, he started doing magic shows and used the name Harry Houdini for himself. There are different theories why it was "Harry" as a first name. On the english wikipedia-page you can read that friends already called him "Harry". On the german wikipedia-page it reads that the magician Harry Kellar was is idol and he took the first name of him because of that. The name "Houdini" came from another magician-idol: Eugène Robert-Houdin. A friend of Houdini's told him that in french when you add an "i" at the end of "Houdin", it would mean "like Houdin". That's actually not the case, but makes a nice story about how he came to the name, I think.

He worked in a circus and traveled not only in america, but also europe, including germany and also russia. He's certainly most known for his escapology. Among other things he let himself be tied up and put under water in rivers. He also once was locked up (as part of the trick, not because he had done something wrong) and tied up in the Tower of London and was able to free himself. But he also did magic in different ways and for example he wrote a book on paper magic. He describes techniques to fold things out of paper. (Essentially how to do something like origami.) I heard he was quite good and skilled with card magic, too. He's known today for his escapology though. In a documentary on Harry Houdini that I saw, they said that he did his escapology at a time when the people in america felt captivated/imprisoned. To see that he unleashed himself was more than a mere entertainment act then. It was a symbol of freedom for themselves.

Harry Houdini was a mama's boy and when she died, he was very sad. At that time there were many people, who claimed they could get contact with the dead. But Harry Houdini with his own knowledge about magic, was smart and saw through the tricks of those people. Since he knew about the pain of this loss through the death of his own mother, he spent the rest of his life debunking charlatans and to safe moaning people from con artists. Because you can very well make pretty good money that way, if you're "skilled" enough and know how to do it. But I have absolutely no respect for those people. My point of view is that they really use this pain and make money from that. It's one thing if a funeral parlour wants money for the coffin, the memorial and funeral and all that. But to say that one can talk to the dead and in reality it's all just an act, that's clearly crossing a line for me. Maybe some of those people believe, that they truly can talk to the dead. But I believe that most of them know very well that this isn't reality and that what they do is simply a disrespectful tall tale.

The american magic duo Penn & Teller have a tv series where they investigate things we take for granted and let experts talk about that. The series is called "Bullshit" and the first episode was on talking to the dead. At the beginning Penn is standing in front of a grave stone with Harry Houdini's name and dates on it and talking to him. That even after so many years and his attempts people still talk to the dead. Then he turns to the camera saying, "See? Anyone can talk to the dead. Getting an answer, that's the hard part."

Harry Houdini's death is pretty mysterious. They say this is what happened: He had some blind gut or belly problem prior to october, 31. A student came to see him october, 22 to test Houdini. He had claimed that by contracting the muscles, he could be hit by someone and feel fine and be unhurt. So this man came and hit him in the belly. It's said that Houdini later claimed the belly problems came from the hitting and he, Houdini, didn't have enough time to prepare for the hitting. The belly problems got worse after that. A doctor diagnosed him with appendicitis. Houdini did his final show october, 24, went to the hospital after that and died there october, 31, aged 52.

Houdini and his wife thought up a code word. After one of them was dead, that person would try to make contact with the one still living. That word would be the proof that the connection was genuine. The code word was "Rosabelle believe". Up until 10 years after Houdini had died, his wife held an annual séance, to get in contact with her husband. This never happened at any time though. After the final try, she commented, "ten years is long enough to wait for any man."

Until next blog,

sarah

It's over

Dear reader,

on monday at about 5:30 the phone rang. At the very first moment I thought a certain friend of my parents might be calling. He wakes up early in the morning. But he wouldn't call at this hour. It could only have been the hospital and it was. My mom died.

I'm happy for her. My mom was french and had the accident when she was on holiday in france. She rode her bike a lot and had the accident on her bike. My dad was with her and a couple of good friends, too. The weather was great. apart from the shock of falling, I think, she was happy at that moment. When my dad arrived at the accident, she was already in a coma. I know, there's lot debate even among doctors, how much someone in a coma still senses. I'd like to believe that she at least didn't sense much after the accident. Her final conscious moments were happy anyway and that makes me happy for her.

Until next blog,

sarah

Darn mirror neurons!

Dear reader,

my mom will die. We went to the doctor on tuesday and got the MRI results and to make a long story short: my mom is bleeding deep in the brain on many places. Since thursday she also has fever. The doctor already told us on tuesday that an infect is about to come. There is no more hope. At least we know what's coming now and there's somewhat of an end in sight to her suffering, the suffering of all of us.

For several weeks now I've had headaches on and off. My dad told me the other day that, he too, has headaches sometimes. I think the places change for me. I don't pay much attention to it. For my dad the headache is where my mom was hit on the head. Responsible for this phenomena is what's called mirror neurons. Mirror neurons are neurons (nerves) in primates' brains, which are activated when we watch others do things. What's so special about them is that the same neurons are active both when we are (passive) watching someone and (active) actually doing something. So for the brain it doesn't matter whether we watch someone or do the activity ourselves. In both cases the same area, the same neurons are active. There's much debate going on about mirror neurons. The way I understand it, they are making us smile when we see others smile. They say when I was little and a certain friend started crying, I cried, too.

