pressure points and massage - an overview

What can you do with pressure points? Can you make someone fall asleep with a massage or make someone immobile? Here's the scoop on what you can actually do to or for someone with pressure points. 

James Bond (Sean Connery) massaging with a mink glove.

Pressure points can relieve pain in so many ways, from headache to period pain to back pain. This is usually acupuncture, but can also be massage, and massage pressure points are the focus of this blog. I'm exploring what can be done, aside from pain relief, when it comes to massage. You can dive pretty deeply into this topic. This is simply an overview.

Relaxation

In so many movies and books you see it used as a way to put someone "in the mood" and it turns out that is not as much of a myth as you may think. The pressure points are for relaxation, not seduction, but can lead to it. (It is advised to massage for relaxing, not seduction.) This includes, legitimately, massaging scalp (head) and neck. It seems weird to massage your head, but it is proven to relax you. At the top of the head above the ears is the spot you will need to focus on. Feet, also, are connected with both relaxing and intimacy. Your calves, two fingers above the ankle are also good for this purpose, according to Chinese medicine. The one spot that doesn't surprise me is the stomach, just below the navel and close to the crotch (kind of a no-brainer, but the closer to the privates, the more intimate it is). 

Sleep

Lucy Liu in the movie Charlie's Angels

A nice, soothing massage can lead right into a better night's sleep, logically, but can you make someone fall asleep on purpose? We see a scene in Charlie's Angels (the one starring Lucy Liu) where a man is made to fall unconscious in less than a minute during a back-walking massage. I am not finding as much evidence in my research, so it may be a myth. The closest you get is towards the ball of the foot, said to induce sleep. There is also, allegedly, a place behind the ear that is reached with acupuncture. Still not sure if you can even do what Lucy Liu did.

Immobilizing 

In the NCIS TV show, we see Ziva David (Dah-veed) identify a bruise that is between the thumb and fingers as a pressure point that immobilized someone. She demonstrates it on McGee. I'm sure of this one not being a myth. There are points on the bicep, thigh, and brachial plexus that will numb or temporarily paralyze those limbs. Close to the place Ziva demonstrated on McGee is listed as a way for someone to loosen grip when you press hard. I'd be willing to bet that you could probably do what Ziva demonstrated. 

Ziva David, played by Cote De Pablo

Now that you know what you can do to someone with pressure points, you should probably do more research if you intend to use those skills. Pressure points are not an easy skill to use. Feel free to use my sources and find your own. 

Sources:

https://www.healthline.com/health/healthy-sex/pressure-points-for-sex#3

https://www.healthline.com/health/pressure-points-for-sleep

https://brightside.me/inspiration-health/9-self-defense-pressure-points-that-can-save-your-life-one-day-582360/

pictures:

gfycat

TV line

Spotern

Puritan courtship

Puritans, awkward or not, are extremely conservative. They had courtship rules that were a little weird because they didn't want to even get close to crossing lines. This is made fun of in Studio C's Awkward Puritan Roommate sketch (which is hilarious and the link to it will be at the end of this blog). What was Puritan Courtship actually like? Let's dive into that.

Awkward Puritan from Studio C 

In the general sense, it was more or less an arranged marriage with someone you were introduced to when you were kids. They let you play together, get to know each other, then sprung it on you that you should start courting each other. Men were expected to bring in land and women were expected to provide a dowry. A dowry is an inheritance of heirlooms, money, or furniture. Letter writing was in style during this time, so letters were commonly exchanged, too. 

What is a Puritan?

 Puritan culture itself was in the colonies, so a hard life to live. 17th and 18th century is the time we are focusing on. Death, illness, and natives were around. The "new" world was a rough place to be. Puritans began 16th century believing that the Church of England was too similar to Roman Catholic church practices. They didn't want the fancy ceremonies that were not written in the bible. Don't go thinking Puritans and pilgrims are the same, though. Puritans did not call the Church of England the false church. To make a long story short, they fragmented into Quakers, Baptists, and Antinomians. Their beliefs balanced helping others and self-discipline.

