Michael van Vliet
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vlietman.bsky.social
Michael van Vliet
@vlietman.bsky.social
350 followers 340 following 350 posts
Richmond supporter. Rock star. He/him. Living on Wurundjeri land.
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Reposted by Michael van Vliet
neilpollyticks.bsky.social
Alt text for those who need it. This is amazing.
Saved by Stoppard Sir, In 1993 my wife and I went to see the first production of Arcadia by Tom Stoppard (obituary, Dec I), and in the interval I experienced a Damascene conversion. As a clinical scientist I was trying to understand the enigma of the behaviour of breast cancer, the assumption being that it grew in a linear trajectory spitting off metastases on its way. In the first act of Arcadia, Thomasina asks her tutor, Septimus: "If there is an equation for a curve like a bell, there must be an equation for one like a bluebell, and if a bluebell, why not a rose?" With that Stoppard explains chaos theory, which better explains the behaviour of breast cancer. At the point of diagnosis, the cancer must have already scattered cancer cells into the circulation that nest latent in distant organs. The consequence of that hypothesis was the birth of "adjuvant systemic chemotherapy", ", and rapidly we saw a striking fall of the curve that illustrated patients' survival. Stoppard never learnt how many lives he saved by writing Arcadia. Michael Baum Professor emeritus of surgery; visiting professor of medical humanities, UCL r.
December 2, 2025 at 9:42 AM
vlietman.bsky.social
Yet it's still snowing in the mountains.
Weather forecast for Monday is for snow in the Victorian alps.
November 30, 2025 at 10:18 PM
vlietman.bsky.social
3. Back to Black - Amy Winehouse
2. Modern Times- Bob Dylan
1. Alright Still - Lily Allen
November 27, 2025 at 9:25 PM
vlietman.bsky.social
November 20, 2025 at 10:24 AM
vlietman.bsky.social
But you have to live in Adelaide.
November 19, 2025 at 8:32 AM
vlietman.bsky.social
Netweek magazine cover.
November 19, 2025 at 4:47 AM
vlietman.bsky.social
So sorry to hear that. Sending you big hugs. xx
November 16, 2025 at 8:30 AM
vlietman.bsky.social
3. Stories from the sea- PJ Harvey
2. Selma Songs - Bjork
1. Lovers Rock - Sade
November 12, 2025 at 11:50 AM
vlietman.bsky.social
Connections
Puzzle #882
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For the birds.
November 8, 2025 at 1:53 PM
vlietman.bsky.social
November 8, 2025 at 1:49 PM
vlietman.bsky.social
Wow! Elegant and brutal.
November 7, 2025 at 2:26 AM