Carl Ballantine, an inveterate quipmeister whose stand-up comedy persona, an incompetent magician known as the Amazing Ballantine or Ballantine the Great, predated and influenced the antic characters of Steve Martin and others, died on Nov. 3 at his home in Hollywood. He was 92.
He died of age-related causes, his daughter Saratoga Ballantine said.
“As my father always said to me about why anybody died, ‘He stopped breathing,’ ” Ms. Ballantine said.
Over the course of a six-decade career, Mr. Ballantine became familiar to audiences as a comic actor, especially after landing the role of the scheming, profiteering seaman Lester Gruber on the television series “McHale’s Navy” in 1962.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Sunday, November 15, 2009
optimism is good for you
A recent issue of the journal Circulation provides hard evidence that optimism and health are connected. Researchers studied nearly 100,000 women over eight years, tracking how many heart attacks they suffered and how long they lived. The conclusion? Optimism is good for you.
“Optimists had a 16% lower risk of having heart attacks,” says the lead author, Dr. Hilary Tindle of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. And this study, it turns out, is not the first to link optimism with better health. A 2004 study of nearly 1000 elderly Dutch people found a connection between optimism and a lower risk of death from heart disease. The reverse seems to hold true, too. Pessimists—who were followed in a 2000 Mayo Clinic study that looked at more than 800 patients over 30 years—ran a 19% higher risk of early death than optimists.
Being an optimist also has been associated with a healthier immune system and an ability to better cope with physical pain. Still other studies have connected a positive attitude to a quicker recovery from heart surgery and a reduced likelihood of re-hospitalization, as well as to a superior ability to handle the emotional upheaval of life-threatening illnesses like cancer.
“Optimism and pessimism affect health almost as clearly as do physical factors,” says Dr. Martin Seligman, director of the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania.
“Optimists had a 16% lower risk of having heart attacks,” says the lead author, Dr. Hilary Tindle of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. And this study, it turns out, is not the first to link optimism with better health. A 2004 study of nearly 1000 elderly Dutch people found a connection between optimism and a lower risk of death from heart disease. The reverse seems to hold true, too. Pessimists—who were followed in a 2000 Mayo Clinic study that looked at more than 800 patients over 30 years—ran a 19% higher risk of early death than optimists.
Being an optimist also has been associated with a healthier immune system and an ability to better cope with physical pain. Still other studies have connected a positive attitude to a quicker recovery from heart surgery and a reduced likelihood of re-hospitalization, as well as to a superior ability to handle the emotional upheaval of life-threatening illnesses like cancer.
“Optimism and pessimism affect health almost as clearly as do physical factors,” says Dr. Martin Seligman, director of the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania.
medical observations
I don't remember the title, but it was by a Dr. Rattner who, according to the brief bio, was a longtime AMA member and chief of surgery at Oak Park Hospital.
Dr. Rattner began by saying that the article was not a clinical treatise, but simply his attempt to record a few of his observations as he completed 30 years of medical practice.
His first observation was that every day, about one out of 10 Americans go to some medical practitioner -- doctor, clinician, nurse, etc. -- with some kind of complaint: an ache here, a pain there. He said it was his opinion that at least half of them had no diagnosable physical problem. Oh, he didn't deny that they hurt, but he maintained that half of them had no physical cause for the hurt. So he would do what so many of his colleagues did in such a case: He would give his patients an aspirin or a placebo of some kind and tell them to call the next day, if necessary. Most did not call.
Dr. Rattner began by saying that the article was not a clinical treatise, but simply his attempt to record a few of his observations as he completed 30 years of medical practice.
His first observation was that every day, about one out of 10 Americans go to some medical practitioner -- doctor, clinician, nurse, etc. -- with some kind of complaint: an ache here, a pain there. He said it was his opinion that at least half of them had no diagnosable physical problem. Oh, he didn't deny that they hurt, but he maintained that half of them had no physical cause for the hurt. So he would do what so many of his colleagues did in such a case: He would give his patients an aspirin or a placebo of some kind and tell them to call the next day, if necessary. Most did not call.
Monday, November 09, 2009
22@Barcelona
BARCELONA, Spain - How can a city resuscitate an entire depressed, old inner-city district, many of its blocks marked by abandoned factories?
Even more challenging: How to transform the same area into a high-powered knowledge hub that adds jobs by the thousands and draws dozens of high-powered national and international firms?
