Surviving the outbreak

Unless you've been in hibernation, by now you're probably fully aware of the swine flu currently grappling a number of countries, particularly Mexico and the United States. Although the US has declared the outbreak as a 'public health emergency', the world awaits with abated breath as to the level of severity (of this outbreak) from the WHO. In the meantime, before we all start to panic - which our authorities have assured us not to, yet - here's what we all can do to reduce the effect of transmission:

1. Sanitize -- i.e. Wash Your Hands Frequently. It may sound obvious, but hand-washing with soap and water for around 20 seconds is the single best thing you can do (if you're going to go out into the world and interact with other human beings). The CDC estimates that 80 percent of all infections are spread by hands. If you can't wash your hands regularly, try hand-sanitizers with 60 percent alcohol content.
2. Avoid -- i.e. Engage in "Social Distancing." That's the fancy term for reducing unnecessary social contact, staying away from crowds, and avoiding people if you're sick or if you're concerned that they may be infected. It may not be especially practical when you have to go to, say, work, but experts believe it's worth repeating: Isolation and avoidance reduce your chances of getting infected or infecting others.
(Researchers in the UK - mentioned above and sponsored by a cold remedy company - found that 99 percent of commuters suffer at least one cold per winter. By contrast, 58 percent of people who work from home and 88 per cent of those who walk to work caught a cold last winter).
If you need to go someplace crowded, the CDC says, try to spend as little time as possible and try to stay six feet away from potentially infected people. Wearing a surgical or dental facemask - cleared by the FDA as a medical device - "can help prevent some exposures," the CDC says, but they're not foolproof.
3. Be Alert -- i.e. Recognize the Symptoms and Get Help. Swine flu symptoms are similar to regular flu: Fever, body aches, sore throat, cough, runny nose, vomiting, diarrhea, and lethargy. If you don't feel well, seek medical attention. So far, it's important to note, this swine flu is treatable (and absolutely survivable). It's resistant to two of four antiviral drugs approved for combating the flu: Symmetrel and Flumadine. But two newer antivirals - Tamiflu and Relenza - appear to work.

Excerpt taken from Ben Sherwood @ Huffington Post

R.I.P Jade Goody

Photo by Chris Joseph / Landmark / JPI

Another week has gone by, and now another week to get through. Yes, everyone is still talking about the economic downturn alongside the sudden turn-of-luck (perhaps?) between Manchester United and Liverpool, sudden passing of Natasha Richardson and the not-so-sudden passing of Jade Goody. Who would've thought she'd be mentioned in the same breath as Prez Obama, Meredith Kercher and Steven Gerrard, let alone be described as "a kind of Princess Di from the wrong side of tracks"! Shocking isn't it?

I mean what was she famous for in the first place? Sure I'd heard of her way back when I was still slogging my way through bar school but even then she was relegated to the tabloids and weekly gossip magazines. And just when I thought I'd hear the last of her, out came the whole hoo-ha on Celebrity Big Brother for her racist remarks towards her then housemate and fellow E-list celebrity Shilpa Shetty. And when all that passed by, her celebrity radar hit the jackpot upon discovering that she was battling cervical cancer, and that the cancer had spread, thus paving the way for the never-ending coverage of her day-to-day life as the cancer spreads and her death imminent.

So again I ask what is the legacy of Jade Goody's life, battle with cancer and sad passing (no, I am not that cold-hearted) on popular culture?

"Perhaps this is because Jade Goody filled the role of reality TV star to the extreme: she was "famous for nothing," she once said, a woman who went from obscurity to a national sensation due to the public's desire to create heroines and villains out of their neighbors, their peers, people who look and act quite like they do. Her short life was defined by public opinion; she was loved, then fiercely hated, and then pitied, but all of these things came through a lens, a distanced view; she was simply another character for the public to follow, and she knew and seemingly accepted this, giving her blessing to the tabloids to follow her until the very end. As Jeffries notes, "Like a working-class Princess Diana, Goody became the object of strangers' intense feelings, and she became a sacrifice, a woman whose suffering and death made it possible for people to ritually cry for someone they scarcely knew."

