Journal Club 2005

The meeting time is 7:00 pm for food and cases. Noah has observed that we either have to start the Journal (ie, end cases) by 8:30 pm or change the name to Cases Club. Late-comers will be requested to save their cases to after Journal Club. If you are the host, bring a view box. If you do not have one, let David know at least one day in advance and he will bring the Jay Hann-VA Viewbox. If you cannot attend, please email the host at least a day in advance, as this helps them to plan the food. If less than 24 hrs, please call.

DATE	HOST	PROPOSED	ACTUAL
Nov 16	Bill Billings	May p. 379	May
Jan 18	Bill Newmeyer	July	July
Feb 15	-	cancelled	-
Mar 15	Monty	September 04	-
Apr 19	Mat	-	-
May 17	Relton	-	finished November 04
June 21	Bob	-	-
July 19	Bob	March 05	finished March 05
Aug 16	Mat	May 05	May
Sept 13	Charlotte	July 05	to p 727
Oct 15	Noah	Wine Weekend	cancelled, yet again
Oct 18	Bill Billings	July 05 p 727	finished July 05
Nov 15	Monty	Sept 05, entire issue!	-

November 15 was ably hosted by Monty Cardon, with a great buffet of Thai food. Monty can continue to be a member of Journal Club, due largely to the delicious chocolate dessert. The wine was delightful. Cases were discussed and the September Journal dispatched (although not enough attention was directed to the distal radius articles <g>). In attendance were Relton, Bill, Noah, Mat, Kendrick, Bob, and David.

October 18 was hosted by Bill Billings, who (in keeping with the current J Club tradition) went all out providing us with a superb meal. Corned beef and cabbage was preceeded by wine and cheese and was followed by a choice of three desserts. The corned beef was the best I have had in my life (no lie, normally I detest the stuff) and not a scrap was left over. The Pinot Noir was excellent, but I did not have a chance to sample the other wines. Doug Chin also brought cookies, from the world renowned bakery, the Arlington Baking Company (http://www.arlingtonbakingcompany.com). We know that they are the best in the world, because Shelley told us, and he should know, since his daughter runs the place (just spoke to her on the phone, very nice person). We had fewer than normal cases to present, so we got the the Journal early and finished off July. The next meeting will be hosted by Monty, covering the September issue. We need to do an issue a month now, due to the amalgamation of the two ASSH journals.

September 13 was hosted by Charlotte. The evening was held a week earlier than usual, due to the ASSH meeting the following week. The attendees included Relton, Kendrick, Doug, Noah, Bob, myself, and Charlotte. Those who arrived on time got to see the twins (all thought they were very cute) and those who arrived late (I must confess I was one) had to be content with the great photograph of them in the dining room. I will try to be earlier next time. The hor d'oeuvres were plentiful and delightful, with cheeses, crackers, sausages, exotic chips, olives, etc. (I had a great time with the hor d'oeuvres.) Dinner was a delightful sliced broiled beef and couscous, with some wonderful wines (Relton and Kendrick can fill in the details here.) We discussed cases and then proceeded to the Journal, with modest progress.

August 16 was an interesting scheduling problem. Originally scheduled to be at Mat's, it bounced over to Relton and then back to Mat, and all in the last 6 hours before J Club. Here is a report by Noah: A crowd of 8 or so assembled at Matts, where we had great hors d'oeuvres, food, and wine, and then we polished off the entire May 05 Journal, with the usual amount of arguing, stories, and digression, and then finshed it off with dessert and cappucinos and espressos from the hired barrista matt brought in especially for the occasion.

July 19 was hosted by Bob, who barbequed his beef to perfection and served it with tabuli with basil and a mixed leaf salad, followed by a berry pastry and cookies for dessert, and a wonderful coffee. Present were Relton, Kendrick, Doug, Monty, Charlotte, Bill, Noah, myself, and Bob. The only missing person was Mat, who had a very late case. We also worked! Cases were debated to a fine point, and at 9:50 pm it was observed that we had not started the Journal. Noah and I were chastized for our laxity. I tried to make up for it by covering all articles in 35 minutes (the best one was about the radius!). Mat was not present and so was assigned to be the next month's host. Noah is willing to do a Wine Weekend, but we must promise not to flake out. The date was set, please mark your calendars. The ASSH is in September, and the 20th is the night before we all leave, so the date was moved to Sept 13. Please mark your calendars. The address/fax/phone list was passed around, updated, and will be distributed at the next meeting.

June 21 Bob and Doug switched, and Journal Club was at Doug's place, overlooking the serene stench of Lake Merritt. (Bob will host in September, although there is some debate as to whether we should even have Journal Club in September, it falling on the day before most of us leave for ASSH in San Antonio.)

Present were: Relton, Kendrick, Bill, Matt, Monty, Charlotte, Bob, and Doug. (David was taking a "hike" in Yosemite.) Lively case discussions on scaphoid nonunions, chronic scapholunate ligament injuries, a rheumatoid hand. Monty had an interesting case of a guy with a grossly positive Watson, dynamic S-L instability, but normal S-L angle, normal S-L gap, and no DISI, and Relton pointed out that this was probably a midcarpal instability problem rather than an S-L problem. Many an interesting case, and we still finished the Journal before 10 pm! Must have been the combination of green curry duck, yellow curry chicken, curry shrimp, pad thai, and (yes) chocolate cake. But the real treat was seeing Charlotte again, who, at nine months postpartum, brought very cute pictures of twin future hand surgeons.

Jan 18 The first meeting of the new year was held at the home of our illustrious emeritus member, Bill Newmeyer. A wonderful meal, headlined by a delicious meatloaf with a burgandy mushroom sauce, was enjoyed by Bob, Matt, Kendrick, Noah, Bill B, and myself. It was great to see Bill N again and to see that he is doing well, as is Bill, Jr (Tucker Barks). The group was also glad to see Bob, who is doing well with recovery from a brachial plexus injury, with improving grip strength and the welcome but painful onset of dysesthesias in his ulnar distribution. Good luck from all of us. Next up: David & September.

Dr. Lee writes: "Dr. Billings for his first hosting raised the bar for food and wine, with a superb display of classic Burgundian cuisine and wines. The menu de jour was plateau de fromage, salade verte, lapin a la moutarde, gratin d'oignon doux, riz basmati, and to finish, gateau au mocha. Mostly Burgundian wines were offered, with a (non Burgundian) minerally 2002 Sancerre Chevrier & Fils, a terroir rich 2000 Chassagne-Montrachet Colin Deleger, a firm robust 1988 Nuits St. George Robt Chevillon, and a wonderfully seductive warmly spicy 1986 Chambolle Musigny Domaine Bertheau." But did you read the Journal? Dr. Lee continues: "We finished the May 2004 issue of the J. Hand Surgery in moderately efficient fashion. Not a lot of exciting articles after page 379."

Doug Chin hosted October, providing a great Thai meal and a killer chocolate cake. He is a keeper! We had a great time, but without a viewbox or Noah to flog us, we only got to page 379. We need to stick to our knitting or we will change the name to Cases Club. New assignments for hosting were decided, so please note: Bill Billings, who lives in Walnut Creek, will host. Bill will send out instructions, but please note that it will take a bit longer to get there.

AAOS Annual Meeting February 23-27, 2005
Bay Area Hand Club