Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here

Im moving! Im going to my new apartment tomorrow :) Im happy about it cause I wont travel 150km every single day anymore... It was really hard....
Its a huge apartment with three bedrooms and its for me only :D Great apartment for parties lol ^^
So its kinda good news, but on the other hand Im sad cause Ill miss my mom like crazy :'( And she'll be alone here....
And this also means that I wont be online on buzznet and on msn also that much because I wont have internet there.... So Ill be online when I come home... I hope you will miss me :) Ill miss you thats for sure :)
So, take care sweethearts :)
xxx -Ana

•You have 17 consonants and 2 vowels in your last name

•YOUR 15 YEAR OLD SISTER CAN OUTDRINK ANY AMERIKANAC

•Your father calls you a "dummy" for not knowing how to do something he can't either.

•Your father expects you to study or "hit da books" every waking hour that he's home, and he expects nothing less than an "A".

•A cold shiver runs down your spine when your mom threatens by using the word "tata" in a sentence.

•YOUR DEDA CUTS THE GRASS WITH KNEE HIGH BLACK SICKS AND SLIPPERS

•Your Baba calls all cereal "Corn Flakes".

•You can hear your dad snoring from across the street.

•There's at least one relative that your family refuses to talk to.

•You had to break off a tree branch from your back yard, so your dad could whoop your ass with it.

•When you make jokes based on your own tragedy

•YOUR CHURCH HAS A FULLY LOADED BAR

•You don't want to have or do any business with Serbs.

•You have a Serbian cross, flag, or icon, hanging from your rear view mirror

•Your uncle makes his own wine that is stronger than rakija

•There is a baba hotline 1-800-CALL-BABA

•Your mother insists that "promaja" will kill you

•Rakija is used to cure all illnesses, celebrate all occasions and as a massage lotion

•At your birthdays everyone is singing "Happy brzday tu u"

• WHEN YOUR FRIENDS CAN'T BELIEVE YOU GOT DRUNK AT A CHURCH FUNCTION

•Your parents pronounce three, thirteen and thirty three as tri, tirteen, and tirty tree.

•When your parents constantly say you'll end up a nobody if you don't graduate from University

•When you have to reassure your Mother that her cooking is the best

•Whenever you went by Baba's house, she offered you supa, sarma, pecenje or kolace and got mad if you didn't eat EVERYTHING.

• YOU ARE AT A ZABAVA AND GUYS TRY TO PICK YOU UP WITH THE LINE "HEY BABY, WHAT'S YOUR SLAVA?"

•Your American friends will never understand why you spend so much time at church events and you are the farthest thing from holy that there is

•You live for the annual Folkfest and/or Soccer Tournament

•Whenever you kiss somebody, you kiss them 3 times.

•When you are told that you'll grow a tail if you drink coffee at a young age

•You are freaked out by 'Babaroga'

•Your tata pronounces "oops" as "ups."

•You hear the word "BATINE" and you cringe or go into convulsions

•You have opanke hanging from your rear view mirror

•The first conversation you had as a baby used the words "jebi ga"

•You cant imagine hearing a song without the obligatory "harmonikas solo"

•Everyone is sure that you're Italian or Greek

•No one has ever pronounced your last name right, and every kid on the block has a nickname for it

•WHEN YOUR BABA TELLS YOU THAT YOUR DEDA IS PERFECT BUT DON'T ASK HIM ANYTHING

•WHEN THE BABA GRAPEVINE TRAVELS FASTER THAN THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY ALERT

•You know at least 20 Tool and Die Makers or Machinists or you are one yourself.

•Your Dad tells you "kad sam ja bio u tvoje godine...."

•You go to church 2 times a year... Bozic and Uskrs

•When you say you're hungry, and then go buy pack of smokes

•When your baba chases you down the street with her cipela...

•When your tata is talking to you and every other word he calls you is budala...

•You have a shot of rakija followed by a crna kafa and a pack of Malboro's for breakfast.

•WHEN YOUR TATA TELLS YOU A NARODNA POSLOVICA FOR EVERY SINGLE WRONG THING YOU DO AND YOU THINK HE MADE THEM ALL UP JUST TO PROVE A POINT.

•When there are more fights at a wedding than a championship match

•When you write on your history exam that Nikola Tesla is the father of electricity not Thomas Edison and you teacher fails you.

•You get scared when your dad sneezes

•When your parents will only go to the doctor if they are passed out on the floor or have severed a limb

•When the first thing you do when you walk into a friends house, is take off your shoes, kiss their mom, and shake their dad's hand

•When your friends' parents talk to you like they're YOUR PARENTS too.

•When your father says "samo ako te zgrabim ja"

•THE WORD "SRAMOTA!" WILL DETER YOU FROM ANYTHING

•Every one of your relatives from the old country that immigrates to the the US is an engineer

•Cevapcici on the grill are better than steak any day

•All Middle Easterners are "Turci"

•YOUR GROWN UNCLE GETS A "BATINE" FROM YOUR BABA AND YOU DON'T THINK TWICE ABOUT IT

•A week after Slava, Bozic, and Easter you are still eating sarma

•You can dance a kolo to anything, including Serbian rock

•You read this list to your mama and tata and all they have to say in their defense is "IC NAT TRU!!!"

•When you've been called djubre at least once in your life

•You have a gold chain with a 'pravoslavni krst' on it

•WHEN YOU SAY BITCH INSTEAD OF BEACH AND BEACH INSTEAD OF BITCH

•You know you're a Serb when you sing "DJURDJEVDAN" at all serbian parties

•YOUR DAD TELLS YOU "DIS IS THE TURD TIME I AM TELLING YOU DIS" AND YOU ARE AFRAID TO LAUGH

•You have no idea why the other girls in second grade are so upset when you tell them you eat lamb

•You have a doily covering your DVD, VCR, printer, scanner

•When you say your last name first and prefer last names that ends in "ic"

•You know you're Serbian when all you have to do is sniffle and your parents (almost gladly) say, "Uh- huh" and start yelling at you for getting sick

•When people still think you are from Siberia no matter how many times you tell them Serbia

•When you watch a movie and wait to the end to see if there are any jugovic in the credits

•YOUR FAVOURITE PHRASE IS "NEMA PROBLEMA"

•When you can actually pronounce the "g" in jagnje

•When your Deda always says "Dodji Dedi"

•Your dad calls your friend Sarah > sera, and your friend Jose > koza

•Your parents tell you that "gurlz" love guys that can dance a good kolo

•Baba says "palachinki" and everyone heads for the table

•When your tata does a running commentary through a movie and he thinks he knows everything that's going to happen even though he has never seen the movie

•When you actually know what it means when Peja Stojakovic holds up three fingers

•Your tata yells at you "budala, neznas nista!" when you tell him that the crowd isn't yelling "DIVAC", they are actually yelling "Defense" during the Sacramento Kings game regardless if they are home or away (HAHA)

•When you call Santa "Deda Mraze"

•Upon meeting another Serb, one of your first questions is, "What church do You go to?"

•You've convinced all your friends that Bon Jovi's name is actually Bojan Jovic

•You can make a public announcement by telling just one Serb friend something in confidence.

•As a child, the babas at your church caused you permanent brain damage from asphyxiation by pressing your face into their ample boobs while shouting, "o joj, zlato!" over and over again

•When TATA goes to any professional and says STA ON ZNA, NEMA POJMA

•You know you're a Serb when your parents yell "kakva je ta skola" when you cannot complete their tax returns while you're in the third grade.

•You tell your friends that you love sipak (rosehip) jam and they have no idea what it is

• ur baba still asks 'koliko je to maraka' even if the currency isnt valid since 8 years now.

•u have been on the PIACA at least once in ur life and ure actually scared of the babas selling their SARGAREPE and LUK...

•ur mum says for the 100th time: SINE, UTRPAJ TU MAJICU, OTICE TI BUBREZI..

Ive been tagged by Triinu and Denica

The Rules:


1. List 8 facts... only 8
2. You must then name list of 8 TAGS at the end of the post. This means you must name 8 people on Buzznet who now have to post the same type of blog (journal entry), you can't tag people who have already been tagged.
3. Leave them a note on their page asking them to read your journal.

The Facts:


1. I hate doctors and I want to become one sooo badly (it may sound silly but I dont think anyone likes to go to doctors).
2. I LOVE ANATOMY!
3. I love sleeping.
4. I love my uncles and aunts except for one cause she is mean.
5. I love my friends.
6. I open up to ppl very fast and I always get hurt.
7. I like to draw (but I dont have time for that anymore).
8. I love playing guitar, it makes my day.

I tag:
 sweetrazorblade, anneloek, denica, bittersweet6, lisa1291, tatianaf, kirsikka, razorbladechris

I don't know about you, but I am worried. I am worried because of the things that are happening in world, well Europe to be specific.... The WEATHER is killing us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is so unbelieveabley hot!!!!!!!!!! Here where I live its like 35-40 degrees (Celsius) every single day!! We are melting here!!! And I saw in the news few mins ago that in Italy it is awful also! So hot! TOO HOT!! And on the other side in some countries (I think Romania) there are floods all around... I just feel sorry for those ppl.... we need rain here and its not stopping raining over there... Lots of homes are ruined... And lots of ppl have died from this heat....
I just felt the need to write something about this.... It just sucks....
What do you think about all this?

