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THE POGUES (With Kirsty MacColl) - The Story Of “Fairytale Of New York”
Richard E. Grant narrates this terrific documentary on the origin and legacy of The Pogues and their Christmas classic “Fairytale Of New York”. Featuring interviews with most of the band (including Shane), Steve Lillywhite, Nick Cave, Jools Holland, and many more. Enjoy - and Merry Christmas From Videodrome Discothèque!!!
My favorite Christmas song of all time. Watch the whole thing. It’s amazing. Greatness is always a process, a bit messy, with a good dose of serendipity thrown in. Merry Christmas everyone.
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Sheer Malice: A Doctor’s Take on Home Alone
More fun Christmasy stuff, this time it’s from The Week and comes in the form of a doctor examining the true extent of the injuries to the burglars in Home Alone. I’m partial to his explanation of the effect of the burning-hot doorknob:
If this doorknob is glowing visibly red in the dark, it has been heated to about 751 degrees Fahrenheit, and Harry gives it a nice, strong, one- to two-second grip. By comparison, one second of contact with 155 degree water is enough to cause third degree burns. The temperature of that doorknob is not quite hot enough to cause Harry’s hand to burst into flames, but it is not that far off… Assuming Harry doesn’t lose the hand completely, he will almost certainly have other serious complications, including a high risk for infection and ‘contracture’ in which resulting scar tissue seriously limits the flexibility and movement of the hand, rendering it less than 100 percent useful. Kevin has moved from ‘defending his house’ into sheer malice, in my opinion.
[Via Consumerist]
.. via NoahBrier.com: http://bit.ly/V1FWZZ .. -
One of our investors, First Round Capital, put together this fancy video, complete with explosions to wish everyone a happy holiday. There’s a cameo around 1:45 with yours truly. Who knew I could shake it?
(Source: youtube.com)
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It’s possible that preventing people with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and other serious mental illnesses from getting guns might decrease the risk of mass killings. Even the Supreme Court, which in 2008 strongly affirmed a broad right to bear arms, at the same time endorsed prohibitions on gun ownership “by felons and the mentally ill.”
But mass killings are very rare events, and because people with mental illness contribute so little to overall violence, these measures would have little impact on everyday firearm-related killings. Consider that between 2001 and 2010, there were nearly 120,000 gun-related homicides, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. Few were perpetrated by people with mental illness.I think they’re presuming that murderers are not mentally ill? Hmmm. That doesn’t jive with my definition of mental health.
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As with guns, some auto deaths are caused by people who break laws or behave irresponsibly. But we don’t shrug and say, “Cars don’t kill people, drunks do.” Instead, we have required seat belts, air bags, child seats and crash safety standards. We have introduced limited licenses for young drivers and tried to curb the use of mobile phones while driving. All this has reduced America’s traffic fatality rate per mile driven by nearly 90 percent since the 1950s. Some of you are alive today because of those auto safety regulations. And if we don’t treat guns in the same serious way, some of you and some of your children will die because of our failure.Nicholas Kristof (via azspot)
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Meet Dr. Ida Santana. Ida is an integral part of the Sherpaa clinical team and answers many of the calls and emails we get from clients. She is triple boarded in Pediatrics, Palliative Medicine, and Internal Medicine. Ida is a special person to me. She was my chief resident during my pediatric residency. And it’s such an honor to work with her again. She’s not only one of my favorite people in the world, she’s one of the finest doctors you will ever meet. We asked her a few questions so you all can get to know her better.
What’s your favorite thing about being a doctor?
Being a physician is an incredible honor. Witnessing and helping people tap into their own internal ability to heal themselves is sacred and tremendously fulfilling.
What makes NYC special to you?The skyline takes my breath away. I love the bustling crowds, the artistic eccentrics, and the magical sense that anything could happen here, and you don’t have to apologize for being who you are.
Besides being a doctor, how do you spend your time?My favorite time is brunch with my husband on the weekends, planting flowers in our backyard garden, and walking along the Hudson River together. I’m a devotee of Jivamukti yoga, and I also love to bake, read the New Yorker, and make quilts.
Tell us about your decision to become a doctor.My mother is one of the Farm midwives, and I started going to births with my mother when I was 12 years-old. I knew from an early age that I had the capacity to help people heal, and I remember saying I wanted to be a doctor when I was 10 years-old.
We all know health care is broken. What is it about Sherpaa that makes you feel like you’re part of the solution?The business side of medicine and healing art of medicine are very often incompatible. Many physicians are incentivized to practice medicine in a way that maximizes profits. Sherpaa turns this business model on its head. Care is centered around the patient’s needs, and the incentive is not to line the physician’s pockets by providing expensive medical care which the patient may not need. With Sherpaa our goal is discern the most effective, efficient, and intelligent way for the patient to heal and to save the patient as much time, money, and aggravation as possible. Sherpaa is a invaluable resource that combines medical expertise with an indiviual’s unique medical concerns.
Our doctors are simply amazing. Good, mission driven, smart, and experienced. So proud.
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Every time a mass shooting happens, I will always post this.
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Happy Friday. And goodnight from the Sherpaa office.
My life. Our company. Our talented and hard working team who are honestly the very best and smartest I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with. My friends, family, and those I love…I couldn’t ask for anything more. Just really happy. Have a great weekend everyone. Be well.
