CircleCount helps you better understand Google+

2013-02-17 15:14:04 (13 comments, 0 reshares, 9 +1s)

When I did my surgery rotation at McGill, I took the metro to the Montreal Forum to see “The Habs” play the NY Rangers but couldn’t’ find anyone willing to sell me a ticket.  “Habs” is short for the French “habitant,” which I probably spelled incorrectly because I don’t speak French, and that may have been the reason I was unable to buy a ticket to the hockey game.  Not speaking French in Quebec in 1978 was counter-revolutionary and punishable by waiters spitting in your soup at restaurants and not being able to buy a hockey ticket from a scalper who makes their livings selling hockey tickets.  But across the street from The Forum was a movie theatre and that Friday night one of the new movies that had just opened was Animal House.  I had never heard of Animal House, but with nothing else to do, I bought a ticket and almost asphyxiated from laughing so hard I found myself unable tocatch my breath.   Th... more »

2013-02-04 00:11:21 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

what's the over under on how many time they show the parents during the superbowl show?

2013-02-03 16:43:18 (12 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

Today is Super Bowl Day and that is not the reason I am going to keep this short. I’m going to keep this short because I don’t know the answer and because I want to, as +Jack Crawford suggested and spend most of the day writing my novel. 

Some time during the past week, and which day is unimportant, Dwight Howard, the star center for the Los Angeles Lakers, jumped into the air to grab a rebound and tore the labrum in his right shoulder. Sports fans know the labrum is a ligament that lines the glenoid. For those of you who are not sports fans, or Orthopedic Surgeons, or Physical Therapists, or Sports Medicine Family Doctors, or the guys who illegally sell Performance Enhancing Drugs (PED’s), I will tell you the shoulder can be visualized as a soft ball on golf tee turned sideways; and the reason that the softball doesn’t fall on the floor is because it is supported by a hammock ofligament... more »

2013-01-28 00:06:14 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

60 minutes should be good tonight - Obama, Hilary, and Lance all in one hour. - 

2013-01-27 18:31:23 (10 comments, 1 reshares, 12 +1s)

late in the day on our west coast - the little specks on top of the mt are my daughter and her husband

2013-01-27 17:12:13 (8 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

Hi all. It’s Sunday morning and I’m watching my taped replay of last night’s Australian Open Men’s Final, which is sort of weird because if I want to know who won there are more than a million and a half ways to discover the answer, not the least of which would require a walk through my front door and retrieve the NY Times that is lying at the bottom of the stairs.  But like so many human endeavors, the destination is less interesting than the journey, and I want to know how these two combatants determined their victor.  

I love tennis and wish I had not began my competitive career at the elderly age of thirteen.  Maybe if I had started earlier I could have been really good.  As it was I did make ONE major contribution to the game.

I was a Ball Boy.  I ball boyed for Rod Laver, Pancho Gonzales, Ken Rosewald, Lou Hoad, Pancho Segura, Roy Emerson and Fred Stolle.  And abunch of othe... more »

2013-01-12 20:39:19 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

Anyone read today’s NY Times? There’s an article that states that NY public hospitals, and therefore doctors, are going to be reimbursed based on outcomes, patient satisfaction and about 20 other factors that are not discussed.  

Who can argue with that? Good outcomes are good, right? All that’s left is to decide how to decide on what is a “good outcome.” The article quotes factors like “length of stay” and “patient satisfaction.” 

In other words, get the patient out of the hospital in a hurry and make them happy. Like maybe give them a complimentary toaster if they successfully resolve their pneumonia or, if they successfully master their insulin pump, a trip to Hawaii.

I’m an orthopedic surgeon and many of my musculoskeletal outcomes cannot be defined for months, years, or in the case of a joint replacement, many years. That’s a long time to waitfor a paycheck. 
<... more »

2013-01-08 17:37:22 (11 comments, 0 reshares, 6 +1s)

Today I think I’ll be serious. I am not a Washington Redskins fan. I root for the New York Giants, who are direct competitors with the Redskins and will have a better chance for future success if their star, Robert Griffin III (now an injured rookie) never played a down of football against them. But I’m a firm believer that injury is not the purpose of an athletic contest and what happened to R2D2 was both inevitable and avoidable.

Ligaments are analogous to a piece of rope; their job is to hold two bones together. They are inelastic and constructed out of fibrocytes, the name for the cells that make, for the sake of this discussion, fibers. If an organism (ligaments also live inside horses, dogs et al) places a moment of inertia on a ligament it will stretch and then break according to something called Young’s Modulus, which is engineering speak for their stretch/strain curve endemic toany a... more »

2013-01-08 02:12:20 (7 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

Notre Dame not doing so good on neutral field with neutral refs.  may turn out to be an interesting evening. 