Hei everyone! I just wanted to let you all know that today is my buzznet birthday ^^ Im only one year old here lol :)

Im happy that Ive joined buzz cause I met a lot of great ppl and some of them are my very very good friends. Thank you guys!!!!

xxx

-Ana

Andy Warhol was born on September 28, 1930 (?),  in Forest City, Pennsylvania, the son of Czechoslovakian immigrants Andrei Warhola and Julia Zavacky Warhola.  Andy grew up in a depressing environment, a Philadelphia neighborhood plagued by poverty and crime.  Andy, the youngest of three sons, was a very shy child who was picked on by bullies at school.  He was afflicted by Sydenham's Chorea, a rare childhood disorder which is characterized by irregular movements, some varying degrees of psychical disturbance, stemming from acute rheumatic fever., so he spent much time in his mothers care, forming a bond with her that would last for many years to come.  Later on, Andy's parents were able to afford moving to a better place, so they settled in Oak Land.  Andy spent most of his time with his mother and girl friends,  going to the movies with best friend Margie Girman, with whom he collected autographed photos of stars which were handed out following screenings at the local theater; it was around that time that he developed a passion for drawing, and many of the photos he had collected were later used in the creation of his famous prints.

Andy also spent much time with his mother, and was known by many of the neighborhood kids as a "mamma's boy".  Of course, he was also picked on by kids at school, as it is with any shy withdrawn artistic child.  Although he showed incredible talent at school, he did not partake in any of its artistic clubs or activities because of the fact that he was too shy, and his abilities also superior to the other students'.  In his senior year of high-school, the nightmare soon to be over, Andy applied to both the University of Pittsburgh and the Carnegie Institute of Technology, which is now known as now Carnegie Melon University.  He was accepted to both but ultimately chose to attend Carnegie Tech.  Although he was a gifted artist, Andy did not do well at Carnegie Tech; he found it difficult to deal with the competitive attitudes of the school and its students, and also had a hard time fitting in, even though he was surrounded by others with whom he had much in common.  Andy failed his courses, but since his worked showed true talent, his teachers made him sign up for summer school in order to take remedial classes so he could apply for readmission in the fall..   He was later readmitted to Carnegie Tech based on an impressive collection of sketches he had done during the summer,  his drawings were put on display.  and he awarded the forty-dollar Leisser Prize for his work.

With graduation on the horizon, Andy had to decide whether he would he would remain close to his mother and take a teaching job, or move away.  After graduation, and much to his mother's chagrin, he decided to go to New York city, where he moved in with a friend and soon found work as a commercial illustrator, creating artwork for magazines such as Vogue and Harper's Bazaar.   Still, Andy wasn't yet a complete success, and he lived through some lean times, moving from one dilapidated apartment to the next.   Andy Warhol was rapidly gaining a solid reputation as a reliable artist with a good work ethic, no doubt based on the fact that he would often burn the midnight oil to present clients with multiple versions for each assignment.  Aside from magazine illustrations, he also designed store displays, and greeting cards.

Andy's mother missed her son, and decided to move to New York in order to be closer to him.  It was around that time that he changed his name from Warhola to Warhol, and began wearing his now trademark silver-haired wig.  Andy was soon ready to have his first major showing;  his  "15 Drawings Based on the Writings of Truman Capote", opened at the Hugo Gallery in New York, and the exhibit was a great success, and the struggling artist would not only earn more praise, but also gain substantial profits from selling his pieces.  A few years later, he was also part of an exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art, where he gained more respect from the critics.  Influenced by his work as a commercial illustrator, Andy began creating series of works based on common brand name items such as Campbell Soup Cans and Coke bottles.  Andy soon moved into a larger studio loft, which would later be known as "The Factory".  Soon thereafter, he created a series of silk-screen images based of the many photographs of pop culture icons he had collected as a teen.

The Factory attracted many of New York's artistic misfits and elite.  It seemed everyone from socialites,  models, filmmakers, and starlets such as Edie Sedgwick were becoming part of the scene.  It was then that Andy Warhol met many of his frequent collaborators such as art film director Paul Morrissey, who used The Factory as a studio.  It was during those years that Andy Warhol created his best work, dabbling in almost every medium that could be explored, including film.  Andy did not only create pop art based on commercial products and cultural icons, he also experimented with his darker side, in a series called "Death and Disaster".  These works did not appeal to his regular fans, and the experiment was soon shelved, only to be revisited during the 1980s.  The next thing he did following the "Death and Disaster"  series was a simple painting based on poppies.  The piece was a success, and Warhol had regained the admiration of his fans.  The factory wasn't just a studio and hangout, it was also an opportunity for up-and-comers and wannabes to try and find success through Andy's generous. was also where he helped up and coming artists find success.  Artists such as Valerie Solanas, a Factory groupie turned feminist radical and founder of SCUM (The Society for Cutting Up Men). 

In June of 1968, the troubled young Valerie Solanas entered the factory and shot Andy Warhol at close range, nearly killing him.  Upon her arrest, she offered the following explanation for her act; "He had too much control over my life!".  Andy spent two months in the hospital, but he never fully recovered from the gunshot, and had to wear a bandage around his severely damaged torso for the rest of his life.  While the incident was perhaps the most traumatic event in Andy Warhol's life, his return to the art scene was no less than triumphant.  Andy Warhol had become a pop culture icons himself, as great as those he so often portrayed in his work.  He kept helping struggling young artists such as the gifted Jean-Michel Basquiat, whom he tried to "clean up" and get off drugs.  From the late 70s through 80s, Andy published Andy Warhol's Interview magazine, which redefined the periodical as a work of art; from it's beautiful cover paintings of celebrities to its avant-garde photo layouts, Interview was THE magazine to have on your coffee table if you were in tune with popular culture.  Andy also had his own cable TV show called "Andy Warhol's Television", and he also wrote several books such as The Philosophy of Andy Warhol: From A to B and Back Again, and A: A Novel.

Andy also decide to continue his Death and Disaster series, which may not have been his most appealing work with the trendy elite, but to this day remains one of his most admired critical successes.  In 1986, during one of his private showings in Milan, Andy found himself in too much pain to leave his hotel room; while he understood there was something really wrong with him, he refused to go to the hospital until one night, the pain returned and he decided to see a doctor.  Andy was suffering from and acute gall bladder infection, and had to undergo surgery.  He locked his valuables in a safe, and made his way to the hospital for what would be a routine procedure, but even though the operation was a success, Andy Warhol died on the morning of February 22nd, 1987. 

Andy Warhol was one of the most important artists of the late 20th century, having made an incredible contribution to the art world, and popular culture.  He constantly managed to break barriers while retaining the respect of critics and fans alike, although we're quite certain he did not consider their opinion a factor during the process of creation.  Andy Warhol was also a paradox of the New York art scene, unpretentious, shy, yet visible, making the scene without really giving it that much importance.   A publicly private man loved by all, and who's generosity was no doubt appreciated by the many artists who owe him their careers.

Frida Kahlo, was born on July 6th, 1907, in Coyoacàn, a part of Mexico City, one of four daughters to Matilde Calderón and Guillermo Kahlo.  However, Frida often claimed to have been born in 1910, the year of the Mexican Revolution.  Frida was of both European, and Mexican heritage.  Frida's entire life was plagued with suffering,  Stricken with  Polio at the age of six, one of her legs would remain smaller than the other, which of course attracted stares and teasing from other children.  The young Frida, already showing incredible strength of character, decided she was going to be a doctor, which at the time, was not a common profession for women.  But  it was at the age of fifteen that her life-altering tragic accident occurred.  In 1925, as she was returning home from school,  a tram crashed into her bus. She was found barely alive, covered in gold dust, and with a handrail stuck through her body; her spine and pelvis were broken, and so were her right leg, and foot.

It was while recovering from her extensive injuries in the hospital that Frida began to paint.  Although Frida's family sacrificed almost all they had in order to get her the best available care, but she never fully recovered, and was forced to used braces and custom made corsets in order to be able to just walk and stand.  Frida's parents even had a special easel custom made to accommodate her condition.  Frida gave up on becoming a doctor, and decided to continue painting.  Her accident had not only changed the course of her life, it would also prove to be a main source of inspiration for her work, which was mostly comprised of sometimes disturbing self-portraits,  images of death, and suffering.

In 1929, the 22 year-old Frida marries the 43 year old Diego Rivera, a famous painter of murals who would soon thereafter become her husband.  The two were drawn together on many levels, first off, was art, then Communism, and also their interest in traditional Mexican Indian culture.  The two were part of the Communist party for a short while, but they were ousted because of Diego's opposition to Joseph Stalin's crackdown on Trotsky's Left Opposition.  Although the couple did share intense passion, Frida had been left barren by her accident, so they never had children;  this was also a central theme in her work, and in some of her self-portraits, Frida would include her pet spider monkey as a surrogate child,  looking  like the infant Christ of Religious icons.  Many of her paintings were also quite bloody, and included internal organs shown on the outside, again, comparisons to images of Christ and the "Sacred Heart" can be made, but we would greatly be wrong to think her work was the product of a self-centered individual.

When she wasn't too occupied with her involvement in politics and intellectual discussion groups,  Frida also spent time teaching at La Esmeralda art school.  Although Rivera had been instrumental in her success, he considered her an equal, and although he was often unfaithful to Frida, he was never disloyal.  Rivera had mistresses, and Frida had lovers, including some women, and Marxist writer Leon Trotsky, whom the couple had gracefully welcome into their home, offering asylum during dangerous times.  Frida and Diego divorced in 1939, but they remarried in 1940, realizing their passion was stronger than their physical needs, and that their relationship could work if they tried to control their temperaments.

