Alzheimer’s: potential new blood test
October 14, 2007
When we were young, our parents were the definition of knowledge and know how, competent and capable as they navigated daily life. We relied on their guidance, we were safe and secure in their care. Now our parents are becoming elderly, and we are beginning to take care of them in ways that are both subtle and obvious.
And sometimes we begin to notice changes in their personality or the ability to recall with accuracy the events of the day or people they have known for decades. While we would like to attribute these changes to the elderly aging process, in the back of our minds we worry — could it be the first signs of Alzheimer’s disease.
Up until now, there has not been a definitive test to determine if someone is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. Some of the early symptoms that can be a precursor to Alzheimer’s can actually be the result of other causes, including the simple fact of getting older.
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Al Gore Nobel Peace Prize blog speech video
October 13, 2007
Former US Vice President and environmental activist Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have been awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to raise awareness and educate the global community on the threat of global warming.
Al Gore posted this on his blog:
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TV Land: Classic TV, music and movies for boomers
October 11, 2007
Emmy award winning for Outstanding Achievement in Enhanced Television TV Land has relaunched its TV Land network website to create the ultimate online entertainment destination for boomers.
TV Land President Larry W. Jones offers this explanation for the decision behind the redesign and focus of TV Land’s website, “TVLand.com is evolving beyond classic TV into an entertainment destination targeting a generation. The revitalized TVLand.com site will give viewers seeking fun-filled entertainment targeted to their age group an experience that goes above and beyond classic TV and into music, games, movies and original TV Land Productions.”
What can a boomer expect to find in the way of classic television shows at TV Land.com?
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PostSecret: A Lifetime of Secrets
October 11, 2007
There are secrets — and then there are secrets. All secrets are intensely private by nature. However, the paradoxical universality of secrets is that secrets secretly want to be spoken, want to be known, if only there were a safe way to reveal the secret. How to reveal a secret and keep it secret. Enter PostSecret.
PostSecret began three years ago as an art experiment. Intrigued by other people’s secrets, Frank Warren began publishing the blog PostSecret where a postcard with a secret revealed is sent in anonymously and then published online. Most of the postcards sent in are a collage of images and words. The award-winning PostSecret blog has evolved into four published books in collections of anonymously and decoratively created postcard secrets.
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Great American Beer Festival
October 11, 2007
Listed as one of the 1,000 places in the US to visit before you die, the annual granddaddy of all US beer fests Great American Beer Festival will serve over 1,800 beers from 474 American breweries to this year’s 40,000 plus attendees.
The beer festival hosts a tasting competition. Gold, silver and bronze medals are awarded at the end of the three-day festival. A few of the new entries this year include Pumpkin Beer, Other Low Strength Ale or Lager, Gluten Free Beer, American-Style Sour Ale, Wood and Barrel-Aged Sour Beer, and American-style Imperial Stout.
In addition to beer taste testing, celebrity chefs will hold seminars and demonstrations on the culinary art of cooking with beer.
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Tea: good and good for you
October 10, 2007
It’s no secret that enjoying a cup of tea has healthy benefits. Tea is full of antioxidants, has less caffeine than coffee, and is just darn tasty. An article in USA Today reminds us all of just how good it is for us.
The article talks about numerous studies done over the years documenting the health benefits of tea drinking.
One study showed that ingesting tea polyphenols, chemical substances found in plants that have antioxidant characteristics, can protect against cancer. Mice were given tea instead of water and the results were the inhibition of prostate cancer cells. The polyphenols were also able to protect against skin cancer in tested mice.
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Frozen Pot Pie Recall: Illness linked to pot pies
October 10, 2007
A salmonella outbreak that has sickened 139 People in 30 States has been linked to brand name and store-brand name frozen chicken and turkey pot pies. ConAgra Foods has voluntarily stopped production at its Missouri plant where the Banquet pot pies are produced after health officials linked the recent food poisoning illnesses to the frozen pot pies.
According to ConAgra, its frozen pot pies are safe if cooked at the proper temperature and length of time. The cooking instructions are printed on the frozen pot pie box. Salmonella bacteria is killed after the food reaches a hot enough temperature. However, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is advising consumers to simply throw out the frozen pot pies or return them to the store where they were purchased.
The frozen pot pie recall involve products with P-9 printed on the side of the box.
Sweet Potato Pie: Good for you pie recipe
October 10, 2007
Sunshine on a Summer day: A given.
Sunshine on a late Fall day: A gift given.
I won’t be hanging around indoors today. But before I go, let’s talk sweet potatoes and Sweet Potato Pie.
Did you know that it takes 23 cups of broccoli to equal the same amount of beta carotene found in one cup of sweet potatoes? Sweet.
Here is information about the health benefits of sweet potatoes, as well as a delicious sweet potato pie recipe.
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Mushroom Festival: Mushroom Soup and Chanterelle Pasta Recipes
October 10, 2007
Mushrooms. A magical fungi with the ability to help you enter the realm of Gods? Mushrooms. The food offering immortality? Mushrooms. A food attributed with super human strength and in addition, could help you find lost objects? In ancient times, mushrooms were so prized as to inspire mushroom rituals.
September is National Mushroom Month. In these modern times mushrooms are still held in high regard. In the Mushroom Capital of the World, a two-day celebration of mushrooms is hosted in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. The 22nd annual Mushroom Festival features a mushroom soup cook-off, mushroom farm tours, and a variety of live entertainment — all to raise public awareness about the tasty goodness and health benefits of mushrooms.
Following is a bit of mushroom folklore, mushroom fact and a delicious mushroom soup recipe.
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Ed Begley: Living with Ed new season
October 10, 2007
HGTV’s green living reality television show Living with Ed, chronicling the walk the talk eco-friendly lifestyle of Ed Begley and his wife Rachelle, is back for a new season of great television.
This season, Begley visits with friends Jay Leno, Jackson Browne, Bill Nye the Science Guy, Daryl Hannah, Bradley Whitford and Jane Kaczmarek, Sharon Lawrence and Everybody Loves Raymond co-creator Phil Rosenthal.
As an environmentalist, Ed rates being a pedestrian on foot as his first choice in transportation; uses the city bus; drives an electric car; and lives in a modest solar-powered house in an unpretentious neighborhood of Los Angeles.
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