Tom Roper's Weblog

Wetherby Charlie Hall Chase and Breeders Cup Day

Chepstow 225 Very Optimistic
Wetherby 250 Grey Abbey
Newmarket 310 Quito
Wetherby 325 Crystal d'Ainay
Newmarket 345 Kamanda Laugh

And this evening at Lone Star Park:
620: Storm Flag Flying
735: Six Perfections
955: Powerscourt
1035: Pleasantly Perfect

Society of Authors and Royal Society of Medicine Book Awards 2004

I'm in Judy Lehmann's debt for a copy of the winners of the 2004 Society of Authors and Royal Society of Medicine Book Awards; I couldn't attend the ceremony last week. The Society of Authors web site still has the 2002 awards listed.

Richard Asher Prize:
Winner: Butcher G P Gastroenterology: an illustrated colour text Churchill Livingstone
Commended: Taylor RJ, McAvoy BR, O'Dowd T General practice medicine: an illustrated colour test Churchill Livingstone

New Edition Edited Book
Winner: Parry E, Godfrey R, Mabey D, Gill G Principles of medicine in Africa 3rd ed Cambridge UP
Commended: Crisp AH Every family in the land: understanding prejudice and discrimination against people with mental illness RSM Press

New Edited Book
Winner: Hazleman B, Riley G, Speed C Soft tissue rheumatology Oxford Medical
Commended: Drife J, Magowan B Clinical obstetrics and gynaecology W B Saunders
Commended: Ward Booth P, Eppley BL, Schmelzeisen R Maxillofacial trauma and esthetic facial reconstruction Churchill Livingstone

Minty Prize of the Medico-Legal Society
Winner: Meakin T, Ellis P Work-related injury and illness litigation EMIS Professional

Medical Website
Winner: Men's Health Forum

New Edition Authored Book
Winner: Kanski JJ Clinical ophthalmology: a systematic approach 3rd ed Butterworth Heinemann
Commended: Guillebaud J Contraception: your questions answered Churchill Livingstone
Commended: Mims C, Dockrell HM, Goering RV, Roitt I, Wakelin D, Zuckerman M Medical microbiology 3rd ed Mosby
Commended: Ellison D, Love S, Chimelli L, Harding BN, Lowe J, Vinters HV Neuropathology: a reference text of CNS pathology 2nd ed Mosby

New Authored Book:
Winner: Scully C Oral and maxillofacial medicine Wright
Commended: Moore A, Edwards J, Barden J, McQuay H Bandolier's little book of pain Oxford UP
Commended: Walshe K Regulating healthcare: a prescription for improvement Open University Press

New medical history book:
Winner: Ayliffe GAJ, English MP Hospital infection: from miasmas to MRSA Cambridge UP

Medical Books for the General Reader:
Winner: Hanas R Type 1 diabetes in children adolescents and young adults Class Health
Commended: Powell T, Malia K Brain injury workbook: exercises for cognitive rehabilitation Speechmark
Commended: Baron-Cohen Simon The essential difference Penguin

Overall winner: Hazleman B, Riley G, Speed C Soft tissue rheumatology Oxford Medical

I reviewed Roy Porter's last, which I had as a dead cert for the history section, but it seems the judges thought otherwise

Inquiry into public libraries

The House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee has announced an Inquiry into public libraries to consider:
whether the accessibility of local libraries, in terms of opening hours, location and community-wide appeal, meets the current demands of the public;
what can be done to increase the public’s use of local libraries;
the funding of local libraries and the balance of spending between the various means of providing information (including the traditional investment in books);
new models of provision and new policy demands (such as tackling social exclusion);
the effectiveness of the legislative, strategic and administrative framework within which local libraries operate;
recruitment and training of library staff;
the role of institutional and specialist libraries and their links with local libraries;
the performance of the “People’s Network” in providing universal internet access and its future development; and
other issues that may arise in the course of gathering evidence

Beachy Head Marathon once more

Results now up. I was 492nd, time of 5:21.
And then by some miracle, they adjusted the results. My time remains the same, but my position suddenly moved up to 486th

Galway and Leopardstown

To add excitment to a half term day spent on child care duty, here's some selections:
230 Leopardstown; Footstepsinthesand
315 Galway: Sherberry
415 Galway: Fatherofthebride
500 Leopardstown: Bywayofthestars

Beachy Head Marathon

It's not my practice to overload this blog with references to my running, which is mostly a private vice, but I must record my first marathon today, the Beachy Head marathon, completed in a pretty disgraceful 5 hours and 20 minutes. If anyone cares, there's photos in the running photo album: not edited yet. Overheard conversation somewhere on way up to Wilmington Hill:  "How are you getting on?" " OK but my iPod just crashed". If Pheidippides had had an iPod, might he have lived?

PLoS Medicine launch

A quick account in abbreviated note form of the speeches at the launch gala for PloS Medicine which happened last night in the newly opened Wellcome building on Euston Road.

Royal What of Medicine?

The Times has managed to create yet another regal instiution in the medical world. In an article on Tuesday they refer to Alan Johnson delivering a speech at the Royal College of Medicine under the headline "GPs told to end ‘sicknote culture’". He was in fact speaking at the Royal Society of Medicine Newspaper of record? I do hope not.

Whatever happened to the MLA event at Labour Party Conference?

Reminded by a post on Sheila Webber's Information Literacy weblog of the event MLA organised at the Labour Party conference. Sheila had a slightly more optimistic view of the event's openness than I did.
But then it struck me that no account of the event appears anywhere, at least that I can see. I can understand the security reasons for restricting access to the event, though it did seem a bit odd in the light of the event's title; but I can't see why what happened there needs to be kept quiet. Unless no one turned up?

Hairdressing training launched amongst well coiffured stars

I shouldn't mock, as hairdressing training is very important (as anyone who's ever had a bad haircut will testify) but this did raise a smile. On the other hand, it illustrates quite well the richness of learning resources in the modern world.
Hairdressing training launched amongst well coiffured stars