CAPKIRK

First of all, I have to say that I love the Oprah Radio Channel (XM156).

I especially love the Gayle King show.

But today, I caught an episode of Dr. Oz that I just could not turn off.

Now, typically, health and wellness discussions are not my cup of tea.

This study shows that if you do X, you'll get cancer while another study shows that if you DON'T do X, you'll get cancer. blah blah blahbity blah.

That kind of stuff just bores me to tears.

I'm just going to live my life and hope for the best, thank you very much, with a huge dose of common sense thrown in.

But, on this episode, Dr. Oz was interviewing William Shatner, oh excuse me, just call me Bill, and, like I said, I just could not turn it off.

Dr. Oz's goal was to find out how William Shatner got to where he is today and to explore the Trekkie phenomenon. But instead of Mehmet interviewing Bill, Bill was quickly interviewing Mehmet.

I must say that Bill is a very well spoken and fascinating person to listen to.

Bill and his wife, Elizabeth, were both very interested in alternative medicine (integrated, as Dr. Oz calls it) and the connection between mind and body as it relates to wellness, and they wanted Dr. Oz to tell them how to find a doctor with this same mindset in California.

This reversal of interviewer and interviewee spawned a great discussion, and I learned a lot of very interesting things -

• Surgeons, who many regard as GODS, are a very superstitious group. For example, if Dr. Oz loses a patient, he throws out the clothes he was wearing when it happened, underwear, socks, whatever. Another surgeon wears a pair of "lucky" shoes into surgery. I really hope there's more to it than, luck. I'm just saying.
• Different music is played in the operating room depending on the type of activity being performed. If a saw is being used to cut bone, you want something thumping like Led Zeppelin playing. However, when a very precise suture procedure is being done, you want something soothing like Vivaldi. Makes sense.
• Headphones for patients are worn because they have proven that patients' subconscious is aware of and absorbs sound even though they are asleep from a pain perspective. One of the ways this theory was proven was using the following steps. Before the surgery, the patient is asked, "Tell me what you think of when I say the color black." Nine times out of ten, the patient responds, "White." Then, during surgery, headphones are put on the patient with the following, "Black. Brown. Black. Brown. Black. Brown." Over and over again. A couple of days after surgery, they ask the patient, "Tell me what you think of when I say the color black." The patient ALWAYS responds, "Brown." So, NOW, headphones are worn by patients with phrases like this repeated: "Relax. Trust us. Take deep breaths. Be sure to walk around after surgery. Pay your bills on time." etc. OK, the 'pay your bills on time' might have been a joke Dr. Oz was making, but it does make you wonder if there was some truth to it.
• Modern medicine has only been around for about 100 years. Before this time, there was no formal training. Doctors learned to be doctors by being an apprentice to another doctor, so really, you never knew what you were going to get when you went to a doctor, or when the doctor came to you.

During this interview reversal, Dr. Oz kept saying that they would get back to the original intent of Trekkie talk and what not. But, during the time that I listened, this never really happened.

I just sat in awe of how well-read and eloquent Denny Crane, the Priceline Negotiator, Captain Kirk, er, just call me Bill was in real life, using words like burgeoning and charlatan.

Alas, I could not finish listening to the interview, fascinated as I was. I pulled into an open parking space at work...right next to a car with a vanity plate I had never noticed before.

CAPKIRK

Coincidence? Or just totally bizarre.