Canadian Cancer Society urges smokers to “Break It Off”

January 26, 2012 Leave a Comment

Everyone knows someone who’s a smoker, has tried to quit, or who has successfully kicked the habit.

I’m not a smoker, and outside of my parents (who quit smoking a few years ago) I don’t preach to others that they should quit – it’s ultimately a personal choice. For those looking to quit though, Break It Off with Smokingthe “Break It Off” campaign recently launched by the Canadian Cancer Society looks like a great resource. It offers help for people at each stage of the quitting process, including a a combination of 13 different methods to quit, because there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach.

They’ve also included a cool initiative to help make the whole break up a bit more social. Called the “World’s Biggest Breakup“, it allows anybody to upload a video of themselves breaking it off with smoking; even non-smokers can show support. I’m not big on making videos, but I can see how this may help people share in the experience together. As of publication there are four journal postings – I expect that number will grow quite a bit as people find out more about the initiative.World's Biggest Breakup

Available on both iPhone and Android devices, the app seems friendly enough to use. Similar to the site, it offers tips on quitting but also lets users track his or her progress and share milestones on Facebook. My favourite feature is the ability to see how much money can be saved from quitting. I’m sure other than health reasons, the ridiculous cost is probably why many decide to quit in the first place – I know it’s one of the big reasons I never started.

As with quitting anything, the willpower must be there. If a person isn’t really willing to give it up, no number of websites, Youtube videos or apps will help them get there. For those who are willing, this looks worth checking out.

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Tim Thomas sits out team visit to White House

January 23, 2012 Leave a Comment

Boston Bruins visit President ObamaI like Tim Thomas. He’s a passionate hockey player and has proven that he can lead the Bruins to a Stanley Cup championship. I also like that we North Americans live in a society where we can (generally) have control of our own life and have the opportunity to choose whether we want to participate in an event or not.

When I read the article on Thomas choosing to not attend the photo op with the President due to his personal “opinions and political beliefs” according to team president Cam Neely, I first thought he was being petty. Why wouldn’t he show up to a non-partisan photo op? Each winning team in the major sports leagues does it, and on a smaller scale he’s creating a distraction that I’m sure his team could do without.

Looking online, fans on Thomas’s and the Boston Bruins‘ Facebook pages passionately share congrats with him or anger at his actions. Based on those updates, the boycott has polarized his fan base to the extreme. One such fan, an American living in Finland, wrote an open letter to Thomas about his actions. Here’s a paragraph that stood out:

“Today, i lost respect for you as a person. It’s not because we have different political views, because you have a right to your opinion, but because you couldn’t find it in yourself to be the bigger man and say “thank you” to someone you disagree with when all theyw ere tyring to do was a nice thing. It makes me question how you’d treat a fan, like me, if I wanted you’re autograph and I was wearing an Obama t-shirt.” [SIC]

As people formed their opinions about him, Thomas remained mum on the reason why he declined the offer. That is until about 6pm when he chose to explain himself via his Facebook page, well after the word started spreading. Here’s what he had to say:

Tim Thomas Facebook

As you can see, Thomas noted the boycott wasn’t based on politics or party, but as a criticism of the way government operates and treats Americans, as a whole. I have to admit I didn’t expect that, and was conflicted.

The vibe I get from his update is reminiscent of the ‘Occupy movement’, which I fully stand behind. Like many others, I was going on the angle that he was opposed to Obama’s administration, which he’s entitled to, but it also seemed like a petty reason to not attend the simple event. Even though I now understand why, I still feel he could have made the effort to show up for his team. There’s more he could do to protest government, with the platform he has.

One of the reasons I waited to post this is that I wanted to see what he had to say. I think he should have come out with his reasoning immediately because the speculative comments have tarnished the day for his teammates and himself. There were many terrible comments directed his way, but TSN’s Dave Hodge tweeted this libelous gem stood out the most because he basically calls Thomas a racist:

Twitter Dave HodgeIt’s a clear example of why you should hold off on your commentary until you have the facts, and in this case, Hodge should know better and not have tweeted that garbage at any time. A search for @TSNDaveHodge name on Twitter at least shows many are giving it to him good; let’s hope he apologizes to Thomas and his family.

As for Thomas, since it wasn’t a mandatory team event, he likely won’t be suspended for his actions, but I wonder if this will impact the way his teammates think of him? How did you feel about Tim Thomas’s decision to not show up at the White House, and once you knew why, did your opinion change?

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Review of Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

January 21, 2012 2 Comments

Outliers by Malcolm GladwellThe basic premise of this book my Malcolm Gladwell is that people, or Outliers, are successful for a number of different reasons, on top of the fact that they’re skilled at what they do.

Some of the examples he looks into say:

  • Success can be determined based on when you were born
  • Put in the work (10,000+ hours) and you’ll be a master at your craft
  • Just because you’re smart, doesn’t mean you’ll succeed
  • Timing is everything
  • The behavior of generations past keep us in its grasp

Obviously Gladwell looks at data that helps him prove his points. The case studies he examines are interesting, well told stories, and in all of them I found he made arguments, backed by expert research, that made sense.

If not necessarily true for all cases, it’s a good eye opener that shows those who are successful aren’t just so because of some talent they were born with, but that skill was gained through a lot of hard work or an opportune upbringing/family history. There are of course exceptions to the rule, and Gladwell seems to say successful people are who they are because of these reasons, but doesn’t look at the examples that prove his point wrong.

