Life/Science: Covid is still no joke, December 2023. Starting recovery efforts.

 I caught real covid (not vaccine side reaction) and stayed in bed for 10 days. Finally the antigen tests turned negative for this past 48 hours, which means I am no longer contagious, according to CDC. 

I am feeling better and getting up.

Today is 12/21/2023. Following is my Facebook post on 12/14/2023.

"Covid is no joke. Be careful.

I thought it was sore from the dance event. Then thought it was a cold. Next day I thought it was the flu, with covid test negative but sores everywhere. Then the test turned positive.

This one's rough. I appreciate vaccines I took. For now, got to stay in bed and wait for the test turns negative."

Covid felt similar to the flu, coming fast and rough with lots of sores. It also turned out to be very draining. I lost about 10lb in the past week, mostly because I was not eating much, although I had stockpile of food and medicine at home just in case like this. 

Now my weight is temporarily at the same as in my university days. Talk about successfully shedding extra pounds accumulated over many years.

For the 10 days I used sick leave from work. As my work site is going into winter break, I am going to use the winter break for my recovery time.

During the bed stay, I used some Traditional Chinese Medicine for respiratory infections that are purported to be anti-inflammatory and antipyretic.

This covid was very tiring. I am still feeling somewhat weak, similar to the time after I got a bad flu.

 

There is a concern for so called "long covid", which is lingering sense of fatigue and/or other lasting neuronal or inflammation-related symptoms that can occur in some of former covid patients. 

Surely I don't want long covid. There are a few hypotheses on cause(s) of long covid, including lasting inflammation, immuno-modulation, and increased senescent cells generated during the viral infection. 

For upcoming covid recovery, I'll use energy-restoring type of Chinese Medicine and test Senolytics supplements.

Senolytics are a type of chemicals that are said to cause targeted cell death in senescent  cells. On 2017 I wrote a review article on senescence and cancer relations, and have kept an eye of the aging research field. A lot of progress has been made in this past several years in the geroscience research field. 

A textbook view is that senescent cells can secrete various inflammatory cytokines and other molecules into neighboring tissue, and that works detrimental to the functions of the neighbor cells. And that "detrimental effect" is regarded as "aging" in molecular terms. 

As such, it was predicted that if you remove senescent cells, overall functions of the neighbor tissue can be restored.

In fact, some animal-based experiments support the scenario. And if long covid is really caused by senescent cells, senolytics should be able to prevent long covid as well.

Preventing and/or reversing some aspects of aging is no longer a fairly tale, but is a subject of testable scientific approach.

Some senolytics are sold as supplements. I'll take Fisetin, Quercetin and Taurine for a few weeks and see what happens on my dulled sense of smell and on sense of fatigue (you need parameters to measure in order to test something.). Another N=1 experiment with $80 investment. I might even come out "younger" from this covid, haha.

But overall, I am happy about and thankful for surviving this covid. 

I'll focus on recovery during this winter break.

[As of Dec 2023, the US government still sends out free covid test kits. I ordered two kits. Many thanks.]

Dance: 5th Holiday Tango Weekend 2023, Dallas (12/7-10/2023)

  I went to 5th Holiday Tango Weekend 2023 event in Dallas. Event Organizers were Hugo and Celina, inviting other professionals, many of whom are also event organizing dancers/teachers.

In a Hugo's speech, "maestros are who give". 

Tango world is supported by a lot of maestros/maestras who give a lot to the community, as well as dancers and volunteers who are willing. They put everything together and the event was great.

This year, they changed the venue to Hyatt Regency DFW International Airport. A nice hotel. Dance events at airport hotel can increase convenience for traveling/flying-in dancers. 

You can be busy at dance events. Classes, practice, private lessons, shows and milongas. Tango events usually do not have amateur competition components, but if they are there (as in West Coast Swing events), or if you are a part of team performance needing practice, you may not even have time for sightseeing or checking out nice restaurants in the town. Three days can just fly.

Well, we are there to dance. Let it be.

I drove from Oklahoma City on Friday afternoon, and attended Friday, Saturday and Sunday milongas and shows.

Stage Tango dancers and aspiring trainees are impressive dancers. (or by definition, they should be).

When they perform on stage, the Tango are usually choreographed pieces/routines, and moves are "compressed", so to speak. 

Fancy moves and patterns one after another, occurring flawlessly and fast enough to overwhelm audience's processing. That is certainly a surefire way to impress.

To be able to pull that off, stage dancers have internalized Tango basics, as well as adding embellishments to the basics done with the music. That is why we can tell "stage dancers" just by looking at how they move.

For dance auditions, they say "show us what you've got". 

We do not need long time to see the quality of motions, or strong presence as a dancer. For youtube videos, I would only need 15 seconds to know if they have it or not.

And, in Tango, "what you've got" is evident even at the first embrace.

I wrote this segment "Stage tango dancers...the first embrace" as a lengthy intro, because I was intrigued by a female stage pro at social dance in late Sunday night.

Usually, I can tell how my partner's body is moving. And, since I am leading, how her body should be moving. An analogy would be feeling gears (joints), power train (axes) and transmissions (her taking time for dancing and adding something to the dance, which would be her part of contribution to the dance). Stage pros are always smooth, but I can still tell how much time she is taking to rotate her hips, or how far she is stretching her stride, so that I can also step at the appropriate balance point. There is some anatomy involved and dance can feel with more substance, or less so.