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Business Insider's Best New Startups: Sherpaa
Very exciting to be listed as #3 Best New Startup of 2012 in Business Insider.
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We just launched our new Sherpaa site this morning. It’s really beautiful with crystal clear messaging and we’re quite proud of it. Head on over to the site and poke around.
We currently cover almost 20 companies. And we’ve only been signing up companies since August. We’re ecstatic. We’ve really been nailing the experience for employees. When someone in one of our companies has a health or health insurance issue, they email or phone us and we’re on the problem within minutes. Our exceptional doctors here in NYC are creatively solving hard problems every day. It makes us all feel good.
But health for companies is ridiculously complicated. If you’re running a company, procuring health insurance is a royal pain in the ass. It’s confusing, you have no idea what you’re doing, you have no idea what your employees need, it’s expensive, a stupid mistake can cost tens of thousands of dollars, etc, etc, etc.. So that’s where we come in. You just turn over your entire company’s health to us, we come in and get you the exact plan that’s perfect for your company, and then wrap our arms around your entire company for the year with 24/7 access to our doctors. And by doing so, we save about $1,000 to $4,000 a year per employee. Healthcare is just so inefficient and so expensive, it’s quite easy for us to come in and optimize your spend.
And we’re also nearing the launch of our own app so our doctors and our patients can best communicate and solve real health issues. We’re also ridiculously proud of its function, its simplicity, and elegance. The technology doctors currently are forced to use is atrociously ugly and unnecessarily complex and confusing. We’re taking quite the opposite approach. So here’s a screenshot from the doctor’s perspective in working with a patient. Don’t worry, it’s not real patient information.
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Tumblr and inspiration.
I have probably about 40 different blogs on tumblr. Some of them are public and some of them are private. However, one that I cherish the most is a private tumblr where I collect very personal things that I’ve either written or read or reblogged that deal with my private life. These are things that are big insights into my life or things that inspire me to be a better person. I want them to all exist in one place so that I can access them easily and be consistently reminded about all the inspiring and insightful things in my life.
I couldn’t imagine doing this on Facebook. I would never feel safe that this information wouldn’t just be made public someday because Zuckerberg believes in openness and advertising and just flips a switch. This is extremely personal stuff and I trust David Karp infinitely more than Zuckerberg. David’s vision for tumblr, his consistent and intelligent views on privacy and creatively generating revenue for tumblr that doesn’t depend on the lazy ads typical found on the rest of the internet…that inspires me to use tumblr not only for my professional blog, but also for really personal and important information in my life. Tumblr is an emotional connection to technology and myself.
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My grandmother passed away yesterday. She was 84 and succumbed to congestive heart failure. She lived in St. Charles, Missouri just a few miles away from my parents, my brother and his wife, and so many other members of my extended family. For the past few months, she’d been living in an assisted living facility. And prior to that, she was in a retirement community. She moved there a few years ago after living alone for over 20 years. My grandfather passed away when I was in 8th grade.
As a physician, seeing the situation of a close family member go through the last few years and, finally, pass away is complicated. You see the situation objectively. You see all the medications she’s on and her test results. You understand that her heart is failing and it’s only a matter of time before she succumbs. You see her mind slowly failing as dementia takes over. And that’s your own grandmother. The wonderful woman who’s always meant the world to you since you were born. And then you see all of this emotionally. You see the joy she got from moving from her lonely, lonely home to the old folks home where she lived amongst newfound friends. She’s still my grandmother, the sweetest, most gentle woman in all the world with a failing heart.
When she went into the hospital a few days ago, a family decision was made to just provide comfort care. By far, it was the right move to make. Nobody deserves to die with all the bells and whistles modern medicine can throw at them. I wasn’t able to be there to oversee her comfort. As a doctor, that’s simply what I wanted to do. I just wanted to make sure she was getting enough morphine to ward off the air hunger. I wanted to see that she wasn’t struggling and she was at peace.
As a grandson, I just wanted to hold her hand as she passed away. But I live in NYC and couldn’t make it home in time. And honestly, I wanted the last vision of my grandmother to be from a few weeks ago during Thanksgiving when I left her in her room to head back to NYC. I said “so long grandma.” She gave me the sweetest smile and the simplest little wave. And that is how I will always remember the most wonderful grandmother a grandson could ask for. Not as a doctor, but as a grandson who loved her dearly.
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We’re hiring Sherpaa Consultants.
Sherpaa Consultants are responsible for providing objective and unbiased advice to our potential clients. Here are your goals:
- Identify the needs of the customer/company
- Provide or propose an opportunity for those needs to be met by purchasing Sherpaa.
The role of the consultant is entrepreneurial in nature, but also strives to build relationships with clients based on trust and integrity.
We’re looking for personality here. We want authenticity, trustworthiness, and dedication.Skills
- Ability to work independently as well as part of a larger team
- Analytical skills
- Tech savvy
- Organizational skills
- Excellent written and oral communication skills
- Creative thinker
- Flexibility
- An eye for detail
- Service oriented
- Sales oriented
If you’re interested, send us a resume and cover letter to jobs@sherpaa.com. -
Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.
Anais Nin
‘The Diary of Anais Nin, volume 3, 1939-1944’