Chiropractic San Diego

By Michael Dorausch, DC

Photos provided by chiropractor Liam Schubel of the first graduating class of chiropractors in Argentina, South America.

More than 100 chiropractors met during an inspiring weekend of December 12 through December 15, 2008.

A group of 21 chiropractors who for two years had studied rigorous principled courses received diplomas on December 13, 2008.

Presenters during the weekend event included doctors Liam Schubel, Brian Kelly, Myron Brown, and AQA treasurer Maria Ramonda. For more information on chiropractic in Argentina contact the AQA at www.aqa.com.

The goal of the AQA, which was founded in 1988, is to develop the Chiropractic profession in Argentina. Argentina has a population of 40 million people with just over 100 estimated chiropractors currently in practice.

By Michael Dorausch, DC

More photos from around 1998. I suspect these were probably made in the 1970s or 1980s and I don’t remember how I ended up getting copies of them. Both show Woody woodpecker checking the spine of Andy Panda while he’s lying face down on a chiropractic adjusting bench. One image is of far better quality. I may have the original copies of the drawing somewhere in my stacks of chiropractic media. Do kids today know who Woody woodpecker is?

Andy Panda lies facedown on a chiropractic adjusting bench (kind of looks like my Galaxy adjusting table) while Woody Woodpecker checks his vertebral column. The second photo shows different background, including a clipboard and a chiropractic diploma on the wall. Wouldn’t be surprised to find out there were other images similar to these made for a series of marketing materials. Would make nice postcards.

If anybody has more information regarding these two photographs, feel free to leave a comment.

By Michael Dorausch, DC

Going through Picasa photo archives for 2008 and figured I’d post some of the images from the past year to this blog.

In January 2008 I upgraded the monitors at my home office with 3 24 inch Dell LCD screens and I’ve been using that set up all year. Looking back from now, I’ve gotten pretty spoiled as a result, and have managed to fill all three desktops with applications and browser tabs I use frequently. My goal for 2008 is to modify the desk for even better ergonomics.

In February I was at a chiropractic conference in Tempe Arizona. Went to Hooters for some chicken wings and beer. Took this photo of a kid celebrating his birthday party by standing on a chair and dancing like a chicken

while surrounded by Hooters girls. When I was that age you got visited by Bozo the clown.

Later in the month of February I was in San Jose, California for search conference that turned out to be a really fun event. I like hanging out with other chiropractors, but my search engine and social media friends are a lot of fun to party with as well.

March 2008 was Barcamp 5 Los Angeles which took place at the AOL building in Beverly Hills California. The event was sponsored in part by Planet Chiropractic and the attendance was incredible. We had two days of geeky tech stuff, cupcakes, pizza, beer, Wii bowling, and other activities that take place when you put large groups of geeks together in one place. I got to meet the defunct pets.com sock puppet while at Barcamp, he was very popular.

An April chiropractic event in Las Vegas somehow turned into a blur after going out with friends to the Playboy club at the Palms casino. Turns out I went to college with the floor manager and drinks were on the House. This photo of Candace Michelle and friend beats any photos taken of me that evening.

There were more search conferences and chiropractic seminars to attend in late April and in May and it’s funny that while going through photos I noticed lots of pictures of food we were served when going to restaurants. Here’s a photo of a plate of ribs with onion rings and french fries. It wasn’t taken while at a seminar, but rather just down the street from me at the Cheesecake Factory in Marina del Rey.

Also taking place in May was San Diego 3 Barcamp which was a lot of fun to attend. Making the trip down from Los Angeles to La Jolla for the geek filled weekend was well worth it. We spent two days in the Microsoft building. I missed the San Diego Barcamp in November since I was in Las Vegas for 2008 Pubcon. On the list of weekend things to do in 2009.

I made a couple of trips to Seattle in May and one of my favorite times while there was visiting the library. I think this photo of upcoming article headlines comes from a 1965 issue of Cosmopolitan magazine. I’m not certain since it took so many different photographs and didn’t organize them to the covers. Notice the “Drink and Be Healthy Cocktails” article headline in the middle. It reads a whole repertoire of famous drinks for people who want to shore up a little nourishment and health while they’re nipping. Who knew drinking could be so good for you?