She felt a lot lighter. Even among female pros, she was one of most airy ones, which is a sign of her holding herself exceptionally well. As the song was Vals, we could just use energy flow to travel fast, and it was a lot faster than usual dances.

Interesting.

My body resisters such interesting dances, and processes the experience. It would adopt to the lighter energy flow, and also I'd start watching dances that show similar energy flow, so that I may be able to offer a more interesting dance to her next time.

[Friday "Colors" night 12/9/2023, most in this photo are from Oklahoma]

There were many of such interesting times during the event, in some conversation and in practica. I'll write them down later.

Dance/Book: How do you analyze dance? "Anatomy of physical motions" by Daisuke Sato.

 I dance. I also watch dances. It is my hobby and I have no need to do it professionally (lucky me).

I developed my own system to analyze dances, so that I can appreciate dances more, dance better, as well as I can diagnose and compensate (in social or stage dances) partner if necessary.

I have not disclosed my system in a comprehensive manner, although, maybe in this blog some parts were mentioned here and there. 

But there is a book (in Japanese) by a sport coach/instructor who dared to publicize his system to analyze and judge sports motions for better performance.

The author is Daisuke Sato. He was an award-winning coach for Japan Rugby association, also coaching various other sports (running, soccer, baseball, basketball, etc). The book "Anatomy of physical motions" (in my translation) was published in 2023.

Here is my summary of his message.

[Nine parameters to analyze the 3 layers of performance pillar]

Systematic viewing has merits. Each parameter can be analyzed separately and can be judged as a strong point or a weak point. By adopting his system, it makes it easier to see why some dances are great, and where you/they can work to improve.

Also, skills, techniques, ability and foundation are poorly distinguished by most. 

His system can nicely explain away many confusions and questions.

Such as;

Q: Why dances by very muscular guy or fat/curvy people tend to have diminished appeal? 

A: Too much muscle/fat can obscure visible lines. 

Q: I work on embellishments as a follow, but can hardly use them. Why?

A: Two possibilities. Your lead may not be giving enough time or support for your embellishments (his skill issue), or you may not have the skill to identify when to use them (your skill issue).

Q: I have been dancing Tango for a long time, but my dance does not look as good as I want. 

A: Many possibilities and that is why dance coaching should be done in person. But, the "look" issue is usually tied with how you present your lines (posture) and your knowledge on Tango (technique demonstration). Only when you master and can show your techniques, the next level (i.e., skill issue) comes in to the picture.

.....

  (To be clear, these hypothetical Q & A are my writing, not his.)

His system is highly convincing to me. I am going to merge his sports performance-oriented system to my more dance-oriented system. There will be some modifications needed. As two people are involved in partner dancing, we need to run this performance analysis for two people at once, for example. 

In case of Tango dancing, a few days ago I wrote a comment on a video for adornos (embellishments).


"These adornos (embellishments) are techniques. Use these techniques at the appropriate time is a skill. Practicing techniques and improving skills so that you can dance Tango is passion."

When people use the word passion, it can cover and mean many different things. In my book, passion is most involved in why you are even doing all these.

In other words, passion is an element of foundation.

I almost added another line to the above comment; 

"And saying 'but, but, I am feeling so much. I measure Tango by how I feel!' without showing any sign of techniques or skills is emo."

I am a scientist. I tend to seek supporting evidence for a claim. As dancing is very visual, evidence is presented right here (or not). 

Perhaps, that is a reason I love dancing.

Dance/Life: Eyeglasses for masquerade. Halloween spirit continues.

 I was looking for prescription eyeglasses for Halloween that can also be used for masquerade or other parties.

Something that looks like a Venetian, Hero, or Bandit mask. Or with Rhinestones and bling.

[Examples of my "party glasses" pick.]

They have to "go all the way" for party purposes. They have to be signaling that they are for party and not for regular time. No way for business uses. Don't care if they are for male, female or unisex, but they have to be large/wide enough for my head. And I have to like them and approve the look with them.

Recently, a few online companies offer really inexpensive eyeglasses, like $119-129/3pairs, or BOGO (buy one get one) deal. Even with photochromic lenses made of MR high index thiourethane resin material, about $40 per eyeglasses.

They are coming from somewhere in China. I don't mind where they are made. These "Made in China" glasses are decent eyeglasses with good prescriptions and newer Mitsui Resin (MR) high index lens material (which is Japanese). I used to buy polycarbonate photochromic lenses, but I am picking MR photochromics now, as photochromic coating on polycarbonate tend to peel off after some time. Manufacturing and shipping take about 2 weeks, which is fine considering traveling time from China to US.

Why not trying something fun for holiday parties? 

I used to like inconspicuous rimless or half-rim. Now I like something bolder that add to face, change face, or "mask" face. Let's just blame lingering Halloween spirits.

I am getting the first of a few shipments. I'll test them in upcoming parties.

Also wondering if these eyeglasses companies step up and start making more outrageous costumes/masks with prescription lenses.

Life: Refrigerator breakdown. How did they live without refrigerator until 110 years ago, I wonder?

"In 1913, the first electric refrigerators for home and domestic use were invented and produced" (Wikipedia).

The big old fridge in my apartment stopped working last week. 

It have been here for at least 11 years, since before I moved in. Death by old age, I guess. As it is a really old model, it will just be replaced.

 

Consequences of fridge breakdown came fast.

All frozen food thawed in 1.5 days. 

Milk get curded (spoiled) in non-refrigerated condition. (2.5 days).

