Monthly Archives: October 2009

What’s Really Scary

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Tomorrow is Halloween. I’ll be at the Dayton House for part of the evening, handing out candy to kids and trying not to get nervy because the Victorian-era home, restored to its period decor, was once a nursing home and probably plenty of people died there.

But there are real scares too. And I’d like to add a bit to Wednesday’s warning against quackery of all kinds, this time related to a very cool scientific concept that is in practice, rather scary: radiation.

Radiation-related accidents have killed people. (Here‘s a dramatization of two accidents featuring John Cusack.)

But radiation-related quackery has also killed people. Read the sad story of Eben Byers, whose doctor prescribed Radithor, a "medicine" water that contained radium. His skull developed holes and his brain was abscessed when he died.

And radon, that stuff we’re supposed to test for in houses? People used to think it had positive effects if it was added to drinking water. How about some radium bread or radioactive toothpaste? No? All right, want some uranium with your cigarettes? Or some radioactive face cream? Bath salts?

Here’s a museum of quack radiation treatments. Read, and gasp in horror.

Forget Frankenstein. This stuff was really scary. Sometimes it surprises me the human race has survived as long as we have.

Victimizing Cancer Patients

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"Evil" is a hard word to define and a strong word to use, but it’s hard not to use it to describe people who prey on the vulnerable or helpless, from babies, to puppies, to people suffering with a potentially terminal illness.

Last night I was appalled to learn there is an entire industry that exists for the sole purpose of taking advantage of cancer patients.

I was reading Quackwatch, a highly-praised, nationally-acclaimed website dedicated to debunking pseudoscientific health claims. Quackwatch is pretty much Snopes, but for health information, and it’s run by an actual credentialled doctor. It is highly reputable.

This page, "A Special Message to Cancer Patients Seeking "Alternative" Treatments," filled me with disgust, and additionally, made me want to cry and/or break somebody’s knees. The list of questionable cancer treatments alone, some of which claim they cure 100% of all cancers, is horrific. And considering some of the "treatments" can not only not cure your cancer, but can burn off your nose (warning: ghastly, ghastly photos in this link!) or break your bones? I hesitate to use the word "evil," but surely, surely this type of quackery is it.

The worst danger in quackery, however, is that a practitioner will convince you not to use conventional medicine such as radiation, chemotherapy or surgery to fight your cancer. Some practitioners will not just give you treatments that do not work; they will actively attempt to persuade you not to use treatments that are proven to work, using arguments like these. Some of them will even claim there’s a conspiracy to suppress cancer cures.

Some of these people actually believe in their therapies and remedies, but others do not and are simply out to make a fast buck by taking advantage of people in desperate, terrifying circumstances.

If you or a loved one has cancer, concerns about immunization, or even if you simply wish to be well-informed about alternative medicine (which is good, which is bad and which is neither), please check out Quackwatch. You could save a life, or even just a nose.

Let There Be Light

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It was a sunny, beautiful day outside in Worthington today, but none of that glorious sunlight spilled into our newsroom. Our windows are very high, and the blinds have been down for as long as anyone on the news staff can remember.

It was almost like they builders of the Globe were afraid reporters might wither away if exposed to direct sunlight. This is not true. (We may melt if put in direct contact with water, especially if it’s from a bucket thrown by a girl from Kansas. Fortunately this doesn’t come up very often.)

Actually, it was just that nobody wanted to climb up onto a cabinet to reach the blinds. I for one am afraid of heights, and wobbling all over the place on top of a cabinet is definitely not on my agenda, ever. Today, though, plucky reporter Laura Grevas took the initiative and opened up the blinds, climbing on top of a desk and then on a cabinet in order to reach.

Sunlight filled up the whole office, even though only one window’s blinds had been removed.

Unfortunately, actual sunlight seems to be addictive. We all wanted more sunlight, even though the last thing Laura wanted was to stay up on her precarious perch on the cabinet.

Fortunately, our blinds are pretty much like every other set of blinds. They have loops on the bottom of the string used to open and close them. So I took a long-handled duster (which barely, barely reached), caught the loop, and gently tugged the blinds.

Now we have four sets of blinds open, and we were even able to turn off four of our fluorescent lights, which makes us more energy efficient and cost effective.