2013-01-07 18:32:04 (28 comments, 0 reshares, 12 +1s)

I hate being right all the time.

It’s January 7 and I wonder where this year has gone. My wife +Giselle Minoli and I are oceaning in Northern California, photographing waves and surviving a sun bathing over-fornicated 900 pound elephant seal that we thought had washed up on the beach and was dying. Then we were told by the Park Ranger that it’s mating season, that after battles with other large boy elephant seals the looser often needs some time some time and solitude on the beach to recuperate, and that had we tried to help him he may have run after us and killed us. The Park Ranger came along with a sign that marked a demilitarized zone to protect the animal from people and people from the animal who, the ranger said can run as fast as a person, and Giselle was wearing her clogs.

So much for altruism.  

I told you that to tell you this.

Four weeks ago Iwas s... more »

2012-12-31 00:19:58 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

Wild wings 12.12.30

It’s Sunday and I’m doing one of my favorite things in one of my least favorite places with my favorite person.  I am sitting at Buffalo Wild Wings, where there are about 50 televisions, watching my NY Giants destroy the dog-ass Philadelphia Eagles, with my lovely wife, Giselle, who is writing something Google Plus as well. I love the idea of watching every football game on the planet at the same time, I’m OK with the Corona because they brought me some extra lime, and one of the games is so loud I can’t hear myself think.  But the Giants are winning so all is good, except for the fact that the dog-ass Chicago Bears are winning too, which, because of the Giant’s incompetence during the past few weeks, makes today’s effort superfluous.  

Unless your team is a consistent weekly winner, it takes a slide ruler and at least a Masters degree in Mathematicsto figure out ... more »

2012-11-22 17:08:16 (7 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

I LIKE THANKSGIVING.  REALLY, I DO.

I like football and I like not having to work for four days.  I don’t know the name of the muse that pulls me from my bed and forces me to press my remote’s “ON” button so that I can watch a pair of adorably dressed Parade Pundits tell me that that Kermit is 70 feet tall and contains enough helium to inflate the head of any presidential candidate. 

I used to like watching Santa arrive at Macy’s, but that was a lifetime ago when my parents were alive and my brother, sister and I would destroy our Christmas tree before going to bed…in time for dad to fix the decorations and the pile our presents around the tree in preparation for the morning’s package carnage.  

Those were the days when my mother did Thanksgiving turkey and fixings for the entire family.  Except for the year my dad went hunting in Newfoundland and camehome with a moose.... more »

2012-11-11 16:58:09 (52 comments, 0 reshares, 7 +1s)

Top Secret – For The Eyes of Google Plus Readers Only
Operation: Getting To Work

It’s Veteran’s Day, which means it’s almost Thanksgiving, which means it’s almost time to go Christmas shopping, which means I have been given extended leave from the ARMY and have been given time to take out a fresh piece of paper on my lap top and try to be creative. 

In past posts I’ve established my distaste for awakening in the frigid pre dawn morning and driving to work in the bumper-car-free-for-all that is the pre dawn dark. But what I really don’t like are the SUVs, especially when driven at twice the speed limit by someone talking on their cell phone. Each of the many cities in which I’ve lived possesses drivers with their own particular psychosis. 

Operating a motor vehicle in my beloved New York would be impossible without a military gradesteel bumpers and... more »

2012-11-04 17:47:19 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

This is hysterical. Last night on SNL with a scathing satire view of social media and politics. Like any great satire the truth drips from it. 

2012-11-04 17:23:42 (7 comments, 1 reshares, 6 +1s)

Backlog of Awesome Nov. 4th edition

The weekends are awful for science
Like blogs are some weekday appliance
But the outlook is mending
#ScienceSunday  is trending
Thank God for my G+ alliance

#MJPAwesome   #RaceAgainstTheMachine   #Transhumanism   #Futurism


First of all, the King of Science Sunday +Mark Bruce  posted his SciTech digest early this morning, without which your weekend would be incomplete:  http://goo.gl/G11yd  I'm particularly enthused about 2,3,8 and 9 but there are 10 reasonably awesome things there, as per usual!