While at a chiropractor conference in May or early June I took this photograph of a before and after chiropractic adjustment T-shirt. I had seen the design on chiropractic business cards in the past, but this was the first time I saw the squiggly spine and the straight spine on someone’s shirt. Very simple to re-create.

In June I was also in Yosemite National Park and took numerous photos during my stay there. The weather was incredible and the hiking was phenomenal. The pictures do not do the place justice. Everybody should have the opportunity to visit Yosemite and enjoy its beauty.

cab after returning home from a chiropractic relicensing seminar at my alma mater I took this photograph of one of my sleeping Labradors wearing a Cleveland Chiropractic College baseball cap. Unlike my other lab, this one will pretty much let you put caps and sunglasses on her, without making too much of a fuss.

In September of 2008 I had some Ron Paul revolution soda while at an Internet conference in Las Vegas. There were differently branded sodas for the various presidential candidates, and someone is probably put together a nice collection of all of the soda photos somewhere.

While attending another conference in Las Vegas (I think that was the most popular place for conferences in 2008) I got to stand inside a machine filled with money. It was like a big vacuum cleaner turned on in reverse, with cash laying all over the floor. You would stand inside the phone booth shaped unit and when the air turned on the cash went flying. Lots of fun and a great tool for marketing at conferences.

I’m hoping 2009 is a prosperous, abundant and healthy year for you. Thanks for checking out my photographs from 2008.

By Michael Dorausch, DC

December 21, 2008 marks the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere. It is a time when the Sun’s position in the sky is at its greatest angular distance from the position of the observer, meaning in the northern hemisphere it is the shortest day of the year.

The winter solstice marks the reversal in gradually shortening days and the event is celebrated in many cultures as a time of renewing or rebirth. Here is a collection of photographs taken in different locations throughout the Northern Hemisphere during the day of winter solstice.

The first rays of the solstice dawn light up the ancient megaliths of Stonehenge. Man has stood here and watched this annual spectacle for more than five millenia.

This picture was taken on the winter solstice of 2000. It was taken from Schoodic, using Acadia National Park as a backdrop to measure the sun's seasonal movements across the sky.

Winter Solstice Coos Bay, Oregon Coast, December 21, 2007

The setting sun on December 21, 2006

A little gulf of mexico sunshine for anybody who may be lacking on the shortest day of the year.

Scripps Pier in San Diego - December 21, 2005 Winter Solstice

At the setting of the sun on the winter solstice, 2007.

The Illinois Bayou flows into the Arkansas River at Lake Dardanelle in Arkansas. This image was captured at the end of the winter solstice (the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere).

The sunset of the shortest day of the year... location in the northern hemisphere unknown

Photographer: I wanted to catch the sun as it set for the winter solstice but was late getting to my spot, and even so there was fog/clouds out at sea on the horizon.

Location unknown in northern hemisphere. Winter Solstice 2005 from someone's front door.

Ten minutes before the sun disappeared behind the horizon. - Winter solstice 2006

Today the winds died and after two days of Kona (southern winds) wind, the VOG (volcanic haze from the Big Island volcanos) totally obsured the Koolau Mountains and most of the Bay. The sunset tonight was a little different than normal. - December 21, 2005

About twenty minutes before sundown the sun appeared from behind a layer of clouds.

Sunset at Stonehenge at the Winter Solstice. - December 2004

In the northern hemisphere, 2008 Winter solstice takes place at 12:04 on December 21. It marks the beginning of lengthening days and it’s a great time to reflect on the past six months, and celebrate the birth of the days ahead.

By Michael Dorausch, DC

It’s hard to believe that these photographs are older than the planetchiropractic.com web site. They were taken in May of 1998 and the site did not launch until December of the same year. There has been audio and video online from the 1990s Panamá mission’s since a short time after the chiropractic website was launched, there have also been dozens of Panamá related news articles. I mentioned cleaning the office and finding photographs stored on hard drives and I’ll be posting some of them here for historic purposes.

Below are five different photographs from the 1998 CREW chiropractic mission to Panamá.