In addition to Diego's admiration, Frida also impressed artists and critics worldwide.  French surrealist André Breton played a major part in bringing her work to the attention of Americans.  Although she appreciated Breton's respect, she was quick to deny claims that she was part of the surrealist movement, simply stating, "I never painted my dreams. I painted my own reality."   Frida's reality was a reality of passion,  and of suffering.  In 1953, Frida's leg was amputated, shortly thereafter, on July 13, 1954, at the age of 47, she died in her sleep, apparently from an embolism.  There is a fair bit of speculation that she took her own life, escaping the pain of her existence.  Frida Kahlo was the first Latin-American woman to sell a painting for a million dollars, and her popularity seems to grow with each passing year; from endorsements by popular artists such as Madonna, to a critically acclaimed bio-pic starring acclaimed actors Salma Hayek, and Alfred Molina.

Pablo Picasso was born in Malaga, Spain, to artist and teacher Jose Ruiz Blasco, and his wife Maria Picasso.  A decade later, young Pablo Picasso learned how to paint from his father, who had been appointed teacher at the Da Guarda art school in La Coruna.  

Later, when his father was appointed teacher to the La Lonja academy in Barcelona, and just a year later, Pablo was admitted to the drawing class of the academy after having shown tremendous aptitude.

Pablo Picasso the n took a trip to France where he discovered the work of master artist Toulouse Lautrec, perhaps it was Lautrec's fascination with the female form, and with street walkers in particular that influenced Picasso to paint Les Demoiselles d'Avignon", the piece which brought on his first big break.  

1900 to 1907, saw Picasso's Blue and Rose Periods, and it was within this timeframe that the artist was fascinated by the dregs of society, he would focus on painting images of prostitutes,  the poor, the unfortunate, and the street urchins.

He was working very hard during this time, illustrating magazines, and having his work shown in galleris such as Berthe Weill's, in Paris.  It was also then that he met Guillaume Apollinaire, Leo and Gertrude Stein, and Henri Matisse, who was to become Picasso's long time friend.

Shortly after that, Picasso started the Cubist movement with fellow artists Georges Braque and Joan Miro.  Cubism is best defined as the exact reproduction of an image as seen from different angles simultaneously.  What made Picassos' cubist paintings is the amount of human emotion he would maintain within the multi-faceted figures.

Pablo Picasso had many women in his life, from Fernande Olivier, and Eva Gouel, to  Olga Koklova, a Russian ballerina whom he had met around the same time he met composer Igor Stravinsky.  Olga gave birth to a son, Paul; but Pablo left her shortly afterwards, and fathered a daughter, Maia, with Marie-Thérese Walter, who had also been his model, and was now his muse and mistress.  Marie-Thérèse was also the mother of  his son Claude, and  his daughter Paloma.

Other Important women in Picasso's life include Dora Maar, Francoise Gilot, Jacqueline Rocque, whom he married at the age of 80.

One of Picasso's least endearing traits was his treatment of women.  Perhaps the result of a life-long search for a soul mate, and his disillusionment at never being able to find a true friend. Picasso himself was quoted as saying: "I have had no true friends, only lovers."

During his exploration of Cubism, he created one of his most famous paintings, that of La Guernica.  Like Salvador Dali's Soft Construction with Boiled Beans: Premonition of Civil War, La Guernica was a reaction to the horrors of the Spanish Civil War.  There are several hidden images and symbols in the painting, from the mythological Minotaur to a hidden Devil head, all painted in drab earth tones.

Picasso did not only paint, he also transposed the concepts of Cubism to metal sculptures, and did set design for one of Igor Stravinsky's premiere performances, and sets and costumes for one of Eric Satie's.  He also did sets for Jean Cocteau's play Antigone.  He even wrote plays himself.

Pablo Picasso died at the age of 92, on April 8th, 1973 in his house of Notre-Dame de Vie.

Pablo Picasso was one of the most influential artists of the 20th century, his maverick attitude, although sometimes hindered by his violent temperament made him succeed at becoming one of the most valued and sought after, yet misunderstood artists. 

"Art is a lie that helps us to realize the truth."
Pablo Picasso

Vincent van Gogh was born on March 30th, 1853 to Theodorus van Gogh, and Anna Cornelia Carbentus, in Zundert, a village in Brabant, in the Netherlands.  It is important to note that Vincent's brother Theo was born four years later, as  he would become a prominent figure in Vincent's life.

Vincent's first exposure to the art world was when he worked at the Hague gallery of the French art dealers Goupil & Co., which had been established by his uncle Vincent.  His brother Theo later worked for the same company.  After working for the art dealers, Vincent took the job of assistant teacher, and preacher in a boarding school in England, but this was short lived and his obsession with evangelical Christianity made him want to become a clergyman like his father, so he tried to enroll in a theology school, but was refused admittance.

Vincent later enrolled in a  missionary school in Belgium, determined to help those in need, and preach to the poor.  He preached and lived amongst the miners in southern Belgium, but his fanatical attitude, and pious lifestyle were such that the church did not renew his appointment fro the following year.  After much though and meditation on the subject, Vincent decided to become an artist, feeling this was his last recourse at doing God's work.

Penniless, Vincent worked independently as an artist in Brussels, while his brother Theo supported him by sending him money.  van Gogh later returned to the Hague to take painting lessons from his cousin Anton Mauve.  His talents soon emerged, and in very little time, he had developed his own unique style.

van Gogh's bold use of color, and composition were first made evident in a series of  paintings of the Hague, commissioned by his uncle Cornelis.  van Gogh's fascination with the poor, and the working class were the subject of many of his early works, the first, a series he painted while Drenthe, in the northeastern Netherlands, followed by a series of 40 portraits he painted.

Theo, who had been helping his brother survive lean months, was also helping him sell his paintings, albeit at a turtle's pace; this distressed Vincent, and led to conflicts between the two of them.   Later, shortly after his father's passing, van Gogh finished his first masterwork, The Potato Eaters; he later left the Netherlands, and returned to Belgium, settling in the town of Antwerp. This was a wise move for van Gogh, who was able to find models, supplies, and ideas for his work.

He enrolled at the École des Beaux-Arts in Antwerp, but quit after two months due to the stifling atmosphere of the school, and their antiquated concepts.  van Gogh had finally become the artist's artist. 

He later moved in with his brother in Montmartre, France, where he discovered the works of Monet and other French Impressionists, and met with Gauguin, and Henri deToulouse Lautrec,  this would be the turning point in van Gogh's career, as he enrolled in the highly praised Fernand Cormon workshop where he learned to use light and color in novel ways.

Vincent's style was greatly updated during his sojourn in Paris, where the influence of his contemporaries had an effect on his brush work, and subject matter; but he would also experiment with pointillism, a stilt in which thousands of primary colored dots are painted closely together to form the illusion of secondary colors.  

While he wanted to continue painting portraits, van Gogh could not afford the use of models, so he purchased a mirror and went to work on a series of self-portraits.

When van Gogh and Gauguin both left Paris in 1888, seeking new sources of inspiration, Gauguin moved to Brittany, while van Gogh moved to Arles, in the south of France, seeking a brighter landscape.  It was there that he established the Studio of the South, and invited Gauguin to join him, there, it was at that time that the two exchanged self-portraits; each would paint a self portrait to have it "evaluated" by the other, in a friendly competition of sorts.

While waiting for Gauguin, Vincent paints a series of still life sunflowers to decorate his friend's future room, which would later become the images for which he would be best remembered.

Things were going well for Vincent until he became ill with a debilitating type of epilepsy that would manifest itself in a series of psychotic attacks, and left him in a deluded state.  He would shortly thereafter institutionalize himself after having cut off part of his left ear.

While in the St-Remy institution, van Gogh painted numerous works such as Starry Night, and when he was well enough, he would get to work outside the walls of the asylum, sitting in the field.  But he would never recover, and at some point he even tried to commit suicide by swallowing paint.

Later, feeling like a failure, van Gogh shot himself in the chest.  He died on July 29th, 1890, two days after from the self-inflicted wound.  He was 37.  His brother Theo died 6 months later.

"As a suffering creature, I cannot do without something greater than I -- something that is my life -- the power to create."
Vincent Van Gogh

Rembrandt van Rijn was born on July 15, 1606, in Leiden, the Netherlands.  His father was a Miller who wanted his son to get an education and achieve professional success, so Rembrandt was sent to the University of Leiden, where he studied science and anatomy; it was there he gained the knowledge of the human anatomy which would serve him during his artist's career.  Rembrandt wanted to paint more than anything else, so he left University to study painting under Jacob I. van Swanenburch, learning about Italian Renaissance artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, and Michelangelo Buonarroti, but he was influenced by the work of Michelangelo Merisi Caravaggio, a revolutionary artist known for his unorthodox use of lighting, and the disturbingly erotic manner in he presented his subjects, even biblical figures.

A while later, Rembrandt studied under Pieter Lastman in Amsterdam, who taught him the chiaroscuro (light and darkness) technique.   Shortly thereafter, Rembrandt returns to Leiden to set up his own studio, beginning work on a series of self-portraits.  What sets Rembrandt's style apart from that of Lastman's is his composition; like in the works of Caravaggio, Rembrandt's background composition remains dark, while his subject is illuminated in a manner which makes the image appear nearly three dimensional.

