121018Th: Physio over

Obama Hollywood debut?

     This piece is NOT about public affairs:
    
     This week’s routine heavier than usual. Took me 3 days on and off to finish. What a relieve to be over.
     Thurday, the day new movies are launched. But nothing interesting to me. Guess have to read or play game.
      The only movie I don't want to miss is the Korean production "登陸之日" (My Way). But regular showing only begins next Thursday. A unique WWII story about Koreans drafted by their Japanese colonial ruler to serve in the Germany army guarding the Normandy coast.  Namely, the other side of the Hollywood classic "The Longest Day". What's more, in addition to Korean actor張東健 and Japanese actor小田切讓, two well-known faces in Asia, the director adds a Chinese beauty 范冰冰. What a globalization, both on and off the screen. An interesting film to watch during the worst Sino-Japan relation in 40 years. 
      I thought about seeing Richard Geres' "Arbitrage" (收購風雲) . But how good is Geres' take-over conspiracy in New York compared with Michael Douglas' classic (華爾街)? Greed may not be good, but it is universal.

      The only other movie which caught my attention is "End Of Watch"(警戰實錄). But not because of the movie. It's the poster (pic) instead. The big head shot of a black policeman on the roadside ad looks as if Barack Obama took some time to prepare for his next career in case his present job should end in about 3 months. Good for the American people, less one big guy in the unemployment office queue.          
       But I think he will get another 4 years in the present job before moving onto acting career should he chooses to. Although deemed the ugliest presidential debate by the Wall Street Journal, he seems to have won the second match against his opponent.
      Although the debates are now 1:1, with all the advantages of the incumbent, and the last battle being on foreign policy (and Hilary Clinton throwing her weight onto her boss), poor Romney will need a miracle to turn the tide.
      Polls show voting percentage but not winning odds. With 3 weeks to go, I would bet 6:4 in Obama's favor.
      Watching Obama's verbal and body languages in this campaign on TV, it suddenly reminds me of Burt Lancaster(畢蘭加士打)'s role as a controversial preacher in the Hollywood classic “Elmer Gantry" (Hong Kong translated as靈與慾). For a recent analogy, may be that of black evangelical priests or civil rights activists.  
      Blacks in America are well-known for their talent in speaking and performing. When you first encounter Obama's forceful language, most people will be touched, especially after eight years of George Bush. But after watching the same for four years, magic tends to fade and people judge Obama more by his performance and measures the gap between rhetoric and reality.

      After treating me for about four months, my physio session at the gov. came to an end this past Monday.  Not done but over as they have tried various methods on my shoulder ranging from heat, magnetic, electric to acupuncture, and of course exercising.  Not much more can be done at this stage, short of more intrusive measures like injection or surgery which I consider as last resort.
      When my physio bade me "Take care. Inform the doctor if there is a problem." without giving me an appointment day, I immediate realized that I was done with him. I have no complain. He had already given me more sessions than the standard 8 sessions gov. would offer patients in general. And he did try different methods available to him. By gov. standard, he is capable. Attitude OK. Charging less than 10% of what private practitioners do, I can't ask for more. And the problem with private practitioners is there is no guarantee that higher fee gets better cure.
      The last thing my physio mentioned is the partial tear as shown in the MRI. He asked if the ortho specialist at QM made any suggestions. Guess he suspected that my problem might only be treated with surgery.
      Roughly speaking, I am neither better nor worse after the latest physio. But I am not pessimistic. On the contrary, after 2 years, I can understand that the pain is now ‘native’ to me. And as age catches up on me, it is likely to get worse. I can only keep exercising to slow down the deterioration. And surgery may be unavoidable in the long run.
       Now, the worse time in a day is during sleep. Moving my arm in sleep, especially turning from one side to the other causes much pain, a rather common problem of frozen shoulder.
       It has been a long learning process. But I have learned to take it lightly or what they call平常心in Chinese, and may be, say my grace.