Things I Learned Watching WALL-E
I saw the movie WALL-E over the weekend and really liked it. It's one of those movies that appeals to the whole family, which studios seem to be getting the hang of lately.
If you haven't seen WALL-E, I won't ruin it for you. But it's safe to say it may leave you feeling like taking a run around the block and picking up trash as you go.
I know it's just a movie, but by taking some current societal trends to extremes, the animated feature makes some excellent points:
-Take care of the things you have, including your health and your body.
-Be an avid learner with the goal of not relying on computers to answer every question for you.
-Never underestimate the power of love.
Happy movie watching and let me know what you thought of WALL-E.
Labels: movies
Transistor Versus I-Pod
I've saved a few boxes of things I loved as a kid. I still have my old pointe shoes from when I took ballet classes, my track cleats from when I ran sprints in high school, and an autograph baseball from the Hawaii Islanders, a Pacific Coast League baseball team my Dad used to run in the 1960s and '70s.
I've been waiting to share some of these things with my son, and that moment came over the weekend. He loved picking out treasures from long ago that have been stored in the attic for years. An old wallet of mine, my first transistor radio, one of the first watches I was ever given.
But along with his excitement, what really struck me is how the world has changed in the years since I was six years old, the age of my son now. Most kids today carry I-Pods, not little AM-FM radios. My old wrist watch needs to be wound, and most kids today wear one that needs a battery.
Don't get me wrong. I think the majority of the advances in technology have been wonderful. But I wonder if something is being lost in our world of rapid technological change, and cell phones for kids in grade school.
One of my son's favorite discoveries from the box was my old microscope and glass slides. He's spent parts of the last few days looking at animal blood and tiny creatures on the slides. They still hold the same fascination for me today as they did when I was a child. And I was thrilled to find my son loved them just as much.
That got me thinking: Have our children lost some of that sense of discovery that I remember so well from when I was a child? Are they so used to accessing information and staying connected that they're no longer really exploring the possibilities and the world around them?
I think that may be happening. It may not be all bad. But I want to make sure that when my son is my age, he'll have an eclectic box of treasures to go through that will contain more than just old electronics. My hope for him is that he'll have the imagination to want to try a wide variety of activities that involve more than just acquiring the gadget-of-the-moment.
I found an old Jim Croce tape in my box, along with my first tape recorder that my parents gave me for Christmas when I was about 12 years old. So, I apparently was listening to the I-Pod of the day. But the rest of the things in the box remind me that a child's world should contain more than music, or the current, hot pop-culture item.
It should also include things like stamps, old coins, maybe even an old microscope; simple treasures that will still fascinate kids decades from now, just as my old treasures from years ago fascinated my son.
Labels: I-Pod, pop-culture
Gardening: Health and Hazards
Gardening is one of my favorite hobbies, and it just so happens, it's also good for your health.
Here's a picture of my impatients this year. This pot of flowers is on my deck. I went with bright pinks on the backyard deck this year and a red and yellow geranium and marigold theme in the front yard.
Numerous studies have proven that just working in the yard can contribute to your overall fitness.
One study in 2000 showed just gazing on a pretty landscape can improve your health.
With all of the overwhelming evidence of how it's good for you, I was interested to find a CDC web page that talked about the hazards of gardening.
Here are some of the dangers and how to avoid them:
LAWN MOWERS: In 2004, about 67,000 people went to the emergency room with injuries caused by push mowers, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. 14,600 were hurt on riding lawn mowers and garden tractors. Be asure to wear sturdy shoes, long pants, and even consider protective glasses and something to protect your hearing.
SUNBURN: It's one of those things you don't think about. Maybe you bent down to pick a weed or two, and then two hours go by without you realizing how long you'd been in the sun. The best advice I've heard about sunscreen is from SLU dermatologist Dr. Dee Anna Glaser. She says she puts sunscreen on first thing in the morning, say after brushing your tetth. Then if you unexpectedly find yourself outside for a longer period of time than you had planned, you're protected. And find a good hat and wear it. I got one with SPF protection for a trip to Hawaii a few years ago, and still wear it.
INSECTICIDES AND WEED KILLERS: They come in such easy-to-handle spray bottles now, but you have to remember that's not glass cleaner in there. Wear gloves to keep chemicals off your hands and don't breathe in fumes.