Nowhere in the book, outside of the small samples he looks at, does it show overall rates of for example, hockey players who were born outside of the first quarter of the year. The theory he looks at is that the earlier in the year you’re born (Jan/Feb/Mar), the more successful you’ll be because you’re months ahead of players born in the later part of the year, development-wise. Curious, I took a look at the roster of the Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins. While some players have moved, it’s still noteworthy to see that of the 24 players on the roster, only 5 were born from January to March. (Others: Detroit = 13; Toronto = 7; Vancouver = 5).

While the hockey analysis may not hold up, I learned some eye-opening information. One was the reason why students have summer vacations is due to research from the 1800s saying that over-study leads to mental illness; it’s based on this that people aren’t willing to put kids through school in the summer. Another interesting tidbit was that the way Asian numbers are formed makes it easier for them to memorize and therefore learn math quicker than western kids. They were some small but interesting tidbits in the stories, but they stuck with me.

As with most of Gladwell’s work, Outliers is easy to read and presents an idea or belief that you may think is simple, and opens it up to examine the psychological or sociological reasoning behind it. There’s something about books that deal with the how we think or act that get to me. Though close, this one isn’t quite on the level of The Tipping Point or Blink but I really enjoyed the book and I can’t wait for his next one – whatever the random topic may be. I give Outliers a 4/5.

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The Adventures of Tintin… in 3D!

January 18, 2012 Leave a Comment

TinTinIt took just over three weeks, but I finally made it out to see The Adventures of Tintin… in 3D.

Adapted from The Secret of the Unicorn, the 11th comic book in the Tintin series by cartoonist Hergé, the movie, directed by Stephen Spielberg and produced by Peter Jackson, holds true to to the original relatively well. It starts off with Tintin (Jamie Bell), accompanied by his white dog Snowy as they look through the outdoor market, eventually coming upon an antique model ship, which he buys for a single pound. After making the purchase strange people start approaching him and eventually his journalistic instincts perk up after his house is ransacked and the ship stolen. So begins the adventure that sees him meet Captain Haddock (Andy Serkis) and travel by boat, plane and motorcycle in a story that has that Indiana Jones feel, but is also an innocent mystery like you’d expect from Tintin.

When it came to the graphics I thought the 3D would turn me off. At some points I was a bit irritated, but for the most part I thought the technology was used very well, and aside from the glasses being too small for my big head, I didn’t have much of an issue with it this time around. The motion-capture animation was brilliant and brings to life the many exciting scenes throughout the movie, like the plane crash in the Sahara, a dangerous motorcycle ride through a Moroccan village and even the flashback pirate fight on the Unicorn.

I didn’t really do much research into the actors for this one, for no reason in particular, but I was surprised to find out that Serkis and Daniel Craig were in it as Haddock and Sakharine. I couldn’t even tell it was either one of them, but especially Serkis who is a master of voices. I was also pleasantly surprised to hear the voices of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as the Thompson Twins. They added the comedic side story of clumsily searching for the pickpocket stealing the wallets of everyone in the city. Overall the acting was incredible and I think it was good that I wasn’t distracted trying to figure out who were behind the characters.

If you’re looking for a fun adventure movie this one definitely provides you with that. It’s basically non-stop action, save for a few scenes and it’s fun for the whole family, though there was a lot more guns and fighting than I had expected. It was the best non-comedy animated film that I’ve seen and I give The Adventures of Tintin 5/5. If you’ve seen it, let me know what you think in the comments!

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Pachuco brings the taste of Mexico to the Danforth

January 16, 2012 Leave a Comment

Pachuco Restaurant front entranceYesterday, the fiancée I had the opportunity to sample some dishes from Pachuco a new modern Mexican cuisine restaurant celebrating its opening weekend. Located just steps from Broadview station on Danforth, the restaurant is the latest addition to the neighbourhood, just west of Greektown.

After walking down a flight of stairs into the main room we were greeted by a dark lit space that had an ambient, relaxed feel. There was enough seating for a good amount of people, but the space was small and the bar took up one wall.

OMargaritasnce we were seated our server brought us the menus and told us about the drink specials. We were drawn to the margarita sampler (to the left) ($15) and chose strawberry, guava and mango. The other flavour options were: blueberry, spicy mango, traditional and pineapple.

At first I thought I’d enjoy the mango one the most, but the guava one grew on me, and the strawberry one was consistently good each time I took a sip. We just found them to be a tad too salty, which took away from the flavour – especially in the mango one.

Mexican cuisine On to the food, we had the opportunity to pick from two dishes from the menu. The first one up (top dish on the left) was the Chicken Empanadas ($9). They were stuffed with chicken and olives and served with a very tasty artisanal mole sauce. The pastry was fluffy and let you enjoy the flavourful stuffing inside. They were the highlight of the meal and I could have eaten way more.

The main course was the Taquitos de Cochinita pibil ($15) (not shown: tortillas, rice and black beans – the last two were $4 extra). In the bowl was a delicious slow cooked pork marinated with achiote spice and the additional toppings on the right were peanut and arbol pepper salsa and Habanero mayo. The pork was amazing, and the salsa/mayo combo added great flavour to the taquito, which we both ate three of; so along with the empanadas we were perfectly full.

Though a bit pricier than we’re accustomed to paying for Mexican food, we both enjoyed the ambiance of the location, as well as the service and great food. If you’re looking for a nice dinner out on the Danforth and craving a modern take on Mexican cuisine, I recommend giving Pachuco a try. If you’re on Twitter, don’t forget to follow them @PachucoResto!

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