Self-discipline was a value they believed in, along with hard work. They liked life to be simple in their church, and not overly ceremonial, with no politics to muck things up. They accepted all, being humble in their lifestyles. If challenged, they believed God opposed them. Unfortunately, they persecuted more radical people (including "witches") when they did not fit. They drove radicals out. Also, any arts you enjoy and any pleasure activities were considered sinful, including sex. Joy and laughter were considered symptoms of sin. They wanted to be pure and a people apart from others. They believed in Calvinistic thought (basically, we are sinful and need religion in government).  All writing was for religion or self-examination. These were fire and brimstone preachers, to put it simply.

Courtship Itself

First of all, survival was more important than love in this time. Finding a husband/wife involved first finding a person who survived the winter. You have little ones, they help you work hard, and then you die. This process repeats itself with each child if they survive the harsh elements. 

Another thing about Puritan culture is patriarchy. Women are property of their fathers, then their husbands. "The laws of coverture" said women could own no property when married. Forget dating. It wasn't a thing that people did in this time period. Men arranged marriage and tried to marry wealth and property together. 

As settlements got bigger the above traditions became less so, and young people of the time were disobeying the rules because there was more space to do shady things without getting caught. Nothing new under the sun. Sex was happening on the sly, to put it simply. Some Puritans married because of pregnancy. It wasn't too upsetting that pregnancy happened, that is unless you didn't marry the father of the child. 30 to 40 percent were pregnant at their wedding, historians estimate (known because of wedding certificates and birth records combined).

The practice of putting a board in the middle of the bed was common for courtship.

Given that strange men were coming into settlements and couldn't be trusted to stay put and raise the child, parents did something called bundling (and no, I don't mean bundling auto and home insurance). If you wanted to snuggle up with so-and-so you suggest it to your strict parents. Your parents arrange for you to sleep beside her for one night, as long as you promise to keep your pants/panties on and stay on your side of the board. In some cases, bundling bags were sewn onto the bed. If the girl was pregnant soon after you could easily conclude the father of the child in one guess, making it impossible to avoid marriage. A man was held responsible every time that way. Also, a girl couldn't point to a boy in court and force a marriage, because here there were witnesses.

Crazy as this sounds, one handshake and you could be legally common-law married. No exaggeration. No authority or license needed, just shake hands, called Handfasting or Spousing. Unfortunately, this made it easy to marry someone anywhere and "get some" before jumping a ship to another country. Some men got caught and dragged back into their marriage by angry father-in-laws, but I'd bet that some men successfully left women destitute with this law. 

As promised, here are the links to the Studio C sketches involving the Awkward Puritan Roommate:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nc9HTPI1vDE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wg9EAvG4WYk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72Z4Ec2H6mA

Sources:

https://puritantimes.wordpress.com/courtship/rules-of-courtship/

https://theweek.com/articles/462497/5-courtship-rituals-from-colonial-america

https://www.history.com/topics/colonial-america/puritanism

https://nederland.k12.tx.us/view/3301.pdf

Pictures: 

The WikiHow

The Encyclopedia

Phil Cooke

Panic Shelters - Why?

Right now we see a lot of fear in our society, but there isn't anything new under the sun. In fact, people have built panic rooms out of fear. Does it sound ridiculous? Yes, but when people think a nuclear bomb is going to hit their country they do that. 

They started in Egypt, actually, ancient Egypt. The pyramids had secret rooms to protect the Pharoah's treasures from thieves. This may not be the best example, but it's the first example. What is a panic room? It's a room that someone can run into when things go terribly wrong, most likely locking themselves in with provisions for weeks or days of hiding. This is going farther than "stay home" - it is barricading yourself in your house. I don't suggest doing this for anything short of a nuclear attack. Let's not go overboard on Covid19 protection, please! 

What They Were Used For

A Priest Hole in England, used to 

protect Catholic priests from persecution

Feudal Lords hid in them during sieges, bootleggers used them for speakeasies, Priests avoided persecution in them, they hid slaves from their owners, you avoid tornados in them, and they sheltered people from nuclear war and bombs. They have a longer history than you may think. We go right to the 1950s in our minds, but they were much older. There are several other words for them, including Castle Keep, Priest's Hole, Speakeasy, Tornado Shelter, and Fallout Shelter. 