BUGS: MOSQUITOES AND TICKS: Last week on several Newschannel Five newscasts we reported the discovery of mosquitoes carrying West Nile virus. No human cases have been reported yet, but with the discovery of the virus in mosquitoes, it's just a matter of time. Protect yourself by wearing insect repellant or long sleeves and long pants. I've gotten in the habit of doing this, and I'm sure the neighbors are wondering why I'm all covered up in the heat of summer. Keep in mind, last year, the state of Illinois reported 101 human cases of West Nile virus, four of them fatal. Repellant can also keep ticks from biting. They also carry diseases that can make you sick.
With all of this said, get out in the garden and enjoy! Summer has just begun, but it will be gone before you know it.
Labels: gardening, safety
Mini Food: Pros and Cons
I love those little 100 calorie food packages. I think it's a great way to sometimes get a sinful treat in moderation. You can't go wrong with 100 calories, right?
Here's a little picture of some of the snacks in my desk. Two are 100 calorie products: Doritos and blueberry muffins. So you can see, I really do enjoy these kinds of snacks from time to time.
The idea was sparked by an interview with a dietitian. Samantha Comte with St. Anthony's Medical Center brought a number of snacks to an interview we did on healthy snacks in schools in 2007.
Among those she recommended, even in place of a birthday cake? Caramel apples, caramel or chocolate dip for fruit, even low-fat pudding in 100 calorie packs.
"You know, you can bring in 100 calorie snack packs of cookies or chips or different things and really just being creative with your ideas and talking to people involved is probably going to be the best bet."
I am on-board with this idea. A few Doritos have always tasted better than the whole bag.
But apparently, that's where the trouble can start.
Rita Rubin, medical reporter for USA Today newspaper, writes in her blog at http://blogs.usatoday.com/betterlife/ about research done on those little bags.
It seems dieters like the idea of the mini foods too, but tend to eat all of the little bags in one sitting. It's an interesting column, and interesting research.
Dieters appear to be more vigilant about serving sizes when they come from bigger bags because they know the hazards of all of those calories. Labels: diet, food, snacks
Four-Legged Stress Busters
According to a story published exclusively on Newsweek magazine's web site, research shows owning a pet can reduce stress, high blood pressure and even help those who've had heart attacks live longer.
For once, here's a simple way to improve your health that doesn't mean changing what you consume or how you move. It's also one of the reasons we got a new addition to our family eight months ago.
Meet Ginger. She's our family's standard Poodle and she just turned one on Tuesday.
She looks full grown, (all 60 pounds of her) but she's still very much of a puppy. Her top choices for a toy: a loaf of bread, socks, my sons Legos, and any leash she can get her paws on.
In October of last year, we brought Ginger home. She's named after the first dog I ever had, a mutt who my parents brought home when I was four years old.
And while she's certainly brought us companionship and love, I was glad to read an update about the many health benefits that can come with owning a pet. It's additional evidence that pets can add so much to our lives.
Ginger's become my running partner, exercise I rarely got before her arrival. So, I'm definitely seeing a health benefit there.
But after not owning a dog for about five years, I am also rediscovering the human-pet bond that somehow does seem to lift your spirits. Ginger keeps us laughing, and reminds us about how the simple acts of a walk or a treat really can ease stress and take us outside of ourselves.
Send me a comment about your pet and whether you think your pet impacts your health.
Here's a link to the Newsweek web story:
http://www.newsweek.com/id/91445Labels: dogs, pets
Happy Birthday Forest Park!
Forest Park is 132 years old. It was officially dedicated on June 24, 1876.
Here is some Forest Park history from Forest Park Forever that may enhance your enjoyment of this jewel of St. Louis.
A large public ceremony was held the day the park was dedicated. 1876 was also the year our nation celebrated it's 100th anniversary.
A survey in 1874 showed Forest Park spanned 1,371 acres. Today, it's one of the largest urban parks in the country, 500 acres larger than New York's Central Park.
The park is famous for hosting the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, officially known as the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. The fair used the western half of Forest Park.
Interestingly, the World's Fair Pavilion was built after the fair. The Missouri State building, built specifically for the fair, once stood on the site. But it burned down on November 18, 1876, and since the fair was almost over it was not rebuilt. Above is a picture of the World's Fair Pavilion from the City of St. Louis web site.
In 1986, Forest Park Forever was formed. The private, non-profit organization's goal is to make Forest Park one of the finest urban parks in the country.