Something else is related to this, too, I think: ideomotor movents. I don't know, if this is actually true, but for me the words are made of "idea" and "motoric". The idea, which is the thought of a movement, leads to real movement. They are tiny, sort of micro-movements, but still movements. They're muscle movements then, or muscle tension, something like that and not actual visible movements. You can make "movements you thought of" visible though. Take a piece of string. Anything works. Something thin, long. On one end you put some weight on it. It doesn't have to be very heavy actually, just enough to serve as a pendulum. (Alternatively you can actually use a pendulum, too. I like to take a necklace I have with a stone hanging on it.) The pendulum needs hang in the air like that. Ideally take the string between your thumb and index finger only. You can support the elbow somewhere, but the wrist and upper arm have to be unsupported in any way. The elbow might rest on the arm of a chair and the string hanging next to the chair or use a table or something. Then concentrate on the end of the pendulum that's in the air. For starters just imagine it moving in no particular way at all, just moving. Then start playing with it: side to side, left to right, back and forth, or circle. If you want to and the pendulum is moving nicely, you can take a look at your hand now. The hand is making the movement. The string is only serving to make movement longer and more visible and the weight at the end of it, makes the movement even more visible. Many people may know the pendulum as a tool for witches, to (supposedly) communicate with spirits. In fact however there's nothing but micro-movements we thought of made visible through the pendulum. Some may be outraged or others still skeptical, but the so-called Ouija board, works the same way. (That's a board with the letters of the alphabet and you've got an arrow on which one or more people place their fingers and the arrow moves to the letters creating words as answers to questions asked). Flying tables or other objects are done with another trick, but what's called moving tables or moving glasses is done with ideomotor movements. The Ouija board only works if at least one of the persons involved knows the right answer. Derren Brown in his book "Tricks of the Mind" writes about one time when he was with friends and they wanted to communicate with one of his dead relatives. He knew about ideomotor movements at that time and deliberately didn't want to touch the arrow of the Ouija board. After the group asked for the name of the dead relative, they got a name all right, but it was not the real name of the relative and later one of the group said he had the name in his head. That's why that name came up.

Does that mean the pendulum is nothing but a cheap toy to play with ideomotor movements made visible? No. You can really communicate using a pendulum. Communicate with your unconscious. You can for example use it, if you're unsure making a decision. Either set up a movement for yes and no. (Be careful! Don't use left for yes and right for no. Make it distinct movements such as left and right for yes and circle for no.) Or you wish for any which movement may come up for yes and then ask for another movement for no. And then you can ask all kinds of questions and see what your unconscious thinks about them and shows you through movement. You could work with more than yes and no only, but I wouldn't make it more complicated than necessary. You could use diagonal for "maybe", too, or back and forth for "not sure". Something like that. You can also take a piece of paper and write a word in each corner (for example: yes, no, maybe, not sure) use the middle of the paper as a "starting point" and start swinging. The answers will be defined depending on which of the corners you end up.

The great escapologist Harry Houdini was a real mommy's boy. He was deeply hurt when his mom had died. He would have loved to be able to communicate with her. But he saw through the methods the so-called mediums used to supposedly communicate with the dead and spend much time debunking charlatan. I don't know, if it's possible to talk to the dead or not. What I do know however and wanted to describe here is that things like the pendulum or the Ouija board work entirely without "an invisible hand". And still this effect and the possibilities to really use it, fascinate me.

I once heard that our muscles already do ideomotor movements, before we do the real movements. So our body knows how we want to move next, before we actually do it. What good is our conscious then?

Until next blog,

sarah

Turtle

Dear reader,

it's difficult not being able to do anything but wait. It's not quite like that. We brought my mom an mp3 player yesterday with music. I wish we could do more. Others tell us repeatedly to call them, if there's anything they can do. But the biggest work my mom has to do herself now.

Today had a documentary on tv. The Top 10 of oldest animals on the earth. I first thought we'd watch that together. But then friends of my parents' wanted to come. So I didn't watch it. But I immediately thought of turtles. I heard once that the reason for them to reach such an old age is that they do everything slowly. Hectic pace, always fast and rushing damages the body.

Today and yesterday my dad seemed extremely down. Maybe my sister and I see the situation more positive than it is. Or my dad is too pessimistic, because he understands all the medical stuff and sees more of the negative because of that. Probably we'll meet somewhere in the middle of it.

Anyway, before my dad went to bed, I told him that turtles live to be so old, because they do everything slowly. I told him, "Give her time. Give yourself time." Then he went to the bathroom and I went to my room. I knew I have a soft turtle here. Someone had bought it some time ago and as I was looking for a hand puppet a while back, I found it and brought it to my room. I found it and went into the hall way. I hesitated. On the bed or on the desk? I decided on the desk in the hall way and went back into my room. Some minutes later, my dad stuck his head in and said with a very tired look, "I'll take it into bed with me." That's what I had hoped for anyway. :-)

Until next blog,

sarah