Believe it or not, you can still buy one, and it can be as fortified and cozy as you want it to be. You just have to be obscenely wealthy. Again, I repeat, don't buy one for the Corona Virus! We are not that bad off, I promise! It is not cheap to have one, either. Cool, yes, but not cheap. You are looking at thousands of dollars if you want one, depending on the size and how comfortable and fortified you want it to be. You can also attach two bookshelves to french doors and call it a secret room for much cheaper. ( I kind of want to do that, actually, just to have a hidden reading room, so not technically a panic room. )

Sometimes people build rooms just to protect their stuff. High-end collectors may have expensive and rare artwork, antiques, books, and coin collections that they are trying to protect from thieves, much like the oldest example of a panic room, an anti-theft room in a pyramid. These can be climate controlled for private collectors. This gets really expensive, really fast.

When They Were Most Advertised

There was a time when you could find ads for Panic Rooms and Fallout Shelters commonly. The 1950s, during the Cold War, was that time. Amongst the ridiculous paranoia of nuclear war, the Fallout Shelter ads appeared. People hoarded food and necessities in there, enough for weeks. You could pay $5000 for a shelter with a toilet and Geiger counter. (Crazy! But, still, let's look at our society of people afraid to stand beside each other and think about that for a second.)

A Fallout Shelter Handbook

The hysteria is another subject I want to mention. The 1950s was a time that included the Arms Race, offensive ads towards women, bomb threat drills in schools, cartoons that taught people to "Duck and Cover", and fear of nuclear war with the Soviet Union. I'd say this time period is not the best time to be anybody. Children had to wear dog tags and duck under desks for bomb drills. You want paranoia? Here it is! 

Parting Thoughts

I know we just explored many uses for panic rooms, but lately, our society has been using their homes for panic rooms. We "social distance", sometimes wear masks, and possibly some may wipe down groceries and credit cards, all this in the name of Covid19. We shut down our society for this. Can we compare this to the 1950s paranoia for one hot second? This may be an unpopular opinion, but fear is running our society. Depending on where you live and how old you are, you may or may not agree, but I think fear is more contagious than Corona Virus these days, that is unless you are in a nursing home or have weaker health. I understand that we do need to protect those around us responsibly, but I am beginning to see too much similarity between now and the society we just discussed. Be safe, yes, and we do need to protect our elders and those of weaker health, but let's all keep our heads and common sense. I love you all and want us to be a sane society. 

Sources:

https://home.howstuffworks.com/home-improvement/household-safety/panic-room5.htm

https://home.howstuffworks.com/home-improvement/household-safety/panic-room1.htm

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2003/02/the-ridiculous-history-of-cold-war-civil-defense.html

Pictures:

History

Amusing Planet

Pinterest

Amelia Earhart - theories on what happened

Amelia Earhart, known for disappearing without at a trace, was a wonderful woman, but what happened to her? Time to dive into all the theories on her disappearance.

Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan

Amelia Earhart has done many, many great things in her lifetime. She supported equal rights, earned the US Distinguished Flying Cross for solo flight across the Atlantic, and wrote best sellers on her flying. She was a significant figure in women's history and will continue to be so.

Her Disappearance

In 1937 Earhart and Fred Noonan were flying around the world. They were going to land at Howland Island, an uninhabited island. They never arrived. There are theories that suggest they had to emergency land on what is now Gardner Island, and died there. 

What supports this is the human remains found on Gardner Island. These were found beside a campfire, a woman's shoe, and a navigational device. There have been studies done on her measurements and height to support that it could be Earhart, with the fact that the navigational sextant would have matched her backup navigational device. 

Taken By the Enemy

Les Kinney/ US National Archives

There is also another theory, that she was killed by the Japanese. This is based on the photograph showing the Japanese towing a damaged plane, with a woman resembling Earhart on the dock. There is a whole documentary on this theory, and it actually makes sense. It would suggest she died a prisoner of the Japanese. The picture above is the infamous photograph that is referenced. Locals in the documentary reference a kind woman and man killed by the Japanese, and the woman looked like Amelia Earhart. They were allegedly shot and buried. This was gathered from the island locals on the prison camp island that they were allegedly sent to.