Not wanting to take chances, I trashed cod, shrimp, squid, salmon and tilapia. They were smelling funky. (2.5 days)

Fermented foods like yogurt, kefir and Kimuchi were hard to judge. As cold front is passing by and outside is quite cold (26-45F), they are in a box on outside porch with some vegetables. I'll see them later. (day 5 today)

Of course I talked with landlord. She responded quick, and new one should be delivered and installed tomorrow morning, one week after breakdown.

A few new things I learned.

Cereals can be eaten with water. 7% of US people eat it with water, not milk.

Tomato-based pasta sauce can be good up to 5 days in room temperature, due to low pH (acidic).

USDA says eggs should be refrigerated all times, because US eggs are washed at production sites by law and lost protective cuticles. The treatment makes washed eggs vulnerable to Salmonella invasion when taken outside of fridge and "sweating" in room temperature. USDA also says eggs can stay outside of fridge up to 2 hours.

Freezer-refrigerator alternative is use of freshly cooked dried food (pasta, rice), fruits (apple, banana, etc), and canned foods. Much like out for camping.

Most condiments are okay in room temperature at least for a week, although encouraged to be refrigerated after opening.

As we cannot store cooked food for long in room temperature, each cooking portion should be small and prepared freshly, every time.

It has been mild nuisance, but not a big deal. Not even remotely close to a disaster situation like in the Gaza strip unfolding in this month. Peaceful life here. Better be happy about it.

After new one comes, I am going to restock frozen foods and stock up some canned foods, too.

PS 

I needed to repair my car this month, and it was not cheap. Breakdown of somewhat big items back to back. Maybe I should be mindful. According to my life lessons from Mahjong games in my student days, I may be in a rough/choppy water phase now. Although chances for big gain may be there as well, I got to be careful and trust my intuition in such a time.

Dance: What makes your Tango look good? milongas in Dallas 10/7-10/8

 "What makes your Tango look good?" is a question I have had for quite some time.

 I do have my liking when I watch Tango (or many other dances), be it by videos of professionals or by any dancer in milonga/dance party.

Recently I traveled to Dallas for a couple of milonga (10/7-8/2023). It is nice to go out and dance with different people sometimes.

In milonga, I take my time to dance and to observe. While I observe the dancers, there are dancers who give off an impression that they are a cut above.

 

That circles back to this title question; "What makes your Tango look good?" 

I try to give my temporal answers here. 

There are layers of things that make your tango look good, or even beautiful.

(i) Individual's techniques and body 

In milonga, I can see dancers up close. 

So that I can watch details in each dancer's techniques and presentation of the body, such as foot placement and articulation, leg lines and alignments, overall body lines, smoothness of hip rotation, clean weight transfer, balancing, timing of the motion, and presence (or absence) of intent. 

These are technical abilities that make each dancer's Tango look different. Some are better than others, as dancers.

Adding more "play" makes you a playful dancer. You can add individual flavor as a dancer.

Dance has aspects not different from body building. You can see it in your body as techniques, motions, motion ranges/flexibility, timing, and intent. 

If you think you are a dancer, you better develop the physical traits of good dancers, along with the dance domain-specific knowledge and techniques.

Let your body talk that you are a (Tango) dancer.

(ii) Partner work

Individual's ability is one thing. How they are using the techniques to dance together (partner work) comes next.

There are many styles in Tango. Even in a milonga, stage-inspired dynamic dance and hug-and-wiggle intimate (but not very showy) dance can be seen next to each other.

Getting two individual's dance styles aligned is a part of partner work in social dance. How well it is done (or not) is a point that is fun to watch.

(iii) Use of music and musical interpretation as a couple

Dancers are a part of music and instruments to visualize the music. Tango has great room for interpretation. How they dance the song together is another point that is fun to watch.

When I am using "drawing energy flow line" type of lead, I do predict her steps (what I lead; giro-molinette, walk-cross, etc) but do not micro-manage her foot steps or her foot placement, or how she add something. It is her job and I need to trust her to do her dance.

Music should inspire lead and follow both. I can slow down and trust her to do something for upcoming piano arpeggio.

Or I can dance the fast passage myself. 

Or, I may ask her to speed up together, or keep her still on her axis, or....you get the idea.

There are many ways to use music for her, for him, and for both, to dance a Tango, all improvised.

(iv) Mindfulness and quietness

This "mindfulness and quietness" is not always easy to find in a milonga, because few people dance with mindfulness. Let alone quietness.

Good Tango, in my opinion, has deep quietness in it. Somewhat like the cool and sacred air in big cathedral.

Athleticism, heat and sweat are one thing and important, but I like it when the dance has the look of "pieces together and complete".

(v) Beautiful dance with Aura

Once (i) to (iv) are combined and integrated, there can come a dance with radiating aura. I call it beautiful dance.

I want to see (or dance) beautiful dance.

These are random thoughts while I was watching Tango in the milongas.

[Milongas in Dallas, Neon Saturday and Animal Sunday]

Flu shot tomorrow.

Life: Passing of aunt Chiyoko

 My father was a part of seven siblings. The Japanese used to have big family. Each of the siblings got a spouse, and they all had one or two children.

As such, there were many uncles, aunts and cousins for me.

When there was a family gathering for summer festival, Mochitsuki (rice cake making) for new year's preparation, wedding or funeral, most of the family showed up. Adults were partying with foods and drinks, and kids (cousins) were playing games in another room.

Looking back, now I know it was a big tight-knit family.

