Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2018/January 2019 i Zoomer Magazine

Zoomer magazine has its own podcast: Ages & Icons! Featuring interviews with movie legends like Michael Caine and Rob Reiner, jazz great Molly Johnson, Saturday Night Live alum Darrell Hammond and bestselling author David Sedaris. Every episode goes in depth with a different pop culture icon or literary superstar to discuss their careers, legacies, their views on aging and their latest projects. Get a taste of what we’re all about with two of our favourite episodes.  In the first, the divine Jane Seymour dishes on everything from her career to her love of cooking to posing in Playboy at age 67.  http://serve.castfire.com/s:mzweb_4XpiF/audio/3539450/3539450_2018-08-24-130550.128.mp3 And in the second, award-winning journalist and author Ted Barris helps us celebrate Remembrance Day by unravelling stories and lessons he’s learned from his decades of chronicling Canadian…

IN A 1979 ROLLING STONE INTERVIEW, Joni Mitchell, then 36, told interviewer Cameron Crowe that, as an artist you’re criticized whether you stay the same or change. “But staying the same is boring,” she adds. “And change is interesting. So of the two options I’d rather be crucified for changing.” It’s the attitude that made the Canadian troubadour such an influential cultural force and one that permeates the new interview anthology, Joni on Joni: Interviews and Encounters with Joni Mitchell. The book, edited by award-winning journalist and author Susan Whitall, spans the years 1966 to 2014 and features in-depth and rare interviews in which Mitchell discusses everything from her musical roots to her career and social scene. The 75-year-old, who suffered a brain aneurysm in 2015 and battles the…

SINCE HIS FIRST album, The Transformed Man, dropped in 1968, William Shatner’s brand of spoken word music has inspired everything from parody to praise to the question, “Is this some kind of a joke?” Fifty years later, that’s the question that hangs like mistletoe over Shatner Claus, the 87-year-old’s first foray into Christmas music. Because what’s merrier than a half-spoken, half-shouted rendition of “Jingle Bells”? The album does feature an eclectic array of duet partners, including Henry Rollins, Judy Collins and Iggy Pop, along with an original tune, so listeners can decide whether Shatner belongs on the naughty or nice list for this one. Rock legend Eric Clapton, 73, also channels the spirit of the season with his first-ever Christmas album, Happy Xmas, offering a blues-tinged take on holiday…

UNDER THE MICRO(BIOME) SCOPE ABOUT a decade ago, scientists introduced the world to a new concept so potentially exciting that it made genome mapping suddenly seem like yesterday’s news. This time, the reports were of the human microbiome, the trillions of diverse bacteria that live on our skin, in our mouths, our intestines and genital tracts. In the years since, researchers have pieced together what role the microbiome plays in physical and mental health (spoiler alert: top billing), linking an unhealthy one with everything from asthma and obesity to depression and cardiovascular disease. They’re also discovering how we humans – mere housing units for all that bacteria, as it turns out – are messing with our microbiomes and what the consequences of doing so might be. As they learn…

ELIZABETH WETTLAUFER’S MURDER SPREE was allowed to run unabated for nine years because of a complete breakdown in the system that’s meant to protect vulnerable people living in long-term care homes. Here, CARP highlights the most glaring breakdowns that allowed the tragedy to occur. 1 Chronic understaffing in long-term care homes At Caressant Care, Wettlaufer was responsible for looking after the medication, changing dressings, responding to emergencies and filing paperwork for 163 residents. That was far too much for one staff member and is a problem in many long-term care facilities in Canada. 2 Poor screening of LTC workers Because of the shortage of nurses, Wettlaufer continued to get jobs in the long-term care sector, despite the fact she had more than 40 incidents of medication error, treatment mistakes,…

New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult, 52, is known for her intricate tales of family and relationships. Her latest novel, A Spark of Light, remains within Picoult’s wheelhouse but also delves into two politically charged topics: gun violence and abortion, when a gunman takes hostages at a Mississippi’s reproductive services clinic. The subject felt personal to the author. “I had a friend in college who had an abortion at seven weeks, and I supported her 100 per cent. Years later, when I was seven weeks pregnant with my third child, I was told I might lose the baby, which was devastating to me,” Picoult admits. “It made me wonder how I could draw a line that I hadn’t drawn a decade earlier. The answer is complicated – which…

THE YEAR IS ENDING not with a whimper but a bang – a continuation of the ongoing cacophony that defined 2018, brought on by fissures in the public square and status quo we have not seen for decades. As evidenced by the record amount of diverse females who have surfed the blue wave into American political office in their recent mid-term elections, women have led the way. Though refusing to be conscripted into running for office, former first lady Michelle Obama, whose memoir Becoming is the most anticipated book of the year, has also emerged as a leading voice due to her indelible statement “When they go low, we go high,” which has so succinctly met the moment. Obama’s inspiring story of aspiration, achievement and amazing grace under pressure…

