Thursday, October 30, 2014

10 Goodreads Review Wins

1
 Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte












"I could bang Mr. Rochester like a screen door 'till next Tuesday.
That's about all I got from this book, honestly..."



2
Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh



"Fuck me insensible. Oh ya cunt, ya! Ah dinnae watch the movie, bit ma heid’s spinnin fae readin this shite, ah kin fuckin tell ye. The book’s no novel – mair a collection ay short stories, likesay, aboot a bunch ay Scot junkies. The cunts go aroond, fartin n shitein n shootin smack. The book is written in the Scottish dialect, sortay like whit ah’m tryin tae imitate, ken whit ah mean? It wisnnae easy fe us tae git intae it. It made us scoobied aboot whit the cunts were sayin, likesay, bit after a while it became very enjoyable, ken. There’s like a hundred “cunts” in ivry paragraph ay this book, bit it doesnnae mean bad. Ivrybody jist caws ivrybody a cunt – no offense meant or taken, likesay. Bit nivir caw a lassie a cunt – thit shite is sexist. "


3
On a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino














"YO DAWG, I HEARD YOU LIKE READING, SO I PUT A BOOK IN YO' BOOK, SO YOU CAN READ WHILE YO' READ."




4
The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett







"The Thin Man is best read with a drink in hand. Do you have a drink? Do you need a refresher? Would you like another? Above all else, it is important that you be drinking!

Seriously...DRINK!

My god, a lot of alcohol is consumed in this book! It reads as if Ernest Hemingway had taken up crime noir."





5
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky













"Cyprus hill said it best, "there is something you can't understand. how i could just kill a man."




6
Maus by Art Spiegelman

"It didn’t dawn on me until later that this brilliant piece of graphic artistry and fiction is actually a very clever allegory. On the face of it, we’re led to believe that it’s a story of the terrible suffering perpetrated by the Nazis against the Jews in Poland and throughout Europe. But if you scratch beneath the surface, I think you’ll find that this particular holocaust story was made to symbolize something more pervasive and endemic. I speak of the horrific violence that persists to this day; that inflicted by cats on defenseless mice. Perhaps the most obvious clue that this is, in truth, the intended theme lies in the title itself: Maus. For those of you unfamiliar with German, this is their word for mouse. Beyond that, when you look carefully at the drawings, you see that the goose-steppers have distinctly feline features, while the persecuted Jews in the ghettos and camps have rodent-like proboscides and disproportionately small eyes."

7
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad








"It was like raking my fingernails across a chalkboard while breathing in a pail of flaming cat hair and drinking spoiled milk, meanwhile Conrad is screaming DARKNESS DARKNESS OOOH LOOK AT MY METAPHOR ABOUT THE DARKNESSSSSSSSSSS like a fucking goth on a loudspeaker."


8
American Tabloid by James Ellroy




"Sometimes i chug coffee to the point where i'm glazed with sweat, red-eyed, about to crap my pants, and i throw my headphones on and blast either miles davis bitches brew or motorhead ace of spades. i sit down in front of the computer and write write write. and the result is exactly what you'd imagine from a mediocre writer w/a flair for the hyperbolic all hopped up on caffeine. not too good. imagine, however, if a brilliant writer, a demented rotgut-drunk coozehound of a bastard did what i did and laid out some genius shit... you'd have something like american tabloid. "




9
Smashed by Koren Zailckas

"... With the amount of alcohol Zailckas speaks of having consumed, she still sounds like a child. I appreciate her honesty in admitting to all those embarassing moments high on alcohol and pot, but she should have stuck to writing poetry about dried flowers and broken fingernails.

All the childish intensity glaring from her ridiculous picture on the back of the book can't improve the drolling story which only inspired me to pour those stiff drinks and "breathe the sugary smell of hard alcohol" while "a buzz comes on like sweet music".


The result is a whining, draining, waste of time that I could have spent getting drunk--but now she's taught me how."




10
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown










"For cheap supermarket fiction, this sure was cheap supermarket fiction. It would have helped if this was the first book I had ever read. Unfortunately, having read Curious George as a child (a towering work of literary genius by comparison), The DaVinci Code suffered perhaps unjustly."

