Prime Mover and Shaker

Never mind. I'm out for this leg. Not much of a choice to be made.

I have mixed feelings on this. TCE is one of my favorites by the band... ...but I've seen a couple of very good Rush tribute bands tackle TCE, and it didn't come off as wonderful as I had hoped live. They've played rest of MP over the last few tours, so yeah, that's somewhat of a marketing game to bill this as anything new. But, MP is a killer album, and many of the songs are great live. As has been said, there is plenty of room for other songs from the vault left in the set list, but if their recent set list history is any indication, true rarities won't dominate the set list (last tour we had, what, 4 real vault songs? And that is a high number for recent live Rush). My prediction: TCE plus 2 other songs never played live/not played live in a long time. Everything else will have been played on the last 4 or 5 tours (notice that this bleak prediction covers all of MP minus TCE). Here's to me being wrong!!!

I'm Nutty!

An article from cnn.com today: http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/05/04/autis...dala/index.html The size of a specific part of the brain may help experts pinpoint when autism could first develop, University of North Carolina researchers report. The amygdala helps individuals process faces and emotions. Using MRI brain scans, researchers found that the area of the brain called the amygdala was, on average, 13 percent larger in young children with autism, compared with control group of children without autism. In the study, published in the latest Archives of General Psychiatry, researchers scanned 50 toddlers with autism and 33 children without autism at age 2 and again at age 4. The study adjusted for age, sex and IQ. "We believe that children with autism have normal-sized brains at birth but at some point, in the latter part of the first year of life, it [the amygdala] begins to grow in kids with autism. And this study gives us insight inside the underlying brain mechanism so we can design more rational interventions," said lead study author Dr. Joseph Piven. A normal-sized amygdala helps a person process faces and emotions, behavior commonly known as joint attention. "When you see a face, you scan it, identify if it's friend or foe and make a decision about whether to move forward or avoid it," said Dr. Barry Kosofsky, chief of neurology at Cornell Medical Center, who was not affiliated with the study. UNC researchers conducted diagnostic assessments, in addition to the MRI scans, to monitor the children's behavior. They found toddlers with a large amygdala also had joint attention problems. "We would basically try to get the child to look one way, we'd turn and point to a clock and see whether or not the child would notice it," explained Piven. "The 2-year-olds without autism would see your face, see where you are looking and join you but the children with autism, with large amygdalas, would not." Autism experts agree joint attention difficulty is a key characteristic of autism. It also is the only behavior linked to an large amygdala, according to the study. Researchers found no association between repetitive behavior or other social behaviors and a large amygdala. "This is a core feature of autism, and it raises a very provocative possibility that if they [joint attention problems] aren't caused by changes in the amygdala, they are certainly associated with it," said Kosofsky. Autism experts say such findings are critical in developing new ways to treat and diagnose autism earlier. "Many studies have observed the brain grows too big in kids with autism, but this study finds that by age 2, the amygdala is already bigger and stops growing," said Kosofsky. "So it tells us the critical difference has already developed. It now poses the question: Are children born with autism or does it develop in the first two years of life?" Parents cannot run out and ask their doctor to check the size of their child's amygdala to determine their child's autism risk, but researchers hope over time, it can be used as a clinical tool to diagnose the mysterious developmental condition, which affects as many as 1 in 150 children. "Once we understand the neurological circuits, we may be able to detect if a child has problems in those circuits as early as 6 months of age," said Piven. "If we are able to combine those things, we can better predict and guide interventions. We need to let the pattern of early brain development guide us to predict who is at higher risk and who would benefit from early intervention." UNC researchers are conducting a follow-up to their initial findings. They're recruiting 500 infants who are also siblings of children with autism for national infant brain imaging study. "By tracking the behaviors and brain volume growth from birth in high-risk babies, we can pinpoint when the brain first begins to grow larger than normal and provide therapy or medications to limit the growth or symptoms a lot earlier than we are doing now," said Piven. Autism is the fastest-growing serious developmental disability in the United States. It's newly diagnosed in 67 children every day. The average age for diagnosis 3.

QUOTE (GhostGirl @ Feb 12 2009, 10:50 AM) Vaccines Didn't Cause Autism, Court Rules After a lot of research, I'm not sure I disagree with this. I'm starting to think that the vaccines themselves don't cause the autism, but that a child with a genetic predisposition to a faulty immune system (maybe?) can't take the onslaught of 4 or 5 shots in a day. I really admire your ability to be objective about this. It must be very emotionally tempting to latch on to something - anything - and make it the bad guy here. You're doing your son and the rest of your family a great service by keeping your eyes on the truth, no matter how elusive it may be. Good job.

