Smile of the Day Saturday, November 14, 2020

Saturday, November 14, 2020 Smile for the Day: Insulin

The topic of vaccines and treatments are very much in the news today.  Vaccines and medical treatments have worked wonders, saved lives and changed lives of millions.   This is one of those stories.

Today is the birthday of Sir Frederick Grant Banting KBE MC FRS FRSC (November 14, 1891 – February 21, 1941).  Dr. Banting was a Canadian medical scientist, physician, painter, and Nobel laureate noted as the co-discoverer of insulin and its therapeutic potential.

In 1923, Banting and John James Rickard Macleod received the Nobel Prize in Medicine. Banting shared the honours and award money with his colleague, Charles Best. As of November 2018, Banting, who received the Nobel Prize at age 32, remains the youngest Nobel laureate in the area of Physiology/Medicine. That same year, the Government of Canada granted Banting a lifetime annuity to continue his work.  In 1934, he was knighted by King George V (per Wikipedia).

First, a Story:

There’s been a new kind of diabetes discovered in Mexico.  Doctors are calling it “Type Juan”.

Second, a Song:

Well when we are speaking of insulin, sugar is never far from anyone’s mind.  Here we have a performance dance of many couples dancing to a medley of songs that includes Sugar-Sugar among others.

The dance style would be called Lindy Hop.

The Lindy Hop is an American dance which was born in the African-American communities in Harlem, New York City, in 1928 and has evolved since then. It was very popular during the swing era of the late 1930s and early 1940s. Lindy was a fusion of many dances that preceded it or were popular during its development but is mainly based on jazz, tap, breakaway, and Charleston. It is frequently described as a jazz dance and is a member of the swing dance family.

In its development, the Lindy Hop combined elements of both partnered and solo dancing by using the movements and improvisation of African-American dances along with the formal eight-count structure of European partner dances – most clearly illustrated in the Lindy’s basic step, the swingout. In this step’s open position, each dancer is generally connected hand-to-hand; in its closed position, leads and follows are connected as though in an embrace on one side and holding hands on the other.

Lindy Hop today is danced as a social dance, as a competitive dance, as a performance dance, and in classes, workshops, and camps. Partners may dance alone or together, with improvisation a central part of social dancing and many performance and competition pieces (per Wikipedia).

This video has many couples demonstrating many wonderful moves.  My dear daughter Lauren dances to Lindy Hop.  I’ll leave the moves to her and her partner.

Here is a Pot-Pourri of Lindy Hop dancers performing to a medley of “Rivers of Babylon and Sugar Sugar and More Than I Can Say”. I hope you enjoy this performance!

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTfxennz3xU)

Thought for the Day:

“Laughter is the best medicine – unless you’re diabetic, then insulin comes pretty high on the list.” – Jasper Carrott

Have a great day!

© 2020 David J. Bilinsky and Colleen E. Bilinsky