Saturday, October 18, 2014

Schools give harmful BMI report cards

Most of us remember high school. Those who don't decided to give students body mass index report cards.

In short, some schools, in an effort to help students be aware of what they eat and weigh, started administering BMI tests to students. The tests are then sent home to parents with a report on suggested eating habits and lifestyle changes.

The Examiner does a great job explaining why this is a bad idea, citing bullies and shaming and encouraging eating disorders.

The root of this problem is the false belief that BMI tests are at all scientifically accurate in determining health.

Prince Fielder,
Professional Baseball Player,  BMI 37.3 Very Obese
Developed over 150 years ago, the body mass index measures only that. In case you've never had one. They take grips of your body and measure it with a caliper. These measurements are then set into a standard equation with ones weight and height.

The problem is the equation is set up for average built females roughly 5'11". he farther one deviates from the mean height the more inaccurate the information becomes. For example, Professional Football player Eli Manning, at 218lbs. 6'3" has a BMI of 27.2. Overweight.

Most demeaning of this measure of body mass is it's suggested correlation with health. This is so ingrained with society that some insurance lobbies have suggested using BMI in paid premium determinations. Having those classified as overweight pay more accounting for the research that shows they're increased risk.

Oddly, in 1998 the NIH and CDC reclassified overweight BMI from 27.8 to 25, effectively overnight making 29 million Americans overweight. They were all healthy the day before, now they're told to lose weight. This done with no concern how they feel or perceive themselves -- no medical check-up with a primary physician. Is that something we want done to our kids?

Specifically, consider my case. At my lowest, most malnourished weight I was 175lbs. I'm 6'3". The BMI chart, at that height and weight, set me directly in the center on the "normal" BMI range.
Consider then, my psychologist and doctors trying to tell me I need treatment for my eating disorder when I can clearly see my body mass index is within normal range.

Now, extrapolate that information to the hundreds of thousands of at risk teens receiving these measurements at school.

Faulty information and science (in this case BMI) make terrible way-points to a healthy society. As long as our culture continues to yolk health and weight together, progress will be slow and harmful.

One chart to rule them all.





Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Red Band Society Missed Opportunity for ABC

This fall ABC launched Red Band Society, a dramedy that focuses on teenagers in the hospital. There's a couple cancer patients, a girl pre-transplant and another with anorexia, Emma. A couple episodes in i knew where things were headed. Emma was nice. Flirty and confident, she was the envy of other girls at her prom.

 "Like, oh My God. I'm jealous how skinny you are."

Make no mistake. This will be damaging to teenagers struggling with eating disorders. It will fuel unhealthy body image and harmful behaviors that contribute to starvation.

I am upset. Mostly for the missed opportunity the network gave away. And for what? How could enabling eating disorder behavior ever be a good idea? Are the producers and writer too obtuse to recognize the negativity and feeling a character like this can have?
I have no answers.

I do not dislike the show. In fact I encourage a more prevalent role of people with eating disorders in media. That's why I have this blog and tell those who ask and listen.
However, this characterization of anorexia if off the mark.

So what really happens?


From Liana Rosenman for Project Heal: 
  • Abnormally slow heart rate and low blood pressure, which means the heart muscle is changing. The risk for heart failure rises as the heart rate and blood pressure levels sink lower and lower. 
Reduction of bone density (osteoporosis), which results in dry, brittle bones.
  • Muscle loss and weakness.
  • Severe dehydration, which can result in kidney failure.
  • Fainting, fatigue, and overall weakness. 
Dry hair and skin; hair loss is common. 
Growth of a downy layer of hair—called lanugo—all over the body, including the face, in an effort to keep the body warm.


Eating Disorders are a deadly mental illness. I have personally seen it take away someones life.

If you or someone you know are having problems with weight or think maybe you have an eating disorder it may help to ask someone who knows. Contact the NEDA Helpline @ (800) 931-2237  Monday-Thursday from 9AM to 9PM Eastern Time and Friday 9AM to 5PM.

Or click here to find help on their site.