The "free enterprise" American approach might be to bring in the bulldozers, create an industrial park that displaces the old residents and maybe offer companies public subsidies to move in.
Not Barcelona. Ten years ago this entrepreneurial city decided to build a modern "knowledge economy" close to downtown in its old, waterfront Poblenou district, once a leading cotton mill center, renaming it "22@Barcelona, The Innovation District."
Their central idea: Talent is the gold of our time, crucial to building thriving new economic clusters. Talented people (and cutting-edge firms) want lively urban environments instead of the isolation of corporate campuses. They're anxious to brush shoulders with other gifted people from companies, universities and the artistic realm.
So the district has been consciously shaped to include attractive green spaces, restaurants and entertainment, bike lanes, and plentiful public transit both within the area and between it and greater Barcelona.
But to create that environment - and not force out the families and workers living there - the Barcelona politicians decided on an ingenious but highly controlled form of real estate redevelopment.
Even more challenging: How to transform the same area into a high-powered knowledge hub that adds jobs by the thousands and draws dozens of high-powered national and international firms?
The "free enterprise" American approach might be to bring in the bulldozers, create an industrial park that displaces the old residents and maybe offer companies public subsidies to move in.
Not Barcelona. Ten years ago this entrepreneurial city decided to build a modern "knowledge economy" close to downtown in its old, waterfront Poblenou district, once a leading cotton mill center, renaming it "22@Barcelona, The Innovation District."
Their central idea: Talent is the gold of our time, crucial to building thriving new economic clusters. Talented people (and cutting-edge firms) want lively urban environments instead of the isolation of corporate campuses. They're anxious to brush shoulders with other gifted people from companies, universities and the artistic realm.
So the district has been consciously shaped to include attractive green spaces, restaurants and entertainment, bike lanes, and plentiful public transit both within the area and between it and greater Barcelona.
But to create that environment - and not force out the families and workers living there - the Barcelona politicians decided on an ingenious but highly controlled form of real estate redevelopment.
Friday, November 06, 2009
How to Live Forever
Hawaii International Film Festival attendees should take note of a new documentary -- submitted after deadline and therefore not part of the print program. "How to Live Forever" screens at 6 p.m. Sunday, and is an intriguing exploration of health and longevity by veteran filmmaker and photojournalist Mark Wexler, who will be available for a question-and-answer session following the screening.
The Los Angeles-based Wexler spent three years interviewing several dozen people over 100 years old (including the oldest woman, who was 115), and visiting "longevity hot spots." Inspired by his mother's death and the arrival of his own AARP card, Wexler began contemplating the question in the minds of many people tiptoeing into middle age: "Is this all there is? Will there be more?" Throughout the film, he explores the benefits -- or detriments -- to society now that technology can extend human life significantly.
Everyone who lives a long time, and remains healthy doing it, is optimistic and possesses a sense of humor. "A lot of it, in the end, is attitude," Wexler said from his home in Los Angeles. Indeed, your belief systems may have as much effect on your longevity as your cholesterol levels.
It's hard not to listen when 94-year-old fitness legend Jack Lalanne walks through his gym and says, "This is where I take care of the most important person on this Earth ... me! I work out for two hours a day. Jack LaLanne can't afford to die; it would wreck my image!" And later in the clip: "The good old days are this second! Who makes it happen? You!"
Learn more about the film at www.liveforevermovie.com ...
The Los Angeles-based Wexler spent three years interviewing several dozen people over 100 years old (including the oldest woman, who was 115), and visiting "longevity hot spots." Inspired by his mother's death and the arrival of his own AARP card, Wexler began contemplating the question in the minds of many people tiptoeing into middle age: "Is this all there is? Will there be more?" Throughout the film, he explores the benefits -- or detriments -- to society now that technology can extend human life significantly.
Everyone who lives a long time, and remains healthy doing it, is optimistic and possesses a sense of humor. "A lot of it, in the end, is attitude," Wexler said from his home in Los Angeles. Indeed, your belief systems may have as much effect on your longevity as your cholesterol levels.
It's hard not to listen when 94-year-old fitness legend Jack Lalanne walks through his gym and says, "This is where I take care of the most important person on this Earth ... me! I work out for two hours a day. Jack LaLanne can't afford to die; it would wreck my image!" And later in the clip: "The good old days are this second! Who makes it happen? You!"
Learn more about the film at www.liveforevermovie.com ...
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