Blogs on More

Well Chris de Burgh was definitely on to something: Apparently men really are more attracted to women wearing red clothing, according to this Globe and Mail piece. Now that’s real science. If you’re about to try to get your partner’s attention over the candy bowl, hit a Hallowe’en party or just plain planning some shopping this weekend – keep it in mind.

Happy Hallowe’en!

A Conference Board of Canada study released this week placed Canada 10th of 16 countries in health and quality of health services. In the mid-90s we ranked 5th.

The study suggests the fall is at least in part related to how the Canadian system deals with chronic conditions, such as diabetes and cancer – and zeros in on the need for Canadians to make lifestyle changes.

From the Conference Board website: “Physical inactivity and poor eating habits are two other prominent risk factors for heart disease, cancer, and diabetes that Canadians need to do more about.”

Okay, okay, I’m going to dust off the treadmill. And break out the cauliflower.

enRoute magazine has released its list of Canada’s best new restaurants. I haven’t had the pleasure of eating at any of them, but I noticed the Fraser Café in Ottawa was mentioned for best soundtrack and I have eaten there, with pleasure. I also admit that I kind of am a sucker for this kind of list… I like to try new restaurants, but I also like to have an idea of what I’m in for.

Why do I bring this up today though, besides spreading the love? Because you can review and rate restaurants now right here on More.ca.  I’d love to know where you’re eating these days. (You can also review books, movies, travel attractions, and other arts events.)

From the University of Guelph: Red grapes really do help fight off breast cancer. The perhaps not so great news? Red grape juice works as well as wine. So you can’t entirely justify your wine habit.

A study from the John Innes Centre in Britain has found that a genetically modified purple tomato also may help protect against cancer: Cancer-prone mice fed the fruit lived significantly longer than animals fed a standard diet.

If you’re concerned about breast cancer, don’t miss our Breast Health Special section.

I was at a family funeral this weekend – one of “the grands” had died; the mother of my husband’s cousin’s wife (it sounds Byzantine, but we have been meeting at family dinners and events for years now).

This coupled with a comment from a colleague a few months  back that “all [her] friends’ parents are dying” brought me a moment of realization: this passing of the generational touch is perhaps part of what feeds into that sense of unease at midlife. As the generation of my parents’ starts to age in the non-celebratory sense of the word – get feebler, sicker – I feel that much more in contact with the need to make my time meaningful to me.

I’m not sure this will last that much past the funeral but today that’s what I’m thinking about.I guess it’s a bit of a cliché but – this actually is life too right?

So it seemed a good moment to share my recent find at the New York Times website:  The New Old Age blog. It’s a blog that covers news and information related to aging issues, as well as caregiving issues. Some of the information is, obviously, American-specific, but it’s worth checking out if you’re starting to struggle with this kind of issue.

I guess you could say that over the years I’ve had a kind of love-hate relationship with my breasts.

1973 – Being a trailing edge baby boomer, I was confounded when my elder sisters fought male chauvinism by burning their bras while I longed to fill one.

1991 – As 30^th birthday looms start to acknowledge that this is it and I’m not just a late bloomer. (Linda Lewis, you’re singing my song)

1996 – Eldest daughter is born and while I sometimes feel like my breasts are on display more frequently than a porn star, I embrace the miracle of nursing.

2004 – Have my first mammogram.  Initial apprehension over not having enough material for the technician to work with gives way to stronger emotion as I observe the other women in flimsy blue gowns, waiting their turn.  Odds are the news will be bad for one or two of these wives, mothers, friends. Get the “all clear” and feel rush of gratitude for what I have.  To paraphrase Elaine from Seinfeld, my breasts, though small, are real and healthy and therefore, spectacular.

You probably know that October is Breast Cancer Awareness month.  And if you’re like me, you might sometimes be a little weary of being “pinked”.  And that’s too bad because this year, 431 Canadian women will be diagnosed with breast cancer each week; because 102 Canadian women will die from breast cancer each week; and because breast cancer death rates have declined since the mid 1990’s – coincidentally just a couple of years after the first CIBC Run For The Cure took place.

We may be weary of the fight but the effort is making a difference.

[Guest blogger Karen Hamilton can also be found in our forums!]

There are two types of women in this world: those who enjoy seeing every detail of their face magnified numerous times, and those that don’t. If you fall into the former category, this post is for you.

Tweezerman has just launched a new Tweezermate 10x magnifying mirror, complete with suction cups for hands-free use and a mini spotlight for added clarity.

It’s an eyebrow plucker’s dream come true.

Even if you have brows that never need attending to (and if so, please submit yourself to science for further study), this is a great beauty box item for putting in contact lenses, applying makeup, or for just checking out the true state of your skin. Blackheads? Fine lines? Yup, there they are, in all their magnified glory. Sounds like a horror show, but let me tell you, I have lost hours of my life staring into this thing.

I like to use the mirror to see how a new product I’m using has affected my skin – are my pores looking smaller? Is that new “skin smoothing” serum really doing the trick? What ecosystem has started a new colony on that Jupiter-sized pimple on my chin?

I know I’m not the only one out there. One of my dearest friends saves her best plucking skills for international air travel, when she’s at high altitudes with “the best natural light you’re ever going to get for this task.”Pity the person next to her, but she’s got damn good brows, I assure you.

Perhaps they’ll start a support group for those of us who just can’t turn away from the harsh magnified truth, but in the meantime, I refuse to even admit I’ve got a problem.

www.tweezerman.com

On the heels of the study that reported on the way technology brings families together comes this article from the Globe and Mail discussing adolescents who become obsessed with online games – both the video action sort, and online gambling.  From the article:

“The kind of obsessive online behaviour reported by Brandon’s parents is what prompted clinicians at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto to launch Canada’s first holistic clinic specifically designed to treat adolescents addicted to gambling, the Internet and video games.”

The article outlines several signs that your teen might be in trouble:

• Grades are slipping.
• He or she is becoming socially insular.
• Your teen is stealing PIN and credit-card numbers and pretending to be an adult online.
• He or she refuses to tell you what he or she is doing online for hours and hours.

The good news? The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health is launching a holistic clinic in Toronto to treat this problem.
I want to know if there are programmes for adults as well: I come across discussions fairly often around husbands (and wives, but more commonly husbands) who choose to absent themselves from family life in favour of the latest battle on World of Warcraft or something similar.

Has Internet addiction touched your life? Share here, on the ‘net.

The short list for the Governor General‘s awards just came out – click through to see the full release.

I wanted to highlight that Nino Ricci’s Origin of the Species was included on the list, and of course our interview with Nino is available online right here.

I had the opportunity to hear Ricci speak a few years ago about his creative process and what stands out in my memory was how many times he rewrote the opening for Lives of the Saints. I’d recently been struggling with something myself and had prepared to give up on it, but his willingness to share about his own work gave me that last boost to go at it one more time. I also remember that he was very modest and came across as very- well – sweet.

I haven’t read any of the other books on the list but I think I’m going to have to start with Rivka Galchen’s Atmospheric Disturbances. Have you read any of the GG finalists? Or have any other books to share? You can share your review right here on More.ca!

Téa Leoni (who graces November’s cover of More, along with Sharon Stone and Jane Fonda) and David Duchovny made it official last week: the pair have separated. This week, rumours flew that Téa, 42, has a new flame: Billy Bob Thornton, who plays alongside her in the upcoming film Manure. (She also currently appears in Ghost Town, opposite Ricky Gervais.) However, Thornton denied the rumours yesterday. One thing for certain: Téa is a hot property.