Clear as Mud

Last night's Pacquiao-Marquez fight, which some people have called "controversial," was a Rorschach test for viewers.

The choice of words is curious to me, because while i believe it was "close," i disagree on the "controversy."  For every person who says that Pacquiao "clearly" won, there's probably and equal number who would say he "clearly" lost.  In both cases, it's really only as clear as mud, which is why we needed the judges to render a verdict.  

I personally agreed with the judges on this one (my opinion on the scoring was near-identical with the "Lederman Scorecard"), and i think that while Pacquiao's inability to beat the feisty Marquez to a pulp was a disappointment, it is not enough reason to award the win to the latter. The fight went down the wire, and in the end the judges did what they were supposed to do: they judged based on how they thought it should be judged.  On this particular night, they thought that more punches taken/landed made the better fighter, so Pacquiao won.  If they had felt that better defense and more counter-punching would have been a better benchmark, then Marquez would have won.  

It's a little weird to me to take the booing crowd into consideration.  More people sang the Mexican National Anthem than the Lupang Hinirang; doesn't that in itself indicate that the audience consisted of either more (or more vocal)  Mexicans than Filipinos?  Lovers gonna love and haters gonna hate.  Personally, i'm looking forward to the fourth installment on this one.  

Fall Fun with Knives

So this year, we carved a pumpkin for the first time.

Despite having been in the US for 7 years, we never completely got into the Fall/Halloween thing.  I've always been mildly interested in carving a pumpkin, but owing to laziness and cheapness (i didn't want to spring $$$ for the fruit), i never tried.  Well, after this season's trip to Koetsier's, we managed to score a free small pumpkin that was allegedly "good for carving and for making pies," so we decided to finally go for it.

The procedure is actually quite simple.

Use a sharp knife!   

Take off the top.

Nobody told us that it would be yucky.  

Scoop out the insides.

Mark out the design.  Since this was my first outing, i decided on a basic one. 

Gouge out the eyes. 

Pose for the camera!

Final step - carve out the nose and mouth! 

It should be an enjoyable endeavor. 

Nice and creepy when the lights are off! 

For extra creepiness, add a sad child to your Halloween decor. 

Roid Rave

I just started steroids, and i feel great!

For the first time in what seems like an eternity, i woke up this morning with NO PAIN in my Achilles tendon, just a mild stiffness that quickly went away with some stretching.  It's probably from getting my Dexamethasone Iontophoresis yesterday afternoon.

To be more precise, my steroid is not the (alleged) Barry Bonds type of steroid, which would be more of the androgenic/anabolic kind, but rather a glucocorticoid, which fights inflammation and causes a host of other effects when taken systemically.  This is significant difference, as when people hear the word "steroid," it evokes plenty of (undeserved) negative connotations.  I myself actually grew up deathly afraid of steroids, having grown up with the phrase, "Naku, naka-steroids ka na!" ("Oh no, you're on steroids now!") from various sources whenever i got a severe asthma attack.  Only much later (in medical school) did i realize those people probably didn't - and maybe still don't - understand what steroids are and what they do.  Not all steroids make you big, beefy, and angry.  Used with a clearly defined indication, dose, and duration - they can actually provide significant relief of symptoms.

So i'm supposed to get around five to six treatments delivered locally through the iontophoresis patch, and if it works - perhaps another six.  I'm optimistic right now, but i'd like to see what happens when it wears off.  I'm also a tad bit skeptical because the treatment seems odd: Astym to promote inflammation, but steroids to calm it down?  Ummm...  But anyway, i am trusting my therapist to know what he's doing.  I personally know how annoying it can be to have your opinion questioned by somebody else in a semi-related medical field, so i'm trying hard not to be "that" patient.  Onward!