Friday August 31, 2007
Week of August 27, 2007
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Imagine lying on the operating table for surgery and finding yourself suddenly, unmistakably, awake. You try to tell your doctors but realize you can't move or talk. It sounds like the script for a horror film, but this is the fate of a tiny percentage of people who undergo general anesthesia every year. A 2004 study by the Joint Commission, which accredits most of the nation's hospitals, put the figure at 1 to 2 people per thousand surgeries. A more recent study suggests the rate may be even lower. But you'd still like to know every effort is made to prevent you from being that ONE. Anesthesia awareness, as it is known, gained national attention three years ago, when the Joint Commission issued an alert, calling it "under-recognized and under-treated." Laura Kwerel brings us the story of a Reston woman who experienced the rare phenomenon 9 years ago - and has since been working to prevent future episodes.
All of us face varying degrees of social pressure in our lives. But for pro athletes who come out of poverty into a world of riches, pressure to stand by those they grew up with can be intense - even when those friends from childhood are involved with criminal activity. Writer Ron Taylor hopes the Michael Vick story will make it easier for all moving into young adulthood to break those bonds.
Shakespeare lived in dirty times. During the Elizabethan Era, baths were a rarity and streets often doubled as sewers. Although things are a little cleaner these days, you can still connect to the Bard by getting close to dirt. The Folger Shakespeare Library's Elizabethan Garden features plants from the era, many of them referenced in Shakespeare's plays. Metro Connection's Stephanie Kaye takes a tour through "thyme" with docent Francie Owens.
Chick Hall's Surf Club - the music venue billed as the 'Last Honky-Tonk Inside The Beltway' - is due to close in October. Before the venue fades into memory there are plenty of shows still on the calendar. But farewell sets for two bands closely associated with the club are happening tonight, August 31st. It's a double bill featuring Ruthie and the Wranglers and The Oklahoma Twisters. The Twisters join us today - George Welling on guitar, Jeff Reynolds on fiddle and mandolin, Lynn Kasdorf on pedal steel, Ira Gitlin on bass and Tom McLaughlin on electric guitar.
Soldier's Delight Natural Environment Area is located in Western Baltimore County. But when you stroll through the park grounds, it feels more like you stumbled onto the Western PLAINS. The little known natural area boasts grasses similar to what you find in the Plains states and is packed with rare and endangered plants. We meet Naturalist Mark Garland near the visitor's center.
Writer Melissa Jordan relates how she was attacked by a squirrel in Montgomery County this summer. In her car.
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