13: Mr. Joshua

There is a scene in the movie Lethal Weapon where, in an effort to illicit fear and demonstrate the infinite loyalty of his people, General Peter McAllister (main bad guy/Head of "Shadow Company") has his sociopath henchman Mr. Joshua (the glorious Gary Busey) hold a lighter under his own forearm. Mr. Joshua keeps a straight and steady gaze on the gentleman they are trying to threaten/scare while his arm burns. He holds still and emotionless for an impossibly long time, thereby demonstrating the lengths to which he is willing to go for his boss and, therefore, that he and his boss are not the type of fellows you'd want to cross.



In many prenatal classes (and generally, amongst the birthing crowd) there is a commonly mentioned exercise which involves holding an ice cube in the palm of your hand for five minutes. It's apparently excruciating and, in spite of appearances, not meant as a determinant of ones pain tolerance for childbirth but rather an exercise which will enlighten you to how you are likely to react and manage (or mismanage) pain stimulus.

L and I are scheduled to take an all-day intensive prenatal class in a couple of weeks and I'd like to opt out of the ice cube exercise in lieu of the one with an open flame - just to break up the monotony of the class.