Come on Barbie, Let's go Party!

Yes, this is Ken....

Ken is in my Taiko class, and this is a pretty common cheery expression. Which is astonishing given Ken lives with permanent chronic pain which is, bizarrely, all in his mind. There was an accident which created it, but all physical effects have long since passed on. The human brain isa weird thing, and Ken is now a regular visitor to Liverpool where he is undergoing some rather innovative brain treatment that essentially amounts to "switch it off and switch it back on again" for different areas in the brain.

He's a lesson in always looking on the bright side.

Today over coffee I heard about the latest treatment, and played guinea pig listening to some music and writing down my emotions while listening (Jammin' by Bob Marley) for a course he's doing on... music.

The drumming, by all logical sense, should be difficult given the pain he suffers is in his ankle - but the pounding sound acts as some sort of weird pain relief, and it's only when it stops that the pain returns.

Like I say, the brain is a weird thing.

Oh, and an old Sunbeam frame arrived in the post today after I bought it off eBay - will find out later tonight if it's any good for me to harvest parts off...