This week I heard from my sister that on 9/16/2023, the last of the original seven Yamada siblings, aunt Chiyoko passed away in Japan.

I took some time to reminisce, and sent a condolences card to my cousins. 

Aunt Chiyoko and her family were very helpful to my family. When I was very young, aunt Chiyoko was babysitting me and helping out my parents.

The seven siblings from my grandfather's side are now all gone. 

  Toshio

  Chiyoko

  Miyoko

  Shizuo

  Akira (my father)

  Kiichi

  Katsutaro

We used to call each family with the name of their residence's location. Uncle Toshio and his family lived in Toyooka, so we called him Uncle of Toyooka. 

Not much of a nostalgia-indulging guy, I hardly take time to remember the past. 

Aunt Chiyoko's passing gave me an opportunity to do so.

And such a blessing I've had.

Dance: Embrace/hold distances in Argentine Tango

Embrace/hold of Argentine Tango comes with many variations. 

Distant/open (Stage dancers who need lots of space to move use this. Also beginners who feel uncomfortable in tighter embrace use this, too.), close/hugging distance (social Tango norm), very close/tight (with her left arm wrapping around his upper back, a style preferred by some, or perhaps, getting preferred by some of contestant stage tango dancers and their judges), are such options.

In addition, adjusting to height and body type needs to be done on the spot. 

There are many things to assess at the beginning of social Tango dance.

On social Argentine Tango dance, woman offers the hold at first. That helps to set the tone. 

As dance goes, he may choose to alter the hold and distance, and she may or may not like it.

 

Personally, I see it a good idea to keep what she offered at the beginning, close or open, especially when she seems to be a Tango dancer with at least intermediate and above skill level and apparently knows what she is doing.

That said, exception would be when she is not as comfortable in close Tango hold, or, is unsure as a beginner. In the case, the lead, provided he knows what he is doing, needs to take the lead.

After all, Tango, with upper body contact, is danced closer than most other dances. 

Rise of other closely-held dances (kizomba, sensual bachata, some style of Zouk) has normalized closer social dance distance. But it occurred only within several years.

Like boxers choosing their distance and fight as infighter or out-boxer, it is okay to choose your distance and choose a dance that suits your comfort zone. 

Social Argentine Tango is a hugger's dance. If you are not a hugger/infighter, stick to Salsa or Swing.

Throwing around some thoughts.

Life: Sept 4, 2023 Labor day.

 About 5 weeks ago I strained my lower back. Probably pulled QL muscle on the right. It took about 2 weeks to recover. During the painful time, I did not want to arrange any travel for dance or whatsoever.

As a result, here it is, Labor day weekend with no travel.

You make it happen, or nothing happens.

It is not bad, though. 

For one, I am fully recovered and can dance. Tested it at a Latin party in Adelante dance studio on this past Saturday (9/2). No problem.

During the summertime, we published a paper. I am working on a grant proposal for follow-up study of the paper. 

I will be giving a talk on the subject of the paper tomorrow (9/5 Tue) to colleagues in Cancer Center, so I am adding finishing touch on presentation slides in my office while sipping nice white tea.

These are works that I kind of like. The line of work is potentially innovative, changing practice of medicine in the future. 

Finding a meaning in what you do can be great for your motivation and outcomes.

Dance/Life: Colombian Independence Festival 7/16/23

 For some reason I am attracted to colorful things this summer. So I went to Colombian Independence Festival this past Sunday 7/16/2023.

Many Salsa and party Latin dancers are from or have connection to South American countries. Colombia has good presence in this city.

Color-wise, yes, primary colors of yellow, red and blue make Colombian flag.

The fest was held in a large event hall at a shopping center. They presented dancing in colorful ethnic clothes on the center stage. I got plenty of supply of colors to my eyes. They say colors make people feel happy, and it was correct. Loved it.

Dance: Wild Wild Westie (W3) 2023 (7/7-10/2023)

 Wild Wild Westie (W3) is a West Coast Swing Event in Dallas, annually held around July 4th, attracting hundreds of WCS dancers. 

This year is its 10th year. Contest participation grew by 25% this year, they say. Very nice.

 They said to have had well-attended college students-targeted teaching program. It was nice to hear, too. 

I am sad to say that two-year Covid break pretty much decimated WCS community in Oklahoma City. I dance WCS maybe once or twice in a month in these days, and it is rare to meet decent WCS dancers in the city. Seeing younger college-age dancers starting WCS is refreshing.

As such, it is joy to come to a decent WCS event and dance WCS once in a while. 

Although WCS and Argentine Tango are very different dances, both are my dances that allow me to listen to the music and improvise with the song and the dance partner. Compared with more formulated dances (ballroom) or simpler dances (party Latins), they are real "skilled social dancers' dances", I'd say.

WCS events come with leveled competitions, showcases, workshops and social dance that can go late night. 

For a dance event, you can assume (non-mutually-exclusive) roles like competitor, performer, spectator, staff, teacher, student, judge, social dancer, event runner and volunteer and so on. Depending on your position, how you engage the event may vary. I was attending as a social dancer-spectator, which is a great position to just relax and enjoy. 

Indeed I had a lot of fun. I met and greeted friends, for some old friends after over 10 years.

One of a few technical things I noticed about WCS dance in the event this year is that overactive frame has become quite prevalent. More than 95% of dancers on the floor were using overactive frame-style, both lead and follow.

