The film is available on You Tube in ten minute segments.
Now in 1998, came the story of Jacqueline du Pre and her sister Hilary in the film "Hilary and Jackie", directed by Anand Tucker. Based on the book by Hilary du Pre'-Finzi and Piers du Pre' (the brother of Hilary and Jackie) the film was successful, but had critics in the music industry (and some family members) that the discussions of Jackie's personal life were questionable at best, considering many of the people represented in the film were still quite alive in 1998, including Hilary's husband, conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim.
Emily Watson (no, not the actress from Harry Potter) and Rachel Griffiths play the sisters. Academy Award nominations were handed out for the film, along with plenty of British awards of which Ms. Watson won two as Best Actress. The film is available on iTunes, and other rental sites.
What set this film apart was the more graphic representation of MS, (again a generic MS) as Hilary loses her ability to touch, feel, and eventually control her body at all. From personal experience with friends with MS, this representation of the disease is closer to the real world and kudos to Ms. Watson for her fine performance. I was at first going to ask my wife to watch this, but then felt why make her more worried about what's coming? Does she really need to see this now when I'm able to get around without a cane, or chair? The mental difficulties are tough enough.
Jackie tells her sister in the film that "a cure is coming any day." We just keep believing that, don't we?
Anyway, this is a fine film, and if you like classical music, do yourself a favor and listen to Jacqueline du Pre'...
Listen and watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUgdbqt2ON0 and see what MS took from all of us.
Finally got to see Batman (The Dark Knight Rises) today. The movie is a little long, and you've got that "refer to the first two films but don't mention the Joker" problem, and the fact that Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont has nothing better to do than show up in these films, and you've got about three hours gone from your life with a relative feeling of satisfaction that the trilogy (of three films) concluded well. Decent performances from everyone. I hope most folks in attendance at least pause to give some thought to the terrible events at Aurora, and the storming of the Stock Exchange mid-film with bullets flying and people screaming could not help but make you think. My sister-in-law's minister's son (who I'm sure I've met at some point) was at the theater that night and was shot twice. He is recovering at home and is in good spirits. (See, positive attitude?, belief in something? there it is again.)
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OK, on to other things. As I write this my psychopharmacologist should have appeared in court about an hour ago for further processing on his sexual harassment charges. I'll be interested to see how that goes. Meantime I had to stop by there to pick up a script, and I could not help but notice that the staff was, uh, slightly older than previous hires at the practice. Wise move there, Doc. Next week I've got some face time with my psychologist and we'll be discussing how to move on this.
Look like Neurologist shopping is going to take a little longer, but we will keep on keeping on.
A shout-out to http://2nd.md. Take a look at what these folks are doing in matching up doctors to people. I've spoken with them about the problems MS people have getting a proper diagnosis in a reasonable time for proper treatment. The web site is just starting up, but I have high hopes. Faster communication between physicians (what I wouldn't give some days to get all my docs in the same room at the same time - as soon as I get some more docs) is crucial to getting treatment started, even if the treatment is nothing but observe. At least there are folks who've got your back.
Talk soon. Thanks for the e-mails of support.
Finally got to see Batman (The Dark Knight Rises) today. The movie is a little long, and you've got that "refer to the first two films but don't mention the Joker" problem, and the fact that Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont has nothing better to do than show up in these films, and you've got about three hours gone from your life with a relative feeling of satisfaction that the trilogy (of three films) concluded well. Decent performances from everyone. I hope most folks in attendance at least pause to give some thought to the terrible events at Aurora, and the storming of the Stock Exchange mid-film with bullets flying and people screaming could not help but make you think. My sister-in-law's minister's son (who I'm sure I've met at some point) was at the theater that night and was shot twice. He is recovering at home and is in good spirits. (See, positive attitude?, belief in something? there it is again.)
**********************************
OK, on to other things. As I write this my psychopharmacologist should have appeared in court about an hour ago for further processing on his sexual harassment charges. I'll be interested to see how that goes. Meantime I had to stop by there to pick up a script, and I could not help but notice that the staff was, uh, slightly older than previous hires at the practice. Wise move there, Doc. Next week I've got some face time with my psychologist and we'll be discussing how to move on this.
Look like Neurologist shopping is going to take a little longer, but we will keep on keeping on.
A shout-out to http://2nd.md. Take a look at what these folks are doing in matching up doctors to people. I've spoken with them about the problems MS people have getting a proper diagnosis in a reasonable time for proper treatment. The web site is just starting up, but I have high hopes. Faster communication between physicians (what I wouldn't give some days to get all my docs in the same room at the same time - as soon as I get some more docs) is crucial to getting treatment started, even if the treatment is nothing but observe. At least there are folks who've got your back.
Talk soon. Thanks for the e-mails of support.
