Hello Hpathy Family!
Oh look! It’s little Shana! I hope everybody is ready for the November Quiz!
I’m sure they are, Mom; but first … I have announcements!
Well; this is highly irregular….
I’m sad to report that we lost actor Richard Roundtree,
famed for his portrayal of “Shaft”, an iconic movie from 1971, featuring the Academy Award winning “Theme From Shaft” written and sung by Stax recording artist, Isaac Hayes. He won a Grammy for that too!
Apparently Richard Roundtree had pancreatic cancer, he was 81 years old.
I found the opening credits to “Shaft” on Youtube:
Great find, Shana! The Theme From Shaft catapulted Isaac Hayes to Super-Stardom! After Stax lost super-star Otis Redding in a plane crash…
Otisthere was Isaac Hayes to fill his shoes!
Now who is Isaac Hayes you might ask? Not you, Mom! When I say, ‘you’, I mean our readers who have no idea what we’re talking about…
They don’t know who Shaft is?
Who is the man who would risk his neck for his brother man? Shaft! Can you dig it?
Mom…because “Shaft” is an American movie and Isaac Hayes is an American recording artist, I just assumed that, as usual, our audience from India and Pakistan, not to mention the gang from Slovakia, might feel very left out. But anyway…
The thing with “Shaft”, Shana, is that it came out in 1971, only 3 years after Martin Luther King was assassinated…
6 years after Malcolm X was assassinated…
the Civil Rights Movement was still very much alive (the movement for equal rights for Black People, including the right to vote) and so in the midst of all this, to have a major motion picture come out with a black star and a theme song that wins the Academy Award from an all-black record label?
Well, it was unheard of, is all I’m saying!!!!!
Isaac Hayes, for his part, is famous for being one of the most prolific writers and producers at Stax, but more people will know him as the voice of “Chef” on “South Park”,
an adult satiric cartoon, like “The Simpsons”, that managed to insult just about everyone.
We lost Isaac to a stroke in 2008 before we started doing the “Death Report” and, hence, these lovely tributes.
But, back to “Shaft”…. Apparently the movie really took off because a couple of sequels were made, and Richard Roundtree was still portraying “Shaft” in 2019!
Get out! No way!
In 1973-1974 there was even a series of seven television films featuring his character. Isaac Hayes’ Theme Song is so iconic that it even made it into an episode of “Dexter’s Laboratory”! This is a short clip from an episode of “Dexter’s Laboratory” (see last month’s “Tidbits” on Sulphur) where Dexter used his scientific know-how to grow a beard because his television hero, ‘Action Hank’, also had a beard. The music playing in the background is the “Theme From Shaft” — more or less. Watch what happens when Dee Dee and her two friends see the beard:
So “Shaft” not only was iconic enough to be referenced on television, but it was preserved in the “National Film Registry” in 2000. I also just learned something else interesting. One of the backup singers on the record was Telma Hopkins from Tony Orlando and Dawn!
Telma and Tony
You know, “Knock Three Times” and “Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Old Oak Tree”? Well, Telma was the one who delivered the iconic line, “Shut your mouth!”
But I’m talkin’ ’bout Shaft….
And we can dig it!
OK, Mom, are you happy now that I just made a complete fool out of myself?
He’s a complicated man, but no one understands him but his woman….
OK, I am not going to say, “John Shaft”!!!!!
Aaaah!!!! RIP, Richard Roundtree AND Isaac Hayes!
Mom; shouldn’t you be cooking dinner?
Sadly, I have more deaths to announce! We lost a member of the original Isley Brothers (pronounced EYES-LEE) from 1959, Rudolph Isley, he died at 84 last month from an apparent heart attack.
From left to right: Ronnie Isley (lead singer) Kelly Isley and Rudy (Rudolph) Isley.
Of course, their big hit from 1959, “Shout”, is so iconic that I just heard it today on an E-Trade commercial!
But even having said that, The Isley Brothers had hits in the ’50’s, ’60’s, ’70’s and ’80’s and I don’t know about the ’90’s cuz I was too busy raising a baby to notice what songs were on the air!
Also I’m just now finding out that Kelly Isley died in 1986 and we lost younger brother and bass player, Marvin Isley, in 2010. The only two left now are Ronnie and Ernie, their brilliant lead guitarist, who can be heard so clearly on “Who’s That Lady” from 1971.