As I recall, WCS was more composed, or standing straight, 10-15 years ago. Probably influenced by dances using hyperactive frame (advanced Zouk, advanced sensual Bachata), now I see most WCS dancers use overactive frame.

But styling is ephemeral thing. Like wide pants/slim pants, styling preference and popularity come and go in spiral.

In fact, I was most impressed by a girl dancing in "classical" style. She's got the "wow" factor in my book. It is a part of fun to watch good dancers and get inspired.

I'll discuss other notables later.

The W3 2023 was a fun weekend vacation for me. Loved it.

[wearing my vacation attire]

Science: Would you help growing "good" gut bacteria when you have colon cancer, hoping for a better clinical outcome?

 I read this paper last week.

"An Integrated tumor, immune and microbiome atlas of colon cancer", 

Roelands et al., Nat Med. 2023 May 19. doi: 10.1038/s41591-023-02324-5. Online ahead of print.PMID: 37202560

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-023-02324-5

The journal Nature Medicine is a journal with 53 impact factor (which is ridiculously high from the standpoint of researchers. Usually 5+ IF is considered decent. 10+ is considered a leading journal for the field). That makes Nat Med one of most prestigious or highly regarded journal in medical research.

The authors are from Qatar, Netherland and Italy.

This is an original research providing a synthetic view on colon cancer.

Cancer research progressed with limitations of the time. Different types of molecular analysis became available over time. Earlier research lacked analyses that are now available.

This report integrates several data analysis methods and provides a most contemporary overview of colon cancer that was unavailable or just assumed before.

At first, the authors correctly pointed out that current cancer database most used by cancer researchers (called The Cancer Genome Atlas [TCGA]) is not "complete" and has missing data, such as clinical outcomes, immune activity, or microbiome/bacterial flora at cancer and non-cancer sites. The shortcoming is by historical reasons.

The authors collected treatment-naïve colon cancer and pairing non-cancer colon tissue samples at medical center in Netherlands from 2001-2015. They collected 384 sample sets that passed quality control, which make the cohorts they used. 

They applied various molecular analyses (gene mutation, gene expression, immune cell typing, bacterial rRNA sequencing/microbiome) on the cancer and normal-looking colon tissue, and followed up on the clinical outcomes/survival data. So that we can have overview on colon cancer.

There are questions like, 

"some gut bacteria are associated with colon cancer. Do they correlate with clinical outcomes/survival?"

"what kind of gene mutation or what type of colon cancer is bad with poor prognosis, or is more manageable with favorable outcome?"

"immune system is important for cancer outcomes. What kind of immune cells are critical to anti-tumor activity?" etc etc. 

And these questions can be examined with their datasets.

The report was inevitably somewhat descriptive with statistics, but full of interesting findings.

On the other hand to be honest, with 6 figures, 10 extended data figures and 14 supplementary information figures, it was pain to read through this one, even for a professional researcher.

Their main message was simple. 

Immune cell infiltration (especially, tumor-antigen-bearing T-cell clones) and types of gut bacteria are two important factors to assess clinical outcomes/survival.

I'll just drop one finding from the paper here.

If you have colon cancer, many things are out of your control. What kind of mutations the cancer carries, what kind of treatment options your oncologist choose or are available, how well your immune system is functioning, etc etc.

Immunotherapy is one way to reboot your anti-cancer immunity. Now it is a standard therapy option in oncologists' arsenal. Depending on the cancer and condition of your immune system, they can work remarkably well, or less so.

But gut bacteria is something you can influence through what you feed to them (= what you eat). In a sense, it is a (cancer) environment that you have some control over it.

There are several gut bacteria species associated with colon cancer and/or gut health. Fusobacteria and Ruminococcus gnavus are considered bad guys, while Akkermansia, Bifidobacterium lactis, Lactobacillus acidophilus are considered good guys.

I checked US Amazon. They have supplements for Akkermansia, Bifidobacterium lactis, and Lactobacillus acidophilus. How convenient.

In the paper they found a gut bacteria species Ruminococcus bromii as a bacteria species associated with high survival rate. R. Bromii is bacteria that can use resistant starch as energy source, and can generate butyrate, a chemical that can work against colon cancer cells.

The authors speculated that R. bromii help to optimize local immune infiltration and anti-cancer immunity.

With reservation that they only showed correlation and not causation, you can still take a leap of faith and try to feed R. bromii in your own gut.  

Although US Amazon does not offer Ruminococcus bromii supplement (with a high impact publication to back it up, I'm sure someone is going to start selling it), there may be a few ways to feed R. bromii in your gut, for the people willing to take a leap of faith (come to think of it, how unscientific this sounds).

One way is, as suggested by the authors, to eat castalagin, a type of ellagitannin rich in Oak tree and Camu Camu berry. 

Camu Camu is an exotic berry cultivated in South America, like Brazil and Peru. According to another paper (Messaoudene et al., Cancer Discovery (2022), 12, 1070-), castalagin can directly bind to R. bromii and possibly helping them to increase in the gut.

Another is to eat peanuts. (....seriously, I need to confirm this one).

Out of curiosity, I picked up a bag of peanuts at a local store and ordered Camu Camu berry powder from Amazon, although I don't have colon cancer (hopefully not). Another n=1 human experimentation on myself. Wonder how would Camu Camu berry taste?

Actually, the gut bacteria modulation approach probably is like a balancing act. I'll monitor how it is working for me, and if something is wrong, I'll just toss it.