Shortly after the death of his father in 1930, Rembrandt moved to Amsterdam.  His reputation as a portraitist had grown, and he was now being commissioned to create portraits for individuals, and groups;  it was such a commission from a well known physician that had brought him there in the first place; The Anatomy Lesson of Dr Nicolas Tulp was to become one of the most important paintings in Rembrandt's career, showing the artist's revolutionary vision and mastery of lighting; while most group paintings of the era featured individuals sitting, or standing in line, Rembrandt's painting offered a narrative, as if a photograph had been taken while its subjects were involved in the action of a moment.  Needless to say, the painting cause quite a stir, but in this case a positive one, as Rembrandt's patrons were very impressed with his work.

Rembrandt was now an established artist.  In 1634, Rembrandt became a member of the Guild of St. Luke, a position which gained him more work, and the money he received from his various commissions for portraits and religious paintings allowed him to live the life of a wealthy man. he met the woman who was to be the love of his life,  Saskia van Uylenburgh, who was the daughter of the burgomaster of Leeuwarden in Friesland.  The two were married, and moved into their new home on the Nieuwe Doelenstraat, hoping to start a family.  Saskia also modeled for several of Rembrandt's paintings, and the way in which he portrayed her always echoed the love in his heart. 

In February of 1636, the couple's first born child, Rombartus, who was only a few weeks old, died.  The tragedy had a profound effect on Rembrandt, and while he and his wife were still very much in love, there were other troubles, such as many disputes between Saskia and her relatives over financial matters.  Two years later, the couple's newborn daughter Cornelia also dies, merely two weeks old.  Another two years pass, and another daughter is born, she too, suffers the same fate as the other children.  In 1641, Saskia gives birth to a son, Titus, who survives.  But in a cruel twist of fate, it is Saskia herself who dies in 1642, leaving Rembrandt in a hopelessly depressed state.  Rembrandt's life, like his art, is also fraught with contrast; for every bright moment, there seems to be an equally dark opposite, as if the artist were cursed into never living in peace.  It was also in 1942 that Rembrandt painted the most important work of his career, The Company of F.B. Cocq, or The Night Watch, as it is more widely known.

The Night Watch, which had been commissioned by F.B. Coq,  is not well received at all because it is too unconventional, and this only serves to add to Rembrandt's despair.  In need of a nurse to take care of his son, he hires  Geertge Dircx, who at first helps him take care of the household and his son, but who later stirs trouble when constant quarreling and jealousies arise following the hiring of a second woman, Hendrickje Stoffels, whom he falls in love with and plans to marry.  Dircx even took Rembrandt to court, on the grounds that he had promised to marry her, but Hendrickje testifies, and Geertge Dircx is sent to prison for her attempt at defrauding the court.  Stoffels later became Rembrandt's common-law wife, giving birth to their daughter Cornelia, which in light of all recent events signaled the advent of better days.

Over the years, Rembrandt had become accustomed to living comfortably, if not beyond his means, and the debts had been piling up.  Having become a teacher to supplement the household income did not help, and there were fewer requests for his work.  In 1556, Rembrandt is forced to obtain a 'Cessio Bonorum' from the High Court which allows him to declare bankruptcy, while maintaining his honor.  In order to make ends meet, Rembrandt has to sell many of his paintings, some furniture, until eventually, even the house is auctioned off.   In  1658, the family move to a smaller home where Hendrickje and Titus decide to protect Rembrandt's remaining and future canvasses from the creditors by starting their own art dealership, for which Rembrandt is only an employee, therefore not owning the works produced while in the company's service.

In 1663,  Hendrickje Stoffels dies. Rembrandt, who is no stranger to tragedy and hardship, continues painting.  The self portraits he creates during this dark period in his life only serve to remind us of the sadness and desperation in his heart.  Perhaps he wished to transfer his chagrin onto the canvases, as a form of exorcism; or are the portraits only a mirror held up by a man trying to look into his own soul for answers?

A decade later, Rembrandt's son Titus, who is now married and living with Magdalena van Loo, but he dies of plague six months later, bringing more sadness and grief to his father, who will have outlived most of his children.  Rembrandt spends some time living with his daughter-in-law, and becomes the godfather of his granddaughter Titia.  Rembrandt goes on painting, remaining as prolific as ever until his own death, on October 4th, 1669.

During his career, Rembrandt had been an artist and teacher, he had painted over 50 self-portraits, and a vast number of landscapes and portraits.  Historians estimate there are as many as 600 of them in collections around the world.  In additoin to his paintings, he has left us with thousands of etchings, and drawings.  Rembrandt is viewed by many as one of the most influential artists in history, a man who was a master of shadows and light, and whose gift for rendering the soul within his subjects could never be surpassed.

Mitral valve prolapse (MVP) is a heart valve condition marked by the displacement of an abnormally thickened mitral valve leaflet into the left atrium during systole. In its nonclassic form, MVP carries a low risk of complications. In severe cases of classic MVP, complications include mitral regurgitation, infective endocarditis, and — in rare circumstances — cardiac arrest usually resulting in sudden death.

The mitral valve, so named because of its resemblance to a bishop's miter, is the heart valve that prevents the backflow of blood from the left ventricle into the left atrium. It is composed of two leaflets (one anterior, one posterior) that close when the left ventricle contracts.

Each leaflet is composed of three layers of tissue: the atrialis, fibrosa, and spongiosa. Patients with classic mitral valve prolapse have excess connective tissue that thickens the spongiosa and separates collagen bundles in the fibrosa. This is due to an excess of dermatan sulfate, a glycosaminoglycan. This weakens the leaflets and adjacent tissue, resulting in increased leaflet area and elongation of the chordae tendineae. Elongation of the chordae often causes rupture, and is commonly found in the chordae tendineae attached to the posterior leaflet. Advanced lesions — also commonly involving the posterior leaflet — lead to leaflet folding, inversion, and displacement toward the left atrium.

History

The term mitral valve prolapse was coined by J. Michael Criley in 1966 and gained acceptance over the other descriptor of "billowing" of the mitral valve (as described by Dr. Barlow).

For many years, mitral valve prolapse was a poorly understood anomaly associated with a wide variety of both related and seemingly unrelated signs and symptoms, including late systolic murmurs, inexplicable panic attacks, and polythelia (extra nipples). Recent studies suggest that these symptoms were incorrectly linked to MVP because the disorder was simply over-diagnosed at the time. Continuously-evolving criteria for diagnosis of MVP with echocardiography made proper diagnosis difficult, and hence many subjects without MVP were included in studies of the disorder and its prevalence. In fact, some modern studies report that as many as 55% of the population would be diagnosed with MVP if older, less reliable methods of MVP diagnosis—notably M-mode echocardiography—were used today.

In recent years, new criteria have been proposed as an objective measure for diagnosis of MVP using more reliable two- and three-dimensional echocardiography. The disorder has also been classified into a number of subtypes with respect to these criteria.

Diagnosis of mitral valve prolapse is based on modern echocardiographic techniques which can pinpoint abnormal leaflet thickening and other related pathology.

Prolapsed mitral valves are classified into several subtypes, based on leaflet thickness, concavity, and type of connection to the mitral annulus. Subtypes can be described as classic, nonclassic, symmetric, asymmetric, flail, or non-flail.

Classic versus nonclassic

Prolapse occurs when the mitral valve leaflets are displaced more than 2 mm above the mitral annulus high points. The condition can be further divided into classic and nonclassic subtypes based on the thickness of the mitral valve leaflets: up to 5 mm is considered nonclassic, while anything beyond 5 mm is considered classic MVP.

Symmetric versus asymmetric

Classical prolapse may be subdivided into symmetric and asymmetric, referring to the point at which leaflet tips join the mitral annulus. In symmetric coaptation, leaflet tips meet at a common point on the annulus. Asymmetric coaptation is marked by one leaflet displaced toward the atrium with respect to the other. Patients with asymmetric prolapse are prone to severe deterioration of the mitral valve, with the possible rupture of the chordae tendineae and the development of a flail leaflet.

Flail versus non-flail

Asymmetric prolapse is further subdivided into flail and non-flail. Flail prolapse occurs when a leaflet tip turns outward, becoming concave toward the left atrium, causing the deterioration of the mitral valve. The severity of flail leaflet varies, ranging from tip eversion to chordal rupture. Dissociation of leaflet and chordae tendineae provides for unrestricted motion of the leaflet (hence "flail leaflet"). Thus patients with flail leaflets have a higher prevalence of mitral regurgitation than those with the non-flail subtype.

Signs and symptoms

Some patients with MVP experience heart palpitations, atrial fibrillation, or syncope, though the prevalence of these symptoms does not differ significantly from the general population. Between 11 and 15% of patients experience moderate chest pain and shortness of breath. These symptoms are most likely not caused directly by the prolapsing mitral valve, but rather by the mitral regurgitation that often results from prolapse.

For unknown reasons, MVP patients tend to have a low body mass index (BMI) and are typically leaner than individuals without MVP. MVP is a frequent occurrence in individuals with the Marfan syndrome. Other features associated with MVP include Pectus excavatum, scoliosis, greater armspan than height, fatigue, and unusual joint flexibility.

Auscultation

Upon auscultation of an individual with mitral valve prolapse, a mid-systolic click, followed by a late systolic murmur heard best at the apex is common.

Complications

Mitral regurgitation

Most cases of mitral valve prolapse are associated with mild mitral regurgitation, where blood aberrantly flows from the left ventricle into the left atrium during systole. Approximately 7% of classic MVP patients experience severe regurgitation, often due to chordae tendineae rupture.

Sudden death

Severe mitral valve prolapse is associated with arrhythmias and atrial fibrillation that may progress and lead to sudden death. As there is no evidence that a prolapsed valve itself contributes to such arrythmias, these complications are more likely due to mitral regurgitation and congestive heart failure.