This is a theory that is debated highly, because if the photograph is from before 1937 she is not even on the ocean, and the Japanese are not in sight. In other points, you find she and Fred have new clothes. The Japanese are unlikely to be that kind. 

Is Any Of This True?

There are no records to prove the Japanese prison camp story true, and the first is also mostly circumstantial, so we don't know that these are false or true. There were records lost during the war, and with that fact under our belts, it is entirely possible she was a prisoner of war. It is also equally possible she had to emergency land and the pair died marooned on an island. The evidence is a little thin on both sides, but I'll let you be the judge. 

sources:
https://www.ameliaearhart.com/
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-40515754

Pictures:
The Guardian
Pinterest

007 part 3 - books and movies

We know Ian Fleming wrote the first James Bond novels, but who continued the tradition? We have several authors who have, and you may be surprised to hear that the movies are based on more than Fleming's writing. Let's compare the books to the movies!

When it comes to 007's authors we have Ian Fleming, John Gardner, Sebastian Faulks, Jeffrey Deaver, Kingsley Amis, Charlie Higson, Raymond Benson, William Boyd, Steve Cole, Anthony Horowitz,  and Christopher Wood. Some only wrote one novel, while others wrote several.

It all started with Casino Royale and Ian Fleming. I have talked about Ian Fleming in 007 part 2, so we're talking about James Bond's portrayal in the books, then comparing it to the movies today.

The books

James Bond is 6 feet with greyish-blue eyes and black hair, according to the books. He is a widower, his deceased wife being Teresa Draco. His parents are deceased, as well, and they are Andrew and Monique Delacroix Bond. He knows martial arts, too, using it to knock out or kill on occasion. 

In this Bond novel M questions whether
Bond is too damaged to stay in the field.

He was orphaned at age 11 after his parents had a climbing accident in Aiguilles Rouges. One of the books (spoiler alert) may suggest that Bond's mother was a spy herself. Bond was a Navy Commander by the end of the war, thus he is called Commander Bond in multiple movies and books. 

He gets extremely banged up through the whole series, and in some books M questioned whether he should retire. He is sent on breaks between some books. He has a run-in with SMERSH, an organization with a name that means 'death to spies'. They marked his hand in Casino Royale. M insisted that he have skin grafted over it, so they wouldn't keep coming after him upon seeing his mark. 

Bond's love life is still very much active in the books, but he isn't obsessed with it. He is more about the mission itself, oftentimes, and he ends up with women once a book. Usually, they are part of the mission itself and he is protective of them. I would describe him as a gentleman that puts work first but is perfectly willing to love afterward, depending on which author you are reading. They are mostly consistent with this, but some give him more emotion than others. They do give him emotions and humanize him.

The movies

We see Bond of the movies as a smooth ladies man that gets laid ever film, all while working dangerous missions and being shown around the villain's entire estate before being nearly killed, then saving the woman and himself by the seat of his pants.  Each actor tends to play it differently, though, so let's break this down to the actor portrayals. 

Sean Connery

Sean Connery -  We see Bond here as kind of intense, with a love for women. He even acts slightly sexist in some of the movies (though Connery will tell you he hated playing this character and he is not anything like him). In Goldfinger we see Bond force himself on Pussy Galore in a barn, a scene that still makes me uncomfortable to this day.

Roger Moore - Bond here is a little less sexist with more wit and humor. He's more British-classy, I'd say, with some respect for women and maybe a few moments of immature humor. He can be tough, though, and as an actor, Moore was doing some of his own stunts. An example of Bond's witty portrayal is when Jaws, a man with metal teeth, shows his teeth and Bond grins back. 

Pierce Brosnan - This portrayal is suave Bond, with emotions. It is harder to describe his style, but I'd say he isn't overly sexist, and can even be swayed by women. This Bond has women listed as a definite weakness. He is flirtatious in nature, much like the rest of the portrayals. (Brosnan had to get out of his Remington Steele contract to play Bond, which is why Timothy Dalton got two movies in the first place.) He is a bit of a combination between Roger Moore and Timothy Dalton (in my opinion).

Timothy Dalton

Timothy Dalton - This is one of the most emotional Bonds. He is the nicest to the women, even being unable to shoot a female sniper in Living Daylights, saying she wasn't a professional sniper. He appears more romantic. He is a bit intense, too, but in a different mission-focused way. He also finds himself in revenge situations because he is acknowledged as having emotion. He even cries as Bond once in a film. Dalton also did most of his own stunts. 