Their datasets are missing racial information. As mainly European cohort (presumably), their biology may or may not be the same from biology of colon cancer patients in US or in Asia.

But their report is most comprehensive colon cancer dataset available to date. As the datasets are deposited to depositories and are publicly available, I am going to check them out as a summer project.

If you read the whole paper, you'd notice that this research did not come in one-go. They got funding for this analysis, then another funding for another analysis. We can so relate. Rome wasn't built in a day.

Dance: Dallas trip 6/4/2023, WCS day. "Westie Remix HD with Jordan and Tatiana", brunch, critique and guided practice

 Jordan Frisbee and Tatiana Mollmann are West Coast Swing (WCS) champions; 11-time US Open classic division champions and celebrities in the WCS community. 

You can see the reason by just watching their dance. Here I paste a link to one of their performances.

[2015 US Open. Their "routine retirement" piece ]

There are many WCS dancers out there, but few have their level of visible refinements in the movements that can be presented to lay people on Broadway-style shows. 

Being celebrities in a dance community is one thing. Their dance having appeal to broader lay people, thus them being strong entertainers beyond their own community, is another.

They were visiting Dallas for Sat and Sun. The event was called "Westie Remix HD with Jordan & Tatiana". 

There were 2-hour intensive and dance on Saturday (which I missed for Tango party. No regrets). 

On Sunday, the event organizers at Studio 2155 scheduled brunch, 3-hour spotlight critiques and a 45 minutes guided practice. So I signed up.

In the Spotlight critiques, couples who signed up for the critiques dance in front of Jordan, Tatiana, and audience. After their dance, Jordan and Tatiana provide comments on each of the couple for improvements. The personalized feedback can be invaluable for contest-minded WCS dancers.

Each couple danced for about 2 minutes. They could choose blues or non-blues (most chose non-blues), then several minutes critiques followed.

The critique session was quite amusing.

The couples came with different levels of dance skills and appeals. Some are probably novice if not a beginner. A few looked like dancing at a higher level category. 

Note: WCS contest is segmented to categories such as newcomer, novice, intermediate, advanced, all-stars, and champions, by dance points dancers have acquired through participation and winning in contests. The dance points are considered to reflect the dancer's dance level, although not necessarily so. 

At first it was amusing because I thought it was like watching speed dating or something. 

After a few couples dances and comments, I began to catch on the format and started thinking my own critiques, which may or may not align with Jordan and Tatiana's comments.

Besides, their way of commenting was quite entertaining by itself. Somewhat like watching good stand-up. Professional, sincere, sometimes funny, while imparting their expertise. Love it.

Probably people there took the event in their own ways. Dancers taking critiques were naturally focusing on their own dance and comments. For me, the critique session was helpful to transplant their eyes and install their thought processes while watching WCS, or at least an attempt toward it.

As you can see in the format, they did not have much time to make comments. They watch a couple dance. Then one of them started talking.

The format was not rigid, though. In a case, Jordan danced with a girl for 30 seconds, then commented on the connection being (too) steady, instead of "ebb and flow" or stretchy. It was an extended diagnostic time, and connection is not always visible, or can be diagnosed by just watching. They made personalized comments in such a manner.

How did they come up with comments so quickly?

I'd imagine they already had a matrixed system in their minds on the domain of WCS, and used it to get to a personalized advice. 

From the dance visuals they determine;

lead or follow, dancer's level, style, noticeable character,  a subject to be mentioned (like connection, timing, body usage, or anything that would be relevant to judging the individual's WCS dance).

As WCS contests are structured in a leveled manner, the way they address an issue to a novice differ from the way to, say, an all-star. 

Dance teachers have to deal with all the different students, from elementary school kids to graduate school PhD candidates. Isn't it weird or what.

Long and rich experience should have served them to get there.

It was amazing to watch the top-ranked professionals work. I was quite entertained by that.

Of course, how their comments are going to be used is primarily up to the comments' recipients/ dancers. In addition, audience including me got to witness the advice, too, and learned how to see the dance from their viewpoint. Also learned how to diagnose a dance, and how to fix or change the dance for the better, when any of the issue occurs.

I am a dancer and also a dance geek. I found the whole thing amusing, entertaining, and useful. 

Maybe not for everybody. But it was a good time. $35 was cheap for the fun time.

Dance: Dallas trip 6/3/2023, Tango day. Jack and Jill, pro show, milonga

 This past weekend I made a trip to Dallas. Saturday 6/3 was Tango day for Jack and Jill, pro show, and milonga. 

Sunday 6/4 was West Coast Swing (WCS) day for Jordan and Tatiana workshops (next blog entry at a later time).

These two events were overlapping. I went to a half of both.

On Saturday I went to watch Argentine Tango Jack and Jill finals, pro shows, and dance at milonga.

Jack and Jill format was the same with swing dance Jack and Jill. Contestants with bibs, dice roll to determine rotation number, and dance to 3-4 songs in front of judges and audience. Rotating after each song. In nice dresses and suits, which is a difference from swing dance. Swing dancers are more casual.

The host George and Jairelbhi invited professional instructors/performers (Guillermo Merlo, Gimena Herrera, Tomas Galvan, Celina Rotundo, Hugo Patyn). 

Guillermo was performing with Jairelbhi, in place of George who is recovering from his knee surgery.

Guillermo, Gimena, Tomas and Vania Rey were serving as judges for the Jack and Jill.

I enjoyed watching the semi-finals and finals for Vals, Milonga and Salon Tango categories.