Goody hoped that her public struggle would raise awareness about cervical cancer and inspire young women to be more proactive about their health. But Goody's legacy may be her ability to use the reality tv/tabloid media to her advantage, even in dark times: for example, she recently held an elaborate wedding to her prisoner boyfriend, Jack Tweed, in order to sell the media rights and leave her sons with a substantial amount of money, knowing she'd be leaving them soon. Jade Goody was able to make a living out of living; as long as there was a camera present, and a photographer ready to chase her every move, she was able to capture the minds of millions, for better or worse. She forced the public, however unwittingly, to discuss racism, the challenges of cancer, and ultimately, the boundaries of fame."

Do you agree?

p/s: That comparison between Jade and Princess Di was observed by Stephen Fry, who knew!

Have a good week ahead!

Another week almost gone. Another new week to get through although we'll all have to get past Monday first. What is it about Mondays that has us singing the blues? Log onto Facebook or MSN Messenger tomorrow morning, and almost everyone will be wishing they'd be elsewhere other than work! In any case, just to keep everyone's spirits up for the much dreaded day of the week check this l'il beauty out. You might've seen this before but I thought with the added lyrics, makes it easier to get what he's singing about - or not!!

Squeeeeee!

Less than 2 months to go and my inner geek-ness is getting all excited after seeing this trailer last week! Time to take out my Star Trek video collections and rehash my favourite Star Trek moments - yes, I still own a VCR. In the meantime let's make do with this til May 8 2009 arrives.

She said what..?

Meant to post this up yesterday to commomerate International Women's Day, but as the saying goes "better late than never".

"Women in particular need to keep an eye on their physical and mental health, because if we're scurrying to and from appointments and errands, we don't have a lot of time to take care of ourselves. We need to do a better job of putting ourselves higher on our own 'to do' list."
First Lady, Michelle Obama

And this has never been more accurate.

A hidden gem

Well well well, who would've thought...Never in a million years would anyone ever associate the words "up-to-date" or "hip" with "RTB" up until this evening.

Two words. The Mentalist.

Incase you're wondering what I'm talking about, here's why you should check it - and ultimately RTB2 - out.

So anyway back to this whole issue about RTB2 being "hip" has anyone ever noticed the surge of interesting tv shows it has been screening over the past year or so? Two and A Half Men..24..Supernatural..House..Heroes..Prison Break. Prior to the second RTB channel, the premier channel was only known for its local news, religious programmes and local dramas, and unless you subscribed to Astro then you'd be at the mercy of such programmes. But all that is slowing changing now what with this latest addition to their schedule. Not even AXN, Star World or 8TV has shown signs of screening this latest breakout show which is currently beating out the likes of House, Heroes and Grey's Anatomy back in the States!

Oh and it doesn't help that I'm a HUGE fan of Simon Baker (anyone remember The Guardian..?) who is definitely beyond a sight for sore eyes. Yummmm..

Still want proof?

Check out The Mentalist every Mondays at 9 pm, RTB2.

Toilets rule!

Another Monday folks and I know some, if not all, of you are already counting down the days to Friday (and ultimately the weekend!)...wouldn't it be cool to have at least one Monday off for each month? Wishful thinking aside, here's something we don't often hear or read about. Who would have thought "toilets" and "lifesavers" could be uttered together where our health is concerned?

The real world?

Not sure whether Bill Gates did say these but it's hard not to disagree with them. This is particularly true where our young ones are concerned. While admirable, not everything in life can be seen in black and white and until the day real life actually hits them hard on their faces, that's when they'll realise real life isn't all that they'd aspired it to be.

Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about 11 things they did not and will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.


Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it!

Rule 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem.

The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3: You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school.

You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.

Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.

Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity.

Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.

Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now.

They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you

thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try

delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT.

In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to

get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters.

You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF.

Do that on your own time.

Rule 10: Television is NOT real life.

In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

Rule 11: Be nice to nerds.

Chances are you'll end up working for one.

