Trepanning

Trepanning, also known as trepanation, trephination, trephining or making a burr hole (the verb trepan derives via Old French via Medieval Latin from the Greek noun of relevant meaning trypanon, literally "borer, auger") is a surgical intervention in which a hole is drilled or scraped into the human skull, exposing the dura mater to treat health problems related to intracranial diseases. It may also refer to any "burr" hole created through other body surfaces, including nail beds. It is often used to relieve pressure beneath a surface. A trephine is an instrument used for cutting out a round piece of skull bone.

In ancient times, holes were drilled into a person who was behaving in what was considered an abnormal way to let out what they believed were evil spirits. Evidence of trepanation has been found in prehistoric human remains from Neolithic times onward. Cave paintings indicate that people believed the practice would cure epileptic seizures, migraines, and mental disorders. The bone that was trepanned was kept by the prehistoric people and may have been worn as a charm to keep evil spirits away. Evidence also suggests that trepanation was primitive emergency surgery after head wounds to remove shattered bits of bone from a fractured skull and clean out the blood that often pools under the skull after a blow to the head. Such injuries were typical for primitive weaponry such as slings and war clubs.

A Hole in the Head

A Hole in the Head (1959) is a comedy film directed by Frank Capra, featuring Frank Sinatra, Edward G. Robinson, Eleanor Parker, Keenan Wynn, Carolyn Jones, Thelma Ritter, Dub Taylor, Ruby Dandridge, Eddie Hodges, and Joi Lansing, and released by United Artists.

The film introduced the song "High Hopes" by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen, a Sinatra standard used as a John F. Kennedy campaign song during the presidential election the following year. Wynn plays a wealthy former friend of Sinatra's character who expresses interest in his plan to build a Disneyland in Florida (the film predates Disney World)—until he notices that Sinatra seems too desperate as he cheers for a dog upon which he'd bet heavily. The movie ends with Tony, Eloise and Alley singing "High Hopes" on the beach. Sinatra sings "All My Tomorrows," another Cahn/Van Heusen song, under the opening titles.

The screenplay was adapted by playwright Arnold Schulman, whose father was the operator of a Miami, Florida hotel. The protagonist of A Hole in the Head is a Miami hotel operator of "The Garden of Eden." The actual hotel used for the exterior shots was the Cardozo Hotel, located on Miami Beach's Ocean Drive. Shot over 40 days between 10 November 1958 and 9 January 1959, the film did not enjoy the smoothest of productions, especially during the location filming at Miami Beach. Sinatra's relations with the press were problematic, the media seizing on every anti-Sinatra rumor they could find.

Hole in the Head

"Hole in the Head" is a song performed by British girl group Sugababes, released on October 13, 2003 as the lead single from their third studio album, Three. It was written by Brian Higgins, Miranda Cooper, Tim Powell, Nick Coler, Niara Scarlett, Keisha Buchanan, Mutya Buena, and Heidi Range, and co-produced by Higgins and Jeremy Wheatley. The song was met with acclaim from critics and was a commercial success, entering the top 10 in ten other countries. It became their second single to chart on the US charts, peaking at number 96 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 1 on the US dance chart. The first Sugababes single to chart in the US was "Round Round", which reached number 7 on the US dance chart.

Background and development

"Hole in the Head" was written by Brian Higgins, Miranda Cooper, Tim Powell, Nick Coler and Niara Scarlett, in collaboration with the Sugababes' members—Keisha Buchanan, Mutya Buena and Heidi Range, for the group's third studio album, Three. Higgins and Jeremy Wheatley produced the song in conjunction with the songwriting and production team Xenomania, which was founded by Higgins himself. Wheatley also completed the song's mixing process at the Townhouse Studios in London.

The Head

The Head began as an ongoing series that originally ran under the title MTV's Oddities, on MTV. It has begun airing on MTV2 in August 2009. It was released on DVD on December 15, 2009.

Plot

Created by Eric Fogel, The Head is the story of Jim, a trade-school student in New York City who awakens one morning to find that his cranium has enlarged to mammoth proportions. A week later, out bursts Roy, a little purple alien with an odd sense of humor who has taken up residence in Jim's head. Roy needed a place to stay to adapt to the Earth's environment while on a mission to save the world from a power-hungry alien named Gork. Roy explains that there are two races of symbiotic aliens: his own, which is mutualistic; and Gork's, which is parasitic. Aiding Jim and Roy are Jim's girlfriend, Madelyn; his personal physician, Dr. Richard Axel; and a group of "human anomalies." The group consists of Ray, a landscaper who has a lawnmower blade lodged in his skull; Mona, a beautiful young woman with a short tail; Ivan, a Russian who has a mouth in his chest; Raquel, who has an enormous nose and buckteeth; Earl, who has a fishbowl in his mouth; Chin, a long-limbed former freak show performer from China; and the annoyingly normal head of the group, Shane Blackman. The theme of the story is to reinforce the value of diversity, tolerance, acceptance of differences, and working together to solve problems.

Amanda Feilding

Amanda Feilding, Countess of Wemyss and March, is an English artist, scientist and drug policy reformer. In 1998, she founded the Beckley Foundation, a charitable trust that i) promotes a rational, evidence-based approach to global drug policy; ii) initiates, designs and conducts pioneering neuroscientific and clinical research into the effects of psychoactive substances on the brain and cognition and iii) investigates new avenues of treatment for mental and physical conditions as well as the enhancement of creativity and well-being.

Early life and education

Feilding is the youngest child of Basil Feilding (himself a great-grandson of the 7th Earl of Denbigh and the Marquess of Bath) and his wife and cousin Margaret Feilding. The Feilding family is descended from the House of Habsburg and came to England in the 14th Century. Since then the family has intermarried in the British aristocracy, and is directly descended from two illegitimate children of Charles II of England by his mistresses Barbara Villiers and Moll Davis. She grew up at Beckley Park, a Tudor hunting lodge with three towers and three moats situated on the edge of a fen outside Oxford. The family had no money, so her upbringing was eccentric and isolated.