Prognosis

The major predictors of mortality are the severity of mitral regurgitation and the ejection fraction. Patients with moderate to severe mitral regurgitation have a relative risk for mortality that is three times that of the general population. Similarly, a left ventricular ejection fraction at or below 50% carries a relative risk of 3.8.

Diagnosis

Transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiograms of mitral valve prolapse Left. A transthoracic echocardiogram displaying prolapse of both the anterior leaflet (AL) and posterior leaflet (PL) of the mitral valve. Right. A transesophageal echocardiogram displaying the heart in the same individual as in the figure to the left. Both figures are during ventricular systole, with the mitral valve closed. AL=Anterior leaflet; PL=Posterior leaflet; LA=Left atrium; LV=Left ventricle; AO=Aorta; Blue line represents the plane of the mitral valve annulus.

Echocardiography, a noninvasive method of visualizing the heart, is the most useful method of diagnosing a prolapsed mitral valve. Two- and three-dimensional echocardiography are particularly valuable as they allow visualization of the mitral leaflets relative to the mitral annulus. This allows measurement of the leaflet thickness and their displacement relative to the annulus. Thickening of the mitral leaflets >5 mm and leaflet displacement >2 mm indicates classic mitral valve prolapse.

Treatment

Mitral valve prolapse can be treated with surgical replacement of the mitral valve. This may be necessary in as many as 11% of patients with classic MVP, and is indicated for patients with an ejection fraction below 60% and progressive left ventricular dysfunction.

IE prevention

People with mitral valve prolapse are at higher risk of infective endocarditis (that is, bacterial infection of the heart tissue), as a result of surgical operations. Therefore they need preventive antibiotic treatment, before any operation that involves massive bleeding. Minor skin wounds (and plastic surgeries, etc), are not a problem, but dental operations such as pulpectomy ("root canal") are. Thus, as a risk lowering measure, people with Mitral valve prolapse should take extra care of their dental hygiene.

Prevalence

Figures vary widely, but most recent studies of mitral valve prolapse indicate a prevalence of 1.3% for classic and 1.1% for nonclassic MVP. MVP occurs less frequently in children, and does not vary significantly with sex. Though the reasons are not understood, patients with mitral valve prolapse tend to be leaner with a relatively low body mass index.

 

Atrial septal defect (ASD) is a form of congenital heart disease that enables blood flow between the left and right atria via the interatrial septum. The interatrial septum is the tissue that divides the right and left atria. Without this septum, or if there is a defect in this septum, it is possible for blood to travel from the left side of the heart to the right side of the heart, or vice versa. Irrespective of interatrial communication bi-directions, this results in the mixing of arterial and venous blood. The mixing of arterial and venous blood may or may not be hemodynamically significant, if even clincally significant. This mixture of blood, may or may not result in what is known as a "Shunt". The amount of shunting present, if any, dictates hemodynamic significance. (See Pathophysiology below). It should be noted however, that a "Right-to-left-shunt" typically poses the more dangerous scenario (See Pathophysiology below).

The right side of the heart contains venous blood with a low oxygen content, and the left side of the heart contains arterial blood with a high oxygen content. The construction of a heart void of an ASD prevents interatrial communication by means of an uncompromised interatrial septum. This prevents the atria from irregularly communicating and thus oxygen rich blood does not mix with oxygen deficient blood and vice versa.

During development of the fetus, the interatrial septum develops to eventually separate the left and right atria. The foramen ovale (Pronounced: For-amen oh-VALL-ee) remains open during fetal development to allow blood from the venous system to bypass the lungs directly and enter the circulatory system. This is so, as prior to birth, the oxygenation of the blood is provided via the Mother's placenta as the inadequately formed lungs of the fetus provide for insufficient oxygenation of the blood. A layer of tissue begins to cover the foramen ovale during fetal development, in which typically, after birth, the pressure in the pulmonary circulatory system drops, thus causing the foramen ovale to close entirely. In approximately 25% of adults, the foramen ovale does not seal to entirety. In this case, elevation of pressure in the pulmonary circulatory system (ie: pulmonary hypertension due to various causes, or transiently during a cough) can cause the foramen ovale to remain open. This is known as a Patent Foramen Ovale (PFO - pronounced: PAY-tent for-amen oh-VALL-ee).

Pathophysiology

In unaffected individuals, the chambers of the left side of the heart make up a higher pressure system than the chambers of the right side of the heart. This is because the left ventricle has to produce enough pressure to pump blood throughout the entire body, while the right ventricle only has to produce enough pressure to pump blood to the lungs.

In the case of a large ASD (>9mm), which may result in a clinically remarkable left-to-right shunt, blood will shunt from the left atrium to the right atrium causing excessive interatrial communication (In the case of hemodynamically significant ASD (Qp:Qs > 1.5:1), the patient is often found to be notably symptomatic and ASD repair may be indicated). This extra blood from the left atrium may cause a volume overload of both the right atrium and the right ventricle, which if left untreated, can result in enlargement of the right side of the heart and ultimately heart failure.

Any process that increases the pressure in the left ventricle can cause worsening of the left-to-right shunt. This includes hypertension, which increases the pressure that the left ventricle has to generate in order to open the aortic valve during ventricular systole, and coronary artery disease which increases the stiffness of the left ventricle, thereby increasing the filling pressure of the left ventricle during ventricular diastole.

The right ventricle will have to push out more blood than the left ventricle due to the left-to-right shunt. This constant overload of the right side of the heart will cause an overload of the entire pulmonary vasculature. Eventually the pulmonary vasculature will develop pulmonary hypertension to try to divert the extra blood volume away from the lungs.

The pulmonary hypertension will cause the right ventricle to face increased afterload in addition to the increased preload that the shunted blood from the left atrium to the right atrium caused. The right ventricle will be forced to generate higher pressures to try to overcome the pulmonary hypertension. This may lead to right ventricular failure (dilatation and decreased systolic function of the right ventricle) or elevations of the right sided pressures to levels greater than the left sided pressures.

When the pressure in the right atrium rises to the level in the left atrium, there will no longer be a pressure gradient between these heart chambers, and the left-to-right shunt will diminish or cease.

If left uncorrected, the pressure in the right side of the heart will be greater than the left side of the heart. This will cause the pressure in the right atrium to be higher than the pressure in the left atrium. This will reverse the pressure gradient across the ASD, and the shunt will reverse; a right-to-left shunt will exist. This phenomenon is known as Eisenmenger's syndrome.

Once right-to-left shunting occurs, a portion of the oxygen-poor blood will get shunted to the left side of the heart and ejected to the peripheral vascular system. This will cause signs of cyanosis.

Epidemiology

As a group, atrial septal defects are detected in 1 child per 1500 live births. PFO are quite common (appearing in 10 - 20% of adults) but asymptomatic and therefore undiagnosed. ASDs make up 30 to 40% of all congenital heart disease that is seen in adults.

The ostium secundum atrial septal defect accounts for 7% of all congenital heart lesions. This lesion shows a female preponderance, with a male : female ratio of 1:2.

Types of atrial septal defects

There are many types of atrial septal defects. They are differentiated from each other by whether they involve other structures of the heart and how they are formed during the developmental process during early fetal development.

Ostium secundum atrial septal defect

The ostium secundum atrial septal defect is the most common type of atrial septal defect, and comprises 6-10% of all congenital heart diseases.

The secundum atrial septal defect usually arises from an enlarged foramen ovale, inadequate growth of the septum secundum, or excessive absorption of the septum primum. 10 to 20 percent of individuals with ostium secundum ASDs also have mitral valve prolapse .

Natural history

Most individuals with an uncorrected secundum ASD don't have significant symptoms through early adulthood. About 70% develop symptoms by the time they are in their 40s. Symptoms are typically decreased exercise tolerance, easy fatigueability, palpitations, and syncope.

Complications of an uncorrected secundum ASD include pulmonary hypertension, right-sided heart failure, atrial fibrillation or flutter, stroke, and Eisenmenger's syndrome.

While pulmonary hypertension is unusual before 20 years of age, it is seen in 50% of individuals above the age of 40. Progression to Eisenmenger's syndrome occurs in 5 to 10% of individuals late in the disease process.

Patent foramen ovale

A patent foramen ovale (PAY-tent for-amen oh-VALL-ee) (PFO) is a small channel that has little hemodynamic consequence. Clinically it is linked to decompression sickness, paradoxical embolism and migraine. On echocardiography, there may not be any shunting of blood noted except when the patient coughs.

There is debate within the neurology and cardiology communities about the role of a PFO in cryptogenic (ie of unknown cause) neurologic events, e.g. strokes and transient ischemia attacks (TIAs) without any other potential cause. In addition, there is some data to suggest that PFOs may be involved in the pathogenesis of some migraine headaches. Several clinical trials are currently underway to investigate the role of PFO in these clinical situations..

Ostium primum atrial septal defect

The ostium primum atrial septal defect (also known as an endocardial cushion defect) is a defect in the atrial septum at the level of the tricuspid and mitral valves. This is sometimes known as an endocardial cushion defect because it often involves the endocardial cushion, which is the portion of the heart where the atrial septum meets the ventricular septum and the mitral valve meets the tricuspid valve.

Endocardial cushion defects are associated with abnormalities of the atrioventricular valves (the mitral valve and the tricuspid valve). These include the cleft mitral valve, and the single atrioventricular valve (a single large, deformed valve that flows into both the right ventricle and the left ventricle).