The first phase of the master plan to rehabilitate the park cost $94 million. Forest Park Forever raised more than half of the money needed and the City of St. Louis provided the balance through public funding.
Today, Forest Park Forever focuses on Park maintenance, education and outreach. You can find more fascinating history on the park and more about Forest Park Forever by visiting the web link below.
http://www.forestparkforever.org/HTML/index.html
Pregnancy Pact?
I find it interesting that there is so much controversy about whether there truly was a "pregnancy pact" in Gloucester, Massachusetts.
The Gloucester High School principal was quoted in Time magazine as saying 17 girls at the school who got pregnant this year planned to do it together. Now, the mayor of the town denies there was ever any "pregnancy pact" and even one of the pregnant high school girls told Good Morning America today that there was no agreement among the girls to all get pregnant at the same time. The principal is no longer talking.
The dissection of these events will likely go on for weeks, as it probably should. But where was the effort to address the problem of teen pregnancy at the school, regardless of whether there was a pact?
If 17 girls in one high school are pregnant, school leaders, parents, and community health experts should be working on addressing the emotions and attitudes that led to those pregnancies.
The former medical director of the health clinic at Gloucester High School and the former head nurse there say they had never heard of a pact. But they were well aware of the pregnancies among students. And it seems they were well aware of some of the aspects of the girl's daily lives that might put them at risk for pregnancy.
According to a news report in the New York Times, Dr. Brian Orr and Kim Daly said use of alcohol by the students, media influences, a lack of sex education and the weak economy were all contributing factors.
Shouldn't our attention, including media attention, focus more on teaching young women and men about leading healthy lives, both mentally and physically? We need to do a better job of teaching teens how to prepare for a future that gives them the best opportunity for success. And we shouldn't wait until 17 girls are pregnant at a single school before doing that.
Back To School...As Summer Begins
You may be working, raising kids, busy with your favorite charity, or all of the above. As busy as you are, this may also be the best time to consider goals you've always wanted to reach in life.
If you've thought about taking a class, finishing a degree or even starting one, I strongly urge you to look into it.
When I graduated from high school in Canada, I immediately enrolled in what they call "post-secondary education" north of the border. In the summer after my first year, I got a job at a radio station.
At the end of the summer, I was offered a full-time job in the news room if I stayed on. I was able to convince my parents that taking the job would be better for my broadcasting career plans than any "post-secondary education" could ever be.
So, I left school with the plan to finish my degree down the road. Many years passed, and I was fortunate to have many opportunities for advances in my career along the way.
But, in the mid 1990s, I yearned for that degree I'd never finished. So, while working full time, I went back to school.
Maryville University offered (and still does) a weekend college program that allowed me to complete my Communications degree.
I was one of the best things I've ever done. It was hard work. But I learned more, and got more out of learning, than I think I ever would have when I was 18 or 19 years old.
I wouldn't recommend any soon-to-be high school graduates follow my example. Young people need a degree to compete in today's world.
But if you've always wanted to go back to school, or start from scratch for that matter, don't let age or your schedule hold you back.
Many schools, including Maryville and even Washington University, offer educational opportunities that are affordable and flexible.
Don't worry about being the oldest in the class (I was many times) or that you haven't taken a test in years (believe me, it builds character.)
You can research many of these programs on-line. Or check out University College at Washington University this Wednesday.
University College will be serving free food at The Grind at 4239 Lindell Boulevard from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at an event called "Party With A Purpose." You can learn more about starting a degree, finishing one, or just taking courses.
Dream big, and learn. Two of the best things you'll ever do.
You can also visit www.ucollege.wustl.edu. for more on the Washington U. program, or http://www.maryville.edu/admissions/weekend.asp for more on Maryville's Weekend and Evening College.
Missing A Friend I Never Met
It will be one week ago tomorrow that I turned the key in my car, triggering the power to my satellite radio (tuned to CNN), and heard the announcement from Tom Brokaw that Tim Russert had died.
I felt like I'd lost a friend.
My son sitting in the back seat asked who had died.
Even as I said I told him who Tim Russert was, I couldn't comprehend not ever seeing him moderate N-B-C's Meet The Press again.
I never met Tim Russert, but I could tell through his insightful on-air analysis this presidential primary season that he was smart, funny, and a voice you could trust. That's a combination that can be difficult to find anywhere these days.