Dora Boyd de Perez Balladares Y La Asociacion de Quiropracticos Atienden a la Poblacion Panamena Del 25 Al 30 De Mayo De 1998 - Signs and banners like this one appeared throughout the country of Panamá during the month of May 1998. This one was posted outside a civic gymnasium in the area of Penonomé. Dora Boyd de Perez Balladares was the president’s wife (First Lady of Panamá)  when we were there for that trip. The mission was cosponsored by the government of Panamá which offered free chiropractic care to the entire country’s population.

The above photo was taken inside the same gymnasium (we provided adjustments there for five days that week). The chiropractor to the left is Dr. Paul from Canada and that’s me on the right (I have not had a goatee in many years). You may notice our skin appears a bit shiny, that’s because it was about 110° inside the gymnasium, and it was raining everyday.

Dr. Noel from Ohio sets up for a seated cervical chiropractic adjustment inside the gymnasium. In the background you can see the gymnasium grandstands. There were times that these were full, six or more chiropractors providing adjustments from nine o’clock in the morning until about two o’clock in the afternoon (the peak of heat and just before the rain came down). The top of the photo shows the tin roofs that were common in the city gymnasiums. As hot as things got in the gymnasium for us, I can still remember many people sitting down for an adjustment, and their skin felt like they had just walked out of walk-in refrigerator. They were calm and cool as anything and we were drinking mass fluids just to stay hydrated.

Kids going crazy in a Panamá school yard. Looks like some of these kids are testing their gang signs. Remember this was 1998 and I don’t think a lot of these kids had been in front of a video camera before. When we were not in the gymnasiums, we broke off into groups and provided adjustments to kids at the local schools. You can see me in the far background wearing a red shirt (all the kids are in white so I’m not hard to spot). This photo was taken during afternoon recess and the kids were going crazy in the schools center playground. We went classroom to classroom giving chiropractic adjustments to all students and teachers, a few days that week.

This last photo was taken inside the classroom at a private school. I don’t remember what grade this was (I think it was first grade) but we had an incredible experience there. When we arrived the kids were having English class so the teacher decided to have them sing a few songs for us. They did the chiropractic favorite classic… Head Shoulders, Knees and Toes.

Awesome times in Panamá!

By Michael Dorausch, DC

Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show Photos for the 2008 televised event are available here, thanks to Flickr, and the wonderful photographers that posted this year’s fashion show photos online.

I could use the argument that as a chiropractor I’m only sharing these images of supermodels in lingerie for the value of posture analysis, but you’d see right through that, wouldn’t you? More on that below. Chances are you just want to see some Victoria’s Secret supermodel photos.

There should be a Flash slideshow image viewer below. Click the play button (either in the center or bottom left) to view a slideshow of Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show 2008 photos. Use the left and right arrows to go forward and back. On the bottom right side of the video screen are 4 arrows pointing away from each other. Click on that to view photos full screen. The photos are high quality, and best viewed at full-screen.

There are 26 professionally taken photos in the set. Photo credits go to the photographers (whose names should also be viewable in the slideshow). Nearly all photos were taken on the runaway at the 2008 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach on November 15, 2008.

The Victoria’s Secret Show airs in video tonight on CBS at 10 p.m. Eastern time. Visit the Victoria’s Secret web site for show information (and holiday shopping orders of lingerie and other VS merchandise).

Among the models pictured in the set above is Marisa Miller (she is 30 years old and born in Santa Cruz California). You can visit her web site here to view more photos and Marisa Miller videos.

French model and actress Noemie Lenoir stands at 5′10″ tall and you can browse many of her other photos here.

Adriana Lima (Adriana Francesca Lima) is 27 years old and from the coastal town of Salvador, Bahia in Brazil. Adriana also stands at 5′10″ tall.

Model Heidi Klum was born in the North Rhine-Westphalia region of Germany. And like Noémie Lenoir and Adriana Lima she is 5′10″ tall. How old is Heidi Klum? Heidi was born on June 1, 1973, putting her at 35 years old. She is the wife of one of my favorite recording artists, Seal.

As twisted and unbelievable as it may seem, there will be chiropractors that will view these photos from a postural perspective, since it’s not that common to have near 6 foot tall women in high heels coming in for adjustments. Thanks to a chiropractor in Manhattan, and being located nearby the Los Angeles airport (LAX), I’ve had the privilege to provide chiropractic care to a number of such models. In my experience, they all love getting adjusted.