Oh and Chris Jasper who was responsible for writing and producing but he isn’t part of the Isley family.
Wait, he is! He’s a brother-in-law. His sister is married to Rudolph. Chris Jasper is also the keyboardist and the primary writer and arranger between ’73 and ’83, which means he’s responsible for their best songs.
The Isley Brothers were on Motown from 1966-1969, and during their time on Motown, we got songs like; “This Old Heart of Mine”, “I Guess I’ll Always Love You”, “That’s The Way Love Is”, etc.
Also here’s an insane story about their hit, “Twist and Shout” which was covered by The Beatles. John Lennon had a bad cold when it was recorded; by the end of the session, his voice was almost completely gone!
Maybe that’s why I hate it!
Mom, everyone else in the world disagrees with you. I don’t know if you were aware of this, but, the Isley Brothers’ “3+3” album turned 50 in August.
Ernie, Kelly, Ronnie, Chris, Rudy, Marvin
I believe this is one of several Isley Brothers albums we have here on vinyl but I haven’t checked. Anyway, 3+3 not only has the famous “That Lady” on it but it’s also notable for a cover of James Taylor’s
Aaaaaaah!!!!!!!
“Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight” as well as “You Walk Your Way” and “What It Comes Down To”.
Oh and I forgot to mention the excellent cover of Seals and Crofts’ “Summer Breeze”.
“3+3” sounds like a real blockbuster!
I may have mentioned that Jim Seals died last year. Anyway as I was saying, the Isley Brothers have so many great songs that you can’t even choose which ones to play, but I like “What It Comes Down To” a lot.
Really? I had noooo ideeeea!
“You Walk Your Way” also needs more attention.
You walk your way (you walk your way) let me walk mine (I’ll walk mine), you walk you way…(You walk your way)….
Mom!!! Isn’t there something burning in the kitchen??? I also didn’t recognize “If You Were There” until I went onto youtube for this article.
…If you were there you’d know, if you were there you’d know, that I care…
Do you plan to burst into song every five feet?
That is my plan! Oh, and don’t forget, “Say You Will”.
I love that song too! Now Mom, just bear with me for the next announcement. A while ago I was watching my favorite 1990s TV show “Kenan and Kel.” Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell are the greatest comedy duo of the 90’s.
I had nooooo ideeeea……
They’re going to be in a streaming sequel to their classic movie, “Good Burger.” But, long story short, there was this one episode I was watching where Kenan hired actors to pretend to be his parents, because the Principal was coming over and he didn’t want his real parents to hear what she had to say! Anyway, only one of them was a real actor and the other was a lady who couldn’t get Kenan’s name right.
I didn’t know the name of the actress who played Principal Dimly, and for some reason I thought it was Rudy’s teacher from The Cosby Show. Well, it turns out, the principal wasn’t who I thought she was but they look so much alike. Rudy’s teacher was played by Elaine Stritch.
Kenan’s principal was played by Hersha Parady (pictured below with the fake dad) and she’s famous for being on a television show called “Little House on the Prairie”. Her real name is apparently Betty Sandhoff.
Is there a bleeping point to this story??!!!
She died.
Principal Dimly died?
Yes.
Oh, that is a shame. Is that it?
Now for my big announcement!!!!
This better be good, Shana!
We got a new Beatles song!
It’s called “Now and Then”. Now try to pay attention Mom, because this story covers 25 years!
Oh dear God!!!! It’s not going to take 25 years to tell it, is it?
OK, so here’s the story. George was talking to Yoko in 1995, and Yoko said she had a demo tape of John singing a song he wrote called “Now and Then”, it was a home-made cassette tape of John singing and playing the piano—not a studio tape, in other words. So, George, Paul and Ringo got together and recorded parts to go with the tape but it was a lost cause! John’s voice was muffled and the piano was too loud! It was so bad they gave up on it completely!
Now, 25 years later and along comes something called “A.I.” Well guess what? Through the use of AI, John’s voice was able to be cleaned up, sharpened, and separated from the awful piano which was thrown out completely. Now all of a sudden a brand new record was possible with John singing lead! Paul still had George’s guitar lines from 25 years ago, plus he hired an orchestra to get strings put on, and the bottom line is, there is now a brand new song with all 4 Beatles on it—surely the last one there ever will be, and here it is now!!!!! I guess the Beatles are going to have the #1 record in the country—again!!!