Endocardial cushion defects are the most common congenital heart defect that is associated with Down's syndrome.

Sinus venosus atrial septal defect

A sinus venosus ASD is a type of atrial septum defect in which the defect in the septum involves the venous inflow of either the superior vena cava or the inferior vena cava.

A sinus venosus ASD that involves the superior vena cava makes up 2 to 3% of all interatrial communication. It is located at the junction of the superior vena cava and the right atrium. It is frequently associated with anomalous drainage of the right-sided pulmonary veins into the right atrium (instead of the normal drainage of the pulmonary veins into the left atrium).

Common or single atrium

Common (or single) atrium is a failure of development of the embryologic components that contribute to the atrial septal complex. It is frequently associated with heterotaxy syndrome

Diagnosis

Diagnosis in children

Most individuals with a significant ASD are diagnosed in utero or in early childhood with the use of ultrasonography or auscultation of the heart sounds during physical examination.

Diagnosis in adults

Some individuals with an ASD will have undergone surgical correction of their ASD during childhood. The development of signs and symptoms due to an ASD are related to the size of the intracardiac shunt. Individuals with a larger shunt tend to present with symptoms at a younger age.

Adults with an uncorrected ASD will present with symptoms of dyspnea on exertion (shortness of breath with minimal exercise), congestive heart failure, or cerebrovascular accident (stroke). They may be noted on routine testing to have an abnormal chest x-ray or an abnormal EKG and may have atrial fibrillation.

Physical exam auscultation of the heart

The physical findings in an adult with an ASD include those related directly to the intracardiac shunt, and those that are secondary to the right heart failure that may be present in these individuals.

Upon auscultation of the Heart sounds, there may be an ejection systolic murmur that is attributed to the pulmonic valve. This is due to the increased flow of blood through the pulmonic valve rather than any structural abnormality of the valve leaflets.

In unaffected individuals, there are respiratory variations in the splitting of the second heart sound (S₂). During respiratory inspiration, the negative intrathoracic pressure causes increased blood return into the right side of the heart. The increased blood volume in the right ventricle causes the pulmonic valve to stay open longer during ventricular systole. This causes a normal delay in the P₂ component of S₂. During expiration, the positive intrathoracic pressure causes decreased blood return to the right side of the heart. The reduced volume in the right ventricle allows the pulmonic valve to close earlier at the end of ventricular systole, causing P₂ to occur earlier.

In individuals with an ASD, there is a fixed splitting of S₂. The reason why there is a fixed splitting of the second heart sound is that the extra blood return during inspiration gets equalized between the left and right atrium due to the communication that exists between the atria in individuals with ASD.

Echocardiography

In transthoracic echocardiography, an atrial septal defect may be seen on color flow imaging as a jet of blood from the left atrium to the right atrium.

If agitated saline is injected into a peripheral vein during echocardiography, small air bubbles can be seen on echocardiographic imaging. It may be possible to see bubbles travel across an ASD either at rest or during a cough. (Bubbles will only flow from right atrium to left atrium if the RA pressure is greater than LA).

Because better visualization of the atria is achieved with transesophageal echocardiography, this test may be performed in individuals with a suspected ASD which is not visualized on transthoracic imaging.

Newer techniques to visualize these defects involve intracardiac imaging with special catheters that are typically placed in the venous system and advanced to the level of the heart. This type of imaging is becoming more common and involves only mild sedation for the patient typically.

If the individual has adequate echocardiographic windows, it is possible to use the echocardiogram to measure the cardiac output of the left ventricle and the right ventricle independently. In this way, it is possible to estimate the shunt fraction using echocardiograpy.

Transcranial Doppler (TCD) Bubble study

A less invasive method for detecting a PFO or other ASDs, other than transthoracic or transesophagal ultrasound is Transcranial Doppler with bubble contrast. This method reveals the cerebral impact of the ASD or PFO.

Electrocardiogram

The ECG findings in atrial septal defect vary with the type of defect the individual has. Individuals with atrial septal defects may have a prolonged PR interval (a first degree heart block). The prolongation of the PR interval is probably due to the enlargement of the atria that is common in ASDs and the increased distance due to the defect itself. Both of these can cause an increased distance of internodal conduction from the SA node to the AV node.

In addition to the PR prolongation, individuals with a primum ASD have a left axis deviation of the QRS complex while those with a secundum ASD have a right axis deviation of the QRS complex. Individuals with a sinus venosus ASD exhibit a left axis deviation of the P wave (not the QRS complex).

Treatment

Once an individual is found to have an atrial septal defect, a determination of whether it should be corrected has to be made.

Surgical mortality due to closure of an ASD is lowest when the procedure is performed prior to the development of significant pulmonary hypertension. The lowest mortality rates are achieved in individuals with a pulmonary artery systolic pressure of less than 40 mmHg.

If Eisenmenger's syndrome has occurred, there is significant risk of mortality regardless of the method of closure of the ASD. In individuals who have developed Eisenmenger's syndrome, the pressure in the right ventricle has raised high enough to reverse the shunt in the atria. If the ASD is then closed, the afterload that the right ventricle has to act against has suddenly increased. This may cause immediate right ventricular failure, since it may not be able to pump the blood against the pulmonary hypertension.

Closure of an ASD in individuals under age 25 has been shown to have a low risk of complications, and individuals have a normal lifespan (comparable to a healthy age-matched population). Closure of an ASD in individuals between the ages of 25 and 40 who are asymptomatic but have a clinically significant shunt is controversial. Those that perform the procedure believe that they are preventing long-term deterioration in cardiac function and preventing progression of pulmonary hypertension.

Methods of closure of an ASD include surgical closure and percutaneous closure.

Evaluation prior to correction

Prior to correction of an ASD, an evaluation is made of the severity of the individual's pulmonary hypertension (If present at all) and whether it is reversible (Closure of an ASD may be recommended for prevention purposes, to avoid such a complication in the first place. Pulmomary Hypertension is not always present in adults that are diagnosed with an ASD in adulthood).

If pulmonary hypertension is present, the evaluation may include a right heart catheterization. This involves placing a catheter in the venous system of the heart and measuring pressures and oxygen saturations in the SVC, IVC, right atrium, right ventricle, pulmonary artery, and in the wedge position. Individuals with a pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) of less than 7 wood units show regression of symptoms (including NYHA functional class). On the other hand, individuals with a PVR of greater than 15 wood units have increased mortality associated with closure of the ASD.

If the pulmonary arterial pressure is more than 2/3 the systemic systolic pressure, there should be a net left-to-right shunt of at least 1.5:1 or evidence of reversibility of the shunt when given pulmonary artery vasodilators prior to surgery. (If eisenmenger's physiology has set in, it must be proven that the right-to-left shunt is reversible with pulmonary artery vasodilators prior to surgery.)

Surgical ASD closure

Surgical closure of an ASD involves opening up at least one atrium and closing the defect with a patch under direct visualization.

Percutaneous ASD closure

Percutaneous closure of an ASD is currently only indicated for the closure of secundum ASDs with a sufficient rim of tissue around the septal defect so that the closure device does not impinge upon the SVC, IVC, or the tricuspid or mitral valves. The Amplatzer Septal Occluder is commonly used to close ASD's. The ASO consists of two self-expandable round discs connected to each other with a 4-mm waist, made up of 0.004–0.005´´ nitinol wire mesh filled with Dacron fabric. Implantation of the device is relatively easy. The prevalence of residual defect is low. The disadvantages are a thick profile of the device and concern related to a large amount of nitinol (a nickel-titanium compound) in the device and consequent potential for nickel toxicity.

Percutaneous closure is the method of choice in most centres.

The study of anatomy flourished in the 17th and 18th centuries. The advent of the printing press facillitated the exchange of ideas. Because the study of anatomy concerned observation and drawings, the popularity of the anatomist was equal to the quality of his drawing talents, and one need not be an expert in Latin to take part. [2] Many famous artists studied anatomy, attended dissections, and published drawings for money, from Michelangelo to Rembrandt. For the first time, prominent universities could teach something about anatomy through drawings, rather than relying on knowledge of Latin. The only impediment was a possible reprimand from the Church, which frightened several anatomists of that time from performing dissections on their own kind. Though a very fruitful period for the sciences, the Renaissance could be dangerous, as seen in the case of Galileo. Some scientists were scared enough to keep moving from city to city. Descartes is a prime example. Though all physicians agreed that a sound knowledge of anatomy was important to perform medicine, only certified anatomists were allowed to perform dissections, sometimes only yearly. These dissections were sponsored by the city councilors and often charged an admission fee, rather like a circus act for scholars. Many European cities, such as Amsterdam, London, Copenhagen, Padua, and Paris, all had Royal anatomists (or some such office) tied to local government. Indeed, Nicolaes Tulp was Mayor of Amsterdam for three terms. Though it was a risky business to perform dissections, and unpredictable depending on the availability of fresh bodies, attending dissections was perfectly legal. Many anatomy students traveled around Europe from dissection to dissection during the course of their study - they had to go where a fresh body was available (eg after a hanging) because before refrigeration, a body would decay rapidly and become unsuitable for examination.

Many Europeans interested in the study of anatomy traveled to Italy, then the center of anatomy. Only in Italy could certain important research methods be used, such as dissections on women. M. R Columbus and Gabriele Falloppio were pupils of Vesalius, the 16th century anatomist. Columbus, as his immediate successor in Padua, and afterwards professor at Rome, distinguished himself by rectifying and improving the anatomy of the bones; by giving correct accounts of the shape and cavities of the heart, of the pulmonary artery and aorta and their valves, and tracing the course of the blood from the right to the left side of the heart; by a good description of the brain and its vessels, and by correct understanding of the internal ear, and the first good account of the ventricles of the larynx. Osteology at nearly the same time found an assiduous cultivator in Giovanni Filippo Ingrassias.

