Across the Great Divide

A Halfway Hallmark Moment.

I was at One on One Bike Studio today picking up my errand bike — this image comes from the show that's in their gallery right now — and found out that the "Satanic Mechanic" who built it out of scavenged parts about seven years ago is back among the living, clean and sober.

Let's just say such an outcome was highly doubtful a few years back. I'm glad he didn't give up and go under.

I got my money's worth from this bike, but because it was funky and cheap, it got more love than care. Recently, I had worked to bring it back from my own neglect. It has a new chain and fresh coat of paint, but just enough dents and rust left on the chrome fenders so it will be admired but not coveted.

I rode home today thinking, all is not lost just because things look bad. Now this bike seems like a gift he sent on ahead with a message he didn't even know was in it.

Russert, Potatoes and Joy.

This story delves into the factors that might have contributed to Tim Russert's fatal heart attack at age 58. Cardiologists disagree somewhat on whether his condition could have been predicted and his death prevented.

The signs were mixed, but on a lot of tests he came up okay:

There was no family history of heart attacks.  Though he had high blood pressure, drugs lowered it pretty well, said his internist, Dr. Michael A. Newman. His total cholesterol was not high, nor was his LDL, the bad type of cholesterol, or his  C-reactive protein, a measure of inflammation that is thought to contribute to plaque rupture. He did not smoke. At his last physical, in April, he passed a stress test, and his heart function was good. Dr. Newman estimated his risk of a heart attack in the next 10 years at 5 percent, based on a widely used calculator.

It didn't take a lab to tell Russert that he had one easily tracked risk factor. He was fat, and his form of exercise was an exercise bike, a particularly joyless form of pounding oneself into shape favored by TV junkies.

“You want to be sure your blood pressure and lipids are controlled, that you’re not smoking, and you have the right waist circumference,” Dr. Smith said.

The article doesn't mention stress, either.

For all his vaunted love of family and friends, Russert also exhibited characteristics of being a workaholic. Trust me, this is an observation, not a criticism. Give the man who loves his work the job of losing weight, and that's one daily task that may not get done. Not if a dinner at a steakhouse with a source is the alternative.

People like Russert simply don't have room in their lives for chores. Give them a healthy way to find joy, and they may have a fighting chance.

Lower Childhood Obesity in the Future? Fat Chance.

The New York Times has an article today saying:

Childhood obesity, rising for more than two decades, appears to have hit a plateau, a potentially significant milestone in the battle against excessive weight gain among children.

Its story has a graphic, but it's one of those boring bar charts.

It is not clear if the lull in childhood weight gain is permanent or even if it is the result of public anti-obesity efforts to limit junk food and increase physical activity in schools. Doctors noted that even if the trend held up, 32 percent of American schoolchildren remained overweight or obese, representing an entire generation that will be saddled with weight-related health problems as it ages.

Here's a more understandable infographic I came across somewhere awhile back.

   

Selling Air.

Via SCSU Scholars, why popcorn costs so much at the movies.

The clip is to promote a book on microeconomics and doesn't really answer the question, though it does provide some interesting information about popcorn pricing. You knew already that popcorn has a huge mark-up, but maybe not what accounts for the price differences and margins among the various sizes.

Marginal Revolution linked to the same video and attracted revealing comments from a former theater worker:

Popcorn kernels are cheap to buy and easy to store. Unlike other food items such as soda, candy, or ice creame, where we traded in part on the name of the brand, which the firms used to increase costs and lower margins [? i.e., the candy companies raised the cost to the theaters and lowered the theaters' margins?], popcorn has no such associated costs. Towards the latter part of my work there, they added a "bulk" candy apparatus, for lack of a better term, and positioned it prominently in the lobby area, again because this candy was not sold as a brand was a far higher grossing product.

And from a popcorn marketer:

One of my first jobs out of school was running the popcorn division of a Fortune 500 food company. I attended meetings of the Popcorn Institute, followed planting patterns, inspected acreage, had meetings with our food chemists, and attended seminars on new popcorn hybrids. We had grocery, concession, and institutional buyers. What I remember most about about the concessions, primarily theaters, was they were all focused on the expansion ratio of the kernel. At that time we could deliver up to 40:1, but they wanted more. It was inventory, storage, and pricing issues. If they could have filled a 1 quart cup with 15 kernels that had an expansion ratio of 300:1, they would have bought it (selling more air). That was why we only sold them butterfly kernels instead of the superior mushroom kernels.

