Temptations & Ambitions

Many times, we've not been bothered to flip through any books encountered in the bookstore. Or perhaps in the movie, where we wouldn't be able to watch a high speed version of the movie. So, all we could do is to turn the book around and look at the synopsis. Or at the movie guide for some general introduction. And many a times, this had spoiled our anticipation and the element of surprise lying dormant within each book. This is not a blame game, I would say. As we reached adulthood, we may find that we've less than to read, too engrossed in our jobs that every minute became precious. And what more, sometimes that book can cost up to an arm and a leg in developing countries like mine, where a new novel fresh from the printing press can cost up to RM100 (at least 20 meals for a person). This is when we rely on such synopsis to decide which to buy. All we need was a tap on the book and a some chants, such as "Amuse me", "Scare me", "Interest me", etc, and voila! All you need to know is at the back of the book.

But sometimes, that is not the case in movies. A synopsis can be a killer, when you tend to summarize the movie. Try a romantic chick flick. You might end up with similar summary such as:

"Boy meets girl, have some fun or disarray, fell in love, some arguments again, then get back together for a happily ever after."

Or perhaps, an superhero action movie:

"Ordinary guy gets super power, falls in love with a girl, saves the world along with the girl. Happily ever after until he meets the next villain"

I mean, how elaborate can a movie gets? An intellectual piece afterall, may not make its way to the silver screen. They tend to have a somnolent effect, where action films maintains the attention of viewers with their fast-paced actions, translating into money-making formula. And there goes another spoiler when you ask someone "How was the movie?" And I mean rotten spoil. True, it saves you that few bucks out of the tickets if it's bad, but it also takes the liberty out of a good film.Therefore, there's always viewers who would like to shut their eyes and ears before they watch a movie. Verdict unchanged. No higher or lowered expectations.

And how would the movies attract viewers without a trailer or synopsis. (aka demo for computer software)? Even producers are running out of titles to name their movies. Take for example, "Inglourious Basterds", where the title itself attracts people of the same kind had not there been any synopsis or trailers. And the movie "2012" is just a year by itself, being non-spectacular than Malaysia's "2020"(amidst being 8 years earlier, which means Malaysia may not meet its vision by 2020 had 2012 materialize).How would people know if the movie is good or not?

This is where synopsis plays in. How a synopsis is written determines how the plot would play out and interest the potential viewers. An emphasis on certain details and omission of others might play well in the hearts of potential viewers.Of course, sex scenes, hot babes and hunks, famous directors may play well into the factors, but a synopsis is rather important to have a general idea of what we are in for. And one thing for sure, Hollywood movies play on the formula that the shorter the plot, the more time they have for SFX effects, and translate into a cash cow by itself. That is why, I could try writing a summary for the movie "2012".

1st attempt: End of the world according to an expiring Mayan classical calendar
2nd attempts: Mass destruction
3rd attempt: Die-lah....

*Sigh* I think I am just not fit for the job.


*P.S. "2012" is merely a fiction. The classic Maya manage to extrapolate a calendar up to almost 5000+ years and it happens to end in 2012. However, there was no prophecy made, and the apocalypse is just a speculation of the what happens next. Maybe you should try looking at your electronic calendar and see when it ends. Then you might postulate that the manufacturers prophesized an apocalyse as there would be no calendar year after that.

That was what the dentist told me. I could only smile with embarrassment. It's true that I have no dental records of whatsoever, apart from the school ones back in Form 4. Or perhaps the actual time I've seen a real dentist was back in Primary Two. To me, my teeth means nothing, apart from being for chewing food. I could never understand why would people spend thousands just to make their teeth "nice", when no one could actually tell the difference for most people who actually did wear braces.

And the reason I was there was because I heard that there was dental service in Klinik Warga UKMMC. Oh well, with the "Free" tag, no one could really resist it, especially one overdue for check up for more than 80 months. (Standard dental check up is once every 6 months).

Oh well, after all the hassle and lectures from the dentist, I thought I could at least do something to improve my teeth. She'd said that my teeth were still strong and healthy, but my gums were, oh well, beyond what normal food bacteria could form. Since there were even calculi, I'd to do the scaling. The much dreaded one, it would seem. The part where the fear of dentist was not unfounded.