The Jack and Jill outcomes?

In addition to dancing itself, I was curious about judging and what they value.

For the leads, in short, the judges awarded "solid and steady".  

This Jack and Jill is for contest novices, and the priority being placed on showing solid lead sufficient to create safe environment for his follow to express her dance is understandable.

For the follows, they seemed to have awarded "relax, expression, and with ease". That is, what was positively evaluated was a little more advanced dancer-looks than the leads.

Perhaps, the judges expected proper role play from the lead and the follow. Solid lead with expressive follow. The frame (him) and painting (her) in the ballroom dance. 

In Jack and Jill, too strong a lead or a follow can easily upset the balance and matchup. That is the tricky part of Jack and Jill contest. I did not watch the preliminaries, but I imagine the balance between leads and follows was not as leveled as in the finals.

Tango follows face dilemmas. One of such dilemmas is "solid follow" vs "expression". The mix is mostly suggested by the lead, but her preferences and tendencies count. For this contest, judges seemed to like dancers who was able to add time for embellishments while keeping more relaxed look. And of course with the music.

This "expression with ease" is a character that comes only after cultivating some Tango in her. It takes experience. So in other words, the judges collectively awarded the looks of "veteran" dancer-follower, it seems.

Pro shows/stage tango were entertaining. And I wanted to be entertained.

I watched Guillermo's performance videos before and loved the style. Suave, I'd say.

Also I appreciate the instruction videos he posted online. Some time ago I was searching for videos to catch up with Tango after covid, and found their tango vocabulary series. It was quite useful for social dances.

Tomas and Gimena presented a fast-paced "perky" Tango. Impressive moves included that move in which he kicks through between her legs successively in molinete. Getting the timing right in the move is not easy, especially with the fast song they danced to. 

Audiences expect professionals to show something amazing. Their techniques did it.

Hugo and Celina were of course both strong dancers. Loved their choreography and expressions.

As this was Jack and Jill week, they added rotation for the three pro couples. 

The milonga ended around 2am. But I didn't feel tired much. After losing 15-20lb (-7.5 to 10%) from dieting this past 5 months, my body noticeably moves easier and smoother to my delight. I should have done this dieting business earlier.

On Sunday they had Tango workshops. I'm sure they were good. But I went to WCS event instead. cont. to Next entry.

Dance: Tango Jack and Jill. What can you do to prepare for it?

 As in previous entry, there is a Jack and Jill contest coming up. For Tango, it is new.

But this contest style/category itself is not new. Swing dancers have been doing it for decades. And they have a few tricks to prepare for the contest.

I'll list a few of what you can do to prepare for the Jack and Jill contest, in case you are new to it.

(i) First of all, don't be naïve. 

It is not your usual dance at milonga, although the format may deliberately look similar. It is a contest. There are judges. There are other contestants. You have to visually appeal to judges and audiences that your dance is somehow interesting or looks good, in order to advance.

That means, if you do not like the above idea of contest, or do not have dance skills enough to compete, probably, "not signing up the contest" is a good option for you and for others who are more serious about the contest.

Once you are determined to go for it and paid up your fee, then;

(ii) Dance with everybody beforehand.

Tango has the cabeceo culture. The "asking dance" ritual is actually an active selection process for your partners. As a result, you may have a lot of people you never danced, or have not danced with for so long, for whatever reason.

In Jack and Jill, your partner is drawn and assigned to you. You have no choice. For music, too. You dance to the song the DJ plays. 

Well, diagnostics is an important and indispensable (or even fun) part of social dances. But for contest purposes, familiarities with your partner will give you advantage. 

He may have favorite sequences or habits in his on-spot choreography. She may have strength to showcase, or weakness that she does not want to be led. 

He may be a fast and smooth mover, but it can overwhelm her if she is not used to it (he may even feel rough to her in the case). In which case, he has to slow down and seek ways to still look good, somehow. 

Solving these "issues in social dance" on the spot under contest pressure is not easy. That is why "dance beforehand" is important.

Also that is why in swing dance event contestants seek out other contestants and ask for a dance beforehand. They wear bibs, so it is not difficult to know who else is competing.

Overall, this is another example of how contest affects and even changes the way amateur social dancers get involved in the dance.

(iii) Be identifiable.

When I am a visitor and watch others dance, I don't know their names most of the time. 

What I'd catch are visual characteristics like "the red dress", "short one with blue hair", "tall, thin, blond", "the tuxedo with red tie", "blue shirt",.....

You want something identifiable and consistent. This is an audition trick.

There are physical characteristics that are difficult to change (race, skin color, body type, height, shape, large tattoo, etc), that are modestly changeable (hair do, hair color), and that can be modified easily (accessories, shoes, dresses, costumes, and their colors).

For accessories and dresses, make sure they can be seen from at least 10 feet away, and make sure they send a message you intend to.

You can add something like red jacket, if you don't want to be buried among black suits. You have to be seen and be memorable.

(iv) Plan ahead for your SOPs and practice ahead.

In social dance, professional followers would start with following with solid follow, grasping her lead's habit, then start adding embellishments and plays, if she feels it is safe to do so.

Professional leads would start from basics (basic salida is most frequently used as opening move). Then evaluate what she can comfortably do, and add things from there. But they wouldn't want to challenge the follow too much.

Either way, professionals usually have their "standard operation procedures (SOPs)" for social dance. 

You can have similar SOPs. For that, you plan ahead and practice ahead.

(v) Take your time.