It's wonderful to see some positive developments. He looks so happy - that's great!

Personally, I prefer the 80s 90210 style Yes.

I thought this was a "DUI" thread. DOH!

I gained a whole new appreciation for them when I started geting their older stuff. Wow.

I'm pleasantly surprised that so many others find HYF to be their favorite!

We just rescued an adult dog yesterday. Feels good.

I'm pleasantly surprised. This is quite good - possibly their best effort since Justice. Definitely their best since the black album. With the exception of James' voice, the lyrics, and Lars' choice of snare, it's all there! I have the guitar hero version on CD. The store bought CD is clipped to hell and unlistenable.

Awareness is a place to start... I posted a link to this thread over at CP. I hope a few folks will click it and, if nothing else, walk away a tad more educated on the subject, and aware that it appears to not be an "accidental birth defect", but environmental, which means there is something proactively to be done by the common man about it.

I think there is a lot of good in telling the world that raising an autistic child is not heaven-like. It's not a minor inconvenience, or a slight learning impediment, or a mere detail. It affects so much of your life. The plans you make, the time and effort you put into your child just to get through a "normal" day, the heartbreak and frustration... It's only through hearing how trying this all really is that folks will understand that there is a real problem here. After what I've read and seen lately about the topic, I'm not ashamed to admit that I feel like we dodged a bullet. My boy is 8, and we gladly had him poked and prodded just as the medical community insisted. We trusted them... and look what could have happened. But the mere fact that it didn't happen to us doesn't remove the disgust and anger over how this is being handled - especially in light of the mounting evidence that we (as a society) caused this. We continue to do so. Why? Sorry if I'm rambling. I just can't believe that we're here. Every one of you loves your kids as much as I love mine... and it's wrenching to see the real needs of our kids ignored, with the trail of responsilbility undoubtedly leading to a dollar sign somewhere. I am so thankful that my son does not have autism. I really feel empathy for those of you who have to deal with this. I feel an overwhelming desire to throttle those responsible. I can't ge tover the fact that I work hard, I'm taxed on my wages, and therefore I've helped fund the problem. I wish I could do something more productive.... but this isn't about me. It should be about how to help minimize the odds of it happening any more. I guess talking about it to folks I know who plan to have kids is a start.

I hadn't seen a horror movie in the theater in ages... and I loved this flick! The feel is very... well, real.

So awesome to see thes guys getting to enjoy themselves and smile!

QUOTE (Natch @ Oct 29 2007, 06:39 AM) Saw this on Yahoo, and wanted to pass it along, get the word out... Pediatricians urge autism screening I came in here to post that - it hit CCN.com today. Still a pity that they aren't talking about probable causes as much.

Laughter is the great equalizer. He laughs and cracks up just like any other kid his age - what a wonderful sight!

I just made it through all of this.... I had no idea that autism was linked to mercury (and in vaccines - horrible). My wife and I talked about this for a while this evening. Our boy had many of his vaccines in 2000 & 2001. The risk level is alarming. You're right, GG - where is the general outcry? I wish I had something constructive to say other than "this has really affected me". It was really something to read 2+ years worth of posts and progress. I jut can't imagine the emotional roller coaster as a parent. Good for you for staying so informed and dedicated! My thoughts & prayers are with you guys.

5150 for me... but VH1 a close second.

Given how, in general, books are better than movies, I'm actually not going to read the books until I see all the movies. If I do it the other way around, I'll be disapointed. I'm loving the movies so far!

man, I'm not gettin' it.....

I saw it last night... forgot to stay past the credits I agree that it was OK. Too much bad stuff happening to too many cool characters, and not enough character development. As long as we're talking about potential spoilers.... .... I missed out on what ultimately happened to Pyro. I know he was beaten by Freeze, but do they show him escape from Alcatraz (he he)? Is he alive? My wife and I were arguing on the way home - at the very end (before the credits), does the chess piece move, just a bit, without Magneto touching it? ...and I know I'm a freak, but I think Mystique is hotter whilst blue. Who was the guy who could grow the spikey things out of his wrists and throw them? He was kinda cool. I liked the porcupine guy as well. ..and the mutant who could throw shock waves... I think it was Prince (j/k). No idea that was supposed to be a woman until porcupine guy referred to her & another girl as "ladies". ...Kelsey Grammar did a good job, but there were moments when his voice inflections made me think "Frasier"! It will be hard for a bit to see him in another role and not be reminded of his most famous role. Sort of like seeing president Lone Star in Independence Day.

This could be very cool if done right. I'm a big 24 fan as well.