Beverage of Choice.

This new product from Kool-Aid provides yet more evidence why 27 year-olds fresh out of business school should not be made product managers.  [via Diversion Wednesday]

If you are going to market products aimed at kids, maybe you should have one or two before being turned loose.

And if the product manager didn't have a clue before, perhaps the Google ads that popped up on the linked post might suggest why Burstin' Waters is not gonna be a hit with young moms bringing home sugar-saturated beverages for the wee ones.

Amniotic fluid ads I get. But unless I have some cookies being detected, Minnesota Campaign Report has some 'splainin' to do.

Low Amniotic Fluid

Get advice and support during your pregnancy from other moms.

www.CafeMom.com

Home Detection Kit

AmniScreen™ Amniotic Fluid Liner Kit. Learn More Today.

www.AmniScreen.com

Coleman or Franken? Looking for news and analysis? Make an informed decision in 2008! www.mncampaignreport.com

The Real Barack Obama The truth behind the canditate - "Barack Obama Exposed" - Free! www.HumanEvents.com

Amniotic Fluid Learn The Effects Of Too Little Amniotic Fluid. Get Free Ideas Now! Blurtit.com

*****

On the other hand, if you're going to go risky, really go for it (at least in France).

Why I Hate Advertising: Free Oxygen in the Passenger Compartment of Every Car!

Who  knew sparkling beverages could be hydrating?

It's true. All beverages hydrate, including sparkling beverages. So if you are looking for hydration, but want the delicious and refreshing taste you get from Coca-Cola, don't compromise—go for it! You'll be hydrating your body with each and every sip.

— Packaging copy on each and every Diet Cherry Coke 12 pack

Somehow, I'd missed this truly stupid bit of promotional writing until riding home today with a couple 12 packs turned over in the basket.

It's true. A product that is about 99.9% water has a hydrating effect. So do fruits and vegetables. So, I suppose, does the blood of virgins. Diet Coke, more hydrating than the blood of virgins. Conveniently available in more places. And more refreshing, too.

This is not a particularly useful public health bulletin, even for idiots, because it only covers beverages. They  might want to know the hydration effects of other liquids. For example, if they can't find a delicious and refreshing Coca-Cola product, which of these other trusted brands could provide the hydrating benefits they deserve?

Curel Therapeutic Moisturizing Lotion? Yes, "moisturizing lotion" sounds hydrating, doesn't it? And if you picked Curel, it's true. Refreshing, hydrating water is its most plentiful ingredient!

Ortho Weed B Gon? Congratulations! If you picked Weed B Gon, you are on the right track! It packs a whopping 92% of non-active ingredients. Most of which you will recognize as hydrating water. Plus, it kills chickweed, clover and creeping charlie.

409 Antibacterial All-Purpose Cleaner? But you have a big thirst. And your body is crying for relief. So go for it! 409 is 99.7% stuff your body can use in a hydrating way! Plus, it's antibacterial!

Apparently, the copy formerly promoted soft drinks, but maybe some marketing genius said, "Wait a minute! Soft drinks sounds... soft... flabby. We want to promote a fun, active, healthful life style. Plus, what about my product line, DASANI Plus? It's an Enhanced Water Beverage — not a soft drink."

You can learn more about the wonderful effects of Coca-Cola products at Coke's website, where there's a Hydration Calculator to help you estimate your hydration needs.

For example, if you are a 45-year-old male who weighs 175 pounds, you need 125 ounces of daily hydration from food and beverages, whereas, a 90-year old, 300-pound  male would need 125 ounces. Age 19 and only 120 pounds? You need 125 ounces, 13 ounces more when you were 18, so be sure to drink up.

You can even calculate the impact of exercise on your hydration needs. If skinny boy bikes for an hour (the longest ride the calculator can handle), he'll need another 8 ounces.

Now, as reader of this blog instead of product packaging, you're probably  already thinking: "Wait a minute. Isn't the caffeine in many Coke products a diuretic? So instead of hydrating, it flushes fluids from the system?"

According to this research into the effects of caffeinated drinks on athletic performance:

When no exercise was carried out, caffeine acted as a strong diuretic, hiking urine production by a torrential 31 per cent. However, it was a different story altogether during actual cycling. As the cyclists pedalled along, the use of a caffeinated sports drink didn't boost urine output at all, compared to drinking the caffeine-free beverage. In addition, caffeine had no effect on heart rate, body temperature, or perceived effort. This was in spite of the fact that the athletes were swallowing the equivalent of two cups of coffee per hour during their three-hour exertions.