All that is good in theory right?  But what about some science you can sink your teeth, and your money into?  Well it just so happens that in this grand year of 2012 it is possible for you to personally crowd-fund an Anti Aging Stem Cell Breakthrough  http://goo.gl/qw3QH Ifthat wasn... more »

2012-11-04 17:23:02 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

Backlog of Awesome Nov. 4th edition

The weekends are awful for science
Like blogs are some weekday appliance
But the outlook is mending
#ScienceSunday  is trending
Thank God for my G+ alliance

#MJPAwesome   #RaceAgainstTheMachine   #Transhumanism   #Futurism


First of all, the King of Science Sunday +Mark Bruce  posted his SciTech digest early this morning, without which your weekend would be incomplete:  http://goo.gl/G11yd  I'm particularly enthused about 2,3,8 and 9 but there are 10 reasonably awesome things there, as per usual!

All that is good in theory right?  But what about some science you can sink your teeth, and your money into?  Well it just so happens that in this grand year of 2012 it is possible for you to personally crowd-fund an Anti Aging Stem Cell Breakthrough  http://goo.gl/qw3QH Ifthat wasn... more »

2012-11-03 22:11:55 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 4 +1s)

0530 is too early, too dark and too cold.  I get out of bed reluctantly, brush my teeth and stare at the shower that will supply warm water and aerobic exercise as I shiver while toweling myself dry.  And it’s still too dark and too cold.  But I dress with the knowledge that I have ten minutes to luxuriously sip a cup of coffee and then I have a date with ESPN’s Mike and Mike on my drive to work.  Mike Greenburg graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in journalism and they call him Greenie.  Mike Golick played defensive line for the Philadelphia Eagles and they call him Golick.

The pair live and work in Bristol Connecticut, I did not expect to have the pleasure of their company this past week and was pleasantly surprised to find them waiting for me when I ignited the ignition of my car.  

On Monday Greenie congratulated himself on his life choice to sit in awarm stud... more »

2012-10-21 21:58:02 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

A LAP TOP IS A TERRIBLE THING TO WASTE

It’s a pretty Sunday – leaves are “peak,” the sun is bright and fifty years ago my mother would have kicked my brother and I out of the house with an “It’s too nice to stay inside.  Get outside and amuse yourself.”  We had one television and my brother and I used to have “different opinions” on what we were going to watch.  That’s parent speak for “my brother and I had a tendency to kill each other while watching television.”  It’s not that a little fraternal bloodshed didn’t liven up the second half of the weekend (and I think my dad thought that competition was a good thing, makes a kid tough and all that), but the “differences of opinion” had a tendency to escalate into a lot of noise and that disturbed the true purpose of a Sunday afternoon, which was to read the New York Times.   And bloodshed used to make a mess ofthe carpets.  

“How can I... more »

2012-10-20 17:49:27 (5 comments, 1 reshares, 3 +1s)

It’s 0530 in the morning, it’s too early and I’m too tired.  Outside it’s too dark and in the winter it’s too cold.  I rise from my bed to get my exercise by shivering in the shower.  By 5:55 I’m in the kitchen gulping a half a dozen water-soluble vitamins and pouring my first cup of coffee.  I pull my BMW Z4 into the road and find solace in the number of loonies who have escaped before dawn.  Then I turn to ESPN-Radio and listen to two more. 

Mike and Mike have been doing Sports-radio together for over 15 yrs.  They live in Bristol Connecticut, wake up at four AM, are in hair and make-up by five, and are on the air by six because they know I have a long drive and need to be informed on important current events.  One of the Mikes studied journalism at Northwestern, looks like he was the last one chosen for stickball and sounds like he spends an hour or two on that $200/hourcouch each week to ... more »

2012-10-14 19:48:13 (97 comments, 2 reshares, 22 +1s)

I’m brand new to Google+, I’ve just finished my profile, and the only members of my circles are ESPN and my wife +Giselle Minoli.  I’m looking forward to figuring it all out.  This is my first post.

I followed the Sandusky story with interest.  I spent three years in Lock Haven, PA, which is located about a driver and nine-iron from State College, and served as its High School team physician.  Mr. Sandusky was a legend, and used to attend our home games.  My son knew some of his “contacts.”

I told you that so I could tell you this…

It’s a pleasant Autumn Sunday and I'm sitting in an armchair in my living room watching the NFL Pregame Show, which features pundits who are talking about the slate of football games that will entertain much of America for at least some of the afternoon.  It is the first Sunday since the sentencing of Jerry Sandusky, andthe conversation ha... more »

2012-10-14 18:26:09 (12 comments, 0 reshares, 8 +1s)

Wish Felix had not pulled his chute for a few more seconds and earned that record too.  Anyone know if he was faster than sound?