Thank you to the 2 Miami Beach chiropractors that assisted in providing chiropractic care to models visiting Miami during preparations for the 2008 show. I was impressed that through e-mails and cell phone calls, we were able to coordinate chiropractors in Los Angeles, New York City, and Miami Beach. More on that story another time.

By Michael Dorausch, DC

Here is another car related post, and although I am a chiropractor (and yes this is a chiropractic blog) I’ve been a car enthusiast since I was old enough to put Hot Wheels in my mouth. I’m sure they’ve changed the paint they used back in those days.

Tuesday, planetchiropractic.com had news regarding the world premiere of the 2010 Ford Mustang at the LA Auto Show. There was great anticipation to see the latest version of this classic muscle car, and I was pretty excited to put my hands behind the wheel (in the Mustang garage set up at the convention center), and snap some photos. Let’s take a look.

With the hood up, you can check out the 4.6 L 3 valve-per-cylinder V8 engine. As Ford says, this 2010 Mustang GT Coupe is the essential Mustang, with bold styling that remains true to its proud heritage. The signature exterior look is accented by Red Candy paint.

Baby Got Back. The 2010 features a muscular GT spoiler and premium 19 inch painted wheels with low profile tires. A dramatic glass roof (I didn’t take a full roof photo) provides unique look and gives both the driver and passengers and open sky feeling when cruising day or night.

Notice the dual stainless steel exhaust tips on the rear of the vehicle, making a bold statement and contributing to the signature sound of this eager pony. The sequential LED tail lamps are unmistakably Mustang.

With the driver side door open, you get a glimpse of the Fire Orange interior, which has Cashmere accents, and surrounds occupants with the comfort of natural grain leather trimmed seats. In the photo above, you can also see the rear 19 inch painted wheel with low-profile tire.

Fire Orange leather trimmed steering wheel (which includes convenient redundant controls), and five-speed manual transmission, and an optional Shaker 1000 audio system, which includes an AM/FM radio, and in-dash 6 disc CD changer with MP3 capability.

From this angle you can get a peek of the rear seats as well as the two leather trimmed front seats. The front driver’s seat has six way power control for maximum comfort and proper ergonomics (your chiropractor will like that).

The entire Ford Mustang display (Mustang Garage) at the Los Angeles Convention Center was wicked hot. Computers and flatscreen monitors everywhere, custom wheel in fabric options, and several smoking hot 2010 Ford Mustangs.

I also photographed a Smoke Gray 2010 convertible GT, a Kona Blue V6 convertible, a Red GT convertible, and a few photos showing the garage and optional packages. I will post the entire set to Flickr and will replace this with the link.

By Michael Dorausch, DC

Depending on the chiropractor, chances are they’ll show up in the office this Halloween Friday in some sort of Halloween costume. I know that my staff will be dressing up, and I’ll probably be taking advantage of the Friday opportunity to dress casual, showing up as a surfer, or something else easy and comfortable to wear in the office.

I’ve joked before about Halloween costumes that wouldn’t be a good idea for chiropractors to wear, and I thought I’d expand on that list with some photos. Leave now if you lack a sense of humor.

Here’s my list of five Halloween costumes that probably wouldn’t be well-suited for chiropractic practitioners…

1) Edward Scissorhands

Unless the only thing your chiropractor is doing on Halloween is shredding old patient files, the Edward Scissorhands costume is probably not the best choice.

2) Freddy Krueger (photo courtesy costumzee)

Aside from scaring the heck out of the majority of people visiting someone’s chiropractic office, my instinct says having six-inch long razor blade fingernails while palpating someone’s back, is not too smart.

3) Michael Myers - Halloween (photo courtesy buycostumes.com)

Hey, the jumpsuit is a nice idea for casual Friday, but the ginormous kitchen knife is probably a comfort killer for anyone coming in to receive a relaxing spinal adjustment. Kind of difficult to comfortably lay face down when you know someone’s got a big blade in their left hand. Gives new meaning to the often heard complaint “doc I’ve got this knifelike pain in my shoulder blade.”

4) Captain Hook (image courtesy buycostumes.com)

This one isn’t so scary as the others and the one bonus is that stainless steel hook could be used to remove that massive blade stabbed into the spine by Mr. Myers. Other than that, not too functional to go about correcting spinal subluxations with a hook for a hand.