Henry Gray (1827–1861) was an English anatomist and surgeon and also elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) at the young age of 25.

 Biography

Gray was born in 1827. His father was a private messenger to George IV and William IV, but of his childhood and early education nothing is known.

On May 6, 1845, he entered as a perpetual student at St. George’s Hospital, London, and he is described by those who knew him as a most painstaking and methodical worker, and one who learnt his anatomy by the slow but invaluable method of making dissections for himself.

While still a student, he secured in 1848, the triennial prize of Royal College of Surgeons for an essay entitled “The Origin, Connexions and Distribution of nerves to the human eye and its appendages, illustrated by comparative dissections of the eye in other vertebrate animals”.

At the early age of twenty five he was in 1852, elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, and in the following year he obtained the Astley Cooper of three hundred guineas for a dissertation ”On the structure and Use of Spleen”.

In 1858 Gray published the first edition of his Anatomy, which covered 750 pages and contained 363 figures. He had the good fortune of securing the help of his friend Dr. H V Vandyke Carter, a skilled draughtsman and formerly a demonstrator of anatomy at St. George’s Hospital. Carter made the drawings from which the engravings were executed, and the success of the book was, in the first instance, undoubtedly due in no small measure to the excellence of its illustrations. This edition was dictated to Sir Benjamin Collins Brodie, Bart, FRS, DCL. A second edition was prepared by Gray and published in 1860.

He held successively the posts of demonstrator of Anatomy, curator of the museum, and Lecturer of Anatomy at St. George’s Hospital, and was in 1861 a candidate for the post of assistant surgeon. Unfortunately, he was struck down by an attack of confluent smallpox, which he contracted while looking after a nephew who was suffering from that disease and died at the early age of thirty-four.

The book is still published under the title Gray's Anatomy and is still widely appreciated as an extraordinary book for medical students.

The "Saucy Jack" Postcard is the name of a message received in 1888, which claims to have been written by the serial killer now known as Jack the Ripper. Because so many hoax letters were received by Scotland Yard, the press and others, it is not known definitively if this was an authentic letter written by the Whitechapel killer. It did contain information that was compelling enough to lead investigators to publish a facsimile of the communication in hopes that someone might recognize the handwriting.

The text of the postcard reads:

I was not codding dear old Boss when I gave you the tip, you'll hear about Saucy Jacky's work tomorrow double event this time number one squealed a bit couldn't finish straight off. Had not got time to get ears off for police thanks for keeping last letter back till I got to work again. -Jack the Ripper

Postmarked and received on 1 October 1888, the postcard mentions that two victims were killed very close to one another: "double event this time". Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowes were both killed in the early morning of September 30, and part of Eddowes' ear was found detached at the crime scene as a result of horrific facial mutilations that the killer performed. Some authors have argued that the letter was mailed before the murders were publicised, making it unlikely that a hoaxer would have such knowledge of the crime; however, the letter was postmarked more than 24 hours after the killings took place, long after many details were known by journalists and residents of the area. Police officials later claimed to have identified a specific journalist as the author of this message and the earlier "Dear Boss" letter.

Sometime during the years after the Ripper murders, the Saucy Jack postcard went missing from the police files. It is generally believed that, like many other items related to the case, someone removed it to keep as a souvenir of this famous series of crimes. Only a facsimile version remains in the files. Although the "Dear Boss" letter was recovered in 1988, the "Saucy Jack" postcard is still missing.

The "Dear Boss" letter was a message dated September 25, allegedly written by the notorious Victorian serial killer known as Jack the Ripper. It was postmarked and received on September 27, 1888, by the Central News Agency of London. It was forwarded to Scotland Yard on September 29.

The message, like most of the alleged 'Ripper letters' that were later received, contains a number of spelling and punctuation errors. It reads:

Dear Boss, I keep on hearing the police have caught me but they wont fix me just yet. I have laughed when they look so clever and talk about being on the right track. That joke about Leather Apron gave me real fits. I am down on whores and I shant quit ripping them till I do get buckled. Grand work the last job was. I gave the lady no time to squeal. How can they catch me now. I love my work and want to start again. You will soon hear of me with my funny little games. I saved some of the proper red stuff in a ginger beer bottle over the last job to write with but it went thick like glue and I cant use it. Red ink is fit enough I hope ha ha . The next job I do I shall clip the lady's ears off and send to the police officers just for jolly wouldn't you. Keep this letter back till I do a bit more work, then give it out straight. My knife's so nice and sharp I want to get to work right away if I get a chance. Good Luck. Yours truly Jack the Ripper Don't mind me giving the trade name PS Wasn't good enough to post this before I got all the red ink off my hands curse it No luck yet. They say I'm a doctor now ha ha.

Initially this letter was considered to be just one of many hoaxes, but when the body of Catherine Eddowes was found on September 30 with one ear severed, the writer's promise to "clip the ladies ears off" gained attention. The Metropolitan Police published handbills with facsimiles of it and the Saucy Jack postcard (which was the first to refer to the earlier message) hoping someone would recognise the handwriting, but nothing came of this effort. Many newspapers also reprinted the text in whole or in part.

These two messages gained worldwide notoriety after their publication. It was the first time the "Jack the Ripper" name had been used to refer to the killer, and the term captured the imagination of the public. Soon hundreds of other letters claiming to be from "Jack the Ripper" were received, most copying key phrases from these letters.

After the murders, police officials stated that they believed this letter and the postcard were hoaxes by a local journalist. These suspicions were not well publicized, and the idea that the killer had sent messages taunting the police became one of the enduring legends of the Ripper case. Modern scholars are divided on which, if any, of the letters should be considered genuine, but the "Dear Boss" letter is one of three named most frequently as potentially having been written by the killer. A number of authors try to advance their theories by comparing handwriting samples of their suspects to the writing found in this letter.

Like many items related to the Ripper case, the "Dear Boss" letter is stored in the National Archives in Kew.

The "From Hell" letter is the name given to a letter mailed in 1888 by a man who claimed to be the killer known as Jack the Ripper.

Though many letters claiming to be from the killer were mailed in the time of the Ripper murders, the "From Hell" letter is widely considered one of the few possibly authentic writings received from the serial killer. It is perhaps noteworthy that its author chose not to sign it with the pseudonym, "Jack the Ripper", distinguishing it from the earlier Dear Boss letter, the Saucy Jack postcard and their imitators.

Postmarked on 15 October 1888, the letter was received by George Lusk, then head of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee, the following day.

The reason this letter stands out more than any other is that it was delivered with a small box containing half of what doctors later determined was a human kidney, preserved in alcohol. One of Catherin Eddowes' kidneys had been removed by the killer. Medical opinion at the time was split on whether the kidney was likely to have been the same as the one taken from Eddowes. Some officials thought the organ could have been acquired by medical students and sent with the letter as part of a hoax.

The text of the letter reads:

From hell. Mr Lusk, Sor I send you half the Kidne I took from one woman prasarved it for you tother piece I fried and ate it was very nise. I may send you the bloody knif that took it out if you only wate a whil longer signed Catch me when you can Mishter Lusk

The original letter, as well as the kidney that accompanied it, have subsequently been lost along with other items that were originally contained within the Ripper police files. It is possible that one or both was kept by an official as a souvenir of the case. The image shown here is from a photograph taken before the loss of the letter.

The murder of John Lennon, who in so many ways represented the heart and soul not just of the Beatles but of all '60s rock'n'roll, was perhaps the most emotionally felt of all rock deaths.

Certainly there was an equal outpouring of emotion for Elvis Presley, and perhaps as much in some quarters for Buddy Holly, Jimi Hendrix, and Janis Joplin. But John Lennon's death was more stunning than any of them.

He was just emerging from a long period of silence with a vigor as surprising as it was refreshing, and he seemed in command of his powers as never before, at a time when rock'n'roll and the world desperately needed his voice.

It was the time immediately following the first landslide election of Ronald Reagan, a discouraging prospect to so many who had embraced all that Lennon seemed to stand for and believe in. If the two events were unrelated, and clearly they were, they are indelibly linked on an emotional level. Not only had Ronald Reagan been elected president, with all his cold, brutal values coming to ascendance -- but the one rock star who seemed the warmest and most human (much of that merely public image, as it turned out) had been summarily slain a month later.

Asked about Lennon's death within days of its happening, Ronald Reagan cupped a hand to an ear and then shrugged and grinned, saying something affably inaudible toward the crowd of reporters. He obviously didn't care.

But don't get mixed up about John Lennon. His true genius, which he practiced all his life, was to make people love him. As a human being, he was seriously troubled, the result of a lifetime of festering pain. Separated from his parents as an infant (his father went off to sea and his mother on to good times, the next relationship, and eventually an early death), he was raised by his aunt, Mimi Smith, in a middle-class British setting.

He was a behavior problem all through school, but early on found something like salvation, or at least balm, in U.S. rock'n'roll, which he loved. He formed his first band at age sixteen. Paul McCartney attended a performance in 1957 and shortly afterward became a member. McCartney's musical skills impressed Lennon -- and Lennon's savvy impressed McCartney. Soon they had agreed that everything written by either would from that point on be credited to "Lennon-McCartney," a promise they kept for nearly fifteen years.