You're welcome.

So Much to Learn, So Little Time.

It's just your basic Costco bottle of French table wine, but M.Chapoutier  made the effort. Turns out, someone else noticed this vinter a few months ago.

My braille, she is not so good, but it appears on this bottle, "Rhone" was rendered "Rhthne," though maybe the same dots also stand for Ô.

Or maybe I'm starting to see things...

Wine Notes from the Lab.

A 50-year-old madeira came into our hands from some friends whose patience outran their imbibing. By the time a very special occasion might arrive, they realized, drinking a fortified wine was not how they'd celebrate it.

After a month or two of waiting, I decided 8 below zero was special enough.

We'd managed to spend three days in the home city of port last fall and walked past all warehouses and tasting rooms without so much as a sip.

Too late now.

If there is such a taste as toasted smoked prune with a hint of pine tar, then let me go on record as being all in favor. My palate is notoriously over friendly, however. I am the labrador  of liquor.

I looked this stuff up. I owe those friends something very nice for their next special occasion.

The Uncertainty of Fusion.

A friend who is an international business executive sent me notice he's donating to Barack Obama's campaign. Since he is a conservative, it would be tempting to imagine his giving is penance for sending money to people named Bush.

Instead, it may be that he'd rather fight Hillary Clinton in a foreign country so he doesn't have to fight her in America.

When he visited last April, he bought a six pack of diet creme soda and drank only one. Despite all my hospitality since, five bottles remained in the refrigerator. In a moment of curiosity and potential fridge cleaning last night, I finally cracked one.

I am not only a member of the clean plate club. I also belong to the empty bottle and can coalition. I have only started one beverage that I poured down the drain, a Zima, a clear, unhopped malt beverage made by Coors, which should have given me three clues right there.

By comparison, the soda was only moderately repulsive.

So naturally, I wondered which alcoholic beverage might improve it. Poured over the rocks with a moderate amount of tequila and a generous wedge of lime squeezed into the glass, the diet creme flavor receded just enough to be quaffable.

Which brings me to last night's Obama-Clinton debate.

In Terry Southern's The Magic Christian, an extremely broad satire about greed, two heavyweight boxers enter the ring for a championship bout. At the bell, they clinch and begin making out on the canvas.

Or maybe it reminded you of a different movie.

I never would've come up with this Mexirado Pizza recipe sitting back in Minneapolis.

Spread 1 6-oz. can of tomato paste on a pizza shell. Sprinkle with oregano.

Evenly distribute sliced yellow onion, poblano pepper  and green pepper

Layer with nopalitos (strips of cactus leaves)

Sprinkle with diced pieces of precooked ground chorizo sausage

Top with thin slices of pepper jack cheese

Bake in preheated 450° oven for 8-10 minutes

Hide the leftovers and eat them for breakfast.

Fusion and divide crossing don't have to mean compromise and muddle. Sometimes they produce something new and interesting. The trouble is, you don't know for sure until you try.

Kicking the Sugar Habit.

Fat poor people are proof there's no hunger in America, right?

We should cut off immediately any government program that provides food, supplements, school lunches or nutritional counseling to ghettos, trailer parks, Section 8 housing or any other place where darker people congregate.

'Cuz you know they got all they need. They're just leechin' off us. They're draggin' us down.

They come here from Chicago just for the free cheese.

I know this guy on the fringes. Kind heart, good intentions but brain chemistry I can't begin to fathom. He was belugaing.

On cheap soda alone, he took in about half his daily caloric requirements. Without, of course, meeting the nutritional ones. He couldn't see the sugar roller coaster he was on, the reorder his body sent to his wallet every time the dose started to fade.

Just stop the pop, we said. You'll feel better and lose weight.

How many times did we say it? But the discount market soda cost less than the diet brand I was pushing.

The little bag of salad I bought cost more than he spent on real food all day. And at the price of tonight's  polenta, for a lot less effort McDonald's would sell him.... Who am I kidding? I don't know what stuff costs at McDonald's.

He would never buy the baby arugula and polenta for dinner. In his neighborhood, he couldn't find any if he wanted to. But a double cheeseburger and large fries from the drive through when someone else should be driving? No problemo.

Who knows what got through, but the sugar moved down the menu. His face has slimmed down. He says he feels better.

Hey, man, ever think of walking there next time?

Okay, one step at a time.