5) Wolverine (from X-Men)

This costume wouldn’t be too hard to pull off. Find yourself a jean jacket, flannel shirt, old motorcycle jacket pair of jeans, big belt buckle, oh and six razor-sharp retracting claws, and you could pretty much have this costume mastered. For pretty much the same reasons as those mentioned above; razor-sharp hands, claws, butcher knives, and scissors, are probably not the best among choices for chiropractor Halloween costumes. Something soft and cuddly like the Easter Bunny would be a better choice.

Thanks to Susan Esparza, Jennifer Kushell, and Carrie Hill for costume idea input.

By Michael Dorausch, DC

Chiropractor Patrick Gentempo Jr. came out to Orange County and spoke at the DCS clubhouse last night in Newport Beach. The event, which is typically held on a Wednesday night, was instead this time held on a Tuesday, and I believe it was well worth the trip for all that attended (not many drove further than me to be there).

Dr. Patrick Gentempo, Jr. speaking to the DCS audience

There were the traditional goodies available at the gathering, and thanks to traffic being light and my getting there early, I had some time to speak with local chiropractic students from nearby chiropractic colleges.

Meet Frank Zermeno and Donna Sapiandante, future chiropractors.

The two chiropractic students shown above or part of the World Congress of Chiropractic Students. A group of us spoke about raising funds so large groups of students could attend the yearly conference, which will be in New Zealand in 2009. We are going to help them raise $40,000 so that students from both Cleveland Chiropractic College in Los Angeles and Kansas City can attend.

This is the kind of stuff I did in chiropractic school when I was a student. I was fortunate to be helped by numbers of chiropractors when I was in school. People like Drs. Ian Grassam, Fred Barge, James Sigafoose, Danita Thomas Heagy, Luis Ocon (and many others) assisted my classmates and myself to get the most out of our years as chiropractic students. I believe it’s our responsibility as chiropractors to continue paying it forward and find ways to support current and incoming chiropractic students.

This is Edgar with BJ Palmer

The photo above is of Edgar, he keeps things going at DCS. I noticed Dr. Bill last night was picking up napkins and leftover pizza trash (chiropractors clean up after yourselves) but Edgar is the guy that keeps the technology rolling in the clubhouse. You can usually find him at the video camera or somewhere near the back of the room. He is a great person and does a lot to help keep DCS ticking.

Last month DCS featured Dr. Fred Schofield, speaking on the dynamics of energy. In August it was Miami chiropractor Joe Accurso who was on the stage. I posted some business cards from the August meeting, I’ll be posting the ones I received last night sometime later this week. I love that chiropractors are gathering together in Southern California for events like these. It helps us to get to know our local DCs, build friendships, and make better suited referrals.

If you’re in Southern California and not attending DCS meetings you are really missing out. I’ve spoken to representatives from the CCA that have been in attendance, representatives of the ACA that have been in attendance, and representatives of the ICAC that have been in attendance. Dr. Bill and the rest of the DCS crew are doing an incredible job in bringing a diversified group of chiropractors together for a singleness of purpose.

By Michael Dorausch, DC

Last nights TACA event to raise money and awareness towards curing autism was a huge success. The St. Regis hotel was full of festivities and there was lots of fun had by those in attendance. Below is a sampling of photos from the nights event.

Chiropractic Assistant Rose Arteaga & Skateborad Pro Ryan Sheckler
At age 18 Sheckler is sporting some serious bling.

Michelle Lau & Tony Hawk
Professional Poker Player Michelle Lau with world class Pro Skateboarder Tony Hawk. That’s Lance Armstrong to the left.

Chiropractors Claudia Anrig & Jeanne Ohm
Drs. Claudia Anrig and Jeanne Ohm were in attendance representing the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association (ICPA).

Lance Armstrong & Michael Dorausch
7 time Tour de France winning Lance Armstrong with Planet Chiropractic founder Michael Dorausch

Jenny McCarthy
Jenny addressing event attendees. I’ve meet many celebrities and Jenny is one of the few that is even more attractive in person than she is on film or in print. She is a force to be reckoned with and is totally commited to educating others about Autism as well as risks involved with current vaccination policies.