Welcome to my random musings and thoughts. As a photographer, cancer surgeon and scientist, I am apt to wander a little. Anyway, I hope you enjoy my pictures and words,
Daughter of an Episcopal Priest, Dona Oxford, is the self proclaimed "Goddess of Soul". A New Yorker by birth, she is fast becoming America's Queen of Boogie-Woogie. No longer satisfied with playing with the likes of Keith Richards and Buddy Guy, she has been touring with her own 6 piece band in the UK.
Whilst playing in Manchester, she was interviewed for the BBC's Songs of Praise on Sunday 23rd November. Talking about her Christian upbringing and how her faith channels energy into her playing and songwriting. Her Father, who died when she was only 15 months old, would have been very proud. She will return to the UK in the New Year. Watch out!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b04t1sqj/songs-of-praise-23112014
The Jesus and Mary Chain are back! Ear-splitting, intense, uncompromising. Psychocandy in all its glory. Brothers Jim and William Reid delivered in spades. Reunited with their original manager, Alan McGee, who took charge of the sound desk, to create the wall of sound again.
The Trosky was a perfect stage. An Art Deco oasis amidst the seediness of Tower Hamlets - the perfect reflection of the mismatch of grandeur amongst social deprivation and poverty. No riot in the packed house last night, but there's another date on Monday!
Thanks to my great friend, Emmanuel Huguet at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge. Wilko Johnson has been pulled back from the abyss. 9 hours of surgery and several weeks in hospital. At last, Wilko was back on stage, helping to celebrate the WHO's 50th Anniversary at a special fund raising concert for Teenage Cancer Trust on Armistice Day.
Like all the other musicians, who have given their services for free, Wilko played just one song with the great young R&B band, The Strypes. After the show, Wilko was glad to show off Emmanuel's handiwork. It has been an unbelievable journey for him over the last 18 months. Thank you especially to all who supported him, particularly his family, former manager, Lisa Climie, Roger Daltrey, his fellow band mates, Norman Watt-Roy & Dylan Howe and his best friends, Mike Fawcett and Yuriko Daikoku. You'll see far more of him soon, according to Alan McGee, his new manager. Watch this space!
Yesterday 100 senior doctors sent an open letter to the Times (13th November 2014), saying "that they neither want nor need" the Medical Innovation Bill, sponsored by Lord Saatchi. They argue that medical innovation is not hindered by the threat of medical litigation, and that innovation is best carried out within the discipline of clinical trials. These specialists said that “The current law already allows us to use off label drugs and to try new treatments when they are in patients’ best interests.”
Last night, as President of the Gloucestershire Division of the BMA, I hosted Lord Saatchi at a meeting of GPs and Consultants from Gloucestershire and Worcestershire, who work in the real world, not in Ivory Towers. There was a healthy debate, both with doctors who support the Bill, and those who don't. The audience commented on the constant fear of medical litigation, and how that sits uneasily on doctors' shoulders every day.
Some suggested that the new Bill would encourage irresponsible innovation, which might produce only "anecdotal evidence". But Lord Saatchi has already addressed this by negotiating a new database for every patient having an innovative treatment, hosted by the Clinical Trials Unit at the University of Oxford. Every "anecdote" becomes a learning experience for the whole of mankind, so that results from innovative treatments can be collated and reviewed quickly. Promising new treatments can be rapidly highlighted for inclusion into new clinical trials. This is particularly important for rare conditions.
In between Lord Saatchi's speech and the questions, I posed this to my medical colleagues -
How many of the doctors in the audience have offered and given a patient a truly novel treatment option (as opposed to a clinical trial or a drug commonly given off licence) in the last 10 years ?
87% voted to say that they had not given an innovative treatment to a single patient in the last 10 years, with only 13% saying that they had. That is the reality.
After three wonderful years, our youngest son, Eddie, has now left the Choir at Gloucester Cathedral. It has been a huge privilege to be with him and the other choristers under the watchful eye of Adrian Partington, the Director of Music. Choral Evensong is a wonderful English tradition - probably the most beautiful of all church services.
Sue and I have been Eddie's Roadies for the last three years. Being a chorister, singing at least 6 days out of 7, is just like being a professional musician. 1000 different pieces of music sung each year in Gloucester. That's why Gloucester has one of the very best Cathedral Choirs in Britain. Very few other choirs have their boys singing with such regularity.
So now, we are all looking forward to a short break before he returns to the Cathedral Youth Choir with his new manly voice.