And we get to see the actual sky from our desks, too.

Today, it’s blue.

Love, Sex and Marriage in 1962

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Yet again, I had to explain to my coworkers why I was giggling hysterically in the middle of the workday, lest they think I’m insane and decide to call some nice young men in plain white coats to take me away.

Actually, they may already know I’m crazy.

In this case, it really wasn’t my fault. Someone found a 1962 textbook, likely intended for a high school health or sex ed class, called "When You Marry," and scanned and posted it online. Thoughtfully, the scanner also added her own comments on the wacky text.

Warning: The original text is very, very far from being politically correct, given that it addresses such hot topics as interracial marriage (in terms which were then acceptable and are now incredibly offensive) and correct behavior for wives. And the text of the comments is decidedly irreverent. If you’re easily offended, you will be offended by it.

But here it is: "When You Marry." The author is planning to do weekly updates, which I for one certainly look forward to.

And here’s a bonus link, in case you thought your own office’s hijinks were funny.

Out with the Old Y, In with the New Y

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Being a reporter sometimes seems like the best job in the world, because occasionally I get to experience things most people never get to do, like flying in a B-17 plane from World War II. That was the closest to being Superman I’ll ever get. Once, I got to ride in a hovercraft, grinning like a maniac while the thing sped from the parking lot to the icy lake to the open waters without a pause.

Last week I got a sneak peek at the new YMCA and aquatic center at Worthington’s Minnesota West Community and Technical College, and I spent most of the tour wriggling in excitement like a five-year-old at a county fair. Fortunately, I had the video camera’s tripod along with me, so my footage wasn’t filmed in Wobble-O-Vision.

To see the video, and get a sneak peek of the new YMCA, go to http://www.dglobe.com/event/videos/.

You’ll be hearing a lot about the new YMCA this week from the Daily Globe, and you’ll be seeing some gorgeous photos too, because I took the tour along with the Globe’s photographer, Brian Korthals. He probably thinks I’m crazy, going around a huge YMCA with a video camera and grinning like an idiot.

But I go to the YMCA every weekday for a swim. I’ve lost more than 20 pounds, my blood pressure has gone down, and I now have actual muscles in my arms for the first time in 10 years. The people at the Y have been wonderful and supportive, staff and members alike. I even enjoy the giggly, occasionally shrieking little girls who sometimes share the locker room with the adults.

The new YMCA will mean a lot to a lot of people in Worthington and Nobles County.

I could go on for hours about the ginormous gymnasium, the kid-friendly children’s gym, the locker rooms with actual shower curtains or the spacious workout room with all the equipment I have no idea how to use (but I’m sure 10 helpful Y members would explain to me the moment I asked) but what really caught my attention was the pool. The pool is in a much larger room, and has six lanes (up from four), a diving board, a climbing wall and two water slides, one for adults and older kids and one, shaped like a frog, for the pre-school set. There are even a few little fountains in the kids’ part of the pool.

When I went swimming on Friday, something on the old YMCA’s roof had gone wrong and it was raining into the pool. Actually, it was like someone had opened a faucet from the ceiling, and water from that day’s rain and snow was pouring into the pool. They were talking about going up to the roof and checking on it when I wandered out of the building after my (rainy) swim.

In its time, the old YMCA meant a lot to a lot of people too. But as one of the newer Y members, I’m looking forward to the unrainy ceiling, the temperature-controlled locker rooms and the pool large enough that we don’t have to swim two to a lane most days.

And pretty soon, the new YMCA’s halls, too, will be echoing with the sound of giggling and occasionally, shrieking children, just as it should be.

Popcorn, the Website?

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We got a bag of free popcorn in the mail this week, from popcorn.org.

It was rather curiously labelled, with the name of the website prominently displayed, right over a note that popcorn was "whole grain." Well, yes, popcorn is whole grain. It’s always been whole grain. You put the (whole) grain in the microwave or popper, and pop it. It explodes. You eat it.

It seems very odd to me to advertise popcorn as whole grain, like advertising a car "with wheels." Well yes it has wheels, it’s a car fer cryin’ out loud.

Popcorn.org is telling the truth about one thing, though: popcorn is a comparatively healthy snack, provided you don’t put butter or salt on it (or at least keep the bad stuff to a minimum). And unlike most healthy snacks (in my opinion at least), it actually tastes good.