John, Paul, George and Ringo.
Wow Shana, that really was worth waiting for! I suppose we have to start the Quiz now….
Who’s in the quiz this month?
Felisha Fettuccine.
Who????
Felisha Fettuccine!!! She’s Italian!
No kidding!
Her husband, Felice, fell through the ceiling and landed on his foot!
OK, I’m outta here!
No, really, it happened!
*******
Elaine, as you will recall, I told you about my husband, Felice, breaking his foot. In the hospital I gave him a dose of Ruta and told you about how he was worried and had sweaty palms and you prescribed Aconite. I gave one dose of that.
He had no pain or swelling till 4.00 pm. I gave him another dose as he had some pain. After they put the splint in eventually it got worse and very bad and at night it was full blown, nothing worked (Tylenol/ Ibuprofen). He took the opioid meds and slept.
We tried lachesis 30 and it didn’t seem to help.
On the second day afternoon I gave him Dr.Christopher’s Complete Tissue and Bone and it the took the edge off of the pain. So he was on 6 capsules per day and by the 3rd day, the pain was a 2 on a scale of 1 – 10.
Yet night time sleeping was tough but now even that is better.
Apart from Dr. Christopher’s, I was giving him high doses of vitamin c, zinc 60 mg some days and magnesium citrate. Looks like that helped.
In between I gave him Hypericum 30C, suspecting nerve pain during sleep I’m not sure if that helped.
I don’t know what to do. I might have given him Symphytum 30C just 2 doses to help with pain but stopped as I think the bones need to be set first to heal in correct position.
My stomach is churning with worry! I just hope whatever way he heals he should be able to walk eventually and he can wear different size shoes on each foot, we can live with that.
It’s been 10 days now.
I think YOU need a dose of _______________!
Elaine, you were right yesterday about me needing _________ for stomach churning, I had the same thought too.
Since you wrote, I took ___________ 30C.
I slept like a charm and feel great mentally today. Surprisingly I’m not worrying at all! And I am getting a lot done, cleaning etc., as I’m not feeling depressed.
______________________________
OK, that’s it everybody, what’s the remedy? Write to me at [email protected] and let me know! The answer will be in the December ezine.
See you then!
_______________________________
Votes
Arsenicum-2
Phosphoric acid
Cocculus
Ignatia
Carcinosin
Phosphorus
OK, who wants to go first this time?
Hi Elaine,
Hi Edina!
I think she needs Arsenicum.
Mind, anxiety, others, for – ARS
—abdomen in – Ars.
Mind, anxiety, stomach, in – ARS.
Mind, worries, ailments from – ars – 2
— relatives, about: ars – 2
Abdomen, anxiety, sensation – ARS.
Your article about the anorexic ballerina came to mind. Her mother needed Arsenicum too.
Hope it’s right!
Edina
Hi Edina! Well, let’s look at the case of the Ballerina with anorexia. I believe the name of that case was “Poor Girl”:
https://hpathy.com/case-quizes/revisiting-poor-girl/
Yes, her mom definitely needed Arsenicum, but what’s the difference between that case and ours? Fear! Felisha does not have fear that her husband will die. Indeed, the husband simply has a broken foot, but the ballerina’s mom had been doing a lot of reading about anorexia and apparently she found out that if you reach a certain point of weight loss, your heart gives out; I think you may remember that the mom kept saying, “Should my daughter be in the hospital?” So, the mom really was afraid her daughter was going to die! Felisha, on the other hand, does not have this fear.
So, what, then, IS going on with Felisha? What is she suffering from?
Remember, it’s been going on for 10 days! And what has been going on for 10 days, exactly? Non-stop care-giving! Her husband’s needs are never-ending! She is constantly “on call”, whether it’s to give remedies, pain-killers, food, help with walking or any other form of assistance. She must be absolutely worn to a frazzle! And what is the rubric for this in our Repertory?
“Mind: stress, overwhelmed by”.
And, what else is she? Worried! So we go to
“Mind: worries, ailments from”.