Daniel Craig - This one is the epitome of intense. He, too, has emotions. He reveals this and Bond's psychological complexity in his portrayal. He can show Bond's dark emotional side. I would not call this one overly romantic in nature. He's a little more realistic about how damaged Bond may actually be. He also did something unique. Quantum of Solace doesn't have a love scene. He is all action and intensity.

George Lazenby - He did one Bond film, On Her Majesty's Secret Service. I have never seen it and it did not get a good review. He is considered the worst Bond of the series by some. He tried to portray a vulnerable, emotional Bond and did not make a hit. He broke the fourth wall during the film, but apparently did a bare-knuckle fight scene that was decently good, just before he broke the fourth wall. 

Is one better than the other?

Anyone who has read the books will know that some of the movies have taken scenes from one book to use them in a completely different plotline. One scene in License To Kill and one scene in For Your Eyes Only are actually from the book "Live and Let Die".  That is not the only time we have seen a Bond book chopped up in pieces for the sake of a movie, but I think you understand my point. The books are never going to be exactly the same as the films. Whether you prefer the books to the movies, the movies to the books, or just like both is up to you. It seems there is plenty of Bond to go around and he is very much still alive.

In case you're curious about what scenes I'm referring to in License To Kill and For Your Eyes Only I will show you in the pictures below. 

Melina Havelock and Bond get dragged on the coral - For Your Eyes Only

Felix Leiter is lowered into a shark pit to be maimed and left out for Bond - License To Kill

Sources:

https://www.writeups.org/james-bond-novels-profile/

https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/celebrating-timothy-daltons-james-bond/

https://www.theperspective.com/debates/entertainment/battle-bonds-connery-craig/

https://www.thegentlemansjournal.com/bond-actors-ranking/

Pictures:

Project Nerd

James Bond Wiki

Wikipedia

Heritage Auctions

CNet

007 part 2 - was Ian Fleming a real spy?

We know Ian Fleming wrote the first James Bond books. Each one has been made into a movie by now. There was a rumor going around that he was a spy himself. Was it true? Let's find out!

Spoiler alert, it is true! He was an undercover British agent in WWII. Without boring you with his life previous to being a spy, here's the basic rundown on his life before the spy-hood. He was well educated, his father died fighting in France, and he became an assistant-editor with Reuters News Service. He proved to be a wonderful writer. With that known, I'm diving into his life as a spy.

Spy-hood in WWII

Vice Admiral John Godfrey

After Reuters News Service he went to the London Times. Through his coverage of various trials he became known in the right places. He was recruited into Naval Intelligence to be the assistant of Admiral John Godfrey, who headed Naval Intelligence. He went from Lieutenant to Commander in rank. He was given a glowing review by the Admiral. 

He soon joined them full time, assigned to section 17. This was where messages were handled from  the Operational Intelligence Center (OIC). Confidential missions and messages happened here. From here he was reassigned to Liason between NID (Naval Intelligence Department) and SIS (see 007 part one for more information on this), the Political Warfare Executive, and JIC (Joint Intelligence Committee). He also hired members for the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve.

What did he do when the war progressed? Glad you asked! He kept track of German warships in the North Sea and North Atlantic through NID. Fleming and his teacher Sydney Cotton often discussed untested gadgets for intelligence gathering. 

What About the Missions?

The Danube River

Fleming was made liaison to MI(R) and was part of subversive operations on behalf of the British intelligence. What they used to do was lease a bunch of barges on the Danube, making them unavailable to Germans, as well as other operational tricks. The people he worked with were a bit dirty in the espionage way. It flopped, leaving a few operatives fleeing from a stranded barge with Nazis in hot pursuit, but it was not for lack of trying. 

Throughout his career he became friends with men who may have modeled for 007 without realizing it. What did he do, other than the failed Danube operation? He helped pave the bridge between British and American Intelligence. Add to that, that he was not a conventional man. He took a few seized Germans out to eat, got them drunk, and got confidential information from a drunk U-Boat Commander.  He also ran an operation named Operation Golden Eye, meant to sabotage and open up communication links in case Germany would invade Spain. It was never necessary, fortunately. 

