Cyril O

Nov

2009

George Orwell’s 1984

When I grew up – way back when – we had as part of our curriculum in High School, the book “1984” by George Orwell. I had mentioned to my brother at that time that I was not going to read it but wait until the year 1984. This was in the 1960s. Then I proceeded to forget about this incident. My brother obviously did not, as Christmas 1983 he gave the book to me for a present. I did have to wait a week to read it but then went through it very quickly. I wanted to wait to read it to see if things would be as Orwell predicted.

Some parts of the world were pretty bad then – take the USSR for example – but not so much North America. Now though, I wouldn’t say the same especially since 9/11 and the advent of the Patriot Act. There has been such a slow attrition of rights in the Western World – a dulling of consciousness with drugs and degradation of education – that people are really not aware that life has changed all that much. Books like ‘1984’ by George Orwell and ‘Brave New World’ by Aldous Huxley predicted a police state and where one took a drug for every mood. These were then considered BAD things. Orwell’s book was written in the 1940s.

If you have every wondered where the phrase “Big Brother (is watching you)” came from then check out 1984 by George Orwell. I really think it should be mandatory reading for anyone wanting to understand better the world today. I’m pretty sure that you won’t find it on any school curriculum in North American anyway. It may be a bit dry reading for many but well worth it.

You can order copies on the web, new or used but if you want to have a look right away read it online at:

George Orwell’s 1984

Oct

2009

Bananas and Sleep

For some reason lately I’m sleeping better. I’m sleeping through the night more than I ever have. One of the problems that I’ve always had is a high metabolism – at least that’s what I think it is as I do seem to have to eat fairly often – not huge volumes but often. So, 3-4 in the morning I awake. It often takes me a little while to realize that I’m hungry – it actually takes me a while to realize that I’m awake…

If I’m quick enough, I eat a banana and back to sleep I go before you can say supercalifragilisticexpialidocious – (just kidding). I’ve tried other foods, particularly when I don’t have any bananas but nothing seems to be quite as effective in getting me back to sleep.

I was curious as to why so I did some research. l found people eating banana smoothies and various combination’s of foods before going to sleep – seems to be lots of people out there using this fruit to help them sleep.

Bananas are packed with nutrition much of which is going to help your body relax and sleep:

Potassium
Vitamin B1, B2, B3(Niacin), B6 and B9
Vitamin C
Vitamin K
Magnesium
Copper
Melatonin
Tryptophan – Turkey has this and that is why you get sleepy after a Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner.

Bananas also have antioxidant properties. I don’t know if this would help one sleep but it’s good anyway.

Many of the ingredients that are in Bananas are in other fruit. You can see a breakdown here: Fruit Chart

I don’t know why bananas do such a stellar job over other friuts but they work for me.

Hope this helps.

Oct

2009

Spencer Jones on IMDB.com

Check out the short: Finals You can see Spencer in this film by going to to the IMDB.com database.

See Spencer in ‘Finals’.

Spencer and his partners spend their weekends making films. Watch for the next one: ‘Social Status Upgrade”.

Oct

2009

Fat Free Diets

It doesn’t take much research to figure out what one needs to be eating well. If you listen to the media and food companies on what to eat you could get yourself in big trouble.

Years ago when the ‘fat-free’ band wagon started I didn’t understand it largely because the only way that one could make fat free food taste any good would be to add sugar. Plus the fats are what help fill you up. I did some research and found some interesting information in a couple of Adelle Davis books.

One from “Let’s Get Well” in Chapter 32:

‘Fats are needed to improve the flavor of foods, to satisfy the appetite, and to stimulate bile flow.’

There is more and this fact should not be taken all by itself. I’m not saying someone should go on a fat binge. I am saying that one should do his or her own research. There are types of fats that are good for you and types that are not.

I was telling a friend about the fact that fats help one’s appetite become satisfied. He replied “like when I eat a bunch of onion rings?” Yes, but that is the wrong kind of fat.

Here is another quote from another Adelle Davis book, ‘Let’s Eat Right To Keep Fit”:

‘For three reasons, eating to little fat is probably a major cause of overweight. First, many seemingly fat persons are only waterlogged; an adequate diet including salad dressing daily often causes then to lose pounds. Second, it has been proved by what is know as the respiratory quotient that when essential fatty acids are insufficiently supplied, the body changes sugar to fat much more rapidly than is normal; Dr Bloor points out that it would seem as if the body were speedily trying to produce the missing nutrients. This quick change makes the blood sugar plunge downward, causing you to be as starved as a wolf; the chances are that you overeat and gain weight. Third, fats are more satisfying than are any other foods. If you forgo eating 100 calories of fat per meal, you usually become so hungry that you eat 500 calories of starch and/or sugar simply because you cannot resist them; unwanted pounds creep on.’ Chapter 5

There does need to be a balance. And it is really not that hard to find the true information. One of the best sources of good nutritional information that I have found is from Adelle Davis books. These can be found in libraries and Amazon.com and Biblio.com. Do a little homework and get the data for yourself then you don’t have to blame someone else if they steer you wrong.

Oct

2009

Companionship

“Everyone needs someone to wash their back.”

– Jeannette Amarens Jones