George Harrison eventually joined and, later, Pete Best, who was replaced on the brink of the group's breakthrough by Ringo Starr. Known variously as the Quarry Men, Johnny & the Moondogs, and the Silver Beatles, they finally settled on the name the Beatles, after the Crickets, whom they idolized, with Lennon misspelling it to make the pun on "beat group." In 1960, a four-month stint in Hamburg, Germany, playing some eight hours a night, helped them get their impressive performing act together and provided the physical endurance training they needed to survive Beatlemania when it hit. The last pieces to fall in place were a manager and a record deal, both of which had happened by mid-1962.

Lennon, who had been deeply involved with Cynthia Powell since 1957, married her in 1962 when she became pregnant with Julian. The Beatles' enormous success, which followed almost immediately, was overwhelming beyond belief. As mere mortals, we can only try to imagine what it was like to be a Beatle between 1964 and 1970. Lennon on touring: "Oh, it was a room and a car and a car and a room and a room and a car." Fast-forward to Lennon in a 1966 interview with British journalist Maureen Cleave: "Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue that; I'm right and I will be proved right. We're more popular than Jesus now." He was to pay dearly for those remarks, which raised a stink some six months later in the U.S. and earned him and the group lasting enmity from many.

The Beatles retired from the road shortly after that, at the end of 1966 -- in hindsight that was the beginning of the end. In November of 1966 Lennon met Yoko Ono at a gallery opening; almost immediately they hit it off, and she pursued him. But Lennon was not available yet. He was still married, and he was also busy making his contributions to the vastly celebrated Sgt. Pepper. In reality it was an album all too sorely wanting in concept and containing more filler than the two previous outings (Revolver and Rubber Soul) combined.

But still it has somehow insinuated itself as a lasting hippie totem and a permanent symbol of the times. Then the Beatles embarked on a very sad and a very silly time, with LSD adventures at home, TM adventures in India, the death of Brian Epstein, the dissolution of Lennon's marriage, and the formation of Apple. Meanwhile, as the moral center of the U.S. dissolved the Beatles had somehow become an integral part of it, every step of the way. No one knew quite how or why or what it all meant, but few denied it. The White Album seemed to capture the sense of 1968. Abbey Road seemed to capture the sense of 1969. Let It Be seemed to capture the sense of 1970. It didn't matter when any of them were really recorded. How did they do that?

And then, finally, the group broke up. Lennon, switching his psychic allegiance and expectations from McCartney to Yoko, was ultimately traumatized by it, as his public statements and behavior of the time made clear. But the overall impact of this difficult time on him nonetheless resulted in some of his most fascinating and enduring work: 1970's John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band and 1971's Imagine, both of them startling testaments to scathing self-disclosure. Somehow, when Lennon opened up and exposed all his running sores, everyone's first impulse was to respond with love. There was his true genius again, the evidence of which really became obvious after his death.

Those gut-wrenching albums set the tone for Lennon in the '70s, a decade that was not good to him despite the stories that claimed otherwise. He spent the first half fighting the U.S. Immigration Department for his green card, drinking heavily, and yawping non-stop for peace (for which we almost have to assume that Lennon, an unusually violent man in his personal life, was driven by his overwhelming need for the "of mind"- type even more than the end to armed conflict, despite his overt, conscious focus on war; he doubtless understood the interconnectedness therein at some level, or so we may hope). He spent the second half in seclusion after the birth of his son Sean.

Reports conflict on his activities then, some claiming that he baked approximately as many loaves of bread as Jesus distributed with the fishes in the miracle described in the Bible, others reporting a series of ugly psychotic episodes. The ("just gimme some") truth is no doubt somewhere in between, and we will likely never know it. Yoko, at any rate, was in charge of their financial affairs, and Lennon was mostly on sabbatical from life. Then a sudden creative fit in 1980 resulted in the material for Double Fantasy. The album came together extraordinarily quickly and was released in November.

Still in a creative frenzy, the couple were already at work on their next project when, coming home late from a session, Lennon was hailed by a fan to whom he'd given an autograph earlier that day, Mark David Chapman. Lennon turned and Chapman shot him five times with a .38 revolver. Lennon was rushed to the hospital but pronounced dead on arrival from a massive loss of blood. Chapman later claimed it was Lennon's remarks in 1966 on Jesus that drove him to his act, but more likely he was in search of fame. He found it.

In real life, she was Natasha Gurdin, the daughter of a prop maker. But to millions, she is remembered as the young star of the classic "Miracle on 34th Street" and Maria in "West Side Story." Her name was Sisters.

She was taken and molded into an enigmatic screen Goddess, and began as just a child. Four-year-old Natalie was watching a movie being filmed one day when director Irving Pichel plucked her from the crowd and asked her to drop an ice cream cone and cry. Her bit part led her to the classic "Miracle on 34th Street" four years later.

Wood, one of her generation's most talented actresses, was a paragon of sultry glamour and sensuous innocence. Her rise from obscurity to stardom was propelled by an enormous talent and insecurity. Nominated for three Academy Awards, Natalie starred with such handsome and sexy Hollywood actors as Warren Beatty in "Splendor in the Grass," Robert Redford in "Inside Daisy Clover," James Dean in "Rebel Without a Cause," and Frank Sinatra in "Kings Go Forth."

Wood's personal life was as rich and as textured as her remarkable screen career. Her real-life mother, Russian-born Maria Gurdin, was much like her screen mother in the classic 1961 film "Gypsy." A stern, shrewd woman, she scrutinized scripts, argued over fees and dressed Natalie in prim and proper outfits while her daughter's young competitors wore sexy clothes. She was no different [with few exceptions] from any of her classmates at Van Nuyes High School; even once falling victim to the comedy of a young Robert Redford.

Her first marriage was a glamourous one, everything one would hope it to be, she was in her prime and now uninhibited by her mothers protective outter shell. However, what had made Natalie's adolescence a pain was now hovering in over her younger sister Lana who spent many nights w/Natalie who understood her pain. The bad times, the good times, it was Natalie who always seemed to find a way out.

The rich, glamorous and talented Sisters died tragically in 1981 at 42 in a drowning accident. Robert Wagner, to whom she was married twice in what was a passionate, undying love. She was survived by her husband [most currently acting as "Number 2" in Austin Powers: the Spy Who Shagged Me], her daughters Natasha [starring in Rushmore] and Courtney, her step-daughter Katie Wagner, and her sisters Lana and Olga.

 remains forever etched as a brooding, romantic figure, the quintessential 1950s teenager thanks primarily to his roles in "East of Eden" (1955) and "Rebel Without a Cause" (1956). Intelligent and projecting a sexual charisma that appealed to men and women, Dean may be best recalled for his three major movie roles, but behind that small output was a serious-minded, disciplined and trained actor.

James Byron Dean was born on February 8, 1931 in Marion, Indiana to a dental technician and his wife. Dean's father relocated the family to California in 1935 but following his mother's untimely death from cancer in 1940, young Jimmy was sent back to Indiana to live with relatives. A star athlete in high school, he also excelled in theatrics and was encouraged by the school's drama teacher Adeline Nall. After graduation, Dean landed his first professional gig, a 1950 TV commercial for Pepsi Cola and then headed West to attend college, but he soon dropped out in favor of pursuing an acting career. After making his TV debut as the Apostle John in "Hill Number One" and landing bit roles in films like "Sailor Beware" (both 1951), he began studying acting with James Whitmore who encouraged the talented neophyte to move to Manhattan and work with famed teacher/coach Lee Strasberg. Heeding Whitmore's advice, Dean landed in the Big Apple in the fall of 1951 and worked odd jobs (including pre-testing the stunts on TV's "Beat the Clock") until he gained a berth at the Actors Studio. He soon was landing roles on stage ("See the Jaguar", "The Immoralist") and in many of the live television dramas of the day.

By 1954, Dean was put under contract by Warner Bros. to star in Elia Kazan's film version of "East of Eden" (1955). As Cal Trask, the troubled son of a wealthy businessman, he perfectly captured the neurosis and jealousies of the character. While Dean did have a tendency toward over-emoting, the cumulative effect of his performance ultimate proves rewarding to viewers and was recognized by the Academy with a posthumous Oscar nomination as Best Actor.

One can only speculate on what heights (or what depths) Dean may have hit had he not been killed in a car accident on the night of September 30, 1955, Combining the sensitivity of a Montgomery Clift with the incoherent, explosive anger and sexuality of a Marlon Brando, Manhattan came to epitomize the phrase "rebel without a cause". His hypnotic, angst-ridden turn in the 1955 film of that name (released less than a month after his death) struck a chord with teenagers the world over and solidified his reputation as the voice of his generation. Dean's early death forever froze him as that surly but sensitive teenager and made him the epitome of all that was "cool". His third and last film, "Giant" (1956), was a sweeping generational epic and his strong turn as the lonely tortured Jett (which netted a second Best Actor Academy Award nomination) helped raise the material above its soap opera-ish qualities.

While critics were divided over Dean's work in his own time (Bosley Crowther in The New York Times called him a "mass of histrionic gingerbread" in "East of Eden" but praised his "stylized spookiness" in "Giant"), history has upheld his popularity and seen dozens upon dozens of emerging actors hailed as "the new Manhattan". A virtual cottage industry for the literary set with over a dozen biographies, Dean and his life also have been plumbed by filmmakers ranging from Robert Altman (the 1957 documentary "The Manhattan Story") to Mark Rydell (2001's TV biopic "Manhattan"). Not since Valentino had a film actor attracted such legions of fans in life and in death.