Fleming was part of one of the most successful deception operations, one that fooled Germans into thinking the 1943 Europe invasion was taking place in the Balkans instead of Sicily. They placed a body of a drowned Naval officer along the Spanish coast, like a plane had crashed, and had false documents on the body. It was a huge success. He was even part of D-Day by assembling a large military library to prepare for it. We're talking a lot of maps and reports! 

Fleming's Red Indians

Fleming's "Red Indians"

Fleming commanded a covert group called "Number 30 Assault Unit" (AU-30), aka "Red Indians". They operated on a secret base outside of London. They were civilian, "dirty dozen" type men that may have questionable character. They were part of D-Day and secured U-Boat information. They once captured 300 Germans, their radar system, and destroyed docked U-Boats. 

Their best work was transporting records to the German Navy Warfare Science Department, which housed all records of German Navy in World War I. This was Fleming's job, and he took it very seriously. Some or most of that information was probably gathered by his Red Indians. 

His Retirement

After being discharged he became a foreign manager of a newspaper chain. He traveled, met Jacque Cousteau, met JFK, and had a home built in the Caribbean. He called that home Goldeneye. He enjoyed his island home and wrote his novels. He married Ann Rothermere. Unfortunately, he drank, smoked, and didn't take care of himself while living at Goldeneye. He died of a heart condition at age 56. 

Fleming's Villa Goldeneye in Jamaica

Pictures:

inWrite

Imperial War Museum

Pinterest

Worthing Herald

Trip Advisor

Sources:

https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/2018/01/25/ian-fleming-the-fact-behind-the-fiction-of-james-bond/

007 part 1 - what is a 00 agent?

Here I start part one of the 007 series of blogs. There will be three of them, so stay tuned for the other two. First, we're looking at what being a 00 agent actually means.

00 agents are actually real in the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS). The head is known by C or CSS (Chief of Secret Service), not M, but there is a secret service. The agents are typically foreign nationals, but are seen as traitors or moles to their own governments. Most operate under false identities while overseas as diplomats. Diplomats can't be arrested or prosecuted, so it is a good cover. Espionage is their job. Some were actually traitors at one point, in some cases.

London Diplomatic Event

Unlike Bond, they are known as SIS agents, not 00. The only trait shared with our famous 007 is the ability to drink and function at embassy events. It is a desk job with occasional overseas trips. Sometimes they are just going overseas to get or deliver bribe money, and rumors of making up fake agents to pocket bribe money are out there. The only real risk is being expelled by the local government. Diplomatic passports make it easy to walk away from a bad situation. The living-on-the -seat-of-your-pants missions aren't actually realistic.

Can you be a 00?

What of the title of 00? If you join after a normal career you can't, but we know bond was an ex-commander in the British Navy. What he does is more armed forces. He would be in Special Forces (SF) with an obscure group that does reconnaissance, which is more like what Bond does. Special Reconnaissance Regiment (SSR) do have cars with gadgets, drive fast, do combat with concealed weapons, and shoot guns. They are plainclothes, too, so this is more like what Bond would be doing. SSR recruited men and women, so we would see a female agent here.

SF works with Ministry of Defence. SIS and SSR are not discussed openly. SIS and SSR does special operations of somewhat military nature, too, so it is actually possible that Bond would be working for the SIS through SSR. To make a long story short, he'd have to be in SSR to do what the books and movies say he does.

MI5 and MI6

There is a difference between these two, and they are SIS. They may still be around, partially. MI5 is for intelligence inside the UK and was originally formed to identify and counteract German spies in 1909. MI6 counters threats from abroad and fights terrorism, among other things. MI, military intelligence, were discontinued and absorbed into other organizations. MI5 is technically the Secret Service now, and that was merged with Scotland Yard. MI6 fell out of disuse, but was called Foreign Intelligence Service, Secret Service, and Special Intelligence Service in its time. 

Pictures:

TV Tropes

London Diplomatic Association
Military.com
Ozel Buro

Sources:
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/10/05/james_bond_007_career_path/
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/5736946/difference-mi5-mi6-spy-agencies-about/