And after some grueling 40 minutes in the dentist room (and the pain torture of 10 years worth perhaps), I was given a short course on "How to brush my teeth". Reminds me of primary school when we were taught to brush our teeth. Only then could I stepped out of the room with a numbing refreshed teeth and gums. I took the oral wash and antibiotics (Metronidazole, on which I still insist of being an antibiotic despite refuted by Prof Hassan from Ortho and Prof Kamsiah from Pharm) from the pharmacy. Happily, I whisked away with a charming smile. And maybe some erythematous (reddish) dots from in between the gums.


Finally, I could show my teeth off! And I am even more handsome than handsome. (Narcississm)

Or so I thought.

Few hours later, I was having dinner back home. My dear noticed that the bleeding had got worse, with a few points in my gums were bleeding. The blood was oozing, and the clot was unstable that it kept bleeding slowly into my mouth. It was still bearable initially, but after a 15 minutes nap, I'd realized that my mouth were filled with a tang of blood, and clots. The uneasy sensational was awkward. It was akin to a female's period, but oh well, it's in my mouth. -.-" It was quite hard to sleep without the blood in my mouth despite various efforts to stop it, including gargling and applying pressure with gauze.

And I slept at 3.30am, right before the blood clot manage to stabilize after coating a few teeth. I reckoned that I should be seeing the dentist again the next day, before the headlines start reporting of a medical student dying from bleeding due to a non-invasive dental procedure.

As I reached the dental clinic, the dentist was in shock. she was asking if I has any bleeding disorder or dyscrasia. Heck no, not me. But anyway, I had to do some test including blood sugar level just to check if I was diabetic. Nothing. And she tried with gauze pressure to no avail. And the last resort was calling her prof, who asked her to give something with dread. The familiar chemical name, tranexamic acid. The one I'd only heard of used in stopping menstrual bleeding. WTH!!! (Alright, of course there are other uses, but before that I've only heard of its usage in O&G)

The bleeding stopped, and I was supposed to follow up 1 week later about my condition. It had remained a puzzle as in why had my gum bled. It was supposed to be health, but the blood did not clot. And I had not taken any traditional medicine.

Wait, I wondered. I did took some cordyceps(Dong Chong Cao) soup 4 days back. I went back and asked my mom about it.

"Oh, I did add some wild ginseng into it."

Heck, wild ginseng had some antiplatelet activity. And my mum got me some real strong (and costly) ginseng effect. I wonder if the ginseng was really the culprit. One thing for sure, I'll have to bear in mind to to repeat that very same mistake. *Sigh*

And my dental visit had been a traumatic one, amidst only being there after years. -.-"

I've felt that I am a slow adapter. Only towards the end of a posting that I would start to buck up. Well, Orthopedics is no different. Started to gear up and finished my case write up, and was the few of the earliest to complete in my group, when they were going to start their second CWU when I started on the 1st CWU. Oh well, maybe there's some compromise in quality, but I want a better quality of life in my life as well.

Assisted a closed manipulative reduction (CMR) in the OT on Monday. Technically, it's not an operation, so there's no scrubbing in thing. But then again, it was just a fracture of the bone in the forearm, where it took tremendous effort and strength to realign it, as the bone was also slightly rotated. I was providing the counter-traction strength while the doctor was pulling at the other side.


It felt like a tug-of-war, with the patient's forearm being the rope. After several attempts, we got it straight. And that was after I burn out all the calories in my muscles. Could still feel some slight ache now on the shoulders and the thighs where I exert my full body weight. *Sigh* What a tiring job. I know I'm not that strong, but 800+ N of free weight was doing the job. And it's still tiring.

And yes, presented a case in the clinic. Finally! Couldn't help but felt proud that I did my first in this posting. Thank goodness to this specialist in Hand team which was rather good in teaching, and an interesting one. He's a new specialist, came back from Singapore, I heard. He was nice and supportive, and we like the spoon-feeding session of his.

So, now, time to start reading on the books. Been neglecting them for a month due to Facebook addiction. Not really looking forward to Pediatrics either, but well, we'll have to go through everything to graduate, so that is not a choice. Until then.