And finally, we have the stomach thing, her stomach is “churning from worry”…. You know, if you go to “Stomach: churning”, you’re going to be very disappointed. What’s the basic idea here? She’s got a “nervous stomach”! That’s what it comes down to! So that’s what I looked up, and incredibly, I found:
“Stomach: indigestion, nervous, from night-watching”.
OMG! That is spot-on! That’s exactly what she has! Remember we talked about “night-watching” last month? Remember we said it means you’ve made yourself sick sitting up with an ailing loved one, watching, worrying over them, missing sleep and throwing your biological clock off because of it? Well, guess what? There is only one remedy listed for that in the “Stomach” chapter. See Repertorization below:
It’s Nux vomica! Actually, Edina, when you think about ailments from stress, Nux vomica should probably be your first thought.
Thank you! Those are great rubrics. Not what I picked. I didn’t think of Nux vomica at all. You live and learn…
We have a new quiz participant with us today…. Hello, Debra!
Hi, Elaine. Is it Phosphoric acid?
Any special reason you picked Phos-ac?
The depression, the stomach churning, after dealing with a difficult situation.
OK, Debra, we have to think harder. One reason is because there are nearly 500 remedies listed under “Depression”! Which means what? That practically every remedy is depressed! Which means what? That “depression” is too common a symptom to help us solve this case or possibly any case. So, yes, of course, Felisha is depressed. After all, her whole life has been turned upside down; and in that context, we all would be depressed! But if a symptom makes “sense”, Debra; if it’s expected under the circumstances? We can’t use it.
“Stomach churning”. There is only one remedy listed under stomach churning—Lycopodium! And I’m thinking it’s probably because Lycopodium is our famous “gas and bloating” remedy. But our patient has stomach churning due to what? Worry. She told us so! We need a remedy for Worrying! Because, if she could stop worrying, her stomach would settle down. So, rather than taking the rubric “Stomach: churning”, let’s instead take,
“Mind: worries, ailments from”.
“Dealing with a difficult situation”. Where will we find that in the Repertory? We can take “Mind: stress, overwhelmed by”; or, we can take, “Mind: business, ailments from, being overworked”. And you know what? Lycopodium isn’t in either of those rubrics! So, that “churning” rubric really would have thrown us off the track.
But think about it: what is wrong with Felisha’s stomach, really? She’s got nervous indigestion! It’s from nerves! She has been under stress for 10 days! So we are better off looking up “Stomach: indigestion, nervous”. What if we do that right now and see what we get:
Wow! Look at that! Nux vomica is way out in front! And that’s what I gave her.
Thanks, Elaine!!
Hi Elaine and Shana!
Hi Maria!!!
For this quiz I thought that the problem might be “ailments from nursing the sick”.
Good rubric, Maria; I didn’t even think of that!
What are the odds of this being Cocculus again, just like the previous quiz? Anyway, Cocculus is my vote and if I am wrong I will try again 🙂
You’re certainly within your rights to think of Cocculus, Maria! Cocculus is a 4 under “ailments from nursing of others”. I didn’t lean toward Cocculus here because this case had gone on too long. Ten days, she said! Ten days of catering to her husband’s every need, hearing him complain, having to come up with remedies left and right, taking him back and forth to the doctor and hospital. It’s not so much that the husband is “sick”, per se, and in declining health such that he might die. His “health” is fine. But he can’t walk and he’s in pain and he has constant needs. I just saw Felisha as being over-worked and under too much stress. Both of those are rubrics:
Mind: stress, overwhelmed by
Mind: business, ailments from being overworked
And then there’s the all-important concomitant in the case: “stomach churning”. Now, this can really confuse us because “Stomach: churning” has only one remedy listed for it: Lycopodium! We can’t be happy with that. What it means is, we have to redefine what’s wrong with her stomach. Do you want me to stop here? Or do you want me to go on?
I saw the repertory and it seems either Nux-v or Calc-carb are ranking higher.
Nux-v has stress and overworking problems and digestion issues, so that would be my second vote.
Go on please 🙂
No, you’re exactly right! Adding in the digestion issue throws the case over to Nux vomica!
Oh nice!
Great quizzes Elaine the last few months! I Learned a lot!
I’m so glad to hear that!
Loved the tidbits also of the current journal.
Maria, what did you think was the current “tidbits”? I don’t have a “tidbits” in the Nov. issue. I was told to re-write it. You’ll see it in December. Who else is here?