IN ANTICIPATION OF THE 2019 federal election, CARP unveiled its national policy platform, The FACES of Canada’s Seniors: Making Canada the Best Place to Age at a launch event in October at its Zoomerplex head office in Toronto. The new platform, which was developed with input from CARP chapters and consultation with seniors groups and older Canadians at the grassroots level, identifies five areas that CARP will focus its lobbying efforts on for 2019: financial security; abuse prevention; caregiving and housing supports; exceptional health care; and social inclusion. The FACES platform is timely because of next year’s vote. “Leading up to next year’s federal election, we’ll be pushing the government and all parties to commit to measurable improvements in five areas,” said Wanda Morris, CARP’s chief advocacy and engagement officer. “We…

I WAS A LATE bloomer: I didn’t try my first oyster – raw or otherwise – until a friend introduced me to them six years ago. He enticed me to a popular Toronto restaurant with a promise of fresh lobster, yet I left with a newly acquired hankering for this mollusk. I remember hesitantly trying that first one at his urging, sans sauce or horseradish: sweet, briny, with a mild fruity finish – I can taste it still. It was a Kusshi from Vancouver Island. You could say it was love at first slurp. Since then, I’ve found myself following a slew of Instagram accounts dedicated to oyster farming. (That’s right, I double-tap every time an oyster pops up on my feed and I don’t care who knows it.) My…

British Airways has just released its hot spots for 2019, and Toronto landed at No. 7 (Go, Canada!) 1 BECAUSE MANITOBA IS SO COLD IT’S COOL Not that you have to tell us, but leading travel authority Lonely Planet has recognized it as a hot spot for 2019. We suggest visiting Churchill, called Polar Bear Town and considered one of the best places on Earth to view the northern lights (left). Head to the capital, Winnipeg, and check out the Forks neighbourhood (theforks.com). Also, visit the Canadian Museum for Human Rights designed by architect Antoine Predock who said the building was “… rooted in humanity, making visible in the architecture the fundamental commonality of humankind – a symbolic apparition of ice, clouds and stone set in a field of sweet…

ELIZABETH WETTLAUFER made an odd discovery when she was hospitalized in the psychiatric ward. Thinking about murder made her anger go away. Sort of. Wettlaufer had a lot of anger – so much that she could barely concentrate. She was also quite depressed and had been diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive behaviour. She was in the hospital because she had tried to kill herself with an overdose of medications. When that failed, she had stolen cleaning fluid from a hospital with the idea of drinking it to commit suicide. But then, she realized something. “If I thought about killing somebody while I was talking to other people, I could talk normally to them,” as Wettlaufer later explained. “But in this part of my mind, I was thinking about somebody I’d like…

Fashion Meets Function This pearl and rhinestone glam cane makes a statement with every step. It’s adjustable for height and configuration and comes with non-slip rubber tips and a lightweight aluminum shaft. US$50; fashionablecanes.com Cane Mutiny Hummingbirds, flowers and a gold collar with eye-catching engraving make this adjustable walking stick Instagram-worthy. US$35; fashionablecanes.com Retro Fit This kettle looks vintage, but inside it’s high-tech all the way, offering 50 C to 100 C temperature variation. LED electronic temperature controls complete the cool factor. Smeg; $210; thebay.com Caddy Shack A one-stop self-care bath tray with a built-in glass and cup holder, room for a book or tablet and a section to hold your smartphone. $90; wayfair.com Eye-Popping Small print and menus are nothing to fear with this chic little magnifier and chain…

ACROSS 1 Make muddled 6 14-in. pizza size, often 9 Sailors’ rear ends 13 Infant’s dietary introduction 15 Prefix meaning “equal” 16 Genetically built-in, as beliefs 17 The British ___ 18 Makes smooth, as wood 19 Scrabble pieces handy with Is and Ns 20 Yellowknife’s locale: Abbr. 23 It means nothing to the French 24 Italian birthplace of St. Francis 25 Crop-damaging insects 27 Getting ___ years 29 Scot’s not 30 Villainous agency in 007 films 31 “Grape juice” lover? 32 It’ll tell you where to go 33 Wasn’t colourfast, clearly 34 Org. for Canucks and Canadiens 35 Bath bathrooms, briefly 37 3, 4 and 5 of 26 39 2015 award for Hamilton 41 In a more timely way 44 Some, on the Somme 45 Wash-and-___ (permanent press) 46…