The price of perfection

This reminded me (and the writer even made it a point to include this in this article) of an episode from FRIENDS when Ross accidentally left the bleach on his teeth far too long than the prescribed time, and ended up looking like a glow-in-the-dark idiot. Sometimes too much a good thing does have its fair share of disadvantages..

Tippy Toes

How is this comfortable?!? I don't care if this is trendy or the way forward in how we define shoes but this is just ugly.

Even more unfortunate is the owner/wearer herself...ugghhh!

Have a good week ahead peeps :D

More guilty pleasures

The past couple of days have seen me revert back to my rather embarassingly guilty pleasure: THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL. Actually I'm not even sure calling it a guilty pleasure is the correct term seeing how I have this love-hate relationship with soaps where B&B is no exception. However with the shortened working hours during this particular month, the lure of B&B is simply too strong to resist particularly when a) one wants to kill time before the breaking of the fast, or b) there's nothing remotely 'interesting' on tv, althoughI can just hear some of you smirking or scratching your head, thinking "What could be less interesting than B&B???"

Here's why: where else can you find plots and relationships that are complicated, ludricous, far-fetching and dare I say, incestuous. Case in point: Brooke Logan Forrester - formerly married to Eric Forrester (the patriarch of the Forrester family), then married Eric's son, Ridge Forrester followed by Nick Marone, who was in a relationship with Brooke's daughter with Eric (Ashley, who is also Ridge's half sister) only to realise that she (Brooke) was still in love with Nick, who then got together with Ridge's ex wife, Tyler, with whom he (Nick) had a baby only to discover that the baby had Brooke's DNA (mix-up of eggs or something of the sort), and now she (Tyler) is seeing Rick (Brooke's son with Ridge) despite Tyler's daugther (with Ridge), Phoebe being helplessly in love with Rick. And that's probably not even half of the whole story!

Now how could you resist ALL THAT?

And one of the cool things about watching these shows is how you can jump in any time and learn the background (well not the complete background but you get what I mean) of the plotline within days!

The art of studying

Well now, me thinks it's a bit too late for us, ahem, young adults...

7 Ways to Learn More Without More Study

"1.Get to bed and go to sleep. Sleep enables memory consolidation, which is psych-speak for saying that you remember stuff after you sleep on it. What's more, overall performance, attention, and the ability to concentrate are damaged by lack of sleep..... Teenagers need nine to 10 hours of sleep a night for optimum performance.

2. Start studying a few days in advance of a test. Memories are embedded better if the brain is exposed to information repeatedly. Cramming doesn't work, because your brain doesn't have enough time to embed and consolidate.

3. Feed your head. The brain is an energy hog, and it runs badly if it doesn't get high-octane fuel. That means protein and complex carbs--eggs and wheat toast for breakfast, say, rather than sugary cereal and orange juice. The biggest mistake teens make, Wilson says, is to skip breakfast or to go for sugar, which raises blood sugar, followed by a quick crash.

4. Body exercise is brain exercise. Aerobic exercise really improves brain function, perhaps because it increases blood flow, or perhaps because it reduces stress and anxiety. Exercise also prompts growth of new brain neurons, at least in rats. Twenty minutes or so a day of activity that raises your heart rate will do it.

5. Learn now what you want to remember for the rest of your life. Teenage brains are much better at remembering things on a conscious level than the brains of young children or adults. Scientists aren't sure why, but they know that human brains are primed to notice and remember what's new, and teenagers are exposed to lots of new stuff. "You're going to remember the first time you had sex more than the 33rd time," Wilson says. Whatever the reason, the teenage years are the time to learn new languages and acquire other lifelong skills.

6. Harness the power of risk-taking. Adults are always harping on the downside of teenage risk-taking, and it's true that teenagers are more apt than adults to get themselves in trouble with drinking, driving, and unsafe sex, to name the biggies. But the fact that the parts of the brain that drive people to try new, risky, and exciting things appear to be more developed in teenagers can be a huge plus. Pick appropriate challenges--difficult sports, a tough job, mastering a performance art, traveling overseas--and the teenage brain is uniquely primed to tackle them.