In the week since then, so many of us have wondered how someone so talented, full of life, and on top of his profession, but seemingly all aspects of his life, could be gone in just a moment.
His doctors and those who were with Tim the day he died say paramedics tried to shock his heart back into rhythm three times before he arrived at the hospital, but the defibrillation didn't work.
As the health reporter, I like to say I know just enough to scare you. So I hear the clinical aspects of Tim's death and I go through all of the scary things I've learned about heart disease: half of all people who have one die before getting to a hospital. A heart attack is the first symptom of heart disease in the majority of people who have one.
These are all statistics well documented on the American Heart Association and other health web sites.
But until it actually happens to someone like Tim Russert, you tend push it out of your mind. Now, for many of us, that is impossible.
He's left behind a son just starting his adult life, and a wife. He's left behind a career most of us can only dream of. And to hear it told, he was one of those people who approached each day with a positive, can-do attitude.
So while we wonder, and maybe even miss, a person we've never met, maybe we can also learn from Tim Russert's life. Learn more about how to face each day with a positive attitude, learn more about our risk factors for disease and how we can manage those under our control. And ultimately, learn how to show the people around us that we care for them so that when we are gone, they will remember us even half as fondly as Tim Russert is being remembered.
An Event You Must Experience
If you've never been to a Komen St. Louis Race for the Cure, make this year the year you attend.
I have been to many events, fundraisers, meetings, walks and races. But there is truly something special about this one.
Survivors in pink. Everyone with a smile on their face. Hugs. Running into old friends. Camaraderie. Hope.
Race day is a positive experience from start to finish, even if you don't run the race, or even walk one step of the one-mile fun walk.
Just come downtown this Saturday, June 21 and bask in the positive energy of people who know life is precious, unpredictable, and ultimately joyful.
500 Year Flood?
It's been 15 years since the flood of '93. But for anyone whose home or business was affected by the high water that summer, or anyone who covered the event in the media, in some ways it feels like yesterday.
I was one of the many reporters who spent countless days telling the story of the rising water, the massive sandbagging efforts, the heartache of lost homes, and the breaching of levees.
On August 1, 1993, I was on the air live at 3 a.m. in Carondelet Park with photojournalist Cecil Corbett broadcasting from a news conference where public safety officials were ordering the evacuation of homes along the River Des Peres. Then-St. Louis Fire Chief Clarence Harmon ordered hundreds of people to leave their homes after rising flood water ripped dozens of propane tanks from their moorings. There was concern the damage could lead to an explosion.
I also remember standing on Highway 40 overlooking the Chesterfield Valley, and viewing the unbelievable sight of flood water that had filled the valley and closed a main east-west artery.
It was an incredible summer, with incredible stories of human triumph and suffering from a flood that happened only ever 500 years. So we were told, and so we said on the air.
The summer of 2008 has not even officially started, and no one is talking about a flood of that proportion again this year. Yet it is amazing to me that once again we are watching rivers rise to levels classified as bringing major flooding. Makes you wonder about whether we'll have to revise the theory behind the 500 year flood.
Tomato Scare
The first death linked to suspected salmonella contamination of certain tomatoes has now been reported. A 67 year old man in Texas who had been fighting cancer came down with the infection that contributed to his death.
It's scary to think something that's supposed to be good for us can unknowingly make us sick and even be deadly. And it's especially scary for me, since I ate two tomato and mozzarella salads (which I love!) over the weekend.
I'm sure I would have been sick by now, if I had consumed a tainted tomato. And I am comforted by the fact that no illnesses have been reported in the state of Missouri so far.
But it's a good reminder that no food system is perfect, and washing fruits and vegetables before you eat them can help remove bacteria and contaminants that may have come home in your grocery bag.
At this point, it's important to note that investigators have yet to find the true source of the contamination. But many restaurants and supermarkets have already stopped selling or serving red plum, red Roma and round red tomatoes.
Since mid-April, 167 people in 17 states have been diagnosed with salmonella that has the same so-called genetic fingerprint. Finding the crop of tomatoes responsible may not be as easy.
Here's a little background about salmonella. The bacteria actually lives in the intestinal tracts of humans and other animals. And while it's safe there, it can make humans very sick when they eat foods contaminated with animal feces that contains the bacteria.
Symptoms in people include fever, diarrhea and abdominal cramps usually 12 to 72 hours after infection. The illness tends to last four to seven days.