Unlike some contest for which you have a minute or less to dance, you can take time.

Excessive chatting would be distracting, so don't do it.  But you both can have time to listen to the song, embrace, ensure energy flow match, etc, before you even start dancing. In fact, these are essential process for social dance. Showcase how you do it.

(vi) Know what is valued.

This is about knowing what is positively evaluated, and reversely, what makes your dance be seen negatively. "Fifty points from Gryffindor"-kind of things.

They usually spell this out in contest rules. 

If they like "elegant", then, show elegance. If they like "musicality", "technical efficiency", or "solid navigation", show them. Usually they seek something positive and pick dancers they like.

But be aware of red card events. If they prohibit lifts, certain stage moves, breaking embrace, going past a couple before you, or unreasonable use of moves from open embrace that would be strange to regular milonga, then, don't do these.

........

These are what I can list off the hat. There should be some more. But it is your job, contestants. Do what you think going to work. Might as well enjoying both preparation and the contest.

Hope this helps. Good luck and have fun.

Dance: Upcoming: Dallas Argentine Tango Jack & Jill Competition and workshops 6/2/2023 Fri- 6/4/2023 Sun

 Argentine Tango competitions are usually for professionals. Then, here upcoming is Dallas Argentine Tango Jack & Jill Competition (they say 1st annual) and workshop weekend. For all social AT dancers who are not AT pros.

Many other dances have built competition systems (Ballroom, WCS, Country Western, etc), and it affects how amateurs or social dancers get involved in the dance. For WCS, we have seen transition from strongly "party dance" culture to more competition-minded culture in this past 10-15 years.

This transition is occurring, at least in part because it benefits event organizing professionals, and perhaps, competing non-professional but motivated dancers. The points and leveled systems of course come with merits and demerits. But the notion of "climbing-up-the-ladders-toward-champion" is well-ingrained in many people's minds, so it should be fine for the people. If you don't buy it, you don't have to participate. Either way, such transition is a trend. 

Speaking of structured competitions, Ballroom dance is probably the "furthest ahead" dance, so we can speculate what can happen in the future. But whether social dance-originated dances like WCS or AT are going to take the same path as Ballroom remains to be seen.

In general, dance competition is a young man's game. (But it's not cheap with traveling and stuff. Such dilemma for cash-strapped poor younglings.)  Older people need to find their ways of how they get involved (or not). Also, even when you are up and coming, how you get involved in a dance that you do not actively participate ("WCS dancers, do you compete in Salsa?"-kind of thing) is something you need to decide. 

If you are a dance major in college (!) and working with city ballet or some other company, you may not have to get involved in amateur social dance scene at all, at least for now. Everyone's situation is different. You have to think for yourself.

BTW.

Dallas being 4 hours away, the schedule (prelims on Friday) is not exactly going to work for me, so I'm out. But tango people in Dallas area (and beyond, maybe even Austin or San Antonio) should enjoy this. 

I am not sure about Oklahoma dancers. Had a chat with a few people, but they had some other business. I hope some can make it.

I read the contest rules (you can find it from the event link). Once competition is involved, people get fussy about rules and judging methods, so I was curious. The rules look quite fair to me, though.

Certainly I'd love to watch Saturday comp/finals and attend following milonga with pro shows. I'll decide later if I'd go or not.

Quoting announcement:

"We are excited to announce the 1st annual Dallas Argentine Tango Jack & Jill Competition held at Studio 22!
.
You are cordially invited to join us June 2nd - 4th, 2023. The weekend will be packed with:
- Competitions
- Milongas
- World Class Judges
- Professional Performances
- Top Coaches
- Full Day of Workshops

For registration and weekend passes please visit:
https://studio22dallas.com/calendar-classes/special-events/

Some of you most be asking, What is Jack and Jill?
Jack and Jill Competition allows individuals to demonstrate their skills in spontaneous social dancing with a variety of random partners. No partners needed to compete
The weekend will be packed with competitions, milongas, world class judges, professional performances, top coaches & a full day of workshops! Competition portion of the weekend will consist of 3 categories - Tango, Vals and Milonga, where each category will have 3 winners (1st, 2nd and 3rd place).

Salon Tango Category:
1st Place: $300 ($150 Follower/ $150 Leader)
(SoCal Tango Comp Feb 22-25, 2024 Milonga Pass)
(San Antonio Tango Festival Sept 22-24, 2023
Milonga Pass)
2nd Place: $200 ($100 Follower/ $100 Leader)
3rd Place: $100 ($50 Follower/ $50 Leader)

Vals Category:
1st Place: $300 ($150 Follower/ $150 Leader)
(Boston Tango Festival- Oct 18-22, 2023)
2nd Place: $200 ($100 Follower/ $100 Leader)
3rd Place: $100 ($50 Follower/ $50 Leader)

Milonga Category:
1st Place: $300 ($150 Follower/ $150 Leader)
(Holiday Tango Weekend Milonga Pass-Dec 7-10, 2023)
2nd Place: $200 ($100 Follower/ $100 Leader)
3rd Place: $100 ($50 Follower/ $50 Leader)

Must have 10 couples on each category to get the cash prizes. Competitors must buy minimum of Milonga pass to compete.
Competitors must register by Tuesday May 27 to compete.

For more information, registration and weekend passes please visit:
https://studio22dallas.com/calendar-classes/special-events/

All Sales are non-refundable
If you have any questions please contact Jairelbhi and George Furlong via PM"