So, I had the thought of researching what instruments well known composers played as children, before they began composing.
Well, this isn't very interesting now, because after just a short search into the early years of Bernstein, Mozart, Beethoven and a few others, I now know that most of them played keyboard instruments or the piano. Except for Franz Joseph Haydn, who also played violin and sang as a young composer-in-training. In addition to the harpsichord. The harpsichord is a keyboard instrument. Of course.
And that is that.
:-/
Saturday, January 25, 2014
Sunday, January 12, 2014
Megacolon
Like any good zombie, MusicZombie is undead. It may hibernate from time to time, run down and tired from lack of good brainy nutrition, but it will always reanimate in search of its food source. Unless it gets a bullet in its own brain, of course.
So, back again, on a semi-even food-intake level. This time found in the latest book from one of my favorite authors, Mary Roach. I have read every book she's written, which include topics about spaceflight to Mars, death, and the physiology of sex. Her latest is a trip through the alimentary canal (that's the food tube, to those of you who lack dictionaries). Gulp takes the reader through the digestive system, starting with the nose and saliva and ending at the rectum. Not topics that may arouse a drowsy MusicZombie...until the entry into the small intestine and colon, where Mrs. Roach explores what really killed Elvis Presley.
It is common knowledge (I think) that Elvis died in the bathroom, apparently straining and causing cardiac arrest. What is not commonly known is that he possibly suffered from a disorder called Hirschsprung's disease (though without a complete medical history from birth, it may be impossible to know for certain). Basically, this means that while still in embryonic development (in the womb, again for the dictionary-less among you), the nerve tracks that are being laid throughout the soon-to-be digestive tract fail to develop throughout the entire length of the food tube. The end of the line is left without the nerves that direct peristalsis (the wave motion that pushes foodstuffs through the intestines). As a result of this defect, fecal matter gets stuck, so to speak, and gets backed up. The unfortunate soul with this condition must then rely on sheer mass of stuff coming in to push old stuff to forward.
So, Elvis had to deal with a wicked bout of constipation nearly his entire life. Drug use, no doubt, complicated the condition. This actually may help to shed some insight on Elvis's appearance in his later years. His stretched out, overly packed "megacolon" can be offered for his larger physique, and reports of lackluster concerts. His autopsy also showed an overly packed, grossly large colon.
And with that, we begin 2014 with MusicZombie!
So, back again, on a semi-even food-intake level. This time found in the latest book from one of my favorite authors, Mary Roach. I have read every book she's written, which include topics about spaceflight to Mars, death, and the physiology of sex. Her latest is a trip through the alimentary canal (that's the food tube, to those of you who lack dictionaries). Gulp takes the reader through the digestive system, starting with the nose and saliva and ending at the rectum. Not topics that may arouse a drowsy MusicZombie...until the entry into the small intestine and colon, where Mrs. Roach explores what really killed Elvis Presley.
It is common knowledge (I think) that Elvis died in the bathroom, apparently straining and causing cardiac arrest. What is not commonly known is that he possibly suffered from a disorder called Hirschsprung's disease (though without a complete medical history from birth, it may be impossible to know for certain). Basically, this means that while still in embryonic development (in the womb, again for the dictionary-less among you), the nerve tracks that are being laid throughout the soon-to-be digestive tract fail to develop throughout the entire length of the food tube. The end of the line is left without the nerves that direct peristalsis (the wave motion that pushes foodstuffs through the intestines). As a result of this defect, fecal matter gets stuck, so to speak, and gets backed up. The unfortunate soul with this condition must then rely on sheer mass of stuff coming in to push old stuff to forward.
So, Elvis had to deal with a wicked bout of constipation nearly his entire life. Drug use, no doubt, complicated the condition. This actually may help to shed some insight on Elvis's appearance in his later years. His stretched out, overly packed "megacolon" can be offered for his larger physique, and reports of lackluster concerts. His autopsy also showed an overly packed, grossly large colon.
And with that, we begin 2014 with MusicZombie!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)