On a rainy, snowy, cold and icky day like today, a hot snack seems like a good idea. I’ve already had my popcorn fix for today, but when I get home I might fix a cup of cocoa, chai or decaf coffee to sip with a piece of toast.

Toast is good on days like this.

 

Did I Just Kill 17 Million People? Oopsie!

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I committed mass murder by accident this morning.

Someone linked me this educational game that’s supposed to teach you how difficult it is to manage a pandemic flu situation. Essentially, you get to make policy decisions and then watch an illness spread, or not spread, across the globe. You can try it with different types of illnesses that spread in different ways and at different speeds.

But I haven’t really managed to get a few minutes together and sit down and try the game.

This morning, I clicked on the link and selected a virus, thinking I’d try the game out before I linked it here, and then I got distracted by more productive work (checking the comments on the website, catching up on the news from the past 10 hours or so).

When I looked back at The Great Flu, 17,000,000 people had died.

…maybe I should read the instructions first.

Almost Perfect But Not Quite

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I didn’t practice my guitar enough this week because I was ill, but I’m also running up against some other problems.

I’m too much of a perfectionist and I’m having trouble forcing myself to practice when it sounds, frankly, awful. I also don’t seem to get my darn hand to be able to do what I want it to. I keep playing from the wrist, and then I play from my lower knuckles, when I need to play apparently with my actual fingers.

And my fargin’ fingers will not stay nice and curved, but flatten out improperly after just a few seconds of fingerpicking.

More practice would benefit me the most, but apparently instead of trying to learn everything at once, I should play the song first and then focus on alternating my first two fingers.

(We decided I want to learn how to play classical guitar, because although I love the way rock guitar sounds, I really like finger picking best, which is apparently more of a classical guitar thing.)

I also need to learn how to tune the guitar, and we started working on that a little bit tonight. I’m starting to (slightly) be able to tell whether notes are too high or too low, whereas before I could only tell that they were wrong. Being slightly tone-deaf is not going to help me here, but that too probably just requires practice.

Anyway. It’s been interesting and fun so far, and I’m looking forward to being able to play more than six notes. If any of you folks who play the guitar have any advice, please feel free to pass it along.

I need all the help I can get.

Wild Times at the Roof Garden

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The list of performers at the Roof Garden from the 1950s to 1987 reads like a who’s who of rock and roll.

I kept my article on Tom Tourville’s fantastic presentation about the Roof Garden short, but I could have listed literally dozens of groups that performed at the venue in little Arnolds Park, Iowa, many of whom are still famous today.

Even though I grew up on a steady diet of "oldies," though, I had to admit I’d never heard of a lot of the groups before. Then I looked them up, and immediately recognized the songs.

Here’s a partial list of the rock bands that played at the Roof Garden.

Group name links to Wikipedia; song name links to the song on YouTube. I found some with the bands playing, but others are photo slideshows and in one case, a cartoon of Betty Boop.

Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps, famous for "Be-Bop-a-Lula."

The Everly Brothers (actually came to the Roof Garden every year for 7 straight years), famous for "Bye, Bye, Love," "Cathy’s Clown," and "All I Have to Do Is Dream," among others.

Jerry Lee Lewis, famous for "Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On," "Great Balls of Fire," and marrying his 13-year-old cousin.

The Champs, famous for "Tequila."

Johnny Cash, famous for… well, "Ring of Fire" and about everything else he ever did.

Bobby Vee, famous for "Take Good Care of My Baby," "Rubber Ball," and "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes." And lots more.

The Fabulous Flippers, who apparently were more of a regional group, but they were popular enough that Roof Garden Ballroom operator Darlowe Olesen said they were like "a reason to print money." Here’s "Tell the Truth."

The Outsiders, famous for "Time Won’t Let Me."

Cannibal and the Headhunters, one of the first Mexican-American groups to have a hit, famous for "Land of 1000 Dances."

Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs, famous for "Wooly Bully" and "L’il Red Riding Hood," though apparently the group changed quite a bit between those two songs.

Shangri-Las, famous for "Leader of the Pack."

The Yardbirds, with Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page, although Clapton wasn’t in it at that point, famous for "For Your Love."