Hello Elaine and Shana,
Hello Miroslav and Jitka!
We send our solutions to the November quiz.
Miroslav says: The patient received Ignatia.
Rubrics:
Mind, worries, full of worries, illness, from: Ignatia
Mind, worry, full of worries, kindred, because of: Causticum
But Causticum is not listed as disease from worry, so I choose Ignatia.
(Note: I ´m not sure if the rubrics I translated from our language sound the same in Murphy’s English original.)
Jitka says: Arsenicum alb.
From remedies that are often used for worry and anxiety I chose Arsenicum. I had the feeling that Felisha wants to control everything, she is very focused on details, has significant anxiety regarding her husband’s health and finally her own health, anxiety about the future (whether the husband will be able to wear the same shoes) eventually she feels discomfort in her stomach. I did not find any significant rubric that would confirm my choice, but according to mentioned indications, I think that you prescribed Arsenicum for her.
Ok. Miroslav, Ignatia is a remedy for emotional instability. Either they’re under super-human control or they’re bursting into tears, sobbing uncontrollably. I can scarcely picture Ignatia as a care-giver, as such a role requires level-headedness, reliability and the ability to put the needs of another person ahead of your own. Ignatia simply cannot be depended upon to do that, tending instead to want all the attention in the room and all the concern to be directed at her.
Our patient, Felisha Fettuccini, has been at this care-giving business for 10 days now! She’s been reliable, dependable and efficient. But she is worried. Plus, she is waiting on her husband hand-and-foot, coming up with remedies, medicine, herbs, etc. to treat his every complaint and it’s taking a toll on her stomach! What word do we have for this situation?
Jitka, you used the word “anxiety”, and that’s just it, she doesn’t have anxiety. At least, she doesn’t claim that she does. And that’s why I can’t go for Arsenicum. Her husband is not going to die, which is what might put her in an Arsenicum state. He has simply broken his foot. So, what is the word that might describe the condition that Felisha is in? What’s her state?
Miroslav corrects his answer as follows:
I think it is Carcinosinum, the remedy that helps at the expense of her own health, with fear for a loved one.
OK, this is the problem: Felisha does not have fear. Do you remember “Poor Girl”? The anorexic ballerina? Her mother had fear. She was in a terrible anxiety state and kept saying, “Should my daughter be in the hospital?” She read that anorexia could cause the heart to stop. However, Felisha…. What does she have, exactly? What is her situation? Her husband broke his foot, but he is not going to die.
Jitka corrects her answer as follows:
I think that Felisha was compassionate and empathetic towards her husband. Among the most empathic medicines is Carcinosinum, but I wasn’t sure if Carcinosnum is the right one, a medicine for acute mental states of compassion, so I choose Phosphorus, which is also one of the sensitive remedies towards others.
You know what? Carcinosin is a better choice because they have a high sense of duty; not so Phosphorus. Phosphorus thinks you should be taking care of her!
So listen, even though Carcinosin is a good choice, my understanding of the case, very simply, is that Felisha is under too much stress! For 10 days now, it has been non-stop catering to her husband’s every need to the point where she now has a nervous stomach. If you look up “Stomach: indigestion, nervous”, there’s an incredible sub-rubric that totally describes this case: “Indigestion from night-watching”! OMG! That’s exactly what she has!!
Do you remember we talked about “ailments from night-watching” last month? Well, there’s only one remedy in this rubric, and it’s Nux vomica! And then if we go to Mind: stress, overwhelmed by, what’s in bold? Nux vomica!
And P.S., when a person is overwhelmed by stress, Nux vomica should be our first thought. Remember Shirley Reischman’s article, “Nux vomica: The Pre-eminent Remedy for Modern Day Life”? Time to read up on that again:
https://hpathy.com/materia-medica/nux-vomica-the-preeminent-remedy-for-modern-day-life/
So….we don’t exactly have a winner this time; but, you know, the more mistakes we make, the more we learn! Don’t forget to try this month’s quiz!
And guess what? January, 2024, marks our 20th Anniversary!
Here are Shep and the Limelites to sing
“Our Anniversary”:
See you next year!
_________________________________
Elaine Lewis, DHom, CHom
Elaine takes online cases. Write to her at [email protected]
Visit her website: https://ElaineLewis.hpathy.com
