Zoomer Magazine September/October 2020

I took it as a sign. Hope was what had driven Terry Fox’s one-man world-changing movement – he had named his marathon for it. We already knew we would feature him with the word on the cover to mark the run’s end 40 years ago this month when I saw the photograph above: hope, fashioned out of leaves and festooned on a chain link fence as if clinging to it for dear life. It was taken by George Pimentel at a desolate Trinity Bellwoods Park in Toronto as, over a period of months, he documented how ordinary Canadians have navigated the long, strange, disruptive time the COVID-19 shutdown has been: “We See Thee Rise” (pg. 84). Ecclesiastes says, “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every…

“THE ART FORM we love is in crisis.” So begins a joint statement from the Toronto International, New York, Telluride and Venice film fests, all pledging to forgo their annual September rivalry to share ideas and offer “a united platform.” The move comes after COVID-19 ground the film industry to a standstill and acknowledges that, in times of crisis, movies can still “enchant, inform, provoke and heal.” And though it would have been nice for TIFF to pledge unity with smaller Canadian festivals as well – like September’s Vancouver, Calgary and Atlantic international film fests – artistic director and co-head Cameron Bailey said in a separate statement that the 2020 fest has “responded by going back to our original inspiration – to bring the very best in film to…

(AND DOWN) The beat goes on Ringo Starr turns 80 and tells Rolling Stone magazine that he still feels like he’s 24 inside while noting that turning 40 was actually hardest for him. Scientists regulate muscle shrinkage – an effect of aging – in mice, helping them become leaner and stronger in research that could hold benefits for humans That is, of course, unless this new breed of super mice overthrows us first. Don’t cry for her, Argentina. She’s tough Music legend and Evita star Madonna, 61, posts a topless selfie while leaning on a crutch following knee surgery. Research shows moderate alcohol consumption could actually stall cognitive decline You’ll know when you’ve passed the “moderate consumption” marker when you’re dancing on the bar while belting out “Like a Virgin.”…

HUMANS ARE TRULY two-faced creatures. Throughout history, masks have been adopted by various cultures for a variety of reasons. They’ve played a role in ceremonial rituals, battles, religion, entertainment, sports, fashion and in the medical and scientific communities. But never before has the world collectively adopted the mask for a single cause – the fight to stop the spread of COVID-19. Despite becoming a divisive issue, wearing a non-medical mask should be one of the tools in your arsenal in the battle to end this pandemic. The mask should be viewed as an extra layer of protection – since we’ve learned that some people are asymptomatic, wearing a mask in public limits the spread of infectious droplets and protects others. But face coverings alone are not enough. Stay the course…

AN EMPOWERED energy emanates from both Marci Ien, a star of CTV’s buzzy daily chat show The Social, and Janet Jackson, celebrity hair stylist (to the likes of supermodel Iman) individually. So it’s double the wattage in this portrait of them, taken at Jackson’s Etobicoke salon, JouJou Hair Studio. The shoot was to highlight Ien’s signature look – a chic short style – which Jackson had been tending to for a year before adding lead hairstylist for The Social’s cast of four, including Ien, to her schedule for a season. This explains the camaraderie in the moment, snapped pre-pandemic, before physical distancing and mask-wearing became the new normal. Jackson is memorable for more than her doppelgänger name. After leaving the corporate world to do hair full time, she honed her…

“I’M NOT JUST the president but I’m also a client.” Many of us will recall those words spoken by Sy Sperling, the owner-member of Hair Club for Men, in one of his TV advertisements while holding up a photo of his previously bald pate. Sperling, who passed away earlier this year, was key in bringing the conversation of hair loss to the fore. For women, the conversation has been around since birth – giving birth, that is. Many experience a significant amount of hair loss during pregnancy, with the psychological side effect of a lower self-esteem and the physical of it sometimes never growing back. But with the tricks of the trade – think extensions, falls, wigs, biotin pills and a bathroom cupboard stocked with thickening creams, volumizing mousses and…