7. Learn what you love. Because emotional systems develop faster in teenager brains than do inhibitory systems, teenagers learn things they're passionate about quickly and well."

Story courtesy of Yahoo!news.

About time

Teddy bears and fashion. Words that have nothing in common with each other, the former generally associated with soft toys, children, childhood pets and even adults with the latter, Dior, Paris, Milan, trends and the list goes on.

Up until now.
"Fashion’s latest accessory fetish springs from controversial roots. The teddy bear came into being, or so the story goes, when President Theodore Roosevelt refused to kill an American black bear on a hunting trip, and the resulting political cartoon inspired a soft toy. Now it has inspired a thousand fashionistas, too: this season, add a furry bear to your outfit for the ultimate in ironic faux-naïf style. Of course, there is the fashion icon of the autumn, Brideshead Revisited’s Sebastian Flyte, or, for once, take your cue from Paris Hilton, with a candy-sweet princess version. Even Karl Lagerfeld has got in on the act, with a stern-looking teddy made in his image. Here, he explains the appeal of the toy bear.

How do you explain the fact that a man like you still refuses to give up his teddy?

I like animals very much — above all, when they are stuffed with cotton or plastic. It is the best way to be sure they do not bite, eat, smell badly or mess with your things. " [For more]

It's high time teddy bears get the deserved recognition! If Mr Lagerfeld is cool with having his own teddy bear, then maybe it's time to start looking for my old teddy. Or maybe I can ask Kittabee if I can borrow her Teddy Buruk *hehehe*

For idiots only?

Unless you're an idiot....hahahaha

Olympics Galore

The fastest man...in the water!!

If I have bored anyone with my recent Olympics' posts, be prepared *muahahahahahahahahahhaaha* Come on now, with Michael Phelps setting new records and winning all eight gold medals as per his target...Federer getting his ass kicked (again)... Jamaica sweeping the medals in both the men's and women's 100m races, officially killing all hopes of the Americans in their bid to maintain their dominance over the track and at the same time, catching up with Chinese in the medals standing...Federer finally winning gold tho in an unfamiliar territory aka men's double tennis...a 41-year old proving that age isn't a barrier...surely any one of these would've gotten you sitting at the edge of your seat/s, shouting and screaming as if these people can even hear you?? Watching Michael Phelps earlier yesterday morning in his bid to win his 8th gold medal was simply riveting and nerve wrecking. Those last 30 seconds or so when Jason Lezak had 50 metres to go with Eamonn Sullivan from Australia matching him arm to arm..the thought of Phelps possibly losing that 8th and final gold by a hundreth of a second or two...'til Lezak finally touched the wall ahead of Australia, and everything was right in Michael Phelps' world. It would've been cool to be there at the Water Cube, to witness sporting history in the making as well as to check out the lovely bods of the swimmers *yummm*, but that's a different story altogether...

..But in the meantime, let's join in the celebration of these talented people who have provided us with plenty of entertainment over the past 10 days or so, with more hopefully to come..

The fastest man...on land!

Hide and Seek

Just when you thought it was safe to come out and play...this hideous creature came out!

Have a good week ahead peeps

Another week goes by...

As another weekend draws to a close, and the thought of going back to work/school tomorrow doesn't exactly bode well for most of us (as is generally the case), I thought I'd share this with you.

Rain rain go away, come again another day

Why it's been pouring heavily of late..

A woman in Taipei rides a bicycle in heavy rain on Friday.

Image courtesy of AFP/GettyImages

The end is nigh!

Monday is here again peeps (yes, I can hear and imagine the groans, wincing and contorted faces being made). Here's something I came across which will (hopefully) get you by or put a wee l'il smile on your face *wink* *wink*

Now..this IS scary *hehehe*

Something blue

"Love never claims, it ever gives. Love ever suffers, never resents never revenges itself"
Mahatma Gandhi

Congratulations Sujee & Zain! By the way, incase you're wondering...yes that is another Rusly creation, check out the train (below). All these gorgeous wedding dresses are starting to give me an itch! Calling Keanu..anybody???